Could your dental practice benefit if you learned how to become more trustworthy in the eyes of your patients? Of course, the answer is yes. Working in a healthcare field where you sometimes cause discomfort or pain to your patients — who may have anxiety or negative feelings about dentists — can make it harder than ever to build trust and sincerity. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can develop a trusting relationship between you and your patients, which we’ll discuss below.

How to Become More Trustworthy and Earn Patient Loyalty: Tips and Advice for Dentists

The way patients perceive the trustworthiness of your dental practice, knowledge, and skills has a direct effect on their loyalty and retention rates. When patients don’t have faith in your capabilities as a dentist, they’re unlikely to return to your practice, let alone remain loyal and provide a high lifetime value. Here are the best ways to begin earning trust as a dentist and practice owner.

1. Review and Reputation Management

When was the last time you responded to patient reviews on platforms like Google, Facebook, or Yelp? Take an active role by requesting feedback from your patients, connecting with them on your social media pages, and responding to positive and negative reviews alike. Doing so shows your patients that they’re valued and that their opinions and feelings matter, which fosters trust and authenticity in the dentist-patient relationship.

The easiest way to start the process is by using Dental Intelligence Online Reviews. Your patients will receive an automatic reminder via email, text, or push notification asking them to leave a review. This can boost the chance of getting feedback and improve your reputation.

2. Cohesive Marketing Strategies

Did you know that many U.S. consumers are more likely to trust a brand or business with well-designed and high-quality advertisements? You can leverage the many benefits of an omnichannel, cohesive marketing strategy by investing in services from a professional ad agency. You can also use our dental marketing tools. Personalize your campaigns to show how much you care about your patients¹ rather than focusing solely on your dental services. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Use before-and-after pictures on your social media pages and website
• Demonstrate why your dental practice is different and how it stands out from others
• Incorporate daily video or photo posts of your office and staff
• Show your sense of humor or whimsicality in your content
• Don't be afraid of sharing information that shows your personal side

3. Patients Are Greater Than Production

Does your dental practice prioritize production over patient experience? While that method may benefit your bottom line, it can have the opposite effect on patient trust and loyalty. Focusing on a patient-centric approach can help you and your staff learn how to become more trustworthy, improve your emotional intelligence skills, and earn the loyalty of your patients. In turn, this increases retention rates and profit.

You can highlight the patient-centric qualities of your dental practice by:

• Making it easy and convenient for patients to contact your office
• Starting a patient loyalty program
• Offering a broader range of dental services
• Incorporating patient financing options
• Optimizing your website so patients can quickly find essential information
• Upgrading your office’s software systems through digital forms, online scheduling, and a patient portal

4. Sharing Patient Success Stories

Encouraging patients to leave reviews and feedback describing their experience with your practice is only the foundation of building trust. Strengthen that relationship even further by sharing patient success stories in your office and on your website, social media pages, and other online platforms. The most effective patient success stories show people you’re a skilled, dedicated dentist who genuinely cares about every person who steps into your office. Before you start posting these stories, consider your ultimate goals, talk to your staff, and be sure to stay HIPAA-compliant.

Build Trust and Improve Patient Experience and Loyalty with Dental Intelligence

In the world of dentistry, establishing a level of trust and credibility for your practice is no small feat. However, you can learn how to become more trustworthy and enhance the patient experience by investing in our cutting-edge practice performance solution, including analytics and patient engagement. Schedule a demo today!

Resources

¹ Forbes