While dental care itself is essential, a healthy dental practice heavily relies upon the quality of the patient experience. This requires great customer service, which requires great communication skills. Great customer service extends far beyond clinical results. As a business coordinator, this is truly your time to shine. You can make a big difference in whether or not a patient receives a “WOW” experience.
What is a “WOW” experience? Sometimes, dental teams assume that customer service means how well the patient’s dental work turns out. If the veneers are beautiful and the While dental care itself is essential, a healthy dental practice heavily relies upon the quality of the patient experience. This requires great customer service, which requires great communication skills.
Great customer service extends far beyond clinical results. This is where it might be easy to falter, especially considering that your role as a patient advocate is heavily focused specifically on clinical matters. It’s easy to forget other things, including customer service or business success – but it’s important to not let yourself do so!
Patient expectations are influenced by age, gender, mood, weather, past dental experiences, and additional factors that you may not have any control over. The type of customer usually defines customer service: elderly patients may be seeking a senior discount, convenient marking, or a handicap-accessible ramp. Moms may seek an office where the entire family can be seen after school and may want to know if parents are allowed in the operating room during treatment. Some other things that patients might base their assessment on are whether you offer payment plans, if you have appointments during the lunch hour, if you see emergency visits on the same day if you accept American Express, or if you participate with their insurance. Other patients will return simply because you are friendlier and more helpful than any other office.
What patients are looking for is so broad that it is essential to recognize that we can’t be all things for everyone. However, we have to do what we can.
Dental practices, like any other business that offers a service, should focus on the type of customer that they are trying to attract and are a good fit with their practice philosophy.
Customer service is not just about being nice. It’s about making every interaction with every patient a pleasurable experience. By consistently providing high levels of customer service, you will be able to ensure that your practice achieves success.
Customer service requires a systematic approach.
Improving the customer service at your dental practice requires great effort and a well-formulated system that is repeated for every patient, at every appointment.
When you provide great customer service, patients will see the value in the money that they spend and increase treatment acceptance.
Before you can truly harness customer service, it is essential that you harness great communication skills. Communication skills are important for everything, from talking with patients over the phone or sending them texts, and speaking with them as they walk through the front door of your clinic. In this course, you will first learn how to practice great communication skills in each of the different areas where it is important. The next few modules will go in-depth into phone, written, and in-person so that you are properly equipped with the right strategies for each area. Once you harness the art of communication, you are well prepared to ensure that your patients receive the “WOW” customer service experience that will keep them coming back.
