HOW TO DRIVE YOUR INTERNAL PATIENT REFERRALS.
DID YOU KNOW:
- Millennials ranked word-of-mouth as the #1 influence in their purchasing decisions (Radius Global Marketing Research)
- Baby Boomers ranked word-of-mouth also being most influential in big purchasing decisions (Radius Global Marketing Research)
- 83% of consumers are willing to refer after a positive experience, but only 29% on average actually do it, and only 11% of team members ask for them (Texas Tech University)
- People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend (Nielsen)
- Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher retention rate (Deloitte)
What do these stats tell us about internal referral sources, & how does it impact your practice?
With the right leverage and dialed in process, word-of-mouth referrals can drastically increase your profitability. Because the vast majority of people trust the recommendations of those in their network of family and friends over any other form of marketing effort, word-of-mouth referrals can be a powerful tool to drive high quality leads at a low to minimal cost.
Keep in mind that patient referrals funnel through the top of your marketing funnel and take far less effort to build a trusting relationship than complete strangers you are trying to attract to your office, at a much lower cost as well.
Patients that advocate for you and your practice will not only drive more patients and dollars through your front door but will also be a higher source of patient retention than traditional low trust patients that are exiting out your back door quicker than you can get them in.
It has been proven that internal referrals not only have a higher ROI but also have a longer lifetime patient cycle. You will be able to capture, convert, and close these cases quicker and easier.
In order to be highly successful, it is important to have a documented referral process that is consistent and followed by everyone in your practice.
WHO, WHEN, & HOW TO ASK:
Who:
Feel out your patients; ask your happy patients and not stressed or angry ones. Look for these kinds of patients:
- Patients who openly rave about the practice
- Interactive, chatty and helpful patients
- Patients that talk about their family
When:
After treatment is completed and the patient is pleased and happy!
- After a patient compliments the staff or practice:
- “Thank you! That means so much to us. We love great patients like you! Do you have any family or friends that would love us too? Let’s get them in!”
- When patients checkout, they ask how everything went:
- “I am so glad to hear you had a great experience today! We would love to have more patients like you! Who do you know that is in need of dental services that we can bring in?”
How:
You take pride in providing your patients with the best possible care and experience. Feel confident asking your patients for referrals!
Make it a part of your daily routine:
- Your doctor, hygienist or assistant communicates with the check-out team to ask for a referral from a happy patient OR the check-out team asks how everything went and receives positive feedback
- The check-out team should document every patient that a referral is requested from, more importantly, documenting in both the existing patient’s and new patient’s chart when a referral comes in.
Make it easy:
- Hand out a card at checkout with a QR code- Have a special link for prospective referrals to call and schedule an appointment
- Text the QR code with the link to the existing patient following their appointment
- A big welcome and thank you when they arrive at their appointment
- A big thank you sent to the existing patient for the referral
Make it fun and motivate your patients:
- Donate $5 for every online review and $10 for every referral that comes in to a non-profit and let your patients know
- Offer a “refer a friend or family member” discount card. Incentivize both the existing patient and the new patient
- Offer complimentary exam and x-rays for new referrals and a discount off future services for the existing patient that referred them
MOTIVATE YOUR TEAM:
- Set KPI goals and track them, reward the team when goals are met
- Set cash bonus
- Each team member gets a gift card
- Team lunch
- Extra PTO or a day off
- Seasonal gift package
- Gift card to a bicycle shop, BBQ equipment, Airline voucher, tickets to a concert/show/sporting event, spa package, gift card for an overnight hotel stay with meal package
- Draw a card (Interactive)
- Aces = $50
- Joker = $25
- Face Cards = $20
- Numbered Cards = $ card value
- Review daily schedule and assign patients to team members
- Share your negative and positive reviews, let them be invested with their patients and the growth of the practice
- Know your competition and share with the team: Use morning huddle as a great way to shout out new referrals that have scheduled an appointment
