DDS STUDY CLUB - Dallas, TX February 11, 2011
Component of the Seattle Study Club organization
Full day meeting: Morning: Unmasking the Mystery Patient
Afternoon: Moving Your Practice to the Next Level
Greetings DDS Study Club friends:
It was terrific being with you on February 11 and I’m sincerely looking forward to being back with you in August!
I’ve created this page for you as support for the program you attended … and as investigative material in prep for our upcoming meeting in August.
A. THE BOOK - SUGGESTED READING:
Karen Lewis wrote to you about this book and it is one I heartily endorse. The topic of “team” speaks to your development of a strong practice team AND your involvement in a strong interdisciplinary team, so there are dual benefits in reading it!
Here’s info on the book and where you can order it (Amazon often has this book available as a pre-owned item also at great prices). Consider getting a few copies for your own team members too.
http://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Lencioni/dp/0787960756/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297886280&sr=8-1 On this Amazon page you’ll also be able to read reviews of the book. Unquestionably this is THE best business/team book I’ve found for dental practices!
B. MOVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL – THE MODEL:
In our afternoon session I spoke about what it takes to move your practice to the next level. Based on the research that I’ve conducted over the past 4 years, a very clear model developed that showed what steps it takes to move to the highest level of comprehensive/interdisciplinary dentistry. As review of that model (and in prep for our August meeting) here is the model with accompanying explanation:
http://boswellseminars.com/interdisciplinaryjourney.aspx
Here’s an article I encourage you to read to support the afternoon session I presented … AND in preparation for our August meeting:
Frank Spear on the Interdisciplinary Approach: http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/136/10/1463 In this article Spear talks about the general dentist, Dr. Ralph O’Connor, who founded the interdisciplinary group, Northwest Network for Dental Excellence. If you were at the afternoon session I think you’ll find this particularly interesting.
C. STAFF APPRECIATION - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!
I hear it over and over again … staff want to know that you value them and that they’re appreciated. “Uh-oh”, you may think, ”is she leading up to financial bonuses?!” I am absolutely not! I’m talking about your verbalizing appreciation for the many big and little things that staff do every day. My first question to you is … “Do you SEE those things?” I mean do you actually recognize when your team members are “taking ownership” in relation to their work for your practice?
Don’t assume that they know you see it and appreciate it. They need to HEAR it and it must be sincere. In our meeting I talked about being “in the moment” with the patient. You also need to be “in the moment” with staff and acknowledge to them what they do well, that you saw it and that you think they did a terrific job. This is made all the more potent when you recognize that person in front of the rest of the group, during a team meeting. It not only feels wonderful to the individual, but it reinforces to the rest of the group what you value. You’ve probably heard this before, “Catch them doing something good … and tell them”. It’s always been true and can go a VERY long way to increasing the team’s sense of being appreciated … and will increase their support of you as well!
Here’s a challenge for you … for the next week, make a point of acknowledging the positive things that your team does … and say “thank you” to them. Ask yourself, are you tending to your staff as much as you tend to your patients? Staff respond to this just as much as patients do and these are the people you spend every day with!
D. PATIENT APPRECIATION - THE TIME TO REFLECT!
Many years ago on a regular visit to my own general dentist (as opposed to a mystery patient visit!) I was startled by something the dentist said to me. I’d been to this doctor for 17 years and always felt comfortable with him. He was a relaxed, easy-going man. He helped to ease my fears of dentistry, and there was a good sense of rapport between us.
I sat in the chair, he came in with chart in hand, he looked at me and said, “You know I was looking at your chart and you’ve been coming here for 17 years! I feel like we grew up together!! I just want you to know that I really value your trust and I’m pleased to have worked with you for so long!”
I was floored. First I didn’t realize it had been that long, but I was more surprised that he’d verbalized this … and in such an authentic and meaningful way. I left the office thinking more highly of him and feeling good that he recognized my loyalty. Did this strengthen my good feelings toward him? Yes. Did it increase the likelihood of my staying with him? Yes.
At this time more than ever, you need to be reinforcing the long-term relationships that you have with patients. Not because it’s smart internal marketing, but because it’s the right thing to do. But you better be sincere, you better be authentic, or it could be perceived as patronizing!
E.MANNERS: A BLEND OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
In our meeting I spoke a lot about manners and attending skills and the impact they have on patients. Check out this article for more information: http://boswellseminars.com/articlemanners.aspx