A Habit for 2012 Success

I spent some time this week with a group of dental students from all over the world at the Alpha Omega International Dental Convention. We discussed the Common Denominator of Success - the things that make dentists and professionals in general successful.

Among the many factors that create the Common Denominator of Success is habit. One of those habits is setting and reaching goals. For over 20 years, I have asked 4 basic questions that are the standard for staying on track with goals. Ask yourself how closely you adhere to these 4 questions:

1. Do you have goals?

2. Are your goals written down?

3. Do you review your goals every day?

4. Do you keep them with you or have them in a place where you can see them every day?

There is some magic in being able to answer all of those questions with a “yes.”

Several years ago I was speaking at the gathering of three high schools in New Braunfels, Texas when I asked all of those 4 questions to the graduating seniors. There was only one student who was able to answer all four questions with a “yes.” Upon further inquiry, he shared that his father had taught him this goal setting system when he was in middle school. As a result, he set his sights high and was able to take state in track and get a full ride scholarship to the university of his choice. There are more stories like that than I could ever have time to write.

There is some magic in making a decision and sticking with it until it has been accomplished. The biggest step is the first step -- decide and then write it down.

Have a Happy New Year as you decide, write, review and accomplish in 2012.

Who is your competition...REALLY???

It is a question I ask groups nearly every week. Who is your competition? If you are in dentistry for example, you might make the mistake of saying that your competition is the dentist down the street. That kind of thinking might be seriously limiting your success.

Think about it:

· Over 50% of the people in any market do not go to the dentist on a regular basis.

· 80% of the population has some type of periodontal disease.

· You’re not everybody’s “cup of tea.” Not everyone is going to like your personal style or your way of doing business. They will go somewhere else. That is the bad news. The good news is that other people are not going to like the dentist down the street and would rather come to you.

“Competition” in a healthy sense of the word may be the best thing that can happen to any business for several reasons:

· To one extent, the more competitors there are, the more educated the market becomes and the more likely more people are to buy.

· Healthy “competition” creates the opportunity to differentiate and tailor your service to a more specific clientele that will be more satisfied because you are more closely serving their needs.

· “Competition” makes everybody better because you have to stay on top of your game to stay relevant.

I have always thought how much better dentistry would be if dentists, especially in the same market, were willing to share their clinical data. If they would compare and help each other improve clinically, the entire market would benefit as well as the patients in it. Besides, patients rarely make the decision about their dentist based on clinical quality. Unfortunately, they are not very good judges of clinical quality of care. Quality is the moral and ethical responsibility of the dentist.

So think of the vast untapped market of patients that are waiting to be served. In most markets, there is plenty to go around for everyone if you are properly positioned and move forward with a defined purpose instead of being threatened by the “competition.”

The Best Cancellation Policy

I get asked a lot about what the best cancellation / no-show policy is. After 20 years of research and trial and error, here it is…

But before it is revealed, let me share some secrets!

1. Most “policies” are born out of frustration with poor customer behavior. Just take a look at the front office window of your typical physician. It is littered with the policies of the day like: “Payment is expected on day services are performed.” “You must fill out updated insurance information on EVERY visit.” “We no longer accept checks.” Etc., etc. Whatever the policy, the underlying message is usually, “Our customers think so little of us and treat us so badly, we have had to come up with a checklist of do’s and don’ts to survive.”

2. It is a funny thing about life. You most often get what you expect. If the message you send with all of your “policies” is that your patients’ behavior is pretty bad, you’ll most likely get more of it! Every policy sends a message of what “most patients do.” Since people tend to follow the crowd, every policy sends the message of what the crowd tends to do or wants to do.

3. You can’t focus on the opposite of an idea. If I told NOT to think of the Statue of Liberty, it would be impossible not to do it. The mere mention of the object immediately creates an image in your mind that you cannot erase unless you replace it with a different image or different idea. Translation: you can’t talk about NOT cancelling without planting the seed of a cancellation.

Here’s the bottom line: Let’s say your “cancellation policy” is that patients must call your office 24 hours in advance to cancel or change an appointment or they will be charged a fee. Guess what? That is not a “cancellation policy” or prevention tactic. It is a cancellation invitation. Why? Because you just said to your patients, “When you make a commitment to an appointment, it is really not a commitment until the day of the appointment. So change it any time! Make us crazy so we have to constantly try to fill the appointment book at the last minute.”

So what’s the best “cancellation policy?" No cancellation policy at all! Crazy? Maybe. But before you dismiss the idea, consider the following:

What if you raised your expectations of what you expect from your patients by expecting the best. For example, instead of your appointment card having your “cancellation policy” it says instead:

“You have a confirmed reservation with (Name of your office.) (Name of patient), your reserved appointment is on: (Day), (Date), (Time). Please mark this important appointment on your calendar today. We look forward to seeing you at this time that has been reserved especially for you.”

What’s the underlying message here? “We are making a commitment to you, we know that you are making the commitment to us, and we know we can count on you.” That is a higher level of relationship than telling someone you are going to charge him or her when or if there is a no-show or cancellation. It places you in a higher-level category in their mind, separating you from any other dental office they may have been to in the past.

Finally, what kind of relationship do you have or do you want to have with your patients? If your goal is to have a relationship of trust and respect, then create it. For example, if you set a lunch date with a trusted friend or mentor, you would never consider sending them an email or text that says: “I’m really busy so if you don’t show up or change this at the last minute, I am sending you a bill for the lunch anyway!” You would never do that to someone you respect. You might consider the same for your patients. How much do you really respect them? If the answer is “not much,” your patients probably don’t respect you or your practice much either.

So as you reconsider your “cancellation policy,” have a conversation with the entire team about what you really believe about your patients and their behavior. What do you expect from them? What would happen if you raised your expectations? Would they respond accordingly.

Consider it and raise your expectations. You may be surprised how your patients treat you better!

Make it happen!

P.S. Your “Cancellation Policy” and wording on your appointment card are all part of a much more extensive plan to “Stop Cancellations” including verbal skills for everyone on the team, “confirmation call” wording, and how to handle “frequent offenders.” For more information on how to “Stop Cancellations” contact the Total Patient Service Institute team at 1-877-399-8677 or Answers@TotalPatientService.com

Common or Uncommon Problems

One of the core values of the ToPS Institute and the Crown Council is the value of mentors and the idea that it is better to “copy genius than it is to create mediocrity.”

To that end, each year I go on a quest for new mentors and new ideas. One of the most fertile grounds is outside dentistry where I find things that are working that would apply well to another situation.

My first idea/mentor quest of the year took me to Las Vegas, NV where I had the unique opportunity to sit down one-on-one with the CEO’s of three of the top hotels on the strip. Not only are these guys hard to corral, even when you do, it is hard to get them to open up. But open up they did. The things they shared could fill volumes, but there is one concept that really struck home that is immediately implementable by any leader of any business TODAY!

Here it is…

Imagine your leadership responsibility being that of heading a multi-million dollar enterprise that combines alcohol, gambling, and some other of most lethal sins of man. (I don’t think I need to explain in more detail!) Managing the every-day crisis and disasters would take up one’s full time as well as one’s capacity to handle stress.

In pressing these CEO’s for details, the CEO of the one of the most prestigious properties on the strip simply said that the multitude of situations that have to be handled each day are unimaginable to most people. Each day is packed with tough calls and challenges. All of them have to do with people. But it is just part of the job. It comes with the territory. He said that every day he gets up knowing that he is going to have to deal with some of the most bizarre people problems on the plant. So early on, he set up the management systems to handle the typical, every day variety problems. We will call them “common” problems. With systems and qualified associates in place to handle common problems, it frees him up to deal with only the “uncommon” problems that require a higher level of sophistication and judgment. It is a common sense management idea that is uncommonly practiced by most.

So what are your most common, every-day patient and team member problems? Do you have a system and the people in place to deal with these “common” problems or are you having to deal with every problem in your office like it has come along for the first time; like it is a “special problem.” If your leadership style is one that meets every problem that comes along like it is an “uncommon” problem, then you are worn out, burned out, and fed up. Living each day by dealing with EVERY problem like it is unique and different will wear out even the most gifted leader.

Here is a list of “common” problems for which a system should be designed and a person assigned in the office to deal with it:

• Patient requests for a discount.
• Patients who show up late or no-show.
• Patients who don’t pay.
• Lab work that is not back for an upcoming patient.
• Broken equipment or equipment that needs repair.
• Quantity of supplies to order.
• Patients who complain that their insurance did not pay, etc.

Now you add to the list…

With the “common” and “uncommon” problem idea in mind, remember that sometimes the most alarming patient problems can be solved with a little personal attention from the doctor. Some patients just want an audience from the “boss.” They want to feel special. Others just want their problem solved.

So make your list of common and uncommon problems today. The common problems are easy to identify because you deal with them so frequently. That’s when you need to get to work on the solution and the system for handling that problem easily in the future.

Make your leadership role more enjoyable. Find common solutions to common problems and delegate the solution so you only have to deal with the “uncommon” problems that only come a long every once-in-a while. That’s your job as the leader. That’s the way to run a responsible business that works for you instead of you having to work for it all the time.

Natural Law of Cooperation

Life is full of what I call natural laws. The natural laws of human behavior are similar to natural laws in physics and nature. Gravity for example, is a natural law. What goes up must come down. In life, if you attempt to violate a natural law, there are consequences. You don’t break the natural law. It breaks you. The same applies with natural laws of human behavior.

So here is a critically important natural law of human behavior. It is what I call the Law of Cooperation. It says that someone needs to be the partner with whom that patient can work to get what he or she wants. In other words, someone needs to cooperate with the patient to be on his or her side to help facilitate a solution to whatever the problem or desire might be.

Sounds simple, right? WRONG!

Too often, there are huge barriers that stand in the way of abiding by the Law of Cooperation. Here are just a few:

Obstacles:

• Thinking that it is all about the teeth. It is easy to get trapped into thinking that dentistry is about teeth! No so. What patients want is a solution to their total problems, not just their dental problems.

• Lack of listening: Do you really hear what your patients are saying? Or do you just cut to the chase to go after whatever the diagnosis indicates that the patient “needs?” Remember, we all do what we want to do, but not necessarily what we need to do.

• TELLING instead of ASKING. Telling the patients what we have to offer instead of first asking them what they are looking for only leads to frustration and low acceptance.

The True Test:
If you want to know if you are abiding by the Law of Compensation, just ask yourself, “Am I helping the patient get what he wants, or am I just trying to get him to do what I want him to do.”

Cooperation starts with mutual understanding. If you literally feel like you are sitting on the same side of the table with your patient helping her get what she wants, they you are abiding by the Law of Cooperation.

For the most up-to-date skills to help every team member achieve the highest level of case acceptance, make the “Total Immersion” course by the Total Patient Service Institute part of your 2011 continuing education plan. For dates and locations, go to www.TotalPatientService.com

VIP Service?

Question: How do you know if you are really providing “V.I.P. Service” to your patients?

Having concluded our ToPS Total Immersion course in Las Vegas last week, we were checking out of one of the big name hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. This place is so big that it has three registration and checkout areas in three different parts of the hotel for guest convenience.

Over the several days that we were there, I noticed that the “front desk” and taxi stand on one side of the building was less busy than at the front of the hotel. So I strategically planned our escape when were ready to checkout and get to the airport. We naturally went where we would not have to stand in line and wait. And we were right! There was no line at the taxi stand. The only problem was, there were no taxis either! (And no hotel employee to seen anywhere.) We waited for a few minutes. No taxi and no bellman.

I ran inside the hotel and into the place I was sure could solve my taxi problem. “V.I.P. Services.” After all, these are the guys and gals who know how to jump to attention and make it happen for the hotel’s high rollers, right? I told them the situation and asked if they could call a cab. “There are cabs out there,” they said. I pointed outside through the window so they could see for themselves. “Just ask the bellman,” they said. “There is no bellman,” I explained for the second time. “Then you’ll just have to walk to the front of the hotel to get a cab,” was their solution. (That’s quite the hike mind you.) Keeping my cool, I asked if there were any way they could pick up the phone, call the bell desk at the front of the hotel and tell them that a cab was needed at the taxi stand on the other side of the hotel. “Oh, yes! I guess we could do that,” they responded.

Answer: If your customer is the one making suggestions as to how you can provide V.I.P. Service, you’re not providing it!

Providing “V.I.P. Service” is about thinking on your feet. It’s about coming up with a way to solve the other person’s problem without being told. It’s about being a little creative. It’s about taking initiative.

Over one hundred years ago, author Elbert Hubbard defined “initiative” as “doing the right thing without being told.” Providing the right kind of V.I.P. Service requires initiative.

So what initiative would you take in these every day situations that are opportunities to provide V.I.P. Service?

· An “emergency” patient calls and there are no openings in the schedule today.

· A patient really wants to start treatment, but doesn’t have all the money and doesn’t qualify for third party financing.

· A busy mom just can’t seem to remember the appointments she sets in your office.

· You have a patient scheduled in one hour for whitening and you just discovered you have no whitening kits left in the office.

Every day presents opportunities to use your initiative to provide “V.I.P. Service.” It all starts with simply asking yourself, “how can I make this work right now.” That’s the kind of thinking that every office could use more of every day. It’s the kind of thinking that makes “ordinary” patients feel like V.I.P. patients who will tell everyone they know about you as a result.

How referrable are you?

In the never-ending quest for continual improvement and search for great ideas, I am constantly reaching out into every possible corner of the world. That journey led me this week to speak to 300 of the leading home remodelers in the country that were holed up in a 4 day retreat in a remote part of Wisconsin to reinvent their businesses.

As an industry, this group has had it rough for the last two years. They got hit HARD by all the financial turmoil in the country so it was interesting to hear them talk about what they had done to adapt, stay nimble, survive, and in many cases THRIVE while the competition has been going under.

I worked the room thoroughly before and after my presentation to ASK and find out what they had done that was working. I got quite a list so I thought I would share one that was common sense and very revealing.

One home remodeler said to me, "Steve, the change in the economy has been the best thing that has ever happened to our business. The first change that we made was to get jobs done NOW! We used to string our jobs out as we juggled multiple deadlines. Now, we get in, get the job done quickly in a quality way, and get out. As a result of our improved timing and service:

• Our customer satisfaction has sky rocketed,
• We now have raving fans,
• And we are getting more referrals today than we have ever received from our customers in the history of our business."

He then confessed, "It was never a problem with our quality. We always did great work. It was our personal service that needed a serious upgrade. The change in the economy forced us to do that and it has been a HUGE benefit to our business."

Nothing new I suppose, but the reinforcement of the lesson is invaluable. Rarely is it the quality of the work that is the problem. It is the way we go about the work and the personal service that is attached to it that makes or breaks the deal.

His comment reminded me of a statement by Crown Council (www.CrownCouncil.com) member Dr. Trevor Murray (www.allure-dental.com) at our recent ToPS Total Immersion course (www.TotalPatientService.com) in Chicago when he said that if your practice is not getting a healthy flow of referrals from your patients, there is something wrong with what you are doing. Patients naturally want to refer when the product is sound and the service is spectacular. If they don't refer it is probably because you are terrible instead of referrable!

So, if you want more referrals, be more referrable! A powerful reminder of a lesson for any business.

Continual Improvement - Kaizen

At a recent Crown Council Mastermind retreat, I accompanied a group of Crown Council (www.CrownCouncil.com) dentists as we toured the Phillips Lighting Plant in Salina, Kansas. Salina is the home of Crown Council Lifetime Qualified Members, doctors Guy and Kate Gross and Dr. Ken Guest (www.NewHorizonsDentalCare.com).

The remarkable fact about the Phillips Lighting Plant in Salina is that it produces 80% of the fluorescent light bulbs for North and South America. Despite the lower labor costs, plants in China have been unable to compete against this powerhouse in Salina. One of the secrets to the plant’s success is their dedication to Deming Management principles, (the current popular term for which is now LEAN Management), especially that of continual improvement.

When Deming taught the Japanese the principles of quality improvement, they were quick to translate the principles into their own language. One word that became part of the quality equation was “Kaizen.” Kaizen means constant and never-ending improvement. It is not just a philosophy. It is a process – a daily process.

As we walked about the Phillips plant, it was impressive to see the Kaizen initiatives that were in progress. Each department had a “Kaizen 30 Day Action Plan” listing the initiatives that had been approved, who was accountable, and what the target date was for completion. Future review dates were also listed as well has how much progress had been made to date on each initiative.

One of the impressive charts present in each department was one that measured how many Kaizen initiatives had been undertaken by that department in the last year and how many had been completed. That visual reminder had to be a great motivator to the team as they saw on a daily basis how much progress they had made.

I am reminded of the team member refrain heard often as everyone files into a regular team meeting: “Here we go again – another team meeting where we talk about the same things all over again and nothing ever changes.” In some cases that may be true. In others it may be that progress is not as apparent as it would be if progress were tracked and recorded like they do at Phillips.

What is your system for tracking and reviewing continual improvement projects in your practice? How often do you review that list of projects with your team? Do you track what projects have been completed so that everyone can see the progress that is being made?

If you would like a copy of a “Kaizen 30 Day Action Plan” and the associated completion list, just call the Total Patient Service Institute at 1-877-399-8677 or e-mail: Answers@TotalPatientService.com.

Continual improvement – it is just one more characteristic of a team that is striving to be ToPS.

Good-bye Morning Huddle

For over 20 years we have taught the value of having a morning huddle. We’ve produced agendas. We’ve trained and retrained. We’ve spoken about it at seminars, workshops and on-site visits. Now, in what may sound like a contradictory move, we are officially banning the morning huddle. No more. Don’t do it. Save the time and save the hassle.

Here’s why…

What’s in a name? Sometimes the title or name that we give things implies so much it is hard to get through the real meaning. Yes, teams huddle on the field, but it is a brief meeting where one person calls the play and every yells “break.” Well, dentistry isn’t football folks. In fact, the most effective teams we have worked with don’t have a morning huddle at all. They have transformed the “get together and call the play of the day” morning huddle into something we have coined the “Morning Opportunity Meeting” or M.O.M. for short.

The primary thing that characterizes the M.O.M. is its middle name: Opportunity. The primary focus is uncovering, strategizing, and planning around the day’s opportunities. Done correctly, everyone has a say and everyone has a part to play. Here are some examples of the opportunities we are talking about:

1. What’s the best thing that happened yesterday? If you have attended any of our ToPS seminars or workshops, you’ve heard us talk about this important first topic of any M.O.M. Focus on what worked yesterday that could be an opportunity to duplicate today. Is there something you said that resulted in a “yes” from a patient? Is there something another team member did that was particularly helpful that could be done again today to increase productivity and effectiveness? Looking every day at the opportunities around duplicating what is working is essential. Practices that build upon daily successes stay true to the effort of “constancy of purpose” on which the best offices focus.

2. Unscheduled treatment – doctor’s schedule. Long before the huddle begins, like the afternoon before, someone on the team takes responsibility for looking at the next day’s schedule and reviewing the charts of the patients who are going to see the doctor for restorative treatment. Beyond the treatment that is scheduled, what other potential work do these patients have that is not yet scheduled? Even if it has only been a day or two since they accepted the treatment for which they are returning, things can change. They went home. They thought about things you said. Maybe they have additional questions. Maybe they reconsidered and are teetering on the point of doing more than they originally agreed. You don’t know until you ask:

Mrs. Jones, just checking in with you about those other teeth we discussed that are in the same area where we are going to do the crown today. Like we discussed, while we are there and close, it would save you a lot of time and potential hassle to just take care of them right now as well. Not pushing here, but I just wanted to double check before we get started. Would you like to take care of the other two teeth as well while we are at it?”

The exact words you use are not as important as giving the patient the space to say “yes” to more. It all starts with identifying those opportunities every morning in your M.O.M.

3. Unscheduled treatment – hygiene. Every afternoon before going home, each hygienist reviews his or her schedule and the corresponding charts for the next day. In most cases, those charts are a gold mine of unscheduled treatment. Knowing what is going on with every patient and where the opportunities are to schedule some of that unscheduled treatment is a big part of the M.O.M. Letting everyone on the team know who is a candidate to schedule treatment that has been diagnosed but not performed is a critical ingredient for success. It is a team effort. The presentation around unscheduled treatment in this case can take various forms and directions. The first step, however, is awareness. If you don’t know it is there, you are not likely to act on it. The first step is doing the research so that you and the rest of the team are in the know.

4. Same day treatment. The best type of unscheduled treatment is treatment that you could do today with some minor changes in the schedule. Once you know who has what unscheduled treatment, look at the schedule together as a team to see what could be adjusted in the timing to accommodate existing patients who would like to have it done today. The best opportunities are the ones that can be taken care of right now. Not tomorrow, the next day or next week. NOW! Teams that have refined their M.O.M. strategies are always looking for ways in advance where they can be nimble, adjust in the moment, and open up opportunities that make it easy for patients to say “yes” to something they can do today.

5. Same day treatment - new patients. Another topic of discussion is new patients. A quick review of each new patient’s “New Patient Relationship Form*” will help everyone understand the background and desires of each new patient. Many times the desires that were expressed on the phone when they scheduled will include comments about treatment, problem areas, an interest in whitening, etc. Everyone needs to know where those potential opportunities are in advance. For example, let’s say a patient mentioned on the phone that they are interested in whitening. In case they are a good candidate to have that done today, are there any adjustments you need to make or can make to help them get that done today? What if they mentioned some problem areas? Look at your schedule in your M.O.M. and see what would have to happen in order to accommodate them today if there is something that needs to be done. For most patients, there is no time like the present to get started. Looking for opportunities to help them do that will help everyone get more of what they want.

6. Emergencies. That’s right! Emergencies can be one of the best opportunities of the day. During your M.O.M., the best time for emergencies should always be identified. A day with no time for emergencies is a day that has not been properly planned. Figure out a way during your M.O.M. to take care of emergency patients should they call. An emergency planned for is no emergency for you. It’s an opportunity!

7. Openings in the schedule. Everyone has had the experience of looking at the schedule at the morning huddle and seeing holes. Most get that sinking feeling when they see that. Instead, look at them as opportunities. What can be moved around, adjusted, or moved up in order to free up more opportunities. If there is a hole later in the morning, is there a patient scheduled later in the day who might like to come in earlier? Who are the patients on your “short call” list who might want to come in on short notice? Where are the same day treatment opportunities where you can move a patient into that space that is coming in any way? The best teams always say that some of their best days start out looking like Swiss Cheese, and end up looking like a solid block because they are better able to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves throughout the day.

8. Tomorrow’s opportunities. What is scheduled for tomorrow? Are there any openings in the schedule? If so, today is the time to make sure everyone on the team knows they are there so everyone can be focused on taking advantage of that opportunity of scheduling patients who say “yes” today on tomorrow’s schedule while they are eager.

I could go on because the daily opportunities that present themselves in most offices are numerous. Do you take advantage of those opportunities by accident or by design? A well-planned Morning Opportunity Meeting will uncover the potential daily opportunities on which you can act.

How do you know if your M.O.M. is effective? The true test is if you consistently produce MORE than you had scheduled at the beginning of the day. If so, you know that you identified the opportunities and acted accordingly.

So, say good-bye to the Morning Huddle, and say hello to M.O.M., your new Morning Opportunity Meeting. It will transform your day and your productivity.

* For tips on designing an effective “New Patient Relationship Form” contact the Total Patient Service Institute at 1-877-399-8677 or Answers@TotalPatientService.com

The Black Bucket Strategy

My friend, Gantt Bumstead, is the President of United Supermarkets, owners of the Market Street (MarketStreetUnited.com) grocery store brand. Market Street is a different kind of grocery store with a unique blend of natural and modern food and merchandise.

I ran into Market Street this week to grab some flowers in a vase and a card. As the very attentive florist arranged the flowers and filled the vase with water, I could not help but think, how am I going to drive with the full vase of flowers and water without spilling it? I’ve been there before, trying to steady the vase with one hand with the other hand on the steering wheel. It’s not the safest way to drive!

Just as I was about to object to the full vase, the florist surprised me by saying, “I will go ahead and put the vase in this black bucket so it will be stable in the car and won’t tip over.” I was thrilled. Why hadn’t any other florist thought to do that for me before? It was at that moment that I made a decision, the Market Street florist is going to be MY Florist from now on!

The Black Bucket: unexpected and needed to help me with my biggest problem with the use of the product I was buying. The florist did not charge me for the bucket, although, I would have gladly paid for it in order to have the convenience and safety for my drive. What was important was that she thought beyond the flowers and anticipated my biggest challenge with using the product she was selling me. I call that pretty astute. Not just thinking about the product being sold, but how the product would really be used. It is as simple as a black bucket!

So what is your “black bucket?” What is the biggest problem customers have using your service? Anticipate that need and you may become the provider of choice. While others in your market space may choose to ignore these problems and chalk it up to inconveniences that patients just have to put up with in dentistry, a few “black bucket” thinkers will go out of their way to remove the biggest problems patients have.

Here are some simple “black bucket” solutions to problems patients have with traditional dentistry:

The numb look dumb. I don’t know very many patients who like the feeling of being numb for sometime after a procedure. They can’t talk and they don’t want to be around others for hours. The “black bucket” in this case might be OraVerse (www.OraVerse.com) that will more quickly reverse the effects of anesthesia so that patient can go back to normal work and play.

Don’t call me, I’ll call you. We have now hit a state of “over communication” in our culture. The last thing most busy people need is another phone call from the dentist’s office to schedule or confirm an appointment. The “black bucket” here might be an “V.I.P. Appointment” service where you schedule your patient’s appointment with “no hounding.” The patient dictates what type of follow up or reminder they want, phone, e-mail, text, to minimize the quantity of communication in exchange for a commitment to show up!

Express checkout. No one likes to wait, especially at the front desk after a long appointment. Why not do like the hotels do and arrange an express checkout service where you deliver the bill to the patient in the treatment room at the end of the appointment with the balance being charged to their card on file unless they have questions. 80% of patients will be thrilled to avoid the checkout counter and be less likely to over scrutinize their bill.

The black bucket. It is all about thinking beyond the obvious to extend the benefit of what you provide to make it easier, more convenient, and more enjoyable for patients to use your service.

So what is the biggest problem patients have with the use of your service? Why not ask them and then work on a few “black buckets” of your own?

3 Secrets of the WOW! Experience

Everybody knows that the most powerful form of marketing in dentistry is word-of-mouth marketing: People telling people about your practice.

I am frequently asked how one can generate more word-of-mouth marketing or how they can get more referrals from their patients.

How?

With a Wow!

Create such an amazing experience that patients will be compelled to tell everyone they know about you.

Consider these three areas where you can make an every day experience in your office into a WOW experience that people will talk about:

1. Services. The dental treatment you provide and how you provide it. Clinical excellence that starts with dental work that looks good, feels good, and lasts a long time. That is the first step in the dental services you provide. Then consider how you deliver it: Painless injections, a gentle touch, sedation, etc. Do you provide the dental treatment people are looking for and do you deliver it in a way that is comfortable and easy?

2. Amenities. What do you provide your patients beyond what they expect? Relaxing chairs, warm towels, neck pillows, videos, or anything that makes the experience more comfortable. The amenities add an extra personal touch that makes the experience special.

3. Personal treatment. Far more powerful than anything you do to create a WOW! experience is the personal service you provide. It is what we call Total Patient Service. Total Patient Service is focused on meeting patients where they are emotionally, exceeding their expectations and then moving them forward toward life-time care. It is how you interact with the PERSON that will ultimately determine the WOW!

Consider this example that happened this week at one of the offices with which we work: I had personally referred a business acquaintance to this practice. It was close to her home and I knew the team would WOW her. And WOW her they did. Within moments of her departure from the office, I received a text message which said:

“They were awesome and definitely made me feel comfortable! I’ll send my husband and everybody else over there.”

That’s the ticket! If a patient walks out your door and immediately starts thinking of everyone they are going to tell about you, you have scored a WOW! And the referrals and word-of-mouth will come.

So how can you increase the WOW factor in your office?
• Services

• Amenities

• Personal Treatment

They all contribute to the WOW! It is the personal treatment is the multiplier.

Sit down with your team this week and review the three areas of the WOW experience. How can you improve in each area? Simple improvements in each department may yield huge returns in case acceptance, patient retention, and word-of-mouth.

WOW!

The Power of Labels

Having just concluded our ToPS “Total Immersion” course in San Jose, CA, I found myself standing at the entrance to the security checkpoint at the airport with some decisions to make. I had to decide what type of traveler I was before I entered the line:

• Casual Traveler,
  
• Family Traveler, or
  
• Expert Traveler.
  

There was a separate line for each. The problem was that the expert traveler line started further down the concourse, so it was not worth the trip. I was not with my family, so I was left with the “casual traveler” choice. I remarked to our team that I was probably the furthest thing from a casual traveler, but forced to make the decision at hand, I could fake it for the next few minutes. I almost had to catch myself as my pace slowed and my step swaggered a bit as I took on the characteristics of the “label” that had been placed on me by virtue of the line I had chosen. After all, if you are in the “casual traveler” line, you better act the part!

Labels. They can help you. They can hurt you. It all depends on the labels you choose. While some may dismiss their importance, they wield powerful influence over human behavior.

I consider my mother as one of the masters of positive labels. As a young teenager, I was riding along with my mom one day when the topic turned to driving. With my 16^th birthday approaching sometime in the next 12 months, she very astutely said, “I just know that you are going to be the best driver in the family.” Call it affirmation or expectation, the positive label she placed on me as “the best driver in the family” made me take extra care to live up to the label she had given me.

In contrast, consider the negative label most unthinking adults give their up-and-coming teenage driver. “The roads aren’t safe anymore,” they will say jokingly. But, label has been cast and the behavior will most likely follow.

Consider some of the labels in the dental office that could be and should be changed in order to naturally achieve a more desirable result:

Change the “Morning Huddle” to the “Morning Opportunity Meeting.” The most effective huddles we see are those that focus on uncovering opportunities for the day. If that is the main purpose, then let’s put the proper label on it and the behavior will follow. Everyone will come more prepared to find opportunities for the day.

Change “re-care” to “continuing care.” To “re” anything is to do it over. No one likes to have to do something over again that they already did once. We all like to progress, improve, and to move on. “Continuing care” is the label that will encourage the positive behavior we seek.

Change “dental insurance” to “dental benefits.” After all, it is not insurance in the pure definition of the word. Legitimate “insurance” covers or reduces your “risk.” That is not what dental “insurance” does. On the other hand, a “benefit” is something that is provided as a “perk” or additional help to defray the investment someone is making. Put the right label on it and it will help people understand what it really is.

Replace “job” with “career.” A “job” is a paid position of regular employment. A “career” is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life with opportunities for progress. The label we choose determines the mindset with which we approach our daily responsibilities.

Then there is my favorite: Replace “staff” with “team.” A staff is just the people employed by an organization. A team works together. The label you choose for the group may very well project onto them the behavior they will ultimately exhibit.

Take a look at the labels you choose for everything in your office and your life. They have the power to influence your behavior and the behavior of others.

Now that you have been reminded of the importance of labels, you are likely to do something about it because anyone who has read this far is serious about what they are doing and is an excellent implementer. An excellent implementer – that is a label you can live with!

Activity vs. Accomplishment

If there is one most frequently asked question by dentists to their front office team when the schedule is showing some open time it is “Are you working the re-care list?” The answer to that question by any well-meaning team member is an emphatic “yes.” But what does “yes” mean? Does it mean one call has been made or twenty. Who knows? The fact is, “Are you working re-care?” is the wrong question. Let me share a better question and a better system that will put your mind at ease and ensure that you will have better scheduling results.

It is easy in any practice, any business, or any organization for that matter to confuse activity with accomplishment. We confuse being busy with accomplishing something worthwhile. Everyone in dentistry has had one of those days where the activity rose to a fevered pitch and lasted all day. By the time the last patient left, you drug yourself, exhausted, to the front desk and asked, “How much did we produce today?” To which the business coordinator answered, “Nothing!” You were busy all day, but just not busy doing things that amounted to any production.

The same is true for other “activities” in the office. Are you just “busy” working re-care or the unscheduled treatment list, or are you really accomplishing something? Nobody knows unless you do the following:

1. Start tracking the activity of any effort like re-care scheduling or unscheduled treatment calls. Keep a tally of how many calls are really being made and how many appointments are scheduled as a result.
2. Keep tracking that activity for several weeks until you can start calculating some averages. Over a several week period you will start noticing some trends. Add up the total number of scheduled appointments you were able to make compared to the number of calls you had to initiate to make those appointments.
3. Divide the number of appointments scheduled by the number of total number of calls to get your call to appointment ratio. For example, let’s say you made 40 calls and scheduled 10 appointments. That is a 25% success ratio. That means that, on average, you have to make 4 calls to schedule 1 appointment.
4. Now that you know the number, you are dangerous because you know the exact amount of activity in which you have to engage to get the result you want. Let’s say you have 5 hygiene appointments to fill. Based on the ratios above, you better be prepared to make 20 calls on average to get those appointments filled.
5. You can always be in competition with yourself to see if you can beat your average, but this system take all the guess work out of how much acitivty it will really take.

Now, let’s go back to the right question to ask. You are in the morning huddle and looking forward as a team to the rest of the week and see that there are 6 hygiene appointment times open. Knowing what the average call to scheduled appointment ratio is ( 4 to 1) you can turn to your team and ask, “Will you make 24 calls today to get those times filled? We need to fill all 6, and we know that we get 1 appointment on average every time we make 4 calls. So let’s make those 24 calls first. That will be most immediate step we can take to get the results we want.

The first goal is an activity goal…make 24 calls. The overall goal is 6 appointments, but we know what we have to do first – engage in the right activity and it will lead to accomplishment. You just have to know what activity you are managing. In this case, the question is no longer “Are you working recare?” it is “How many of the 24 calls have we made so far?”

So start accurately managing activity and you’ll be able to better lead your team to accomplishment. It is all in the questions you ask and the system you have in place to make it happen!

More than one purpose

For year’s we’ve talked about the purpose of the practice: To create happy paying patients that pay more than it costs to serve them and who repeat and refer.

That, however, is different than the purpose of getting into practice: The purpose of getting into practice is...to get out! In other words, the purpose OF the practice is to serve people. But the purpose of getting IN is to get OUT or to have a business that serves your needs successfully and then when it has fulfilled that purpose, gracefully and profitably exit and move onto the next part of life that holds meaning and purpose.

More frequently today, I am running into dentists who never considered the purpose of getting into practice when they went through the planning process. They never asked themselves how they would build the practice in such a way that it would be the easy to get out when it had served its purpose. If planning is done at all, it seems like we spend the most time planning around the purpose OF without considering the purpose of getting in practice in the first place.

Could I suggest that the first place to start if it has been awhile since you have worked on the purpose of getting IN? Answering questions like these might be useful:

1. What is the financial goal I am trying to reach and by when? (How much is enough?)
2. What kind of practice should I be building that will help me reach that goal?
3. What kind of practice should I be building that will be the most marketable when I reach my financial goal?
4. How can I build the most "exit" options into my plan so that I will have an easier way out when I am ready?

So as you work on the day-to-day function and fulfillment of the purpose OF the practice, make sure to look up from time-to-time to see that you are fulfilling why you went into practice in the first place…to get out!