Patients are always your most significant assets. Should you want to establish a reliable and profitable medical practice, you must have to take care of your patients. The three critical goals of healthcare practice are Leads, Patients, and Appointments.
Many healthcare businesses focus on new lead acquisition but sometimes ignore patient retention. Acquiring new leads is undoubtedly a profitable venture, but retaining existing patients is quintessential. It is because studies show that around 70% of appointments come from existing patients.
The power of a loyal patient base is vast, and retaining your patients is an essential aspect of your medical practice.
Let’s discuss some of the benefits and advantages of patient retention:
Loyal Customers turns out to be More Profitable
Investing in patient retention indeed yields better ROI. According to various researches, loyalty patients buy 80% more frequently and five times more likely to purchase in the future.
Bringing new patients incurs lots of marketing efforts and costs. At the same time, existing patients are already aware of your practice quality and will come back to your business repeatedly when required.
It’s a fact that loyal customers are more profitable, but don’t take their loyalty for granted. If there are any loopholes or ignorant approach towards your retention strategy, you might lose their trust in the healthcare brand.
Increases Word of Mouth Referrals
The loyal customers are undoubtedly the best source of new business. Despite several online and offline marketing efforts, people get influenced by referrals from friends and family members.
Word of mouth referrals has their charm, and the potential customers mostly value it. If your existing patients are satisfied and happy with your treatments and service, they are bound to refer your practice to others. And those new leads would be high-quality compared to the ones which come from other sources.
Engaged Customers Provide More Feedback
Testimonials, reviews, ratings, and feedback are essential aspects of any business. Especially for healthcare practice, it matters the most.
Testimonials and positive reviews elevate brand value. Seeing these on online forums, business directories, social media platforms, or other channels, people get confident about your brand.
Research shows that potential customers are most likely to turn up to your healthcare practice if they come across good feedback about your brand.
Enhance the Brand Image
Patient loyalty and brand image share a close connection in specific ways. The brand image helps you acquire new patients, increase profitability, and reduce marketing costs. Building a brand image is an expensive and time-consuming process.
The brand image of your healthcare practice depends on your patients’ perception of your services. If you have a positive brand image, it is considered the most valuable asset you possess. Patient loyalty generally helps in improving brand image. A strong and powerful brand image also helps to retain more patients.
How NextBee can help healthcare brands to improve the patient retention process?
NextBee specializes in developing a top-notch Loyalty Program that boosts patient retention and increases high-quality referrals. Patient retention’s benefits and advantages suggest that you must improve your strategy to retain patients. If you do so, then you can get repeat business, increased profitability, cost reduction, positive brand value, right brand image, and many more.
To make your patient retention strategy more robust and well-equipped with robust features, feel free to contact NextBee.
