Benefits of Establishing a Partnership in Your Community
Did you know February is National Children's Dental Health Month? If you're a general or pediatric medical practice looking to boost your community involvement, now's a great time to establish a partnership with a local pediatric dental office in honor of NCDHM. By putting your stamp of approval on a pediatric dental practice, your patients will value your opinion and be grateful that you are looking out for their little one's overall wellbeing. SmileMakers is here to help you get started.
How to Establish a Partnership With Local a Specialist:
1. Find Your Partner Practice
The first step in establishing a referral program is to decide which dental practice you'd like to work with. Chances are, fellow doctors and practitioners in your community will have recommendations of quality pediatric dental offices for you to partner with. Reach out to these practitioners to see if their vision is aligned with your own.
If you aren't sure of the dental practices in your area, a great place to start is social media! With a quick search on Instagram or Facebook, you can get a sense of the office, the team, and the patient experience they have established there. This will help you feel confident about sending your precious patients to their practice. Once you've narrowed it down, give your top 3 favorite pediatric dentists a call and see if they are interested in establishing a referral program.
2. Establish Your Value Proposition
After finding your new partnership, it's time to establish your value proposition offer. For example, you could agree to advertise your mutual referral program as "First visit on me, go to my friend, Dr. XYZ!" In return, your partner pediatric dentist could share a percentage of the revenue from each new patient's visit.
Or if you are feeling extra generous, perhaps you could recommend that your referral partner donate your share of the proceeds to a local non-profit of your choice. Patients will feel great about participating in a referral program that does good for their family as well as their community.
3. Remember to Thank Your New Partner
You can show your appreciation for this collaboration by sending your referral partner a small goodie bag or gift box. They'll feel touched that you went out of your way to make them feel special and will be more inclined to continue working with you in the future. Consider sending a box of cookies or other baked goods from a local bakery to help support another small business. Everyone loves indulging in a little sweet treat every now and then, even dentists!
Why a Partnership Matters
Establishing a referral program will not only help you keep your patients healthy while growing your patient base, but it also establishes you in your community as a trusted provider among other specialists. If you're new to the area you're practicing in, this is a great way to boost your credibility and grow your network too!
If you have a website for your practice, your partnership could also boost your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Ask your partner if they'd mind giving you a backlink. A great way to get a backlink when partnering with another business is to have both your website and theirs contain a new blog post speaking about this partnership and how it benefits your team and patients. Simply link to their website in your blog post, and they'll include a link to your website in theirs! Google views backlinks as a sign that you are part of a larger community and in turn, gives you credibility.
SmileMakers is Here for You
At SmileMakers, we go above and beyond to help your practice run smoothly and successfully in all areas. From supplies and patient goodies to marketing tips and advice on how to boost your community involvement, we are here to set you up for success. The best way for us to continue to provide you with what you need is to talk to you! If you have an idea for us or if you have a question for our team, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch by visiting us at SmileMakers.
