Recall Is Worthless... Unless You Do It Right.
I became part of the dental world after spending time in high end retail. High end retail is a field that spends its time fishing for whales while managing to catch lots of minnows. I could expect my regular customers who would come in like clockwork each season to spend $10,000 on a full wardrobe. I also had a lot of customers who would just come in to buy a pair of $400 shoes or a $200 silk scarf. The level of customer service I provided to each was exactly the same. All of my customers were offered Perrier water in crystal glasses while they shopped. All had their purchases gift wrapped so they could experience Christmas -like excitement when they got home.
Let’s fast forward to my experience in the dental world. I spent the bulk of my day fishing for minnows (recall patients) while whales (crown and bridge patients) float by. It didn't make sense and it frustrated me. Dental magazines suggested that "as a good front desk person (FDP)”, I should depend on stickers on charts to see who is overdue. I should runs reports of patients who had a prophy months ago and send them a Garfield postcard. I could even take that same report the following month to call the patients that had not responded to Garfield's smiling face.
This process went against everything I knew about customer retention. I felt that I, as the gate keeper, was already doing my job. Calls came in all day long from patients asking for "cleanings". Prescheduled visits were filling the hygiene book and I was scheduling them for a recall visit as they checked out. However, I was chasing the wrong patients. I needed to shift my focus. I needed to go back to what I had learned from Yves Saint Laurent and the Disney Institute. Fish for whales!
Think of Disney, they really don't need to market to the new mom and dad. That customer is dying to get to Disney. From the moment kids are born, parents try to figure out the "right time" to take them to the park. What about newlyweds, family reunions, and business conferences? Now, that’s the whale. That's where you should spend your marketing money and direct your business efforts. When was the last time you ran a report of the patients you did molar Endo on who never got the post/core and or crown? When was the last time you ran a report of the patients for whom you did a full denture 5 years ago? They probably haven't been seen since then - and imagine the discussion you can have about implant retained dentures.
Don’t waste time chasing minnows. There's a whale right behind you. Turn around and grab it!
DISCLAIMER:
This is a resource guide and all decisions on each dental office setup should remain the sole decision of the dentist/owner of the practice. Eaglesoft is a registered trademark of Patterson Dental Company. All other software or products mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Although Andre Shirdan was an employee of Patterson Dental, he is not associated with Eaglesoft or Patterson Dental Company or endorsed by Patterson or any other Company Mentioned in this blog
