“I have over 200 recall/pending patients and I need to know how best to get them to come in. Any advice?”

Of course! You know I’m full of a lot of things – especially advice. For this topic, though, I asked Bridget Burris what she would recommend.

Here’s the list she gave me:

1. Be sure you are offering flexible financing
2. Lower your down payment if it’s not reasonable – This can be especially effective if you require a big down payment for Invisalign (larger down than you require for braces)
3. Offer to upgrade the patient to clear braces or WildSmiles for free if they come in by a certain date
4. Offer a free set of backup retainers if they come in by a certain date
5. Offer free custom whitening if they come in by a certain date
6. You need to go ahead and call the patients, don’t wait for them to call you!
7. Mail them special offer
8. Email them same special offer
9. Know that not everyone will start and be ok with that

Recall patients tend to build up over time and it’s terrible to look at the growing list and know that they want orthodontic treatment and that you can do it for them while nothing happens! In cases like this where you have a lot of pending patients, I would even consider giving a significant discount if recall patients will show up and start in your office by a deadline you set. Those patients are gone otherwise so what do you have to lose? Part of something is always better than all of nothing!

One final note. Be sure to take the time to make your offer, whatever you decide to make it, looks good and is attractive to your targeted demographic. Your promo must have a clear message, an effective hook/incentive and a deadline to be effective. Also the piece you produce has to be done in a way that the targeted people actually take the time to read it! Hire a professional who knows about these things to maximize your chances of getting a good response. As I’ve mentioned many times before, Angela Weber and her team do all of our marketing and collateral. You can see her work in and on our practice website ARsmiles.com. Ever since I got out of Angela’s way, focused on what I know and let them do their thing, our numbers have skyrocketed! We orthodontist are experts on teeth.

Good luck on your quest to knock down the recall numbers. Keep us posted on how it goes. But remember, if you hate doing recall then go ahead and start the cases the same day you see them and you won’t have to worry about calling them later.