As someone who grew up dancing, I appreciated planned choreography versus improvisation. It always appeared more beautiful, and frankly, easier to measure for success. Dancers are scored in five key areas: technique, performance, presentation, choreography, and overall impression. How does this relate to a new patient’s journey (onboarding), keeping them in the practice (repeat business loyalty), and asking them to be your “walking talking marketers” (refer business).
Technique
I see technique in dentistry as a big part of success. You can be great with your processes for gaining and keeping patients, but if the technique or technical aspect of the service isn’t also great, it will be hard to stay in business and be profitable.
Performance
In dentistry, performance can be measured by the key performance indicators (KPIs). If all you measure is production and collections, results will look deceiving. Retention, new patients, and future visits scheduled are a large part of driving and maintaining relationships. Remarkable relationships result in repeat business and patients referring others.
Some doctors complain about the cost of SEO and advertising versus the new patients who actually show up as a result of the dollars spent (new-patient acquisition costs). It’s often not their fault—if they don’t have a scalable onboarding process that’s measured and can be duplicated for each team member, it likely isn’t a system people can learn and follow. In my new book, Permission to Be Honest: Tough Talk on Soft Skills, I write that your gatekeepers should have a system everyone stands behind, understands, and can measure.
The system to onboard new patients is more important than the money you spend to have your phone ring, and you must share your high expectations with your team. It drives me crazy to hear, “New patients are down so we need more marketing,” especially if there’s no KPI to measure the new-patient calls that are not converted. Data is great, but data does not drive behavior. Emotion drives behavior. If your team doesn’t understand how important every call and connection are to the health of the business, it’s time for a reset. Make sure the KPIs you’re tracking show those missed opportunities.
Presentation and choreography
These go hand in hand. Presentation is critical to the valuable final product. How we look, sound, present ourselves, and present care to our patients are substantial. There’s a reason it’s called “case presentation,” and this shouldn’t be done as you walk down the hall, and it shouldn’t be dropped on the front desk while someone is on the phone.
Choreography is significant. There are many aspects of the new-patient journey that, if well choreographed, can set up the doctor and hygienists for success. In my four decades in this business, training thousands of team members during the last three, I’ve always felt the need for participation exercises. It’s one thing to learn something, and another to “perform or present” it.
As a certified speaking professional (CSP), I feel privileged to know world-class speakers and presentation specialists. One of my fellow CSPs, Mark LeBlanc says, “Good speakers practice until they get it right. But great speakers practice until they can’t get it wrong.” When I teach the Telephone Handshake system for onboarding new patients, it becomes second nature when participation exercises are conducted. The team reviews the content regularly to reinforce what they know or to figure out what they missed when a patient doesn’t choose your office.
I don’t know how not to follow the system for connecting with curiosity. If someone called our office and asked if we took Medicaid, although the answer was no, we were curious and engaged with the caller, because every connection counts. Patients aren’t always entirely sure what to ask a dentist, and since you took the course and training, you can help them out. Connections count.
If you take the time to build relationships, people feel the difference and they’ll tell you that. We’ve had patients leave and return to the office saying things like, “I don’t care if Dr. Majors is not on my plan. That other office rushed me through, most times I didn’t even see the doctor, and they didn’t give me a goody bag.” If the experience is exceptional, patients won’t leave you because of the fee.
Are you about the fee, the plan, or the exceptional experience? People will never know about your technical prowess if you can’t get them in your chair. They will want to help you grow by referring their friends and family.
Important ideas to remember
1. If you get patients with a $99 special, they’ll likely be a patient only until the next office offers a special. Cheap doesn’t lead to loyalty.
2. When you ask happy, paying patients for their help in a genuine way, they’re disarmed, engaged, and ready to help. You must follow this with a short, handwritten postcard thanking them in advance for their help. This should go out within 24 hours after their appointment.
3. Like any system, things need to be well choreographed, not improvised. You don’t simply ask and leave the next step to chance. That’s like telling a patient who calls that they need a consult to know the exact cost of the implants they want, but then not offering that appointment. This is improvisation.
Overall impression
The overall impression combines each element discussed here. It isn’t one thing or one person; however, it does start with those first and second touch points—the first call and the person’s first time walking in. Meet and exceed patients’ expectations in these two areas and they’ll be patients for life.
I hope you’re inspired to consider what a well-choreographed onboarding process that creates loyalty and referrals could look like in your practice. You’ll love the results!
Editor's note: This article appeared in the July/August 2024 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
