Sustaining your dental clinic to success will take a lot of effort. But most of it starts at the beginning of its life span, and most of it relies on good management.
Many dental professionals have found the formula for a successful clinic. Marketing and product offerings can generate better revenue. At the same time, a good team and investment into the software can help your clinic run like a well-oiled machine. All of these are your best options to manage your clinic better.
Hire a Good Team
Good management always starts at the start of every business, and your business begins once you’ve gathered your team and opened your clinic. Having a good team will make a difference in managing your clinic, and it will certainly make your daily transactions a lot more efficient.
Hiring a good team isn’t an easy task but an entirely attainable one. You don’t always need to hire someone with desirable traits off the bat. Sometimes it’s better to hire someone that’s a lot more trainable instead. Moreover, it might be better to hire a team player than someone who excels in one job entirely. By the end of the day, you’re looking for someone that can communicate with the team and work well with them.
A good team is going to make a difference in your daily operations. You want them to function like a well-oiled machine, especially when it comes to technical jobs such as sterilizing dental equipment and molding dental impressions. Once you get a good team going, it’s time to concentrate on your clinic’s reception.
Always Follow Up on Missed Calls
Missed calls will be one of the main reasons you’re losing potential clients. Many people don’t like a snobby clinic, and they are less likely to call back on a failed attempt. On the other hand, a clinic that always follows up on missed calls shows good management to your clients and can help you gain more loyal customers.
Following up on missed calls can be quite challenging unless you get some help. Investing in software that can help keep track of these calls can make a huge difference. It also helps if your receptionist gets extra training beforehand. Moreover, chatbots can be a great option as well.
Investors in healthcare have poured over $800 million into chatbots. It will be a waste if you don’t want this opportunity to get one for your clinic. A chatbot can help increase your clinic’s engagement and also help you keep track of any chats you’ve missed. They can also help your clinic set up appointments and answer frequently answered questions. But they won’t have a purpose if you don’t have a website ready.
Have a Website Ready
A website can help alleviate some of the workloads from your secretary or receptionist, especially when the website is automated using chatbots and other software. In addition, a website gives you a presence on the internet, which is essential for any business nowadays.
Having a website for your dental clinic is crucial for your growth and the overall management of your business. Many people now search for services online, so that makes your clinic easier to recognize. It can also contain various things like the history of your clinic alongside its mission and vision. Essentially, it’s one good step towards marketing your business.
Market Whenever You Can
Good management always leaves enough funds for marketing, and you should be marketing your practice and your clinic whenever you can. However, if you don’t have enough funding, it isn’t the end of the world.
As a rule of thumb, you should be investing about 10% of the revenue you want to generate. So if you’re going to generate $100,000 worth of income this year, then $10,000 of that should go into marketing. It’s a good rule of thumb and one that’ll make it easier to allocate your yearly budget. However, what if you have zero funds for marketing? Your best option is social media and word of mouth.
Posting on social media and asking your clients to spread the excellent service you’re providing is both free marketing. However, they’re not as reliable, and you can’t know whether they are effective or not. Nonetheless, they are still marketing, and no form of marketing is bad marketing.
Offer Other Products
If you want to gain more revenue, you must start selling products for healthy dental hygiene to your clients. Simple items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste will always be an easy sell. However, specialized products such as a suitable toothbrush holder with a cocktail sticker are best-sellers in any clinic. Not a lot of pharmacies or supermarkets sell specialized products such as that. This can lead clients to flock to your clinic to purchase your specialized products.
Provide Other Payment Options
Lastly, if you want to make your clinic a lot more attractive to potential clients, you should try offering other payment options. More than half of the population here in the US have credit cards, and they are not afraid to use them, so make sure to have that as a payment option for your clinic. Other forms of payment options are cryptocurrency and bank transfers. Those are good options to have as well.
A well-managed clinic is going to help your clinic grow to success. So make sure to implement these suggestions the moment you open your clinic.