December 10, 2019 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Marketing to Retirees and Seniors

Hello Friends,

Do your marketing efforts include marketing to seniors and retirees? Marketing to seniors typically isn’t a priority for most dentists. However, since advancing age doesn’t mean seniors cannot keep their teeth for a lifetime, why not take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to this generation? Help them to see they’re not destined to lose their teeth. Not only are there many preventive services available to them there are also many cosmetic dental treatment options to help them smile with confidence.

A few ways to reach out to Senior Citizens and Retirees:

Senior/(Retirees) Appreciation Day (In-office)
Senior Health & Wellness Expo
Direct Mail Marketing to Senior Living Communities
On-site Dental Health Education Presentations for Seniors & Caregivers
Website & Social Media Sites

Today, I’m going to focus on ideas for you to use at a community senior health & wellness fair/expo. However, many of the ideas for talking points, presentation and giveaways may be used in the other forms of marketing mentioned above.

Quick Tip: In-House Savings / Membership Plans – Loss of dental insurance may have prevented some people from seeking dental care. Do you offer an in-house savings plan? If yes, be sure to include that in your marketing materials and posts on your office social media pages and website.

Back to health fairs… they can be challenging for a couple of different reasons.

One, there are a lot of vendors and booths/displays so you’re going to want to make sure that your display table stands out. That it draws the attention of the guests.

Two, most people are there for something free. But, I guess that doesn’t really count as a challenge. It’s an opportunity for you to make sure they won’t leave your display empty-handed. You’ll have many freebies to give away that include your office information.

Many wonder what they should talk about and what sort of items should they give away?

How about these ideas…

Service Talking Points ~

Denture/Partial Maintenance & Repair
Bad Breath
Gum Disease
Xerostomia
Teeth Whitening
Orthodontics
Implants
Oral Cancer (On-site screenings)
Oral Systemic Health Link
Smile Makeover

Presentation / Demonstration ~

PowerPoint/Video presentation on a laptop/tablet/LARGE monitor with before and after photos and/or information about your services.
How To Demonstrations: Proper Brushing & Flossing Techniques

Display ~

Table Cloth
Banner (Office Name and Website address)
Brochures
Business Cards
Use nice baskets, containers, and frames to display your items.

Keep your table neat but attractive – too much information and “stuff” will be overwhelming in that setting.

Include a Big Call to Action with a deadline: You could hand out a sheet of paper that has a special offer on it: Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening, New Patient Special or Teeth Whitening Offer. On that sheet include some of the other services you offer. Also, include your social media sites and of course all your office contact info.

Make certain that you’ll have the ability to schedule complimentary consultations and New Patient Hygiene visits right there on the spot. (Access to your schedule…at the very least a copy of the schedule for the next 2 weeks.)

Very Important: Your display table must include friendly, smiling, approachable and outgoing team members (also wearing, professional & clean attire).

Other things you can do to attract people to your table…

Prize Wheel
Gift Basket Drawing/Raffle

Lots of FREE stuff! Which brings us to…

Giveaways ~

Bottled Water / Reusable Waterbottles
Healthy Snacks
Xylitol Products- Gum/Mints
Sample dental health products with a sticker or tag attached showing that a “refill” may be purchased at your office.
Imprinted Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Floss / Imprinted Floss Cards
Imprinted Pens
Magnets
My favorite idea for a quick & inexpensive freebie is Lip Balm- (my go-to; http://www.lipbalmexpress)
Reusable Bags with your Office Information on them is a handy giveaway, one that allows them to carry their free gifts in and advertise your office for you.

If you’re not looking to spend a lot of money on bags, please consider using small imprinted plastic bags so no one is fumbling with their gifts.

Raffle / Drawing ~

Electric Toothbrush
Whitening Pen
Gift Cards
Gift Baskets ( Themes: Dental Health, Gardening, Seasonal items, Spa, Etc. – don’t hesitate to team up with local businesses for basket items)
Free Teeth Whitening and or $ off Dental Treatment ( NOTE: they can either check the box for which one or all that they are hoping to win. Use a full sheet of paper with prize options and large space for them to fill out their name, email, address & phone (to be used later to send nice to meet you cards).

Should you decide to use a Prize Wheel instead of Raffle/Drawing be sure to find another way to capture their information so you can follow-up with a “pleasure to meet you” thank you card after the event.

Another Quick Tip: Include the Caregivers – be sure to have information on hand and give-aways for the care-givers. Especially because it’s often the care-givers that are the decision-makers.

Encourage attendees to “like” your office Facebook page and “follow” your office on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Perhaps you can offer some type of incentive/reward for visiting your social media sites.

Take a few minutes before and after the event to briefly introduce yourself to the other vendors and businesses at the expo. Give them a gift some of your office freebies. This is a great opportunity to build relationships within your community.

So many ways for you to have a fun and successful senior health and wellness fair. Do you have any other ideas that have worked well for you? Please, share them with me.

If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would love and truly appreciate for you to please take a minute to leave me a review here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

Are you receiving my free dental marketing and practice management ideas every month to your email? If not, PLEASE take a second and follow today or send me your email address to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea. Feel free to share my website with your dental friends.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

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August 14, 2019 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for September 2019

Hello Friends,

What does the month of September typically look like in your office? Do you struggle to fill the schedule? Or do you find that it is a productive month for you? Whether or not September (aka Sucktember) is a historically slow month for your office – we’re going to make it a Supertember! Who wouldn’t love that?!

The ideas that I am sharing with you for September will help you attract more new patients, build relationships within the community, as well as exceed your current patients’ expectations. As always, my goal is to also help you all stress-less and have more fun at work! Even if you can’t fill the schedule despite your best efforts – we can still make it a productive & happy month.

Leadership Tips:

“One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” Arnold H. Glasow

Clarity – Do you have a clear vision and fully know your “why” behind that vision? If you want your team to focus on change and take ownership of their responsibilities, they need to know what’s in it for them. To be engaged they need to know the “why.

Communication – Your body language and tone of voice send cues to your team as to whether you really care or not. Are you approachable?

Courage – Your team must believe that you understand them and want to help them succeed as they take ownership of their responsibilities instead of micro-managing them which moves them to believe that you think your way is the only way and that you don’t trust them.

Care – Put your team first…always. Treat your team like they make a difference and they will.

Practice Management Tips –

Office Yearly Goals – September will close out your third quarter for the year – will you surpass the third-quarter numbers from 2018? Where are you at with your Production, Collection, and New Patient Goals for 2019? What needs to change in order to successfully reach your goals? Discuss this as a team.

Unscheduled Treatment Plans & Hygiene Continuing Care –

Insurance Renewal Letters – Send out your “Use it or Lose it reminder texts, emails, and letters. Pick up the phone and call your patients that have treatment planned, maximum remaining that renews in January but hasn’t scheduled appointments to start/complete treatment.

September is National Courtesy Month – Take this opportunity to remind your patients that: “As a courtesy to our patients we remind you of your dental reservation 2 days prior. We kindly request that you try to keep your dental appointments as scheduled. If you do require a scheduling change, please notify us with at least a 48 hours notice of your appointment date. Thank you!”

Take control of the schedule. Here are some helpful tips and ideas: How to Reduce Same-Day Cancellations

Marketing Tips and Ideas – (Exceed Expectations for your current patients and the potential new patients that you engage with in your community.):

I will give you two theme ideas:

Theme #1: Fall into a Beautiful & Healthy Smile

Focus: Preventive & Cosmetic Services (ie: add “would you like to whiten your teeth at your dental hygiene visit?)

Giving-Away – Drawing for a Fall Themed Gift Basket / Patients can enter the drawing by leaving a review on Google and/or Facebook, referring their friends & family, and for coming in for their appts in September.

Theme #2: Patient Appreciation

September is National Honey Month: Give away little jars of honey with a label or tag that says, “Thank you for Bee-ing our Patient!” or “Our Patients are Sweet as Honey!”

Patient & Community Education Idea:

September is World Alzheimer’s Month – Share educational posts to your social media platforms and website about the connection between dental health and Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn more here: https://www.perio.org/consumer/alzheimers-and-periodontal-disease

Also, use this as an opportunity to educate your patients and the community about the importance of dental health care for Alzheimer’s patients in helping to keep them comfortable and healthy.

Social Media Content Post Ideas to Improve Engagement with your Current Patients, Potential Patients, and the Community.

National Cheese Month

Grandparents Day: 9^th

Banana Day: 14^th

National Clean-Up Day: 21^st / Schedule your all-important professional dental cleaning, examination, and oral cancer screening.

First Day of Fall: 23^rd

World Heart Day: 29^th

National Chewing Gum Day: 30^th

I recommend that you choose at least pick one marketing item and one practice management item to implement – work together to make it happen and you will see greater results, more quickly! 🙂

If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review for me on Google and/or Facebook – here are the links: GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

Please follow and like us:

June 6, 2019 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for July 2019

Hello Friends,

July will kick off your third quarter for the year. Now, is your opportunity to really make the rest of this year count. Make it your BEST!

Dental Leadership, Management, and Marketing Tips and Ideas for July 2019

Practice Management:

Office Yearly Goals – Where are you at with your Production, Collection, and New Patient Goals for 2019?

Family Friendly Offices – July is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month. Depending on your schedule, consider setting aside one or two days for “Get Ready for Kindergarten with Healthy Smiles” visits. Make it a fun experience for the children. Promote via your social media sites.

Leadership:

Tip: It’s easy to recognize mistakes or when things are going wrong but be on the lookout to recognize and acknowledge what is going right. Your employees and fellow co-workers need to hear commendation and appreciation for the good things they’re doing.

Looking Ahead – If your office schedules typically slow down in August/September, make plans now for how you can prevent those holes in the schedule and what tasks may be done during those slower times. Consider scheduling a team building activity for September.

Marketing (Exceed Expectations for your current patients and the potential new patients that you engage with in the community.):

Theme #1: July is Ice Cream Month

Product Feature: Desensitizing Agents to treat tooth sensitivity “Eating Ice Cream Shouldn’t Hurt!”

Gift Idea: Weekly drawing for free ice cream cones

This is what you do:

Offer free ice cream cones to your patients. How will offering free ice cream cones not incur any extra cost to you? Contact a local Ice Cream Shop for some cross-marketing. Ask if they would be willing to donate 4 or more FREE Ice Cream Cone Gift Certificates that you will use during the month of July for a weekly drawing that your patients will enter to win. What a fantastic way to exceed your patients’ expectations with no extra cost to you.

Email & Social Media Platforms – Promote this service & educate your patients and potential patients via email and your office social media platforms with sharable content.

Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement

Garlic Days: July 26^th -28^th

International Kissing Day or World Kiss Day: July 6^th

July 11^th is Slurpee day!

National Hot Dog Day: 17^th

hot dog day dental office patient appreciation gifts

This is how Dr. Clint Bruyere’s Office Celebrated National Hot Dog Day

National Sour Candy Day: 18^th

National Lipstick Day: 29^th

I love hearing from you! If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would truly appreciate for you to please leave me a review/recommendation on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address (to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success!

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest

Please follow and like us:

September 25, 2018 by bettyhayden

Gift and Give Away Ideas for your Dental Patients

Hello Friends,

Are you looking for a fun way to thank your patients for their referrals and encourage your patients to tell their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about your office? A great and inexpensive way to do this is to present them with an unexpected gift at their appointment.

Here are a few ideas for you…

GIFTS for FALL:

* Apple Cider *

Warm or cold cider is a nice fall treat. You don’t need to give every patient their own jug of cider a small cup of cider will be well received and appreciated. Include a sign near the cider that says:

“You’re the Apple of Our Eye”

* S’mores Kit *

Pinterest has some neat ideas for inexpensive and fun s’more kits.

“We Need S’More Patients Like You!”

Just a few of the creative ways you can exceed your patients’ expectations with this sweet treat… Thank you for sharing 🙂

GIFTS in WINTER:

* Tea *

Attach your business card or a special offer to green tea packets as a special give-away for your patients. Even if they don’t drink tea they can give it to a family member, friend, co-worker or a neighbor. Easy and inexpensive way to advertise your office and exceed your patients’ expectations. The label/tag may say:

“Our Patients are TEA-riffic!”

* Candle *

Mini candle jars make a nice gift. Attach a tag or label with your office info and one of these sayings:

“Our Patients Are Scentsational”

“Your Referrals Warm Our Hearts”

* Lotion *

Pass out little bottles of lotion. If they are not imprinted with your office name add a tag to the bottle with your office name and website with this saying…

“Hands Down We Have The Best Patients In Town!”

* Soup *

Here is a delicious gift idea for Winter: “Warm-Up Wednesday’s” Set up a slow cooker with soup or chili every Wednesday for your patients to enjoy. (Have recipe cards ready to share) Your patients will love the free food!

or this idea…

Dr. Bruyere and the team are always coming up with thoughtful gifts for their patients!

* Apples *
This one is especially for the offices that are opposed to sharing sugary treats with their patients…

Basket of fresh Apples with a sign or stickers on the apples that say:

“Our Patients Are Awesome to The Core”

“You’re the Apple of our Eyes”

See my Apple-themed Dental Marketing Ideas for more apple ideas.

* FREE Food – Gift Certificates *

When in doubt, food is a great way to reach your patients’ hearts…especially, free food. This is also an opportunity to do some cross-marketing with local businesses. Ask them to donate gift cards for free food/drink. Or you can purchase gift certificates to give away to your patients on special days. Check out these ideas:

GIFTS for SPRING: (For awesome Spring gift ideas visit my Pinterest page HERE

* Flower/Herb/Veggie Seed Packets *

Flower Seed Packets w/a label and business card attached. Flower seed packets can be purchased at most Dollar Stores for around .20 a packet. Great deal! The labels you attach to the flower seed packets could say:

“Your referrals help grow our practice, Thank you! “

“Our Office Blooms Because of you! “

“Please enjoy these flowers growing as much as we enjoy your referrals growing our practice.”

* Honey *

Give your patients gifts of little jars of honey. Attach a tag saying:

“Thank You For BEE-ing Our Patient”

Check out what Dr. Bruyere’s office did…

GIFTS for SUMMER:

* Mini Sunscreen *

Give away mini bottles of sunscreen. If you don’t have them imprinted with your office name, simply add a tag to the bottles.

* Free Ice Cream Cone Certificates *

Team up with local ice cream shop for donations of free ice cream cones

* Zucchini *

Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night. (I’m serious, it’s a real day in August!) While you probably don’t want to visit your patient’s homes during the night you can easily have a basket of zucchini at the office for your patients to take. Wrap some ribbon and a business card with a zucchini recipe on it for your patients to sneak onto their neighbor’s porch during the night.

Dr. Bruyere & Team celebrating “Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night “

ANYTIME GIFTS

* Pens *

Purchase imprinted pens and add a tag to the pens that say:

“Take Note We Think You’re Awesome”

“Our Patients are just Write”

Tip: promostuff4u.com has a wonderful selection of pens and they offer exceptional customer service.

* Cookies *

Individually wrapped purchased or homemade cookies are a sweet treat. Add this label:

“Thankful for Sweet Patients Like You”

* Flowers *
Fresh single stem flowers or Small potted flowers (ex: inexpensive gift would be a marigold in a small flower pot, you can get mini pots from the dollar store 4/$1.00)

“Your referrals help grow our practice, Thank you! “

“Our Office Blooms Because of you! “

* Xylitol Products *

Offer Xylitol samples of Gum, Mints, and Suckers

Tip: Also have these items available for purchase

* Donuts *

Who doesn’t enjoy a yummy donut occasionally? Display a platter of donuts at the front desk or at your patient beverage station with a sign that says:

“Donut Know What We Would Do Without Wonderful Patients Like You!”

* Bath Salts/Sugar Scrubs *

Consider making bath salts or sugar scrubs as a team building activity. Give away as gifts to your patients.

Tip: Pinterest is loaded with recipes and super cute packaging ideas.

* Lip Balm *

Order imprinted lip balm and attach cute tags to the packaging with this saying…

“Our Patients are the Balm!”

Tip: www.lipbalmexpress.com is a great company to order imprinted, all natural, inexpensive lip balm. See also Pinterest for fun packaging ideas for your lip balm.

* Gift of Health Certificates *

Instead of just asking your patients to refer their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to your office, give them a gift of health certificate to share with their friends, family, neighbors & co-workers.

Here is a scripting idea:

Gift of Health Certificate

To: ______________________________________

From: ___________________________________

Your oral health affects your overall health!

This is your invitation to receive $25 toward dental treatment and a complimentary oral cancer screening from __(office name__.

Please RSVP at __(office phone number).

We’ll give you a reason to smile!

Add here: Office address & website/social media sites

Note: You can do some seasonal gift of health certificates by changing the paper and envelope according to the current season.

These are just a few patient appreciation gift ideas. I’m sure you can come up with even more fun gift ideas. I would LOVE to hear all about what you come up with! Please share your stories and pictures with me on my Facebook page or via email. Thank you to all of you that have sent me messages and pictures of your gift ideas!!

Plan to make each month special for your patients with unexpected gifts of appreciation. Important Reminder: Whatever you decide to give away to your patients, include your office name and website on/with the gift whenever possible!!

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

Please follow and like us:

Betty Hayden Consulting – Dental Practice Management, Leadership, and Marketing

Dedicated to helping doctors and their team have an office that is not only highly productive and fun but one that allows them to consistently exceed patient expectations.

dental patient appreciation gifts

Gift and Give Away Ideas for your Dental Patients

GIFTS for FALL:

GIFTS in WINTER:

GIFTS for SPRING: (For awesome Spring gift ideas visit my Pinterest page HERE

GIFTS for SUMMER:

ANYTIME GIFTS

Enjoy this blog? Follow me for more ideas.