Top Mistakes Dentists Make When Setting Up A New Practice
Life as a dentist tends to follow a simple pattern. First, you go to medical school to get your qualifications. Then you join an existing practice for your apprenticeship years.
Eventually, you get to the stage where you can move into your own practice. But this last part is not as simple as you might think. Creating practice is very much like starting a business. It would help if you got the formula right. Don’t make the following mistakes.
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Mistake #1: Not Marketing Your Practice Online
Nowadays, you can’t take an old-fashioned approach to get the word out about your dental practice. Everything is moving online. Unfortunately, many dental practices aren’t aware of this trend, so they’re missing out on opportunities to acquire new patients. In order for you not to fall behind your competitor, here are some great marketing ideas for dentists that you can check out.
Mistake #2: Failing To Train Staff
You might have a lot of training, but if your staff doesn’t, it will drag down the entire practice. Patients will note your professionalism, but they will lament the bad attitude or incompetence of your employees. And that can actually adversely affect your enjoyment of your work.
Try setting a relatively high budget for staff training. This way, you can build the skills you need and develop a team that’s an asset, not a liability. You can also look into connecting with dental schools in Arizona to source the best upcoming talent.
Mistake #3: Failing To Organise Your Supplies
All dental practices rely on essential dental supplies to carry out their function. Without them, they can’t treat patients. Unfortunately, many practices get their inventory planning wrong. They either fail to order enough of the materials they need or too many, disrupting their services. The last thing you want to do as a dentist is to turn a patient away because you don’t have enough gauze.
Mistake #4: Lack Of Social Media Outreach
Believe it or not, today’s patients expect to connect with their dental practice online. If they can’t ask reception staff simple questions via social media, they will wonder what’s gone wrong. That’s why it is critical to have a social media presence when you first set up your new practice. Facebook is probably the best option as it has business-specific features and a chat function.
Mistake #5: Failing To Use “Smiles” As An Advertising Tool
Dentists like to think in terms of medical jargon. Words like “prosthetics, putty, crowns, and posts” continually run through their minds. But that’s not what patients care about – at least, not emotionally. What they want is a beautiful smile that fills them with confidence. And so your marketing efforts should reflect this. Talk about “smiles” as much as you can, and avoid technical terms that don’t mean a great deal to your audience.
Mistakes Dentists Make #6: Failing To Treat Your Accounts Like A Business
Your accounts aren’t just something you fill out for the benefit of the taxman. They are a critical tool for keeping the score of the success of your practice. The amount of money you have leftover at the end of the year is your net contribution to society. Always check your accounts to ensure you’re spending less than you’re getting from patients themselves.
