How to attract new patients to your squat practice

What makes patients choose your practice over a competitor’s? Kunal Thakker shares his roadmap for attracting new patients as a squat practice owner.

As squat practice owners, one of our core functions is to bring in new patients – and that’s really hard, right? Let’s be honest, people go to the same dentist for years. How do we get them to come to us rather than go elsewhere? There are a lot of different things we can do.

Discoverability

Firstly, let’s talk about advertising. This starts with making sure you have a strong website and a strong Google presence – both organically through SEO and through pay-per-click adverts. Also, making sure those adverts are actually giving us a return on investment. If you are spending £100 on an advert, how many patients is that actually bringing in? Being really clear about that is really important.

Then we have the social media side. Platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook are pretty crowded. Most dental practices have a social media account, so you need to make sure that your content is different – maybe a little bit edgy – to make people stop and look at what you’re doing. I’ve seen many Instagram profiles that just show pictures of teeth on a black background. These don’t provide much meaning. People want to see how you’ve changed people’s lives, how you’ve changed people’s styles. Showing that journey authentically works really well on social media.

In addition to getting patients in through the door digitally, our practices tend to benefit from footfall. In other words, people walk past the building and it draws them in. Making sure that we’re open during accessible hours, including Saturdays and evenings, makes your dental practice more appealing for patients.

Make it simple

The other really important thing for securing new patients is to make sure that it’s easy for them to book an appointment. If you’ve got a patient coming in, making sure that you make them feel welcome – that first impression is so important.

When you discuss treatment options, talk to them how you would to your mum, dad or gran. Make it really simple. When we get carried away with clinical jargon or the risks of treatment too early on, it can often put people off.

What you want to do is get them booked in, and then you go can through the clinical journey after that. This means it’s really important that we simplify the language we use. A lot of people don’t know what things like amalgam or composite mean, so break it down and make sure they really understand you.

Cost versus value

When a new patient walks through your door, one of their preconceived ideas is that it’s going to be expensive, particularly if you’re a fully private practice. Counteracting this is about making sure they understand not only the value of treatment, but also how it can be made affordable. Can they pay 50% upfront and the rest over the course of treatment? Are there finance options available? Do you take credit card?

In terms of selling the value of treatment, it’s important to explain why they should come to you rather than the practice next door or an NHS practice, where they could potentially get the treatment for free. Added value is really important when you’re attracting new patients.

Above all, the patient experience is the most important factor when they walk in through your door or call your practice. Make sure that they feel warm and welcome, whether that’s offering them a beverage or sitting next to them and having a chat to really understand their needs. Just stopping for a moment and listen. Once you’ve got that buy in, they will sign up and book an appointment.

Good luck with attracting your new patients!

Catch up with the rest of the Developing a Squat Practice series:

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