Let's talk about that patient list for a minute...

Last time I shared with you the vital importance of developing
and maintaining a strong relationship with your own patient list.
As I said then, this list is BY FAR your most valuable asset...
and it needs to be nurtured as if it were.

To clarify, your "patient list" consists of the names and ALL
contact information of your existing patients. The names alone
are worthless without the means to contact them routinely via
several different avenues. Home, work and cell phone numbers,
email address, and snail mail address are the minimum you'll
need. If you're missing any of these, get them now.

I was going to discuss how best to "mix your messages" for maximum
effectiveness, but I'm going to save that for Monday. In its
place today I want to bust a BIG MYTH that many doctors buy into,
and how it can wreck the results you COULD get from the concept
of Continuous Consistent Contact. That myth is the belief that:

"ONLY patients who have been in your office within the last 2
years or so" should be considered as your 'existing' patients."

I want to emphasize that I said "existing" patients. To me
that means ALL patients that have NOT specifically left your
practice, or have NOT asked to no longer receive messages from you.
I need to discuss this for a moment, because it's very important.

Don't listen to any so-called experts who tell you to "deactivate"
patients that haven't been in for 24 months or whatever they say.
Bluntly, that's a bunch of C-R-A-P. Keep them ON your list until
they "opt out", period. If you haven't been staying in touch,
why do you think they ain't comin' in?!?!

Most of these patients have NOT gone to another dentist...they
just haven't been back to see you. It's easy to sit and wonder,
"what did we do wrong?" But it's usually something in the
patient's life that has kept them away, whether it be a legitimate
reason or their own procrastination.

As Walter Hailey used to say: "It's not that they don't think very
much of you...it's just that they don't think of you very much!"

Problem is, since you never contacted them, they FORGOT about you,
or they thought YOU didn't want them to come back! Many even think
that you're MAD at them, and they're embarrassed that they've been
away for so long. So they go somewhere else, because it's easier
for them to start over than to face you. Twisted, but true.

Imagine if you had kept in touch with mailed newsletters, timely
emailed messages, and more. These patients would feel CONNECTED
to you and your practice, even if they haven't been in a dental
chair for a few years.

What if, in your communications, you reached out to overdue
patients with a "no guilt zone" message, welcoming them back with
open arms? You'd still be their "obvious choice"...and when
they're finally ready to return to a dentist, they'll return to
YOU!

More importantly, many of these overdue patients would never have
gone overdue. When you stay in touch, you stay "top of mind",
and you develop a sense of reciprocity in your patients that
compels many of them to be better patients and stick to their
recall schedules.

Want the BEST part? Here it is. Your good patients will become
GREAT patients for the same reasons. They'll DO MORE DENTISTRY!
They'll REFER more, especially if they are invited frequently to
refer. And your greatest patients...well, there will just be
more of them. Would that be OK with you?

Please don't worry about the perceived costs of maintaining
your relationships with your patients by staying in touch.
If done properly, any money invested in Continuous, Consistent
Communication with them will come back many times over!

So...keep your list stocked with your more regular patients AND
all those patients that haven't been so regular. Give them ALL
the opportunity to remain in your family of patients. If you've
neglected your patient list, get started today at cultivating
them.

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

PS: Next time...my recipe for the best "message mix"!