“Rome was not built in a day” this saying goes with, building a dental empire.  A basic dental practitioner has to start from scratch to build his business. Putting up your dental practice takes more than just being a great dentist, let it be managing the patients or managing the team or providing the best possible dental experience to the patients. Many studies were done to jot down the basic requirements that were required for a dentist to be successful. 

Set your clinic in an exclusive location

When setting up a clinic is better to study the geography of the place. Study the population of prevailing dentists in the area, the most on-demand dentist among them, and the target population of the area. Consider planting a small sapling in a huge forest with long trees with huge branches, the sapling won’t stay alive for a long duration. The same applies for dentistry. Suppose in an area the same kind of specialists are found and we also belong the same category, it won’t be logical to set up a clinic in the same place with already known dentists. Instead, such an area should be found where the population is comparatively less to the population staying in that area.

Improvising your waiting room

First and foremost when the patient enters the clinic, they observe the waiting area of the clinic. If the waiting area is clumsy and dull, the mindset of the patient changes immediately. Instead, the waiting area can be made more interactive for the patient by making the waiting area more lively. A bookshelf can be installed for keeping the adults engaged along with a television set by the corner. For the kids, a recreational area can be created adding more toys to the area for the same. On the other hand, while nobody likes to wait for much longer in the waiting room, an idea is given to the patient as to when they will be meeting the dentist after the ongoing patient or they can be lead to the examination room where the time can be spent in order to reduce the waiting time.

Choosing your staff

The first patient interaction occurs with the clinic receptionist or another member of your front desk team. They play an important role in your team as they are the ones who help you to rope in newer patients by maintaining good relations with the previous patients. Their communication skills, professionalism, attitude leave a lasting impression on the patient, hence the saying goes “am impression can make or break your image”. To maintain this you have to make sure that each staff member is well trained to make the most of each patient interaction.

The word of mouth

Once an impression is marked over the patient, nothing can beat word-of-mouth. Recommendation from a friend, family member, and colleague or even the internet can be a reason why the patient chooses to come over to your clinic over the others. This can be done by providing your previous patients with a referral card so that they can pass it on to their friends or family members. 

Softwares to schedule your appointments

For a smooth functioning dental practice improvising the way, you schedule your appointments is the key. Better appointment scheduling not just only creates a better patient flow, but also maximizes the dental clinic’s productivity and decreases the stress of the patient and the dentist too. Therefore scheduling is the prime rule for better functioning. Also, manual billing can be hectic and can cause errors. Automated billing can reduce the stress of your team and improve access to the patients. With the presence of a paper billing system, it takes days to receive insurances from many companies therefore by upgrading to the electronic automated billing system means your office can access funds easily from the bank.

Keeping pace with newer technologies

With the advancement in technology, there are many gadgets dentists can invest in like the CAD/CAM scanner, light-curing gun, high functioning dental chairs and other equipment. By now dentists should know how to invest intelligently into such equipment’s. Just for the sake of improvising the clinic and making it look fancy does not complete the purpose of the purchase of the high-end equipment.

Roping in more patients

Keeping it friendly, is the new way to rope in more patients. People love it when there is something interesting happening around them and are amused to know the clinic is actively involved with festive occasions. Don’t make your clinic seem like a hospital when all people experience is dental phobia when they enter the clinic. Special days can be kept by putting a spin on ordinary days. The trend can be set by announcing theme days for roping in more patients. Setting in reminders for patients and passing useful and focused dental awareness content can make a difference.

Digital presence

In the world of digitalization where the digital presence of your clinic can help you get more patients is it very important to keep your clinic updated on digital and social platforms. Building a professional website, basically, the website will be there to show the progress of patient’s treatments who are willing to share the information for learning purposes can make a difference. Updating your clinic addresses on google maps and various platforms can help you reach out to patients even far from your clinic.

These few strategies will not only help in expanding your patient base but also help you stand out from the competition with other dentists. These points will  help maintain a positive relation with patient and your fellow team members

Highlights

• Dental practice and clinics are not built in one day. Patience and improvisation is the key to boost your dental practice.
• Keep your practice and clinic active and interesting.
• Find out what works the best for your clinic and your patients.
• Maintaining relations with your old patients is equally important as roping in new patients. Don’t take your old patients for granted.
• Digital presence can make a difference to reach out to patients.