Growing Your Dental Practice in the Recession

Most professionals suffer during an economic downturn, and dental specialists are no exception. However, the economic trends are pointing to a future that holds good news for your practice.

The March 11, 2009, USA Today article, “Many Americans Say They Forgo Routine Dental Care,” reported that many people chose not to see a dentist at all in 2008. According to a Gallup-Healthways poll of 355,334 Americans, 34% didn’t go to the dentist at all that year.

That trend is surely hurting much more than dentists’ bottom lines. It’s hurting patients too. The routine dental care the economy is forcing some people to omit may well lead to bigger and more costly problems. While that’s not good news for patients, it is good news for you and your practice. 

Patient care is always critical, of course. But just as important in growing your practice in any economy is the way you are perceived by prospective dental patients. To build a successful dental practice, patients must have a great impression of you when it’s time to decide on treatment.  

This means you must fuel your marketing engine now. Do this and you’ll shape patient mindshare today and influence the buying decisions they’ll be making tomorrow.  

Top of mind when it counts

By continuing—or even increasing your marketing budget during the recession—you stand to gain by being top of mind with patients making decisions about dental treatment. Also, while your competitors may be cutting their marketing spending during the downturn, by staying the course or increasing yours, you will benefit exponentially. With fewer competing dental specialists spending on marketing and advertising, your visibility will go further. And this will go a very long way to shape perception.  

Special offers

Dental specialists, like many health care professionals, tend to be uncomfortable with the “sales” side of their business. Understandably, you don’t want to appear to push patients into treatments at the expense of quality care. 

However, consider the times in which we live. Patients experiencing pain may simply need an incentive. You can offer special free consultations or treatment discounts on your Web site, patient newsletters, mailings and ads. This will attract patients who may not otherwise come to you for treatment. By doing this, you help them receive the care they need while you build your business.  

When it comes to a patient’s health, even frugal people reach a point where they can no longer delay treatment. By marketing now, you will be positioned to be the provider they choose.  

Referral marketing

Referral marketing is always important, but it’s even more critical during tough economic times. When revenue is lean, professionals turn to the people they trust. Dentists need to protect patient relationships and trust implicitly the dental specialists to whom they refer their patients. This means you will need to market your specialty to dentists and other referring health care practitioners to remain on their short list. You will also need to take excellent care of those referred patients and communicate effectively to the referring health care provider’s office.