TL;DR
Compare dental marketing quotes by assigning the same responsibilities to each proposal. Separate setup, ongoing management, media, software and practice staff work. Then compare the cost of a complete inquiry journey for the services you can accommodate, rather than treating every monthly agency fee as the same purchase.
Put the appointment offer beside the quote
A general dental practice can buy a technically sound campaign that promotes the wrong opening in the schedule. Before normalizing prices, state the appointment type, location, current acceptance process and available staff coverage. A campaign for new-patient examinations has different operational dependencies from reminders to existing patients or an assessment request for a particular service.
Have the practice confirm what the public offer actually includes. If a new-patient examination and hygiene visit are scheduled separately, do not compare proposals as though every inquiry can enter a combined visit. If a promoted service is referred out, correct that assumption before asking vendors to price acquisition.
GetPatients has a commercial interest in healthcare visibility services. Use this comparison method for its proposals and competing proposals alike. The worksheet is an editorial purchasing tool; it does not state market rates or imply that a particular package is available.
Normalize the scope before the totals
Give each bidder the same responsibility list and ask it to mark included, additional charge, practice-owned or excluded. Require a written answer where an attractive headline leaves the boundary unclear.
| Responsibility | Quote reference | Supplier cost | Practice work or separate cost | Acceptance evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup and account access | ___ | ___ | ___ | Practice-controlled access and named asset owners |
| Service page and offer wording | ___ | ___ | ___ | Correct dental service, office and request process in preview |
| Creative and revisions | ___ | ___ | ___ | Approved assets and defined revision responsibility |
| Campaign management | ___ | ___ | ___ | Agreed decisions, changes and reporting scope |
| Advertising media | ___ | ___ | ___ | Separate platform budget, billing party and authorization |
| Phone, forms and booking destination | ___ | ___ | ___ | Approved test reaches the right team |
| Software and integrations | ___ | ___ | ___ | Subscription owner, implementation scope and exit method |
| Staff handling and factual review | ___ | ___ | ___ | Named coverage and approved facts |
| Maintenance and handoff | ___ | ___ | ___ | Retained files, access and change process |
Do not mark an unknown cost as free. Mark it unresolved. A blank media allowance, unpriced integration or assumed staff task should remain visible until the responsible party supplies the actual terms.
Require the same dental appointment handoff from each bidder
Give bidders the practice-approved entry pathway, including whether examination and hygiene requests can be combined. Ask for a written acceptance record showing the promoted wording, calendar appointment type, office, receiving role and explanation when the requested combination is unavailable. Price who maintains that record when hygiene coverage changes.
Add the payment-question boundary. Ask who supplies approved participation wording, who answers an individual administrative question and whether the quoted phone support can do more than collect contact details. A bidder offering request collection and a bidder coordinating that billing handoff are selling different responsibilities.
Keep those dental artifacts beside the quote: appointment-type map ___; examination/hygiene limitation ___; participation-information owner ___; phone-support boundary ___; maintenance charge or inclusion ___. Do not ask a bidder to invent a clinical visit sequence or determine coverage.
Test the quoted responsibility against a change your practice could actually face. If hygiene coverage changes while examination appointments remain available, identify who corrects the advertised visit description, calendar labels and phone explanation. If billing changes the approved participation wording, identify who replaces it across the page and responder script. Ask each bidder to mark that maintenance included, separately priced or practice-owned. A quote is incomplete for your intended workflow until the examination route and the billing handoff have an owner, even if its media-management price is clear.
Build comparable purchasing periods
Write the comparison period at the top of the worksheet. Apply it consistently to the quoted setup work, recurring charges, authorized media and separately required work. Preserve each proposal's actual billing triggers and notice terms. A setup payment due before launch and an ongoing fee beginning after acceptance have different cash requirements even when their summed amounts match.
Use a symbolic comparison: planned cash outlay = quoted setup + recurring charges for the chosen period + authorized media + required software and outside work + other approved cash charges. Record approved internal staff-resource cost alongside that total, identifying which work requires additional cash and which displaces existing duties. Do not add an employee cost again if it is already included in cash outlay. These are bookkeeping definitions for your selected scope, not an ROI model. Populate them only with actual quotes and practice-approved inputs. Remove duplicated charges when a bundle already includes a listed component.
Keep optional services outside the base comparison until you decide they are necessary. If a quote bundles several tasks and the supplier cannot split the price, retain the bundle and identify its boundaries. Do not fabricate component prices to force a neat table.
Price the work left with the practice
Reception may still need to answer new-patient questions, explain the approved insurance-information process and offer an appointment type the calendar supports. A marketing coordinator may need to obtain dentist approval for service statements and update the page after availability changes. Identify these responsibilities even when no new cash payment is planned.
Have the operations lead estimate the actual resource commitment from the proposed workflow. Record what other work would be displaced and who covers absences. Do not count an employee's existing salary as proof that additional work is free, or assume an agency replaces the practice's clinical and commercial fact owners.
The ADA's website-cost guidance identifies project starting point, features and internal versus external execution as cost variables, and advises checking staff capacity and training. Its published example prices are not estimates for your proposal. ADA website development guidance.
Negotiate acceptance and continuation separately
Ask what evidence closes the setup phase. A completed page should have the agreed content, working links and correct appointment destination. A submitted profile edit should be labeled submitted until its actual status is known. A report should distinguish delivered work from search observations and received requests.
Then ask which continuing decisions require the recurring service: campaign adjustments, factual maintenance, technical investigation or a defined reporting discussion. “SEO every month” is not enough detail to judge a renewal commitment. Use the agency selection questions to assess the provider and the scope worksheet to reconcile additional projects.
End with unresolved responsibility ___; supplier response ___; practice owner ___; accepted total scope ___; pause or exit terms ___. Choose the proposal whose responsibilities and evidence fit your practice, with the actual financial exposure visible.
Frequently asked questions
Is the lowest management fee the cheapest option?
Only after you account for required setup, media, software, implementation and internal work. A smaller fee can buy a smaller scope. The worksheet makes that difference explicit without assuming either proposal is better.
Should media spend be included in the agency fee?
Require the actual arrangement to be stated separately, including who pays the platform and who authorizes changes. Do not infer it from a package name.
Can this worksheet calculate how many patients we will get?
No. It compares responsibilities and commitments using verified inputs. Demand, service fit, appointment capacity and inquiry handling need their own evidence.