Finding the holes in your bucket

Finding the holes in your bucket! But first...

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Despite all the bad news and more bad news out there today,
this is a wonderful time of year, for two reasons.

First, it's starting to get warmer here in Charlotte, even
though we're in for about a week of chilly rainy weather. I'll
probably have to cancel Kenan's soccer practice and 1st game
this weekend...but I can smell the warm weather coming.

Second, it's "March Madness" time...college basketball
tournaments...oh yeah! Being a Univ. of North Carolina double
alumnus and lifelong Tar Heel fan, I'm hopeful that the Heels
can bring home another championship. I realize that you may
not be a college basketball fan...and/or you can't stand UNC...
but that's fine with me. Take from it what you will and enjoy
the tourney if it's your thing. Regardless of outcome (except
of course if Duke wins), I always appreciate the competition.

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OK, back to finding the holes in your bucket. What I'm talking
about is the concept of how you LOSE patients. New patients,
existing patients... any patients who were once yours but now
have gone away. Note that I said gone AWAY... not necessarily
to another dentist!

What processes, protocols, or lack thereof in your practice
cause potential or active patients to not want to return.
Or, what is it that makes them so indifferent about your practice
that they aren't motivated to come back. When patients don't
stay attached regularly to your practice, it could be either
or both of the above.

Now you may be saying, "Dadgummit Chris, I thought you were
going to show me how to BUILD my practice, how to add more
new patients, how to get more referrals, etc. etc. etc."
Well, you know I do that. But the thing is,

If You're Pouring Patients Into A Bucket Full Of Holes,
You're Gonna Have A Leaky Mess On Your Hands!

And, when you reach into that bucket, there's not going
to be nearly as much as you thought there would be inside.
Finding, and then plugging, the holes in your bucket is
actually one of THE keys to growing your practice.

In the interest of brevity, let's look at a list of what
could be either keeping patients away, or failing to inspire
them to stay connected. Keep in mind that this is NEVER a
complete list... but these are some of the biggies.

- Failure to strengthen your relationship with patients
- Failure to stay in touch with patients over time
- Lack of a consistent recall system
- Lack of a consistent overdue recall system
- Failure to follow up with new patient leads
- Failure to follow up with unconverted patients
- Poor to mediocre phone closing skills
- Poor to mediocre case closing skills
- Weak verbal skills in ANY aspect of communication
- Weak "customer service"
- Inflexible financial arrangements, or lack of enough options
- Inflexible scheduling protocols

There are certainly more, but I'll stop there. These are the
things that make your marketing much more expensive... they
KILL your return on investment.

Fix these things, and you can double or triple the effectiveness
of your marketing without spending a dime extra! Plus you'll
retain more potential referral sources that can drive your
revenues through the roof.

So, while you do certainly want to focus on acquiring more
new patients, you'll want to make absolutely sure you're
not pouring them into a leaky bucket full of holes!

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction