Marketing Monday: Don't be THAT practice

Recently came across this article (scroll down to the 8/11/13 post) in which the author goes through dentists like Kleenex because of the way he was treated at the front desk.  In what will be a series of obvious statements as I go through this, you’ve spent a lot of time and money and put your credibility on the line trying to get patients in the door.  Then, when they walk in, they are immediately turned off by the first 5 minutes of their experience.  You ever walk into a restaurant and have your entire meal be defined by your initial experience with the host or hostess?  Not a whole lot of difference here.

This gives an intro for a perfect Marketing Monday post.  How do you make sure that the patient experience is positive right from the start.  Try to think of it as your front desk person being the host or hostess of a big party.  You need to talk to everyone to make them feel good about themselves even though you don’t have a lot of time to spend with each person because you have a lot of people to which to attend.  A number of folks try to overcomplicate the process (like with a lot of things), but just like any other experience, a productive patient introduction to an office boils down to some basic, simple factors (make sure to stick around for our “melting pot” video at the end of the post):

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Smile

Yes, we’re leading off with most obvious one of the bunch.  You’re in the business of smiles so you’ve read all the stories about how smiles reflect in your voice (in person and on the phone), how they change your mood and those around you and how smiling is simply better for your health.  Think about your happy place or your family or the fact that football season is upon us.  Whatever the stressors of the day, those need to be put to the side to enable you to smile.

Treat each patient like he/she is the only one you want to see that day

Make each patient feel like his/her appearance is something special.  Even if patient X comes in for appointment number 19 of 26 in the process and you’ve got Kate Middleton coming in later that day, let patient X know that you were most anxious to see him/her.  Quotes like “there he is!, the man/woman has arrived!” sound cheesy, but when delivered properly, they can help immensely.  You know how good it feels to be on the receiving end of that treatment.  Turn it around.

Yes, you are very busy, but that doesn’t matter to the patient

Things at the front desk get very busy, especially on a regular patient day, and you have a number of administrative responsibilities on top of that.  That causes you to ignore the importance of those people who are paying the bills – your patients.  Organize the front desk procedures to enable you to handle the administrative tasks on non patient days or slower parts of the day.  Or delegate those administrative duties to some entity outside of your office.  When patients are in the office, they need to have your attention, care and concern.  If someone is walking in or in the waiting area, they move to the top of your priority list.  Remember, they don’t know or care how busy we all are.  They know that they came for some top flight care and want the entire experience to be a 5 star one.

Communicate with the patient on a personal level

Don’t just shove a bunch of forms in the patient’s face and point to empty seats.  No one likes that.  Dale Carnegie became legendary in the world of human interaction in part by reminding us that the topic people most love to discuss is themselves.  Almost nothing feels better that being noticed in a personal way.  So, if the patient is wearing something noticeable like a favorite team jersey or the latest pair of shoes, notice that (keep it clean and wholesome please).  If a major event just happened or is coming up, ask them if they saw it or plan to see it.  As the patient returns, make notes on likes/dislikes to make the communication process easier each time.  Yes, you are super busy and lots of folks want to be seen as soon as possible, but take a minute or two with each person.  You can fit in a lot in that time period.

One other opportunity that offices miss is the chance to communicate while patients are waiting.  Be observant and notice people that might be waiting for an extended period of time.  Check on them to ensure they haven’t been forgotten and that they are important to you.  If things are slow enough, you could even offer coffee (yeah, I know, but work with me here) or something else to make the waiting experience more comfortable.

Dress yourself and the office

Certain things are quite obvious.  Everyone should be clean and dressed professionally.  This is a doctor’s office, after all.  But past that, take extra steps.  Yes, you probably know about the movie Office Space and the send up it does on pieces of “flair.”  But clever buttons with sayings, promotions or other communication starters get the conversation going.  Hats and other OSHA approved gear also relax people and let them know that you don’t treat their situation with the intensity of an episode of Breaking Bad.  That helps to relax everyone.

Make sure the office looks the part too.  If you are in Tuscaloosa, AL and your office doesn’t somehow reflect the Crimson Tide’s recent football success (begrudgingly noted as an LSU fan), you are definitely way behind the curve.  Decorating for the season is a clear one.  If you are running a promotion, make it an event with posters, balloons and the like.  Add some life to it beyond just a sign at the front desk.

Aside from a rude staff, nothing could be more of a turnoff than a drab, depressing front desk area with no conversation and some zombies staring forlornly at a tiny standard definition TV in the corner.

Have the right person greeting patients

We’ve spoken about this before.  Certain people fit certain roles better than others and this is an important one to have right.   If you have someone who prefers numbers to people and spends his/her day bludgeoning insurance companies into making payments on time, that may not be the best person to have at the front desk.  That’s not a criticism of the bludgeoner.   Some people are better at personal interaction that others.  That’s who should be up there.  You want people to feel great about themselves and go to the treatment area feeling like they are in the middle of a fun experience that they don’t want to end.

We wrap it up with a video presentation with 2 parts.  The first describes how to do greet patients the correct way and the second part has the incorrect way.  In what is a first for us and possibly the industry, this video was shot in one of our offices in Barcelona using Spanish staff with a Japanese voice over and English subtitles.  We like to have a little for everyone.  Despite the possible language barrier, I do think that you'll be able to pick up on the body language and intonations to get a feeling for what we are talking about here. Enjoy!