Dental Office Consumer Satisfaction Basics

I know that you are well aware that when things go very well for your new or returning patients, they tend to send others your way - 5 on average. That is of course why you so diligently serve them. Did you know, however, that a person having a bad experience in your office is likely to tell 13 other people on average! You certainly would love to have 13 referrals from those who are pleased, but 13 lost opportunities is just way too many.

You also know that you spend a lot of money each month on yellow page ads, but do you know how well they work? My guess is that you monitor the number of patients who came from yellow page ads, but how many patients don't come in that actually called?

How about the number of patients that seem pleased when they leave but never come back? Research shows that more than 90% of unsatisfied patients will complain, but they will complain to their friends and neighbors. They will not return to your practice, but will continue to talk about you after they have left.

Each of these items is consumer related. Most people who don't come back are not dissatisfied with the dental competency of the staff, but if they don't come back it is a service issue. Never in this industry has extraordinary consumer service been so important. The idea that dental offices don't compete for business is gone. You have to work for every person that you have the privilege of serving. When the basic diagnosis, treatment, and cost are comparable, service is the area that sets you apart.

You get one good shot at making the new patient loyal to your office. That is not something that you want to take lightly! Do you know how well your practice does? What data have you collected to know how well you're doing?

There are some things that if done consistently will tend to increase the number of converts to your practice, creating a loyal consumer and referral base. While conducting our research in dental office consumer services, our focus group participants have told us what they expect when they enter a dental office, as well as what would make their experience move from ordinary to extraordinary. When I work with an office, moving from satisfied to exceptional service is what we work to accomplish.

Most offices already know that there are three basic things that all staff must know and do because these are the basic expectations of all who visit the office, they are Competency, Courtesy, and Cleanliness. If you are able to do these things well (even exceptionally well) and consistently, chances are that you will score satisfactory ratings on patient satisfactory surveys, but that is all. It used to be that the 3 C's were all that was needed - but that was before market saturation and managed care.

We also know that any violation of Competency, Courtesy, and Cleanliness will cause a kill - meaning that they will not come back, and you will never know why.

These three basics have traditionally made up what was considered consumer satisfaction. As long as we did these things, it was OK. In a market driven world, the belief that satisfactory or mediocrity is sufficient could be precisely the reason that your practice either does not grow or it is very costly for your practice to get a new patients.

There are a series of things that you can do to begin to provide an experience to your patients that will move them from one of satisfactory to extraordinary. They are not expensive or elaborate, but necessary if you wish to move into the extraordinary service category.

I will explain more in another article, but for now realize that what you do to affect wait time and what takes place once the patient is in the operatory have the greatest influence on how they rate you in consumer satisfaction.

Written by: Mr. Travis A Frederickson
travis@creatingchange.com


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