Your patients are your most valuable asset as a dentist. And it's not simply a matter of new dental patients that your practice brings. 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.
Many Irish people now choose to have their cosmetic dental treatment abroad in countries like Turkey, Spain and Portugal. Some of these countries offer their patients discounts of up to 70 percent on what Dublin can 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 Dentist practices allocate a portion of their marketing budgets towards acquiring and locating potential new patients. The amount of money that should be spent on attracting new patients varies from one dental practice 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.
This makes calculating the value of a new patient a vital component in determining the most prudent way of allocating your marketing budget. Marketing experts have different estimates when it comes to the long-term value of a new customer. Some have placed the estimates at just a couple of hundred dollars, while others place it well over $10,000.
A Wealthy dentist survey revealed that only a quarter of the 68 respondents had ever attempted to estimate the value of a brand 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.
Calculating Patient Lifetime Value
You need to know the lifetime value of each dental patient in order to build meaningful relationships with them. You can then structure and market your business strategically to maximize revenue and take your business to the next stage. The concept of Customer Lifetime Value or CLV is an estimation of the total value of a customer to a business during the entire period you have an engagement.
For any business, Customer Lifetime Value is an indispensable marketing measurement tool. It is particularly critical for businesses that are relationship-driven like dentistry. Consider the following factors when estimating your clinic's CLV:
* Lifelong Relationship: Total duration that an average patient spends at your dentistry.
* Average Annual Value (Average annual revenue): The amount of revenue generated annually by each patient.
* Client Referral Value: Patients referred by your average 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
Importance of Patient Lifetime Value Calculation
Once you have an estimate of a new dental patient's lifetime value, it becomes possible to make decisions that are more informed in regard to advertising and marketing. You will certainly not want to spend more resources on acquiring new patients than what they bring to your dental practice in their lifetime.
When you have a clear idea of the current worth of each new patient, it also gives you a guide client target figure that needs to be exceeded. 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 accept, for instance, less than $400 as payment? You would most likely 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. Your dental office will be more successful and valuable if you can increase the lifetime value of your patients.
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 helps you decide which promotional efforts to keep or abandon. 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. Imagine going to the office with bad breath, or attending a party while your teeth are showing visible cavities. As you can now tell, dentists are very important in our lives. However, going for a dentist check-up when you have a problem with your teeth is not good enough. What you need to do is to see a dentist more 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 either clean your teeth or fill your cavities among other things. 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 type of dental situation could affect her career, as braces can affect her singing performance. By visiting your dentist more frequently, you can avoid similar situations. Do not wait until things are irreparable for you to visit your dentist. If you wait to treat gum disease, tooth decay and cavities among other dental problems, it will cost you more than necessary.
- Dental Checkups Can Save Your Life and Help You to Keep Your Teeth
There are more than three hundred thousand new cases of oral cancer reported each year while millions of people have a tooth or two removed each day. You don't have to suffer the same fate. You can actually treat oral cancer in time if you are at a risk of developing it or keep all your teeth if you are in danger of losing them to disease or cavities. Regular dental checkups can help you keep your smile by identifying the problem and addressing it quickly.
Regular checkups are important for many reasons. They do not cost much nor do they take up much of your time. They are quick, convenient and practical. Avoiding regular checkups can lead to many unnecessary inconveniences. Now that you know the importance of dental checks, you don't have to deal with any of these inconveniences. Allow a dentist help you to diagnose any problem in time and deal with this problems if it does exist. Call today and schedule your dental check-up.