The Q4 benefits campaign. Free, and it's the accurate one.
The highest-ROI campaign in dentistry is the one with a real deadline attached. Most practices run a version of it badly: one blast, to everyone, in mid-December.
The problem is that not everyone's benefits reset on January 1. Employer plans often reset on the policy anniversary instead — so the standard campaign tells a chunk of patients something that isn't true.
And branching on reset date only works if you have the reset date. On most lists, for most patients, you don't.
So this version has three paths. January resets get the full six-touch sequence through December. Non-January resets get the same six touches anchored to their own date, which means the practice runs this year-round instead of one quarter. And patients whose reset date you don't know get two messages that claim no deadline at all — they ask, and the answer builds the field that makes next year accurate.
One more thing most versions get wrong: if you set this up in October, every patient whose reset is already inside 90 days has missed the start. This one catches them up at the touch that matches where they are, so it works the year you install it.
Here it is
All three paths, every message, the timing on each one, the segment and suppression rules, the FSA language, and the January 8 pivot email — the message every other version of this campaign forgets.
Free. No email address, no sign-up, no affiliate link. It's printed below.
Insurance Benefits Expiring (three paths, six touches)
PATH A - reset date known, resets in January
90 days before reset - Email
Subject: You've got dental benefits that expire December 31
{{contact.first_name}},
Quick heads up. Your dental plan resets January 1, and whatever you haven't used by then is gone. It doesn't roll over.
If you have treatment on file that hasn't been done, this is the cheapest it will be. The same work in January costs you the full amount out of pocket.
Our December fills up every year, so the useful move is getting on the schedule now even if the appointment itself is weeks out: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
Want me to check how much you have left? Reply "check" and I'll look it up.
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
60 days before reset - SMS
{{contact.first_name}}, two months until your dental benefits reset. Want me to check what's left on your plan?
30 days before reset - SMS
{{contact.first_name}}, December is when our schedule goes. If you're using your benefits before they expire, now's the time: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
21 days before reset - Email
Subject: Three weeks left
{{contact.first_name}},
Three weeks until your benefits reset. After that it's a fresh year and a fresh deductible.
If you've been waiting on treatment, we have a few spots left before we close for the holidays: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
If you've got an FSA, that money may also expire - worth checking with your employer, since some plans allow a grace period or a small carryover.
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
16 days before reset - SMS
Last call - benefits reset Jan 1 and we have a few spots left before the holidays: {{custom_values.practice_phone}}
8 days after reset - Email
Subject: Fresh benefits, and the cheapest month to start
{{contact.first_name}},
Your benefits just reset, which makes January the best month of the year to start treatment you've been putting off - you have the full annual amount ahead of you instead of scraps.
It's also our quietest month, so you can actually get the appointment time you want: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
PATH B - reset date known, does not reset in January
90 days before reset - Email
Subject: Your dental benefits don't reset in January
{{contact.first_name}},
Quick heads up. Your dental plan resets {{contact.benefits_reset_date}} - not January 1, like most people assume - and whatever you haven't used by then is gone. It doesn't roll over.
If you have treatment on file that hasn't been done, this is the cheapest it will be. The same work after your plan resets costs you the full amount out of pocket.
The last few weeks before a plan resets are always the busiest, so the useful move is getting on the schedule now even if the appointment itself is weeks out: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
Want me to check how much you have left? Reply "check" and I'll look it up.
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
60 days before reset - SMS
{{contact.first_name}}, two months until your dental benefits reset. Want me to check what's left on your plan?
30 days before reset - SMS
{{contact.first_name}}, one month until your benefits reset. If you're using them before they expire, now's the time: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
14 days before reset - Email
Subject: Two weeks left
{{contact.first_name}},
Two weeks until your benefits reset. After that it's a fresh year and a fresh deductible.
If you've been waiting on treatment, we have a few spots left before your plan resets: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
If you've got an FSA, that money may also expire - worth checking with your employer, since some plans allow a grace period or a small carryover.
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
5 days before reset - SMS
Last call - benefits reset {{contact.benefits_reset_date}} and we have a few spots left: {{custom_values.practice_phone}}
8 days after reset - Email
Subject: Fresh benefits, and the cheapest time to start
{{contact.first_name}},
Your benefits just reset, which makes right now the best time to start treatment you've been putting off - you have the full annual amount ahead of you instead of scraps.
It's also the cheapest time to begin: starting early in your benefit year means you can spread treatment across the months while your coverage is full, instead of racing the next reset: {{custom_values.booking_link}}
{{custom_values.tc_name}}
PATH C - reset date unknown (two touches, no deadline claimed)
Touch 1 - SMS
Hi {{contact.first_name}}, {{custom_values.tc_name}} at {{custom_values.practice_name}}. Most dental plans reset at the start of January and unused benefits don't roll over, but some employer plans reset on a different date. Want us to check yours?
Touch 2, day 10 - Email
Subject: Worth two minutes to find out
{{contact.first_name}},
Most dental plans reset at the start of January and anything unused disappears. Some employer plans reset on a different date entirely - the policy anniversary, or the company's fiscal year.
We don't have your reset date on file, so I don't want to tell you a deadline that isn't yours. If you send over your plan details, or just reply with your insurance carrier, we'll find out and let you know what you have left and when it goes.
{{custom_values.tc_name}} {{custom_values.practice_name}}
SUPPRESSED - benefits already maxed out
SMS
Hi {{contact.first_name}}, you've used your dental benefits for this plan year, so there's nothing expiring on you. When your plan resets we'll have the full amount to work with - want me to pencil something in for then? {{custom_values.booking_link}}
How to run it without a CRM
You do not need software to use this. The paths are the work: pull the patients with treatment on file, split them by whether you know the reset date, and send the touches on the schedule above. A spreadsheet and a calendar reminder will run it, badly but genuinely, for one season.
What software changes is that the touches fire off each patient's own reset date without anyone remembering, the sequence stops the moment someone books, and the patients whose reset date you don't have get asked — so next year the campaign is accurate instead of assumed.
The paid product carries this same six-touch, three-path campaign, wired into the rest of the system. What that adds →