For a new dental clinic opening, there are many tasks that our dental boss needs to undertake, but among all these tasks, nothing is more important than “customer flow.” After all, if a newly opened dental clinic lacks customer traffic, it will increase the difficulty of many subsequent management tasks for the clinic, such as cost and expense pressures, as well as staff morale and performance pressures, all of which we have to face.

There’s a saying in business: “Without customer flow, there is nothing.” This shows the importance of customer flow to the operation of a dental clinic. I once joked with some dental friends, “When you open, if all the people around your dental clinic know that getting their teeth cleaned or pulled at your clinic is free, do you still worry that your clinic won’t make money?” Although it’s just a joke, I want to inspire them with the concept of customer flow.

Although it’s free, there are also some tricks to it. You can’t hang a big banner at the entrance of your dental clinic advertising “Free Teeth Cleaning for Everyone”; nor should you print flyers promoting free teeth cleaning and distribute them everywhere. That will only attract low-quality customers who are only after a cheap deal. Once the opening promotion stops, these customers will immediately turn to the next dental clinic offering discounts. It’s not that free is problematic; it’s that even free has its tricks and techniques.

We need to ensure the quality of the customers who come to the clinic and also ensure that the promotion itself can bring traffic to the new clinic. This is the most basic consideration in planning promotional activities and is also an essential skill for dental bosses.

Regarding customer flow, from a project perspective, the most appropriate entry point is “teeth cleaning, filling, or extraction.” These are universal needs for consumers, with high demand. Saying that everyone has these needs at the opening is also the easiest way to generate word-of-mouth effects and has the most significant spread.

For most dental clinics, teeth cleaning or basic procedures like tooth extraction or filling are loss-making items. But why do we still do them? Because these projects can bring us a large amount of customer traffic, which can boost the popularity of our clinic. A certain percentage of these customers will convert into consumption of other services, which is a critical point.

If a dental clinic charges 100 RMB for teeth cleaning and 300 RMB for basic 3M filling, how should we plan the customer flow strategy?

In general, I would advise dental clinic owners with a simple strategy, which involves three basic methods.

The first method: Opening gifts giveaways.

We can source some promotional gifts from local markets or online, with wholesale prices ranging from 8 RMB to 15 RMB, but retail prices generally not less than 25 RMB to 50 RMB (such as blue-and-white porcelain bowls, insulated water bottles, exquisite umbrellas, fancy makeup mirrors, etc.).

During the opening period (15 days to 30 days), any customer who comes for teeth cleaning at our clinic can obtain a gift worth 25 RMB to 30 RMB by paying an additional 1 RMB (costing 8 RMB to 10 RMB); any customer who comes for filling can obtain a gift worth 30 RMB to 50 RMB by paying an additional 2 RMB (costing less than 15 RMB).

But there is a prerequisite: customers need to apply for a membership card at our clinic, with a recharge of 100 RMB (or 200 RMB) for teeth cleaning customers and 300 RMB (or 500 RMB) for filling customers.

The second method: Free specific treatment for teeth cleaning or filling on the spot.

During the opening period, any customer who comes for teeth cleaning at our clinic can enjoy the service for free with a recharge of 100 RMB (or 200 RMB); any customer who comes for filling can enjoy the service for free with a recharge of 300 RMB (or 500 RMB).

Moreover, apart from teeth cleaning and filling, we should also prepare some treatment vouchers for other dental services, with a face value of 50 RMB each. Customers who come for teeth cleaning can get one voucher by paying an additional 1 RMB, and customers who come for filling can get two vouchers by paying an additional 2 RMB (each voucher corresponds to a different treatment and is valid for 6 months, besides enjoying membership discounts, customers can also use the voucher as cash deduction).

The third method: Offer dental treatments and gifts for sale outside the clinic.

By offering dental treatments and gifts outside the clinic, potential patients have more options. We can break down some low-cost but high-value dental treatments from the clinic and bundle them into gift cards, which can be purchased for only 5 RMB, 10 RMB, or 20 RMB and can be used for treatments that originally cost 100 RMB to 200 RMB.

Similarly, we can offer teeth cleaning as a complimentary service or bundle it with oral care products for sale outside the clinic. For example, a member can purchase a 100 RMB teeth cleaning for an additional 38 RMB and receive an electric toothbrush and mouthwash worth 100 RMB.

There is also a prerequisite here: customers must take action and recharge 200 RMB or 300 RMB.

These three methods share a common point, which is to encourage customers to recharge, specifically with small cards worth 200 RMB or 300 RMB.

Why do I recommend dental clinic owners to choose small cards instead of large ones during the opening period? There are two reasons for this…

Why do I advocate for customers to add 1 yuan, 2 yuan, 5 yuan, or 10 yuan?

Because there is a human nature aspect to it… “If you give it to her for free, she will think that your promotion is expected. When a new clinic opens, it is natural to offer gifts and discounts to attract attention. But if you make her symbolically add a couple of yuan, or three to five yuan, she will feel like she’s getting a great deal. The customer’s attention and focus will shift to the value of the gift, rather than the act of recharging itself.” This point is crucial!

I generally do not recommend dental clinic owners to use discount promotions such as “discounts on all services” during the initial opening period. Such promotions would disrupt our pricing system, and more importantly, the customers attracted by such promotions might not align with the target clientele of our dental clinic!

Another crucial point…

Regardless of the activity we undertake, we must step back and evaluate it from a holistic business perspective. What is the purpose of our opening event? Is it solely to attract attention?

It’s quite obvious: our goal is not only to attract attention but more importantly, to retain the customers we attract. Apart from our own skills and services, from a business perspective, the best way to achieve this is to have them leave some money with us, even if it’s just 100 RMB, 200 RMB, or 300 RMB!

The steps of “opening promotion” and “recharging” are closely linked. Without recharging, our customer flow in the future is difficult to guarantee; without opening promotions, our conversion rate will be very limited.

At this point, many dental clinic owners might say, “Such activities will incur high costs!” Whether the cost is high or not depends on the perspective. If we choose the first promotion plan and offer gifts worth 8 RMB to 15 RMB, is this cost really too high? I don’t think so! Because our goal is to have customers recharge, the cost of an 8 RMB gift for a 100 RMB recharge, a 10 RMB gift for a 200 RMB recharge, or a 15 RMB gift for a 300 RMB recharge, at most, it’s only 5% to 8% of the cost. Moreover, this activity only lasts for one month during the opening period. Compared to retaining a customer, this cost proportion is not too high.

The key is that we can accumulate many customers in the future, the doctors have work to do, and having work to do keeps them from feeling anxious or indecisive.

In other words, from a long-term perspective, even if we break even in the first month and don’t make a single penny, the investment in accumulating a large number of customers is definitely worth it.

As business operators, what is our most important ability? Our most important ability is to view our overall layout from a macro perspective! The most important ability is to understand the purpose behind every action we take! The most important ability is to connect each stage of our business operations coherently!

In conclusion, let me leave you with this thought: “By stepping out of the things themselves to observe them, we may have the chance to see the truth and essence of things, which is crucial!”

A special reminder to friends planning opening events: do not simply follow a template. Each dental clinic needs to consider its own circumstances when planning. Opening a dental clinic is a significant event, far more than just a ceremonial opening. It’s the most critical strategic marketing effort for a new clinic. Thank you for your reading.