The office is humming.
Phones are ringing, routine “drill and fill” patients are coming and going, and you’re shuttling from station to station, practicing your best, rehearsed, and clinical chair-side manner.
But your practice, although busy, isn’t really thriving. It’s been a while since you generated enough profit to give yourself a raise. And frankly, your treatment plan acceptance rates could be better. It’s almost as if you’re in limbo, doing the same thing day after day and not really getting anywhere.
We know you’re busy. We know your team is busy. You greet your patients, ask them how they’re doing. You chat with them chairside, offer your treatment recommendations, and encourage them to schedule regular appointments. But is it enough? Aren’t you just going through the motions?
What’s one thing you can do – today — to create more patient loyalty, improve your case acceptance rates, and generate more referrals?
Don’t just communicate with your patients — connect with them. Establish and build rapport. Create relationships. Get to know them as people.
Why?
Study after study in marketing, management, and business psychology conclude that, all else being equal, people prefer to do business with those they know, like, and trust. Not only that, when looking for a dentist, 84% of patients ask for personal recommendations from family, friends and colleagues.
To access the deep referral network your current patients represent, you want to make sure they know, like, and trust you and your team.
And the best way to ensure that is to show your patients that you know, like, and trust them, by getting your entire team to commit to providing an extraordinary experience to every single patient who walks into your practice.
Here are some of our best ideas for building rapport, connecting with your patients, and providing that extraordinary service:
- Use your new patient interview or “smile sheet” to gather information about birthdays, family status, upcoming special occasions or events (like graduations, proms, anniversaries, retirement, or vacations, for example). Find a way to include those special facts in their file so each member of the team can easily see and refer to them during patient visits.
- Greet each patient by name, with a smile, and a genuine inquiry about how their life is. (How’s that new job working out? Tell me about your vacation! Did your daughter enjoy her prom? How was your cousin’s wedding?) Remember, TAKE NOTES and make sure you input them in the patient’s file to follow up on their next visit.
- During hygiene visits or clinical treatment, take notes about the patient’s particular reactions. Are they sensitive to light? Cold hands or feet? Nervous or anxious? Provide remedies like dark glasses, a blanket, and a squeeze-toy to clutch if they’re nervous, and input their preferences into their patient account so you have these items waiting for them at every appointment.
- During case presentation or treatment planning, try to speak conversationally, not clinically. In other words, keep the “dentist jargon” to a minimum. If you’re being too clinical, you’ll sense the patient withdrawing or “glazing over.” Speak a language they understand, and probe to make sure. Confirm that you have addressed any questions they might have, and let them know you are available to answer any that come up in the future.
- Always ask your patients how they feel about the treatment and recommendations you make, how your recommended treatment fits into their plans for their overall health and their lives in general. Ask them to express any concerns they’d like to discuss.
- Personalize everything you can. Send birthday greetings, anniversary wishes, holiday cards. Communicate in the patient’s preferred way: phone calls, texts, email message or conventional mail.
- Thank your patients for their business after every visit. Send greetings to mark significant anniversaries with your practice.
- Train every member of your team to help them develop the attitude and commitment to providing extraordinary patient care. Evaluate every team member’s position and examine its impact on clinical and interpersonal interactions. Look for ways to improve chairside manner, maximize patient comfort, and increase patient trust and loyalty.
The single most important thing you can do to grow your practice is for you and your team to develop rapport with your patients so that you create a mutual relationship of trust and respect.
For over 25 years, we at P&S Coaching have been helping practices just like yours do just that. We’d love to work with you and your staff to design and develop the kinds of systems and team management that help you provide the extraordinary patient experience that will drive your practice to achieve the results of your dreams.
Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation and explore how we can help.
