Strategies that focus on getting your inactive patients back in the chair.
Did you know, it costs far less money to retain an existing patient than it does to acquire a new one? Regardless of how busy your practice may be, consistently spending energy and efforts on a reactivation campaign will bring many rewards and keep your schedules full.
Know the appointment history
It’s important to create an inactive database. This would consist of patients that have not been seen for 9, 12, 18, or 24 months; decide where you will start. Beginning with patients last seen 9 to 12 months ago, will provide a good baseline.
Be sure to include the following information in the database & filter from there.
- Patient name
- Address
- Phone number
- Insurance coverage
- Preferred method of contact
- Date of their last appointment
Have a call-to-action
It’s very important to have direction on what to do next, a call-to-action. Be sure to include multiple ways to reach the office and schedule an appointment. This could include things like mentioning your phone number several times, adding a link to your website, or a link directly to your online scheduler.
When running a reactivation campaign, ensure your scheduling team is well trained to convert these calls into scheduled appointments. Having the chair time and capacity on your schedule, with flexible appointment options, will allow for seamless conversion.
For patients that have not returned due to financing reasons, be sure to offer flexible payment options that may include in house discounts for paying in full, or low to no interest monthly payment options through a 3rd party lender.
Offer an incentive or discount
After several attempts to reach the patient, they may need a shiny discount to get them over the hump and back into your office. Consider offering something along the lines of free whitening or money off their services.
Methods of communication
It’s worth noting that not all patients check their email. Although email is a great tool to send a blast message to all patients within your desired timeframe, be sure not to pass up the opportunity to call and text as well.
To ensure you are not bombarding and driving your inactive patients further away, spread your campaign and communication out over the course of 6-8 weeks. Send follow up emails and try a different method of communication each week, with different content.
Reactivation Campaign: Email Sample
Subject: It’s Been A While! We Miss You!
Hi [patient name],
Can you believe how much time has passed? It’s been a while since we’ve seen you! We understand that time can quickly slip away and life can hold you up.
Because your oral health is our top priority, and we care about you, we want to invite you back! Dental treatment can become unnecessarily costly if not addressed and treated early on.
Have you been postponing your treatment due to time restraints; no worries, we offer a wide range of appointment times to get you taken care of. Maybe finances are holding you back; we will explore flexible payment options to help fit your budget.
Give us a call today or [click on the link here] to request an appointment using our online scheduler. Our team is happy and excited to welcome you back and we look forward to seeing you soon.
[Practice Name]
[Practice Phone Number]
