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If a dental clinic is looking to implement a CRM (Customer/Patient Relationship Management) tool, here are key criteria to evaluate + top-recommendations tailored for dental practices. Since you’re familiar with marketing + digital tools, you’ll appreciate both the “fit for dental” side and “fit for marketing/growth” side. ✅ What to look for in a CRM for a dental clinic Here are features and capabilities that matter particularly in a dentistry environment: Patient/contact database + lead-capture of potential new patients (not just current patients). LeadSquared +3 markoborn.com +3 dengro.com +3 Integration with your appointment scheduling / practice management system (PMS) so you don’t have disconnected systems. dengro.com +1 Automated reminders & follow-ups (appointments, recalls, no-shows) and communication via email/SMS/WhatsApp as appropriate. LeadSquared +1 Reporting/analytics: lead → appointment → treatment → revenue (so you can measure conversion and marketing ROI) especially if you do growth marketing. dengro.com +1 Patient journey and lifecycle: acquisitions, retention, referrals. Many dental practices are both acquiring new patients and nurturing existing ones. LeadSquared +1 Compliance/security: given dental records and PHI—so HIPAA or equivalent if in US. LeadSquared Ease of implementation & staff usability: dental clinics often have front-desk, hygienist, dentist roles — you’ll want something that non-technical staff can use. If you have multiple locations or plan to scale, then multi-location support and centralized reporting matter. Integration with your existing marketing tech (ads, forms, website, chatbots) so you can track where leads are coming from. 🏆 Top CRM tools suited for dental clinics Here are some of the best options, with a mix of “dental-specialised” and more general CRMs that are very adaptable. 1. DenGro A CRM built specifically for dental practices (UK/Ireland based but relevant conceptually) They promote features like tracking enquiries so you don’t lose new-patient leads, pipeline reporting: confirmed revenue, potential revenue, conversion rates by treatment. dengro.com Dental-specific PMS integrations: e.g., “Exact”, “Dentally”, “Aerona”. dengro.com Strong fit if you want something built for dental from the ground up. Consider: check US compatibility, pricing, and whether it integrates with your US dental PMS. 2. LeadSquared (Dental CRM version) A more general CRM but explicitly marketed for dental practices. They list features: comprehensive patient profile, lead capture from multiple channels, self-serve appointment scheduling, referral tracking, automations, rich analytics. LeadSquared They highlight integration with dental EHR/PMS for data sync. This is a great balance of marketing-capability + dental-focus. 3. HubSpot (adapted for dental) A major general CRM/marketing platform, not dental-specific, but with strong marketing/automation capability. In the “8 Best CRM Software for Dentists” list, HubSpot was cited for its marketing strength, though noted as more generic and more complex. markoborn.com If your clinic has a sizeable marketing component (new patient acquisition via digital ads, robust content), using HubSpot gives you a platform that scales. But you’ll likely need customisation and dental-specific workflows built in. 4. Boxly An AI-powered dental CRM, built specifically for dental practices. Their pitch: capture leads, automate follow-ups, centralised inbox. boxly.ai Good if you want something modern, lean, mostly around lead conversion and follow-up (which is often a bottleneck in dental clinics). Caveat: make sure it covers the entire patient lifecycle (not just new leads) if your focus includes retention and long-term patient relationships. 5. EspoCRM (free/open-source option) A more budget-friendly CRM option that can be tailored to dental. Their “CRM for Dentists” page describes centralised patient records, appointment scheduling, marketing automation. EspoCRM Pros: less cost, flexible. Cons: you’ll need more setup/configuration; may lack some dental-specific plug-ins out of the box. 🎯 My Recommendation Based on Your Context Since you have strong marketing/sales experience and you run digital ads, and if your dental clinic wants to grow (vs just maintain), here’s how I’d lean: If the clinic is growing aggressively and you want full marketing/automation + acquisition tracking → go with LeadSquared or HubSpot (with dental customisation). If your clinic is medium size, focused on day-to-day operations but also want growth, and you want a quicker out-of-box dental-focused CRM → Boxly or DenGro. If budget is tighter and you have someone who can do some configuration → EspoCRM could work, though you’ll trade off some out-of-box dental-specific features. Also, consider whether you already have a PMS (practice management software) in place and whether the CRM integrates well with it. You’ll minimise duplication of work and reduce friction for staff. If you like, I can pull together a detailed matrix of 5-10 CRM tools (dental-specific + general) with features, pricing tiers, dental-fit ratings, pros/cons, and we can pick the one that fits your specific clinic size & marketing ambitions. Do you want that?