Dental Office Marketing, “Ugly. Simple. Green. Powerful. But, We Don’t Take Your Insurance.”

Our unique Green Postcards have been known to return some very nice numbers. In fact, I just got off the phone with one client whom we mailed 750 for him. Sixty were returned due to no occupant, empty PO Box, etc. Of 690 delivered, our client had “4 or 5″ calls. We’re not on production yet, but the important thing is this: These postcards are getting folks to raise their hands!!! Let me repeat that: Getting the phone call is the first step in getting production on the books.

This leads me to another comment from a client recently. “We’ve had calls from the green postcards. Of those, a couple were ___________ [insert your insurance company name, MediCare, MedicAid, or whatever]. And we don’t accept ____________.”

Wait. Hold the phone. So, you want to turn away a patient because their payment method (or your first impression of their payment method) doesn’t “match” or “meet” your protocol?

First, as a dentist, you took an oath to provide dental care to those in need of dental care, correct?

Granted, you can’t have every case coming in being a case that YOU have to pay for. BUT, do you REALLY know that’s all they’ll use to pay for dentistry?

Why not this approach: “Thanks for calling Dr. Smith’s office! This is Sandra, can I help you?”

Patient: “Hi, Sandra. My name is Mrs. Johnson. I received a cute little green postcard from you and I wanted to make and appointment. Do you take __________ [method of payment]?”

Sandra: “Mrs. Johnson. I’m sooo glad you called. That little green postcard is great, isn’t it? OK, let’s see now, when was the last time you were in to see a dentist?”

And so the conversation goes… Sandra sets the appointment in the books and gets a commitment out of Mrs. Johnson. And finally, it gets back around to payment accepted by the practice:

“Sandra, that sounds wonderful. I’m very excited to meet the doctor. Now, I asked earlier, do you take _________?”

“Mrs. Johnson, that’s a good question. Unfortunately, no, but we do accept many alternative forms of payment, including allowing you to pay over time. You see, Mrs. Johnson, we believe the best dental care available is the kind you can afford. Even though we don’t accept assignment of insurance, we can arrange for a number of different ways you can receive Dr. Smith’s dental care. And believe you me, after you meet him and see just how kind and gentle he is, you’ll never want to see anyone else. My whole family comes here and we just love it! Since we don’t accept __________, can we work out the fee for services in __________ or __________ [suggest several options]?”

Now, if you DON’T accept whatever they are requesting, why not? Can you accept them and make a profit? Can you HELP the patient get what they need while fulfilling your needs? AND, what if they refer? That’s where the real value can begin to add up! It’s not just what they themselves spend, but those they refer, too!

If you need a method that will allow you to accept payment over time, call ASF at 503-581-8645 and ask for Bob. They can get you set up so you CAN accept payment over time, yet get paid every single week for your weekly production so your cash flow stays current and strong! Not every dentist in America can afford to send out 20,000 postcards or 5,000 newsletters each month, which is why my “practice” accepts payment over time and also delivers the services over time.

ACTION-TO-TAKE TIP: Re-evaluate how your practice can accept MORE of the calls you are paying to generate. Look at the payment methods you accept. It’s a common sense business principle to offer as many payment options as possible. Make it EASY for patients to BUY your services! If a patient emotionally WANTS treatment, they’ll move heaven to earth to make it happen.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.