By Roger P. Levin, DDS
Orthodontics is a relationship business. If you provide great customer service while delivering excellent results, then parents (and adult patients) will tell their friends and family about their experience. I find that most orthodontists and team members do a good job of making parents and patients feel connected to the practice.
But it’s not always easy. There are days when everything goes wrong––patients are late, a co-worker goes home sick, the computers crash, etc.––and it takes every bit of training, know-how, and composure to maintain that high level of customer service.
However, there exists an even greater threat to your customer service than the random bad day––and that is complacency. It can happen to the best of teams. People know their jobs and they get comfortable. Even the best employees, including the doctor, may be tempted to put it on cruise control.
One day blends into the other, and one family into the other, and before you know it, the great customer service your practice is known for, starts to slip.
Here are three ways to give complacency the boot:
Give the team a month to come up with their ideas and suggestions. Use the morning meetings to remind them about the assignment. During the improvement meeting, all team members should present their ideas freely without criticism.
Hold a follow-up meeting to choose the best ideas and come up with an implementation plan. Then assign them to the appropriate team members. All improvements should come with deadlines. Check progress at future meetings.Conclusion
The downfall of many once-great practices has been complacency. Because once it gets into the office, it eats away at every system until the practice is but a hollow shell of itself. Don’t let that happen to your office. Use these techniques to keep your team engaged and to keep complacency at bay.
Attend Dr. Levin’s new ortho seminar, Building the Ultimate Ortho Practice tuition-free. Ask your Ortho2 Regional Manager how you can receive an Educational Grant. Go to www.levingroup.com/orthoseminars to see dates and locations for all ortho seminars in 2017.