use it or lose it letter

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for November 2019
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Dental Office Tips and Ideas for November 2019

Hello Friends,

Can you believe that the New Year is just around the corner? Where are you at with your goals for this year? Have you created opportunities to celebrate reaching (better yet, exceeding) your goals?

Are you working in harmony with your mission, vision, and goals for the practice? If not, what is holding you back? If you really want to reach your goals, you must be willing to get uncomfortable enough to implement change. I am here to help.

How do you want to end this year? What do you want November and December to look like? If you are ready to increase your production, collections, and new patients for November and December – please take a few minutes as a team and together decide which of the following ideas you want to implement. These ideas 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!

November Dental Ideas Betty Hayden Consulting

Leadership Tips & Ideas:

“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.” -Unknown

Employee Appreciation –

Random Acts of Kindness Week: 17th – 20th – Surprise your team with a random gift of appreciation. (Cash, Lunch, Breakfast, Gift Card, Snack, Etc)

Practice Management Tips & Ideas:

Scheduling  – What steps have you taken to ensure your schedules will be able to accommodate those patients that wait until the last minute to use their dental benefits before the year ends?

Reducing last-minute cancelations – If you’re not already doing this now would be a good time to start collecting the patients co-pay at the time of scheduling. Be sure to also remind your patients that the appointment time is being reserved exclusively for them.

Use it or Lose it Reminders – Have you followed up with a call(s) to your patients that haven’t responded to your use it or lose it letters/emails? If you didn’t get your letters and emails sent out I encourage you to take action now. Would you like a sample Use it or Lose it letter? Email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will gladly send one over to you.

Dental Office Insurance Renewal Reminders Betty Hayden Consulting

Marketing Tips & Ideas

Monthly Theme Idea: Gratitude (November is National Gratitude Month)

For your patients: Invite your patients to share what they’re grateful for (turn it into fall decorations by having them fill out fall leaves that you hang on the wall.)

For the community: Visit local businesses with a gift and a note of gratitude for what they do for the community. Or each week feature a local business on your FB/IG pages that you are grateful for.

Reviews/Recommendations – Set a goal to get a certain number of reviews/recommendations to your Facebook and Google pages during the month of November.

 

Patient & Community Educational Idea:

November is Diabetes Month –

All month-long share posts on your social media platforms regarding the importance of regular preventive dental visits to the dentist. When you have diabetes, high blood sugar can take a toll on your entire body — including your teeth and gums.   https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11263-oral-health-problems-and-diabetes

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Diabetes Month

X-Ray Day: 8th – Create a short video about why radiographs are necessary and their safety to share on your office social media pages.

Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of November

Daylights Savings: 3rd

National Candy Day: 4th

Red Lipstick Day: 11th

National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day: 15th

Great American Smokeout: 21st

Flossing Day: 29th

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas?   I would love and truly appreciate for you to please take a second to leave a review/recommendation for me here on 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 (Dental Coach)

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

Dental Insurance Benefits (Use it or Lose it) Reminders, Tips, and Ideas
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Dental Insurance Benefits (Use it or Lose it) Reminders, Tips, and Ideas

Hello Friends,

It’s that time of year when we should start sending out dental insurance use it or lose it reminder letters regardless if your patients are ready to hear that or not.

The month of September is a great month to get started on your “Use it or Lose it!” letters and emails out to your patients. This is for all of your patients that have dental benefits that renew on January 1st and/or patients with FSA or HSA dollars that expire at the end of the year.

end of the year dental maximum renewal reminders

Especially helpful for your patients that are /pastdue/due/or due this year for their hygiene visit and/or with treatment that is yet to be started or needs to be completed and their remaining dental insurance maximums are getting ready to expire.

Time to remind them to Use it or Lose it! – Get your letters, emails and text messages out to your patients reminding them to use any insurance benefits they have remaining for the year to complete any needed treatment or for their continuing care hygiene appointment before they lose them.

Remember, the closer it gets to the end of the year the more difficult it becomes to get them to schedule and you may not even have room in your schedule to accommodate them.

Your goal is to get them from the filing cabinet/computer to the schedule!

Personalize  – When mailing out remaining maximum letters, be sure to customize for each patient according to their treatment plan. This will help to re-create the urgency and value for treatment.  For some patients, it will take some type of additional incentive to get them to act. Perhaps, include a gift certificate for $ off of their treatment if it’s completed and paid for by December 31st. Not redeemable for cash. Or the opportunity to enter a raffle for a really great prize!

Need ideas for what to include in the reminder letter? Feel free to email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you a sample letter that you can customize for your office. 

Take this opportunity to add a P.S. message to the end of your letter, telling your patients all about your specials on teeth whitening. Many people at this time of year are looking to whiten their teeth for their end of year celebration family photos, or to buy gifts for family and friends.

For example… 

P.S. Now is a great time to whiten & brighten your smile for your end of year celebration photos. We have some fantastic whitening specials! Teeth whitening gift cards also make a wonderful gift.

P.P.S. Did you know we are on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter? “Like” us on Facebook at … and “follow” us on Instagram, and Twitter at …  / This way you can stay up to date with all our office events & news plus have a chance at exclusive offers & contests.

Mailing Tip –  Use a bright-colored envelope and neatly hand-write the name and address. Use a “live” stamp. This will take a little more time to do but your patients are more likely to open an envelope that looks like it’s from a friend and not their dentist.

Phone Calls – About a week after you mail out your letters, go ahead and start calling them to see if they received the letter and to schedule them an appointment.

Document – Be sure to document that a letter was mailed, phone calls were made and what type of response you received from each patient.

Important Reminder – Before sending out these letters and making calls to your patients be sure to review your upcoming appointment schedule… Where is your open chair time? Will pre-blocking some open time be helpful? Also, before scheduling last-minute appointments that require lab work at the end of the year be sure to communicate with your lab guy/gal that they can, in fact, get these cases back to you in time.

Social Media – Use your social media platforms to remind your patients to use their dental benefits before the end of the year.

Betty Hayden Dental Coach End of Year Insurance Renewal Reminders

Wishing you all a full schedule for the end of the year!

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

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

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for November 2018
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Dental Office Tips and Ideas for November 2018

Hello Friends,

There is still time to make your final quarter for the year your best one yet. To help make that happen, here are a few dental marketing & practice management tips & ideas…

Betty Hayden Consulting Dental Office Coach Marketing Ideas

World Kindness Week: 12-18 – Have Gift of Health Certificates for your patients to share with their friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family. What about handing out special surprise gifts for your patients or deliver gifts to local businesses this week?  Perhaps there is a patient coming in this week for treatment that is experiencing serious financial hardship and would benefit from some extra kindness by you donating some of their dental treatment.

Dental Education Opportunity:

 November is American & National Diabetes Month

Over 30 million Americans have diabetes.
People with diabetes are 2 times more likely to develop serious gum disease.
Use this month-to educate your patients about the connections between diabetes and gum disease while they are in the chair and or via email, office newsletters, and your social media sites.

International Stress Awareness Day: 7th    – Share tips on how to reduce stress & the relationship between stress and oral health. Service/Treatment Feature: Mouthguards.

Great American Smokeout: 16th   – Wonderful Educational Opportunity to help your patients Kick the Tobacco Habit! As well as encourage youths to remain tobacco-free. (BTW my son just started high school and I am shocked at the number of high school CHILDREN I see smoking and vaping to and from school each day. So sad.)

Hygiene Continuing Care Opportunity:

Give Up Your Shoulds Day: Nov. 1st – The dictionary defines “should” as a word used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when criticizing someone’s actions. Help your patients to give up some “shoulds” in their lives that often lead to guilt and stress. Such as: “I should schedule my dentist appointment” or “I should floss every day”; encourage them to turn these shoulds into something positive by seeing the value and personal benefit to flossing every day and/or being able to say they scheduled their dental appointment. It’s not something they “should” do but what they “want” to do to stay healthy.

Cosmetic Dentistry Opportunity:

Many of your patients will soon be attending holiday parties/events and typically with these special occasions come a lot of picture-taking. Now is a great time to help them see how they can easily get their smile ready for the camera with teeth whitening and other cosmetic treatment/procedures. Be sure to make available Dental Gift Cards/Certificates for purchase.

November Reminders: (I know I sound like a broken record with this first reminder, but it is too important to your success to ignore…)

Incomplete Treatment & Insurance Maximum Renewals – Do you have any patients with incomplete treatment or ones that are due/past due in hygiene with remaining insurance benefits that are going to run out at the end of this year? Do what you can to help them see the need and value in scheduling an appointment this month before the end of the year rush really shifts into high gear! See Dental Benefit (Use it or Lose it) Reminders, Tips, and Ideas

Candy Buy Back – Many of you will be starting off the month of November hosting and celebrating your office Candy Buy Back events. Consider doing a Facebook Live Video to promote your event. Be sure to alert the local TV news, online & print newspapers and social media sites about these events.

National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day: 15th – Time to clean out the office refrigerator.

Social Media Post Ideas to Boost and Encourage Engagement

Daylight Savings Time Ends: 4th

 X-ray Day: 8th(Share why you take/need x-rays)

Red Lipstick Day: 11th

Black Friday – Offer Special Pricing on Teeth Whitening & Electric Toothbrushes, Ortho Consultations or a New Patient Visit.

Flossing day: 23rd – Post fun floss facts & tips on your social media sites. Make a video and share on Facebook, YouTube & Pinterest demonstrating proper flossing techniques. And if you’re not totally sick of seeing videos of people doing the floss dance…well, go ahead and incorporate a little dancing into your educational videos. Because, why not? 😉

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

If these ideas weren’t enough for you, here is one more! Join me at TBSE (The Best Seminar Ever) on November 9th & 10th in Vegas. YOU WILL HAVE SO MUCH FUN!

As always, I would love to hear your ideas for making November a great month! Should you need any help implementing these ideas or have any other questions that I can help you answer…I’m ready to help! Contact me today at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

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

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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

Dental Office Practice Management Tips and Ideas for October 2018
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Dental Office Practice Management Tips and Ideas for October 2018

Hello Friends,

The ideas that I’m sharing for the month of October can be done any time of year but sometimes, it helps to have a little push. So here is your gentle push to make plans now to have a great start to the final quarter for the year.

Fall Dental Office Practice Management Ideas

Customer Service Week – October 1st  – 5th  –  Excellent theme for your next team meeting.  What ideas can you come up with as a team to exceed your patients’ expectations by consistently delivering excellent customer service?

  • What do you do when you run late? (If you’re habitually running behind, please change that habit! It’s disrespectful to your patients’ and your team)
  • What do you do when the lab screws up a case?
  • What about comfort? How are you making the visit as comfortable as possible for your patients?
  • What about your telephone skills? SEE How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone (Telephone Principles)
  • How about after the treatment – are you making post-op calls?
  • How are you staying in touch with your patients in between their 6-month hygiene appointments? SEE 10 Ways to Stay in Touch with your Dental Patients

Improve Your Office Day – October 4th – Take this opportunity to openly and honestly examine ways to improve your office. This might be the perfect time to schedule a complimentary consultation with me for some tips and ideas on how to improve your office.

Another great way to improve your dental office and team is to attend TBSE 2018 (The Best Seminar Ever!). You will love it!! Plus, I’ll be there and it would be awesome to meet you in person!!  See why this is truly the best seminar here: The Best Dental Seminar Ever

Boss’s Day is October 16th  – Plan now to make this day special for your boss(es).

Get to Know Your Customers Day is October 19th – Perhaps you could have a Business Card Drawing for a Free Lunch. Have fun with this day or turn it into a week or month-long event. This will allow you to get to know your patients better as well as learn what local businesses you want to focus some of your marketing efforts on.

October is National Dental Hygiene Month – What can be done to improve your hygiene department? Examine your current protocols and systems…both clinical and administrative. See also: Tips and Ideas to Fill Holes In Dental Hygiene Schedules and Scripting for when your dental patient calls to cancel their cleaning appointment…

Use it or Lose it Reminders – Get your letters (& phone calls) out to your patients reminding them to use any insurance benefits they have remaining for 2018 to complete any needed treatment or for their continuing care hygiene appointment before they lose them. SEE Remaining Maximum Tips and Ideas (Sample Letter)

Combine these practice management ideas with my Marketing Ideas and you will have a great October (and final quarter) as a team! Not to mention, your patients will love you for it!

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

As always, I would love to hear your ideas! Should you need any help implementing these ideas or have any other questions that I can help you answer… I’m ready to help!

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. 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