Dentist

As a dentist, your most valuable assets are your patients. And it's not simply a matter of new dental patients that your practice brings. It is important to understand the value of every patient for your practice before you launch a dental marketing campaign. Your dentistry business can be made or broken by the total profit delivered over time by these patients. If you are to retain a steady and growing number of patients, you must also now what keeps them happy.

For instance, considerable portions of the Irish people are now opting to receive their cosmetic dental treatments abroad in countries such as Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and Eastern Europe. Dental clinics in some of these countries offering their patients savings of up to 70% on what Dublin has to offer. Perhaps these countries add more value to their dental patients, underlying the significance of why your practice needs to re-evaluate its marketing strategies.

New Dental Patients: Value for Money

The majority of dentistry practices channel a part of their overall marketing budgets to acquiring and locating new patients. The amount of money that should be spent on attracting new patients varies from one dental practice to another. It goes without saying that the dollars going into marketing efforts geared to attracting a new patient must not exceed that patient's lifetime value to the practice.

This makes calculating the value of a new patient a vital component in determining the most prudent way of allocating your marketing budget. Marketing experts have different estimates when it comes to the long-term value of a new customer. Some experts have estimated the value at a few hundred dollars while others put it well above $10,000.

A Wealthy Dentist survey that revealed that out of the 68 dentistry survey respondents, only a quarter had ever tried estimating the value of a new dental patient. The respondents estimated the value of new dental patients in the range $200-$3,000. The average per dental patient was between $900 and $1,000.

Determining Patient Lifetime Value

To build meaningful dentist-patient relationships, you need to have an estimate of the lifetime value each dental patient brings. This way, you can structure and market your practice strategically with the goal of maximizing revenue and taking your business to the next level. The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is an estimate of the total value a client brings to a company during the period of time you have an engagement.

Customer Lifetime Value is a vital marketing tool for any business. It is especially important for businesses that are relationship driven, like dentistry. Consider the following factors when estimating your clinic's CLV:

• Lifelong relationship: Average time spent by a patient at your dental office.

• Average Annual Value: Revenue made annually from each patient.

• Client Referral Value: Patients referred by your average client.

In calculating the lifetime value of an average patient, the following formula is useful:

Lifetime Patient Value = Average Annual Value x Lifelong Relationship + Client Referral Value

Importance of Patient Lifetime Value Calculation

Once you have an estimate of a new dental patient's lifetime value, it becomes possible to make decisions that are more Smile Design Studio informed in regard to advertising and marketing. You won't want to spend more money on acquiring new dental patients than they will bring to your practice over their lifetime.

You can also set a client target that you need to exceed when you know the current value of each new patient. If you invest $5000 into a patient postcard campaign and you believe the new customer will be worth $500, then you need to bring in at least 10 new patients to consider your campaign successful.

Alternative valuation method

You can also estimate the value of a new patient by asking yourself how much money you would accept from another dentist if you were to "sell" one of yours. Would you, for example, be willing to receive less than $400? You would most likely ask for more.

Many times, dental patients seeking services during an emergency tend to go back to the dentist they see regularly. In such a scenario, when calculating patient value, consider how you can convert that emergency patient into a regular one. Your dental office will be more successful and valuable if you can increase the lifetime value of your patients.

Conclusion

Armed with how to calculate the value of your new dental patients and why you need to do the estimation, your dentistry practice will be in a position of making marketing decisions that are more informed leading to higher Return-On-Investment. The Customer Lifetime value measurement methodology will help you assess the profitability of marketing and promotional campaigns. It guides in highlighting which promotional efforts should be abandoned or kept. If you can increase the lifetime value of every dental patient, then your practice will see steady profits over time.

Many people don't know the importance of dental checksups. Many people cringe when the mention of a dental examination is made. This is a very negative view of what dentists do. Can you imagine going to work with bad breath or going to a party with visible cavities in your teeth? You can see that dentists play a very important role in our lives. However, going for a dentist check-up when you have a problem with your teeth is not good enough. You should visit a dentist regularly. Here are some reasons why you shouldn't underestimate the importance dental checkups.

- Dental Checkups Lead to a Correct Diagnosis In Good Time

Many people don't realize the importance of dental examinations until they experience some type of gum pain. This is quite unfortunate because you can easily avoid such pain with regular dental checkups. For example, a dentist can easily tell when cavities start to develop in your teeth or when a certain gum disease begins to spread in your mouth. This means that dentists can take corrective measures before any pain sets in. They can either clean your teeth or fill your cavities among other things. Dentists are also able to address other issues, such as halitosis, with dental checkups.

Dental Checkups Save You A Lot of Cash

Dealing with dental issues and diseases once they come up is quite expensive. These problems and diseases can also be very inconvenient. Can you imagine, for example, a professional singer wearing braces because she didn't visit her dentist regularly? This kind of dental situation can affect her career because braces will affect her singing performance. By visiting your dentist more frequently, you can avoid similar situations. Do not wait until the damage is irreversible before you visit your dentist. Treating gum diseases, cavities and tooth decay among other kinds of dental problems with cost you more money than necessary if not treated today.

- Dental checkups can save your life and help you keep your teeth

There are more than three hundred thousand new cases of oral cancer reported each year while millions of people have a tooth or two removed each day. You do not have to suffer a similar fate. You can actually treat oral cancer in time if you are at a risk of developing it or keep all your teeth if you are in danger of losing them to disease or cavities. Regular dental checkups can help you keep your smile by identifying the problem and addressing it quickly.

These are the main reasons why you should seriously consider going for regular checkups. They do not cost much nor do they take up much of your time. They are convenient, quick and practical. Remember, many unnecessary hassles come with avoiding regular checkups. Now that you know the importance of dental checks, you don't have to deal with any of these inconveniences. Let a dentist diagnose any problems and treat them if they exist. Call today to schedule your dental checkup.