Bringing Your “A” Game To Your Dental Practice – Part II

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By Larry Chatterley, CTC Associates

We discussed in our last article the idea that success doesn’t actually bring happiness but rather happiness is much more likely to bring success. Playing your “A” game is really the degree to which happiness flows. Let’s take a look at how that can apply to your dental practice.

Once you have yourself in order and you are ready to bring your “A” game, it’s time to focus on your teammates — your staff. You have heard the saying “the customer comes first.” If dental practice success is a function of defining and exceeding patient expectations, then that holds true–but not quite. In order to “wow” patients, you need to have staff that are committed to doing that as well. As such, technically, your staff should come first. The doctor needs to create a culture in which the staff feels appreciated and trusted. In essence, they need to be “wowed” by you first, before they will be motivated to “wow” patients.

So after reevaluating who you are, focus on winning over your staff. If you don’t “wow” your staff, what incentive do they have to take care of your patients? Ask them to rank you and your relationship with them on a scale of 1 to 10. How do you rank as a boss? A dentist? A human being? If your score is less than 10, ask what you can do to improve.

Once you have asked your staff, ask your patients. Ask them to respond to this simple question anonymously and in writing:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer a friend or family member to our office? (With 1 being not at all likely and 10 being extremely likely.)

If the average score patients give you is 8 or less, you are failing to “wow” them, and you are at risk of losing them to another dentist who will. If this is the case, you need to find out how and where to change. You might follow up by asking your patients: What is one thing you would like to see us change or do differently?

On the other hand, if your average score is 9 or above, then you must be doing something right. Find out what it is so that you can do more of it. Ask: What is the one thing you appreciate most about our practice, i.e., what keeps you coming back to see us?

Once you have reached a point where a majority of your patients have become “advocates” of the practice, you will begin to see substantial growth and prosperity in your practice. By “advocates” we mean patients who actively refer to you and promote you to others as “the best dentist in the world.” And how would that be . . . to be considered the best dentist in the world by every patient you treat? Not too shabby, eh? Once that happens, your patients will be bringing their “A” game to you.