When I’m hired by Dentists to help grow their practices, sometimes, yes sometimes, there is Dental Office Employee *resistance* towards me.
“I’ve been working in Dentistry for X Number of Years and I know what I’m doing. I don’t need you to tell me what to do”
This is an “attitude” I receive from time to time when it is first announced that I’ll joining an Office to help improve the way it operates.
“Things are just fine round here.”
We don’t need you to come in here.
“We’re doing alright, all things considered.”
The reason this office is like this is due to external issues beyond our control.
And so, the list goes on….
To me, there’s always a better way.
For me, the state of improvement, of wanting improvement, is a constant journey.
How can I do things better today than I did yesterday?
How can I make Mrs. Smith’s visit to our Office today more memorable than it was last week when she was in?
Q. How tall does a tree grow?
A. As tall as it can!
A tree does not say to itself I’m going to stop growing once I reach fifteen feet?
A tree does not say to itself, “it’s windy up there, time to stop growing”, and do just that?
So if a tree can keep challenging itself to be taller than it was yesterday, why can’t your team members?
Wouldn’t it be nice for your Dental Office to be known in the town, in the city, in the district, in the province, as the Office that is always *Going the Extra Mile*?
Or would you rather people talk about your office as:
“They’re O.K…..”
Or worse still:
“They’re cheap, but….”
When I’m engaged to offer my coaching services, I need to be able to demonstrate and show the benefits of using my services versus the process of “going it alone”, or maintaining the status quo.
And that’s not difficult.
The reason I’ve been asked to help is because someone in the Dental Office knows that things aren’t quite right and that things could be done in a better way.
They know, that in bringing me in, that there’ll be benefits to the patients, benefits to the practice, and benefits to all who work in the practice.
And that should be the outcome sought from each and every idea or suggestion taken on board.
“How will this be better for the patient?”
“How will this be better for the practice?”
“How will this be better for each of us?”
All change can be uncomfortable.
When we begin an exercise programme, there is discomfort and considerable pain to body parts and muscles that are now being put to a different use.
And it’s the same in a work environment…
When we begin to learn new knowledge, be it at class, university, or just for our own peace of mind, our brain often throws back out to us a “difficulty” question, as to why do we need to know this, because it is a mental stretch.
And that’s because it is something extra.
When Ray Kroch transformed a local hamburger joint into a global Fast Food Franchise model, he saw the vision of what was possible, both in the short term and in the long term, of doing things in a better way.
He saw that if things were done in a better way then more people would want that product.
With things being done in a better way, then customers would be more satisfied, and would want to keep returning more often and more frequently.
When things are done in a better way, happy customers would be happy referring the business to their family and friends.
New business, and new demand for that business’s services, creates a benefit of employment security for all those who work there.
A healthy business creates the long-term benefit of certainty of employment for Team members, and rewards share holders and owners with Dividends.
And that creates a very happy work place environment.
The flip side is not a desirable place to work.
A place where only bare minimum is done to please the customer.
A place where there is little or no loyalty from the customer to the business because the service is forgettable at best, or memorable for its complete lack of courtesy.
And employees wonder, from day to day, hour by hour, minute by minute, whether the business is even going to survive?
That cannot be a happy place to work?
That cannot be a happy place to be a customer?
In fitness, hiring a personal trainer is a great way of making sure that the short-term discomfort is overcome and we are kept accountable for our long-term goals.
Goals of feeling better, looking better, and having people notice and say WOW, they are better.
The hours of disciplined study pay off when we use that acquired knowledge to gain a better job, or receive a greater acknowledgement.
I’m brought in because there is a better way than what you were doing yesterday.
And the benefits of change, in the short term, and in the long term, are huge, and far outweigh any perceived discomfort of the moment in changing.
In Dentistry, patients and clients love to be surprised and delighted.
And WOWed!
Mary Kay Ash said it all those years ago:
“MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT”
She said everyone out there is wearing a large invisible sign around their necks that reads:
“MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT”
And that’s all that is required.
When we consistently make our clients and patients feel important, when we consistently make our team members and doctors feel important, then great things happen.
Great things happen. To our business, to ourselves, and to our customers.
And isn’t that what we truly want…
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My One-Day Workshop in May covers in greater depth how to address simple changes that create BIG RESULTS.
For more details about my Australian workshops in May, CLICK HERE.
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
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Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a customer service expert, hall-of-fame speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He works with organizations to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. He is also the creator of The Customer Focus, a customer service training program that helps organizations develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. For more information contact (314) 692-2200 or www.Hyken.com
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Sometimes I’m amazed at the simple things I see that Dentists put up as roadblocks to sabotage the success of their Dental Practices.
Success is easy to achieve.
It is not difficult.
All you need to do is find somebody who has been successful, find out what they are doing, and then copy those things.
That’s all.
And there are successful Dental Offices out there to copy.
But there are way more Dental Offices out there that are not successful.
Dr Omer Reed told me four years ago that in the USA ninety-five percent of Dentists on reaching age sixty-five cannot afford to retire.
Ninety-five percent!
Only one in twenty Dentists can walk away from their handpiece at age sixty-five.
I feel blessed that I have been able to do that at age fifty-five.
But it wasn’t always this way.
In 1997 I had to do what I hope no Dentist ever has to do.
In 1997, with a one year old and a four year old, I had to tell my wife we needed to sell our family home in order to keep my Dental Practice going.
I truly hope that that never happens to you.
You see, I’d made some “ordinary” business decisions, and they had turned sour.
Cash was tight.
It’s well documented. I had begun working with a coach, another Dentist, who unbeknownst to me, was also working in partnership with one of my competitors, nine hundred meters up the road from my Office.
Instead of information passing from him to me, it was the other way around.
What I did learn from this experience was that this person was simply the wrong coach for me.
It wasn’t that having a coach was the problem; it was the fact that I had the wrong coach.
That was the problem.
Fortunately, shortly after, as if by fate, a small flyer from another Consultant came across my desk.
At my first meeting with this next consultant, he said:
“We can walk into a Dental Practice and find one staff member costing that practice $200,000.00 per year!”
And I said to myself under my breath:
“THAT’S MY PRACTICE!”
It was a light bulb moment!
And so true.
One of the things I hear now on a regular basis from Dentists is:
“My staff won’t let me do that!”
And that’s just crazy!
Because the staff have no skin in the game.
The staff have no money invested in the business, yet they’re dictating the direction the business needs to be going?
If I can do better, with a working-class background and a public school education, then so can you.
If I can build a multi-million dollar Dental Office in the heart of working class Sydney, where people drive average cars, live in average homes, earn average incomes from average jobs, then surely, anyone can copy and replicate what I did and achieve the same success, or better, in their location.
“But, my practice is different….”
I hear this often.
It’s a roadblock.
It’s an imaginary excuse put up as a reason not to change and improve.
It’s a ghost.
In 1997, my Dental Practice was doing it tough.
So tough, that I had to sell my family home and go rent.
Rent for five years.
But in that time, with the right advice and guidance, I turned my business around.
In 2002 my personal collections were three times what they were in 1996.
And in 2011 my personal collections were five times what they were in 1996, and my practice collections were more than eight times my 1996 numbers.
If all you did, in the next five years, was double your practice collections, would it be worth the investment, in having the right coach, to point you in the right direction?
If all you did, in the next ten years, was improve your practice profitability so that you were able to put away for your retirement and successfully walk away from your drill, at age sixty five or sooner, would finding the right coach to help you, be worth it?
If all you did, in the next twelve months, was gather the right sort of people on your team that allowed your Dental Practice to break free from those shackles that are holding it back, would that be a plan worth implementing?
Zig Ziglar used to call it *Stinkin’ Thinkin’*
It’s your attitude.
Is your stinkin’ thinkin’ attitude holding you back?
Are your team’s limiting beliefs affecting and influencing your true financial destiny?
In 1997, I changed.
I had to change.
I changed my stinkin’ thinkin’.
I changed my limiting beliefs.
I changed my limiting staff members.
And I changed my destiny.
The answers you seek are out there….
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My One-Day Workshop in May covers in greater depth how to address these two BIG areas of leakage.
For more details on my Australian workshops, in Perth and in Sydney, CLICK HERE.
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
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In Dentistry, those offices that are truly delineating themselves as World Class when it comes to delivering great Service to their clients, customers, and patients are doing so by offering Anticipatory Customer Service rather than reactionary Customer Services.
Reactionary Customer Service occurs when the Customer asks for something, and the service is provided, the item is delivered. The service is courteous and polite and pleasant, and the client is appreciative of you helping them.
Proactive Customer Service occurs before the customer asks for help. It’s often simultaneous. The Customer or Patient is pleasantly surprised that your team member is ready, as they need something.
This new term, Anticipatory Customer Service, was brought to my attention in this week’s issue of The Shepard Letter, a great weekly newsletter from Customer Service Guru and Authority Shep Hyken.
Shep says:
“Being proactive raises the perceived value of what you offer. Your customers feel you’ve really are paying attention and focused on them and their needs.
Anticipatory customer service is a step above proactive customer service. It’s noticing something and responding to it. It’s about being one step ahead. It’s intuitive. It’s not just noticing something. It’s anticipating something.”
Shep goes on:
“Anticipating your customer’s needs is like a game of chess. The best players don’t just think of the very next move they have to make. They visualize what the next four or five moves are going to be, anticipating how their opponent will react to each move. Similarly, you should always try to be at least one or two moves ahead of your customers, anticipating what they might want or need.
Anticipatory customer service is about being in tune with your customer, getting them what they need before they ask for it – or even before they know to ask for it. It shows that you are customer-focused and strive to deliver an amazing customer experience.”
In dentistry there are many opportunities to provide our Clients with Anticipatory Customer Service.
Anticipating our Customers’ needs is what differentiates an Ultimate Patient Experience Practice from those other Dental Offices around it.
Are you anticipating the arrival of a New Patient to your Office?
Do you have systems in place to greet the New Patient in a manner that they’ve never been greeted before at any other Dentist, let alone at any other Health Care Provider?
When it’s time to bring the Patient down to the treatment room, do you have Anticipatory Systems in place that totally WOW the patient?
Once the patient is in the Dental Chair, what protocols do you have in place that Anticipate the Patients next moves?
When the chair comes up at the end of the visit are your team members waiting there to greet the patient with a warm towel and a smile?
And the patient’s spectacles?
Are your team members waiting with the patient’s bags, and coats following treatment, *EVERY TIME*, or does the patient have to ask for these?
When the treated patient is brought to the Front Office following treatment, is the Front Office person waiting, in anticipation, ready to serve that Patient, or are they feeling that the Patient now in front of them is an interruption to the *other* things they think need to do?
At the end of the patients’ visits to your Office, is the Concierge waiting, in anticipation, with the door open, farewelling the patient warmly?
The use and collection of Secret Service Information about the patient at each visit can allow your team members to truly WOW your patients who aren’t anticipating conversation about things they may have discussed at previous visits.
When this happens, when you really capitalise on the detail, and you start Anticipating, your Patients will know that what they are experiencing is not just some occasional act of kindness or goodwill. They will realise that they are truly at a Different Place.
They will know that this is a well thought out and systemised approach to their every requirement and want during their visit.
They’ll know, that what they are experiencing, is indeed, an Ultimate Patient Experience.
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My One-Day Workshop in May covers in greater depth how to address simple changes that create BIG RESULTS. For more details on the Philadelphia workshop CLICK HERE.
For more details on my Australian workshops CLICK HERE.
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
******
Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a customer service expert, hall-of-fame speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He works with organizations to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. He is also the creator of The Customer Focus, a customer service training program that helps organizations develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. For more information contact (314) 692-2200 or www.Hyken.com
******
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