I had the opportunity to attend the Global Leadership Summit recently and one of the speakers was the CEO of Capella Hotel Group and former COO of the Ritz-Carlton Group, Horst Schulze. He has spent his career focusing on customer service and many of the things he discussed really resonated with me for the dental industry.
One of his main points was that if you want loyalty from a customer there are three things to focus on:
Provide a product/service that is defect free
In a dental practice, this refers to delivering great dentistry. Making sure the patient has a pleasant experience that is, ideally, pain and stress free.
Be timely
Time and time again, one of the reasons people say they don’t like going to the dentist is because they hate waiting. It is critical for dental practices to be respectful of their patient’s time and say on schedule, ideally within a 10-minute window.
Make them feel cared for
Treat every patient with respect and make him or her feel cared for. Greet them when they walk in the door. Ask them about their family, hobbies or work. Take a genuine interest in them.
If you are not receiving the number of referrals that you want, take a step back and look at your practice against the three points above. Better customer service can translate into better customer loyalty, which can translate into more referrals.
One of his main points was that if you want loyalty from a customer there are three things to focus on:
Provide a product/service that is defect free
In a dental practice, this refers to delivering great dentistry. Making sure the patient has a pleasant experience that is, ideally, pain and stress free.
Be timely
Time and time again, one of the reasons people say they don’t like going to the dentist is because they hate waiting. It is critical for dental practices to be respectful of their patient’s time and say on schedule, ideally within a 10-minute window.
Make them feel cared for
Treat every patient with respect and make him or her feel cared for. Greet them when they walk in the door. Ask them about their family, hobbies or work. Take a genuine interest in them.
If you are not receiving the number of referrals that you want, take a step back and look at your practice against the three points above. Better customer service can translate into better customer loyalty, which can translate into more referrals.
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