SUCCESS is in the follow-thru.  What do YOU do?

A first-time patient may have been very impressed with the warmth and consideration shown by the Dentist and the dental team. The patient seemed eager to get started and the next appointment was made. A Treatment Plan was prepared, to be presented, or to begin. A week has passed and the patient has just called to cancel or, even worse…… does not show for the appointment. What went wrong?

In almost all cases, the disjunction was caused by a lack of COMMUNICATION.

Here are few ideas to keep our patient engaged between visits by follow-thru. Please add your great ideas to the list. The objective is to build a lifelong relationship with your patient.

1. A New Patient Welcome package after their first call to let them know how pleased you are that they chose you.
2. A friendly Confirmation Call-  a given!
3. A visit-ending “debriefing”, recapping what was done today and the importance of the next visit. Stress the “clinical concerns”. Do this after every visit,
4. A letter or e-mail .telling them how you enjoyed meeting them and welcoming them into your family of patients.
5. Ask for permission to send them monthly e-newsletters with timely, interesting and fun-packed health-oriented information.

Make the right pitch and follow-thru. To a baseball pitcher, the trajectory of your arm, after the release of the ball, is a critical component to get the ball to a predictable location.

These are a few ideas for a start. What do YOU do, between visits, to maintain and grow that relationship, and make your patient look forward to that next appointment?