Should a dental consultation coupon include a real expiration date, and why?
Yes. The expiration is what makes the coupon function as a motivator. An open-ended consultation offer sits on the patient’s kitchen counter indefinitely, alongside every other open-ended offer they have collected from other practices and unrelated services. Without a deadline, the offer drifts off the priority list. A real expiration date, set for a reasonable window such as two to four weeks, creates a soft deadline that nudges the patient to actually schedule. The deadline is not pressure in the manipulative sense. It is a legitimate window the practice has set for itself, and the patient who responds within it gets the offer they were promised. Patients who let it expire either were not going to schedule anyway or can be re-engaged with a future offer. The deadline forces the decision moment to arrive. Without the deadline the moment never arrives at all, and the inquiry quietly converts to nothing.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.
