The patients already in your logbook, and how to bring them back
The cheapest patient you will ever get is one who has already sat in your chair, already paid you, and already liked it enough to come back if anybody asked.
The cheapest patient you will ever get
Every clinic has a pile of them. The patient told to come back in six months for a cleaning. The one who finished a filling and was going to sort out the other side later. The one who came for a toothache two years ago, got it fixed, and simply moved on with her life.
None of them are angry with you. None of them have gone to another dentist out of spite. They forgot, and so did everyone at the desk, and the appointment that was going to happen never got made by anybody.
Getting one of them back costs a text message. Getting a stranger costs a page, a listing, patience and usually money.
Why nobody texts them
Not laziness. Three real reasons. There is no list, only a logbook with a year of names in date order. There is no time, because the receptionist is dealing with the people in front of her. And it feels like selling, which is not what anybody at a clinic signed up for.
The last one is worth arguing with. You are not selling her anything. You are telling her the thing she already agreed to do, at the time she agreed to do it, because you are the one keeping track and she is not.
She did not decide against coming back. She just never got reminded that it was time.
Building the list from a paper logbook
You do not need software to start. You need five columns, and an afternoon with the logbook.
- Her name.
- Her mobile number.
- The date she last came.
- What was done, in two or three words.
- When she is due back.
Work backwards from the most recent pages first, because the recent ones respond best. Do not try to do five years in one sitting. A year is plenty to start with, and the last six months alone will give you a list worth texting.
When to send it
For a cleaning, a few days before the six months is up, so she can book into a week that is not full yet. For unfinished work, about a month after the visit where it was left, while she still remembers the plan.
For the patients who lapsed a year or two ago, there is no right week. Pick a quiet month and work through them in small batches so that if they all reply at once your receptionist can cope.
What to say
Name her, name the clinic, name the reason, and make booking one tap. No urgency, no discount, no talk of oral health consequences.
Hi Maria, this is Santos Dental Clinic. It has been about six months since your cleaning, so you are due for the next one. If you would like a slot, tap here and pick a day that suits you. Salamat po.
The reason it works is that it is true and it is specific. She knows exactly why she is getting this message and exactly what to do about it.
The two year patient
This one needs a different message, because the six month line does not fit and reminding her how long it has been feels like being told off.
Hi Maria, this is Santos Dental Clinic. It has been a while since we last saw you and we wanted to check in. If you would like to come in for a check up, tap here and pick a day. If not, no problem at all.
The last sentence is doing real work. It gives her permission to ignore it, and that is exactly why more people answer.
Once, not repeatedly
Send it once. If she does not answer, leave her alone for months before the next one, and change the wording when it comes. Two texts a year from her dentist is a clinic keeping track. Two texts a week is a number she blocks, and once she has blocked it you have lost her for every future message including the useful ones.
Is it alright to text them
She gave the clinic her number so the clinic could reach her about her own care, and a recall for the treatment you agreed on is squarely that. What it is not is a licence to send her promos, package deals for things she never asked about, or anything unrelated to her own visits.
Keep it about her. Sign every message with the clinic name so she knows instantly who it is from, and always give her a way to tell you to stop. Under the Data Privacy Act her details are hers, and the clinic is holding them for her care, not for marketing.
Where to start this week
Take the last three months of the logbook. Write down everyone who was told to come back and has not. Text them tonight, by hand, one at a time. It is usually a short list and it usually fills more of next week than anything else you could do with that hour.
The part that never survives a busy month is doing it for every patient, every week, forever, and knowing who has already been asked. That is the part we take over, and you see the whole of it in the weekly report.