Running a dental practice isn’t an easy job. It requires a specific skill set that combines dental expertise with business savvy and customer service skills. If you’ve started your own dental practice, it can be a challenging, yet exciting, road to go down. To help you build the best dental practice possible, here are a few tips.
1. Focus on Training Your Team
When running a dental practice, maintaining a well-trained team is essential to providing patients with a great experience. Of course, a dentist should be highly skilled when it comes to performing dental work—but, oftentimes, patients want more than just great dental work.
Patients want a dentist who communicates clearly, engages them, and demonstrates professionalism at all times. Thus, communication strategies and patient engagement should be a part of the onboarding process for any dentist who joins your practice.
Dentists aren’t the only members of a dental practice who should undergo regular training. Everyone from the receptionist to the dental assistant can benefit from continued professional development. Softwares like Kwikly can help your dental staffing needs.
2. Keep an Eye on Inventory
While inventory management may not be top of mind when opening a dental practice, it’s an important consideration nonetheless. You have to make sure that your dentists have all of the products and tools they need to do their job to the best of their abilities. From dental cement to face shields, you have to make sure your dental practice is stocked up on the essentials.
On the other hand, you also don’t want to order excess supplies, as this can quickly take up valuable storage space and cause cash flow problems. That’s why it’s imperative for someone in your dental practice to track how supplies are used over time and place orders according to your practice’s needs. Creating an inventory management system for your dental practice can help keep you organized and efficient.
3. Set Up a Patient Referral System
With a patient referral system in place, you can grow your business and attract loyal customers. After all, most people who are looking for a local dentist rarely just walk into a random practice hoping for the best—they want to go to someone they can trust, which is why referrals are so important.
A patient referral system can be as simple as handing out business cards to current patients after their appointments. But, if you really want to go the extra mile, you can even offer discounts or rewards to current patients who manage to bring new patients to your practice.
4. Market Your Practice
Marketing is important for every business, and a dental practice is no different. Setting up a patient referral system, as we mentioned above, is one form of marketing. But how else can you get your practice’s name out there and build your reputation?
One cost-effective way to market your dental practice is through digital marketing. Start by setting up a website for your business—maybe even include a customer testimonials section or create a blog that discusses common dental issues. To take your digital marketing efforts a step further, consider hiring a marketing specialist or working with a digital marketing agency.
5. Create a Positive Office Culture
A positive office culture benefits everyone associated with your office, from your staff to your patients. When your employees are happy in their work environment, they tend to be more efficient and stay with your practice for a longer time. Similarly, patients are going to be more satisfied when the employees working with them are upbeat and positive.
Take the steps to build a positive culture in your dental practice. Hire employees who align with your practice’s values. Set goals and expectations for employees early on, and reward those who go above and beyond. And, lastly, get to know your employees—encourage collaboration and allow them to provide you with feedback.
While running a dental practice is hard work, it’s rewarding in the end. Dentistry helps people from all walks of life improve their health and well-being. By following one or all of these tips, you can create a great dental practice for your staff and your patients.
