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Could Silence and Lack of Empathy be Killing Your Dental Practice? (Part 1 of 3)

12/1/2018

December 1, 2018
By: Trude Henderson
Over the years, I have visited numerous dental and medical practices (as part of my work as a dental and medical consultant and startup co-founder), as well as spas (for pleasure). Based on observations culled from these experiences, as well as my gleanings from ToothFairy’s 3-year pilot study, I have reached a conclusion that I would like to share with you - too much silence and a lack of empathy will make your competition easier to accept than your treatment!
My recent experience at a spa, described below, has prompted me to blog about this topic, not only because the same patterns have surfaced and re-surfaced several times during our pilot study of dental practices in the Western US, but because I feel so strongly about the close relationship between a great customer experience (one that’s memorable and consistently good) and the longevity of your practice. After all, the customer experience is about how you make people feel!

In this introductory blog, I will briefly mention the first of what we believe are several ‘root causes’ of too much silence, and not enough empathy, in your practice. Then, in Parts 2 and 3, I will elaborate, drawing on my experience working with High Reliability Organizations (HROs), and on the results of the pilot study.

My Visit to a Spa last month, while visiting a city in Texas, I chose a spa for a day of pampering. As usual, I checked the popular social media sites, carefully perusing reviews until a spa with 69 reviews and averaging a 5-star rating caught my eye. I said to myself, “This is the one, just what I’m looking for” and booked an appointment for what I was sure would be several hours of serene contentment. Almost immediately upon my arrival the following day, however, I sensed with shock that the experience I had anticipated was probably not going to materialize: as I set foot inside the room, the silence was deafening. I had to wait another 5 minutes to be greeted, as there was another customer being waited on, and then when it finally did come, it was in the form of a nondescript, apathetic-sounding voice behind the counter droning, “Please have a seat, it’s going to be a while.”

As I was shuffled from one place to another, I hoped that this was only another bad day for one employee, but then I overheard two people talking in the breakroom and I realized that one of them was the owner of the spa, busy preparing my coffee. As I sat in a hallway equipped solely with bar stools (whose idea was to it to offer only bar stools to spa patrons?) waiting for my upcoming procedure, the owner handed me a cup of coffee, a packet of sweetener, a spoon and a half-gallon of creamer! All I could do was snicker and ask myself, “What am I supposed to do with all of this?”

Based on these preliminaries, you can easily draw your own conclusions about how well my experience ended, but I just want to add that my first minutes in the spa exhibited, to an extraordinary degree, a lack of the attention to detail and mindfulness that one would expect to see at a spa.

It should surprise no one that there is a steady and noticeable increase in competition in the dental industry, as the number of practicing dentists is “projected to grow by 18% from 2014 to 2024, a much faster rate than the average for all occupations” (U.S. News Staff, 2016). So, it is easy to understand why the need to show more value and beat the competition couldn’t be more important.

In addition, corporate dentistry has experienced explosive growth over the past few years. Our research reveals that fees are the focus and prospective corporate buyers are not only rewarding owners with higher valuations, but showing a willingness to pay more. The reasons for this, says practice transition expert Roger K. Hill (Hill, 2016): “In some cases they want to enter or gain market share in a particular area, but in most cases, they are confident that they can significantly increase profit potential of the practice through making management changes.” In other words, they believe that many practice leaders leave too much money on the table, and that by cleaning up the business, they can reap big rewards! In an article entitled Crunch the Numbers, well-known orthodontist and international speaker, Dr. Ben Burris, DDS, MSD, substantially agrees will Hill: “Most orthodontists’ gut reaction is that the only way to compete is to compete on fee” (Burris, 2016).

Hill’s take on this is that instead of lowering fees in response to a declining close ratio, practice leaders should look at other factors, as the data shows that the top two concerns patients have that are under management control are “quality and comfort.” This was certainly the case of the spa I visited last month. We would also like to make the point again that, essential as it is, technical competence will not by itself enable your dental practice to enjoy its full potential.

This leads us into the first ‘root cause’ of too much silence and lack of empathy - a lack of leadership - which, with the others, we will discuss in our next blog.

For more information about High Reliability Organizational concepts, read our previous blogs:
Works CitedBabcock & Wilcox Technical Services LLC. (2008). High Reliability Operations: A Practical Guide to Avoid the System Accident. Amarillo: U.S. Department of Energy.
Burris, B. D. (2016, July 14). Crunch the Numbers. Retrieved from http://orthopundit.com/treatment-fee-vs-conversion-data/
Hill, R. (2016, Feb). McGill Advisory Articles. Retrieved from McGill & Hill Group:http://www.mcgillhillgroup.com/content_display.asp?id=2147
U.S. News Staff. (2016, January). Careers. Retrieved from U.S. News & World Report:http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs

Read our blogs about HROTen Steps You Can Take Right Away to Improve the Reliability of Your Dental Practice
High Reliability Concepts: Insights of Value to any organization.
Trude Henderson is the co-founder of ToothFairy, a startup elective dental and medical practice improvement software company which delivers an unparalleled customer experience that inspires delight, loyalty and positive emotional connections to improve the lives of patients and the practices they visit. In 2016, she was the first to introduce High-Reliability Organizational Concepts to the dental industry. For questions, contact her directly at Trude@GetToothFairy.com. Follow Trude on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudehenderson/ (no email required).
Go to ToothFairy's website: www.ToothFairySoftware.com.

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3 Secrets to Providing Your Dental Patients with a Collaborative Customer Experience (Part 2)

11/7/2018

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Published on November 7, 2018
By: Trude Henderson

In our last blog (“3 Reasons Why Collaboration Can Pay Off for Your Dental Practices,” November 1, 2018), we discussed Ryan Kh’s views (see “How Effective Collaboration Equals Great Customer Experience,” Customer Think, October 9, 2018”) on the rationale for collaboration in an organization. Today, we talk about another topic that interests him, “What are the secrets to a collaborative customer service?” His answers (1,2) and one from us (3) that we recommend for your dental practice:

Supervisors should set aside time to walk in their employee’s shoes. To understand the problems confronting subordinates, and ensure that the latter are provided with the right tools, supervisors need to spend time interacting with customers. We at ToothFairy wholeheartedly agree and encourage dental practice leaders to allow both supervisors and employees alike to participate in ‘job shadowing.’ In addition to injecting an element of fun into the work environment, job shadowing can help foster improved engagement and deeper respect for co-workers. When employees respect each other, they are more likely to respect your patients resulting in a better customer experience. Other important benefits include more informed decision-making and a deeper understanding of the practice as a whole.
Position people according to their specialties. Says Kh: “Customer service professionals tend to be more specialized these days. Brands need to identify their service professionals’ strengths and make sure that they are assigned to handle challenges they are best equipped for.” We agree and encourage you to refer to our November 1st blog entitled Millennial Employees: 6 Things for Dental Practice Leaders to Consider, on the topic of utilizing strengths and talent in your dental practice, so as to gain competitive advantage.
Eliminate silos. Disconnected individuals and/or departments can wreak havoc on your customer experience and future referral business. For example, one of the most off-putting things that a patient can experience is to hear an employee say, dismissively, “I don’t/ or my department doesn’t handle that.” and then being referred to multiple people while being asked to repeat the same information over and over, before finally meeting the person who can solve the problem.

Great teamwork, collaboration and empowerment (all indicators of a healthy customer service oriented culture) can be your ‘secret sauce,’ helping to minimize delays and make your practice a joy to do business with, thus enabling your dental practice to rise above the competition. Our 3-year pilot study revealed that the ‘happiness’ factor - experiences that can make patients feel like ‘welcomed guests’ - can positively affect patients’ overall impression of your practice. People want to get in and out quickly and easily, and if they have fun and enjoy themselves in the process, that’s an added bonus that is likely to improve your conversion ratio.
As a quick test, ask yourself, “Is my practice easy to do business with?” For a better and more accurate test, ask your patients the following: “ How can we improve communication with you?” “What can we do to improve your experience with us?” “How can we make your visit more enjoyable?” We recommend a good e-survey platform, in use year-round, to ensure you’re always listening and responding to patients’ wants, needs and concerns.
You might ask, “What are some ways that I can eliminate silos within my practice?” At ToothFairy we recommend a couple of steps. First, do your best to hire people who would rather work in a team environment as opposed to working alone. They are less likely to adopt the “us against them” mentality. From our experience from conducting Hogan Personality Profiles, those who score low on the “Sociability Scale” prefer to work alone, and are also quieter and more reluctant to seize the initiative - in short, the kind of employee unlikely to 'consistently' win patients over. Hiring the right people is always a high bar; don’t be fooled by the fact that most candidates can be taught to say exactly what you want to hear during an interview. We encourage you to check out our October 2nd blog, (Part3) More Root Causes and Lack of Empathy in Your Dental Practice for a more in-depth discussion, and tips that can help you hire people who are the right fit for your dental practice.
Some effective interview questions recommended by Hogan that we ourselves have utilized include:

“How important is it for every team member to contribute in a meeting?”
“Do you tend to work better on group or individual projects? Why?”
“How do you balance talking with listening to engage in effective communication?”

Second, you should offer opportunities for dental team members to collaborate on a regular basis, i.e., organize frequent team building activities, lunch-n-learns and meetings across teams and departments. The benefits of conducting these collaborative events will outweigh the minimal cost. You may also benefit from utilizing this time to celebrate small wins. Note: these opportunities are in addition to the recommended daily huddle.

Finally, consider adopting ‘collaboration’ as a core value of your practice. This can optimize the capacity of your team members to extend beyond their comfort zone (something that is not easy for most people), develop, and in turn, stretch the boundaries of the practice. This can give your dental practice a competitive advantage because knowledge helps prevent missed opportunities including those that commonly leave money on the table.
We recommend that you appoint at least one champion of collaboration (preferably a practice manager or owner) charged with showing the practice’s commitment to it, as well as with working on continuous improvement of the practice as a whole. Change and leadership author John P. Kotter (2012) said, “Major change is often said to be impossible unless the head of the organization is an active supporter.” From our experience, when the conversation about an initiative ends, so does the initiative. Our advice: keep it fresh on their minds through fun daily conversations and colorful graphics and metrics so that your priorities and initiatives remain top-of-mind.
Now that you know these ‘secrets’, we hope that you will avail yourself of this knowledge to boost collaboration among the members of your dental practice team, thus improving your customer experience and giving your practice a competitive edge.

Read our other articles regarding High Reliability Concepts below:
Ten Steps You Can Take Right Away to Improve the Reliability of Your Dental Practice
High Reliability Concepts: Insights of Value to any organization.

Trude Henderson is the co-founder of ToothFairy, a startup elective dental and medical practice improvement software company which delivers an unparalleled customer experience that inspires delight, loyalty and positive emotional connections to improve the lives of patients and the practices they visit. In 2016, she was the first to introduce High-Reliability Organizational Concepts to the dental industry. For questions, contact her directly at Trude@GetToothFairy.com. Follow Trude on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudehenderson/ (no email required).
Go to ToothFairy's website: www.ToothFairySoftware.com.

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3 Reasons Why Collaboration Can Pay Off for Your Dental Practices (Part 1)

10/30/2018

"Leading from the patient's perspective is a game-changing strategy." - Dr. David Shen

Published on October 30, 2018
By: Trude Henderson

The dental industry continues to grow at a record clip, as the number of practicing dentists is projected to increase by 18 percent from 2014 to 2024, a much faster rate than the average for all occupations (U.S. News Staff, 2016). So dental practice leaders are tasked with strengthening their ability to identify and solve problems, adapt to customers’ wants and needs, and efficiently deliver high quality customer service. If you don’t respond by transitioning from a traditional command-and-control organizational structure to a team-centric model that inspires a culture of collaboration, your practice isn’t likely to gain or maintain a competitive advantage.
In his blog post, “How Effective Team Collaboration Equals Great Customer Service” (Customer Think. October 9, 2017) Ryan Kh explains why collaboration is critical in providing a superlative customer experience. The following are his reasons, accompanied by some thoughts of our own:

Collaboration improves efficiency. Thirty years ago, organizations had a relatively small number of people, armed with inadequate tools, charged with handling customer service, who could be overwhelmed when having to deal with complaining customers. We would add that today the tools are available, but many dental practices still don’t take advantage of them. ToothFairy’s 3-year pilot study revealed that efficiency greatly improved, as did customer service, when dental teams utilized simple and common collaborative tools such as Google Drive and cell phones, and held frequent (at least monthly) meetings, across teams and departments. The increase in communication and the frequent and real-time sharing of information made all the difference. Examples of such collaborative projects include marketing plans, practice improvement plans and employee team-building activities and volunteer work. Our advice: experiment with what’s out there until you find what works best for your practice.
Collaboration increases the amount and quality of knowledge. Bigger teams, says Kh, possess more knowledge, and are thus better equipped to answer customer’s questions and address their problems. We agree that the more knowledge the better, but would argue that you don’t have to have a large dental team to acquire it.

High Reliability Organizations are ‘continuous learners.’ Only dental practices who continuously enhance their knowledge will be able to effectively respond to change and/or answer patients’ objections effectively. At ToothFairy, we encourage dental teams, regardless of size, to continually expand their capacity to create desired results. From our experience, most employees want to learn and grow, and as the world continues to evolve technologically, it is indispensable to the growth and prosperity of your dental practice. The alternative to a learning culture is one that remains stationary, repeats mistakes and has high turnover, due to employees who are present in body but not in mind.
The market is flooded with books and e-learning courses aimed at improving basic customer service and sales techniques that can benefit staff and doctors. We at ToothFairy have found that vendors can also be very helpful in offering lunch-n-learns and even individual coaching sessions for staff and doctors—the key is asking for help. In addition, targeted social media groups offer a plethora of information and support, especially for supervisors, doctors and practice leaders. We would like to warn you, however, not to use patients’ real names or pictures, as this could violate HIPAA laws when participating online. In addition, we encourage you to ensure that you remain in compliance with state and federal employment laws when you ask employees to acquire knowledge. Most laws require that employees be compensated for their time anytime the information is required and work-related.

Collaborating with customers helps satisfy their needs, too. Collaboration shouldn’t be confined to company employees. Kh cites a global study conducted by Steven Van Bellegam, a managing partner at InSites Consulting, the results of which were published in Fast Company (May 9, 2013). Said Van Bellegam: “the conclusion is inescapable: the majority of consumers favor a self-service solution, including the safety net of personal contact if the consumer so chooses.” We agree, and recommend that as dental practices implement practice improvement solutions such as ToothFairy, it is important to include all stakeholders (patients, staff and doctors) in the process.

Says Dr. David Shen, an ToothFairy orthodontic advisor:
Collaborating with patients, or what Trude refers to as “Leading From the Patient’s Perspective,” is a game-changing strategy and will remain a top priority in my practice. When we asked patients for their help through ToothFairy’s e-survey Patient Communications Platform, it was obvious that they were glad to assist. As a result, we implemented many great ideas that have improved our practice all-around. The alternative is stagnant growth and patients who don’t feel valued and appreciated and as a result, take their complaints to social media for the world to hear.
Like employees, patients want to be heard and furthermore, now that millennials constitute such a large segment of the dental industry’s patient and parent base, it is increasingly important to include them as well as meet their needs.
We also recommend that you share news of your improvements with patients, as well as implement a ‘virtual open-door policy.’ For example, during our pilot study a mother indicated in a patient feedback survey that the doctor disregarded her daughter’s painful gum irritation caused by the rough edges of her aligners. After learning of the disappointment through a real-time feedback survey, a doctor called the mother and immediately resolved the issue. Furthermore, before hanging up, the doctor provided the woman with her email address, in case she had any future concerns.“Patients really appreciate having access to someone they perceive as having authority,” says Dr. Shen, but adds, “anyone can be successful if they are a good listener, empathetic and demonstrate that they are willing to take prompt action.”
At ToothFairy, we also recommend publicizing your findings and improvements in your practice newsletter, for example, so that your patients can keep up with how they have contributed to your practice improvements. This lets them know that you are listening, responding appropriately and actively improving the practice. It demonstrates, moreover, how their feedback has influenced the decision-making and quality improvement initiatives undertaken by your practice.
In his piece, Kh also discusses his “secrets to a collaborative customer service.” We will talk about these in our next blog (Part 2) as well as provide you with tips on how you can easily implement them in your dental practice.

Read our other articles regarding High Reliability Concepts below:
Ten Steps You Can Take Right Away to Improve the Reliability of Your Dental Practice
High Reliability Concepts: Insights of Value to any organization.

Trude Henderson is the co-founder of ToothFairy, a startup elective dental and medical practice improvement software company which delivers an unparalleled customer experience that inspires delight, loyalty and positive emotional connections to improve the lives of patients and the practices they visit. In 2016, she was the first to introduce High-Reliability Organizational Concepts to the dental industry. For questions, contact her directly at Trude@GetToothFairy.com. Follow Trude on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudehenderson/ (no email required).
Go to ToothFairy's website: www.ToothFairySoftware.com.

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Could Silence and Lack of Empathy be Killing Your Dental Practice? (Part 1 of 3)

3 Secrets to Providing Your Dental Patients with a Collaborative Customer Experience (Part 2)

3 Reasons Why Collaboration Can Pay Off for Your Dental Practices (Part 1)

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