Monday Morning Meeting: Show Employees How Much You Love Them, Tip #1

While your primary goal may be to provide exceptional dental care, it’s also important to remember that you are also the leader of a small business. And, as the leader, it’s important to keep your employees happy and satisfied with their work. The saying “A happy wife is a happy life” also applies to your office staff , hygienists, and assistants who are the face and life of your practice.

 All too often employees only hear from the boss when they mess something up or do something wrong. But your employees, like all people, need to receive feedback on their daily performance. And, more often than not, they need to hear more about what they’re doing right as opposed to what they’re doing wrong. Emphasis on positive behaviors will ensure that they continue to do them and will reinforce the good over the bad.

But we know that it can be hard to make time to praise each individual when you’re in the trenches and focused on your own work. That’s why we’ve got some free (well mostly free) ways to show appreciation for a job well done.

Tip #1: Follow up on positive comments from patients or coworkers.

If a patient or a coworker stops you during your day to tell you about something awesome one of your hygienists did, don’t you think they’d like to know about that? Of course they would! And don’t you think it would be good for the hygienist to know how much you appreciate their hard work and dedication to your practice! Of course it would!

If someone has stopped to share something positive with you, that means they were genuinely impressed with the service and care they received. It’s for more common for a patient to stop and complain than it is to compliment. Rather than wasting the comments of your patient, utilize them to inspire your staff member to continue the hard work.

Following up on this type of remark doesn’t need to be anything big. A simple thank you note will suffice. Even just pulling the person into your office and personally thanking them is sure to make them feel good. 

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

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

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 6: Informational Materials

We know that informational materials can be expensive, however they really do set the tone for the type of high-end office you’re trying to brand. Your brochures and booklets show a lot about your office and where your priorities are. If your information materials are out of date, beat up, unattractive, or simply vague, you are conveying the message to the patient that you don’t really care if they understand their own treatments.

Informational materials should be professionally done. They need to represent you, even when you’re not around. They should be clean, neat, informative, and relative to the procedure. They should also be organized neatly for the patients to peruse while waiting for their appointments or in a folder for them to take home with them. Presentation is everything!

Some things to consider:

1.     Do your marketing materials have your name on them?

2.     Are your informational materials informative and up to date?

3.     Are your informational materials located in a place patients can peruse them?

4.     Do they look up to date or current?

5.     Did you create them yourself on your own computer in office?

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

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

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 4: The Atmosphere

If patients can hear negativity at any point during their visit, you need to read this. Patients don’t go to the doctor’s office or the dentist’s office to listen to your office staff gossip or complain. Many patients are already tense from dental anxiety; the negativity coming from your receptionist or hygienists is not going to make them more relaxed. You’d be surprised how much gossip you can hear in a dentist’s office. Gossip about family, friends, co-workers, and yes, even about you doctor. And it doesn’t just stop in your office. Many staff members will frequent local restaurants for lunch… Do you think the people around you don’t know who you are? Think again…

Gossip absolutely has to be nipped in the bud. There is no excuse for it and it’s inappropriate in your office and out of it. If employees are gossiping, chances are there’s no forum for them to complain or vent when patients aren’t around. Implementing a way for them to express frustrations will help eliminate this problem.

Some things to consider:

• 1.     Do employees complain or vent in front of customers?
• 2.     Do YOU complain or vent? You’re the leader here. Set a good example.
• 3.     Do your employees complain or vent out of the office?
• 4.     Do they pick on each other in front of customers?
• 5.     Do they make non-verbal complaints like sighs or frustration noises?
• 6.     Do they back-talk or speak inappropriately to each other or you?

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

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

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 3: The Receptionist

Once your patients enter the office, they’ll be first greeted by your receptionists. They have already talked to them on the phone but this is their first face-to-face meeting. Do you think it will go positively? If you have any trepidation in answering that then you’ve got a problem…

Receptionists should be courteous, friendly, and organized. A messy desk reflects poorly on your office. They should be able to do service recovery (on the spot problem solving) if a patient is unhappy. They should be able to answer phones politely, manage multiple things at once, and do so with a delightful demeanor. But most importantly, your receptionist should know EVERYTHING about the office. If she has to go ask someone in order to answer a patient’s questions, that’s a problem.

If your patients are seeing someone paint their nails at the desk, answer personal calls (you wouldn’t believe what some people talk about at work!), read a book, or gossip with the other staff members… Well, let’s just say it’s time for either a staff overhaul or a serious training session.

Some things to consider:

• 1.     Is your receptionist friendly?
• 2.     Do your staff members gossip in the office?
• 3.     Do your staff members know about the office and are they able to answer questions?
• 4.     Do your receptionists do personal things at work?
• 5.     Do your receptionists follow your dress code (if you don’t have one, get to work!)?
• 6.     Do your receptionists eat or chew gum at the front desk?