More Mail. More Visibility. More Referrals

Posted by Joseph O'Neil at Aug 25, 2026

Cards, Notes, and Letters

A successful specialist once told Dr. O'Neil that he believed part of his practice success was related to the volume of mail that left his office each day. His observation may be more accurate than most realize.

Thoughtful cards, notes, and letters accomplish two critical things: visibility and relationship building. The more people hear from you, the more they think about you—and the more likely they are to seek your services or refer others to you.

We've likely all experienced the following modern customer/patient communication cycle:

Appointment scheduled→ automated confirmation → automated follow-up → promotional email → reminder email → “We miss you!” email → unsubscribe.

The alternative that this email proposes unfolds like this:

A handwritten note or thoughtfully designed piece of mail arrives unexpectedly, feels personal, gets noticed, and is far more likely to be read, remembered, and kept.

In an age when handwritten mail has become increasingly rare, a tangible personal note can make an especially lasting impression. Too often today communication is automated, impersonal and easily ignored.

Personal notes, cards, and letters remain one of the most cost-effective ways to market your practice.

Here’s a simple plan for making it part of your practice routine:

Referral Thank-You Notes

When there is a referral to or from your practice, an appropriate correspondence must accompany the recommendation. These include:

• A referral from a primary care.dentist.

• A referral from any other professional

• A referral from you to a primary care dentist or other professional

Other Patient/Parent Thank-You Notes

A note or card is a nice extra-mile touch for patients who’ve had an examination. This also sets a good tone for the treatment conference.

A “thanks-for-saying-no” letter is a polished and professional way to manage a relationship when the patient does not accept treatment—for any reason. This leaves the door open, and will help to start some patients when their ability or receptivity improves.

Young patients should send a thank-you note to their parents or guardians at the deband/debond appointment. It helps if you show the patient a “model” note. Here are the mechanics of this process:

Ask the young patient in private if he/she would send a thank-you note to his/her parents for spending their time and money, getting him/her to the office, and caring enough to make a considerable investment in his/her well-being.
Provide a card, pen and sample note.
Mail the card from your office.

It is difficult to overstate the impact that this sort of note has on these deserving parents.

Major Events Acknowledgments

On almost a daily basis, any sizeable practice will have friends and patients who will experience major events. For most of us, the simplest way to acknowledge these happenings is to purchase a quantity of cards from the local card shop or elsewhere. You’ll need to keep these on hand and add a handwritten note to the card for a more personal touch. Here is a partial list of the commonly-occurring events which merit an acknowledgement from your office:

• Marriages

• Births

• Graduations

• Awards/Achievements

• Appearing in the newspaper or in other media

• Death of a friend or family member

• Hospitalizations

Holiday Cards

Like other cards, holiday cards help your visibility and strengthen relationships. The difference is that these are often buried in a sea of cards from other senders. The saturation point has not yet been reached for Thanksgiving cards. Hence, they are a good idea for referring dentists and some others who have high

referral potential, or should otherwise receive one. After all, aren't we thankful for these referral sources?

As for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other winter holiday cards, they should be sent to the same individuals (offices) if for no other reason than everyone else is sending them one. (This is rarely a good reason for doing anything.) The point is that you don’t want to be noticed for not sending one. Sending holiday cards to each patient or parent may be so overwhelming as to be impractical, but great if you can manage it.

Birthday Cards

Sending birthday cards to referring dentists and professionals with high referral potential is a must-do activity.

It is good marketing to send birthday cards to patients if your office can manage this without it being too burdensome. Most customer relationship management software can manage this chore easily. If your computer system is not amenable to this, you can set up a simple file system by month and week where cards are filed when the patient starts treatment. Cards are then sent once a week for birthdays in the upcoming week.

Miscellaneous Opportunities to Send Cards, Notes and Letters

There are no limits to the opportunities to send relationship-building notes, etc. to people both within and outside the practice family. Here is a list of just a few of these opportunities:

Any act of kindness toward any member of the office team. Note: Staff members should be encouraged to use the office notes for their own communications when appropriate.

Any occasion where the practice or team member has received above average service, either within or outside of the practice. Examples: restaurants, dry cleaning, auto repair, printing service—anything exceptional.
A nice-to-have-met-you card after you have made a new acquaintance. These should be sent within a week after your first meeting. You may want to enclose your professional card if you did not exchange cards at your first meeting.
Any invitation that you get to a party, meeting, social event or other thoughtful inclusion
Any time someone sends or brings a gift to the office or your home.
Any time someone does a personal or professional favor for you, or helps you in any way.
An Oops card if you’ve made a mistake or owe an apology.

Every thoughtful note is an opportunity to strengthen a relationship and keep your practice top-of-mind. But the real power comes from consistency. Having a simple system that makes it easy for your team to do is what turns the idea into a practice-building habit. In the next installment, we'll give you a simple daily checklist and some easy phrases to help your team get started.