Why Referrals Are the Fastest Path to a $3 Million Practice

Patients, parents, referring doctors, social media and community: here’s how to build a referral marketing program around all five.

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

Recently, I presented a national webinar to orthodontists titled, “The Four Pillars of Orthodontic Success.” My contention is that any practice that follows these pillars has the potential to become a $3 million practice. I’m not suggesting that every orthodontist is guaranteed to reach $3 million in revenue. I believe, however, that following a pathway toward $3 million will help your practice increase production and income while continuing to grow steadily throughout your career.

This article focuses on the first pillar: increasing referrals through referral marketing. In any orthodontic practice, if there are enough referrals, the practice will be fine. In fact, with enough referrals, you are moving in the direction of building a $3 million practice.

Keep in mind that referrals help fill open chair time, which can be a challenge for many orthodontic practices. We often see practices paying clinical staff members while they sit idle because there are not enough patients to fill the schedule.

Strong production, however, depends on both the number of referrals and the start rate. Consider these three scenarios:

1. A low level of referrals but a very high start rate. This practice can do well, but there is a definite ceiling on how much it can grow.
2. A high level of referrals but a poor start rate. This practice can still achieve significant success, provided referrals are high enough to offset the low start, or conversion, rate — proof that enough referrals alone can carry a practice to strong performance.
3. A high level of referrals and a high start rate. These practices typically include those approaching $2 million to $2.5 million in production, with correspondingly high levels of income. These are the orthodontists who earn very high incomes, accumulate substantial savings, and reach financial independence by age 60.

The smart move, of course, is to increase the number of new patients through a powerful referral marketing program — and the improvement this can bring is enormous, moving practices rapidly toward building a $3 million practice. I recommend building that program around these five areas:

1. Patients. Orthodontists must think of their practices as being in the hospitality business, creating fun experiences for children and positive experiences for adults. When this happens, there is a positive ripple effect, with patients saying good things about your practice to their family, friends, and associates.
2. Parents. Unfortunately, most practices have no strategies specifically focused on mothers, who most often bring their children to appointments and can be a significant source of referrals. We train practices to implement hospitality-focused strategies, such as offering coffee, bringing water bottles to mothers waiting in their cars, and creating convenient appointment options. Other strategies, including lotteries and contests for spa days, manicures, or lunches, can go a long way toward impressing parents and showing appreciation.
3. Referring doctors. Like mothers, referring doctors are often overlooked by orthodontic practices — a significant mistake. We at the Levin Group now have data showing that general dentists refer $3.6 billion per year in business to orthodontic practices. If you are not capturing your share of that revenue, you are missing a significant opportunity.
4. Social media. Social media is important, but results can be unpredictable. While it should be part of the orthodontic marketing mix, it should not be the only strategy a practice relies on. Orthodontists often like social media because they can write a check and let someone else handle the work. However, that investment might be used more effectively to increase referrals through relationships with referring doctors and community involvement.
5. Community. Marketing to the community is really about branding — a slower but powerful strategy that requires showing up in multiple places. Analyze your community to identify the best opportunities for involvement through support, donations, advertising, and participation in local activities. A long-term community branding campaign helps attract new patients from a variety of sources and strengthens your practice’s presence in the community.

Referral marketing is the foundation of the first of my Four Pillars of Orthodontic Success, and it’s within reach for any practice willing to invest in it. Start by strengthening how you treat patients and parents, build real relationships with referring doctors, and commit to a long-term community branding strategy. Do that consistently, and the referrals — and the production that comes with them — will follow. OP

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