If you want to have a polarising discussion in dentistry, then bring up the topic of Same Day Emergency Appointments.
We all know that there are three things we should never raise as discussion topics with patients.
Politics.
Sex.
Religion.
And in the same vein, raising the subject of Same Day Emergency Appointments with dentists and dental teams is equally as polarising.
Those who run their dental practice using a TEMPLATE, will swear that having Same Day Emergency Appointments is a practice builder.
Whereas those practices that do not have Same Day Emergency Appointments will simply tell you that keeping blank spaces in their schedule is unproductive and unnecessary because no matter what,
“we will always get a cancellation and if we don’t, well, we can always squeeze an emergency in somewhere”.
And that is that!
I built a successful dental practice by using an appointment book template that had Same Day Emergency Appointments available EVERY WORKING DAY.
Plural.
Every day, when I came in to work, there were always TWO vacant unfilled half-hour appointments [one in the morning and one in the afternoon] available for anyone who rang that day and needed to see a dentist urgently.
Be they an existing patient or a new patient.
Two Same Day Emergency Appointments available every day.
Non-negotiable.
So how did it work?
Or better still….
Why did it work?
You may well ask:
“How did you make it work, David?”
The answer is simple….
Firstly, you need to know how many people are calling your practice each day seeking an emergency appointment.
And you need to know whether these people calling are existing patients, or new patients.
And if they are new patients, you need to know who is referring them, or where they are finding out about your practice from.
Once we know these numbers we can then work out whether we have a need for one, two, three, or four [or more] Same Day Emergency Appointments each day.
The simple fact is this:
When you are able to see a patient with a real time emergency on the same day that they call, [whether they are a new patient or an existing patient], if you can get them out of trouble and solve their immediate concern, then you will create a loyal patient FOR LIFE, then and there.
And….
Of course the opposite is also true….
When you are UNABLE to see a patient with a real time emergency on the same day that they call, then you will create a dissatisfied patient for life.
And, just saying, the dissatisfied patient will go out and tell way more people about their disappointment in your practice.
[And just saying, because I know you are wondering “how successful”….. my practice collections grew by 800% over a fifteen-year period because of this one binding belief in Same Day Emergency Appointments].
But, David….
“What if we have these Same Day Emergency Appointments in our schedule and we don’t fill them?”
Trust me, you will fill them.
You will fill them with grateful people who will forever value what you do for them because you were able to see them and help them during a well-structured appointment.
When you “squeeze” someone in….
When you squeeze someone in to your appointment book because you have not allowed availability, you compromise that patient, their appointment, and their value, as well as the appointments and values of the people you squeeze them in between.
And so, that may upset and offend three, or five or all of your patients because you’ve messed up everybody’s day by doing the squeeze in.
And by the way….
If you really want to offend a patient just tell them when you are making their appointment, that you are “squeezing them in”.
Really, you should never say this.
And sadly, there are practices and office staff and dentists who really denigrate the emergency patient by letting them know HOW LUCKY THEY ARE that we decided to squeeze them in to “our precious day”.
Yes, this really does go on….
Here’s what I used to do.
In my practice the Same Day Emergency Appointments were set in stone at 11:30am and at 2:00pm.
The 11:30am appointment was always followed by a productive one-hour appointment at midday and then an hour for lunch at 1:00pm.
This way, if the 11:30am Same Day Emergency Appointment went longer than expected, we only ever inconvenienced one patient, and we caught up time during a shortened lunch break.
No big deal for everyone.
If we didn’t have someone call [on that morning] wanting that appointment, then what we would do is ask our 11:00am patient [who was purposefully selected] whether they would like to stay on and have more work done that day, because we had time become available.
[Or, we might call a patient who had a crown insert appointment scheduled for the next week, to let them know that their crown had arrived back earlier than expected, and would they like to come on in and have it seated sooner….]
With the 2:00pm Same Day Emergency Appointment, if we didn’t fill that appointment, which sometimes did happen on the odd occasion, then everyone in the practice was given permission to take a longer [and well-deserved] extension to their lunch break.
Now I know that…..
Now I know that there will still be dentists out there who won’t believe….
And who believe that booking emergency patients in for appointments weeks down the track [because nothing else is available] is a totally acceptable way of doing business.
But it isn’t.
It’s a FALSE ECONOMY that is choking your business.
Now, in implementing Same Day Emergency Appointments, there are other considerations that are needed to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients, and for dentists, and for practices, but when everything runs smoothly, it really does run SO MUCH MORE SMOOTHLY.
Like a well-oiled machine…
It did for me, and it has done for those dentists who have taken this philosophy on board.
It has.
And it will work for you too…
*****
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.
So long as you have a good product and provide good service, you will succeed.
But you need to be mindful of a few factors.
Today’s secret is simple.
If you have a good product and provide good service you need to reach out and present your product to sufficient people.
You must reach out to enough potential buyers.
One at a time is not enough.
You need to cast your net widely.
This is because not everyone out there is going to buy your product today.
But do not cast your net indiscriminately.
Not everyone out there is going to need your product today.
Nor does everybody out there think [or believe] that they will need your product today.
But, there are people out there who are in need of the product that your business provides, and who may not be aware that today is the day for them to engage your services.
These people will welcome your message about your business.
Don’t get activity in your own business confused with accomplishment.
And by that, I mean you need to be accomplishing the necessity of making potential customers aware of who you are, and what you do, and where they can find you.
This accomplishment should be something that is done and completed on a steady and regular basis.
Preferably on a daily basis.
It is truly amazing how many business owners spend most of their day handling and dealing with their current business, and then spend hardly any time introducing themselves and their business and its services to new potential clients.
I have to wonder how these business owners can expect to grow their businesses if hardly any potential customers even know that they exist?
You need to get your business known.
And in reality, everything else is useless if you are not doing this.
Every business needs to have a large enough pool of potential customers at the ready that know what that business offers, that the business is able to convert into actual customers.
You don’t need to market your business to everybody.
You just need to market your business to the right people.
Be specific about who you want as a customer.
And anyone who fogs a mirror or anyone with a credit card is not the answer that we are looking for.
Choose the type of customers you want and market your business to that market.
The more specific you are with your “ideal customer avatar”, the better you will find your business will be.
*****
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 a message come across my desk earlier in the year.
And putting things simply, the message read:
“Being grateful is a game changer.”
The message pointed out the simple fact that most people out there walk around with a scarcity mentality that causes fear and anger to manifest in their lives.
And isn’t that the truth.
Just think about it….
Aren’t there people out there that you know, that each and every time you make a suggestion, they always raise a negative outcome as a possibility.
And often that negative outcome is something that is not on your own radar.
And nor is it an outcome that you would ever have given a moment’s thought to.
Because it’s a negative outcome that will never eventuate [in your mind].
Here are some examples:
People who say:
“I hope that I can do it.”
Or
“I hope I have the strength to do it.”
When really, they know they cannot possibly do it.
Because if they could, they would respond:
“Yes. Let’s do this!”
Or
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Do you see the difference?
So how do we address this thought process that acts like a dampener on our ambitions?
Because, in order to succeed, we need to be able to over-achieve.
And in order to provide great service, we need to be looking at what we are doing, and what we are saying, each and every day, that we can improve upon, each and every day.
And sometimes it is purely a shift in our thinking that will improve our outcomes.
If we can project our thoughts without any negativity, be it conscious negativity or subliminal negativity, we will be able to convey optimism and convey a feeling of abundance to our world.
And to do this, we must begin from a position of gratitude.
We must be grateful for what we have, and from that gratitude we will grow.
When you rewire your mind to think about everything you are grateful for, it changes everything.
When you are grateful for every challenge, every hardship and every lesson in your life, then your world will change.
Do not be resentful and bitter about your moments of hardship.
Look upon those experiences for what they were.
And that is moments of education.
Every negative experience we have provides us with a moment to learn.
We learn from our mistakes.
And we learn more from those mistakes than we learn from our wins.
Without struggle there really is no reward.
When you change your mind and become thankful for your struggles, then they will stop being an issue and will become a blessing.
Begin every day by saying five things that you are thankful for.
Encourage your team members to all do the same.
And watch things change.
Being grateful, and looking for the positives on a daily basis will stop you from focusing on negativity and the things that you don’t want.
Doing this for a month, for a year, or better still, forever, will dramatically change your personal and your work experiences and outcomes.
On a personal level, you will find a positive change in the outcomes of interactions with family members and friends.
On a vocational level, what you will see is the creation of a happier and more pleasant work environment, with happier co-workers and more satisfied and grateful customers.
Give it a go and see the difference.
*****
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.
