Myles Bristowe's Page

Wow! Thank you for the compliments! Just like my post when you are held in a position of trust & esteem as a dental professional & you give out a heartfelt gesture - the patient's love it! How often do you get an acknowledgment like that when you go to the Physician's office? I rarely do, but I do tell them I appreciate their time & thank them for their quality conscientious service.

In response to your question about "formal" referral programs working well -
In my opinion & many years of managing a GP practice I was always looking for inexpensive ways to promote our office without being pushy. We did keep track of how we received our referrals on a monthly & annual basis. An effective dental software program should have a method to post each patient's referral source. From that report you can see where you are the most/least effective in your efforts. For example, we had "in-office" promotions during the year offering the patient who had the most referrals outside of their immediate family (you want to garner new family's with other networks) a complimentary In-office whitening treatment. Another, idea was for a one-to-two month period we announced that we were collecting non-perishable food items in our office to help our local food bank supply. We placed a large barrel in our waiting room to drop off donations. For each patient that came in & brought two items we gave them a $__ discount off that day's dental services. Once the barrel was collected we received a nice letter stating how much food was collected & how many family's we were able to help feed. We copied the letter & displayed it at the checkout station. This may not directly get you a new patient but it lets your patients know you are an office that is community minded & will generate goodwill. You can contact your local newspaper & have them do a free publicity human interest article on your practice's generosity. This could get you noticed faster for no cost to your practice.

The best gifts are anything that is consumable, especially when the economy is sluggish. Aren't you thrilled when you get a gift card to a store or restaurant? If you have a patient who has been exemplary in praising your office & they have a special interest in something ( i.e. cooking, golf, cars) a great gift to them would be a magazine subscription. I am grateful that someone took the time to do something so thoughtful.

Be creative & look at possibilities. See what you come up with!