Companies like Uber, Amazon, DoorDash, and Netflix have changed customer expectations across all industries—including dentistry. Now, you’re not just competing against other local dentists. You’re competing against every customer experience in your patient’s day-to-day.

The good news? You can learn from these innovative companies and apply similar customer experience strategies to your dental practice. It’s time to center your business around your patient’s experience.

In this episode of the Dental Marketing Secrets Podcast, Mark Thackery (host) and Marc Hansen (Director of Enterprise Marketing at Podium) explain why convenience wins every time for customers.

Discover the actionable tips to make patient experiences with your dental practice more convenient:

Convert your landline into a textable number.

86% of consumers expect even more convenient communications in a post-COVID world. Rather than entrenching yourself in traditional methods of communication (phone call trees, mobile apps, email) choose what your patients prefer—communicating on their mobile phones—texting. This is especially necessary during the COVID era when you may not be able to see your patients in-person. Texting offers a convenient and reliable way to send information and/or requests to your patients. It opens the door for convenient patient interactions including scheduling, automated review requests, mobile payments, patient feedback, net promoter scores, and more—all through the channel that customers prefer.

Optimize your review requests via text.

It’s a “mobile-first, search-first, digital-first type [of] world.” Most people looking for a new dentist will take to Google and search for “best dentist near me” or just “dentists near me.” In order to stand out in these search engine results, you need to focus on the quality, quantity, and recency of your practice’s Google Reviews. To get started, claim your Google Business Profile and update all relevant information including your hours, phone number, and address. Then, ask your patients to review your practice. With Podium, you can even automate post-appointment review requests via text message for optimal completion rates.

Collecting reviews from as many patients as possible helps paint an accurate picture (rather than just the extreme ends of the patient satisfaction spectrum) and can help convert web traffic into paying patients. Remember that Google runs on authenticity. The goal is not to remove all negative reviews, but simply to manage your reputation through an online presence, consistent with your brick and mortar.

Offer mobile payment options for patients.

No one likes getting a surprise bill in the mail weeks after service. Amazon has standardized one-click purchases, two-day shipping, and the overall ease of business. Mobile payments are one way to bring that convenience into the patient experience. Dental practices using Podium Payments see a 300% improvement in collection rate over traditional methods. Mobile payments are preferred by patients and beneficial for dental practices, accelerating speed-to-payment and contributing to patient satisfaction.

Manage your interactions from one central inbox.

When you start offering mobile payments and opening other communication channels with your patients, the response rates may surprise you. Podium helps you manage each interaction (payments, reviews, texts, etc.) from one centralized inbox, rather than trying to log in to 10 different review sites, social media accounts, or other communication channels.

Often, within a month of using Podium, the volume of texts and reviews will increase significantly. Recent stats include an increase of 470,000 reviews across 1,500 dental locations nation-wide, average ratings jumping to 4.75 stars, and a 230% increase in monthly review volume for dental practices post-Podium.

Success Stories

Jefferson Dental

After optimizing its Google Business Profile listings across 70+ locations and launching Podium, Jefferson Dental saw a 20% increase in conversion rates across channels including Facebook Messenger, Google Messages, Webchat, and SMS texting. This totalled to 34,000 new leads, 6,000 converted patients, and about $3 million increase in revenue.

Affordable Dentures and Implants

This dental practice found that its online reputation wasn’t consistent with the experiences most patients were having in person. After using Podium to send automated review requests via text message, this practice saw an increase of 50,000 Google Reviews and a 30% increase in their average star rating.

Inspired Dental Group

After experimenting with different chatbots, this business was ready for a personal and convenient way to connect with their patients and help them convert. Using Podium, where Webchat can easily transition to a texting conversation, Inspired Dental Group saw an average increase of 10,000 monthly leads and a 13% increase in conversion rate to appointments set.

Ready to modernize your patient experience? Try Podium for free today and collect 250 patient reviews fast.