Jayne and I have just spent a few days staying in Auckland New Zealand educating and working with dental professionals in the shaky isles who want to grow their dental practices. Our hotel in Auckland has been dramatically amazing. The employees have really gone above...

There are so many experts out there…. Who should you listen to? There’s a lot of people out there beating their own drums. I sometimes receive phone calls out of the blue from people in Europe or USA with outstanding investment opportunities. And I always ask them...

I write about customer service. Often I write about the benefits of travelling in the premium cabins when flying and the differences in service provided in those cabins. I also write regularly about failings that airlines have when the premium service falls below the...

Another blog. Another Qantas fail story. I’m writing this blog article while flying Qantas to Perth. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour flight. And as usual, I’m sitting in the front end. And we have great service from Kylie and from Shaun and from John. But…. The...

Here are two types of ways of speaking you should avoid if you are trying to be customer specific in your conversations: Absolutes Avoid using words that are absolutes. Avoid blanket statements that aggregate all possibilities under the one umbrella. “All men are bad...

In 1998, my dental receptionist came to me and said: “David, the patients are complaining that your fees are too high.” Which was odd. Because I had not increased my dental practice fees for about two years, and with inflation running at a rate in excess of 10% per...

In business, in your business, do you know all your customers? And does your business have the systems in place to truly recognise your customers when they pop up unexpectedly in different places than they normally do? In a dental office, sometimes your regular and...

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you know right from the get-go that things are destined to end up pear shaped? One of those times where you’ve booked some accommodation online and then when you arrive at the hotel, it looks more like the Bates Motel...

There is no point being king of your own sandpit when everyone else is playing in a different sandpit. Although the solitude can be soothing, sooner or later you will need others to interact with to maintain your own sanity. And although it may be your sandpit, those...

Last time I looked it up I found that no baby had ever been born with a telephone handset in their hand. Nor had any newborn arrived and been able to speak at birth. This means that speech, and the ability to speak, are learned skills. They are not inherent. Nobody is...

One of the reasons your valued and loyal customers leave your business and go elsewhere is because the product that they have come to expect has been diluted or altered away from “the usual” product that they have become accustomed to. If your business thinks that it...

I often ask this question to dentists: “How many people work for you?” And one of the best answers I receive is: “About half” Which is really sad. It is really sad that there are businesses out there employing people who are not digging in. People who “turn up”...

We’re not in the dental business. We are in the problem solving  business. We have paying customers who we serve. People don’t come to the dentist to buy a bushel of crowns. Or a dozen Class I composites. Your customers come to you to have their particular problem...

When your business needs invigoration, you need to take action. HOPING that things will get better at your business is not the answer. Doing nothing to change your situation is not the answer. You need to change course. You need to decide, and implement. Because what...

Over my travels of the past week I’ve come to realise that great service and great processes go hand in hand. It is very difficult to have success by having one without the other. In fact, dare I say, it is impossible. Even the Seinfeld Soup Nazi, who had great soup,...