Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Unfortunately, many patients do not understand that you need such referrals to keep your practice humming along. They see how busy you are providing quality care and probably think that you don't need any more business. And even worse, they may think that if they refer more people, you may not have time to see them anymore. This is a commonly held misconception that people have regarding service providers, particularly when it comes to cleaning people and babysitters. People can be hesitant to give up the names of their wonderful caretakers to their friends, thinking that the next time that they need a sitter, that person may be busy taking care of their friend's child. In the face of these and other barriers, what can practitioners do to increase the new patient referrals that they receive from their existing patients?

There is certainly nothing wrong with outright asking patients for a referral. You don't want to be pushy, so the main thing is the timing. Anytime a patient gives you any kind of compliment, that's a great time to say something like, "I am so glad that you are so happy with our care. We would be truly honored if you would pass those words on to your friends and family."

You can't do everything by yourself. With appropriate timing and delivery, all of your team members can get involved in asking patients to refer their friends and family members to the practice. Incentives such as salary bonuses and other perks for converted patients can get staff motivated to get the word out.

Gift certificates are a great call to action for prospective patients. Any time that we get a compliment from a patient, we type their name into the "from" line of a gift certificate for them to hand out to their friends. Patients are more apt to pass along something that is personalized with their name. It's more meaningful than simply handing someone a coupon. You can find gift certificate templates online for Microsoft Word and other programs, and then customize them for your offer. Your offer could be for anything from a free toothbrush to a discount for a full mouth rehabilitation. Usually, a free exam and/or cleaning is a sufficient enough inducement to get new patients in the door.

Place signs in conspicuous places in your office that let patients know how much you appreciate referrals. Business card holders with sayings such as "Thank you for referring others" can provide a reasonably subtle way of getting the message across. Ensure that they are prominently displayed at your check-in and check-out desk.

Sending out referral offers or gift certificates in bulk mail or email campaigns to your patients can really improve the flow of new referrals. We use the mail merge feature in Microsoft Publisher to customize our gift certificates with each patient's name on the list. We send these out right before the holiday season to our entire family of patients with a letter explaining how the enclosed certificates would make wonderful gifts. As a result of these mailings, we see a significant increase in new patients for a couple of months after the holidays, and they continue to trickle in for the remainder of the year.

Referral drawings can help stimulate your patients to recommend you to everyone they know. It's easy to place the names of all of your referral sources for a particular period into a basket and draw for a prize. The nicer the prize, the greater the incentive for your patients to provide referrals. We filled a basket up with the personalized gift certificates that new patients brought in and drew a name for a 50-inch flat-screen television. It was a very impressive reward, but it only cost the office $300, which was nothing when compared with the return from the new patients.

More often than not, your patients will need to be incentivized to get them to get the word out. They may be as happy as larks, bouncing out of your office after their wonderful and painless dental treatments only to let those memories fade into the backs of their minds. With incentives, they will be more apt to remember their experiences and refer people to your practice. Restaurant gift cards, donations to charities in patients' names, credit toward dental treatments, and free bleaching are just a few examples of incentives that can be provided to motivate your patients. Check your state and local laws to see what is permitted in your area.

Acknowledging a referral by sending a gift can help spur future referrals. I recommend giving gifts that have your practice's name on them and that will be seen in public. That way, your investment to thank patients for referrals can help to generate additional referrals. Make sure that any gift is of sufficient quality that it will be used by your patients. Things like coolers or foldable chairs are great for parents of children who play sports. When other parents see your name on the cooler, they will ask your patients how they like their dentist. What better place to get your name spread around? For women with professional careers, it can be a great idea to send flowers to their offices. When their coworkers see the vases at their desks, they will ask, "Hey, who sent you flowers?" and that can generate additional referrals.

Increasing new patient referrals from existing patients is one of the best ways to grow a practice. It's free, or almost free, and the patients who come in via these recommendations tend to accept treatment more readily, are more easily retained, and are more apt to refer other patients. Try incorporating some or all of the strategies presented here and let your patients take your practice to the next level by doing your marketing for you.

Richard P. Gangwisch, DDS, a master of the Academy of General Dentistry and a diplomate of the American Board of General Dentistry, is a clinical assistant professor at the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University and practices in a Heartland Dental-supported office in Lilburn, Georgia.