Most dentists think marketing is about getting more new patients.
That’s like saying success in baseball is about getting to first base. It’s not wrong—but it’s not even close to the full picture.
Marketing that drives growth is about movement through the entire patient funnel—from first contact to long-term re-care, treatment acceptance, and referrals. And if you’re not regularly auditing your funnel, you’re flying blind.
Here’s the good news: you don’t need to spend hours in a spreadsheet to get clarity. You need 30 focused minutes and a willingness to look at your practice like a business—not just a clinical operation.
This post will show you how to do just that.
What Is the Patient Funnel?
At Method Pro, we break it down into five key stages:
- Attract – New leads and inquiries (ads, SEO, referrals, etc.)
- Convert – Incoming calls, online forms, phone handling, scheduling
- Deliver – Clinical experience, case presentation, and value delivery
- Retain – Hygiene recall, reactivation, post-op follow-up
- Multiply – Referrals, reviews, and lifetime case acceptance
Each stage has metrics tied to it. Each stage has leaks that cost you money. And each stage has fixes that often have nothing to do with buying more ads.
Let’s walk through how to audit each one in under 30 minutes.
1. Attract (Leads)
What to check:
- Where are your new patients coming from?
- Are you getting more leads or the right ones?
Quick Metrics:
- New patient count (past 3 months, monthly average)
- % of patients from insurance vs. referral vs. marketing
- Ad lead quality (are they accepting treatment?)
What to look for:
If you’re getting 40+ leads/month but only booking 20, it’s not a marketing problem—it’s a conversion or front desk problem.
2. Convert (Calls & Scheduling)
What to check:
- How many new patient calls actually turn into appointments?
- Is your team trained to handle objections or just take messages?
Quick Metrics:
- Call conversion rate (appointments / new patient calls)
- Missed call rate (and do you have a text-back system?)
- Online form response time (ideally under 10 minutes)
What to look for:
80%+ of calls should result in scheduled visits. Anything below that = thousands of dollars lost per month.
3. Deliver (Case Acceptance & Experience)
What to check:
- Are patients saying “yes” to treatment… or ghosting you after exams?
- Are you presenting cases in a way that connects value to outcomes?
Quick Metrics:
- Treatment acceptance % (goal: 70%+)
- Same-day acceptance % (goal: 40%+)
- Production per visit
What to look for:
If patients aren’t moving forward, it may not be the diagnosis—it might be how your team communicates it.
4. Retain (Hygiene & Reactivation)
What to check:
- How many active patients are overdue for hygiene?
- Is there a consistent reactivation system in place?
Quick Metrics:
- % of overdue patients scheduled
- Pre-appointment rate (goal: 85%+)
- No-show rate for hygiene
What to look for:
Retention is cheaper than acquisition. If you’re always chasing new patients but losing old ones, your funnel has a hole in the bottom.
5. Multiply (Referrals & Reviews)
What to check:
- Are patients referring others?
- Are you proactively generating Google reviews?
Quick Metrics:
- Referral rate (ask: “How did you hear about us?”)
- Review count (goal: 100+ with recency)
- Net Promoter Score (if you use patient surveys)
What to look for:
The best practices aren’t the busiest—they’re the ones that patients love enough to promote.
What to Do Next
Print out these five funnel stages. Spend 5 minutes on each. Ask your front desk or OM for numbers. Don’t overthink—just get a snapshot.
Then ask the most important question:
“Where are we losing money that no one is talking about?”
That’s where your opportunity lives. Not in chasing more volume, but in tightening the funnel you already have.
Need Help Making Sense of Your Funnel?
We built a plug-and-play tool called the Owner-Operator Scorecard—a simple monthly scorecard with 12 metrics every dentist CEO should know.
It’s free. No fluff. Just the numbers that matter.
Or, if you want expert eyes on your patient flow, book a 30-minute strategy call. We’ll walk through your funnel together—and show you exactly where to start optimizing. Either way, reach out and we’ll get you what you need.
Let’s stop guessing. Let’s start growing smarter.