The launch months

The first months are about one thing: getting enough patients through the door, and treating them well enough, that word of mouth and reviews start doing some of the work. Most of what helps here costs time more than money.

A grand opening that people actually attend

• Hold an open house or ribbon cutting, and invite neighbors, nearby businesses, local referral sources and your chamber of commerce.
• Give tours. People who have seen the office and met the team are far more comfortable booking.
• Check offers against your state dental board’s advertising rules first. Boards regulate words like “free,” how discounts are advertised and how long an advertised fee must be honored. See the compliance hub.
• Don’t pay people or businesses for referring patients without legal advice. State boards restrict it, and for patients covered by government programs federal anti-kickback rules can apply.

Show up in the community

Pick a few places where your future patients already are, such as schools, youth sports, employers, churches or neighborhood events, and show up consistently. A short, repeated presence does more than one big sponsorship. Introduce yourself to nearby physicians, pharmacists and specialists too; they get asked for dentist recommendations.

First reviews, earned honestly

A new profile with no reviews is a hard sell, and this is when the temptation to cut corners is strongest. Don’t.

• Ask every new patient at checkout, the same way, and send the review link the same day.
• No incentives of any kind. Google prohibits them, and the FTC’s rule on fake reviews applies to businesses that buy or fake reviews.
• No reviews from staff, family or friends who aren’t patients, and no review “services.”
• Reply to every review without confirming the reviewer is a patient. The reviews chapter explains why.

Ads for awareness

A new practice has no search history and no reviews, so it usually needs paid channels more than an established one does. Paid search, local social ads and direct mail can tell the neighborhood you exist while the free channels build. Two rules: send people to a profile and website that are complete, and start with one channel you can measure before adding the next. The paid ads guide covers how to run them.

Track from day one

Ask every new patient how they found you and record it in your practice software. Early data is what every later budget decision rests on.