Chris Pistorius (00:09.538)
Hey everyone, welcome back to the No BS Dental Growth podcast. I am your host, Chris Pistorius, founder of Kickstart Dental Marketing. And today we’re going to talk about something that’s quietly killing your patient relationships. No, it’s not your hygienist running late or your front desk forgetting birthdays, although those matter. It’s those cookie cutter out of the box messages your practice management system is sending out on your behalf.
You know the ones, we miss you. It’s been a while since your last visit. Please leave us a review. It’s the same message every other office in town is sending and patients can feel it. So today I’m going to break down why those default PMS automations for reviews, referrals, and reactivation campaigns are doing more harm than good and what to do instead if you actually want people to respond.
Let’s start with this. Most PMS systems like Dentrix, Eagle Soft, Open Dental, Add-ons, whatever you’re using, they all have these kind of pre-built automations. And at first glance, they sound like a dream. Just turn it on and let it run. Save time with automated messages. And sure, that’s convenient. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Convenience rarely equals effectiveness because when everyone uses the same scripts, everyone sounds the same.
Your, miss you email isn’t a warm hug. It’s background noise in a patient’s inbox right next to we miss you from other offices they’ve seen in the last year, two years, five years, whatever it might be. And I get it. feels like you’re doing something. You’re staying in touch, but in reality, you’re teaching your patients to ignore your messages in a way. When everything looks and sounds generic, it screams automation and nothing kills authenticity.
faster than that. So let’s break this down by campaign type. First, review requests. You send a great appointment. You just finished a great appointment. Everyone’s smiling. You’ve delivered amazing care. And then your PMS sends this gem. Please leave us a review. That’s it. No context, no emotion. It’s like getting a Valentine’s Day card that just says you. Right? Now compare.
Chris Pistorius (02:31.416)
Compare that to something personalized like, hey Chris, thanks for trusting us with your smile today. It would mean the world to your team, to our team, if you shared your experience, it helps people find the care they deserve. Same goal, totally different energy. The second one feels human. The first one just feels robotic. Then you’ve got referral campaigns. Half the time they’re buried at the bottom of a receipt or an appointment reminder.
But a real referral campaign written with intent tells a story that taps into emotion. Something like, we love helping people smile with confidence again. If you’ve got a friend or family member who’s been putting off care, send them our way. We’ll take great care of them. That’s not a referral program. That’s relationship marketing. And then there’s the worst offender of them all, the we miss you. No, you don’t. You don’t even know that they’re gone until your PMS told you.
So instead of robotic reminders, imagine this, hey Chris, we notice it’s been a while since your last visit, totally get it, life gets busy, but your oral health is important and we’d love to help you stay on track. Want me to get you on the schedule? Now that sounds like a real person, a message from someone who cares, not a system trying to just fill a spot on a calendar. This is where personalization changes everything.
At Kickstart, we’ve been doing this for over 16 years, and we’ve sent hundreds of thousands of messages for dental practices across the country. And the data is clear. When the message sounds like it’s from the doctor or the team, response rates go through the roof. So we once tested two versions of the same review request. The PMS default got about a 3 % response rate. Our personalized version, same timing, same patients.
got almost 20%. That’s a 5X difference just from changing the words. So why? Because humans crave authenticity and patients can spot automated stock tone from a mile away. The truth is your PMS doesn’t know your tone, your brand, your humor, your culture, but we do. That’s what separates just sending messages from marketing. And here’s the kicker. It’s not about turning off automation entirely.
Chris Pistorius (04:55.254)
Automation is great when done intelligently. It’s about combining smart systems with customized messaging that sounds like you. That’s how you scale connection without sounding like a robot. So let’s zoom out just for a second. Every patient communication, every text, email, or postcard is at touch point in your brand story. And if every message sounds generic, your brand feels generic. Your patients don’t see Dentrix or Eagle Soft
They see you. So when they get another bland reminder, it’s your practice that looks impersonable, impersonal, not the software. And that’s the real danger here. You’re outsourcing the voice of your practice to a tool that was never designed to understand your patients or your market. That’s why we don’t use PMS templates at Kickstart. We use those frameworks that are backed by years of testing, psychology, and real patient behavior.
We build messages that sound like they came from your office, because they do. So here’s the takeaway. If your messages look like everyone else’s, your results will too. Patients don’t respond to, please leave us a review. They respond to human connection. They don’t care that your PMS has automations. They care that you care enough to sound like you.
So if you’re ready to ditch the cookie cutter stuff and start using messaging that actually builds relationships and drives growth, that’s what we do here all day at Kickstart. You can learn way more about this at our website, Kickstartdental.com or connect with me directly on LinkedIn. I’m always up for talking strategy. Also, my email is chris, C-H-R-I-S at Kickstartdental.com. So,
Thanks for listening and remember automation doesn’t have to sound automated.
