Ready for More Cosmetic Dental Patients? Try These 3 Strategies for Following Up on New Inquiries

Inquiries are leads, and a good marketer knows not to waste a good lead.

Over the last few years, the cosmetic dentistry industry has exploded as increasing numbers of dental patients are starting to explore a wide variety of aesthetically enhancing treatments such as teeth whitening, gum contouring, and smile makeovers. For dentists who offer this service, it's good news, as they continue to receive an increasing number of inquiries. However, it's also bad news, as a higher demand means greater competition. The question is:

“How can dental practices land patients looking for cosmetic dental treatments before their competitors?”

The answer: “By having a follow-up procedure in place!”

Did you know that according to a recent marketing survey, 48% of businesses never follow up with a prospect? In dental terms, this means that rather than a patient sitting in your dental chair, they're sitting in someone else's. That’s not something we want to see!

To prevent this from happening, here are three very actionable ways that any dental practice can follow up on new cosmetic dental leads effectively. 

1. Push The Follow-up Emails

Follow-up emails don't have to be long, lengthy affairs; indeed, it's better if they're kept short and sweet. In essence, they're there to achieve a purpose, and that purpose is to get the recipient to take some sort of action. That action could be calling you for further information or booking a consultation to discuss the types of cosmetic treatments you offer.

Here are some key pointers:

Avoid skirting round the subject and get straight to the point.

Let's face it you're not simply 'checking in' or 'just checking to see' instead you're trying to accomplish something, so you really need to clearly state your purpose.

How about something like....

'Hi (insert first name here),

I'm following up on an inquiry you made a few days ago regarding cosmetic dentistry treatment. I'd just like to let you know that we offer all patients a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss their cosmetic dentistry needs. If you'd like to make an appointment, or to call us for any further information on how we can help, you can do so by contacting us on (insert number here).

Thanks again and on behalf of (mention the name of the lead dentist or practice owner) we look forward to hearing from you. 

Immediately, it gets straight to the point. It tells the patient right away what the email is about and more importantly, what they need to do to take action.

Highlight any benefits you offer!

You'll also notice that I've mentioned a benefit in the form of a free, no-obligation consultation. If you do offer this service, you'd be crazy not to tell the recipient about it. In fact, any benefits you have over your competitors, such as discounts on teeth whitening treatments or wrinkle reduction, should be included. Don't merely list features or add-ons.

Remember, you're a local business, and you're marketing locally and that makes you, at least partially, a marketer. Think like a marketer! Focus on the potential buyer and use benefits instead of features. What makes your practice different from your competitors? Why should someone choose you over another dentist nearby? Use this to also highlight your social proof with links to your online reviews to build trust.

Craft a great subject line!

The final piece of your follow-up email should be the subject line. Like the email itself, it should be kept short and sweet, but also catchy enough to pique the reader's interest.

In a recent survey of over 6 million emails, it was found that those subject lines that contained…

• Concrete numbers and/or times
• Urgency words such as 'tomorrow'
• Personal names

were more likely to be opened and read, as opposed to those that didn't. 

2. Give Them Answers & Show Off Your Expertise

Most people inquiring about cosmetic dental treatment are looking for specific answers, so how about giving the information to them in the form of a helpful report or guide. Here's how it works.

• The patient makes an inquiry about cosmetic dental treatment via email.
• You send them a report or helpful guide to their email address
• After reading your helpful guide or report, the customer likes what they hear and books an appointment.

Well, that's the theory anyway...

So, what should these reports or guides contain?

Let’s say that you have a helpful guide on teeth whitening. It should contain all the information a patient needs to know. Topics such as background information, types of treatment, the sort of results patients can expect, and what they may experience during the treatment, are all key features of a good report or helpful guide.

The idea being that it gives them enough information to make an informed dental decision, but moreover, it tells them that you are the 'go to' cosmetic dentist for this particular treatment.

The main benefits of following up with a guide or report is that it can be sent quickly alongside a covering email, so it isn't a time-consuming job. In addition, the guide only must be written or commissioned once, after which it can be sent repeatedly to a multitude of patients, so it's cost-effective marketing too.

You can also have a series of guides for specific treatments, meaning you can laser target each guide to the needs of each customer. If used properly, this is an effective way of converting follow-ups into leads.

3. Reach Out Personally

The final tip is to reach out in person. This is less commonly used simply because it can be time-consuming. However, it's very effective. Imagine if you were the person making the inquiry and one or two days later you received a call from the dentist in question thanking you for your inquiry and inviting you to a free, no-obligation consultation. It's difficult to resist, right!

To be most effective, the call needs to come from you personally, rather than your receptionist or office manager. Very few people deny feeling special and important when the actual doctor or medical practice owner contacts them personally. Now that's demonstrates a high-level of patient involvement! Try to keep it friendly, and like the email, keep it short and sweet.

The conversation may go something like this:

“Hi (insert name) I'm doctor (insert name) from (insert name of dental practice). I noticed you made an inquiry about teeth whitening recently, and I'd really like to help you get a brighter, whiter smile. I'd like to invite you to a free, no-obligation consultation with me sometime this week to discuss how we can work together to make you very happy with your smile.”

Unsurprisingly, this method of follow up is dramatically underused, but research has shown that warm prospecting like this always delivers outstanding results.

Start small by setting aside 15 minutes a day to make 3-5 follow-up phone calls to strong leads. You'll be surprised how many of them convert, simply because none of your competitors are taking the time to call them personally. If only one converts per day, that's 20 extra patients a month, and all it cost you was a few minutes of your time per potential patient. That's good business and it's great marketing!

So, there you have it. Three examples of how you can effectively follow up on new cosmetic dental inquiries to land more patients. If you're prepared to do what others won't and use one or more of these methods above, then there's no doubt that your patient base will increase.