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You have to wonder about the nerve of some people out there don’t you?

They say one thing, but history and research has shown that they do the complete opposite.

Imagine this, if you would….

Would you invite a friend over to your place for the day, from 8:00am to 5:00pm, and not have anything to offer them to eat for lunch?

And knowing that your friend was coming by cab, and there are no food outlets within walking distance of your place, would you simply leave your friend to starve?

Would you think it could be prudent to ask your friend to bring a cut lunch?

You see, after all, your friend may eat regular food, and you and your whole household have dietary restrictions.

Or would it simply be appropriate to call your friend a few days before their visit, and ask them if you could get themselves something beforehand and bring it with them?

Especially if your friend was coming from interstate to visit you just for this one day.

As incredulous as this story sounds, it is indeed a true story.

But with one small variation.

The “guest friend” was a dental consultant doing a paid in office visit.

She was invited to spend a day at a suburban dental office where there was no shop within walking distance of the clinic, and having flown interstate the night before and then been couriered out to the practice before most shops were open, it came as a bit of a surprise to the consultant to not even be offered a coffee or a biscuit.

Well, I suppose the dental office thought that they were paying the consultant enough already in transport, accommodation, and the day’s tuition and service, but unless the consultant was Nostradamus she had no idea that starvation was going to be a part of her day.

As far as I know things at this dental office never improved, but at least the consultant had a heads-up to purchase a salad and some crackers at the grocery store the evening before her next visits.

Would you do that in your home?

Or more importantly, would you do that to your patients in your dental office?

It may not be the refreshments.

How are your magazines and reading materials?

Do you cater to readers of several genres?

Or do your magazines only cater to hunters?

Or golfers?

Or mums?

How’s your refreshments then?

You know, the person who drank the most coffee at my office was never a patient of my dental practice?

But he did accompany his wife, who was a valued patient, each and every time she attended. And although Brian did not have any teeth of his own, he was a valued attender at our office and he appreciated the attention paid to him…..

If you want visitors to your dental office to feel valued, and you want them to keep returning, then make them feel important, as Mary Kay Ash used to say.

Customers and patients will dump you in a heartbeat if they perceive apathy from you or your staff towards them.

Sure, the consultant was being paid, but heck, she did not have a crystal ball to be able to anticipate her own starvation.

It’s kind of like having a guy do your lawns all day, but not offering him a cool drink or a refreshment?

And sure, the consultant was being paid, but so are the dental team members too, and you’d never treat them in that way, or would you?

The funny thing about this story is that this consultant worked with this office for eighteen months and really turned their numbers around in a skyward direction, yet less than six months after she finished up there the dentist from that office was treading the boards as a “self-made” guru.

With a totally new team under their belt, the dentist in this story certainly is the master of re-invention.

Not retention.

Re-invention…..

You see one year only after this consultant left that office the whole team there, except for family, has been replaced.

I’m sure the story of the starving consultant is only a case of selective amnesia on behalf of that dentist.

But as a “self-made” guru, I think that dentist needs to selectively remember and acknowledge those who have helped to miraculously sky-rocket them to success.

*****

Have you read my book , How To Build The Dental Practice of Your Dreams [Without Killing Yourself!] In Less Than Sixty Days.

You can order your copy here: Click Link To Order

*****

The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.

Email me at david@theupe.com

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