2. If there is a promotion with a free service, emphasize the word “free”

3. Make business cards for your honey. center, clinic and place information about the services of your honey. center on the back of your business card.

4. Motivate your staff to always carry your honey's business cards with them. center and place them in the locations of your target audience, distribute them to customers and potential customers.
5. Design a brochure ) with the services of your medical center or clinic.
6. Be sure to include customer testimonials in your booklet and website.
7. Use feedback about your honey. center/clinic of a famous person in your city.
8. Motivate your doctors to write articles and advice about your medical services. center / clinic on your website and on thematic portals on the Internet.
9. Require all your employees in the workplace to wear a badge with your company logo, position, name and patronymic
10. Once a quarter, hold open days in your honey. center/clinic with thematic lectures.
11. Make coupons for your services.
12. Write the value of the coupon - how much money the customer will save.
13. Keep in touch with clients. Within 48 hours of your initial appointment, send your client a thank you letter.

1. Motivate the medical staff after the doctor's appointment to call their patient the next day and ask how the patient began his treatment.
   15. Involve medical staff to invite patients to preventive appointments.
   16. Distribute souvenirs with your logo and phone number of your honey. center: pens, mugs, mouse pads, etc.
   17. Set up a free phone line for customers. Possibility to call honey. center for free to get more information, leave your feedback or get advice.
2. Oblige doctors and administrators to inform your clients about promotions and special offers and give them promotional flyers along with appointments.
   19. Motivate customers to take advantage of promotions and special offers right now.
   20. By calling your honey. center, the client should not wait a long time for an answer when administrators ask him to stay on the line, instead of the standard melody, let information about your company sound. Include in the telephone pauses a record with information about the benefits, promotions and new services of your honey. center or clinic.
3. Be sure to provide instructions when launching a promotion / special offer on how to talk about a promotion or special offer for administrators and medical staff.
   22. Test several different offers.
   23. If you have a large medical center in a large building, select a person who will personally greet and meet patients, escort them to the reception desk or clinic staff on duty (use, as an example, the experience of having consultants in Sberbank).
   24. Call everyone who has been treated with you to inquire about their well-being, remind them of your clinic and ask if they need your help. As a rule, within a week, 7-9% of the notified patients will come to you, and another 10-15% will come within a couple of months after the call.
   25. "Sharpen" ads for different target audiences.
   26. Visit your target audience's pastimes: beauty salons, tanning salons, pharmacies, medical equipment stores, fitness centers, nursing homes or kindergartens. Agree with the staff to leave brochures and promotional materials, develop motivation for these employees.
   27. Give large discounts on visits when clinic attendance is at its lowest. For example: Sunday evening.
   28. Arrange to be interviewed for a radio station, newspaper, magazine, or medical portal. It can also be imagined as a live medical consultation.
   29. Use seasonal promotions for seasonal downturns.
   30. A good marketing ploy to attract patients would be to visit the management of a private school, university or college to arrange a medical examination on a voluntary basis for students at a deep discount.
   31. Study the offers and advertisements of your competitors.
   32. Write down everything that gives high performance, standardize your success.
4. Team up with a bank to provide costly assistance, surveys, or complex credit transactions.
5. Be sure to blog (publish articles regularly on the site). Write about what really worries people or can help them.
6. Manage your groups on social networks on the Internet.
7. Announce contests in your groups in the social. networks.
8. Conduct free consultations on the website of your clinic or medical center, inform regular patients about them.
9. Make newsletters.
10. Create a reward system for employees of other clinics (that are not your competitors) to refer patients to you.

SHAREROV

The other day a client came to me who has his own dental clinic. He had no idea how to attract customers, scale the business and make big profits. Increasing the profits of dentistry is easy using a few tricks from this article. Read on.

Today I will tell you about the difficulties faced by “young” dentist entrepreneurs, as well as those who have been in this business for a long time, but for some reason are still stuck in a dead center.

In this article, using the example of private dentistry, we will consider the following questions:

• Why is it hard to start a business?
• 5 principles that will sink your business.
• How to increase the flow of customers by 30%?
• Businessman or self-employed, who are you?
• What will help you create a “delicious” USP?
• Increase the profits of dentistry. Where to begin?

Start over.

The collapse of the hopes of a novice businessman

What does a novice entrepreneur expect when he opens his own business, in our example, his dentistry.

The first, of course, is freedom. How long can you work for your "uncle" when you have tremendous experience, professionalism and little capital. You can fulfill your dream and make a profit ...

Dream. Many aspire to it. Each to their own, based on their experience. And a professional in his field, takes and leaves a hired job, opens his own business and begins to do what he used to do, only for himself.

The problem is that he is often not ready for this, simply because there are no such skills. Yes, he is a professional, an excellent dentist, but not a businessman.

And those mistakes that he begins to make inevitably lead to problems in his business.

Let's take a look at some of the mistakes my client made in his field. I note that business processes are in many ways similar and differ only in the specifics of the field of activity, so not only dentists should be aware of these errors.

5 principles of "grandfather" marketing for dentistry or why you will not have 300 thousand customers)

What are the principles that many self-employed businessmen, as well as novice entrepreneurs, still work on, what mistakes they encounter and what this leads to, we will consider later in the article.

1. If you want it to be good, do it yourself.

Undoubtedly, an entrepreneur must understand many aspects of his business. However, doing everything on your own takes a colossal amount of time and effort to study and implement all those technologies, or at least a small part of them, that currently exist on the market.

“Do it yourself” is the principle of owning your own work. It is inherent in dentists, lawyers, lawyers, accountants and other professions involved in private practice.

This is what distinguishes a business from self-employment. This is the principle that does not allow these people to become the owner of a business and jump above their heads.

It is clear that there are 24 hours in a day. During this time, it is impossible for one person to serve an infinite number of patients, and even more so to manage, develop and scale his business.

Classic of the genre, Robert Kiyosaki, CASHFLOW Quadrant. Businessmen value their time, they know that it cannot be returned. Therefore, they buy the time of others and then their day becomes no longer 24 hours. With the wrong hands, they can do much more.

The ability to delegate is one of the key skills that distinguishes a businessman from a self-employed worker. The owner of his business is not limited to one clinic, he is building a network of clinics.

2. Advertising is the engine of trade.

It is IMPORTANT for any entrepreneur, including the owner of a dental clinic, to understand that advertising does NOT increase your sales! As strange as it may sound, it is a fact.

Advertising only allows you to increase the number of visits to the clinic. But the administrator who received this call Yes! In many ways, it depends on him whether the client will reach us or go to someone else, more polite, for example.

3. The habit of paying twice.

There are some things you shouldn't skimp on. This is marketing and qualified personnel. I explain why.

First, marketing is a system that attracts and retains customers in our company. Without attracting customers, there will be no profit. Without customer retention, there will be no business stability.

According to statistics, attracting a new client is 5-7 times more energy-labor-money-costly than selling a product or service to an already “old one”. Yes! Many dentists make this mistake! They treat their client as a “disposable”, not knowing or forgetting that the customer base is the golden asset of any business.

Secondly, the generated flow of potential customers must be converted into real ones. I wrote about this above in the "advertisement". And for this, you need a competent manager or administrator who will be able not only to competently tell about the services, but also competently close the sale, so that the client does not even have a doubt about choosing which clinic to go to.

Thirdly, the dentist himself and his colleagues must be professionals. Otherwise, “good marketing” will simply “kill” the business of an incompetent doctor. Why?

Because the army of customers created by "good marketing", dissatisfied and embittered with the quality of services, will spread the "glory about the great feats of the dentist." And this is in the most favorable outcome. But there may also be courts, and compensation ...

Therefore, it is important to be a professional in your field and take the same professionals as you or better!

The desire to save money, where it is not worth it, can be very EXPENSIVE in the future.

4. Lack of understanding of your own business.

The lack of knowledge and skills does not allow you to create a viable business model, although it is with an understanding of the business processes that will take place in your clinic that everything should begin.

5. Disposable clients.

As practice shows, about 45% of dental clinics treat their clients as "disposable", that is, they served, made a profit and that's it.

This is one of the biggest mistakes. The customer base is your golden asset. Loyal customers are the people who make your business sustainable.

Repeat sales, according to statistics, are 5 times less expensive than finding new customers and building relationships with them.

What is important to know for a novice entrepreneur and will help those who are "treading water." We will talk about this further.

6 rules to increase the profit of dentistry

There are things painfully familiar, however, there are still a lot of those who do not use them, especially in offline business.

1. Determine who your target audience (target audience) is.

Of course. Where will we move if we do not understand who our client is? Who do we feed with bait, for whom do we write texts, shoot commercials, create banners, headlines, describe values, press on calluses…

Trite, but a clear understanding of your target audience allows you to accurately shoot at customers and hit right on target, rather than when we have a general blurry idea and fire from the tsar cannon at sparrows.

2. Create your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

Knowing who our client is, you can create a unique selling proposition for him. Or for them, if there are several such groups. Again, the gray masses of an infinite number of clinics begin to get lost against the background of the number, no matter how good they are.

How do you choose where to go in this case? Help the client, make your own unique offer, so that against the background of competitors it would be the most delicious! And what is needed for this?

Yes, it is worth noting here that in many respects these 2 and subsequent points depend on what level your dentistry is: an economy cabinet, an average option or an elite clinic.

3. Use benchmarking.

Study your competitors, look at their features: how do they attract customers, generate leads, what features do they use offline and online? Analyze, maybe even use their service to know your friend from the inside. Take the best they have and apply it to your clinic or your business.

In addition, identify obvious shortcomings and weaknesses of competitors and make them your strengths. Then, when choosing between you and someone, they will stop at you.

Having analyzed your main competitors in this way, you will have a picture of their strengths and weaknesses. You will see what they offer, what is their USP, what are their pros and cons.

Take all the best, remove weaknesses and create your own beautiful, bright, "delicious" USP, which your client "eats" with pleasure. And you will be happy.))

After all, customers are becoming smarter and do not go to the first dentist or hairdresser with a bright picture in advertising. They analyze what is good and what is bad and where for the same money is even better.

By finding the weaknesses of your competitors and turning them into your strengths, you will compare favorably with your fellow drills.

4. Create trust - the source of sales.

What impression the client will have about your clinic depends on his further visit to you, and not to your competitors.

And here there are no trifles. In the literal sense, everything affects the client, from the sign above the entrance and the smile of the administrator, to the cleanliness of the toilet and the presence of soap next to the washbasin.

And of course, the main thing is the professionalism of the dentist himself. Because it is one thing when you are treated by a "soulless" uncle with a stone expression in his eyes, and quite another, an open, good-natured, calming person.

Going to the dentist is stressful, unpleasant, and often painful. That is why we go to him so “often”, usually when we are already unbearable. Scheduled preventive visits to the dentist have not yet become part of our culture.

In order for the client to feel comfortable and well, it is important to create trust from the moment the client crosses the threshold of your clinic.

A grateful client will come back to you again and again.

5. Use smart cross-sell.

One of the well-known methods of raising profits is cross-selling.
After high-quality work with the patient, his satisfied, grateful eyes, you can offer him to purchase related products.

Of course, it doesn't have to feel like a push-pull for a new super trendy floss that goes even where others can't.

Your clinic showcases may have good toothpastes, brushes, mouthwashes and other oral products that will really benefit the client and bring you additional profit.

Without this, neither customers, nor profits, nor businesses can be seen as their teeth. And vice versa, from practice, by implementing these simple rules in your business, you can increase the number of customers by 30% in 1-2 months.

6. Money is nothing, REPUTATION is Everything!

One serious joint and your reputation will be completely crushed!

People choose a dentist once and for life. This is of course conditional, but in fact, I would rather go to the other end of the city to my trusted specialist than go down to the next entrance to the newly opened dental clinic.

Therefore, how quality or poor quality you serve your new patient depends on whether he will become yours for centuries!?) Thus, as a professional in your field, you personally influence your reputation.

word of mouth, as a result of your service, the word of the miracle dentist will spread throughout the area. And what this message will be and how it will affect your reputation depends on how satisfied your client is.

Yes, and of course, it is important to collect positive reviews patients of your clinic, because the principle of social proof has not yet been canceled. The best review is a video review!

Reputation marketing is about building and maintaining reputation. It is impossible to track everything on your own. And the bigger you get, the more and better you need to track everything that customers, competitors, media, blogs, social media say about you. networks, etc.

Often there are envious well-wishers who, for a number of reasons, from psychological to black PR, in one way or another try to move you off the podium of your impeccable reputation.

Reputation is a clean, transparent glass ball, once dropped, the pieces cannot be collected. And even if it is collected and glued together, the reputation will never be the same. Therefore, treat it with care and do not let anyone break it.

That's what reputation marketing is for.

Ask yourself questions:

• Do you know your target audience?
• Do you have a USP that sets you apart from the rest?
• Do you know who your main competitors are and what marketing methods they use?
• Are you building trusting relationships with your clients?
• Do you sell related products?
• Do you care about your reputation as a good specialist?

If there is at least one NO, it's time to think about your marketing!

Finally

Let me summarize.

What is dentistry? This is business. The same business as others, with the same laws, only with its own specifics.

Like any other business, in order to competently manage it, you need to have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience. Often, in small clinics and private offices, the dentist himself acts as a businessman.

Being a good specialist in dentistry and being a businessman are two big differences and, as a rule, one excludes the other.

Not for nothing, in the most successful network clinics, the owners are not dentists. They create this profitable business, open clinics, hire staff, build networks. The ability to manage one's own and other people's time, to delegate authority is one of the key skills that distinguish a business owner from the owner of his work.

And you have a choice. If you want to develop your business, you can start doing it yourself by implementing the rules that I wrote about. This will allow you to attract new clients to your clinic. However, remember that this stream will always be limited by your time.

Or hire experts in this field, let them do it, and you continue to do what you love.

Dentistry- one of the favorable areas for investment, but with high competition. There are dozens of dental centers in every city: from modest dental offices to large chain clinics. To stay afloat, you need to practice attracting patients to the dental clinic. And you need to do this regularly.

How to attract patients to the dental clinic: 6 effective ways

• Location To be a winner, it is not necessary to have an office in the city center. It is important that the hospital is conveniently accessible by public and private transport.
• Competence of doctors The professionalism, accuracy and cleanliness of the doctor are visible from the first minute of acquaintance. If he began to conduct an examination without gloves, and during the treatment he caused discomfort to the client, he is unlikely to make an appointment again. Patients can also be attracted by treating complex diseases, performing rare surgeries, and using experimental techniques.
• Offline and online advertising How to attract patients to a dentistry that has just opened? At first, only advertising on the Internet and on the street will help with this. Use any tools: flyers, banners, streamers, billboards, websites, social networks. In the future, the main flow will come by word of mouth.
• Marketing Campaigns Discounts, promotions and special offers have always been and will be an effective way to attract patients to dentistry. Reduced prices will help expand the audience among students and retirees.
• Feedback Doctors after the service should ask the clients if they liked everything. You can ask to leave a review on the website or on the company's page in social networks.
• Automated maintenance Making an appointment with a doctor through the registry is becoming less and less relevant - they use computers or phones. It is very convenient and saves time.

Attracting corporate clients to dentistry

Corporate clients for dentistry – Goldmine. One company can bring an average of 10-15 clients to the clinic. There are two ways to increase client flow to dentistry by offering:

• Corporate subscription for employees.
• Conclusion of a service contract at a discount.

In both cases, the dental clinic receives significant influx of customers and the head of the company demonstrates concern for his employees. You can contact the owners of companies by phone or e-mail, sending a commercial offer.

Benefits of working with YCLIENTS

Most of the ways to attract customers to dentistry allows you to keep them and make them regular customers. However, only simple, fast and convenient service will help to conquer them from the first second.
The cloud platform allows you to do this. YCLIENTS. It is tied to the site and allows you to solve numerous tasks for both visitors and clinic staff.

• Online appointment. Busy people don't have to take time off from work to go to the hospital to see a doctor, and introverts don't have to make phone calls. It will be possible to get to the dentist with a single click. You will only need to choose a doctor, date and convenient time, and then indicate the phone number and mail.
• Electronic journal. It is enough for a doctor to have a phone at hand to find out his schedule. YCLIENTS automatically records clients, which are then displayed to the clinic staff in a pivot table.
• SMS and email notifications. Set up automatic notifications to the client's email or phone a couple of days before the appointment. So the patient will definitely not miss a trip to the doctor, and you will not have windows in the schedule.
• Client base. This feature allows you to increase the customer focus of your dental clinic. You can easily track visit frequency. For regular customers, in this way, you can develop personal discounts and increase their loyalty. For those who have not been for a long time, organize a mailing list with an unobtrusive reminder of yourself. provide guaranteed attraction of primary patients to dentistry and turn them into regular customers of your clinic!

Today it is already trivial to think that a patient in paid dentistry acts in two forms: he is a recipient of medical care and a consumer of services. It is clear to everyone that the successful commerce and competitiveness of a clinic, firm or private dentist is decisively dependent on how medical and service personnel have mastered the psychology of interaction in the process of treatment and sale of services. To attract a patient, to retain, to pleasantly surprise, to make him permanent - these goals have become the companions of commercial success.

And, on the contrary, the concepts of “alert, disappoint, lose” the patient are perceived as synonymous with bad business. We emphasize that a shift is taking place in the minds of the consumer of services in medicine: he is more and more interested in the personal qualities of a doctor - humanity, decency, kindness, responsiveness, and not just professionalism in the traditional sense. Impressions from the doctor's personality are usually transferred to the quality of his work - a good person and a good professional. However, what is within the framework of common sense is not always reflected in practice. That is why it is appropriate to express in the form of strict standards the cornerstone, in our opinion, provisions that should guide a dentist who is counting on the sustainable effects of his work: high earnings, strengthening relationships with patients, their constancy and voluntary performance of the function of distributors.

10 ways to attract and retain a patient

Method 1

During the consultation or appointment, at all stages of service, act in such a way that nothing reminds the patient of the bad and unpleasant from the practice of public medicine.
Work and win the trust of patients on the contrast of new and old! This provision applies to all aspects of the activity of a paid institution - this is informing about services, observing security measures, interaction of medical and attendant personnel with patients, providing illustrations at the reception, booklets and letterheads, designing offices, a hall and ancillary facilities. Everywhere the patients' minds must fix the thoughtfulness, even the smallest things, and the conclusion should be obvious: here they do not save on either treatment or service.

Method 2

At all stages of interaction with the patient, demonstrate cordiality, attention and willingness to cooperate with any patient, including not very kind, well-mannered, and even with problematic personality traits. We continue to develop the theme of contrasts, highlighting its psychological background. An ordinary citizen of our country was brought up in conditions of deprivation. Everywhere and in various forms, he was deprived of attention and care - in the family, household and medical institutions, at the place of work and leisure. However, such a disappointing reality of the recent past can be used for the benefit of commerce and competition. Imagine that your patient is at the epicenter of sincere attention and care. Literally from the first to the last second of his stay in your institution, he feels the cordiality addressed to him personally, the willingness of the staff to cooperate. The task seems to be simple, but it is not easy to implement it in practice. It is difficult to maintain the style of "cordiality and courtesy" at all stages of interaction, with all patients, under all circumstances, and for all staff. We are very different - both those who serve and those who are served; each has its own principles, ideas about what is due, its own nervous system and character. In addition, cordiality and courtesy are very capacious concepts that include ethics, the ability to make contact and maintain it. It may take years for the employees of the firm to learn good manners. Start with the elementary. First of all, dear colleagues, learn how to properly meet a new patient who enters the office. This is stated in the following statement.

Method 3

Do your best to give the patient a positive first impression of yourself. As you know, the first impression of a person leaves a deep and long-term mark. It may not be as objective as it is psychologically significant, rich in information. Instantly and largely unconsciously, a holistic assessment of the partner’s image takes place: an impression is formed about whether he is pleasant or repulsive in some way, positive or negative associations with known types arise, an emotional-energetic consonance or dissonance is formed. At this moment, the patient's psyche operates in an extreme mode of "sorting impressions and prognosis": what can be expected from this doctor - is he a good or bad person, can he be trusted with his wallet and health? It is known from practice that, upon entering the office, patients at some point often lose their bearings, do not understand how to approach and sit in a chair, there is a bewildered smile or a tense grimace on their faces. Such states indicate that the brain is actively processing new information on a subconscious level, attention is focused and directed to signs of well-being and trouble, all other details are outside the field of active consciousness. After a while, conceptual thinking and logic begin to connect. Gradually, as contacts expand in one direction or another, the opinion about the doctor will be corrected, final conclusions about his personality will be formed. But this will happen later, and the first impression will nevertheless remain for a long time and will color all the facets of further relationships. That is why in the first moments one must especially try and show the best in oneself - benevolence, friendliness, responsiveness. The vast majority of doctors possess these qualities, but many have hidden them deeply and extract them in exceptional cases. Unfortunately, other doctors, being humane people, have developed a bureaucratic stereotype of interaction with patients - on-duty officiality, an ambiguous smile, an absent-minded look, and a neutral emotional tone. The mask stuck to the face. It should be recognized that this is an economical style of relations, but it is least of all suitable for the first moment of communication with patients, when it is necessary to easily and widely show readiness for frank and desired interaction, strengthening contacts.

In the first moments of communication with patients, any falsehood is very noticeable, an attempt to pretend to be someone you are not. Most people at the first contacts quickly notice when a partner plays someone else's role. Is it easy for a doctor to be cordial and amiable, to win over a patient from the first seconds of communication? Not easy. Fatigue affects, not all of his character traits and not every manner of communication is liked by everyone. The doctor also "calculates" the patient on the basis of the first impression, and associations and images of the past arise in his mind. A different patient does not at all dispose to open arms, but true professionalism lies in the fact that the humanistic essence of the doctor, communicative tolerance take precedence over unpleasant memories. There is a warning about this.

Method 4

Do not allow yourself to be guided by negative attitudes towards patients. Our observations show that prejudices and images of "bad patients" often outstrip the dentist's contacts with a particular patient. One doctor expressed his mindset, proud of his “sense of people,” in the following form: “At first sight I identify a patient who will be difficult and unpleasant in communication, and I immediately develop an appropriate attitude towards him.” Is this a sign of professionalism? On the contrary, as a result of such readiness, the doctor develops certain forms of defensive behavior - closeness in communication, unwillingness to explain in detail, clarify what is required, emotional constraint, aggression, etc.

In other cases, the dentist and his assistant "calculate" the patient's solvency - we can or we can't make money on him, whether he stays for treatment or not. This is also where the emotional detachment and bureaucratic tone come from. The patient, as a rule, catches this, and two outcomes are probable here: if he is educated and sustained, he will not show an appearance, but will hold a grudge and speak badly about the staff; if he is uncultured, emotionally labile, or, even worse, with signs of mental abnormalities, he will give a reaction in the form of accusations, indignation, rudeness, etc. Without realizing it, the doctor sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. As a result, he became even more entrenched in his opinion: “what a bad and capricious current patient, here before ...” And the patient made his conclusion: “Nothing has changed in paid dentistry, doctors have remained as they were.” Thus, mutual negative attitudes are capable of swaying the amplitude of negative impressions in the emotional and ethical circuit "doctor - patient". Forbid yourself, dear colleagues, to participate in this drama of communication.

Method 5

Act in such a way that each patient is convinced that you have received from him and properly assessed all the information necessary for the successful implementation of a complex of therapeutic measures - diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, prevention.

We are talking about the initial phase of mandatory professional communication (OPC) between a doctor and a patient, more precisely, about that part of it that is aimed at identifying the necessary information - complaints and wishes, general health and the state of the recipient of medical care at the time of admission. In the conditions of paid services, the “detection” aspect has some features compared to the scheme for collecting an anamnesis and examining images that operates in a state budgetary institution. The main difference is that the doctor is not limited to dental tasks, he also has a psychological impact on the patient. The visitor should see and positively evaluate the doctor's professionalism, attention to health and efforts. Therefore, the doctor works in a dialogue mode and on the principle of "feedback", giving adequate information to the client: I see, hear and take into account everything, not a single important detail escapes me.

The doctor "reveals" based on the patient, for the patient, and not just for himself. Almost everything that the doctor "reveals" he brings to the consciousness of the patient. For this purpose, the influence of general health on the state of the dentoalveolar system is explained and, on the contrary, individual complaints and indications of the image are commented, and generalizations are made. Here, the principle “we write one, two in the mind” is unacceptable, according to which the doctor understood what was important for himself, caught the essence of the patient’s statements, determined his condition and silently acts further - makes decisions, makes conclusions. On the contrary, the doctor uses various “feedback” techniques so that the patient can draw a conclusion already at this stage of communication: I came to a responsible, attentive, highly professional specialist.

Method 6

Provide the patient with all the necessary information in such a way that he feels like an active actor at different stages of interaction - getting to know the problem, developing a recommended treatment plan, choosing a solution, discussing costs and guarantees.

To do this, you continue to carry out the mandatory professional communication in full, argue clearly, clearly. Address the patient with questions, make sure that he understands you correctly. Let's have an opportunity to express wishes. Do not be embarrassed by the fact that another patient will say: "Do what and how you see fit." Compulsory communication is so named because it includes what needs to be brought to the patient's mind under any circumstances, mindful of the rights of the consumer and the complexities of human nature. However, one and the same thing can be expressed briefly or in detail, one or another accent can be placed, but the essential cannot be ignored - it will be more expensive for oneself.

In each case of treatment, in addition to “detection”, the following components of the HPF are performed:

• explanation - the patient is explained his problems, the content of the recommended treatment plan;
• coordination - the plan being implemented, the selected technologies, materials, cost, start and completion dates are agreed;
• clarification - explains the circumstances for determining the guarantees and the conditions for their compliance by the clinic, the content of informed voluntary consent (or several consents if there are parallel and consecutive interventions), the conditions for maintaining the effect of the treatment and actions in case of discomfort (best in writing after completion of treatment).

It would seem that there is nothing unexpected or difficult in the requirements for HIF for dentists, however, patient surveys show that not every doctor succeeds in implementing it in full, properly and in all cases. So, according to more than three thousand patients interviewed by us by phone after treatment at the Medi company, a detailed explanation of the problem takes place in the range of 52 to 97%, an explanation in case of complications - in the range of 28-99%, guarantees - 25- 91%. It should be noted that the shortcomings of HPS are different, for one reason or another, it does not reach the proper volume and quality, and, as our experience shows, it is difficult to correct even as a result of special trainings. Thus, one should not overestimate oneself in terms of OPO.

A typical mistake of dentists is that they get carried away with monologues, lecture the patient, and oversaturate information with special terms. In this form, they compensate for the lack of dialogue communication skills and the ability to persuade, taking their light literature for the art of professional communication.

Method 7

Notice the individual characteristics of the patient and build interaction with them in such a way as to achieve the best mutual understanding.

This position is well known to doctors and has become a truism. But this does not mean that it is at least satisfactorily performed at all stages of interaction with patients, as evidenced by our observations and special studies. First, doctors lack the knowledge and skills needed to quickly diagnose a patient's personality. Secondly, no one has ever taught them how to interact with patients of one type or another - communicative and non-communicative, extroverts and introverts, rational and emotional, labile and rigid, visual and auditory, suggestible and unsuggestible, showing their psychological characteristics within the normal range. and outside it, etc. Thirdly, most doctors do not follow the rules of reflection and therefore not only make elementary mistakes in interacting with a particular type of patient, but also provoke conflicts and rejection of their personality and work style by their behavior.

At the first stage of self-learning and self-control, one must at least correctly set psychological tasks for oneself:

• to induce, or perhaps force oneself to respect the subjective reality of the patient, i.e. to his actual needs: on the one hand, as a living being, the desire for security, physical and psychological comfort, on the other hand, as a self-respecting person who defends his rights and interests, wants to be heard and seen, wants to prove himself "here and now";
• try at least in general terms to recognize the most significant personality traits of the patient who came to the appointment for the choice of a relationship strategy - has a negative dental experience, is anxious, needs support, is easily vulnerable, suspicious, inattentive, weak-willed, insincere, emotionally labile, conflict, depends on extraneous opinion, has problematic features;
• “join” the individuality of the patient if he has variants of the norm of individual-typical properties;
• use adequate measures to neutralize tensions and conflicts if the patient has problematic personality traits.

Method 8

Do everything you can to ensure that the patient is convinced that the cost of your treatment is justified.

This provision concerns many aspects of the behavior of a doctor and an assistant - their ability to communicate, professional skills, attitudes towards their duties and even their personal philosophy, the principles that guide them in life. The patient's belief in the justification of the cost of treatment largely depends on the completeness and thoroughness of the RA. If the patient positively evaluates the verbal part of the professional's activity, this strengthens his conclusion about the justification of the cost, because it is clear what and how the doctor tries to explain, explain, and agree. It is equally important to show the patient in an accessible form the quality of the planned, and even better - the work performed. After all, many criteria and indicators of quality in dentistry are not directly visible and intangible. It is clear to you and me, dear colleagues, that highly professional treatment using the latest materials, tools and technologies cannot be cheap. We are also aware that the cost depends on the level of service. However, these simple market dependencies require proof and illustrations for patients who are accustomed to reasoning by analogy with a state clinic or in a simplified way: “What's so difficult about putting a filling or removing a tooth? This is done in any dental clinic. And the service? Do they pay for it?"

The naive mindset of the patient (at least at this stage of paid dentistry) can devalue almost all your achievements in the field of service culture, treatment safety, individual approach, technological innovations and quality of treatment, measured by indicators unknown to many. For example, such indicators as the complete restoration of the anatomical shape and chewing function of the teeth, the passage of a complex canal, high refraction and light transmission in metal-free ceramics, etc. Much of what is a matter of professional pride for a doctor is a secret for an ordinary customer seven seals. But who wants to pay for an unknown and invisible quality? Even the most complex in terms of execution technology, highly aesthetic orthopedic construction, which, in fact, is the creation of a skilled craftsman, usually does not cause any special impressions in a person who is inexperienced in modern dentistry or is obsessed with the fact that he will certainly be “untwisted”.

That is why the doctor is entrusted with the task, as it were, in passing, unobtrusively and at the same time with verified strokes, to expose the quality of the work performed to the patient, sometimes simultaneously convincing, and sometimes enlightening him. Frankly, the task is not an easy one, requiring good communication skills from a specialist, the ability to appeal to reason and feelings, use arguments, and notice the individual characteristics of patients. For example, according to a telephone survey, the indicator "cost is justified" for doctors ranges from 14 to 60%. This means that some doctors are better, while others are worse at the designated commercial and psychological task. At the same time, they are in the same technological conditions, work at identical prices and achieve a sufficiently high quality, which is an indispensable condition for the employees of our company.

Method 9

Work with an assistant in such a way that the patient notices and positively evaluates your tandem.

Usually, the advantages of the “4 hands” treatment method come down to overcoming technological difficulties, convenience for the doctor and the quality of various manipulations. But it would be unfair and reckless to ignore the assistant as a participant in the interaction with the patient and not entrust him with some additional roles related to the sale of services. The goal is to make the assistant a significant figure in gaining the patient's trust. There are many possibilities for this. When meeting the patient in the lobby and escorting to the exit, the assistant can demonstrate a kind manner. In the process of treatment, she must anticipate physical and psychological discomfort, be interested in the patient's condition. By agreement with the doctor, she can give some explanations, and in appropriate cases, maintain a dialogue with the patient on various topics, for example, about the achievements of the clinic, caring for the teeth, maintaining the effect of treatment, etc. And, of course, the assistant and the doctor should equally be interested in demonstrating to the patient the coherence and refinement of actions, mutual understanding “without words”, business spirit. In this case, the patient feels a positive energy impact from the medical staff. As our studies show, patients usually notice the coherence or lack of coherence of the doctor-assistant pair.

To put into practice this method of attracting and retaining a patient, some of the doctors may need to reconsider their views on the functional duties of an assistant. Do it. According to the traditional concept of nursing, the assistant performed auxiliary functions that ensured the work of the doctor, behaved aloof in relations with the patient and did not have the right to take initiative.

In terms of selling services, an assistant is a professional partner of a doctor, together with the doctor, carries out a subjective type of relationship in communicating with the patient, shows activity, independence, creativity (of course, within the framework of his duties and by agreement with the doctor).

Method 10

Carry out all interaction with the patient under the motto "Be our regular patient."

This motto should unite and direct the efforts of the entire team of the clinic, the company towards the achievement of a single goal. By and large, each patient's appointment is a performance (in a good sense of the word), which is played out with the participation of medical and attendant personnel in the name of gaining the patient's trust and motivating his choice in favor of your medical institution. In a play called "A Visit to the Dentist" there should be commercial and psychological dramaturgy, accents should be correctly placed, and roles should be masterfully played. The doctor is the director and main performer of the action.

It determines the moral context of the reception, its information content, the energy of the dialogues. The mindset and output of an assistant depends on him, who can work to one degree or another clearly, responsibly, gracefully, and proactively. The doctor plans and embodies in his actions the main goal of the patient's appeal - to be a one-time visitor or a regular recipient of medical care and a consumer of services.

Under what motto do you, dear colleagues, carry out your daily activities? Try to sincerely answer the question: do you and your assistant always do everything to make the patient prefer to be treated by you, and not by your competitor?

As you can see, the ways to attract and retain patients are diverse. Their implementation requires thorough training of doctors and assistants in the field of psychology. It is not as costly as the acquisition and implementation of new technologies, but laborious and requires patience. But how easy it is to disappoint the patient, to cause criticism and discontent, to provoke him into a conflict. There are many ways to do this, some of which are discussed below.

Literature

1. Boyko V.V. Volume I Clinic - turnkey, 1008 pages, St. Petersburg, 2009.
2. Boyko V.V. Psychology and management in dentistry. Volume II. Staff - team, 450 pages, St. Petersburg, 2013.
3. Boyko V.V. Psychology and management in dentistry. Volume III. doctor and patient, 580 pages, St. Petersburg, 2013.
4. Boyko V.V. Psychology and management in dentistry. Volume VI. Doctor, child, parent, 512 pages, St. Petersburg, 2013.
5. Boyko V.V. Psychology and management in dentistry. Volume VII. Service - for children, 200 pages, St. Petersburg, 2012.