Managing Marketing: Guidelines for Practice Success. American Dental Association

after all, they know your practice better than anyone who’s not part of the staff.

      That approach will guide and refine your marketing messaging so it delivers more prospective patients who, if managed correctly, will become active patients and help the practice increase production.

      The information will also remind you and your team about the traits and benefits that really matter to your current patients, ensuring an optimum experience for each patient that walks through the door. From a “dollars and sense” perspective, it may also offer some insights regarding which areas of practice should be added, or emphasized, to ensure that you’re offering patients the right balance of services.

The Environmental Scan

      Once you’ve completed the patient survey and you know what your patients value most about you and your practice, it’s time to take a look at the community in which you practice. This is sometimes called conducting an environmental scan since it allows you an in-depth look at what’s going on in the area around you.

      It’s important for you to objectively assess what your colleagues are offering to their current patients. Since it’s likely that you’re all drawing from a similar pool of prospective patients, you should know what it is about those other practices that appeals to patients.