Get comfortable asking for referrals. When you're with patients, look for opportunities to mention that your practice welcomes new patients. If a patient compliments your gentle touch or the doctor's skills or comments on how pleasant the practice is, that's the time to encourage patient referrals.

Don't make these two common marketing mistakes. If you're not getting enough patient referrals from your marketing program, the most likely reasons are that, one, you're using strategies that aren't diverse enough, and, two, you don't have a consistent, ongoing program. To succeed, you need to deploy at least 10 patient referral strategies simultaneously and avoid on-again, off-again implementation.

Dr. Roger P. Levin is CEO of Levin Group, a leading practice management and marketing consulting firm. To contact him or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit LevinGroup.com or email rlevin@levingroup.com.

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