Patient expectations are changing and practices must adapt and change to meet their requirements. Dental practices can no longer rely on word-of-mouth referrals alone to bring patients in through their doors. With the current trends in the profession leaning towards high levels of competition and increases in online advertising, practices will need to explore new avenues to keep up with the industry and to reach and attract new patients.
Often the first port of call for prospective patients looking for last minute treatment or a specific specialist procedure would be to turn to the Internet. No longer purely the domain of the younger generations, this is now the primary source of consumer information. From online banking to booking a train fare and from researching holiday destinations to completing the monthly shop, in the modern world if it isn’t on the Internet, then it doesn’t exist.
An increased online presence therefore is essential to ensure your practice maximises its potential for reaching as many patients as possible, even if your target audience is the older generation. However, online advertising and the setting up of new modern websites can be expensive and time consuming and, unless you are fully competent in all-things multimedia, can actually be counter-effective – as the wrong message online will only send your patients elsewhere.
Fortunately there are other options available for practices looking to extend their reach. By joining a marketing cooperative, for instance, practices can achieve results that would be otherwise impossible. Marketing cooperatives allow practices to participate in nationwide advertising without the associated costs. Indeed membership could grant access to large-scale marketing that would be very difficult for practices to achieve whilst maintaining their independence as a small practice or group of practices.
Other benefits of joining a marketing cooperative might include enhanced associations and affiliations within the profession, meaning an increased support network for your business. As well as the opportunity to expand on the provision of treatment and services you can offer through reputable patient referrals.
Marketing cooperatives such as United Smile Centres offer practices the opportunity to be a part of a wider promotional campaign, allowing access to patients that would otherwise look elsewhere for their dental treatment. United Smile Centres promotes same-day implant surgery targeted at the over 50s and its member-base is made up of highly recommended implant practices that all benefit from its patient referrals.
Patients can find a local practice offering Fixed Teeth in a Day through the postcode locator on the United Smile Centres website and are put into contact directly through the phone number provided. From a business perspective this represents a fantastic opportunity for practices, as all they need to do is sign up to United Smile Centres and the marketing cooperative does the rest.
If your practice offers same-day implant surgery and is looking for new ways to increase its reach, or if you are interested in enhancing your patient base without the associated costs of setting up new websites and national advertising campaigns then United Smile Centres could be the solution.
Olajumoke Alara, Practice Manager for Dental Specialists MK in Milton Keynes explains the advantages of becoming a member:
“We’ve had quite a few patients referred to us by United Smile Centres. The main benefit is the additional advertising the practice receives, plus the fact that the staff at United Smile Centres explain the treatment process and pass on other relevant information to the patients before they are sent to us for assessment, which reduces the amount of time we spend on the phone. We also receive really useful email feedback from United Smile Centres, which helps us with our record keeping.”
Jag Shergill BDS, MSc (Implants) from the Coventry and Birmingham Centre for Advanced Dentistry is highly impressed with his experience of United Smile Centres. He says:
“Being affiliated with United Smile Centres has truly been an excellent experience. The other members of the affiliated teams are likeminded individuals, and at a couple of the organised days it’s been very useful getting their viewpoints – and those whom I have spoken to have also been delighted with United Smile Centres within their practices.”
Dr Jay Padayachy at Senova Dental Studios in Watford explains how United Smile Centres has made his practice more efficient and productive:
“It’s been a good additional revenue stream for the practice, and it’s great to have potential patients preselected. This means that when they contact they practice, they are at least partially sold on the idea that they need treatment.
“By joining United Smile Centres, you can market your practice nationwide at a fraction of the cost usually involved. I would definitely recommend United Smile Centres. It’s a great concept to have a group of practices linked together with a central hub that fields the calls, logs the questions and then passes on an appropriate contact.”
For more information call United Smile Centres on 0800 8 49 49 59, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or visit www.unitedsmilecentres.co.uk