Every dental clinic is a company, but not every dental clinic is managed as a company.
And when we refer to the fact that a clinic is a company, we are not linking this statement to the fact that the clinic operates under a CNPJ.
Even though your clinic is an individual, it is necessary that it is thought of as a company.
In this article we will explain 5 good management practices for dental clinics.
Why invest in the management of my dental clinic?
The answer is quite simple and straightforward: Clinics that are managed as a company tend to have higher rates of patient satisfaction, greater profitability and profitability, in addition to reducing waste.
Now that you understand why investing in the management of your dental clinic is essential, here’s how to do it!
01 – Have a business model
Business model is a format that you adopt in your clinic with two basic objectives:
A – Attracting, converting and retaining patients with an excellent level of services
B – Recover your investment, increase profitability and generate profit for investors.
There are several business models for dental clinics. We can cite as examples:
Unique specialty clinic, such as clinics focused on orthodontics;
Multispecialty clinics offering a wide range of procedures in the clinic;
Popular clinics usually located on the outskirts of large cities;
Network of private label clinics;
Franchise clinic network;
Etc.
What is important to know here is that you need to implement a business model to incorporate the following management practices.
02 – Define your target audience
Anyone who tries to attract and please everyone misses the fundamental principle of business management, which is market segmentation.
See, not everyone can or should be your patient. If your clinic is focused on the class C public with a family income of up to R $ 5,000.00, then there is no use trying to set up a clinic in a higher standard neighborhood.
Likewise, each target audience expects a set of attributes that are directly or indirectly linked to its service, such as location, service price, ease of access and payment methods, among other factors.
03 – Have a pricing policy
99.9% of dentists do not know how to correctly calculate the price of their services.
It is common to see a generalized confusion between what is profit, profit margin, profitability and profitability.
Few health professionals know the contribution margin of each of their treatments offered in their clinics.
Likewise, the vast majority of dentists price their services based on the market, a common practice, but mistaken, since it does not take into account fixed, variable costs, investments and the desired return on investment.
Having a pricing policy that covers its fixed and variable costs, which allows for continuous reinvestment in the clinic, and on top of that, gives the return on investment made by the owner (s) is fundamental.
04 – Recruitment and Selection of employees
One of the processes of good management practice in dental clinics is the way in which employees are selected and recruited.
Going beyond recruitment and selection, it is essential that in your clinic there is a job description for each function.
Every employee you bring to your team needs to be very clear about his role within the structure of the company. What they do, how they should do it, how they will be evaluated, how their work contributes to the results of the clinic, etc.
That famous way of hiring dentists by referring to the “neighbor of the aunt who has a nice girl needing to work” does not work.
Have very clear processes for recruiting and selecting employees, if necessary hire a company that specializes in recruiting and selecting employees in the market.
05 – Marketing and sales processes
Nothing from the above will work if your clinic does not have a well-defined, managed and executed patient conversion (marketing) system and patient conversion (sales) process.
The dentistry market is increasingly difficult, more competitive, with a level of service offer with few differentials in the patients’ view.
It is necessary to develop a digital marketing plan for dentistry that really makes people recognize that their clinic has a competitive advantage, that it solves in a better, faster or differentiated way the problems and pain of their patients.
Investing in marketing in dentistry is no longer a condition of differentiation, it is a requirement.
Now, if you really want to convert patients who are attracted by marketing to become paying patients, you will need to develop your knowledge or set up a sales department in your clinic, with techniques and sales pitches to convince the leads that arrive at your clinic to hire your service.
Conclusion
There are many factors in the management of dental clinics that contribute to increased profitability and profitability of the business, in addition to making their patients more satisfied and loyal.
In this article we talk about 5 good management practices for dental clinics.
We hope that it can help you to rethink how the processes are in your clinic, identifying weaknesses and acting on the correction of errors.
If you need help from a management consulting company for dentistry, get in touch and talk to us.
Senior Management and Marketing