How To Make New Patients Trust You
Getting more dental patients online ultimately boils down to making more people trust you. This is the golden rule for gaining more patients on the internet.
When you first build and start to market your website no one is listening or cares about your services or treatments! They must first trust you before they truly start to listen to what you have to offer. I'm sorry to be so harsh but it is true. You are competing against other dentists in your neighbourhood and your new website will count for nothing if you can't earn the trust of each and every visitor.
When you earn their trust, your potential patients will start to listen to you. This is a surefire way to get more patients.
The Power Of Benefits
One way to earn the reader's trust is at the start of all of your copy, to concentrate on benefits rather than features. This way you avoid starting your website copy by saying “we do this” and “we do that”, a strategy guaranteed to ensure your prospects won’t hang around too long!
Here's the clincher … your visitors want to feel as if you understand their problems before you go into detail about your dental services!
It's important to show you care about their problems and the pain they are suffering before talking about your practice, staff and treatments.
Thus ensure your copy includes benefits such as the following:
Enjoying life without pain
Having a happier life
Feeling better about themselves
The Number One Marketing Mistake Made By Dentists
Here’s my favourite headline used by dental businesses that shows they aren't truly thinking like a patient.
“We have been in business for 20 years”
It’s so frustrating to hear this as a key marketing message, usually proudly displayed at the top of their ads or homepage.
“So what if you have been in business for 20 years!”
Can I assume each year you offered poor dental customer treatment, or that you had good years and bad years?
My reply is …
“Really who cares, so what!”
Entrepreneur, author and public speaker Seth Godin is absolutely right on this point.
He says …
We all go around listening to our own radio station called WII.FM : “What’s In It For Me?”
Never start your marketing with a feature.
Stating with the phrase "you have been in business for 20 years" is a feature, much like if you offer 2 free car parking spaces, a specific dental treatment or you are open on the weekend.
Let me explain.
How To Make Your Online Visitors Trust Your Dental Website
There is a place for your awards and background story but it shouldn’t be your key marketing message. Your first mission is to gain the reader's trust.
You should always start your marketing by taking the time to find out what your prospects really care about. You ask the right questions and talk about how they will directly benefit.
You can only expect your prospects to listen to you when they see you understand and care about their problems.
Describing benefits first and not features motivate people to take action. This is the main reason someone will reach for the phone and call your clinic today.
Successful dental marketing comes from first identifying your market's specific problems, needs and wants and presenting the benefits they will receive from your treatments.
Always resist the temptation to start your marketing by bragging about your practice, if you haven't made the effort to discuss how they will benefit first.
Take a back seat and lead with the problems you are solving and the benefits you are offering.
For example, if I was creating an ad for a Nikon telephoto lens I would mention the benefit of shooting superb wildlife photography before a feature such as 55 - 300 mm F/4.5-5.6.
Other examples of specific dental features are as follows:
Your opening hours
The first consultation is 30 minutes
Easy accessible free on-site car parking
Easily accessible from surrounding towns and cities
Qualified cosmetic dentist with over 25 years of experience
27,250 treatments since the clinic started
5 qualified dentists
Patients treated within 1 day
Patients are seen immediately
A friendly and caring atmosphere
Patients are put at ease by friendly staff
Dentists treat a wide range of conditions
Dentists treat you not just your symptoms
Great relationships with local doctors' surgeries
You have to invest in your patient first by showing them that you care about what REALLY matters to them before they invest in YOU.