Product Review: Demandforce D3

The Atlanta Center for Dental Excellence reviews this automated marketing and communications solution.

Demandforce D3 offers features such as: Two-way text message capabilities for patients to confirm appointments; intelligent newsletters that enable practices to segment the patient base; and a digital consultant that displays critical practice health metrics against aggregate data across the Demandforce network, highlighting areas for improvement.
demandforce.com

Even while riding out an uncertain economy, I just added another employee. For $1.14 an hour, how could I afford not to? This team player shows up on time, doesn’t gossip with the others, takes no lunch break, does great work without fail and is loved by patients. You can hire an employee just like this one if you are ready to embrace the thought of greater efficiency through technology.

My stellar “employee” is Demandforce, computer software that helps me manage my practice without wasting valuable front desk or doctor time. Through text messaging and e-mail, Demandforce reminds patients of upcoming appointments, alerts them when it’s time to schedule an appointment, and allows them to schedule without interrupting my front desk.

These are the three main features, but there are many others: Demandforce collects patient reviews, which help me analyze practice performance; allows new and existing patients to request appointments; and promotes my practice without costly postage and printing expenses. This software has delivered far and away the best return on a dental investment I have made.

Demandforce operates behind the scenes, and you don’t have to have an IT degree to make it work for you. In its simplest form, it looks at your schedule at the end of every day and then sends out reminders, either text or e-mail according to each patient’s preference. We set ours to send a confirmation two days before an appointment and then again 12 hours prior.

About the ACDE Reviews
The clinicians of the Atlanta Center for Dental Excellence (theacde.com) conduct independent, unbiased reviews of products and services based on actual ongoing use in an active practice. Evaluation criteria include overall quality, contribution to practice success and return on investment. In the five-star rating system, one star indicates a “poor” rating, and five stars indicate a rating of “excellent.” After a visit, Demandforce e-mails the patient to request feedback, which you can use to measure patient satisfaction as well as promote your practice. Demandforce then collects responses from existing patients, which can be found online by potential patients searching for a new dentist. All of these components work together seamlessly and automatically to optimize office production and efficiency.

Patient retention and internal referrals are much less expensive than marketing to a new patient, and Demandforce makes internal marketing easy. For instance, you can e-mail promotions to existing patients without additional cost. Say you have an idea for his-and-her whitening for Valentine’s Day-perfect for the procrastinating male who not only waits until the last minute, but also wants to share in the pleasure of whiter teeth. Demandforce can send out an e-mail postcard, and the patient simply clicks a button to purchase. No phone calls, no stamps, no worries. Plus, each promotion is tracked and measured so you can see which ones work best and which ones might need some tweaking.

Unlike cavity prep varnishes, the Internet is not fading away. Technology has allowed dentistry to ride the wave by enhancing our clinical world, and it provides just as many benefits for the administrative side. Computers are the mitochondria of our offices, working behind the scenes not only to power better clinical results, but also to boost profitability and decrease stress. Allow your staff to give your patients uncompromised, quality face-to-face time; let Demandforce handle the grunt work. Together, they’re a winning, seamless team.

5 stars out of a possible 5
The Benchmark column is written by the directors of the Atlanta Center for Dental Excellence, an alliance of practicing clinicians dedicated to progress in dentistry. The ACDE advises dental companies on product development and marketing, and provides PACE-approved high-level continuing education. To learn more, visit theacde.com, or contact Molly Thompson at info@theacde.com.

Frank Clayton, DDS, is founder and president of the ACDE. He speaks to sales professionals on marketing to dental clients, and he practices general dentistry in Suwanee, GA.