How dental practices in South Africa attract and convert patients
New patients arrive from Google searches, from Facebook, from scheme provider network listings and from referrals by general practitioners and existing patients. Location matters enormously, because most South African patients choose a practice near home or work and compare two or three at most. The first contact is a phone call or a WhatsApp message, and the first question is almost always about cost.
That question rarely has a simple answer, because it depends on the medical aid scheme, the option chosen, how much of the annual dental benefit is left and what the practice charges above the scheme rate. A CRM for dental clinics South Africa earns its keep by making sure that question is answered quickly and then followed up, rather than left as a promise to check and call back.
The benefit year is the calendar the practice actually runs on
Dental benefits reset annually on most schemes, and they run out. By the second half of the year a large part of the patient list has exhausted cover, which changes every conversation into a co-payment or cash discussion. In December unused benefits lapse. Practices that plan campaigns around that calendar book treatment their competitors never ask for.