How does your Practice look, sound, smell, feel and taste to your Clients?

I was reading Simon Hocken's Ezine last month and the following piece really stood out. Obviously with Simon's permission I've reproduced it here, but would like to give the credit to Simon and his team at Breathe Business. If you like what you read you can sign up to their Ezine by clicking here ...
  
I've already started taking action - I've done a tour of the office, as suggested below,  and noticed a few black marks and a water stain on the carpets in the administration areas of our office. Now admittedly clients tend not to venture into these rooms but I realised that if the doors are left open, they're clearly visible and it really doesn't create the right impression. So Paul the carpet cleaner is coming in tomorrow afternoon to sort it out.

 

How does your Practice look, sound, smell, feel and taste to your Clients?

I’ve noticed that a lot of dentists don’t go to their (own) dentist very often! I’m bucking the trend here and on Friday last I turned up as a patient to Lyme Bay Dentistry in Lyme Regis. Not just for routine stuff but for some really big stuff! I needed two implants to replace my lateral incisors that after thirty or so years of being root filled, were displaying all the symptoms of leaving with a bang. My good friend, sometime-client (we were at school together ~ although obviously, he is much older than me!) and well known Implantologist, Phil Bennett, Principal at Lyme Bay Dentistry ~ www.lymebaydentistry.co.uk  ~ bravely offered to wield the forceps and the implant drill, Martin Docking of Dental Precision, (an ex-client) made a fabulous job of doing the technical work and providing the provisional crowns (tel: 01872 552942) and my role being to sit still, not complain about the locals in my palate and stop asking questions!

So, for once in my life, I found myself with a favourite client and not able to say much other than grunt. Lying there listening to the conversation between Phil and his team and the background music, I reflected on the power of looking at your practice through the eyes of a new patient. The problem here is one of familiarity, when you keep seeing an untidy reception or a piece of worn carpet, (not at “Lyme Bay Dentistry” you understand!) you stop seeing it. I often do the “walk” around a practice with a new client beside me, just looking and asking the questions and it always amazes me how much my clients have stopped noticing.

Here are 5 suggestions to help you see your practice through the eyes of your patients:

Put yourself in the mindset of a new patient and ask yourself what “clues” can you discover about the sort of practice this is and the sort of customer experience you can expect?

  • What can I hear?
  • What can I see?
  • What can I smell?
  • Am I comfortable?
  • How do I feel?
  • Am I feeling taken care of?
  1. Stand outside your building. What assumptions can you make about what sort of practice this is from the outside appearance. What are the clues?
  2. Slowly walk around all the public spaces in your practice.
  3. Sit in your waiting area/reception for at least 10 minutes. Ask yourself, what does sitting here tell me about what sort of business this is? Consider ~ “ambience” pictures, lighting, furniture, uniforms, integrity and professionalism of the principal, sensitivity of those who work here to the clients etc.
  4. Have some dentistry done. Try a check up with your associate and a hygiene appointment. (At the very least!)
  5. While you are in the patient chair in your own surgery and the chairs of your associate and hygienist, be aware of the: conversation, music, air temperature, lighting, mood of clinician and support team.

I think you will be surprised what you discover...

One thing I learned from my visit with Phil is that you can tell how the dentistry is going entirely from non-verbal signals, even when lying down wearing dark glasses!

As I was leaving the practice, feeling surprisingly ok, one of Phil’s nurses handed me a cardboard carrier with the “Lyme Bay Dentistry” logo on it containing:

  • Post-operative instructions.
  • Antibiotics
  • Two types of pain killers
  • Mouthwash
  • Multivitamins
  • Nutritional advice
  • An ice pack
  • A hot pillow
  • Phil’s home and mobile phone number!

And I got the next day, “are you alright” phone call.

Proving that even after a difficult procedure you can still wow the patient (and this patient was wowed). A big thank you to Phil and his team!