North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 3 2018 ISSUE 3 DE | Page 30

practice management FOUR WAYS TO Create Knockout Customer Service by Roger P. Levin, DDS You may not realize it but when it comes to building a successful dental practice, customer service is without question one of the most powerful ways to do it. Of course patients want and need great treatment but I can tell you that hands down, patients will remember a warm greeting or a great conversation much more than then they will remember the filling you gave them. Patients place premium value on the relationships that they have with their doctor and the dental team. And if you place premium value on keeping those relationships strong with customer service — the kind that will knock their socks off — your prac- tice will be successful. Four Ways to WOW Your Patients If you ask most practices if they have excellent customer service the answer will be “yes” without any information, feedback or data to back it up. However, customer service studies of dental prac- tices show that practices rank at approx- imately 7.2 out of 10. If you want to “WOW” patients, your practice needs to rank at 9.0 or higher out of 10. Follow these strategies to create knockout cus- tomer service in your practice: Give every patient a powerful greeting. In most service businesses, people greet politely but nonchalantly. There’s no real interest in greeting a patient or a customer warmly, learn- ing something about them, or adding to the relationship. The greeting is merely a starting point to get the job done rather than a customer service oriented and caring welcome. If you’re looking to WOW your patients, the standard “How are you?” just won’t cut it. For a warm and sincere greeting that makes a powerful impression, scripting could be as simple as, “Mrs. Jones, it’s wonderful to see you today. Tell me something new about yourself.” Patients should not only hear this greeting from front desk staff, but also from assistants, hygienists, and doctors. Greeting patients using a modification of this simple script will create a much warmer and energized environment. 30 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com Checking in with the patient during their appointment. We teach a concept called “the five- minute rule” for dental assistants. It’s simply a requirement that for every five minutes or so that the assistant or hygienist asks the patient how they’re doing while they are waiting. It is done with feeling and should cre- ate the impression that you really want the patient to have a great expe- rience. Asking questions such as “Is there anything else I can do to make you comfortable?” or “Is there any- thing we can do to make your experi- ence more pleasant today?” goes a long way toward creating an extremely positive customer service- based visit. Summarize and discuss the appointment. Briefly wrap up each patient visit with information about the patients’ good health and ask for questions or feed- back. It helps demonstrate that you truly care and aren’t in a rush to get to the next appointment. A simple wrap-up discussion doesn’t take more than a minute or two and can make all the difference in the patient’s experience.