Some people out there find this difficult to believe, especially considering the amount of pain that dentists can and do inflict.
That’s because the public has a strange perception and expectation of the dental profession.
But, seriously, I see so many dentists being too nice to their patients.
By this, what I mean is I see too many dentists allowing patients to have an easy out and allowing them to defer necessary treatment.
Necessary treatment that if it were done now would be better for the patient than not having that treatment done now.
Here is why diagnosed dental treatment needs to be done now:
Conditions get worse.
Dental conditions do not heal themselves.
They get worse.
Cavities get bigger.
Decay approaches pulps.
Periodontal bone loss does not reverse.
Teeth do not straighten themselves.
Super-eruption does not reverse itself.
The cost of having Dental work done does not get cheaper, especially when the condition being treated worsens with time.Unlike VCRs and large screen TVs, the prices of dental treatment have risen with time.
Leaving treatment to a later date to be fixed means that the treatment will be more extensive and probably more painful when done later.It’s going to hurt more for the patient.
Some treatments are easier for the dentist to perform when they are performed earlier rather than later.
In fact most treatments…
So why do dentists delay treatment?
The number 1 reason that dentists allow patients to “escape” from having diagnosed treatment completed is because the dentist has not been taught how to SELL the treatment to the patient.
And because dentists are not taught how to feel COMFORTABLE in discussing costs and fees and money with patients, these dentists allow the patient an ESCAPE PATH.
Dentists who do not understand the elements of a sales process [and that’s what it is], feel a rejection when the patient does not go ahead with treatment.
And because most dentists have not learned how to improve their ability to present necessary treatment in a logical sequence, they seek ways of justifying their inadequacies.
In fact, there are some dentists who believe that giving the patient the option of having no treatment is a valid and legitimate option.
Well, let me tell you this:
Patients do not have dental degrees and do not understand dentistry and the consequences of non-treatment.
So, giving the uneducated patient the choice of non-treatment is simply supervised neglect.
In fact, there are consultants who teach dentists how to feel OK about patients not accepting treatment.
Yes, really!
These consultants believe that if you present the option of doing nothing to the patient, and then the [uneducated] patient chooses that option, then the dentist has not been rejected, because the patient has taken one of their recommendations.
Is that crazy or crazy?
Let me tell you this…. Uneducated patients roaming the streets with untreated time-bombs inside their mouths is a recipe for disaster in any community.
All that does is create unhappy patients who want immediate emergency treatment the instant that their untreated work starts unravelling….
And for all of those four reasons I wrote about earlier, when you attempt to accommodate these traumatised and irate patients and try to placate them, you will say to yourself, over and over and over:
“Why didn’t I fix this problem properly the first time I saw it?”
There is a reason.
And that reason is simply:
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
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.
These are the names they were given at birth by their parents.
Or they are names that they have assumed and started using during their life.
Like Gus.
Gus is not Phil Gould’s birth name.
But it is a name that he answers to and goes by.
In dentistry, in the dentist-patient relationship, the power of using the patient’s name during conversation cannot be over-emphasised.
And when I say [or write] dentist-patient relationship, what I really mean is all relationships that exist between the dental practice, and each of its employees, and the patient.
Such as:
The practice manager-patient relationship
The hygienist-patient relationship
The dental assistant-patient relationship
The dental receptionist-patient relationship
The front office coordinator-patient relationship
The dental practice-patient relationship.
How often should we address the patient by their name?
The answer is:
As often as we [comfortably] can.
Dale Carnegie wrote:
“Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest sound in any language – it is his badge of individuality.”
Carnegie also noted that the use of people’s names during conversation will automatically
Increase your popularity
Help you in your business or profession
Help you win friends
Give sparkle to your social contacts
When exactly is that?
There are several times during a patient’s visit and contact with our practice that we should endeavour to use their name in conversation as many times as we [comfortably] can.
When a patient phones your practice.
As soon as the phone rings the first thing we need to do is find out the name of the caller and the name of the person they are wanting to make an appointment for.There are so many times when I am reviewing recorded phone answerings where this does not happen.And when we do not know who we are talking to or talking about, we cannot use their name in conversation with them.
Which is a significant disadvantage.
The other thing we cannot do without their name is discover whether they are an existing patient or someone wishing to come and see us for the first time.
If you want to increase your conversions of calls to appointments, you will find out the name of the caller as soon as possible, write their name down and then use it back to them as often as you comfortably can.
When they are being spoken to, in conversation, with any dentist, hygienist, or dental employee.
It is common courtesy and good manners to address people you are speaking with by their name.It is ignorant and rude not to do so.And to forget their name? Well that’s an insult.
Every member of the dental team needs to know the first name, and surname and also title of every person who they will be interacting with EVERY DAY, at the dental office.
This is a non-negotiable condition of employment.
When scheduling future treatment, and when paying.
I always said that in my practice, if we wanted people to pay us on our terms, then we needed to know how to pronounce their names correctly.And we needed to be able to spell their names correctly.And we needed to be able to use their names as much as was [comfortably] possible during conversations.
Using a patient’s name regularly in conversation puts our patients more at ease than not using their name.
Our job at the dental practice is to help every patient feel welcome, valued and comfortable and understood.
Using each patient’s name during conversation with them goes a long way towards creating this trust we seek.
People naturally feel more trusting towards other people who remember their names and use them during conversation.
~
If you want your dental practice to be more successful, start making a concentrated effort to use your patients’ names more often in conversations that you have with them.
It’s that simple.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
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.
I was talking to a couple of clients last week about interviewing and recruiting.
For new employees.
Not talking to both of them at the same time.
But at different times.
I remarked:
“interviewing for new staff can be like pulling teeth….”
[Webster definition: “very difficult and frustrating”]
As an interviewer, you can sometimes feel as if you have been deceived into spending time with people who you should not be with.
What makes interviewing so painful?
I think the number one cause of painful interviews is a total lack of guidelines that need to be adhered to when choosing candidates to interview.
A lack of clear guidelines will result in a less than specific group of people attending for the interview, and some of these people may be candidates that good filtering would have weeded out of your interview process.
Putting it simply:
If we don’t ask specifically for what we want we end up getting a broader selection of less than adequate applicants.
Specificity is the key.
Now here’s an unknown fact:
Research has shown that job performance is not linked to interview performance.
Interviews really are not good predicting devices.
Some dentists are moving towards giving applicants actual work to perform, as well as interviewing them. In a similar way that restaurant owners hire chefs by having the chef cook for them.
Sadly, in dentistry, this can be fraught with danger.
Why on earth would you allow job applicants to play “with live bullets” and start interacting with your valued existing and new patients?
Best practice techniques.
Adopting a set of best practice techniques can make a significant difference towards the outcome of your interview.
Prepare for the interview:
Those interviewing should be just as prepared for the interview as those being interviewed.
Having a good selection of interview questions is very important to help draw out details about each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and their personality.
Have a checklist
To ensure a consistency of process, assess each applicant based on the same set of criteria.
The best characteristics are often those of your current good employees .
It’s always wise to review the resumes of each applicant that you will be interviewing before they attend
This helps in reducing some of the nervous tension in the applicant because they feel you have taken the time to research the material they have sent to you.
This helps avoid asking questions that may already be answered in the resume, and ensures any uncertainties about the candidate are addressed.
Prepare your questions.
Before you meet candidates face-to-face, you need to figure out exactly what you’re looking for in a new employee so that you’re asking the right questions during the interview.
Begin this process by “compiling a list of required attributes” for the position.
Have structure to your interview process.
Having a specific, repeatable structure for your interview ensures you cover everything you need to during the time set aside for the interview.
It prevents you from being side-tracked by your applicant.
I’d start with questions directed at the candidate.
Then I’d follow with the role.
Finally I’d try to see if there’s an enthusiasm from the applicant for the role you are offering.
Interview questions to get the ball rolling:
“Why are you interested in working for with us?”
This question will identify those candidates who have done some background homework on your practice.
The better-prepared candidates will be able to offer why they find the job, and your dental practice, attractive.
“What strengths do you bring to this job?”
Well prepared candidates will anticipate this question and list off their talents, attributes, and skills. Ideally, look for the candidates who can relate their strengths directly to the role at hand.
Ask how their personal strengths have benefitted them in previous jobs.
“What are you looking for in working here?”
Candidates will tell you about how long they want to stay, and what sort of emotional return they are looking for from this job.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
Asking this question can sometimes be a “surprise” for the candidate, but it does tend to allow you to see whether they have done any research into your position vacant and into your practice.
A good candidate will use this question to clarify any questions they may have, and ask about next steps.
Assess Potential
Look for signs of the applicant’s curiosity, insight, engagement, and determination.
Ask yourself both whether this person can do the job today, as well as whether they could also be doing this job, or another job in your practice, one year, two years, or five years from now?
Two Ears and One Mouth
Always listen more than you speak when conducting interviews.
Focus.
Consider how the applicant is speaking as well as what they are saying.
Are they a good communicator?
Do they display a “need to please” personality?
Will they fit in?
Look for signs that the candidate will be comfortable working at your dental practice.
Are they a long-term planner or a short-term thinker?
Do they appear to be one to collaborate or do they prefer working independently?
Will they be able to adjust to your office environment and culture?
Be Clear About All of Their Duties.
Ask them about their competence about performing ALL OF the key tasks of the role you are hiring for.
Explain your practice’s dress code and any other non-negotiable codes.
Enough said. Be very clear.
After the Interview Apply Objective Hiring Criteria
After each interview, make good accurate notes about the applicant.
To ensure your final decision is as objective as possible, check your hiring criteria again to make sure your top choice closely matches the job requirements you originally identified for the role. In particular:
How much experience do they have doing the work required for the job?
What relevant advanced skills can the applicant bring?
How much training will they need?
How quickly will they be able to work without supervision?
How fast did they progress through previous roles and responsibilities?
You will also want to rank all your applicants based on how well they fit with your team culture and your business culture.
Finally…
Having just one employee who doesn’t embody the right attitude that you desire can be detrimental not just to the morale of your team, but to your whole business.
Have a dedicated interviewing system that creates a consistency of process.
The better your system is, the better your successful applicant will be.
And ultimately, you will create a more stable team of employees.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
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.
I had an interesting experience this week attempting to make contact with someone who I know and have met in the past and who I was trying to reconnect with on a business level.
When I rang his office, I was told that he wasn’t in and that I could send an email with my proposal to his Personal Assistant.
Interestingly, in dentistry, it is very difficult to call and speak directly with the dentist.
And that’s because the dentist is usually gloved and gowned and engaged with a real live dental patient.
And because that patient that the dentist is with is a paying customer, in theory and reality, the dentist really should not be drawn away from that patient.
So, can you speak with a dentist on the phone during business hours?
The answer is, probably not.
But, I think it is a very powerful lever for the dentist to have, if the phone caller is told that the dentist will be given the message and that the caller’s phone call will be returned either at lunch time or at the end of the day.
How powerful would that be?
Nobody likes being given a flick pass.
We all know that nobody likes being given a flick pass.
And who knows?
A caller to your dental office may not “appear” to be a potential patient.
But they may be the referrer of some significant business.
And the dental phone answerer needs to be aware of the possible degrees of separation here that could be broken by a flippant comment or by brushing off the caller, or by simply allowing their own bad day to impact on how they are answering and receiving the incoming phone calls.
Recently a friend of mine who works in dental finance and investment had a dental receptionist hang up and slam a phone down in his ear [a landline obviously, not a cell-phone…. You can’t get the same effect by pushing the “OFF” button hard with your finger.]
Anyway, my friend was horrified and was unsure as to what to tell the dentist [his client] about the actions of the dental employee.
My thoughts were that this employee’s behaviour was not a first time event and was probably something that this dental employee had performed in the past.
And because the dentist is most likely out of earshot, she gets away with it and gets away with it.
Dental receptionists are not Security Officers.
Dentistry is grudge buy.
We need to remember this.
Nobody likes going to the dentist.
And there are plenty of dentists out there for the public to choose from if ever they are dissatisfied with the service, or the lack of service, that one dental office might be giving them.
A caller to any business needs to end that phone call feeling as though there is a CLEAR NEXT STEP going to happen.
And the caller needs to be looking forward with anticipation to that next step occurring.
Being rude and indifferent to callers to your business does not foster feelings of ongoing anticipation and excitement in those callers.
Look at how my friend the finance guy reacted.
And, in my opening story, do you think that I have high or low feelings of anticipation that my business phone call will be returned after being told to send an email?
You never know who knows who….
One of my patients was the owner of a real estate business.
In fact he sold a home I lived in well before he became my patient.
While he was my patient he probably contacted my office more about non-dental issues than dentistry, as he managed an investment property for me.
In 2002, this patient suggested to one of his tenants on his rent roll [who was retiring and closing down his business], that he [the tenant] might like to have a chat with me.
That tenant was an elderly dentist closing his practice.
And that elderly dentist did contact me, and ended up gifting me his filing cabinet [that’s a rectangular prism structure filled with cards and paper for those who don’t know] and directed his practice phone to ring into my office.
That gift resulted in over $880,000.00 of dentistry at my practice over the following four years.
Could you imagine what might have happened to my relationship with the realtor if one of my team members had felt that his non-dental phone calls to me were annoying and were not important.
Do you know what’s being said on your dental office phone?
Apart from not converting as many phone enquiries [as possible] into valued and kept appointments, and also reducing cancellations, the dental phone is clearly a window to the outside world that reflects the CULTURE of your business.
If on a daily basis, you are not monitoring who says what to whom and when on your dental phones, and you’re not directing the culture in your dental practice, then you may as well take a big wad of hundred dollar bills every day and toss them into an open fire.
The dental office telephone is THE most important piece of dental equipment in your dental practice.
You need to make sure that it is an extension of your business into the big wide world, and not some unmonitored appendage that rings annoyingly at unwelcome times throughout the day.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
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.
Consider this quotation from my friend Shep Hyken:
“Every employee needs to be an extension of your sales and marketing department. Make it a job requirement. It’s a non-negotiable responsibility.”
What exactly do you think Shep meant when he said this?
I believe this comment relates to the fact that every employee in your business needs to be able to speak to the customer and answer their questions about your business.
And act in a way that promotes your business in the eyes of the customer.
Take Disney for instance.
At Disneyland and at Walt Disney World it was found that the cleaners of the parks were often asked for directions [by customers].
And so Disney went about setting up a protocol and business plan that trained their cleaners to be able to give park guests directions, and to not only be proficient, but to be able to exceed the expectations of the guests at those parks who were in need of those directions.
And this is what Disney did….
Every time a cleaner was asked by a park guest for directions to some other part of their park, what those cleaners did was to escort those guests to that place in the park they had enquired about.
“Let me show you. Please come with me….”
Is far more powerful than:
“It’s over there.”
Supermarkets and grocery stores have also adopted the same protocols.
How many times have you needed to ask a shelf-stacker where you might find the Paul Newman’s Spaghetti Sauce?
Isn’t it nice when the shelf-stacker says:
“Let me show you”
And then leads you off to the correct shelf to find the product that you need.
How does all this relate to dentistry?
That’s simple.
Every employee in your practice needs to be empowered with the ability to solve every problem and every question that the patients and customers can raise.
Every staff member must have the knowledge of procedures and practice to be able to SATISFY immediately the concerns of the patient, so that the patient feels fulfilled and content with the explanation given.
If your team member is not able to answer the patient’s question, then it is imperative that an immediate solution path is proposed, to satisfy and answer the question from the patient.
“You know Betty, that’s a very good question. Let me check with Jayne and get straight back to you on that.”
Is far better than:
“I wouldn’t have a clue.”
Or
“I don’t know.”
What you need to do:
As the practice owner, you need to educate and train your team to be able to answer all questions posed by patients and callers to your practice.
All team members need to learn, process and PRACTICE the correct answers, so that when questions do arise from time to time, they are ready and proficient with those answers.
Telling them what to say is not the answer.
Having them learn and become proficient at spontaneously being able to answer all questions IS THE ANSWER.
It’s up to you….
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
Call Jayne on 1300 378 044 or email Jayne@theDPE.comfor more details.
*****
“How to Bring the Customer Service Magic of Disney Right There Into Your Dental Practice”
ONE TIME WORKSHOP Friday NOVEMBER 15 in SYDNEY.
Are you looking for that competitive EDGE for your dental practice in these questionable economic times?
History has shown that those businesses providing LEGENDARY WORLD CLASS Customer Service to their clients have not only survived, but THRIVED in during difficult times.
For the First time in Australia, Vance Morris brings you his comprehensive one day boot camp style workshop:
“How to Bring the Customer Service Magic of Disney Right There Into Your Dental Practice”
At this FULL DAY EXCLUSIVE workshop, you and your team will learn:
All about the cost that poor customer service is having on your dental practice.
Vance Morris will provide you with multiple examples of the financial impact of what poor service is doing for your practice.
He will explain in detail how to clearly DEFINE the “Customer Experience” (CX) for your dental practice.
You will learn the TEN RULES for WORLD-CLASS customer service, including:
* Anticipatory Service
* You had me at “Hello”
* Customer Service as a revenue generator
* “Everything communicates”
Vance will also explain in detail the art of PROFITABLE Service Recovery, including:
* How PROFITABLE Service Recovery is a systematic business process
* How to uncover your opportunities for PROFITABLE Service Recovery
* You will discover how to anticipate the needs for recovery
* Learn how to Train and empower your frontline employees on PROFITABLE Service Recovery
And much, much more….
Best of all, you will discover Vance’s signature programme Systematic Magic.
You will learn how to easily Out-Serve, Out-Price and Out-Market your dental competition in ANY ECONOMY. Based off his 10 year experience at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Vance will reveal the 7 Magic Keys that Disney uses every day to create magic for their guests. This is the same system that Vance himself used while at Disney to create some of their iconic attractions.
At the end of the day, all attendees will leave with their own, personal blueprint to implement Disney style service in their dental practices, the very next day.
So if you’re looking for that competitive edge that’s going to set your dental practice APART from all of the other practices in your area, then book your dental TEAM into see Vance Morris NOW!!
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.
