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October is a time of change. We not only have leaves that change but it marks the end-of-the-year and an important time for dental practices to communicate with their patients who are overdue for a hygiene visit or have outstanding treatment. It’s a great time to think about your marketing plan and dental practice growth.
It marks a time for holidays and during October we have witches and brooms because in the United States Halloween is experienced like a major holiday .
Along with Witches and booms come lots of candy. And with candy comes sugar and sugar is a major cause of tooth decay. So what can we do to let the kids enjoy Halloween but make a fun event for families and their children to come by and drop off their Halloween Candy.
October is National Dental Hygiene Month and what a better opportunity to promote caries prevention by hosting a “Halloween Candy Buy Back Party” at your office!
As a dental hygiene consultant and someone who supports your dental practice growth, I believe October is the perfect time of year to invite patients, friends and the community, to your office for an special party. End of the year; November is a great time to invite children to come by and drop off their Halloween candy. In return for the kids dropping off their candy they get money and a valuable prize in return.
PUT A HALT TO CHILDHOOD TOOTH DECAY
Did you know that tooth pain is the #1 reason children miss school? Here is a plan to put a halt to the tooth decay. This is plan is called the Halloween Candy Buyback program and I am going to suggest a little twist to what you may know about this Halloween Candy Buy back event.
I want to suggest that you invite the trick or treaters to come by your office after they have collected all their candy. It can be a week night or a Saturday, for a few hours, that you invite the neighborhood kids to come by, swap those sweets for cash and prizes. You weigh their candy on a scale and in return you give them; let’s say for example, $1 for every pound of candy.
Here’s a little twist I want to include and this is where you will exchange the candy collected for fruits and vegetables and donate to a shelter in your area.
During the month of October you want to let all your patients know about the candy drop off; The Halloween Candy Buy Back Party. Invite your patients and the community to come by your office on a speicfic day for about three or four hours for example, every hour you give away prizes.
PRIZES IN RETURN FOR CANDY
Did you know that tooth pain is the #1 reason children miss school? Here is a plan to put a halt to the tooth decay. This is plan is called the Halloween Candy Buyback program and I am going to suggest a little twist to what you may know about this Halloween Candy Buy back event.
I want to suggest that you invite the trick or treaters to come by your office after they have collected all their candy. It can be a week night or a Saturday, for a few hours, that you invite the neighborhood kids to come by swap those sweets for cash and prizes. You weigh their candy on a scale and in return you give them; let’s say for example, $1 for every pound of candy.
Here’s a little twist I want to include and this is where you will exchange the candy collected for fruits and vegetables and donate to a shelter in your area.
During the month of October you want to let all your patients know about the candy drop off; The Halloween Candy Buy Back Party. Invite your patients and the community to come by your office on a specific day for about three or four hours for example, and every hour you give away prizes.
PLAN THE DENTAL PRACTICE OPEN HOUSE AS A TEAM
Meet with your team and decide what you can give away besides just the money in exchange for the candy. Maybe for all new patient appointments, scheduled with doctor exam, radiographs and at least a prophylaxis appointment, you give these new patients free tray whitening. Maybe you will give away a power toothbrush. Be creative, make it fun and think outside the box on this one.
So here’s the thing………you swap out the candy which causes tooth decay……and in return you can donate to a shelter or good cause and if you wish you can donate to the troops overseas. It’s up to you, what you decide to do with all that candy that’s left in your office.
I can assure you that if no one else is doing this in your community, when the 5:00 news catches on to what you are doing and when this hits your local community newspaper, and other community websites, this experience will be the talk of your town!
What’s In This for You?
What’s in this for you and your dental practice?
I can tell you that our clients who have been doing this over the years always get many overdue patients back on the schedule and they always have new patient appointments scheduled during the event. And besides creating a stronger brand for your dental practice in the community, you are helping to lower the incidence of tooth decay.
BTW: Is your office planning a Halloween Candy Buy Back Party? We love to share your photos in our weekly newsletter so please take some pictures of your party and send them to us so we can share with the dental world! Email us.
Hope to see you on the other side here. We look forward to sharing your Halloween Candy Buy Back story in November. If you are reading this because you saw it on our YouTube channel please hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss any of our weekly training and informative videos. See you next week!