Is your practice getting all it can from online appointment requests? Keep reading for an expert’s thoughts on the matter.
When a practice begins to leverage digital marketing, new patient leads will naturally begin to come from online sources. What we’ve discovered in our years of experience as a dental marketing agency is that most dental practices don’t know how to capture these new leads and turn them into appointments on the books. That’s exactly why we created PatientCaptureNow, a new automated lead tracking service that takes the pressure off the practice and dramatically increases lead conversion.
Digital marketing is essential for any dental practice that wants to be competitive in its market. With a good digital marketing strategy, a practice can effectively reach and attract many more patients than with traditional methods alone. For most practices, this is what makes digital marketing so appealing. However, when a practice begins to ramp up its digital marketing efforts, staff are usually not ready to handle the leads that start coming in from online appointment requests.
The first problem is that a lot more leads are starting to arrive after hours and on weekends when there’s no one to respond immediately. The second problem is that most leads generated from online sources, whether during business hours or otherwise, don’t get the immediate attention of follow-up staff members – not like a phone call, for example. As a result, perfectly good leads from people genuinely interested in what the practice has to offer languish, and potentially profitable patients end up going elsewhere.
Practices are used to answer the phone during business hours and return voicemail for calls that come in after hours. However, they are not equipped to also handle online appointment requests via email and SMS.
PatientCaptureNow fills this gap by easing the initial burden on the practice and ensuring that potential new patients don’t fall through the cracks. When a potential patient fills out an online form requesting an appointment, PatientCaptureNow automatically responds within minutes, first texting the patient and then sending an email.
If the patient does not answer, the system will phone the office and notify the staff member who answers the phone that there is a new lead. If the staff member presses 1, the system will dial the patient’s number. If the patient does not respond to any of these contact attempts, the system will continue to track until there is a response, or for approximately two weeks. All of this happens with no time commitment from the staff until the patient actually responds.
At that time, a staff member will need to schedule the appointment based on the patient’s request and office availability.
Practices using PatientCaptureNow are seeing engagement and response reach 80-90%, when initially that number might have been closer to 5-10%. Online leads no longer sit around for days or are completely ignored. During office hours when office staff are busy assisting patients who call, and after hours when the office is empty, PatientCaptureNow literally takes the lead. This saves time and makes managing potential new patients more effective and efficient for the practice.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that patients who are already interested in the practice and who take the time to complete an online application actually receive the attention they need, which increases the likelihood that they will take a first appointment and become real patients. .
For independent dental practices, most local markets are ultra-competitive, and that’s not expected to change. Any practice that wants to grow and be competitive needs an edge, starting with a great digital marketing strategy and including a reliable and predictable way to attract new patients. With PatientCaptureNow, a practice will seize opportunities that other practices miss. It is a reliable tool that helps to develop a practice, attracting quality patients who will invest in treatments and thus increase income.
If you are a dental professional and would like to learn more about the benefits of PatientCaptureNow for your practice, we can run a simple test to gauge how effectively your practice is handling online leads. Do not hesitate to contact My dental agency to learn more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With over a decade of experience in corporate dental laboratory marketing and brand development, Jackie Ulasewich-Cullen decided to take his passion for the dental industry and marketing to the next level by founding My dental agency.
Since starting her business, she and her team have helped a wide variety of practices across the country focus their message, reach their target audience, and increase sales through effective marketing campaigns.
She can be reached at (800) 689-6434 or by email at jackie@mydentalagency.com.
