7 Steps to Help Your Startup Orthodontic Practice Excel

Running a modern Orthodontic practice requires focus and high level patient care. There are many ways to make your practise stand above the rest and keep 

The day-to-day operations of your practice are just as important as the patient experience. The operations professionals at Orthosynetics, orthodontic consultants, based in Dallas believe leaving a lasting impression on your patients considerably improves your retention rate. It is also important that your business is organised, uses best practices puts the patient at the centre of its practice.

Here are 7 steps to help develop a startup dental practice:

Get your Marketing and Admin Taken Care of By Professionals.

One of the best things you can do to keep your focus on what you're best at Orthodontic work is to get your marketing and admin taken care of. This will free you up to give the concentrate on giving the best level of patient care you can.

“Letting a professional orthodontic consultants in  takes care of your business development, practise management and marketing. This lets them take care of bringing new patents in and expanding your profit and running the day to day operations with you in control,  whilst you can focus on the job you know best”. - Othodontic Consultant Company OthoSynetics

Create a unique practice

Your dental clinic is an oral health care provider, but in order to be bigger, you must look at it as more than that. No doubt, it is a business establishment (unless it is set up for charity), and to grow successfully, you must identify, promote and protect your unique competitive points. Whether it is a new technological process or a specialty skill, this unique characteristic can set you apart from other practices in your location.

Promote these features of your business consistently across various channels. Don’t depend on traditional advertising media alone, instead use e-newsletters, dental postcards, ebrochures and social media marketing.

Practice professionalism

What type of image does your practice convey to its customers? Professionalism encompasses mannerisms, typical conventions and type of politeness a business should practise and project to its stakeholders. In the dental setting, being unprofessional constitutes lack of discretion among staff, improper front-desk etiquette, failing to send follow-up messages to customers, and thanking them for patient referrals.

Be careful of exposing your ‘weaknesses’ in office management to your patients because they are likely to remember it. Imbibe professionalism into your practice and let your customers feel it every time they come around.

People management

Building your new practice successfully involves teamwork. A standard practice has dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, facility managers and receptionist(s). It is important that everyone is trained sufficiently to be able to perform effectively as team members in their duties. Organising monthly staff meetings helps to keep every member updated on important office issues.

Recognition and celebration of excellent staff work must be practiced. This goes a long way to keep your team members motivated and build a self-worth from their jobs.

Expand your services

Business growth occurs when you diversify aspects of your practice to accommodate the growing needs of patients. Identify new ways you can add value to your service. This not only strengthens your competitive advantage, but raises interest of potential customers. Whether you are thinking of partnering with a specialist or acquiring a new dental equipment, ensure the additions are relevant and capable of meeting your community’s growing demands.

However, beware of overextending your practice. Learn to establish a balance between cutting-edge technology and unwavering service excellence. With this, your practice will grow to become a trustworthy one in its niche.

Use flexible payment systems

Every successful practice affords its patients with multiple methods of payment options. This simple approach makes them more willing to accept treatment referrals and remain loyal customers for extended periods of time. Besides an insurance policy, other simplified payment options include debit, credit, personal cheque, and of course cash.

It may also be smart to prepare an exclusive payment structure for customers with various personal financial circumstances. This makes payment more flexible and endears them more towards your practice.

Improve your patient referrals

Growing your customer base is very important. And one reliable way to do this is word-of-mouth (WOM) referral. In a recent survey by Nielsen, it was revealed that people trust recommendations from family and friends about 92% of the time, over other marketing methods. It is therefore imperative to incorporate a referral component in your dental practice.

Patients are often busy with activities in their own lives, so in order encourage them to refer your practice, you must be proactive in your approach. Hand out referral cards, include it in your newsletters, give referral bonuses or incentivise your staff to speak more about your practice.

Growing a dental practice from scratch isn’t an easy job, but with the right steps in place, yours could become the go-to place for oral healthcare and treatment in your community.