Episode : #1,226: This Is How You Design an Awesome Referral System

Podcast Description

Feeling a too-light schedule load lately? Tiff is joined by DAT podcast first-timer Diana to share the secret sauce for killer referral systems, and how to design one that works for your practice and grows from the patients you already have.

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Transcript:

Tiffanie (00:01)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are here with you. You have me, Spiffy Tiffy, that is one of my favorite nicknames that Miss Kiera Dent has ever given me uh with you today. And I’m so excited to bring someone new on with me. We actually, I just realized this morning that I haven’t had Miss Diana on with me yet today, or yet at all. So today is her first recording. I want you guys to give her a giant welcome. I hope you’re hooping and hollering in your cars.

or your offices or your bedrooms or your shower, wherever you’re listening to this podcast, because it can be done anywhere. I hope you are giving her the warmest welcome. Diana is fairly new to our team as of 2026, but she’s been a consultant for a while and she’s been in the dental industry for long enough to um know way too much about dentistry. So

Diana (00:49)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (00:50)

I’m excited that she’s a part of our team. I’m excited that she’s here with me today and personally, Diana

is like super close to me, so hopefully one day we actually make it to get together. She is here in

Diana (01:01)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (01:02)

Phoenix. Diana, I would love it. I love you dearly and I’m just so happy you’re here. So Diana, thank you for being here. How are you doing today?

Diana (01:10)

Thanks for having me, Tiff. I’m doing really well.

Tiffanie (01:12)

Yeah.

Diana (01:12)

How are you?

Tiffanie (01:14)

I’m wonderful. It is beautiful outside

Diana (01:16)

Okay, good.

Tiffanie (01:17)

and I can’t complain. I feel like it’s getting hot again though. I know. I know.

Diana (01:19)

We’ve got great weather today. Uh let’s hope that doesn’t happen. We are at like

a really good place right now with our weather. So let’s not let’s not make it mad.

Tiffanie (01:29)

I know. And there’s like ants outside, you know, we go on our little walk and there’s like I’m like, what the heck? There’s so many ants. My fiance’s like, Yeah, because they think it’s spring. I’m like, that’s fair. We did just get so much. Yes.

Diana (01:37)

My daughter saw a worm on the ground the other day. She had

never seen a worm before ’cause it never rains in Phoenix.

Tiffanie (01:43)

Yeah.

Diana (01:43)

And she was like, my gosh, it’s a worm Like, Yeah, those are that’s normal.

Tiffanie (01:49)

For those of you listening who are not in Arizona,

Diana (01:51)

Mm.

Tiffanie (01:52)

It is November right now and most of the country is experiencing beautiful fall weather. The leaves are changing colors, you’re like snuggled up in your cozy clothes and you’re just loving life. And we have flowers blooming and worms coming out. And we have our second spring of the year. So

Diana (02:12)

Right.

Tiffanie (02:12)

and then it’s gonna be dead cold. By dead cold I mean like fifty six degrees. So that’s fine.

Diana (02:18)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (02:18)

Anyways, cold for us is

cold for us. Anyways, Phoenix is amazing. If y’all want to come visit, come visit. We do as of the recording, the time of this recording, um, we do two masterminds here in Phoenix where our doctors and our office managers come visit with us. You get a full day and a half revamp of all kinds of stuff. There’s so much stuff that we do. So if you’re interested in visiting Phoenix as of right now.

That’s where we’re hosting them. reach out, [email protected]. We’ll be happy to have you here. Diana, I’m excited about today’s topic because for me personally, selfishly, a lot of my clients this week, this week um is call week. A lot of my clients have been down in new patients very like for months. Our new patient trend has been down. And a lot of my clients have been experiencing like lighter schedules.

October, September seemed to be fine. So September may not be a thing anymore. It might be a thing of the past. But October, I had some offices that really struggled and specifically my pediatric practices seem to be struggling. But so today I’m excited to pick your brain. I know that you’ve worked with a lot of clients, um, not just in Dental A Team. I know you have a lot of clients with us. So if you’re lucky enough to work with Diana, you’re welcome. Um

But also outside of The Dental A Team, you’ve worked with a lot of different practices, different types of practices, a lot of dentists and teams. So I really wanted to pick your brain today on some things that you’ve seen work that we can share with the listeners here on really building and designing an awesome referral system. And I think marketing chooses our topics, just FYI. And I love how they worded it today.

They didn’t say like how to get new patients. It was like a referral system because no matter what, our patients are coming to us by referral of some way, whether it’s internal, external marketing. So I just I really appreciated that. So how do you suggest and how do you work with your practices, Diana, on really designing that referral system to generate those new patients back in the practice? What are some tips you have?

Diana (04:30)

Yeah, absolutely. So I am a I’m so big on how a referral should be a byproduct of an exceptional experience at your practice. Um and I compare that to really anything in life. If I’m driving down the road and I see a billboard for a new restaurant, yeah, that restaurant looks really great. Um and I might see an ad in a magazine or an ad on TV or an Instagram. Um, but the best restaurants I’ve ever been to have come from someone.

Saying, hey, you’ve got to go try this new place down the street, right? Or

Tiffanie (05:02)

Yeah.

Diana (05:02)

my favorite steak is from this one steakhouse here in Phoenix, right? So referrals come from a another patient having a really great experience. And so, you know, my number one focus when looking at referrals is looking at your internal referrals. And I do think a majority of your new patients should be coming off of internal referrals. Um

And so I’ve made a couple notes about like the top four, four to five things really um that are really gonna make that system work for you. And the first one I love to talk about is like just look at who you already have. Who are those top 25 to 50 patients in your practice who love your practice, who show up on time your appointments, right? They pay for the services you give them.

They’re always like chucking in with you. Oh, how was your day? Like you guys are having honest conversations. They’ve been patients with you for a long time. Their families come to you. Those are the patients that we want to work with, and those are the patients we want to build off of. So use what you have, use those patients, get to know them better, get to know where they go golfing, where they frequent um, you know, what restaurants do they go to, what schools do their children attend.

Those are the kind of things that you wanna take. So you’re actively listening to them and you can have honest conversations and you can relate and you’re building that trust, but also you can use that in the future to kind of build off of that. Go to those schools, right? Sponsor those schools, go meet to those, go to that restaurant, drop off some new patient referral cards, right? Work with those businesses and find find a way to connect with those patients and honestly.

Just asking them for referrals too, right? Those kind of patients are the ones that you want and you want more of versus the patient that might be late, you know, chronically late, never pays, never, never shows up on time. You’re constantly have having to reschedule. So my first, you know, the the first thing I would say is look inside your own company. Who are those patients and build off of those? Um yeah.

Tiffanie (07:07)

Yeah, I love uh we had a

um I don’t know if you probably remember this. We just actually spoke about it last night on our doctor’s only mastermind, which everyone should know every Tues every first Tuesday of every month. If you’re a client of Dental A Team, we do have a doctor’s only mastermind. So I hope that you’re joining that doctors. if you’re not, reach out [email protected] or your consultant and we’ll make sure you get that link. Anyways, we talked about it last night, so I’m sure you remember. There was a doctor who came to our

in person mastermind in September who said that she takes this like giant cookie. I think it was to the person who referred or it was to the new patient. One of the two, either way is phenomenal. But she takes this giant cookie as like a thank you and it has the um office information on it, but it has like a thank you so much for referring to our practice, like we’re whatever it is to the person who had referred or to the new patient. And I thought in conjunction with what you’re saying, like target those people

or highlight those people that you want and those people who are already referring to you and do something that’s like grandiose and exceptional that makes their their experience even better. Because I

Diana (08:16)

Right.

Tiffanie (08:16)

think to your point, Diana, that helps promote their uh desire to recommend it. Because again, places that I’ve loved came by recommendation. And Diana makes me think, and we’ll get to your other ones, I promise you. Um

But you like sparked some thoughts. It makes me wonder how much of our affinity towards that service or that restaurant, like wherever we were referred to, I wonder if part of the affinity towards that place comes because a trusted person in our life recommended that place. So we’re already going in with the filter that this place is going to be great. So while it might not be the best steak I’ve ever had in my life.

I’ve already decided that it probably is, and I love it because someone told me that that was the experience I was going to have, because that was the experience they had. So you like subconsciously put on this filter, and it could change the experience if I had found that place on my own. No recommendation. My experience might have been different. It’s hard to say, I don’t know, but psychologically I feel like that would be

like an outcome of having those referrals sent by someone who’s experienced it. But then on top of that, to your point of an exceptional patient experience, making sure that every patient gets that consistent experience because what really sucks is when you go in even with that filter and you go and the place sucks. Maybe you got a different waitress and it was like the worst experience of your life and you’re like, Diana, you’re crazy. I can’t believe you love this place.

And the referrer is like, my gosh, I’ve never recommended you know what I mean? Like so when that patient experience differs

Diana (10:05)

Right. Right.

Tiffanie (10:08)

and they’re getting something less than what they were told they would, that’s a huge aspect too.

Diana (10:14)

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, making sure that patient experience right off the bat is good. And it’s always going to be constantly changing in your practice. That’s, I think that’s the beauty of us going into the practices and having that option to go in. Um, because we can, you know, one one office might think they do have that exceptional experience and we’re able to like pinpoint things that they’re not seeing because then they’re in there every day. They’re thinking, yes, this is great. Um, and we’re able to look at it from a different um viewpoint.

but the point of that is creating such an exceptional experience that those patients are coming back to you. They are paying their balances, and then they’re referring and telling people about you. That’s what

Tiffanie (10:53)

Yeah.

Diana (10:53)

you want. And that it all starts with just having the best experience possible within the practice. Um, and it’s connecting with your patients. I always say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And that’s really important in this scenario of like.

Those 25 to 50 people, get to know them, ask them questions. A, it builds trust within the appointment, right? They’re more likely to say yes to treatment, they’re more likely to come back. Um, but then you’re also gaining so much information that you can use later on down the road as well, right? Like, what where are they going? What are they doing? And like, how can we build off this relationship?

Tiffanie (11:30)

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And building that, I know you’ve got some more pieces to that, but building that like into your daily routines to spot, audit, and look for those people is part of that too. And to your point of like us coming in person, we’re able to see where are we consistent with any experience and then where are we inconsistent and something just to not to totally derail us, but like my side asterisk for the listeners, like I want you to check.

your stuff, watch your patient experience because what I have seen in my years of consulting is a stellar new patient experience. And all of our focus goes in on the new patient. And then the recare is like we’re running behind or they don’t get the cookie. We’re out of cookies. We’re out of chopstick. Like they’re not, they’re getting like a less than stellar

um experience because all of our focus is on the new patient experience. So I like Diana, and you used this earlier as a patient experience, making sure no matter what, it’s consistent across the board, that’s how you’re going to continue to generate that. And to your point, Diana, that’s your referral system, right? Like it’s

Diana (12:42)

Right.

Tiffanie (12:42)

literally built in. And then you’re ensuring that the team is looking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I’ll let you keep going. I there’s other pieces you’ve got

Diana (12:45)

It’s the consistency. Yeah. Yeah. No,

yeah, that’s great. Um, it is the consistency. But um, and just to piggyback off of that, the second point I was gonna make was build the referral build your referral system into your existing appointments. So the best referrals come from like unsolicited c compliments, um, and just those a little bitty, like tiny expressed gratitude like bits of gratitude, right?

Anytime a patient says, like, that didn’t hurt, or my gosh, my teeth look great, or um, gosh, I didn’t feel a thing, those are compliments, right? Those are, those are key indicators, like those should ring a bell in your ear of like, aha, right? And that should be your like trigger to say, Oh my gosh, that’s such a great compliment. If you have any other family or friends that, you know.

would enjoy this experience, we would love to welcome them in our practice, right? Or something along those lines. Just asking, right? There’s no harm in asking. ah But just building that into every single appointment of, you know, and there are going to be some exceptions, right? Like we’re not going to have 100% all the time like every patient is happy. But you majority of the time patients are happy and they’re not going to be like, my gosh, this is the best ever. They are going to say little things that are going to trigger you to ask for that referral. And that should be built into every single appointment.

Um and then identifying opportunities in your morning huddle. So, and I, you know, I talk about this a lot. Morning huddle is so important for many different reasons, but I do think it’s that time of day to prep, um, prep for the day and get a lot of things out of the way that are not going to cause like logistical problems or you know, it’s just gonna create a smooth day. And one of those things is identifying opportunities in your day to ask for referrals, right? Who do we have

Tiffanie (14:33)

Right.

Diana (14:34)

coming in today that we haven’t asked for

asked for a referral from or what new patients do we have coming in? Do we know where they came from? Do you know how they heard about us? And use that as well, right? So

Tiffanie (14:47)

Yeah.

Diana (14:48)

make sure like during a new patient appointment at the end, you’re giving them a referral card and you’re asking them to send you new patients. And on top of that, once they do refer to you, which is my next key point, is what are you doing to give back to them? Like what are we doing to return the gesture?

And you know, I know so many offices out there talk about um, you know, giving them a credit or, you know, giving them some type of gift. That’s great. Um, and I I pretty much keep it simple in this of like a handwritten thank you note is probably the best gift you can give as well. Um, even, you know, I’ve taken my dog to the vet before, like when he was really sick. And the best thing I got from that, where I always refer to this one vet, even though he’s 30 minutes away from me, they sent me a handwritten.

letter like we’re so sorry this happened, right? We’re gonna take good care of him. Like we’re here if you need anything. Things like that are so important. And the handwritten gesture is just it’s over the top. Um it’s so much better. And it shows the patients that you’ve taken the time to sit and write something out. It doesn’t have to be a long letter, but just a simple thank you. Thank you for sending us your referral. You know, we love having you as a patient here. Um

So yeah, I think, and that really is like closing the loop. And there are so many things I know we’re

Tiffanie (16:07)

Mm-hmm.

Diana (16:08)

gonna get into talking about, but those really top four like starts with the experience, knowing like knowing who those top patients are, networking with them, building it, building that system of asking into every appointment. Um, and then identifying it in the morning, prepping ahead, knowing before the day starts who you’re gonna be asking, and then closing that loop of thank you for sending them to us.

Tiffanie (16:31)

Yeah, I love all of those. And there are a million ways like to do anything, right? So we could talk about literally anything here. Um, but I think you highlighted some really amazing pieces there of really taking a look at your patient experience, your service level, your commitment to excellence, I think during the appointment, pre appointment, during the appointment, and post appointment. So really looking

I think is that system design? I think you nailed it, Diana. I think everyone here needs to go look at what are we doing prior to a patient’s appointment? A new patient and a recurring patient, like our reactive or our recare patients, what are we doing prior to their appointments to ensure that they’re prepped and ready? Are we, you know, making sure that we’re confirming? Are we using great verbiage? Are we standing out, like you said, to your point of?

Getting a letter in the mail in return, that’s exceptional. I had actually uh I needed a plumber today. I was actually I needed a plumber for a while. Um, but he came today. And I called her this morning, I called the number, just Googled, looked for the best reviews, by the way. Best reviews, most reviews, so make sure your reviews are there. Uh and I called and she was wonderful. The lady who answered the phone was like, Hey, great, how can I help you? Her name was Tiffany.

And I said, My name is Tiffany. So of course we hit it off there. And I said, Hey, I need I need this disposal looked at. Like, what do we’ve got? And she’s like, Awesome news. I actually had an opening come up this morning. I can have them there sometime between 9 and 11 today. And this was at 8 30. I was like, phenomenal. That sounds great. She said, Great,

Diana (18:14)

Right.

Tiffanie (18:15)

let me get you in my system. She said, Is it an Y or an IE? I said, Your name must be Tiffany with an IE, because nobody asked that question. But that was the like above and beyond, like.

Let me get the name correct. Let me get you in this system. She walked me through the steps and I said, I said, I found you guys because of your Google reviews. And you know she said, Diana? This is case in point to your um your handwritten letter. I said, I found you guys because of our go your Google reviews. And she goes, you know, you could tell she just stopped. She goes, Our customers are so incredible. They leave us the best reviews. They are so

Diana (18:48)

Right.

Tiffanie (18:48)

kind. They refer people. Like the moment that I said,

Google reviews, it wasn’t like, cool, awesome, I’m glad they’re working. Which I’ve said that, right? Like, cool, awesome. I’m glad they’re working. That’s why we want to make sure they’re there. It was she paused, she took a breath, and she was sincerely grateful for every review. They have 208 reviews for a plumber. That’s wild. And she took a moment and she literally just sat there, like so grateful for every review that they had. And I thought, she’s doing that.

Also in response to those reviews, like she’s making sure

Diana (19:24)

Right.

Tiffanie (19:25)

that the customers, which aka would be your patients, know and understand like how valuable that is as a referral source and just as a gratitude and a thank you. And I think if we take a little piece of that to your point of like going above and beyond, like it’s so easy to get busy. She literally just slowed down. She said, Yeah, we have incredible customers. And she was like, I’m so excited.

To add you. Like I’m so excited that you’re in the schedule today. So you’re gonna get a text. She walked me through every step. It was the best experience of my life. And it was a plumber I found on Google this morning. But that’s that

Diana (20:01)

Right.

Tiffanie (20:02)

experience, right? Making sure that no matter what, the patients are getting this exceptional s service and experience and you’re acknowledging all the pieces along the way, which is something I think you did a great job at acknowledging today.

Diana (20:16)

Yeah, thank you. And I again, you’re a hundred percent right. It is the experience. And you know, if if I have a friend that’s coming from out of town to Phoenix, I could give them five restaurants of like, if you’re hungry here, just go eat there. Or I

Tiffanie (20:31)

Yeah.

Diana (20:31)

can give them five of my like top restaurants. I have a Google, like I have a notes sheet in my phone and I like I have it by city, I have it by like area, I can tell you where to go because I know that they’re gonna take care of them, they’re gonna offer them the best service.

And that’s where referrals come from. And you can add on to that. Like we’re just giving you the skeleton of it all. You add the meat and bones of, you know, what do we do after? Do we send them a cookie cake? Do we go to their practices? I’m sorry, their businesses. Do we, you know, follow up with a $50 credit? What does that look like? What are we doing for the experience within the office? Um, you all are responsible for doing that part, but it’s the biggest issue, the biggest concept of all of this is just making sure it’s consistent.

Tiffanie (21:14)

Mm-hmm.

Diana (21:15)

Um,

making sure it’s implemented everybody knows how to do it and that the patients just they walk out with a smile and they are ready to come back and they’re ready to tell someone else.

Tiffanie (21:25)

I totally agree. And with that, I think those are your action items, you guys. It’s

Diana (21:29)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (21:30)

evaluate. Uh I think identify, like Diana said, identify those patients. And I would like Diana said, identify every day who’s coming in today that we can ask for a referral from? Who’s coming in today that we can personally thank for a referral, even if we’ve already thanked them? Like, hey, thank you again for sending Joanna. Like she’s been such a pleasure in our office, right? Like, how can we identify those people in Morning Huddle?

What can we say to them? Get your verbiage right. And then identify areas where you can ramp it up on your experience, your patient experience, not just new patient, because you want everyone referring to you. So I think those action items, identify the people every day, identify your experience. And then my last one, and Diana, if you have more to add, add it. But my last one would be to identify your thank you. How are you going to respond?

to the referrals to show your true gratitude and inspire more referrals back to your practice.

Diana (22:27)

Yeah, I love it. And now that we’re thinking about it or we’re talking about it, last year I had a really good friend call me and she said, I need a new dentist for my daughter. And I said, Yeah, I’m gonna send you to our dentist down the street and didn’t think anything of it. And two weeks later I received a handwritten thank you note with two free ice cream scoops from our local ice cream parlor down the

Tiffanie (22:48)

How cute.

Diana (22:49)

street. And I just loved it. Um so that and I wasn’t looking for anything, I didn’t even think anything of it.

I don’t even know how they knew it was me, to be honest. But um yeah, I mean things like that, that’s like, yeah, I’m always gonna go back to that dental practice just because I love that. They’re so sweet. They add those personal touches. Um so find where your personal touches are and create make that part of your experience and the referrals welcome.

Tiffanie (23:12)

Yeah, I love that. And find a local small business that you can promote like that because that’s huge. They appreciate it, they value it, and I guarantee you they’re gonna refer people to you too. So help everyone.

Diana (23:25)

Absolutely.

Tiffanie (23:26)

Helping is helping. Amazing, Diana. Thank you so much for our time together. Thank you for these amazing

Diana (23:31)

For having me.

Tiffanie (23:32)

ideas. Of course.

course. We will have you back many more times. So um you guys get ready. You’re gonna hear awesome tips and tricks from Diana and and truly Diana, you your mind um goes deeper and I love that. So thank you for going deep on this today, for taking the time out of your day and meeting with me. And

Diana (23:51)

Thank you.

Tiffanie (23:52)

yes, and on the topic of referral and reviews, everyone

Drop us a review down below. Give us a little five star. We love to see that. Let us know what you’re going to implement, what you love, things that maybe you do. People do read the reviews. I say that every time. I know because I’m one that reads them. If you haven’t yet, go leave us a Google review. We have a competition right now. It’s November and we are competing and we want to see all of the Google reviews and let them know that Tiffany and Diana sent you for that Google review. And Diana will get a little gold star and maybe

Diana (24:25)

Mm.

Tiffanie (24:26)

a little.

We’re not sure. So go do that. Leave us a review here. We want to hear it. Leave us a review on Google. We love to see that. And truly, it helps people know that this is a worthy cause. And as always, whatever you need, we are here for. We want to help support you in the best ways possible. So if you are working with us, reach out to your consultant. If you are not yet working with us, or you just have some ideas you want to share, or you know, ask us [email protected] or head over to TheDentalATeam.com and set up a free practice assessment with our team.

And with that, everyone, go to your action items. You heard them here and we’ll catch you next time. Bye bye.

Diana (25:03)

See you later.