Why Closure Creates Loyalty (E.321)

“If I received a bouquet of flowers, or I received a card in the mail, or I received a video in my email inbox congratulating me on completing the journey, that would blow my mind.”
– Regan Robertson

Brief Overview of the Episode

This episode focuses on post-appointment communication protocol and why follow-up should never be left to chance. Regan and Sara unpack how practices can stay connected with patients after treatment, during phased care, after hygiene visits, and around personal milestones. The message is simple: when patients feel remembered, they feel valued. And when they feel valued, they stay.

What This Episode Reveals

Most practices say they care, but many patients still experience care as transactional once the appointment is over. This conversation shows that loyalty is often built in the small moments after the visit. Closure is not the end of care. It is the moment trust either deepens or disappears.

What You’ll Learn

• Why post-appointment communication should be a system, not a guess
• How thoughtful follow-up keeps treatment moving and prevents patients from slipping away
• When doctor outreach creates the biggest emotional impact
• Why small acts of appreciation can strengthen long-term loyalty

If This Sounds Familiar

• Patients say yes to treatment, then quietly disappear
• Follow-up depends on memory instead of a clear process
• Hygiene or mid-treatment patients are slipping through the cracks
• Your marketing says “we care,” but the follow-up experience does not always match it

Next Steps

1. Identify your most important follow-up moments, from hygiene and treatment acceptance to treatment completion.
2. Assign the right communication style to each moment so follow-up feels personal, not random.
3. If you want help building a follow-up system your team can actually use, schedule time with Sara here.

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Sara Hansen: The Productive Dentist Academy Podcast Network.

[00:00:04] Regan Robertson: That’s great for personal life, but in the dental practice, waiting for a spark leads to inconsistency, which end up costing a lot of revenue in the practice.

[00:00:12] Sara Hansen: Thanks for tuning into the Everyday Practices Dental Podcast. I’m Reagan Robertson, my co-host Sarah Hanson, and I interview real dentists and experts who grow their dental practices using authentic marketing in a way that you can remember, repeat and use in your own practice to get

[00:00:26] Regan Robertson: the patients you deserve.

[00:00:28] Regan Robertson: Let’s dive in. Does every interaction require a phone call? Sarah?

[00:00:33] Sara Hansen: Ooh. No. That’s a great question though.

[00:00:36] Regan Robertson: I know. How many times do you, do you think about reaching out to, say, one of your friends, and is it, is it, do you think, is it text worthy? Is it phone call worthy?

[00:00:45] Sara Hansen: Oh yes, all the time. You know what’s interesting?

[00:00:49] Sara Hansen: Sometimes I think we’re given like little prompts in life, right? To maybe check in or see how someone’s doing and how often do we [00:01:00] not follow through with that. And then we later hear that, you know, they went through a hard time or something like that and maybe we were like prompted, you know, to reach out and just say, Hey, let them know we’re thinking about ’em.

[00:01:14] Regan Robertson: You felt the little, you felt the little spark inside. Yeah. That’s great for personal life, but in the dental practice, waiting for a spark leads to inconsistency, which ends up costing a lot of revenue in the practice.

[00:01:25] Sara Hansen: Exactly, exactly.

[00:01:28] Regan Robertson: I am, uh, I’m excited today to sit with you and listeners get in and buckle up.

[00:01:32] Regan Robertson: We’re giving you a high value action oriented episode that you can take away with you, and it is all about. Post appointment communication protocol. Uh, if you go back and listen to the previous, uh, episode, which is why old GA patients ghost you and what to do about it, you’ll get the full context for this.

[00:01:53] Regan Robertson: But in this episode, we are really gonna go into our formula for how we take the [00:02:00] post appointment and reach out in a way that is relevant and effective and smart for the practice. But you can be consistent with it as well. So not. Every patient deserves to be delivered flowers, but some do. Right?

[00:02:14] Sara Hansen: Yeah.

[00:02:15] Regan Robertson: Let’s dive into why.

[00:02:16] Sara Hansen: Yes. Reagan, what would you, what would be your perfect follow-up from your dentist? Let’s say you had a big treatment plan.

[00:02:29] Regan Robertson: Mm-hmm.

[00:02:29] Sara Hansen: You spent a lot of money. You love your smile.

[00:02:34] Regan Robertson: Mm-hmm. I do love my smile.

[00:02:36] Sara Hansen: Yeah. What, what would mean something to you?

[00:02:40] Regan Robertson: So something that would be unexpected for me.

[00:02:43] Regan Robertson: For sure. And I’m right on the precipice, listeners of getting braces again. I had braces when I was like 12. I know. And I am the kid that didn’t wear the retainer afterwards. So I am, I am. Now at that point where I should probably go [00:03:00] ahead and get braces again. So if I were gonna get Invisalign or I were going to get braces, something that is, you know, takes more than a year to Correct.

[00:03:08] Sara Hansen: Yeah,

[00:03:09] Regan Robertson: I would just, I, you know, I think what I expect is I expect to get the braces off and then that’s, that’s the last I’m going to hear from the practice. That’s kind of what I would expect. If, on the other hand, I. Received a bouquet of flowers, or I received a card in the mail, or I received a video in my email inbox congratulating me on completing the journey and, uh, you know, calling out that they, you know, they were along with me for this.

[00:03:39] Regan Robertson: They were really happy and I was disciplined, and we got to the goal that would blow my mind.

[00:03:44] Sara Hansen: Yeah,

[00:03:44] Regan Robertson: I remember Sarah, um, the, the first time it was on social media and, uh, a friend of mine on Facebook, she had, had done braces and she posted a, a photo of flowers that were delivered to her from her orthodontics office.

[00:03:58] Regan Robertson: And I thought, [00:04:00] she’s never, I mean, she’s going to refer them forever. Yeah. And just that post alone had so much interaction in it.

[00:04:08] Sara Hansen: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know. I think when we think about patient follow up

[00:04:15] Regan Robertson: mm-hmm.

[00:04:15] Sara Hansen: We think about they didn’t say yes to treatment. So while yes, there probably is tangible actions, you know, that we can do for them to say yes, but what do we do for the patients that say yes.

[00:04:31] Sara Hansen: What do we do for the patients that maybe are mid treatment, right? There’s so many different opportunities, I think, to align with our patients, to create that relationship with them, build the trust. I, so thinking of orthodontics, it’s interesting because both of my girls have been through ortho now. Now we’re like multiple phasers.

[00:04:54] Sara Hansen: So

[00:04:54] Regan Robertson: yeah,

[00:04:55] Sara Hansen: the youngest, she still has her second phase to go. But when my oldest completed [00:05:00] hers, they first to start, they gave her a whole packet, right? So you got the shirt and you got all these different things and um, you know, milkshake, gift certificates and things like that. But then when she finished.

[00:05:14] Sara Hansen: They also gave her some things. But what I thought would be interesting, because I actually took her to our dentist, um, after, but wouldn’t it be great to give them like free bleach kits or something just because they finished and my daughter wanted her teeth bleached, right? Um, so again, thinking about those different things, how do we create great trust with follow up?

[00:05:39] Sara Hansen: That’s a, that’s a good, that’s a good thing to talk about today.

[00:05:41] Regan Robertson: Well, dude, I love that you, that you thought about the relevancy of it. So about how to, how to take care, how to take, it’s like a car, how to take care of your car after you, after you buy it, or, um, you know, when you purchase a nice piece of jewelry and they give you the cleaning kit with it to go along with it.

[00:05:56] Regan Robertson: I would, I don’t think I would’ve made that, that connection, but of course that’s, that [00:06:00] is, that’s totally brilliant. Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. So, okay, so I’m gonna set the stage for us here. There are, there are listeners, there are delivery. Channels that you can use. Mm-hmm. And then there is the context, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

[00:06:13] Regan Robertson: Yeah. Is, is looking at the context, building that relationship under, you know, under the umbrella of the context. So understanding the communication huddle that you’re in, and then how to distribute it out. So. Our, our distribution channels that are available to us at any given time. We have the phone we can pick up.

[00:06:34] Regan Robertson: Yeah, we have text messages that we can use. We have email that we can send them. We could physically mail them something or, yeah, we can record a video message video as well. And then that can go out to those specific channels. Okay. So next let’s talk about the context and then we can go into specific scenarios.

[00:06:53] Regan Robertson: So you just highlighted when Sarah, and that was a big, a big. Service completion if, if [00:07:00] it happens to be Invisalign. Or a process that they’ve, you know, that they have completed after months or years. There’s a regular hygiene follow-up. Obviously we’re not gonna send people flowers if they’re just, it’s a regular hygiene follow-up, but they still deserve a touch.

[00:07:13] Regan Robertson: They still deserve a post appoint appointment touch. Yes. And some excitement, um, to build, to get them to, you know, stay in relationship with us and come in for the next visit. There’s the unscheduled treatment plan. And that is someone who has said, yeah, this plan looks great, and they’ve walked straight out that door and we know that they are not going to call back or yes, we would like to, you know, nudge them treatment next steps.

[00:07:36] Regan Robertson: So phased treatments, treatment plans. Um, how many times have you heard somebody brag about how long they’ve kept their temporary in? Yes.

[00:07:45] Sara Hansen: Well, and I’ll say Reagan, I feel like that happens. More frequently in dental practices, and we don’t really talk about it, is what does that internal system look like?

[00:07:56] Sara Hansen: Where the patient is going from, you know, first they [00:08:00] have to have perio because we need to have a clean foundation. So they go see the hygienist, then they’re supposed to see the doctor, then they’re supposed to see, and they have to go through multiple phases and steps, and they get. Forgotten about somewhere because maybe they scheduled an appointment and they had to cancel it and again, then they slipped through the cracks.

[00:08:19] Sara Hansen: And now we have a patient that’s mid treatment and they’re just hanging out. What do we do about that? I think that’s a good thing to talk about and how do we support a system around that?

[00:08:33] Regan Robertson: Yes. And, and then the last, the last context that we’re gonna talk about today for this, I think that would be exciting.

[00:08:39] Regan Robertson: Um. Is, and you’re really great at this, Sarah. This is so strong doctors for, for the relationship piece of it too. Patient appreciation. Yeah. And life celebration milestones so that those two have really nothing to do about the dentistry and everything to do with seeing and mm-hmm. Making them feel recognized as a, [00:09:00] as a human with, with a life.

[00:09:02] Sara Hansen: I love that. Let’s, okay. Can we talk about that one first? ’cause I like that one.

[00:09:06] Regan Robertson: Okay, so what? Yes. Yes. So what I wanna do is, yes, we’re gonna talk about, I want you to unleash, do your thing, and then let’s talk about how a practice can do the post communication protocol if they’re gonna do the phone call.

[00:09:17] Regan Robertson: Yes. Text message, email. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So let’s talk patient appreciation and life

[00:09:21] Sara Hansen: celebration. Let’s talk patient appreciation. Patient appreciation is so important. Doctors, it is so important. Our patients want to feel like they’re part of the practice. I mean, Reagan, we see marketing that’s like, we treat you like family, you know, welcome to our practice, but yet they come and then.

[00:09:43] Sara Hansen: It’s so transactional. So I think that marketing message gets missed a little bit. I love the idea of one, if our patients have life notes, right? Or little notes that talk about what’s happening in their life. Let’s say we have a patient that [00:10:00] comes in and she’s pregnant. Um, you know, other things like that.

[00:10:03] Sara Hansen: I think it’s. So important that we make notes and follow up and congratulate on big life events. Um, you don’t have to spend a ton of money, but even just acknowledging, sending a card, um, hey, we’re so excited about, you know, your new edition, whatever that looks like. Right. So I think just. I know if that was me and I received something personal like that, that takes up my loyalty a notch because I know that one, they listened, and two, they actually care about me, right?

[00:10:36] Sara Hansen: It’s not just about the dentistry, but they care about my life. They care about my family. Um, so I think that’s really important is that as a team, because again, it is a team effort. That everyone is making notes or somewhere you guys are putting on a calendar of maybe some big patient events. Um, you know, whether there’s a marriage or, you know, something like [00:11:00] that, where I think if you could just acknowledge that with your patients, let them know you care.

[00:11:05] Sara Hansen: That goes a very, very long way.

[00:11:08] Regan Robertson: So I love, I love getting together with the team and, and defining what, uh, you know, what the milestone, like, what are some common milestones that they can work into checking. So marriages, birds of babies. Um, birthdays are good too.

[00:11:22] Sara Hansen: Yeah, I

[00:11:22] Regan Robertson: mean, birthdays mean everybody likes being acknowledged on their birth.

[00:11:24] Regan Robertson: Well, not everybody, I can’t say that widely, but people tend to like to be recognized on their birthday.

[00:11:29] Sara Hansen: Yeah.

[00:11:30] Regan Robertson: Um, what are some other, what are some funky life celebrations that you’ve seen or maybe some more unique ones?

[00:11:35] Sara Hansen: Well, okay, so when we talk about messaging, I have to shout out Dr. Devon Terone and Dr.

[00:11:44] Sara Hansen: Galen Dietrich Reagan. I have to share the story. So we did a video shoot with them, and one of the pieces that they wanted to film for their patients was a birthday video.

[00:11:53] Regan Robertson: Okay? And

[00:11:54] Sara Hansen: so, okay, I have to set the scene for everybody. We have strobe. [00:12:00] Lights in the background, they have sunglasses on. We have the Beatles Happy birthday song and they are lip syncing.

[00:12:07] Sara Hansen: Two Happy birthday from the Beatles. Like it was the greatest video I’ve ever seen. And they literally sent that to their patients. And the patients love it. So they just had fun. Right? It wasn’t anything that was stiff. It was really fun. It was cheeky. Um, and I love that the doctors were authentically themselves, and I think that was probably one of the best birthday videos I’ve ever seen.

[00:12:35] Sara Hansen: A team do. Um, so again, and that’s easy to set up on your practice communication, right? I think most of them have that. So even acknowledging your patient’s birthdays is huge. But if you can make it a little more authentic by having either fun birthday videos, um, maybe a team photo, right? Something like that, I think goes a long way.

[00:12:58] Regan Robertson: That’s great. So in, [00:13:00] in the protocol then you’ve got, you know, phone call, text message, email. Yeah. Um, physically mailing something. And so what you did was you used the video portion for them. Yep. And then, and then it’s an email, right? Yeah. That’s how you send it. It’s an email checkbox and done if you have.

[00:13:13] Regan Robertson: And, um, so I’ll, I’ll kick it up a notch. So if you have something that’s easy, easy to automate, I would say send an SMS. You could send it with the little link to it and just say, Hey, quick video message for you here. Yeah. Yeah. Send it and it’s good and they can watch it on their phone. Um, that would probably bring a smile to someone’s face.

[00:13:30] Regan Robertson: Yeah. If you for some reason don’t have access to, uh, an Android or an iPhone, which that’s impossible these days to shoot something like that, but say you’re super camera shy, even something, um, handwritten that’s, that’s tucked into the mail is nice. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and for the bizarre milestones, I would say, um, my.

[00:13:50] Regan Robertson: My dental practice remembered that I was going to London. So I went to London a couple of years ago and, and made it a point to bring it up. So I didn’t get any follow [00:14:00] up, but I did at the appointment. Uh, yeah, they reminded to ask me, they remember to ask me about it and I thought that was a really special, and so there are, um, you know, there are some unique ways I think you can reach out and celebrate milestones that are, um.

[00:14:13] Regan Robertson: Beyond the, the regular standard ones as well. So done birthday, you guys. If you aren’t doing a birthday post, uh, you know, celebration, communication, yeah, do it. It’s easy. You can do a video. You can do a photo, you can do a mailed card and you can send it out through email. You can physically mail it or you can text.

[00:14:32] Regan Robertson: Okay. That I

[00:14:33] Sara Hansen: think. Awesome.

[00:14:34] Regan Robertson: That’s wonderful. Okay, um, let’s go into treatment. Next steps. Ooh. So let’s work on getting those temporaries off so that they can actually complete treatment and not brag about how many years that is sitting in their mouth.

[00:14:46] Sara Hansen: Well, and you know that it, the temporary ends up breaking usually on a Friday night at 7:00 PM.

[00:14:52] Sara Hansen: Right. And then they’re calling the doctor and then something that they’ve put off for, you know, six months is now Right. An [00:15:00] emergency and the doctor needs to come in. Right. And it’s your fault doctor too, and it totally

[00:15:04] Regan Robertson: your fault.

[00:15:05] Sara Hansen: Yeah. Yeah. I think this is something that happens all the time in our practices.

[00:15:11] Sara Hansen: It’s just, again, somehow, you know, the next appointment isn’t made or it is made and they get sick and they didn’t reschedule. And now if. Unless we have that consistent system within the practice, they’re going to fall through the cracks until one day you have an assistant looking through all the lab and they’re like, oh, so-and-so never got their crown on.

[00:15:34] Sara Hansen: Right? So, um, I do think that this is something that, again. If a patient is mid treatment, what does that look like as a team? You know, what are your internal protocols that you could then make sure that they don’t slip through the cracks? So, you know, whether that’s, um, following up or going through lists of patients that canceled an appointment and didn’t reschedule.[00:16:00]

[00:16:00] Sara Hansen: Um, you know, whether that’s having that consistent communication with them, um, you know, even stepping it back to say. To the patient if they don’t reschedule, Hey, I’m gonna temporarily put you in for this time just so that you know you’re not forgotten about. Right. Something like that. Um, I think as a team coming together to figure out what that protocol looks like is crucial to making sure that we don’t have patients that go nine months with a temporary on.

[00:16:30] Sara Hansen: Um, and then they become our weekend emergency.

[00:16:35] Regan Robertson: You know, there’s, uh, there’s one unique, uh, we’ve talked about, uh, the, the channels, the distribution channels. Mm-hmm. Then the context around it and, and something that we only touched on with video was the different types of things that you can send out.

[00:16:47] Regan Robertson: Yeah. And it reminded me of Zana. Do you remember Zana, the toothbrush company?

[00:16:51] Sara Hansen: Yeah.

[00:16:52] Regan Robertson: So I know that Zana, they, they, they supply, um, like personalized electric toothbrush. This isn’t a plug for Zana listeners. [00:17:00] This is just a really unique kind of Mark Cuban rubber chicken reference, if you know what I’m familiar.

[00:17:05] Regan Robertson: Google that and you will see it’s about reaching out in really unique ways, um, yeah. To help people remember. And so when you mentioned like getting your perio under control for, for a phased treatment plan. Um, one of the things that, that Zana, um, I’ve heard them talk about is it’s a personalized toothbrush, so it has the name on it and, um, and then the practice sends out the brushes and it’s a gift.

[00:17:28] Regan Robertson: So, uh, so that’s a really significant gift to give someone. But if they’re, if they’re doing a full mouth rehab, if they’re investing. 20 k or whatever they’re gonna invest in it. Mm-hmm. It’s, it’s, it’s not an inexpensive purchase. And, uh, and so that would be an interesting trigger point to be able to, you know, reach out and reengage someone.

[00:17:47] Regan Robertson: So,

[00:17:47] Sara Hansen: Ooh. Yeah.

[00:17:48] Regan Robertson: So if they’ve been given that toothbrush, then, um, you know, reminding them that they can have their, you know, their replacement heads shipped to them, or, um, it gives you timed increments where you for [00:18:00] sure have an opportunity to communicate with that person Yeah. And help keep them engaged in care.

[00:18:05] Sara Hansen: Yeah. I

[00:18:05] Regan Robertson: love that. I think that’s, I think that’s very interesting. Similar to the, the bleaching, you know, the bleaching kit idea after the completion. Yeah. This can help them get through their treatment even better than before.

[00:18:16] Sara Hansen: Yeah, I agree. You know, it’s interesting because I think it’s easier. To set the patient up in the very beginning with either, you know, what’s your pathway, here’s what to expect.

[00:18:32] Sara Hansen: I think though it’s harder when they’re right in the middle or even at the end. So I like this idea of having something that is a reminder to us. Um, you know, implementing that internal touch point. What does that look like for each team? And it’s gonna look different, you know? Um. Reagan, have you ever been called by a doctor before, after a treatment just to check on you?

[00:18:56] Sara Hansen: Oh, I

[00:18:57] Regan Robertson: thought you brought this up. Um, yes. [00:19:00]Once of course, to the practice that I will stay up forever and ever and ever. And I remember being like, why are you calling me? Like I felt insanely special. And I was like, I know how busy your day is. Yeah. And she said, I was just really, I just, just checking up on you wanted to make sure that everything was okay.

[00:19:18] Regan Robertson: How are you feeling? And I felt adored.

[00:19:22] Sara Hansen: I loved that.

[00:19:23] Regan Robertson: It didn’t take long. I mean, it was no a five minute call.

[00:19:26] Sara Hansen: Yeah. You know, I think that is one of the most important things that we can do after. Treatment. Um, you know, the day of I, so I have worked for doctors that did that and others that haven’t. And what’s interesting is the ones that took even 10 minutes out of their day, um, at the end of the day to call each patient that his, his requirement was if I have administered anesthetic that day to that patient, then he would call them or [00:20:00] call the parent or whatever.

[00:20:01] Sara Hansen: Mm-hmm. Um, you know, if they’re under 18. Um, you know, at the end of the day, my job was to like, highlight the ones that needed, if there were any notes after they were checking out, right, that he needed to know about or be aware of, like if they made any comments such as, um, you know. It, it took a while to get numb, like, you know, or whether it was positive or negative.

[00:20:24] Sara Hansen: My job was to let the doctor know about that, kind of set him up for these phone calls, right? And um, so I would do that and then he would reach out to the patients. And can I tell you, almost every time that patient came in, after that, they would comment to me, Sarah, he was so great. He called me and it meant so much to me.

[00:20:44] Sara Hansen: That he cared and that he called me because in the patient’s mind, they know how busy we are. And one, it let the patient know that he really was thinking about them and he cared about how they felt after the procedure. But the second piece is [00:21:00] again, that’s now building trust. Right now, that relationship has gone the next step.

[00:21:04] Sara Hansen: They trust what he’s saying. And especially if they have multiple phases in a treatment plan, they are more likely now to continue on that journey because they feel cared about. And I think that’s a powerful thing that doctors can do that really is simple, but it makes a huge impact.

[00:21:24] Regan Robertson: I’m, I’m very happy that you brought it up.

[00:21:27] Regan Robertson: Uh, I have an instant memory of attending a Doctor Mastermind. It was a virtual one, and there was a doctor on the call saying, hold on one second, one second. And you saw him texting and he said, I’m just doing a quick follow up. Just wanna make sure that they’re okay. Oh. So yeah, so I again. Doctors, if it’s consistency is everything here, it’s like working out, it’s like eating right.

[00:21:48] Regan Robertson: It’s making sure that you have a, a protocol set in place just like everything else in the practice so that you can be consistent. ’cause a lot of times we do like, oh, I used to do that and then I ended up [00:22:00] focusing on something out. Now I don’t do that as much with the patients I have now. We’ve expanded.

[00:22:04] Regan Robertson: I added an associate. I have to train the associate. Yeah, life gets in the way and some of these really micro moments end up getting dropped. And, and we’re here to tell you this is that difference between, uh, you know, the revenue I think that you deserve and then some that you’re just really leaving on the table.

[00:22:20] Regan Robertson: So in this instance, when you’re walking through a treatment plan and getting to those next steps, I love that you called that out. And again, let’s look at, at our delivery mechanisms. Is it a personalized phone call? Are you picking it up or is it a text message?

[00:22:33] Sara Hansen: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[00:22:34] Regan Robertson: Is it something that can, can wait a few days and you just wanna email them and just remind them that you’re available?

[00:22:41] Regan Robertson: Yeah. And, and that, and that you’re there. So, so choose what works for you, doctor. Like, if you, if you hate being on the phone, maybe a text message is better. Uh, and then for things like the email, I, you can automate that. You can also automate, um, you know, the, the email portion as well. But the phone call, that’s.

[00:22:59] Regan Robertson: That’s your [00:23:00] top tier. And, uh, and remember, you’ll likely get voicemail. You, you will often get voicemail. So have a, have a message queued up in mind. Yeah. But I love that. I absolutely love that. Let’s,

[00:23:11] Sara Hansen: okay, so Reagan, I wanna, I wanna bring up an obstacle.

[00:23:15] Regan Robertson: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:15] Sara Hansen: Which is. What if the doctor doesn’t have time?

[00:23:18] Sara Hansen: Right. I mean, really

[00:23:19] Regan Robertson: that’s, that’s just the reality. The doctor, oh, you have to make time for what you prioritize. Yeah.

[00:23:24] Sara Hansen: Right, right. So doctors, I wanna challenge you like, this doesn’t always fall on you. You have an entire team.

[00:23:29] Regan Robertson: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:30] Sara Hansen: You have an assistant. Yes. That was with you the entire time in that procedure.

[00:23:35] Sara Hansen: Um, I, I don’t think it’s bad to divvy that out. Right. Let’s say maybe

[00:23:39] Regan Robertson: it’s not, it’s

[00:23:40] Sara Hansen: not bad, you know, the doctor doesn’t have time. I, I think it is equally as powerful to have that same conversation or that same action taken by either the assistant or someone from the practice. The point is, it’s about the patient feeling heard and feeling cared about, you know, after their appointment.

[00:23:58] Sara Hansen: So I think [00:24:00] doctors, if you don’t have time, it’s okay, but then this is where you bring the team in as that support piece. You know, of leaving a message, sending a text message, um, whatever that looks like. I think as a team, you come together and figure that out so that, that, that can be achieved.

[00:24:15] Regan Robertson: Dang.

[00:24:16] Regan Robertson: Again, context is key. I’m on a first name basis with almost everyone in. The doctor’s practice that I attend. So I know the billing person, the office manager. Yeah, the front desk scheduler. Uh, my assistant, my nurse, and my doctor. So I have, I’ve received calls from all, I think all of it except the assistant I’ve never received a call from, from the assistant, but I have received calls from everyone else for various things, and I’m on a first name basis with them.

[00:24:45] Regan Robertson: Bonus points. If you have a loyal team that that, and your retention is really, is really great because then you’re building these relationships with them. So I love that you brought that up. Figure out what you need to delegate and then Yes, and then what you don’t need to delegate. And I would say treat it.

[00:24:59] Regan Robertson: Treat it like you [00:25:00] know what you would. What you would appreciate and ask the team. ’cause they’ll also let you know, you know, when is it really appropriate that you’re, that you’re hearing from, maybe it was, maybe it was a procedure that didn’t go quite as planned. Exactly. Maybe it was something that, you know, I mean you’re pulling a tooth and that tooth has like a curled root that you didn’t anticipate or something and it just took forever and it was a whole big thing I think.

[00:25:20] Regan Robertson: I think when you look at those nuances and sort of map that out, uh, that’ll be great. Okay. Let’s look at just the regular hygiene follow up. What’s, what do you see normally in practices for regular hygiene follow up? Any, I, so I’m leaving, I, I’ve maybe made my appointment.

[00:25:39] Sara Hansen: Well, for my next

[00:25:39] Regan Robertson: cleaning, hopefully I do.

[00:25:40] Regan Robertson: I do.

[00:25:41] Sara Hansen: That’s why I, yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. Um, it’s important that the hygiene team is making those appointments. Now, patients will always say, well, I don’t know what I’m doing in six months, and this is where the hygienist says you are. Right. But what I can do, let’s reserve the time for you because I definitely want you to.

[00:25:59] Sara Hansen: To be able to get [00:26:00] in. And then what I’ll do is we’ll send you a reminder card or a reminder text, you know, three weeks before, a month before, whatever that looks like, um, for the practice and their system. Because again, this is where those patients can fall through the cracks. So what I would recommend is if the patient has not scheduled, um, in your schedule, so again, this is one thing that I did, but.

[00:26:24] Sara Hansen: The, the, the world is full of different systems and opportunities, but one of the things that we would do so those patients wouldn’t fall through the cracks, are either in your schedule notes that day, um, you can do the list of patients that are coming up. Um, what tends to happen with patients is they like to come in very routinely, and if you are booked.

[00:26:46] Sara Hansen: Out two or three months, then they get annoyed because they’re like, well, I always come in February and August, you know, or whatever that looks like. Um, so I would then start reaching out to them, Hey, you know, you wanted us to follow up with you. Set the [00:27:00] expectation before the patient leaves, which is, Hey, I’m gonna be reaching out to you.

[00:27:04] Sara Hansen: I want you to know that, you know, we wanna make sure we can get you in. Uh, we know appointments can get booked out sometimes, and you really are our top priority. Um, and then that way their name is somewhere that no matter who is sitting in that seat that they see, oh, this person’s name’s on the schedule or in the schedule notes for that day.

[00:27:24] Sara Hansen: That means we need to reach out to them. So whether that’s a text message, an email reminder, a phone call, right? Whatever the practice system is. But I think that’s where we minimize the falling through the cracks. And now instead of being. Proactive. Now we’re reactive because their post or their recall date has come and gone, and now we’re trying to get them in and doing the, Hey, you’re due, right?

[00:27:51] Sara Hansen: Instead of trying to be proactive.

[00:27:53] Regan Robertson: I love that. Uh, to round us out here. Uh, I wanna go back to the beginning, which was patient [00:28:00] appreciation.

[00:28:00] Sara Hansen: Hmm.

[00:28:01] Regan Robertson: And I, I thought of Dr. Chad Johnson. So if you listen to Everyday practices last year at any or at the previous years, you’ll know that he was the longest standing co-host of Everyday Practices.

[00:28:11] Regan Robertson: Shout out Dr. Chad practicing during Iowa

[00:28:14] Sara Hansen: Chatty Chad

[00:28:15] Regan Robertson: Veranda Dentistry. Look, uh, veranda Dentistry up on Facebook. And you will see they have a great social media presence. Yes. And they come up with a lot of creative ways. To, um, show patient appreciation and share it out on social media as well. So today’s mm-hmm.

[00:28:30] Regan Robertson: Episode, we focused on the one-on-one personalized interactions and those delivery channels, but sometimes you can take that and spread it out and get a marketing bump from it as well. Yes. Rather than just the internal marketing element.

[00:28:42] Sara Hansen: Yes.

[00:28:43] Regan Robertson: So have you seen, uh, have you seen dental practices that partner.

[00:28:49] Regan Robertson: With other local businesses to celebrate patient appreciation.

[00:28:54] Sara Hansen: Oh my gosh, yes. That is one of my favorite community marketing strategies, [00:29:00] um, is partnering with local businesses. What is really cool is there was a practice there. They were right next to Starbucks. So, um, I wanna say, was it Mother’s Day? It must have been Mother’s Day because every woman that came in that week.

[00:29:18] Sara Hansen: Um, they were given a gift card or you know, Hey, Starbucks on us. We just wanna celebrate the women in our lives, right? So, um, I loved that. Now Starbucks is like a big chain, but the point is, is that if you have local people that you guys can work with, or even ways to celebrate your patients. Um, with different opportunities.

[00:29:40] Sara Hansen: There are so many fun holidays that, you know, you can look up and do, um, that are just fun. National Donut Day is like always my favorite, where, you know, you got donuts for everybody coming in that day and the team. Um, but there are so many opportunities to celebrate your patients in fun ways. Oh, oh, [00:30:00] Reagan.

[00:30:00] Sara Hansen: This isn’t even dentistry, but I have to say for Mother’s Day. Okay. So I do grocery pickup. Okay. Because I’m a busy mom, right?

[00:30:09] Regan Robertson: Yeah.

[00:30:09] Sara Hansen: Um. And when I went to go get my grocery pickup this Saturday before Mother’s Day, the sweet little, he was probably a 19-year-old teenage boy that was bringing out my groceries to my car, gave me a rose, and was like, we’re just wishing all the women happy Mother’s Day.

[00:30:27] Sara Hansen: Like that I thought was so sweet. So here I came home with my little roses and my, you know, trunk full of groceries. But those are those little things like that, that we can do to celebrate our patients. I know when we think about patient appreciation day, oftentimes we think about, you know, renting out a movie theater and costing thousands of dollars, right?

[00:30:47] Sara Hansen: And oh, maybe let’s. Spend time at the community pool and have a whole pool night or whatever. It doesn’t have to be big. I think it’s those little things that your patients appreciate, um, recognizing them [00:31:00] sending a handwritten card, you know, those are the things that make a big impact.

[00:31:05] Regan Robertson: Dang, you hit it on the head.

[00:31:06] Regan Robertson: Uh, because I had to DoorDash one year I was really, really sick and it was right around Valentine’s Day.

[00:31:12] Sara Hansen: Yeah.

[00:31:13] Regan Robertson: And, uh, and so I, I actually. Door dashed. I don’t it, it was Valentine’s related or something. Mm-hmm. But I put in the note like, I’m sick, please leave it out. You know, at the door.

[00:31:22] Sara Hansen: Yes.

[00:31:22] Regan Robertson: And the door dasher brought me a rose and said, uh, nobody deserves to be sick today.

[00:31:27] Regan Robertson: I hope you have a great Valentine’s. And I was blown away by it. I’ll never forget it. I, I remember I was so touched from it. My, the medical practice, uh, that I attend, they are really great about when you walk in on certain milestones. Yeah. Uh, giving that, so Roses was one like taking a flower. Um, they did New Year’s, so they did Chinese New Year’s as a celebration as well.

[00:31:49] Regan Robertson: Oh, I

[00:31:50] Sara Hansen: love that.

[00:31:50] Regan Robertson: I know. I really like that. So. Like car wash vouchers in the spring would be really nice. Yes. If you live in an area that has snow and gunk and you, like, my [00:32:00] car right now is really gross. Um, so that would be wonderful to get the local coffee shops thinking about, uh, putting yourself in the shoes of the person and, and how many times does a guy actually get a rose?

[00:32:14] Regan Robertson: Probably

[00:32:15] Sara Hansen: rarely.

[00:32:15] Regan Robertson: So

[00:32:16] Sara Hansen: I was thinking about that. I was thinking, you know. In our conversations with our patients, and as we’re getting to know them, I would venture to guess that our patients have small businesses themselves or little hobbies on the side. What a great opportunity for us to pull in maybe what our patients do.

[00:32:37] Sara Hansen: So for example, there is this darling girl in our neighborhood, a teenage girl, and she makes those really cool spoon rings, you know what I’m talking about, that are like made from spoons. Um. And I thought it was so cool. And so we asked her, a few of us said, Hey, we would love for you, what can we pay you to make these rings [00:33:00] for all the girls in our neighborhood, like within our neighborhood, um, for their birthdays.

[00:33:04] Sara Hansen: Like, we just want, you know, the, the teenage girls to fill. Celebrated and loved on their birthday, and I would love to pay you to do that. So what was cool is now she’s doing her little business venture making rings for all these girls in our neighborhood. And then, um, we are celebrating all the girls by.

[00:33:23] Sara Hansen: Giving them rings for their birthdays, right? And just celebrating them. So I think there’s that opportunity in our practices with your patients. You know, do, do your patients have a cookie business? Is there a way you could help promote them and send cookies, you know, or have cookies on special occasions or whatever.

[00:33:41] Sara Hansen: Um, I think that’s a really good opportunity not only to promote your patients and, you know, show value in what they do, but then make others feel appreciated.

[00:33:51] Regan Robertson: I love this. Thank you, Sarah. This has been a great episode. This has been really fun. And, and I, you know, listeners, now you have this, you have the context.

[00:33:59] Regan Robertson: So

[00:33:59] Sara Hansen: [00:34:00] yes,

[00:34:00] Regan Robertson: you can do this as a checkbox. You can print it out and take it to your, take it to your meeting and create something that that works for you. And that’s consistent. So your delivery channels, you have your phone calls, your text messages, your emails. Mm-hmm. And you can mail them something, you know, the context is.

[00:34:15] Regan Robertson: Treatment completion, regular hygiene follow-up, um, unscheduled treatment plans, treatment plan, phased, next steps, patient appreciation, and then milestone life celebrations as well. Uh, and the types that we covered today that you can put. You don’t have to do all of these, you just have to. Pick, uh, video message, a handwritten card, flowers, balloons, a bleaching kit, some xylitol, gum, some curry free mouth, ribs, electric toothbrush, donuts, food from a local vendor, car wash vouchers, local coffee shop and flowers or roses, um, you know, singular roses as well.

[00:34:51] Regan Robertson: And then I think the last bonus thing I’m gonna offer, and then we have to stop because we’ll just go to the next episode. Uh. Just Google weird holidays. Yeah. Like [00:35:00] Google weird holidays. Choose a national donut day. Choose something that that go, like fits you. So if Dr. Haron mm-hmm. And, and Dr. Dietrich went and they sang a Beatles song that resonated with them, that’s their personality and that’s authentic.

[00:35:13] Regan Robertson: So, or if you’re like Dr. Chad Johnson and you were obsessed with fried chicken and barbecue, then, you know, like, you know the direction you’re gonna, you’re gonna go. So, yeah. So think about, think about that when you look up. Weird holidays, something fun, something, um, that’s outside the norm to, to be memorable.

[00:35:30] Sara Hansen: I love that. This was a great episode.

[00:35:34] Regan Robertson: We’re patting ourselves on the back.

[00:35:35] Sara Hansen: Yeah, no, I could talk about this all day. I love it. Thank you Reagan for

[00:35:40] Regan Robertson: Thank you Sarah.

[00:35:41] Sara Hansen: Such great insights.

[00:35:42] Regan Robertson: Yeah. Listeners, if you have any questions about this email, Sarah, SARA, at productive dentist.com and we’ll be sure to, uh, follow up with you and give you help and support on, you know, any of your internal marketing needs.

[00:35:55] Sara Hansen: Bye everyone.

[00:35:57] Regan Robertson: Bye-bye. Hey, thanks for joining us on Everyday Practices [00:36:00] Dental Podcast. It would mean the world to me if you could leave us a like or a review on iTunes or go to Productive Dentist Academy through Google and leave us a review there. You know, we are here each week to talk about what’s possible when you lead your practice with clarity and courage.

[00:36:14] Regan Robertson: If you are ready to build a business that supports your life and not the other way around, investment grade practice coaching, powered by Productive Dentist Academy can help. Visit investment grade practice.com to schedule your free 60 minute coaching session so you can start designing the practice and lifestyle you’ve been dreaming about all along.