Why discounting is bad for business
Offering your services at temporarily lower prices may bring in patients but, in short, these will be the wrong type of patients. Discounting draws in patients who are motivated by price, and these patients will always leave you when a better deal comes up elsewhere – and they’ll tell their friends to do the same. It is much harder to build loyalty with a price-motivated patient, and remember, it is far better to keep your existing patient base than be constantly trying to regenerate and build a new one.
However, this is not to say you should never give back to your patients! You can provide added value in so many other ways instead of discounting, whether it’s loyalty schemes, complementary treatments or skincare, refer a friend bonuses or gift vouchers. These can all be redeemed and will be more powerful at building relations with your patients and growing a long-term business than offering discounts would be. Overall, if you are a practice wanting to create long-term growth, I believe discounting your services is the wrong way to go. You’ll end up devaluing yourself, attracting the wrong patients, and maybe even risk violating ASA regulations. Instead, provide added value to your patients and watch your business grow.
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