Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – The Office

Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – The Office

Have you ever walked into an office and thought, “These guys get it”? Their reception area is up-to-date, clean, fresh. Their receptionist is personable, friendly and helpful. Their office materials are professional and organized. Those are the offices where the staff and doctor “get” that making a good first impression is everything.

However, there are many offices out there that either don’t care or don’t think about making a good first impression. What a waste! Making a good first impression can make or break a patient’s experience in your office. And you only get five chances to wow a new patient.

Chance 2: The Office

We’ve all visited an office where the parking lot was a mess, the front door stuck, the reception area was out of date, and the bathroom was dirty. We bet you turned around and left, didn’t you? So would we. This kind of attitude towards maintaining a clean and efficient office doesn’t reflect well on the kind of doctor the patient is going to be seeing.

It is so important that you have a nice reception area. We’re not encouraging you to go spend $20k on renovations. But we are encouraging you to think about slapping up a new coat of paint, investing in some new reception chairs, and hiring a lawn guy to deal with the leaves in the grass. Simple improvements like this really show that you prioritize taking care of things that are yours and this will reflect on your attitude towards taking care of your patients.

Some things to consider:

• 1.     Is there trash in your parking lot? Be honest…
• 2.     Is the entry way clean, free of debris, and easy to access?
• 3.     Is the glass in the doorway and surrounding windows clean?
• 4.     Does the building smell bad? Even if it just smells like a dental office, you may want to look into fixing that.
• 5.     Is the furniture or carpet in the waiting room old, outdated, worn?
• 6.     Are the restrooms clean and well stocked?

Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – Telephone

Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – Telephone

Have you ever walked into an office and thought, “These guys get it”? Their reception area is up-to-date, clean, fresh. Their receptionist is personable, friendly and helpful. Their office materials are professional and organized. Those are the offices where the staff and doctor “get” that making a good first impression is everything.

However, there are many offices out there that either don’t care or don’t think about making a good first impression. What a waste! Making a good first impression can make or break a patient’s experience in your office. And you only get five chances to wow a new patient.

Chance 2: Telephone

Your receptionist is a patient’s first point of contact at your office.  How they answer the phone, speak with the patient, and conduct themselves throughout the call can literally make or break your office. If a patient reacts negatively to your receptionist, they are less likely to call and more likely to warn others away from calling. This is bad.

Take a step back and evaluate your receptionists phone skills. All PDM sites come with call tracking and recording, so you can easily listen to their ability to answer questions and schedule appointments. If your immediate reaction is one of frustration, imagine how your patients are feeling!

Some things to consider:

• 1.     How is the phone answered? If your receptionist answers the phone “Doctors office”, you’ve got problems my friend…
• 2.     Does a “live” person answer the phone?
• 3.     How long does a patient typically wait on hold?
• 4.     Do you have background information or music while the caller is on hold?
• 5.     How many times is a customer put on hold or transferred during the call?
• 6.     How quickly are calls returned?

Tuesday Tech Tip: Using Instagram in Your Office – Take Them With You

Tuesday Tech Tip: Using Instagram in Your Office – Take Them With You

If you aren’t familiar with Instagarm, allow us to enlighten you. Instagram is a free mobile sharing app with over 80 million users. Owned by Facebook, Instagram is a mobile app that allows users to share photos they take on their camera phones. It’s become a huge sensation and is definitely an easy way to get your brand out there.

You can download the Instagram app, here: http://instagram.com/

This is a use for Instagram that we believe is an easy and useful way to get your brand out there. And, photos you take for your Instagram account can also be shared on your social media platforms. So really, these are tips you can use anytime, anywhere…

Take Them With You

Are you on your way to the AAP meeting? Take your patients with you! Utilize opportunities in which you’re traveling or doing something different with your day to share with your followers. This is especially helpful when you’re on the way to a training class or a big dental conference.

This is also a great way to make a positive impression on your patients. If you’re constantly posting pictures of you and continuing education seminars, meetings, or trainings they’re bound to think you’re just about the smartest, most dedicated dentist out there.

And don’t worry, these photos don’t have to be momentous. Here are the Seattle Sounders waiting for their bus at LAX. Not a live changing moment but if you are a Seattle fan and live in LA, this would be really cool to see!

Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – Website

Monday Morning Meeting: 5 Chances to Make a Good First Impression – Website

Have you ever walked into an office and thought, “These guys get it.” Their reception area is up to date, clean, fresh. Their receptionist is personable, friendly and helpful. Their office materials are professional and organized. Those are the offices where the staff and doctor “get” that making a good first impression is everything.

However, there are many offices out there that either don’t care or don’t think about making a good first impression. What a waste! Making a good first impression can make or break a patient’s experience in your office. And you only get five chances to wow a new patient.

Chance 1: Website

We may be a little biased when it comes to website design but we do know that without an attractive, easy to navigate site, your office is immediately going to struggle to spur a potential patient to call. There is just nothing more frustrating than not being able to find what you need quickly and efficiently. And outdated sites may make patients (especially younger patients) more hesitant to call as it can make your office as a whole seem outdated.

Many clients of ours have had sites that they were very proud of. However, it was evident that the doctor had written the content on the site because the content was so thick with jargon that no patient could possibly understand it. If you are writing above your patient’s understanding of dentistry, they’re going to feel talked down to and you’re going to loose them.

We know that building your current website was most likely a time consuming and expensive undertaking. However, it is imperative that you keep up with the advances in technology and design. Take a good look at your site and try to consider how a potential patient would see it. Things to consider:

• 1.     Is the look of the site current or outdated?
• 2.     Is the content easy for a patient to read and understand?
• 3.     How easy is it to navigate? Can you find the information you need quickly?
• 4.     Are there any pictures or videos on the site to make it visually interesting?

Tuesday Tech Tip: Using Instagram in Your Office – Show Them Your Office

Tuesday Tech Tip: Using Instagram in Your Office – Show Them Your Office

If you aren’t familiar with Instagarm, allow us to enlighten you. Instagram is a free mobile sharing app with over 80 million users. Owned by Facebook, Instagram is a mobile app that allows users to share photos they take on their camera phones. It’s become a huge sensation and is definitely an easy way to get your brand out there.

You can download the Instagram app, here: http://instagram.com/

This is a use for Instagram that we believe is an easy and useful way to get your brand out there. And, photos you take for your Instagram account can also be shared on your social media platforms. So really, these are tips you can use anytime, anywhere…

Show Them Your Office

This is probably the easies to do because none of these photos have to be incredibly exciting. You are seriously only taking photos of a-day-in-the-life of your office staff. Take photos of work areas, treats a patient brought in, staff meetings, training sessions, employees at lunch, etc. Your possibilities and ideas in this category should be endless!

If you really wanted to make this more organized, you could ask a different staff member each week to do a day-in-their-life at your office. Different team members are going to do different things each day, so this will allow for a bit more variety and a personal touch.