The dental practice itself has no money whatsoever.  The practice is simply a funnel from the customer (patients) to us by means of a paycheck.  Want bigger paychecks?  Be nicer to your real boss – your patients.  Sometimes when I say this to a team I will get the response, “But Debra, we couldn’t be nicer to our patients.”  My response is always, “Really?  So you never have any patient complaints?  All of your patients pay their bill prior to or at the time of service?  All of your patients refer all of their friends and family into the practice to the point that you have to turn people away?  This is reality for this practice?”  What I usually get in return is something like, “No, I mean, we are as nice as we can be but our patients just don’t appreciate all we do for them.”

I am going to challenge you now by saying that if you feel your patients don’t appreciate you, your patients probably feel the same toward you.  Ouch!  That hurt didn’t it?  I know.  But we can’t deal with it unless we own up to it and commit to change.

Another question I’m often asked is, “what do you mean by excellent customer service?”  Well, how would you want to be treated while in the dental chair?  How would you want your friends and family to be treated?  Do you treat your patients as if they are family?  You should.  Everyone deserves to have the best dentistry he or she can afford and everyone deserves to be treated with the utmost respect.

The team has to be present – physically and emotionally while the patient is in the practice.  And I mean everywhere from the reception area to the clinical area, from the first person they see to the last.  If a patient is kept waiting longer than 10 minutes, let them know why and when they can expect to be taken back.  Let them know exactly what is going on.  Not just a “we’ll be with you just as soon as we can” approach.  Say, “Mrs. Smith, the assistants are sterilizing your room from the last patient and setting up for your procedure right now.  It will be about 5 minutes.  Would you like something to drink while you wait?”  Or whatever the reason is – say it in as much detail and in as positive a way as you possibly can and let them know you are aware of the situation.  There is nothing worse than sitting in a reception area thinking that the staff doesn’t even know you exist.  It makes me wonder if anyone in the practice knows what they are doing and certainly does not make me feel like I am going to be well taken care of. What are some of the things you do to make your customers/patients feel at ease?