The following is a guest post by Amanda Gagnon of aweber.com. If you are interested in guest posting for Dental Heroes, please sign up here.

You know exactly how to fashion a retainer to hold teeth in place, but retaining your customers is a whole different story.

They come, they go, they switch practices, and what can you do about it other than just doing the best job you can when they’re in the chair?

A whole lot, actually. When it comes to coaxing reluctant patients back into your office, email marketing can ease the pain.

How Email Is Designed to Bring Customers Back

Email’s recurrent nature makes it perfect for increasing retention. Sending emails on a consistent basis builds a good rapport with your patients, and eventually, a relationship of trust.

And let’s face it. Your patients make themselves pretty vulnerable to you and your sharp, shiny dental pick. Trust and a good rapport are vitally crucial to getting them comfortable with coming back again and again.

Let’s talk about how to use email to build that trust and rapport.

Four Ways to Leverage That Potential

1. Follow up with first-timers

New patients are doubly apprehensive – they have the usual worry about discomfort, plus the anxiety of a first-time experience. Get them comfortable from the moment they book their first appointment by sending them a follow up series.

Introduce yourself and your staff, include personal anecdotes, explain any quirks in how you work. (Use sunglasses to keep the overhead light out of their eyes? Tell them – they can look forward to it!)

Is there anything they’ll need to know when they show up? How early should they arrive? Where should they park? The more helpful details you can provide, the more they’ll appreciate you reaching out.

2. Pop up periodically

Once you’ve got your patients’ anxiety under control, you have to deal with their, ah…selective memories. After all, who can remember that March is the month they get their teeth cleaned?

There are two ways to address this little issue:

1. If you’ve got your CRM integrated with an email service, send a triggered email to each patient when it’s time to schedule their next cleaning, based on the date of their last appointment.

2. If not, schedule a broadcast to show up every few months. Decide on a frequency that’s often enough to keep you in patients’ minds, but not so often that they get overwhelmed and unsubscribe.

3. And fill them with valuable content

You don’t just want to remind your patients to go to any dentist; you want them to come to you, specifically. You can earn their loyalty by filling your emails with content they’ll find truly helpful, whether it’s entertaining or educational.

Your patients will appreciate the effort you’ve put in, which will come in handy when that toothache kicks up.

Ideas of fun or educational content you can send:
• Fun facts about teeth
• A History of Toothcare timeline
• A look at toothcare across the globe
• Effective flossing techniques
• Insights into the flouride debate

4. Later on, get more personal

Over time, your patients are going to expect you to know them better. If they can tell they’re still getting a generic email along with the rest of your patients, they may actually feel alienated by your messages. Fortunately, email services usually offer the option to split your subscribers into segments. That way, you can send each patient information based on their own oral health interests, increasing their appreciation.

By reaching out with email in these ways, you can be not only a dental hero, but a patient retention superstar.

Free E-mail Marketing Guide from AWeber

Email marketing is cheap compared to other marketing methods and as easy as you need it to be (just use an email template and send as many emails as you want). If you want the basics of how to get started and set up and the ball rolling, download this free guide. Then put these ideas in place and watch your practice grow!

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