Ekera Dental on why convenience is king for their patients

The challenge

The dental industry is tightly competitive. Greg Knappstein, Marketing Manager at Ekera Dental, believes that having a truly competitive practice requires meeting the potential patient quickly, efficiently, and on their own terms. In order to meet these patient needs in a convenient and staff-friendly manner, Greg implemented Podium across all of Ekera Dental’s 45 practices.

Podium’s role

Greg recognised that we live in a ‘now’ society, and for potential patients this means they’re looking for immediate answers to their questions. “No one sits on hold nowadays, even live chat queues – if you’re in a queue, you leave and find somewhere else”. 

Meanwhile, busy staff members need processes to be simple and quick, or else the time-to-value exchange won’t seem worthwhile. “If something has too many steps, or requires you to sit at a computer and wait, that’s a barrier. If I can remove barriers to enable staff to facilitate engagement, then I will, and that’s what Podium does.” 

By introducing Podium’s Inbox and Webchat offerings, which enable patients and staff to communicate live and on their phones, Greg removed barriers of engagement for both staff and patients.

Notably, these texting-based functions have made booking processes easier and faster than traditional phone calls, as patients write down their names, and there’s no miscommunication caused by mumbling.

Additionally, staff are generating more Google reviews for Ekera Dental because of how simple and efficient it is to request them. “You can tell your staff the value of a Google review, but then having a shortcut of just pressing a button is the catalyst getting them over the line to request reviews.”

The results

Since implementing Podium, Ekera Dental has seen some great results, including:

• An average of 280 webchat leads valued at a potential $98,000 each month
• A 26% increase in website visits from their Google Business Profiles, driving further enquiries 
• A 55% increase in Google reviews, resulting in a average 4.8 rating across all locations

In any clinical practice, patient care and support is paramount. With many treatments being costly, invasive, and potentially nerve-wracking for a new patient, it’s vital to quickly engage and reassure them while building trust. Through Podium, new patients at Ekera Dental are informed, reassured, and booked-in for a consultation – faster than any other method.

“You shouldn’t devalue a text message.  People will enquire about something that’s highly expensive and highly invasive because they get an instant response – they don’t want to wait for an email, or be added to your mailing list database and be hounded. With Podium, they know they’ll get their answer quickly, and then they can move on to booking a consultation.”