Dentist

Your patients are your most valuable asset as a dentist. It's not just about bringing in new dental patients. To successfully start a dental marketing campaign, it is important to know the value of each patient to your practice. Your dentistry business can be made or broken by the total profit delivered over time by these patients. If you are to retain a steady and growing number of patients, you must also now what keeps them happy.

For instance, considerable portions of the Irish people are now opting to receive their cosmetic dental treatments abroad in countries such as Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and Eastern Europe. Dental clinics in some of these countries offering their patients savings of up to 70% on what Dublin has to offer. Perhaps these countries add more value to their dental patients, underlying the significance of why your practice needs to re-evaluate its marketing strategies.

New Dental Patients: Value for Money

Most dental practices allocate a portion of their marketing budgets towards acquiring and locating potential new patients. The amount that should go towards attracting new patients will, of course, vary substantially from one dental clinic to another. It goes without saying that the dollars going into marketing efforts geared to attracting a new patient must not exceed that patient's lifetime value to the practice.

Calculating the value of new patients is therefore a crucial component when determining how to allocate your marketing budget. However, marketing experts, have a widely ranging estimate when it comes to a new client's long-term value. Some have placed the estimates at just a couple of hundred dollars, while others place it well over $10,000.

A Wealthy Dentist survey that revealed that out of the 68 dentistry survey respondents, only a quarter had ever tried estimating the value of a new dental patient. The respondents estimated the value of new dental patients in the range $200-$3,000. The average per dental patient was between $900 and $1,000.

Determining Patient Lifetime Value

To build meaningful dentist-patient relationships, you need to have an estimate of the lifetime value each dental patient brings. You can then structure and market your business strategically to maximize revenue and take your business to the next stage. The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is an estimate of the total value a client brings to a company during the period of time you have an engagement.

Customer Lifetime Value is a vital marketing tool for any business. It is especially important for businesses that are relationship driven, like dentistry. Among the factors to consider in estimating CLV for your particular clinic includes:

• Lifelong Relationship: Total duration that an average patient spends at your dentistry.

• Average Annual Value: Revenue made annually from each patient.

• Client Referral Value : The average number of patients referred by a client.

In calculating the lifetime value of an average patient, the following formula is useful:

Lifetime Patient Value = Average Annual Value x Lifelong Relationship + Client Referral Value

The importance of patient lifetime value calculation

You can make more informed decisions about advertising and marketing once you have an estimate for the lifetime value of a new patient. You will certainly not want to spend more resources on acquiring new patients than what they bring to your dental practice in their lifetime.

You can also set a client target that you need to exceed when you know the current value of each new patient. If, for example, you think the new customer is worth $500 and you have invested $5000 in a patient postcard campaign, then, for you to consider your campaign a success, you will need to bring over 10 new patients.

Alternative valuation method

You can also estimate the value of a new patient by asking yourself how much money you would accept from another dentist if you were to "sell" one of yours. Would you, for example, be willing to receive less than $400? In all probability, you would ask for more.

Many times, dental patients seeking services during an emergency tend to go back to the dentist they see regularly. When calculating the value of a patient, you should consider how to convert an emergency patient into one who is a regular. Improve the lifetime worth of your dental patients and your dentistry office will become more valuable and successful.

Conclusion

Armed with how to calculate the value of your new dental patients and why you need to do the estimation, your dentistry practice will be in a position of making marketing decisions that are more informed leading to higher Return-On-Investment. The Customer Lifetime value measurement methodology will help you assess the profitability of marketing and promotional campaigns. It guides in highlighting which promotional efforts should be abandoned or kept. If you can enhance the lifetime value of each dental patient, your practice will experience steady gains in profitability over the long-run

Many people do not know the importance of dental checkups. Many people cringe when the mention of a dental examination is made. This is a very negative way of looking at what dentists do. Can you imagine going to work with bad breath or going to a party with visible cavities in your teeth? You can see that dentists play a very important role in our lives. It is not enough to go for a check-up with a dentist when you have a tooth problem. You should visit a dentist regularly. Here are reasons why you should not underestimate the importance of dental checkups.

- Dental Checkups Can Lead To a Proper Diagnosis in Good Time

Many people do not realize the importance of dental checkups until they feel some kind of pain in their gums. It is unfortunate that you can avoid this pain by having regular dental checkups. For example, a dentist can easily tell when cavities start to develop in your teeth or when a certain gum disease begins to spread in your mouth. This means that dentists can take corrective measures before any pain sets in. They can also fill cavities or clean your teeth. Dentists can also address other issues such as halitosis with require dental checkups.

Dental Checkups Save You A Lot of Cash

It is expensive to deal with dental problems and diseases after they occur. These problems and diseases can also be very inconvenient. Can you imagine, for example, a professional singer wearing braces because she didn't visit her dentist regularly? This kind of dental situation can affect her career because braces will affect her singing performance. You can avoid similar situations by visiting the dentist more regularly. Do not wait until the damage is irreversible before you visit your dentist. Treating gum diseases, cavities and tooth decay among other kinds of dental problems with cost you more money than necessary if not treated today.

- Dental checkups can save your life and help you keep your teeth

More than 300,000 new cases of oral carcinoma are reported every year. Meanwhile, millions of people lose a tooth each day. You do not have to suffer a similar fate. If you are at risk of developing oral cancer, you can treat it in time. You can also keep your teeth if they are in danger of falling out due to disease or decay. Regular dental checkups will help you to keep smiling by determining the problem at hand and then dealing with it promptly.

These are the main reasons why you should seriously consider going for regular checkups. They do not cost much nor do they take up much of your time. They are quick, convenient and practical. Remember, many unnecessary hassles come with avoiding regular checkups. You do not have to go through any of these hassles now that you understand the importance of dental checkups. Let a dentist diagnose any problems and Smile Design Studio treat them if they exist. Call today to schedule your dental checkup.