How to run a dental practice: Fill your schedule

Most dentists are subscribed to DemandForce or Dentrix eServices or another type of online communication company and all these services offer the ability to send an e-newsletter to your patients.

When is the last time you sent out an e-newsletter to your patients?

If it’s been more than 3 months, you’re overdue.

You may be thinking, “I don’t have time to write a newsletter.” Or “I don’t know what to say.” Time to get over these excuses – we all wrote plenty of papers in high school and we survived. Plus, this writing will help to fill your schedule – which makes the office manager job easier!

In my practice, we send out an e-newsletter every quarter. I usually highlight one or two relatively new procedures that we offer and invite patients to schedule so the email includes a call to action. I try to keep the writing to only 3-4 paragraphs and I always include a photo or video. I read recently that the open rate on emails has dropped to 25% - so by including a visual aspect, I’m hoping to hedge my bet.

Funny story. Years ago, when DemandForce first offered the option of sending e-newsletters, I tried it out. I obviously had no idea what I was doing because I managed to send out a completely empty e-newsletter. No content whatsoever. I know this because on top of being office manager, I’m also a patient in the practice and I received this empty email! Mortified, I decided to keep this error quiet – and didn’t tell a soul. Figured I needed to do a little more research on how to send e-newsletters, so I waited a few weeks before I dared try again.

When I logged into DemandForce, I was absolutely shocked to see thousands of dollars in revenue generated from my empty email! I thought it must have been a mistake. Well, that is until I talked with my neighbor, who is also a patient and she told me in casual conversation that she had received an empty email from my dental practice. I braced myself to hear her say how stupid that was, instead she said “Well, since it didn’t say why I was receiving the email, I figured that we must be overdue – so I went ahead and called in and scheduled appointments for the family!”

So, e-newsletters work. Send one out today and fill your schedule tomorrow.

For more ideas on dental practice marketing and gaining new patients, you may be interested in a free consult to receive a free evaluation of your website and a discussion about how you can track your website's performance:


Sending e-newsletters to existing patients is just one way to run a successful dental practice. If you're interested in new ideas on running a dental practice, please subscribe to my weekly blog. One of the biggest challenges to managing a dental practice is managing dental insurance. With dental insurance handled, then dental marketing for new patients becomes a primary focus. In today's day of online reviews, handling patient complaints well is essential. As your practice grows, hiring dental staff becomes more important. With 16+ years of dental practice management experience, I'm open to your questions to help you run a successful dental office.

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