A CRM does not work in isolation – here’s what’s needed for sustained success and continued growth.
Using a CRM (customer relationship management system) really helps practices to achieve greater efficiency and drive growth. However, it can’t do that on its own. One key area for any practice to address when investing in marketing to attract and acquire new patients is the effective and efficient handling of all inbound enquiries.
It’s a really good idea to regularly cast a critical eye on how enquiries are managed in your practice.
Below are some key pointers to streamline this core process:
Data capture
Look at all the places where your prospective or existing patients can express their interest in a treatment you offer; website enquiry forms, social media lead ads, the practice chatbot and so on. At the point of data capture, are you getting the information needed to make successful contact with those people?
For example, does your enquiry form have a treatment dropdown? Does it ask when they would like you to get in touch with them and how? Do you have reCAPTCHA or other spam protection in place to filter out spam form submissions?
Have a process
Is there a clear process that everyone in the team understands and follows once a new treatment enquiry is received? Whatever your process, put your existing and prospective patients at the centre.
As a minimum:
- Make sure each enquiry is followed up as quickly as possible (or at a time the enquirer wants to be contacted). Set responsive yet achievable timeframes as targets.
- Consider whether certain treatment enquiries are assigned to specific team members.
- While a fit for purpose CRM will ensure that professionally written messages are automatically sent to immediately acknowledge every inbound enquiry, it’s critical to initiate a well-timed (human) interaction so the prospective patient starts to feel like they’re in good hands
- Follow-up when you say you are going to follow-up, this is about maintaining the conversation, answering any questions and building trust based on your team’s expert knowledge and friendly professionalism.
Have a process champion
Ideally select one of the team to be accountable for the above process. They may not actually manage every enquiry – that will depend on team size. The champion ensures that the process is being followed and guides colleagues as necessary. Delegating ownership of the process also means the champion should also report key metrics to you on a regular basis so progress can be tracked.
Remember that calling prospective patients is not something that everyone in your front of house team will relish or be well suited for. Pick team members that enjoy meeting new people and building rapport. Perhaps consider recruiting someone with consultative soft-selling experience and train them up on the treatments.
Training
What’s worse, train someone and they leave or don’t train them and they stay?
It is vital that you and your team invest time in training to master new solutions that stand the whole business in good stead. If you’re investing in a dental CRM, ensure that your team is sold on the benefits to them and how will it improve their day to day. With any change, there’s often resistance which is more readily met if one of the team (your process champion) is leading the charge and passionate about it.
Know your numbers
Do you know where prospective patients are coming from?
- Which campaigns/ads drew them in and which failed to attract interest?
- Which campaigns/ads are attracting prospects that become new patients starting treatment?
Knowing the answers means you can comfortably continue to invest in marketing activities that work whilst stopping or overhauling those that are not resonating with your target audience.
Next you need to know what happens once they’ve made contact:
- How quickly is your team contacting prospects?
- How many attempts are made to contact prospects before a consultation is booked or the enquiry is archived?
- What is the conversion rate overall and by treatment type?
- What reasons are given when prospects decide not to go ahead?
Knowing the above means you can identify opportunities for growth and areas for improvement.
Summary
However, you chose to manage your enquiries please make sure that you’re factoring in all the above as a minimum. Every conversation counts as every prospect could become a lifelong patient. Make sure the team is set up for success.
If you want to increase team efficiency and grow practice revenue, DenGro has been built for dental practices. It’s automations, integrations and easy task flows means your team has more time for those conversations which lead to conversion. Its reporting lets you monitor trends and track performance. Track, nurture and convert your treatment enquiries in one place.
For more information, visit our site book a demo: Request a demo of DenGro.
This article is sponsored by DenGro.
