Küster Dental Blog

Posts Tagged ‘cancellations’

Reflect on 2011 to Have A Better 2012

Posted on: December 19th, 2011 by admin No Comments

As a small business owner it is important for dentists to look back at this year that is coming to a close and see where improvements can be made in order to grow the business in 2012. While Practice Management means different things to different people, at the end of the day how we run our businesses ultimately dictates what kind of success we’re going to have. Will we be able to reduce cancellation rates in 2012? How about improving on the patient experience – and just how are we going to design the office to achieve this?

My friend Kevin Eikenberry recounts the reasons why quite well, in his blog, “How Reviewing This Year Will Improve Your Results Next Year.” I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

 

Taking Time to Slow Down

Posted on: November 26th, 2011 by admin No Comments

Today I’m on the train. Normally, I drive when I go to the Wisconsin office, but today I decided to slow things down and take the train. As I sit here watching out the window, I have the luxury of being able to see all of the rich beauty and textures that characterize the rural landscape and small towns that we pass through. This is not something one really has the opportunity to witness when behind the steering wheel hurtling down the interstate at 70 mph.

It is amazing how soft the whistle of the train I am on is from inside the coach.  I know that outside the sound is much louder.  The insulation and sound baffling of the coaches is truly amazing.

We pass a hunter in his blaze orange cap waiting patiently in a tree for a deer to walk by.

While the design of a rural dentist office may be different from that of its urban cousin, both need to be comfortable and inviting to the patients that frequent them.  The interior design needs to welcome them in and assure them that they are going to receive the best oral health care – that they are not going to be tortured or have to endure extreme pain.  Dentistry in the 21st century has come a long way, yet so many people still fear the trip to their dentist.  It is the job of the office design to help communicate competence yet comfort at the same time.

Next time you get to the office early or happen to be staying late, slow down and take a few extra minutes to walk through the office and really look at your surroundings. Rather than rushing down the Interstate of life, sit in one or more of the chairs in the reception area and look around.  What do you see?  How do you feel?  Are you comfortable?  Do the colors, textures, and lighting make you relax, or do you just feel like you’re in a healthcare reception area?  If you were thirsty could you get something
to drink such as a bottle of water or cup of coffee?

Now, get up and walk through the restroom.  If you’d broken your leg and were in a cast, would you readily be able to navigate the restroom?  How about if you were in a wheelchair?  So many of the older offices I visit do not have restrooms that are accommodating to those with disabilities, whether short term or permanent.

Lastly, hop up in one of your exam chairs.  Lean back. How comfortable are you?  Is there a glaring light in your eye from overhead? Can you honestly relax or are you on edge feeling like you are about to fall out of the chair?  Unfortunately,
this last case is one that I find far too often.  How can we as industry professionals expect patients to relax and feel comfortable for their exams and treatments if they feel like they have to hold themselves in their chairs to keep from falling out?

I realize that we are now in the midst of one of the craziest and most hectic times of the year, but try to slow down for a few
minutes and pay attention to your surroundings. By looking at your dental office through the eye of a patient, you just might find the source of your cancellations and missed appointments.  The lack of soothing colors and textures, just like the landscape from the train, really does have a negative impact on your bottom line.

Relaxing Can Translate into an Improved Bottom Line

Posted on: November 22nd, 2011 by admin No Comments

I love lying in bed of a morning and listening to the rain during a good thunderstorm.  I find this to be one of the most relaxing things in the world. While I don’t actually sleep, my whole body relaxes and I just don’t want to move.  It truly is an amazing sensation, and thus, one of my favorite things.

What are some of your favorite things that help make you relax?  As a dentist and owner of a dental practice are any of these things something that you can use to build an interior branding message around?  Perhaps you really appreciate sipping a good cup of coffee or tea and reading the daily New York Times in a leather wing backed chair? Or, perhaps you really relax when you have a manicure? Either of these are things that can be the start of building a strong interior branding message for your dental practice.

The key to the message is twofold.  First, you want to pick a message that sets your practice off from your competition – one that is unique to you and reflects who you are as a person and business owner.  Second, you want to pick something that helps people to relax.  We are all aware of the anxiety that so many people face when visiting their dentist.  This is why so many people cancel
appointments and avoid getting regular dental care.  If through your interior branding message you can help people become more relaxed, they are less likely to cancel their next appointment, tell their friends and family about the positive experience they’ve had, and become a regular patient rather than just a casual one.

Once you’ve settled on your “theme” for your interior brand the next step is to begin incorporating this into the interior design of your dental office.  It may be as easy as buying that leather wing backed chair, subscribing to the New York Times, and keeping a pot of good coffee brewed throughout the day with a collection of stoneware mugs for patients to use.  Or, you may be able to section of space reclaimed from transitioning to EMR to bring in a nail tech to provide manicures onsite.  The key is to
look for little ways to start incorporating these relaxing touches sooner rather than later.  There is no reason to wait until you relocate the office or have a major remodel done.  Your dental practice will start seeing the benefits of more relaxed, more eager to give referrals, and less likely to cancel appointments patients right away!

Dental Peer Groups Now Forming!

Posted on: September 13th, 2011 by admin 2 Comments

Being in business for oneself can be tough.  As a dentist this is especially true as you work to take the best care of your patients as possible and still work on the myriad tasks necessary to help your practice grow and prosper.  Wouldn’t it be easier if there was someone you could talk with that understood where you were coming from and share notes with?  Now, there is a solution to this dilemma.

We are now forming a new dental peer group in your area and invite you to join us to learn more about how you can be part of this exclusive group.  This will be a small, intimate group of dental professionals from non-competing markets that will gather four times per
year to share their experiences and seek advice from one another as they collectively work toward building better dental businesses.

The quarterly, full-day sessions will be facilitated by James Kuester, who has 20+ years of experience growing small businesses.
During each sessions members will present their financials, current challenges, offer advice, and hold one another accountable to their stated goals and objectives for their practices.

To learn more about joining the Midwest Dental Peer Group, please join us for an informational breakfast on Friday, 14 October from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Indiana Design Center, 200 S Rangeline Road, Carmel, IN.  Please RSVP to Laurel at 866.904.6631 ext 5
or by email to james@kusterdental.com.

If you are interest in learning more about the dental peer group in your region, please contact us.  Each group is limited to six, non-competing dentist and the space will fill fast.

How A Positive Client Experience Overcomes Convenience

Posted on: February 15th, 2011 by admin No Comments

Over the weekend my sister related a story about the client experience differences between the doctor she’s been going to and a new one she decided to try. While she’s always been happy with the doctor that she’s been going to for nineteen years now, ever since my youngest niece was born, her clinic is an hour drive from my sister’s home. So, after years about hearing from a couple of her friends about how great their doctor is coupled with her clinic being located in the same town where my sister and her friends live, my sister decided to schedule her annual exam with the local physician and give her a try. The decision to make this change did not produce a positive client experience.

First off, it took over six months to get an appointment with the new physician. While my sister tends to live a rather full life, she reluctantly agreed to this delay even though it meant having to schedule the appointment during the school year where she’d have to take a day off work rather than during the summer as was her original intent. While it is nice to be busy, perhaps if one is having to schedule appointments six months out a change needs to be made to the business to be more receptive to business demands.

Secondly, and this is the real heart of the client experience encounter, the clinic where my sister had been going for nineteen years always provides plush cotton robes and slippers to wear during the exam. When one has to disrobe, especially during a cold, Wisconsin winter, it is nice to not freeze while waiting for one’s exam and moving from room-to-room. The new clinic provided tissue thin, paper gowns for this purpose. Not surprisingly, my sister froze during the entire experience.

Now, every practice needs to keep an eye on costs, but while doing so, the less tangible costs are as important if not more so than the obvious tangible ones of the cost of robes and laundering versus disposable paper ones. Based on this client experience my sister will be returning to her traditional physician and endure the hour drive each way for her exams as the closer proximity just doesn’t measure up to the superior client experience.

Kicking Off 2011: What Are You Going to do to Make it Great?

Posted on: January 13th, 2011 by admin No Comments

Well, the New Year is upon us and everyone has had at least a week to settle back into their routine following the holidays. While I’m not one really for making resolutions, what are you going to do this year to really make your dental practice move to the next level? When was the last time you updated your business plan? How about your marketing plan or your succession plan? Do you have a business continuity plan? When was the last time you updated your physical office space with a fresh dental office design? Do you have a sustainability plan in place? Have you taken note of what your patients think about you and your practice by conducting a survey of your existing patients? What is your technology plan and what new advances do you need to incorporate to remain state-of-the-art? As 2011 gets rolling now is the time to be thinking about all of these things in order to make sure your dental practice, your business, has the best year possible.

Taking just one of these today, let’s talk a bit about your dental office design. Now, I can’t promise you that I fresh look is going to put you into Travel & Leisure’s “World’s Coolest Design Destinations,” but you definitely want your office to make the list of world’s coolest dental office design destinations. Why? You’re dental office speaks volumes about you, your staff, and how you treat your patients. Beyond the treatment they receive in the exam chair, the physical space and the interaction with you and your staff from beginning to end define the client experience and means the difference between coming back and telling one’s friends and family about you. With a Top 10 Dental Office Design Destination you’ll undoubtedly have clients talking and spreading the word about you.

Sometimes A Picture Really Is Worth A Thousand Words

Posted on: November 12th, 2010 by admin No Comments

Reception Area

This morning I taught a seminar with Starla West on, “How to Get More Patients and Keep Them Coming Back – Lowering Your Attrition Rate by Proactively Managing the Patient Experience.” As part of the seminar we were discussing the use of color, light, and texture and their role in designing the physical aspects of the patient experience.

As I said, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. This single shot captures the interplay of color, in the walls and artwork and furnishings; light, from the windows, table lamp, ceiling lights, and pendants; and texture, in the fabrics, carpeting, artwork, and casework. The three elements all combine to create a physical environment that is welcoming, comfortable, professional, and tells the patients that they are valued. This is the goal in dental office design and in designing the patient experience.

How to Get More Patients – Answer The Phone!!!

Posted on: November 5th, 2010 by admin No Comments

Next Friday, 5 November, Starla West and I are teaming to present a seminar on, “How To Get More Patients And Keep Them Coming Back.” Well, one thing I can say for sure is one needs to answer the phone! Forget great design and traffic flow, referral tracking, or any of the other great tips and techniques we’ll be training on next week. Just learn how to pick up the call.

As part of our efforts to invite dentists and their office managers to attend the seminar next week, we’ve been calling select dentists to make a personal invitation. Over half of the offices we’ve called don’t answer the phone. Some of these we get a recorded greeting, such as, “Our office hours are Monday thru Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If you are calling outside of regular office hours, please leave your name and number and we’ll return your call when we return.” Hello! I’m calling during regular office hours. Why am I getting this message?

What if I had just had oral surgery performed and am having a problem? Does this message engender a level of trust and confidence that I’m going to get the care and attention I need?

Or, how about this one? “We’re busy seeing other patients right now, please call back later.” Great! The other patients are more important than I am. Why should I keep calling back to try to catch someone answering the phone? If you want my business or want to keep my business as a patient you won’t have an answering system that makes me feel like a second class citizen.

Obviously, the dental offices that have such messages need to attend Starla and my seminar next week. Unfortunately, they’ll never answer the phone to learn about it. Wonder how many patients they are losing every week for the same reason.

Keep More Patients, Clean the Restroom

Posted on: November 1st, 2010 by admin 1 Comment

Have you ever been out someplace and walked into the establishment’s restroom only to immediately have your skin crawl with how poorly they clean and maintain it? When this happened didn’t your impression of the business you were visiting immediately drop? I know mine sure does when this happens. It is such a universal reaction I’ve never understood why any business owner or manager would ever let this happen. No matter how positive of an experience I may have been having, my impression and my experience has now been diminished and I am less likely to return or recommend my friends and family visit.

Yes, one could claim that this happens far more often in restaurants and gas stations than it does in dental offices, but does it really? Don’t we visit restaurants and gas stations more often than we visit the dentist? As a dental office designer I probably have more opportunity to see dental office restrooms more than the average patient who only visits their own dentist twice a year, and I can tell you there are some pretty disgusting dental office restrooms, too. And, just like their restaurant and gas stations counterparts, many are not friendly to the disabled in our population.

Retaining patients and growing referrals is much more about designing a positive and memorable patient experience than it is about the technical expertise of the dental work being done. Patients, just like patrons to a restaurant, want to feel good about their overall experience visiting their dentists. They want to feel welcome, wait in clean and attractive reception areas, sit in comfortable and ergonomically friendly dental exam chairs, have their business transaction occur in privacy, and when needed, visit clean and sparkling restrooms. When this happens they assume that the quality of treatment they are receiving is top notch.

So, when you get to the office today take a close look at the restroom. Does it make the kind of statement about you and your dental practice that you would like for it to? If not, how come?

Designing the Patient Experience

Posted on: October 29th, 2010 by admin No Comments

As much as we’d all like to think being successful as a dentist, or any profession for that matter, is all about having great knowledge and skills, so much of whether a small business is successful is in the marketing. After all, a dental practice is nothing more than a small business that specializes in dental care. I tend to think of dental offices as most closely aligned with optometrists, chiropractors, and veterinarians, as they are all medical related, but from the need to create positive patient experiences, they are not that far removed from hair salons, day spas, restaurants, and B&B’s where the aesthetics and the client interaction are intertwined in creating a distinct patient experience and brand image.

If you walk into a dental office where the upholstery is torn, the walls have dings, the carpeting is worn, and there is a strange odor, are you going to think that the dentist and the staff are at the top of their game in terms of technical skill? Even if you seem to have a good experience in the dental exam chair, how confident are you going to truly feel that everything was done correctly and that the staff is well versed on the latest advances in dental practices and procedures?

All too common also is the reception area where the staff is hidden behind glass doors and patients are left standing for several minutes to check in. This glass barrier gives the impression that the staff has to be protected from interruptions from the patients or are too important to take time to great them when they first walk in the door. How long will you wait to be seated at a restaurant if no one is there to greet you when you walk in? I’ve been left standing at the reception desk in dental offices for 10 minutes or more while the staff completes a phone call without any acknowledgement of my presence at all.

Again, having strong technical skills is important, but they are only a part of what goes into making one’s dental practice successful or not. Paying attention to and designing a sound patient experience goes a long way toward retaining existing patients and encouraging them to refer their family and friends to the practice.