The Proven Formula to Maximize Your Referral Stream & Drive Revenue

Key Takeaways

• Analyze your market quarterly to identify your target areas and engage with new market entrants.
• Having an automated communication system will optimize the experience for providers and patients.
• Create a reverse referral funnel by sending patients looking for a dentist to your referrals, who then refer them back to you for surgery.

Seen a drop in referrals lately? More than ever, Oral Surgeons are competing against corporate practices and general dentists who are all too willing to cherry-pick the easy cases for themselves and only refer out when they are too complex. Patient volume is dropping and surgeons are spending more time on complex cases, both of which decrease margins and the practice’s bottom line.

It’s no secret that referral patterns have changed—Oral Surgeons have to work harder to keep the same patient load as before. But, here’s the good news: you can WIN in your market with this proven referral strategy.

Analyzing Your Referral Base & Market

You’re missing out on an enhanced referral stream if you’re only relying on the referrals you’ve always had. Every quarter, assess your referral patterns with these questions in mind:

• Are my top referrals sending less business?
• What types of cases are my referrals sending me?
• Am I receiving more/new referrals from offices I haven’t worked with much?
• How often do I bail out referrals who couldn’t handle a complex case?

These referral changes reflect what’s happening in your market, allowing you to target the right outreach areas. Look for neighborhoods and zip codes with the following characteristics:

• High Income (can afford treatment)
• % of Residents Aged 55-75 (implant targets)
• % of Families With Children Aged 13-25 (wisdom teeth targets)
• Population Density (more people = more prospects)
• Distance from Practice (lower distance = high likelihood to travel)

Next, identify the referrals in these neighborhoods. This is where you should spend the vast majority of your time engaging with referrals to maximize your revenue!

Gathering this information quarterly will allow you to act fast to changes in referral patterns and form relationships with new market entrants before they link with another practice.

Generate New Referral Sources

What does your B2B marketing strategy to attract new referrals look like? On top of running a busy practice and managing a work-life balance, there simply isn’t enough time to go one-on-one with new and existing referrals to guarantee their business.

Instead, leverage the right channels to reach referrals in new ways and provide them with value they can’t get from other practices in your area. Become the key resource hub for:

• Thought leadership
• Learning opportunities
• Tools they can implement to increase their own revenue

Beacon Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons in Portland, OR has mastered this process by leveraging WUWTA to engage referrals in their Dental Implant Mini-Residency Program. Every year, they employ a robust B2B marketing campaign to invite qualified dentists to join the program and continuously provide new content to them throughout the year. The mix of text and video-based content delivered through WUWTA elevates the referral experience and practice, ensuring a steady stream of patient referrals throughout the year.

Optimize the Patient/Referral Experience

Ensuring a patient is in good hands and recommending the right surgeon is a direct reflection of the referral’s practice and the trust their patient places in them.

How are you creating the right referral experience? Top considerations include:

• Referring offices receive confirmation that their digital referrals have been received, streamlining the communication process right away
• Referrals know exactly where their patient is in the process with an automated system that updates them about their patient’s treatment
• Patients stay informed and engaged throughout treatment with custom content unique to their care journey
• After they receive exceptional care, patients leave a positive review for your practice online and return to the referral as a raving fan

WUWTA’s Referral Track module does all of this and more by personalizing the experience for every patient and referring provider AND allowing your practice to gather unique insights into referral patterns. This experience will not only set you apart from your competitors but help you dominate your market.

Create a Reverse Referral Funnel

Referral patterns aren’t the only ones changing—patient behaviors are changing too. Now, many patients take it upon themselves to self-refer to their practice of choice: often, a self-referred patient does not have an established dental home.

A self-referred patient is your opportunity to reward referrals with what we call the reverse referral. Here’s how it works:

• Create a scoring system for your referral network to find out who needs a boost in the relationship.
• Track which patients don’t have a dental home, so you can pair them with the right referral.
• As you refer patients to them, they’ll reciprocate!

Creating a reverse referral funnel is a win-win! Everyone generates more revenue and maintains a steady stream of patients. It also builds trust and enhances the relationship between you and your referring partners, so you can feel confident that they will keep choosing you to care for their patients.

I’m Ready to Maximize My Referral Stream!

Analyzing your referral market and incorporating a winning strategy will bring a steady flow of patients to your practice—so use WUWTA to maximize your referral stream! WUWTA creates custom content and automatically delivers it to your referrals and patients when they need it most.

Sign up for a 30-minute presentation today to learn how WUWTA can optimize your practice.