Since my last article I have seen an increase in clients report they are now noticing changes in their appointment book, caused by the current economic crises. Late last year and in January and February this year, what I was hearing from my clients was more of a feeling of change and the odd big case cancelling, which can happen at any time. But over the last few weeks there has beening a definite change with clients reporting that they are no longer booked out for weeks in advance and with gaps now appearing. For some this is actually a benefit as they no longer have to turn away or delay certain patients, but for others it is starting to be a worry.

I mentioned in the last edition of this magazine that I truly believe that this year is all about handling basic marketing activities well and to review ensuring things that previously may have been spasmodic, such as making sure you send a regular newsletter rather than one every couple of years or not at all. I also think that now is the time to really assess what the perception of your practice is and whether this perception is serving you in a beneficial way.

Every practice has an image and reputation. For many this image and reputation has developed over time rather than being designed from scratch. But does the current perception of your practice help or hinder you at this time? For instance, if you have previously been booked out for six weeks in advance then it would be very understandable if you have not developed internal referral systems, equally the fact that patients have previously had to wait a few weeks to see you could have left them with the “perception” that you are too busy to take on new patients and therefore don’t bother to refer their family and friends. In this instance, far better to educate your existing patients that you are able to treat their family members and friends than embark on an expensive advertising campaign. This of course is only one example of a perception a patient may hold about the practice and it would be prudent to review how you and the practice are seen to make sure that this is serving you.

The ideal way to understand how your patients perceive you is to conduct a patient survey. If you send this out to a selection of your patients, say every patient who has visited the practice in the past two years, then their responses properly analysed will give you highly valuable information from which you can shape your branding and image moving forward. Even today, when marketing is no longer a dirty word in dentistry, I regularly hear stories from new dentists I meet about patients having cosmetic dental work or teeth whitening done in a different practice or teeth whitening done elsewhere and when they come back for their regular visit saying, “Oh, I did not know you did that sort of thing.”. In life we only know what we know, and why would a patient know you are now providing Orthodontics, you have completed an LVI course or you are now placing Implants; there is no reason why they should know this, which is why you need to tell them through well designed marketing programs.

Discussing the issue of perception with your team is also a good starting point as they often hear comments about the practice that you may not. Addressing this issue is not esoteric in anyway, but one of the lowest cost and easiest ways of counteracting any changes you are seeing in the practice. Even if you have seen no change since all the doom and gloom hit the economy this is a smart thing to do regularly anyway.

Once you have assessed how the practice is perceived and determined how you would like some of these perceptions to change, the next step is to create a patient and public education program. The trick here is to look for what my Dad would call “The Bleedin’ Obvious”. So, if it says on your front door “General Dentist” and you are not currently doing a great deal of cosmetic dental procedures, then change this to “General and Cosmetic Dentist”. This same principle then washes through to your business cards, practice brochure and letterhead etc. A newsletter is also a highly effective way of informing patients of all the services you provide and the editorial style of a newsletter is both professional and also personable, so will not only get read but also passed on.

It is often said that “Perception is Reality” and in my experience this certainly rings true for dental practices, so may be now is the time that you take control of the perceptions of your practice.