Patient Referrals Aren't Just Luck

Welcome to Dental Drill Bits, your go-to podcast for expert advice and practical tips to grow your dental practice. Join Sandy Pardew and HR Business Professional Dana Pardew Salisbury as they share strategies, solutions and stories to help you build a thriving team in practice. Let's drill down to your success. Welcome back to Dental Drill Bits. Today we're talking about something every practice wants more of, but may struggle to get consistently. And that is patient referrals. And look, here's the truth. Many practices don't actually have a referral problem. They do have a system problem, right, Sandy? Yes. Hi, Dana. You're right. It's like that they don't have a system for referrals. And when you think about it, practices want new patients. They're either signed up with a bunch of PBOs and discounting their fees so they can have more patients. Are they fee for service? And they're spending a lot of money on marketing so they've got all these patients of record. But are they working these patients to get them to refer their family and friends? And that's what we want to talk about today, asking for referrals. Sandy, we have a telephone series that we will be revealing and we will be doing that over, gosh, I think you could talk about it forever. We'll have it for at least a month's worth of episodes. Absolutely. But I want to tell you, we've had a Christmas break here and I want to tell you about some struggles I've had calling businesses to try and give them money, but they don't want it bad enough. I have been trying with my new years to get some backlog stuff taken care of. I have a daughter to add to insurance. I have even a birthday cake. Let's see what else, a medical appointment that I'm due for because of my age. And I have been calling these practices and these insurance companies and they pay big dollars. There are billboards on the interstate. There are postcards that I get in the mail. And when it comes down to it, I've had a terrible experience calling these three businesses. Simply ordering a cake, Sandy, for my daughter's birthday, the grocery store that my daughter wants a chocolate cake from. I have called eight times, I believe it. I have wanted to add my daughter to our car insurance and I finally got a call. I was so excited and the lady said, oh, well, no, I'm not calling you back. I'm calling you to talk to you about your policy so that we can review current coverage. And I said, well, I need to add current coverage. She said, well, I'll have to get back with you. I haven't heard back from her. That was three days ago. And then, of course, I have called a new doctor that I would be seeing for a first time ever physical. And I have called them 14 times trying to get an appointment. So I think, Sandy, this is, if I may speak for you, this is our driver in building your practice, removing these blind spots, getting your phone to ring, maximizing marketing dollars. But really, this is where referrals come in, making an impact on the service you provide and the people in the community. So it's fair to say that you're not going to be referring to those businesses. No. Do not get a cake from Rouse's. Do not call gastroenterology associates, you know, it's like, yeah. And frankly, state farm has really made me upset. So here I am telling thousands of people about my experience and it's frustrating. I just want to give people money. I hear you. I hear you. But you know, people need to think about like everything you're doing in business is you're like setting it up reputation wise for keeping that current customer, right? And then making it so pleasant that they're going to tell their family and friends. And so when we're talking about the dental practice and we look at one thing that I always notice because I like to track metrics is when the team is tracking referrals by team members. And there's none. It's like, okay, we haven't had any of our 12 team members refer a new patient here in eight months. And I see that all the time and I never understand that. So if you're working in a practice and you really love where you work, tell your friends and family and then track it and discuss that at team meetings, here's the thing. When patients come from referred patients, they're more likely to accept treatment, okay? They're like, yeah, my best friend goes there. They've been going there for a long time. They're more likely to accept that treatment plan. They're more likely to keep that new patient appointment and be a better patient. And that's just a fact is referrals benefit the practice. And it also helps you spend less marketing dollars if you're just thinking about all those patients you already have in your practice that are familiar with that experience. You want to get them talking about your practice to their friends and family. Now, some states will not allow you to have incentives for referrals. So I recommend that everybody get familiar with your state guidelines. We're in Louisiana and, of course, most of our clients are not in Louisiana, but I was curious. Monday, I called the state board just to ask and he was like, cannot, cannot use care to share cards, which are basically, and a lot of states you can. You can. So it's basically a nice brochure that talks about your practice and it's an incentive for a new patient. So if you come here, you'll get $50 off of your treatment and then we'll give $50 off to the referring person and that's called care to share. So there's a lot of different things you can do. You can have a drawing in your office. States do not allow that Louisiana does not allow that. So I even said, well, what about if you have like a thousand patients in your practice? And there's 40 of them, 30 of them, a handful of them that send a lot of patients your way and you want to send them a gift basket at the end of the year. Nope. Can't do it. Not unless you send every patient a thousand gift baskets then you can do it. So I thought that was interesting. So check with your state guidelines to see if you can reward for referrals. But let's talk about how you can get more referrals. Dana, think about this like the last time you went to the dentist are any business and you compliment it, somebody working there are the experience and I know you do. I mean, you have different things that yeah, I mean, everybody does. Did they suggest that you send family friends or co-workers? I'm curious. Well, I'll think about or thinking about Alex who cuts my hair. I am most positive. I think I did I refer you to him or you referred to me? I know. I believe you went first. I get from him all of the time. Well, tell others, you know, who else do you know that might have hair like you? He specializes in curly hair, a buddy cuts sandies bangs that are straight. So I really adore Alex. He's been consistently him and I am confident about his service. And CD, I really, I want to highlight this because you live it and I don't know how often people really think this way, confidence in our doctors, in our practice, in our fees. Sandy, how can we help maybe employees, maybe team members, new long term really reflect on like what we can be proud of? You know, maybe it's, I mean, let's be real here, Sandy. Maybe there's a doctor that technically maybe some team are not sure of. And they feel like, you know what, it's not, it's not really part of my job. They tell me, these are things that people tell me, it's like, I don't want to be pushy. Or maybe the patient would be uncomfortable if I asked them to send their family and friends, but there are ways you can do it. So let's just look at this. Like when would be a great opportunity to suggest it? So okay. So you've got, finishing up treatment, you're the dental assistant, finishing up doctor has left the room or not. And the patient says, you're, you know, they're looking at their teeth and I love coming here. Doctor does such great work. And I feel so comfortable. Now there's your opportunity right there. There's your opportunity to say, I'm so glad we would love to have more patients like you. Here, let me give you some of business cards and feel free to tell your co-workers and your family and friends, but you hear my enthusiasm in my tone. So it's like, I really believe in that office because I, I understand that if I work there, I've got to be a cheerleader for that practice. Now, what's another opportunity? Oh, well, let me, let me just say this, same in hygiene, okay. That would agree opportunity, but have it at 40, 50 minutes or an hour, hour and a half in some cases with patients and they compliment the practice and that is your perfect opportunity. Check out, okay. When patients are checking out, it's another opportunity. And heck, you know what, what about those patients sitting out in the reception room too? And you're, they're waiting on a spouse or a family member. Go out there and talk to them. That would mean exactly a direct referral, but it's an opportunity to get another patient. You see, practices need new blood to survive. They need to have new patients coming in the chair. So this is very important. And I think then, for the listeners, if you guys have this discussion with your whole team, play this podcast for them. Let them know that referrals is what keeps that practice viable. Take a look at your current referrals that team members are getting by asking patients, is that even happening in your practice? You know, some practices actually make a game of it. Actually, we'll start giving little gift cards to the team that prefers the most people or gets the most referrals. I have always been a believer in getting business cards for each team member or not. You know, one of our clients recently ordered these cards and I love them. So they're having like a credit card, actually like a really heavy credit card. Like a metal, they're metal, they're metal credit card looking about that size. One side looks like a nice business card. The other side says we appreciate seeing your friends and family, we appreciate your referrals. And there's a place to put the name of the person that referred to the patient and a place to put the new patient's name. And I think with a heavy metal card like that, people are more likely to remember to get out. So they are so excited. I met with them last week and we get a Zoom. And they are so excited to put a program to have this for referrals, put it in place and see who can get the most referrals. I love that. And now a message from the marketing experts at Identity, Dental Marketing. In your marketing planning session, we're gonna start by evaluating where you're at today. We'll look at your current marketing, how many new patients you're seeing on a monthly basis, your individual goals, your ideal new patient. And at the end of the 30 to 45 minute call, we're gonna provide you with a custom marketing plan with no pressure to purchase anything at all, just share information. - To reserve your free dental marketing planning session, visit identitydental.com. - And CD, what is maybe just a really good benchmark for percentage of referrals? So if we're starting to look at this in a practice and we're saying, all right, this is a really good number. Like, what is that? Every practice should be getting one to 2% of their patient base in referrals every single month. - Yeah. - And that's kind of telling you, our internal marketing is working. This is part of internal marketing. And some of the listeners have someone in their practice that's in charge of internal marketing. So this becomes part of what they do. I think that one of the hardest things to implement is a consultant. And I think it's so important. It is communication that goes out to people like that refer to your practice. That it just, it blows my mind to think that a patient can send seven friends within a 12 month period and never get any acknowledgement from the practice. And I just saw this with my own eyes recently where a patient had referred seven people and they didn't send not even a little note in the mail. So I think that every practice should have a system for that. So when you get a referral and you send a short letter that's signed by the doctor, yet you could get cards that say thank you. And someone with a good handwriting could write, thank you, we appreciate the referral and let the doctor sign it. I've had clients that have actually, the doctor has taken a few minutes every week and written out a few of those cards. Or like I said, you could get stationary size letterhead and the team type it out and the doctor just signed them and then type it on below. It needs to look nice and send that out and put some more business cards in the envelope by the way. So that it can give some more out. That's exactly right. Sandy, you just reminded me I referred to someone, I'm assuming they showed up to their appointment, a $60,000 case of implants. Wow. So I'm hoping to get a letter because I mostly just want to celebrate the fact that I refer that big of a case. I'm wondering if that practice was ever one of our clients or attended our seminar, their seminar, we'll see if they dropped it out. This particular practice, the same one that I referred the big case to, I had a dental question. Now I was a patient there and then I switched to one closer to my home. And not for any particular reason and that's what's scary about losing patients is sometimes it can be indifference. It was a little tough to get the family in for a hygiene appointment. I wanted my kids to go together. So that was a consideration, but not for any particular reason. I did though send an inquiry through their website twice and I never heard back. Wow. So that was part of this insurance saga, cake ordering saga. I have been on a rampage the past week and a half. It sounds like it, but I'll tell you, I read an article that I wish I knew where this publication was. It was saying that if 60% of the people, if you ask them if they have a dentist, you know what they say, they reply to no. No, but I want you to think about this. You've got less than half the people going to the dentist every year, okay? And people fall in the cracks. They have terrible re-care and then they're thinking, well, I haven't heard from my dentist because most softwares quit communicating with them after a year or 18 months. And so they fall in the cracks. Well, no, I don't have a dentist 'cause they haven't been in two years, right? So they think they don't even have a dentist. So that's another great opportunity to say, well, if you're looking for a dentist, this is a great practice. But the people that work in your office should be your cheerleaders like I mentioned, but what about the dog groomer? Where do you get your hair cut? Where do you go get your dry cleaning? All the services that you use, these are all opportunities to talk about this great dental practice that you work in. And that's why these cards are so important. I love that, Sandy. I also think it's important to role play. The teams that are listening, good for you that someone listened to this podcast and decided to share it with the entire team so that you guys can have a discussion about internal marketing and referrals in your own practice, okay, good for you. But now let's take it a step further and role play with each other. Somebody be the patient, somebody be the person working in the practice, ask for those referrals and then switch up, switch places and get very comfortable with this. Because you know what you're doing? You're helping the practice, but you know what? Who you're helping even more is you're helping those patients. That's who you're helping. And you're helping the patients that do not have a dentist or that don't come to your practice. That's who you're really helping. So spread the word, that's what you need to do. And you know what? Make sure you track your referrals. That's very important that you're keeping up with this like your new patients that come in. How did you hear about our practice? If they fill out the registration and they leave off the referral source, when they come in, the person at the front needs to make sure they are asking how did you hear about us? You get the answer. Even if it's the sign in the front, get the answer, put it in the software, and thank people that referred. That were a direct referral. It just makes sense. You want, here's a thing. You need to reinforce gratitude. That's what you, when you thank somebody, you're gonna get more of the same behavior. That's how you have to think, okay? You're gonna get more of the same. And the more you practice, the more natural these scripts are gonna sound. And if you believe in the doctor, if you believe in the practice, it's gonna be easy for you to tell others about it. Beautifully stated, Sandy. And I feel like that is a great way to improve referrals and just marketing results. Overall, starting this week, starting right away. Yeah, definitely. And make sure you always follow up with a genuine thank you. Please do. It's a great reminder, Sandy, that referrals aren't something that you chase. They are something that you earn. And when patients feel cared for and understood and confident in your team, referrals become a natural extension of that experience. Yes, and you know, people like to be acknowledged. So, you know, if you say something like, we love having patients like you. And boy, they're walking out of there just sticking out, if it's a man. I'm like, yeah. They love having patients like me. Who do I know? So, and then you reward that good behavior. That is, it's just human nature. Exactly right. This is such an important reminder. Thanks again, Sandy. Yes, I hope everybody goes out and gets more referrals. Start tracking them and listen. One thing, one more thing I wanna say. Set some goals, okay? If you've got 16 numbers, just encourage everyone. Talk about it, Mooney Huddle, to do one referral a week, okay? But if they get, if they ask for one referral each week, that's better than nothing. And then next month, make it two. Set those goals and see what happens. Get the momentum going. It'll take a few weeks to see the results, but that's okay, and you keep it up. Pass out those business cards. You know what I've seen people do, Sandy, is for whether it be in the sales realm or heck, in the referral realm, is you can find those gongs. They're about 10 inches or you can go a lot larger. And every time you get a referral, or even every time you ask for it, Number one, Gong, I want to celebrate this and talk about it in morning huddle and when teen meetings, those of you that have teen meetings, every teen meeting, part of that when you talk about metrics is we had this many referrals this month from teen members. You say you want to, because there's different types of referrals, right? You have the referrals from the patients that you're tracking, but the teen members and you want to celebrate those as well at the teen meeting. Sadie, tell us about front desk pro, there's so much happening. I've got a couple of things happening. Okay, first off, I am going to be having a front desk pro seminar in New Orleans. Okay. So I'm looking at May 8th. There's so many French market festivals and jazz, bass and mottigraw and all this. It looks like that's really the only time. There is one day open in March, so I'm looking at that. So that's going to be announced soon. Okay. So we're going to have a front desk pro seminar. I've just got a message right before we came on here where somebody on Dental Terrem said, "Sadie, you need to bring all your attendees in New Orleans to the spares." And I'm like, 50 people, come on down to the spares for our sandwich. It's been years since I've eaten every. Do you remember that? No. I told you. No, that's the spares. It's a sandwich shop in New Orleans on the edge of the French quarter. You've been there. You just don't remember. And so I'm like, we can't walk in with 50 people. Yes. New Orleans is a popular spot. People like to go there. That's what we're doing. Then on that note, those of you who don't want to travel, I am so excited at what we have taken this course and it is putting it into a six month consulting program. And I'm going to tell you, it is awesome. I had a meeting today with my team and we're so excited about this. It's something we should have done a long time ago. So we talk about training your team and having systems and when you get new team members and everybody's saying the same things and doing everything the same, I'm super excited about it. So I hope to see you guys either online with our consulting program or in person at Front Desk Pro. If today's conversation made you realize your referral process is more accidental than intentional, that's a great place to start. Like one touch point, coach your team on confident language and focus on delivering and experience worth talking about. Thanks for listening to Dental Drill Bits. If this episode was helpful, share it with your team and subscribe. We'll see you next time. Bye everyone.