By Roger P. Levin, DDS
The patients already in your practice are your most valuable asset. You need to do everything possible to build their trust and keep them in the practice. So how do you retain patients?
The answer is simple — create a system for providing extraordinary customer service. Levin Group calls this Stage III Customer Service™. Even in a weak economy, your ability to deliver exceptional service enables your practice to experience steady and significant growth because of these three things ...
- Patients are more willing to accept treatment in an office where they feel comfortable and have a high level of trust.
- Patients who receive superior customer service love to refer friends and family members to the practice.
- Satisfied patients tend to pay their balances on time.
Four strategies for achieving superior customer service
The following Stage III Customer Service™ tips will help you and your team provide superior customer service.
1. Make patients feel welcome. Patients love to feel that someone is happy to see them. They will have a much higher regard for the front desk staff and the practice when greeted as if they are old friends rather than as an interruption for the front desk staff.
2. Get patient feedback. Create a short survey about the total patient experience. For the best results, have team members hand the survey to patients and ask them to complete it before leaving the practice. Place a box in the reception area where patients can deposit their survey anonymously. Review the responses and comments at morning meetings with your team.
3. Make the extra effort. People appreciate when they sense others care about them. Make evening calls to your patients who have had extensive treatment to see how they are feeling. The effort will be appreciated (and probably very unexpected). This type of customer service gets patients to tell others about your dedicated, caring practice.
4. Say it the right way. One of the best training techniques is scripting. Knowing what to say and how to say it greatly enhances every patient interaction. Scripting trains the dental team on proper communication while providing patients accurate information in a positive manner.
Conclusion
Today, you can’t take practice success for granted. No dentist wants to lose patients in a difficult economy. And you don’t have to! By creating a great customer service experience, patients will develop intense loyalty to your practice and refer other patients to you as well.
To learn how to run a more profitable, efficient, and satisfying practice, visit the Levin Group Resource Center at www.levingroupgp.com — a free online resource with tips, videos, and other valuable information. You can also connect with Levin Group on Facebook and Twitter (Levin_Group) for learning strategies and sharing ideas.
Author bio
Dr. Roger Levin is a third-generation general dentist and the chairman and CEO of Levin Group, Inc., the largest dental practice management and marketing firm in the United States. As a leading authority on dental practice management and marketing, he has developed the scientific systems-based consulting method that will increase practice production and profitability, while lowering stress. Dr. Levin has authored more than 60 books and over 3,000 articles. He presents 100 seminars worldwide each year.
