Referral Services

For many years referral services like 1-800-dentist® (trademark of Futuredontics, Inc.) have been a marketing option. As the role of media advertising grows in promoting dental practices, the dependency on referral services increases as well. Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of these services you should know when considering to join them.

Group Advertising
The most important advantage of referral services is the increased power of advertising. Creating name recognition has always been a challenge for small practices. A solo practice rarely has the resources necessary to run advertisement on TV and/or radio. Joining a major referral service gives you that power. In other words, instead of paying for advertisement yourself you join forces with many other dentists. That will give you enough power to advertise on expensive media and also give you the power of buying discounted advertising at wholesale price.

Professionally Planned Marketing Campaigns
When you are dealing with major referral services you are using the services of professionals you can not usually afford to hire. These professionals use their expertise to get the best results for the money spent. For small practices having access to such expertise is very valuable.

Guaranteed Results
Most referral programs have some kind of guarantee in place. They usually promise a certain number of patients for a specific period of time. Usually the more expensive the program, the more appealing the warranty. There is always a trade off when you go with these guarantees; you will end up paying for the risk they take!

The First Phone Conversation is Handled by Professionals
Another advantage of using these services is that the most important conversation with a prospective patient is handled by professionals. As you know, a third person recommendation is always more effective. In this scenario the caller hears positive feedback about your practice from a third party; and more importantly, a trained third party. Therefore, by the time the patient is referred to you he/she has a positive impression of your practice which will lay the foundation for starting off a successful relationship.

Promoting Their Brand
One main disadvantage of advertising through referral services is that you are paying to promote their brand. If you spend the same amount of money on direct mail marketing, even if you don't get as many patients, you have created a name recognition for your practice that may have a positive long-term effect. On the other hand, when you spend on referral services the effect will immediately stop if you don't continue with the program.

Number of Patients as Opposed to Dollar Amount
Often the guarantee is only based on the number of the patients referred and not the actual money generated through the referrals. These services justify this kind of guarantee based on the fact they have no control over your management style. While they have a valid point, if for any reason the patients referred do not end up in your practice, you may be better off spending your money somewhere else. But remember, if you can not convert a phone call to an appointment, it is mostly your practice's weak point rather than the referral services' problem.

Another note-worthy issue is that some of these services screen the patients, and will not send you patients with HMO or state-assisted plans.

I have used 1-800-dentist® for a long time and although it isn't cheap, it provided me with a lot of patients during the slow days of the beginning of my practice, most at whom are still regular patients of mine.

There are many dentists who don't like referral services. They believe these services refer emergency patients only. They also complain about the 'quality' of the patients.

The fact is a patient is a patient. By categorizing patients 'quality' you only lose the opportunity to add a valuable source of income to your practice. Most patients who turn to referral services are people who have been procrastinating their dental needs for years. In other words, they need a lot of dental work. For the exact same reason, it is sometimes difficult to get them into the office or make them stick to the suggested treatment plan. But that should not discourage you to give this group of patients a chance. They may require a little more time and energy but providing care for these patients is very rewarding.