How to Instantly Double the Number of New Patients You See

How to Instantly Double the Number of New Patients You See: "

It’s one of the most common—and most costly—mistakes dentists make: believing that a “no” today is a “no” forever. You examine a patient, present your findings, suggest a treatment plan, which the patient turns down, and then…that’s it. The patient goes into the hygiene cycle, and you continue to perform routine care on them year after year.

These patients who say no right from the start to the best care you can offer are a great source of frustration, because once they get into that mode it just becomes ongoing tooth by tooth maintenance. But these Proactive patients are exactly the ones you need to learn to love the most because, as we saw in the last post, they represent your greatest opportunity for growth.

That person who said no five years ago could have a whole new life story today—new career, new marital status, new self-image, new robust economics—and you need to re-present your findings to that new person.

So here’s what you do. Give your existing patients, at least every five years, an opportunity to start over and realign with their possibilities. If you have 1,500 patients, that means 300 a year, or 25 a month.

And here’s how you do it. For every brand new patient you see in the practice—you know, the kind you get so excited about because they’re full of untapped possibilities—select an existing patient with longstanding untreated possibilities who is coming in, and give that patient the same “new patient” energy. Find a way to re-engage them, even if it is as simple as saying, “I think it’s time we take stock of where you’re at.” Diagnose and present to them as if you’ve never seen them before. You’ve now effectively doubled your new patient flow, and I think you’ll be surprised at how the acceptance rates stack up with these two kinds of “new” patient.

The bottom line is that there is so much opportunity during the life of a typical patient, for you and for them, that you simply can’t afford to give up on the idea that their circumstances will change. This is a life-affirming, optimistic way to practice dentistry—and it brings with it the capacity to not only recognize change in peoples’ lives, but to inspire it.

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