This week we are sharing with you a tip about membership plans in your office.
You know, there’s a lot of talk these days about membership plans, and dental savings plans.
Unfortunately, most of them are done wrong.
Done incorrectly, you actually may be losing money, or setting yourself up for failure. If you’ve ever heard of sunk cost syndrome, which is when you have a big hole, and you continue to dig and try to get out of that hole, and really just get into a deeper pit. This is a disappointing game that many practice owners get ensnared with.
DONE WRONG
If you’re trying to make your membership plan work like insurance, then let me share a secret with you.
We’ve had the best success doing it the opposite of conventional thinking. If you design it as a flat rate discount, you’re just becoming a commodity and will be compared to insurance.
“Sign up for our dental savings plan and you’ll save 20% on all fillings, wisdom teeth and crowns.” WRONG!
DONE RIGHT
Why should you setup your plan different than flat rate discounting, or worse yet trying to mimic dental insurance? Here are 4 reasons:
1. Your profit margin in different services you offer varies.
2. Be selective. You don’t have 20% give on every service you offer. You get to decide what is discounted down vs. valued up.
3. The other problem with flat discounting is that starts to look, feel and sound like insurance. Then you are just trying to play a game you won’t win. Your membership patients see you for the relationship and personal value you offer, not because of deductibles and coverages.
4. Add unique value. Create more value that’s not included with insurance. Like extra exams, X-rays, free laughing gas, etc.
Now take this information, go out, and boost the value you offer your patients, rather than discounting it down to nothing.
In part 2, we will cover how to set fees for your membership plans.
PODCASTS UPDATE
For more growth tips for your practice and personal life, listen to our Free, recent podcasts https://yourpracticegrowth.com/podcasts/ here. Recent interviews include: Patient marketing strategies, Practice Profits, and Botox.
THIS WEEK…
…read more about practice building topics on this week’s blog post yourpracticegrowth.com/blog here.
Have a patient-profitable week!
Dr. Tyler Williams, D.D.S.