One excellent strategy to increase practice production and income is by introducing a new service. Over 40-plus years, Levin Group has had the opportunity to work with tens of thousands of dentists and observe strategies that lead practices to success and patterns that lead to decline. One strategy that is common to success-oriented dentists is the addition of new services—but not simply the random addition of new services. There must be a strategy behind it.

The strategy behind selecting a new service

All too often a dentist will attend a continuing education course, get excited, purchase new technology or decide to launch a new service without spending any time thinking strategically about the benefit of that service. I understand the excitement that can happen when you become exposed to a new service and want to offer it to patients. That is admirable. However, taking the time to analyze that service and its potential impact on a practice is a step many dentists skip.

So what is the right strategic approach? The answer starts with an understanding of how many patients would potentially take advantage of that service and whether it would attract new patients. Once a dentist moves past the initial excitement, the new service often becomes an occasional or rarely offered one that does very little to positively impact the practice. Here are the most important considerations for deciding when to add a service and how to have it contribute to practice production and patient satisfaction:

• Analyze the patient base to determine how many patients per year might be candidates for the new service. The insurance coverage profile of your patient base should be considered (for practices that participate) as that can have a dramatic effect on the implementation and adoption of a new service.
• Assess the time and effort needed to master the learning curve of the new service. Some can be simple and immediate, and others can be complex and lengthy. How committed is the dentist to mastering the learning curve? Will more continuing education be needed? Will there be potential failures early in the process as the dentist is mastering the new service? Does the dentist have time to master the new service? These are excellent questions to consider even though they have some negative elements. Keep in mind that the excitement phase can be very positive and motivating when adding a new service AND it can mask the reality that the new service will never be fully implemented in the practice.
• Develop an internal marketing communications program. Every dental practice should have an internal marketing communications program, which is basically a plan and schedule for how they communicate, update, educate, and motivate patients. The internal marketing communications program can be very inexpensive and very powerful. If the practice has a solid patient base, you already have a captive audience, many of whom may be candidates for a new service now, or in the future.

Several elements of a strong internal marketing communications program are having a newsletter which goes out each month. This can be just a few paragraphs sent by email, updating patients on the practice. The newsletter can include information about the new service, who might be a potential candidate, and an offer to ask the doctor or staff about the new service now or when they next come in. This should be repeated periodically with varying information related to the new service including the excellent results that can be achieved.

A second example would be having the staff wear “Ask me about...” buttons. This gets patients talking about the new service, even if it is not directly applicable to them. And although people respond to buttons much better than signs, that shouldn’t stop you from placing signage throughout the office. The hygiene room is an ideal location because patients spend about an hour in that room with their hygienist. The hygienist should point out to every patient that a new service is available. Even if the patient in the chair would not benefit, it still spreads the word that the new service is there.

As a final example, the front desk staff can be given scripting about the new service to educate patients. “Mrs. Jones, we are letting every new patient know that we have XYZ new service available for those that it would benefit and the results have been outstanding.”

• Ask patients who have received the service to write a review. The simplest, cheapest, and easiest way to increase reviews is to ask patients when they come back to the front desk following treatment. A simple question such as, “Mrs. Jones, how was your visit today?“ will often result in the patient stating it was a positive visit. Then you can ask for a review.
• Measure, measure, measure. Every office should set a goal for the first 12 months and then year after year for each new service they provide. Doing this creates a focus on the new service and achieving the aforementioned goal. The key then is to measure monthly progress. Did the practice do any? Did it do 10? Is the number of patients receiving the service growing or declining? By measuring results and paying attention to these measurements, the practice will maintain a greater focus on the new service, educate current and new patients about it, attract new patients, and be able to analyze how many (and the production amount) the new service is contributing to the practice. Once this goal process is in place, many practices take off because they are much more focused on where they stand relative to the goal.
• Display enthusiasm about the new service. The new service will be much more interesting to patients if they feel a positive energy and enthusiasm about it, especially if it applies to them. 

Summary

There are other internal marketing communication strategies that can be applied to a new service, but these will certainly get you started. The key is to make patients aware that the new service is available. Social media can also be an outreach method for new patients who may be interested in a service and now know that it exists in your practice.

Overall, adding a new service to a dental practice can be a powerful way to increase production and income. Key success factors include the formation of a strategic approach, a structured decision--making process, and effective marketing of the new service to patients. These things allow for the proper implementation of a new service that will contribute the maximum production and income to the practice.