Touch Points and Salty Peanuts

[Anonymous]

*Below is the forum version. To view the newsletter complete with images, please download the attached PDF file. Once there was an airline executive who took a failing airline and turned it around by challenging his employees-flight attendants, pilots, maintenance people, everyone-to pay attention to the details. He repeated his mantra frequently until the entire team of airline employees did pay attention to the details and thus gave the passengers a reason to return for another flight. His mantra was, “When a person brings the tray table down and there is salt left from the peanuts still on the tray, the person will then think, ‘I wonder if they care for the engine the way they care for the tray table’, or ‘I wonder, when was the last time they took care of the plane’s engines?'” Today, the term for that focus on details is Touch Points. A Touch Point occurs any moment you, your team, your brand, your website, any marketing, your facility, etc., come into view or contact with a patient or a potential patient. At a Touch Point a mental and emotional impression forms in the person. It is the job of every dental team to manage those Touch Point impressions. Every Touch Point needs to be well thought out. Take time to see what improvements you might make to your Touch Points. 1. Review your external marketing. This includes your website, direct mail, ads, Facebook® posts, etc. Review each component with new eyes of a potential consumer. Here are common websites errors. Check yours out: • Too much text and not enough photos of YOUR work • Photos of your team are not up-to-date • You have scientific procedure descriptions with no pictures and NO patient benefits • Site looks too “canned” with photos of models, not real people. 2. Assess your telephone skills. After listening to recorded calls from dental practices, it is amazing how many new patients are turned away, lost or just bungled by the person who answers the telephone. It is critical not to ASSUME. You need to KNOW what is being said on your telephone. You must KNOW what is being said when a new patient calls. If not, then STOP the presses and quit any marketing until every person who EVER answers the telephone KNOWS what to say to “close the sale” of a new patient appointment. Improving Touch Points is an ongoing process of honest review and continual training on the basics. 3. Modernize registration. If you are old school, you need to send a Welcome Packet with your forms and materials to your new patients. If you are in the technology age, you will have all Welcome and Registration materials available for data entry through your website. . If you need help, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9u5WAI-07s 4. WOW the patient with a greeting. Make sure there is someone to personally greet your new patient with your own version of Starbucks’ cheery greeting. It’s a great positive Touch Point if a new patient is pleasantly greeted by name. 5. Interview first. Nothing gets done without an interview. Dentistry is a RELATIONSHIP business. NEVER focus on efficiency and lose out on building rapport. 6. Use a Co-Discovery exam. All exams, (new patient, emergency and recall), need to involve the patient. Use those intraoral cameras-“Show and Tell.” 7. Get digital. Document the exam and treatment plan in the computer. 8. Learn enrollment. Study, study, study everything you can get your hands on about how to “close the sale.” Yes, I said sale. Your patients buy dentistry instead of something else with their budget. You and your team have to study, practice and practice some more how best to enroll the patient into your treatment plan. (Email me for a list for excellent books: linda@drevenstedt.com) 9. Formalize and privatize your financial arrangements. Have a place to present options. My favorites are credit card or checking account drafts for up to six months. For larger cases, CareCredit has proven over the years to be a leader! Check them out at http://www.carecredit.com. 10. Be consistent with new patient follow-up and Thank Yous! Can you believe it? There are practices that do not track the source of their new patients. And, since they don’t track the source, they are not Thanking patients for their referrals. Ain’t That a Shame! 11. Deliver PAINLESS treatment. Pre-med, sedate, nitrous, great injections with the newest technology-you need access to all. Every dentist at the end of a treatment plan review needs to look the patient in the eye and say these words, ” Mrs. Patient, one of my goals when you return for your dental treatment is to be 100 percent sure that you are completely comfortable. We offer several ways to help you with that and my assistant, Becky will review all of them so we are sure you are completely comfortable.” 12. Inform, then Perform. Tell the patient what you are doing, and the BENEFITS of your methods. Stop periodically when you remove an old “gummy” filling and show it to them. Add value as you deliver the treatment so that the patient is so impressed and secure in making the RIGHT choice for their dental care that they want to tell their friends and family. Remember: EVERYTHING is a Touch Point. Don’t ever forget it or let your team forget it. Make all of your Touch Points Great ones!!

        

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