Convenience as a marketing tool

A client in Mexico with a successful single-office orthodontic practice decided to open a second office in a different city.  Because his first practice was so busy, her practice was open 2 days per month in the new office.  After a few months, she called Diversified Practice Solutions looking for a new marketing strategy.  The office had set up some cross promotion with other businesses, had some ads on the inside of buses and a good referral program. The practice only had 6 consultations seen each month and that just wasn’t enough to merit the investment in the facility. 

As we discussed the issues with the practice, I mentioned that the problem may have nothing to do with marketing and that the lack of new patients might be cured with some operational improvements.

The response from the doctor was expected.  How could there be operational problems?  Of the 6 new patient consultations each month, she executed contracts with all 6.  What more could possibly be done beyond that?  Clearly, something needed to change about the budget.

The one area of disconnect in our communication relates to the simple matter of convenience for the patients.  Yes, you were able to set up consultations for those for whom those two days were convenient.  But what about the other 26-29 days per month?  On top of that, imagine the negative optics for an office that is almost always closed (or a lone receptionist sitting in the office).  Passersby might simply conclude that the office has shut down.  

When you see things like 6 consults appointed and 6 new contracts, you miss the number of patients that simply did not bother to make a consultation appointment because the office looks like it is never open.  Or the patient can only come Thursdays, but the office is only open on Mondays and Wednesdays (that’s a vast oversimplification, but just throwing that out to make a point).

In dozens of offices in several countries, the notion of patient convenience has proven to be a key driver of new patient flow.  Offering more days gives the patients more options and when you make things easier for the patient, your practices becomes more inviting.  Being open for 2 days a month or just a cluster of days in one week per month simply does not afford enough convenience to entice enough new patients.

Now, the natural counter to this argument has traditionally been this: “I can’t sacrifice time in my other practice/make the commute/afford the cost to go to this office if we only have 0-2 patient consultations on those days.”  Of course, if 0 consultations are scheduled on a day with x number of days of the patient day, you simply cancel that day.  But the rest of the argument is very valid and needs to be addressed.  Here are some options to increase convenience while addressing the objections above:

1. Make Saturday mornings available for new patients – Most practices do not run on Saturday so opening up this day is relatively easy and extremely convenient for patients.  
2. Open before or after normal working hours – Opening early can be challenging.  People need to wake up, get organized and they have other plans during the day that might be interrupted by a late appointment. But, if you have an office near a factory or large warehouse with large numbers of shift workers, this can add convenience.  Opening after normal hours is much easier and you can be flexible.  If you are open from 5-6 pm and that fills, add a 6-7 slot.  You get the picture from then on.
3. Introduce a second specialty – How does this add convenience?  It allows your practice to offer more available hours with a dental professional.  Obviously, you would not want to have another specialist diagnose and make treatment decisions for your patients, but they can see patients within their own specialty and then that patient is in your system until you can see them.  For example, if you are an orthodontist, chances are that a new patient will need a cleaning before starting treatment.  A general dentist can get that cleaning done for you so that the patient has an easier path to the start of orthodontic treatment.

Whatever path you choose, remember that convenience without being unreasonable, can be a huge marketing tool to attract new patients to your practice.