Posted: February 3rd, 2012 | Tags: Laura Loves |
This blog post is about exceeding expectations.
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First, I have to confess to being a lover of Domino’s pizzas – they are my guilty pleasure!
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In the past I have complained about Domino’s on Twitter and have had responses and even received free pizzas from them! I haven’t complained about big things. One example would be that I ordered extra honey and mustard dips and didn’t get them – I got a free pizza for that and 8 dips turned up with my next order!
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The thing i like about Domino’s is that they over-estimate how long your delivery will take. This doesn’t just happen to me locally either. Last week, while staying in a hotel, I wanted a pizza. I hadn’t had one for ages and I really, really wanted one! Again my delivery time was over-estimated and they turned up earlier than they said they would.
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Now I have to say that exceeding your customers – or in your case, your patients’ – expectations is essential if you want to have a successful business.
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Every time my pizza turns up early, which is every time it is delivered, I am a happy customer – and this is something that Domino’s get right.
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(I must point out here that I don’t have a pizza very often as my other half doesn’t like them!)
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So in your practice, what do you do to exceed your patients’ expectations? This is something you need to focus on and build into your patients’ experience. This is also where the TCO role comes in nicely!
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One example would be running late. I love working with practices and putting in systems to stop this happening; yes I know sometimes it will happen, BUT what’s your backup plan to continue to exceed their expectations and outweigh the negative with a positive?
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Exceeding expectations = happy patients’ who tell their friends about you!
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Laura Horton
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help
Posted: February 1st, 2012 |
It’s that time of year again! You can
vote for your favourites in the 2012 Dentistry Top 50 until March 9th – don’t miss out!
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Over the next weeks i will post a bit of info about my favourites and tell you why i think you should vote for them
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Chris has come 2nd in the Dentistry Top 50 two years in a row!
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I have worked with some of the same practices that Chris has worked with.
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By following his advice and with his support the practices get great results; he helps them to be in the top 5%.
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I was so honoured to be voted 18th in the Top 50 last year and would love the opportunity to be there again. If you feel I deserve it then please take a few moments to vote for me. Thank you!!
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Laura Horton
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: February 1st, 2012 |
Every day, every team member should write a list of duties they need to complete, as well as items they may need help with or to delegate.
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Writing down what needs to be done helps to work towards the practice’s vision and mission, raise the levels of organisation and focus.
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Simple A B C prioritisation is fantastic and helps to keep everyone on track.
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I’ve used a diary for 8 years now – digital to do lists just don’t work for me!
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Posted: January 30th, 2012 | Tags: Management Monday |
Every Monday, Nikki Berryman – licensed Practice Management Consultant for Laura Horton Consulting – posts about her current plans and experiences as the Business Development Manager for Pure Dental Health in Cornwall.
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‘This week has been so busy here at Pure Dental Health & Wellbeing, and not without it’s ups and downs either!
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Our compressor went down with a major fault in it’s motor earlier in the week, luckily we have a spare compressor wired in and ready to go, however, we were really unlucky in that the spare decided to blow as well!
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Luckily, we have a great relationship with our service engineers and they were on hand to help asap, and so our ‘down time’ was kept to a bare minimum.
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We also had a new central heating boiler installed in our offices upstairs, so we’ve had workmen coming and going all week!
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The whole ‘behind the scenes’ has been a bit chaotic to say the least. However, it is a reflection on my fabulous team that we have kept the practice operating to the best possible standards – our main priority being that our patients and their care/experience is not affected.
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Fingers crossed for a smoother beginning to this week………..!’
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Nikki Berryman
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.
Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: January 27th, 2012 | Tags: Laura Loves |
Don’t you just love Twitter? I do!
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This week’s customer service experience began with a tweet I wrote.
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I am an avid supporter and user of Sonicare products; I love them. Many years ago I used an Oral B toothbrush but from the first moment I used a Sonicare I have never gone back!
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I was once given another Oral B to try, the rep wanted to convince me but it was only on for a matter of seconds before the noise drove me nuts!
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Last weekend my toothbrush broke; it was making a slight noise but it wasn’t working at all. So on Monday I tweeted about it! I said that I was glad that we don’t pay full price as dental professionals as this current model was already a replacement, which had been sent to me in March 2011.
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Around the same time as tweeting I called CTS Dental Supplies who gave me the number for Philips. I called and left a message. An hour or so later my call was returned and a message left (I was driving).
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From the tweet, I was then contacted by email by Tracy Posner, who works for Philips as a Professional PR Consultant. Part of her role is to ensure that people have a good opinion of Philips and that involves monitoring what is said about the company and rectifying things if there appears to be a problem.
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Tracy gave me the contact details of a lady called Sharon. This is the same lady that had returned my call so promptly the day before (I hadn’t had a spare second to call back during working hours!)
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I called Sharon and said “hi Sharon, my name’s Laura Horton and I need to talk to you about my Sonicare”.
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Sharon straight away said hi and that she was glad that I called. She wanted my address to send me a replacement and they were also upgrading me to the Diamondclean brush, previously I had been using the Flexcare +.
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Sharon also went over a few things with me, as I was concerned it was my fault that the brush was breaking. She was really friendly and reassured me I was doing the same as her with regards to charging the brush.
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This call took place around 11am on the Thursday of that week. By 10am the next day I had my new brush delivered to me!
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Not long after it arrived Tracy then emailed checking that everything was OK. How else could I reply, except to say that although there had been a problem the way they solved it was perfect and that Sharon was very friendly and helpful.
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Thank you Twitter, thank you Tracy and Sharon!
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Laura Loves good customer service!
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Laura Horton
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: January 25th, 2012 | Tags: Dentistry Top 50 |
It’s that time of year again! You can
vote for your favourites in the 2012 Dentistry Top 50 until March 9th – don’t miss out!
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Over the next weeks i will post a bit of info about my favourites and tell you why i think you should vote for them
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Mhari was the highest listed female last year, and this was well deserved.
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She has 20 years experience of working in dentistry, and is a hygienist, writer, speaker, practice consultant & clinical director of CPDforDCP Ltd!
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Mhari now has a new position within Philips and has great plans to support the careers of dental nurses which I fully back!
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I was so honoured to be voted 18th in the Top 50 last year and would love the opportunity to be there again. If you feel I deserve it then please take a few moments to vote for me. Thank you!!
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Laura Horton
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: January 23rd, 2012 | Tags: Management Monday |
Every Monday, Nikki Berryman – licensed Practice Management Consultant for Laura Horton Consulting – posts about her current plans and experiences as the Business Development Manager for Pure Dental Health in Cornwall.
‘This last week has been so busy here at Pure Dental which is great. But it has left very little time for me to concentrate on my weekly tasks. However, this week I have been reviewing my financial management systems.
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This includes preparing my cash-flow forecasts and budgets for 2012. I analysed and reviewed my spreadsheets from 2011 in order to predict expenditure for 2012 – looking at % increases/decreases in overheads, ADG (average daily gross) from each surgery, amount of clinical hours, days available for each surgery this year.
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Again, robust financial systems and good record keeping ensure that I can carry out this task in a matter of hours.
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Now, more than ever, it is so important to ‘know your numbers’ – financial control is vital. How can you make decisions as to how to develop your business if you don’t know or understand your financial commitments?
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Have a great week everyone!’
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Nikki Berryman
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.
Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: January 20th, 2012 | Tags: Laura Loves |
As with last week’s blog, my customer service story for this Friday comes from two wedding venues!
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If you didn’t read last week’s, I mentioned that the investment for a wedding is comparable to high-end implant and cosmetic treatments that your patients may be paying for at your practice.
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On Saturday I went to one venue. We were met at the door and taken in, then introduced to the owner who gave us what I would call an introduction – information on the background of the venue and the team, which really built value.
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When he took us to the purpose-built marquee (which was stunning) he focused 100% on the USPs (unique selling points) of the venue -
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• Décor
• Lighting
• Position of the dance floor and the bar
• Proudly showed me the bathroom facilities (nice hand soaps and creams)
• The quality of the glass
• The fine bone chine plates
• The chairs and chair covers
• The linen
• The wedding coordinators
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You name it; the list went on and on!
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He then took us into a lovely room with big leather sofas and a log fire. He made us a cup of tea and also provided biscuits.
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We talked a little more about the dates and what we wanted and he helped us to visualise our goals. The owner then left us alone while he went to get a quote for us.
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What he did next really made me smile. He handed me a box full of thank you cards which had been sent to the wedding coordinators and my fiancé a photo album of the wedding that had taken place at the venue.
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We didn’t have to wait long but both thought the quote would be huge because he had built so much value. It was less than we expected however, which was great news and we have “pencilled in” our preferred date! He is happy to keep this for a few weeks while we look at other venues but he is confident we will choose his venue!
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The one thing I really loved was how he complimented his wedding coordinators and also proudly told us that he pays them an excellent salary. When you’re paid well you work well.
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Contrast this experience with the following day where we went to a prestigious venue with an excellent reputation. We were met by a scatty old lady who couldn’t stop talking about her family member who was getting married there (who lives in a mansion).
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She even started talking to other people while she was showing us the venue, pointing at children and saying how sweet they were and talking to their parents – how rude!
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She also declared to us that she doesn’t talk about money – “the girls in the office do that”. Why is that? Because she doesn’t think the fee you pay is worth it!
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That final nail in the coffin confirmed what I was already thinking; no way is this venue getting my money, it’s overrated , has poor staff who are unprofessional and have no people skills and the venue itself is more of a dump than a prestigious Hertfordshire venue!
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So who do you have in your practice? Is it slick, trained person (a TCO) who makes your patients feel comfortable and important or a team who have no listening skills and just talk crap to people, while declaring that the fee you charge isn’t worth it?!
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Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.a
Posted: January 18th, 2012 |
Today we have a guest blog from Karen Coates – a Dental Advisor for The British Dental Health Foundation.
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The BDHF is looking to expand their range of printed materials to include factsheets, bookmarks and flip guards. They currently purchase these from the American Dental Association to distribute, but unfortunately the information is not always ideal for the UK market.
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‘Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful break over the festive holidays and have had an excellent start to 2012.
On behalf of the Foundation I am looking for dental practices everywhere to dig out and send us any archive photos to help us produce and improve our range of educational resources.
We are searching for any dental photography featuring your patient and their mouths. Any images which demonstrate a number of oral health conditions e.g. gum disease, dental erosion, decay and dry mouth.
In addition, we are also looking for pictures of children’s and teen’s mouths and teeth – our list is long but we’ll really appreciate any help in which you could give us!
Any pictures you send into us will help to produce our Flip Guides, Posters, Wallcharts, Facts Cards and Tell Me About range, which are seen in thousands of practices every year.
Of course, any images we do use, we’ll make sure that you’re fully informed and get the credit and acknowledgement you deserve as a key source.
If you or your Practice can assist us in collecting these clinical photographs, please contact me on 01788 539784 or send me an email at Karen@dentalhealth.org, I’d be thrilled to hear from you!
Best wishes,
Karen’
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Please get in touch with Karen if you or anyone at your practice can help!
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Laura Horton
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.
Posted: January 16th, 2012 |
Welcome to a new feature! Every Monday Nikki Berryman – licensed Practice Management Consultant for Laura Horton Consulting – will be posting ab
out her current plans and experiences as the Business Development Manager for Pure Dental Health in Cornwall.
‘This week has been spent at my Practice in Truro reviewing & auditing our operational management systems.
This may sound like an arduous task, but if you have effective and streamlined systems in place to begin with, it actually takes very little time. The idea behind good systems, I believe, is keeping things simple.
I have created ‘Audit & Review’ forms that are stored in each management file (i.e. HR, Finance, Fire Protection, Radiation Protection, Equipment & Resources, Premises, H&S etc etc).
I ensure all systems are reviewed each quarter (this is built into my time management diary). Completing the ‘Audit & Review’ forms for each area allows me to quickly review activity, address concerns/risks & highlight changes. It makes me feel that I am in control of the practice because every activity in terms of operational management is planned – no nasty surprises!
This simple process also ensures our ongoing CQC compliance regarding Outcome 16: ‘Assessing and Monitoring the Quality of Service Provision’.’
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Nikki Berryman
Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.
Visit the website today to see how we can help.
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