Word of Mouth: A Powerful Tool

Nearly 95% of unhappy patients don’t tell their dentists that they were dissatisfied with the service they received. Even worse, 80% of lost dental patients can be attributed to a problem with your office staff. If these statistics sound alarming to you, think of how much worse it can be when these patients spread the word to relatives, friends and acquaintances about their bad experience with your dental practice

Word of Mouth is an extremely powerful tool. Almost 90% of new patients go to a dental practice based on the recommendation of someone else. Word of mouth is a giant networking system among patients and the only way to penetrate that network is to offer the kind of service dental patients are looking for.

The following is a list of qualities (in order of importance) that patients look for in a dentist:

1. Appears knowledgeable
2. Appears to be interested in the patient
3. Explains what he or she is doing and why
4. Asks appropriate questions about the dental problem
5. Offers practical solutions for the problem
6. Spends enough time with the dental patient

Based on this list, here are some recommendations for dentists who want to tap into the “patient grapevine”:

1. Reinforce your competence. Let a new dental patient know if you have treated many others with the same ailment. Also, let a patient know if their problem is something you special training or interest in.
2. Don’t be silent. Communicate with the patient throughout the visit. Engage in personal conversations and let the dental patient know exactly what it is you are doing during the examination.
3. Involve the dental patient in diagnosing and treating the problem. Ask the patient questions and suggest possibilities. Also, don’t assume that a patient will accept any diagnosis and treatment you give. Ask the dental patient what they think and offer alternatives if possible
4. Reinforce positive experiences. Ask dental patients directly if they were happy with their experience, with you and your staff. If they feel they can talk freely about a positive experience they had with you, imagine how freely they will talk about it with others.
5. Identify negativity. If you see a dental patient feels uncomfortable or is upset about something ask the patient what the problem is.

These five tips can play a big part in how you are perceived by dental patients and how they will talk about you to friends and family. Remember that patients tend to look for something negative to relay to others. If you give them a completely positive experience they will only have good things to say.