Customer Service Builds The Brand

Having spent most of my life in the service industry the one key ingredient is providing top level customer service. How do we do it? How do we teach others to deliver it? Why do some big corporations provide it better than others?
The first question is the how. It is on going messaging which is internal and starts with how the management treats its employees. If we do not treat our team members well how can we expect them to treat our customers/patients well. No matter the size of the business or industry if we can not treat fellow team members, customers and patients well. We loose business. I would encourage anybody reading this to purchase the book "Fish" By Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul and John Christensen. It is a quick read. That should be read over and over and shared amongst all team members.
Customer service in big corporations. I look at the fashion retailer Nordstrom's and by far they are always at the top of their game in treating their team and customers extremely well.
Then I look at some of the companies that I deal with being a business owner. Some of these companies have great feet on the street. The sales people would do anything for their clientele. I have a friend who has held onto the top sales person slot for years with a dental supplier. They hold onto it because they always take care of the customer. I will not deal with anybody else in that company.
If she left the company then I would take my business elsewhere.
Recently a newer piece of technology has broken down in our practice. Only three and a half years old. For 2 weeks now we have been trying to get resolution on this issue. My IT company seems to be the only one who cares as much as we do about getting this resolved. The manufacturer wants us to spend more money on a new machine the dental supplier wants us to spend more money. Both of these companies did the original install. The sales person from the manufacturer barely returns calls or answers emails. The dental supplier we never hear from. This dental supplier is a major driving force in the industry. Here is the other part of the equation. I am getting ready to make major purchases in the next year. Obviously my business will not be directed to companies like these. Their branding and customer service is going down the toilet.
Until next time.
LK

Virtual employees

When I started practicing 20 years ago, it was easy to get applicants for the jobs we posted no matter the position we had tons of applications coming in. As I speak to colleagues in my demographic and surrounding areas, I have heard the same response or complaint in the difficulty in obtaining applicants and once found I here off appointments scheduled and the applicant does not show. 6 months I began looking into out sourcing my insurance processing to an outside company. That is when I found Dental Support Specialties. We love them. It costs less than we were paying a team member. This person has a dedicated team behind her. We all work in tandem at its been exceptional. Our insurance these days is running pretty smooth. It's not perfect but they show up every day for work  The resource I used to locate them was Dental Town. In my opinion if you are not a part of Dental Town you are loosing out on one of the best resources for being a small business owner/practicing dentist. There is no better tool out there. Where we can interact and learn from our colleagues. Give it a try. Have a safe holiday weekend.

Cut one measure twice

My dad taught me at the ripe age of 8 the skills of cutting wood. Always verify twice the measurement and cut it once. We have all heard this age old saying. This morning I was to place an implant surgically guided case of course. This was for a major dental supplier who wanted me to try their new company out and maybe place their implants. I liked the system and said I would do a few cases and give my feed back, incorporate into dental lectures. I was looking forward to this.
As we all do before any case large or small I review my protocols check my instruments etc. The manufacturer had sent the right tissue punch, drills, but the wrong size implant. The reps reply when I called him. "that not cool". I said "its more than not cool. We have just inconvenienced my patient who took a day off from her work to be here. My time has been wasted and now I am loosing money." He asked,"what my time is worth?" I gave him the figure. I told him don't you understand this is marketing, image, reputation etc. etc. Who is really at fault? In my opinion are the people who placed the order with the dental supplier. The outside rep told me he gave the order to the inside rep. Here is my question. Why is the outside rep having the inside rep place his order. Seems ridiculous and double the work. I guess these corporate giants don't care about payroll expense.
The inside rep should of closely reviewed their order and checked it twice.

Great people

In my last post I made mention of another remodel of our existing dental practice. This would be the third in the last 20 years. The last was a significant acquisition of new space. We had a great contractor who had a very detail oriented working for him crew Who paid attention to all the details. This time not only do we need this great contractor but I am working with a phenomenal architect who has no ties to any dental supply company. While dental supply companies offer design they are not architects. In my opinion they are solely looking to sell equipment that will go into that new space. Case in point. 2 and one half years ago I made a substantial investment in new technology for my practice. I received a phone call today and an email stating that a PC had to be replaced without it the imaging capturing device is worthless. I am leaving manufacturers names out of it. Also sales companies out of this. I might throw the name out there in the coming months. Now we barely receive phone calls back. Why? Easy we already spent the money. Unless your spending more money they do not have the time of day to speak to you. There are exceptions to this they are just far and few between. To me those are the great people to do business with. Our contractor is the exception. He could give classes to all the salesman in the world on how to treat and act with your client base.

Fifth Grade

When I was in fifth grade we had to pick a person in history who had made an impact on the field of business. My pick was Henry Ford I was fascinated with the man. Weird I know! We give him credit for developing mass manufacturing concepts. That's a given.
But, the biggest take away is the concept that he employed is surrounding ourselves with great people. Seek counsel from those smarter than us. Know the importance of delegating and not micromanaging your team. We have to let people excel and fly. We need to steer when necessary. We need to listen to what our team has to say. The greatest leaders surround themselves with incredible advisors. They challenge others. Ford once had a mechanic tell him that something was impossible to manufacture. Ford said keep trying and eventually you will figure it out.
My point here is hire great people. Train them and let them excel. Don't hold them back. Make sure you are having fun.
Recently I have been exploring making changes to my existing working space. Maybe moving to a different suite. Maybe remodeling what I am currently in. I am great full for surrounding myself with great people because I have gained invaluable insight into many areas of design principle and lease negotiations. My advice less headaches when we work with experts in their field.
As I digress into many areas in my writing today. The underlying message is to become a great leader and thinker like Ford. We need to keep surrounding ourselves with talented people and never accept that something can not be done.
Continuing to invest in ourselves and practice allows us to provide the best patient care possible.
Remember to take care of ourselves. Get outside and enjoy the fresh air like you did as a kid. At least the kids I grew up with we were always outside. Have tons of fun and bring out the fifth grader in you. It will help you make an impact each every day.

Yelp it

The old adage of bad news travels fast is history. All news travels fast these days. It is what we do with the news that matters. I was going through our yelp reviews a few months ago and. Something I have not done in the past. I read this disparaging review and I was like f____ this. Then I read some incredible reviews.
The poor review really upset me. I was mad. Why? We have satisfaction score of 97-98% on Demand force and solution reach. Companies that we use for patient communication/marketing. I spoke to some friends in the industry who said yeah spend some money with Yelp and positive reviews will appear more. I said to myself wait this is an opportunity to really shine. I like the adage lets turn lemons into lemonade.
I decided I am going to embrace yelp, I am going to ad photos of our office. I am going to spend advertising dollars. I am going to ask patients to review us. This has led to increased brand awareness. Increase in new patients locating us. And an increase of positive Yelp reviews.
It is so important to embrace social media. If you do a great case post it to your patients and friends.
Important news to share post it. Take advantage of this affordable advertising medium. Before they Yelp you.

Five years later

Its hard to believe that almost 5 years ago I never used NuCalm. Then again only one Dr. had used it. How did we practice with out it? Not everybody needs NuCalm. Its fun when patients request it. And for those new patients whom have avoided dental treatment for years. They are eager to try it. Lets just say we have many relaxed patients in our practice. Personally I NuCalm 1-3 times a week. It helps me recharge and refocus. Last fall I had lower back surgery. I really believe that NuCalm has helped me recover and feel better. Five years ago we didn't know what we didn't know. I encourage you to go to their website NuCalm.com and read up on all the roads NuCalm is traveling on.
What is wonderful? It is very easy to implement in practice. 3 minutes and the patient begins to experience relaxation. Our practice has  patients who regularly come in just to NuCalm. Sometimes I think they want the NuCalm more than the cleaning.
Maria was in this morning and she had high anxiety. I explained the procedure and she elected the NuCalm. She was almost fully asleep when I gave her the injection. She was so thankful when we were all done with the crown prep today. We often hear wow that went fast. That is because there seems to be a loss of time.
One thing is for sure as a provider if NuCalm your procedures area quicker and faster who thought at the Age of 53 I would say I am quicker and faster than at 43. Life is good!