I am always hearing that, for all the years it takes to train to be a dentist, there is probably only one ‘day’ allocated to being told how to set up and run a successful practice. Little surprise then that people find it hard to get – and maintain new patients. Some dental practices are good at getting new patients. Others have chosen to buy a practice that has built up its database over a number of years. However, there are two scenarios I very often hear:
• The practice that gets loads of new patients a month, only to see the same number leaving via the back door
• A practice tries a number of measures to get new patients and has great success without knowing which of these initiatives is driving the new business.