Monday, December 3

Monday afternoon question that nobody really wants to answer and that you can't REALLY market without!

Recently a dentist asked a couple questions on new patients. 

He asked:

1) For marketing purposes, I was told a new patient acquisition will cost $50-$100. So if I am trying to get 50 NP per month, I should spend $2500-$5000 monthly. Is that correct?

2) I read that a new patient will generate $750-$1500. Over the course of what time frame? Some posted that on average a NP will need ~$250 worth 
of treatment. Other posted $700. So I am a bit confused. It is such a huge gap.

Athena saves the day by answering:

The important thing is to know your numbers:

-How much do you spend in time, money and energy attracting each new patient? How does that translate to production (and how do you define that?) and how do those numbers translate into the actual number of new patients you actually need in order to reach your goals?

-What are your goals?? Do you even want more patients or would you rather have more profitable cases for example?

-What is your marketing budget? How are you using it to reach your goals?

Now, once a patient is in the door, there are a lot of questions to work on:

-What kind of patients are you attracting with your marketing budget? How much do they value your service? What types of cases are they presenting?

-Where are new patients coming from - what marketing methods are attracting the most and/or the best patients?

-What's the case acceptance rate of insurance referrals vs. specialist referrals vs. patient referrals vs. external marketing leads?

-Where are the points of contact once in your practice where you can increase their level of trust in you and your service, and therefore their case acceptance?

-Please remember when considering a marketing budget, by the way, that contrary to popular opinion that insurance simply funnels patients into your practice, you're still "paying" for new insurance patients, and typically much more than undertaking your own controlled marketing effort - the difference between the market value of your services and what insurance will pay is the cost you're paying to get those people in the door.

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