An issue I saw with a recent dental clinic I spoke with in Dubai is how many new patient leads were not being properly followed up on…and how installing a system could easily solve this issue and grow their revenue.
Most clinics get a lead from some type of marketing campaign or SEO and that lead gets 1 or 2 phone calls and a few WhatsApp (WA) messages. If they don’t show up or book a consultation, the outreach stops there. The lead is rarely spoken to again.
Let’s say you’re a Dubai dental clinic getting about 200 leads per month but only 80 show up for their new appointments. You have 120 leads that didn’t show up.
How much are these leads worth?
After doing some research, the lifetime value of a patient is anywhere from AED 10,000- AED 20,000. I’d lean more toward AED 20,000 when you factor in two hygiene visits a year, a few specialty treatments and the opportunity for being referred to friends and family.
If in 3 months you gain 360 leads and book 10% using a strategic follow-up campaign that’s 36 NEW patients. 36 x AED 20,000 = AED 720,000!
Or if you booked 5% then it’s a gain of AED 360,000 that you wouldn’t have had.
1) Recruit and Train an Admin To PURELY Make Follow up Calls
For about AED 6,000 you can have someone work 5 days a week for 8 hours a day and make upwards of 400-500 calls a week.
All this person needs is a desk, phone and a laptop. My team and I can set up the CRM and system, with an SOP to get the ball rolling.
You can post a job on indeed.com and pay a bit of money to promote it.
Do a quick 15-minute phone call. Then a longer in-person interview. Check their references.
Make sure this person has PHONE experience at a call center or something like it. Sales is better.
Now we start with the techniques:
2) Follow up Technique: The Phone Call
Phone calls WORK…especially if the patient is a bit older (I.e. over 35) and probably grew up in a time when people still called each other on landlines.
Phone calls that come from your clinic’s number often get picked up.
Use this to your advantage.
The conversation can start with something simple like, “Hi, this is Eric from ABC dental and I was calling about your (insert offer they clicked on). Would you like to come to our clinic to redeem it next week on Monday or Wednesday before it expires?”
Do you leave a voicemail?
I generally suggest it, but have the voicemail redirect them to something simple like WhatsApp.
3) Follow up Technique: WhatsApp Texting
In Dubai, this is how a LOT of commerce is done. It’s how I rented my apartment in JBR and joined a local entrepreneur group.
Every follow up technique points in the region points to WhatsApp
Here you can send something like “Hi (name), this is Eric from ABC Dental reaching out about the (insert offer like that free Whitening for new patients that book a hygiene appointment), did you want to move come in next week on Monday or Wednesday?
It’s quick and easy for people to reply, without being intrusive.
4) Follow up Technique: The Email
Yes, emails work! In fact, with SO much messaging going on WhatsApp, email can actually be a bit refreshing.
Plus, with their email you can put them on email campaigns that go out once a week with a helpful newsletter. (like this one!)
The email can include the original offer and REFOCUS the prospect to Whatsapp
Quick example:
Subject: (their name), following up on that free Whitening at ABC Dental
Hi (name),
I was reaching out about the free whitening you were interested in at ABC Dental.
This offer expires (date) but it’d be great to get you in before then!
Here’s a link to our WhatsApp.
How is next Monday or Wednesday afternoon?
5) Combining Different Contact Techniques
Now you have to mix and match the outreach techniques.
Here’s a good structure that works.
Week 1: Have your key admin leave a phone call AND Whats app
Week 2: WA AND Email
Week 3: Phone Call and WA
Week 4: Email and WA
Week 5: Phone Call and WA
Week 6: FINAL Email and WA
Zig Ziggler, an expert in sales and one of my favorite business and professional development authors talks about how it takes 5-12 points of contact to close a sale. Each outreach is counted as ONE form of contact. You’ll reach out 6 times over 1.5 months and then move on.
6) Track it all in a CRM
You can’t keep this on google sheet. I recommend “Pipedrive” because it’s easy and not that expensive. I use it for all my businesses and set it up with my clients.
You can look at it weekly, monthly and quarterly. If you have a few clinics and LOTS of patients, you can hire 2 callers.
And the ROI is amazing!
Imagine taking 300 leads from the past 2 months who DID NOT book their consultations and running them through this follow-up program. If you converted just 10% (30 x 20,000 AED is 600,000 AED in revenue!)
What’s the cost of this?
6,000 AED for a GOOD full-time caller
600 AED in software and tech setup
Basically about 7,000 AED for 2 months = 14,000 AED
Also you can use my consulting services to set all of this up for you, run the system AND fine tune the process
Book an in-person “Discovery Call” (or phone call) with me at the link here.
About Clinic Assist: We provide consulting services for Dubai dental clinics to grow their revenue. You’ll get expertise from a $10 million entrepreneur with a focus on key metrics and niched solutions exclusively for dentistry. One of our clients increased their treatment scheduled by AED 40,000 in the first 30 days. Book a discovery call here to meet our team in-person (or over the phone)