Does your dental office have a Waiting Room or a Reception Area? Merely a matter of semantics? Perhaps, but then again, if you were a patient which would you rather walk into and spend time in, a place that is warm and inviting and makes you feel comfortable and glad you came, or a holding area crowded with others similarly waiting for their turn?

As part of a well planned dental office design the goal is to create a Reception Area that greets your patients, makes them feel at home, relaxes them, and gets them ready for their treatment time. As part of a well run dental practice you don’t want your patients waiting any longer than is absolutely necessary. If you have patients waiting for very long, there is something going wrong in your operation that needs to be addressed. Of course, I realize that sometimes, things go awry, but those need to be the exception and not the rule.

“But, my patients always bring family members along with them that need to hang out in the Waiting Room,” you say. That may be all well and good, but again, would you rather them be waiting in a cold, sterile pen, like so many cattle waiting to be lead to slaughter, crowded with others similarly uncomfortable or in a Reception Area that makes them comfortable, offers them a refreshing beverage and provides them interesting viewing and/or reading material? Which brings me to my next point.

Whoever thought watching videos of dental procedures while sitting in the Reception Area is a good idea is out of their mind! No one wants to be reminded of possible dental problems and no one, other than perhaps the guy that made the video really wants to see the inside of people’s mouths! Such videos need to be reserved for educational opportunities one-on-one with your patients in a Consultation Room and not shown on continuous feed to everyone in the Reception Area. Seeing these things just builds anxiety in patients.

So, take a look at your dental office and ask yourself, “Do I have a Waiting Room or a Reception Area?” If your answer is the first, perhaps you’ll want to be planning to take a good, hard look at making changes to your dental office design in 2010.

Silly question? Not really. One of the strongest senses we have and one that makes the greatest impression on how we remember spaces and experiences is what those spaces and experiences smell like. Much of the appeal of coffee houses is the aromatic smell of coffee. I know people that don’t even really like drinking coffee that like to hang out in coffee houses because they do like the smell of them.

Think back to when you were a kid and your mom just baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies. What did the house smell like as the sheets of cookies came out of the oven? Isn’t this one of the most pleasant memories you have from childhood? Or, take the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. How often is the smell of pumpkin pie, fresh baked bread, and turkey roasting referenced when someone is describing their Thanksgiving memories? Obviously, the smells of the holiday have as much if not more to do with its special place in the American psyche as the actual flavors and time spent with family and friends.

In crafting a dental office design that builds a strong interior brand for clients it is as important to pay attention to the smells that are created as it is to the color, light, and textures that are used. To create a strong, positive mental image in the minds of patients, we want to engage as many of their senses in the dental office design as we possibly can. The sense of smell cannot be omitted from the list.

So, does your dental office smell bright and clean? Does it smell of antiseptic? How about vanilla, flowers, or spice? What images does its smell conjure up in the minds of your patients? Think about it, “What does your brand smell like?”

It’s a question I get a lot … “How far can I take scripting?”

Of course, there’s no truly measurable answer, but most agency owners fall well short of what’s possible.

By scripting I mean defining in advance what you and your team says in certain circumstances – not unlike writing a script for a play or movie.

And good scripting increases sales, improves client relationships, increases referrals – and more.

The most obvious example is how your phones get answered. Most everyone has a script for that … a required greeting.

You script your phone greeting because you want the caller’s first touch to be positive. And you don’t want to leave that up to the whim of whoever picks up the phone.

That’s great. You’re using a SYSTEM to deliver the client experience YOU want delivered – every time.

But beyond that things begin to break down.

You can also script the best way to gather information, how to ask questions softly, the “conversational level” you expect.

For example, is it OK for your team to say, “Hold please.” Or would you prefer they ask a full question, “Can you hold for a moment, please?”

Each approach delivers a very different feeling to the prospect or client on the other end. YOU should be the one deciding what experience you want delivered.

You define that experience with documented scripts, train your team on delivery and then monitor and adapt, as needed.

Scripts can be taken into more complex areas, as well – like coverage explanations.

Experienced team members frequently forget that the person they’re talking to doesn’t “do insurance” every day.

They start short-cutting explanations or use too much industry lingo. Confused people don’t buy insurance.

Confused people don’t buy optional coverages or higher limits, either.

If you want maximum performance from your entire team, script their presentation of these items.

Simplify explanations, find what works best and make sure everyone delivers it that way.

This increases everyone’s chance of greater success and increases your closing and sales overall.

Naturally, you can’t script every word of every conversation, and you’re not creating robots.

But you can take scripting much farther than you presently think to IMPROVE RESULTS. 

Expand your idea of what’s possible. Scripts systemize your success instead of leaving it to chance.

© Copyright, 2009 by Sweet Spot Marketing, Inc. and Joseph J. Hagan, Jr. All rights reserved.

Today I’m off to talk to graduate students in the periodontal program at the IU School of Dentistry. I always enjoy opportunities to talk to dental students (well, any students for that matter) about design and the considerations that go into creating a good dental office design. They are often surprised to learn that there is more to a good dental office design than pretty throw pillows or nice artwork on the walls.

Now, I’m not exactly sure why they are surprised as they can readily relate that there is more to creating a great looking smile and keeping one’s teeth for a lifetime than just brushing every day. In a society obsessed with image, we carry this obsession over from just having sparkling, white teeth to having great dental offices, too.

This means the office must capture the essence of the dentist and the dental practice. This is the “defining touch” that I describe in my five elements of interior branding. This “defining touch” along with the other elements helps keep patients coming back and referring their friends to the dental practice.

Additionally, the dental office design must adhere to all of the HIPAA, OSHA, and ADA regulations for a safe and compliant workspace. Believe me, there is nothing in any of these regulations that even remotely touches on throw pillows or artwork! Ha!

My sessions with students are often engaging and filled with excellent dialogue. I’ll let you know how today’s session goes!

This past weekend I’ve been working on the paint colors for a dental office design project I’m currently working on. Many may feel this is no big deal; however, I tend to spend a considerable amount of time on this portion of a dental office design project to make certain that the feel and flow is just right. While paint is relatively cheap and wall colors can change easily, not so true of the flooring, lighting, and furnishings that have been purchased as part of the project. Besides, who wants to repaint all the time? Not me!

Colors impact our mood. I think most school kids are taught that some colors are warm colors and some are cool colors. The warm colors (red, yellow, orange) arouse and stimulate, while the cool colors (blue, green, violet) calm us down. My high school used yellows and oranges in the halls to excite us and help us speed from class to class during the five minutes between classes. Then, the classrooms were painted in blues and greens to calm us down and get ready to learn. I visited the school a few years ago and found that the entire school had been repainted using the school colors of blue and white in the halls and tans in the class rooms. Obviously, whoever was in charge of the new color scheme missed the point of the original one. Makes me wonder if kids still make it to class on time?

Back on my current dental office design project, I’m down to just the right shade of beige for most of the walls. “Why is this such a big deal,” you ask? Well, some have more yellow in them than others, so they coordinate with the other tones that are fixed, such as the furniture and upholstery than others. The monkey wrench in this particular dental office design project is the available colors for the vinyl base. I’m not happy with any of my choices relative to everything else on the project. Today I’ll be in search for other base manufacturers to see what color choices they have as options. I’ll keep you posted. After all, not all beiges are created equal!

Last week I attended a seminar on 3-D digital X-ray. What amazing technology! The things that are able to be done with cone beam systems and the improvement in patient diagnostics and care that are possible are simply mind-blowing. Okay, the real engineer geek in me was coming out during the seminar, as I was really getting excited about this.

So, what does this have to do with dental office design? Well, my third element of interior branding is the Application of Technology. In this element we make use of technology to improve the patient experience. There are many ways to accomplish this task and now, I’ve learned about another one that fits the bill. Being able to show a patient, in brilliant, 3-D images, exactly what is going on inside their mouth and with their care can only heighten the level of trust and comfort level they experience under care. An increased level of trust and comfort translates into fewer canceled appointments and more referrals; both of which are crucial to the bottom line of any dental practice.

My job as a designer is to help my clients integrate such technology into their overall branding message. All of the elements need to work together to create a complete dental office design. Focusing too much on any one element to the detriment of the others will leave the branding message weak and vulnerable and diminish the potential returns from the investment made in that area.

While I’m at it I need to put in a plug for Jim Pienkowski from Planmeca. If you have an opportunity to hear Jim speak, I recommend you do so. He is a charming and engaging speaker and he knows his subject matter well. The members of the Indiana Dental Education & Resource Association (IDERA) were able to schedule Jim to speak at their Fall Workshop courtesy of Jeff Paden and the good folks at Midway Dental Supply.

Carter Mario Injury Lawyers

Carter Mario Injury Lawyers, with four offices throughout the state of Connecticut, has an average annual growth of at least 20 percent over the past five years. However, sales were not always strong. In 2002, the law firm was stagnant largely due to low service aptitude. That is when Carter Mario, CEO and President, a person who is passionate about service, decided to buy out his partners in the law firm. “Our service culture had to change in order for us to differentiate from the rest of the pack and to survive,” says Mario. “We adopted a service culture that has enabled us to become one of the fastest growing law firms in the state. Most law firms still do not understand the service nature of our business and really do not understand that people have a choice. We have identified all of the traditional problems within our profession from a service perspective and have successfully branded ourselves as a firm who cares for our clients.”

One of the single biggest complaints in the legal industry from clients is poor communication between clients and lawyers. “We made this the number one priority in our office: Client contact. We guarantee we will return the client’s call the same day or lunch is on us. It is a non-negotiable part of everyone’s job here,” says Mario.

Many organizations attend my Secret Service workshops and have had great success at going back and implementing their own Secret Service systems. However, not many have been as successful and committed as Carter Mario. After returning from attending a Secret Service workshop, the management team at Carter Mario instituted a procedure for capturing information about each client in a format that allows everyone access. They were able to customize the software they use, which was made for attorneys, by adding a “Secret Service Tab.” This tab contains vital customer intelligence, such as preferred refreshment, client’s eye color, birth date, spouse and other family members’ names, children’s ages, hobbies, past vacations, even pet’s name.

The use of personal information literally blows clients away. They use the Secret Service tab to execute what Carter Mario calls “drive-bys,” where a staff member makes a seemingly spontaneous visit with a client who is in the office, just to say hello and say something personal, which is retrieved from the client’s Secret Service tab. Mario says, “By knowing names of their spouse, kids, hobbies, and any other personal nugget, it helps build our client equity. We do this with everyone we come in contact with: claims adjusters, opposing attorneys, judges, court reporters, everyone.” It is not uncommon for a Carter Mario employee to leave the building and go to the deli to get their client their favorite drink. “We have continuously received great responses from our clients, and a collateral benefit has been that our staff members doing the drive-bys really enjoy the responses they’ve received, and it pumps them up,” says Mario.

Carter Mario has a long list of “non-negotiable” standards. Here are a few more examples:

• We are available 24/7
• All clients get a call back same day or lunch is on Carter
• At 8:45 am every day they conduct a “morning huddle” to communicate with staff on the priorities of the day as well as sharing “customer intelligence” on any clients who are visiting the office that day.
• Front desk is never left unattended.
• Any staff member to come within five feet of a client is to smile, look at the client in the eye, and say hello.
• Clients are offered Carter Mario umbrellas during poor weather.

As a business that serves the public, a dental office needs to be concerned with what accommodations are made to serve the handicapped. The accommodations that most frequently come to mind first are wheelchair accessibility in the form of ramps, lower counter heights, and bathroom layout and fixtures. What is often overlooked; however, are accommodations for the visually impaired.

This past week I’ve been working with the folks at Bosma Industries on the design of signage for a current dental office design project. Beyond the purely technical requirements of the signage, the folks at Bosma are a great resource for better understanding the true needs of the visually impaired. I like to utilize them to review floor plans and room arrangements to ensure that signs are placed where they will be most beneficial to someone who is visually impaired. As a person of sight, I tend to take certain things for granted; however, through working with the folks at Bosma, I’ve learned to try to imagine what it would be like to walk down a hallway and not be able to see into the various rooms and immediately know what their function is. Getting proper signage to identify rooms, including storage and mechanical closets, so that someone who is visually impaired can navigate the complexities of a dental office has become a key component of my dental office designs.

Additionally, by designing the signs rather than just going with standard, off-the-shelf signage, I can incorporate a dental office’s branding message into the signage itself; thus strengthening the interior branding message that we build into every dental office design.

Lastly, one additional fact that I’ve learned from the folks at Bosma is that that off-the-shelf signage, since it is produced by people of sight, often contains errors in its Braille. Since Bosma employees visually impaired individuals and they are the ones that proof-read every sign they fabricate, my clients and I can be assured that the signs read the way they are supposed to.

Why all the fuss over Zappos.com? By now you have probably heard countless legendary stories about a company started 10 years ago out of a living room. The goal was to get people to buy shoes online, and Voila! Only a few months ago Zappos sold for over $900 million! All this was done during one of the worst economic recession in decades. Their business was built using world-class customer service — not just relative to an e-commerce retailer– but world-class customer service by anyone’s standards.

Consider this: They sell shoes online, a concept no one ever thought would take off due to the unpredictable and inconsistent size of different brands and styles. But they do sell a lot of shoes online — over 1 billion. Last year their sales were up 20%, and they’ve been profitable since 2006. They have a cult-like employee base of over 1,300 associates referred to as Zapponians, yet they pay salaries often below market rate. The average hourly worker makes just over $23,000 a year. All employees receive four weeks of training. Midway through their training, all trainees are offered a $2,000 quitting bonus.

Jane Judd. Senior Manager, Customer Loyalty, Zappos.com. Presenter at The Secret Service Summit

Zappos is built around one single concept – Deliver “WOW” through service and everyone is brainwashed to execute that. A Zappos customer enjoys free shipping, free returns, and a retailer that always under promises and over delivers. Zappos promises you will receive your order in 2-3 days and regularly sends your shipment next-day air. They also have toll-free customer support answered by a human being 24/7, a personal buying service, and free socks. What made Zappos act like a hospitality company that happened to sell shoes online? Survival! Early on, the company could not afford to spend money on marketing, so the sales strategy was quite simple: Make customers so happy and pleasantly surprised that they buy again and tell their friends. As a result of their success, these staple amenities that exceeded traditional service experiences elsewhere are still part of the Zappos experience today.

In most cases, the ones surviving with long-term sustainability are the businesses that are fanatical about differentiating themselves through the customer experience they deliver.

My favorite customer service models are the ones that are so unique to their industry that everyone else in the industry continues to be like blind sheep and do whatever everyone else has always done. Then you have companies like Southwest, Nordstrom, and now Zappos, who introduce such simple concepts, unheard of in their industry, and dominate even in tough economic times.

By John R. DiJulius, The DiJulius Group www.thedijuliusgroup.com

While at a business networking event in London, I was approached by a man who just started a business (not going to say which one).

At first extremely friendly, he agreed to meet a second time to discuss his company’s design needs.

Very confident of the potential success his fledgling business would produce, he tried to convince me to help market his business in Singapore, and to contribute some resources to his company.

Because I knew we had not properly discussed any equity or pay I would receive for such move, I was partially skeptical although without showing it in my expression.

The following month, communication was bare as he was busy, hardly getting back to me.

We finally agreed to meet the third time. This time, he commented that I’ve not contributed any skills or ideas throughout the time, nor showed any interest! (Oh hello, we’ve not even properly discussed anything regarding any payment or share I would get!)

We then proceeded on to discuss the design he wanted for his business. After I emailed the contract which stated a requirement for a deposit before starting any design work, he did not reply.

I gave him a call to ask what his decision was, and he said he was uncomfortable with having to pay a deposit. He wanted me to create some samples and see if he liked them before paying me.

I said no. He got angry. He started saying how a graphic designer shouldn’t ask for a deposit, and given that he was older, I could feel his wave of patronizing and accusations on me. We both decided not to work with each other, and boy was I relieved!

So what have I learned here?

For someone who ask you to work for him without any conditions of you getting paid, that’s a great clue in knowing how dodgy such deal can be. Thank God for Dragon’s Den! Never invest into something without testing its success in shallow waters first.

If someone asks that you do a job before he decides to pay you on the basis of whether he likes your work, is like going in a restaurant and telling the owner that you will not pay for the food unless you find it good after eating it.

If a someone finds a contract or deposit offensive, you might as well run for your life.

That was one close shave for me, and I’m glad he never ended up as a client!!

One of the most challenging things we do as business owners is hiring employees. Searching for, attracting, interviewing, and hiring good talent is not easy. At least I don’t think it is. I’ve been interviewing and hiring people for twenty years now, and I still don’t find this an easy thing to do. Learning to ask the right questions to uncover a prospect’s true skills, personality, and talents is a skill in its own right. It also takes practice. Not only do the skills need to match, but the person has to fit into the team and contribute positively to it rather than be an irritant that will cause friction and disrupt its smooth function.

As I write so often about the importance of human interaction and its impact on one’s branding and success, finding the right fit takes on even greater importance when considered in this light. Think back to Tuesday’s post and my customer service experiences in Chicago. So much of my frustration would have been blunted had just one of the staff people I encountered taken a positive, “How may I help you?” attitude. Now, I firmly believe that in shaping the branding as part of your dental office design, you need to think about exactly how you want your staff to act and react to every situation, document this, and train to it. One should never expect to just hire the right person that “gets it” without training. These people are so rare that it is like winning the lottery to find one and you may as well assume they don’t exist. The costs of implementing your dental office design will rise exceedingly through repeated hiring and firing if you set out to take this approach rather than the thought out, planned, and trained method.

I’m the first to admit that I’m not good at asking the tough questions in interviews, but what I have learned over the years is to look for people that seem bright, eager to learn, and trainable. Provided they have these traits, along with a good attitude, I’ll train them on all the rest.

Customer service. What exactly is customer service? So many claim to have it or deliver it, but do they really? Over the weekend I stayed at a hotel claiming to be a five star property with world class customer service. What does that mean? Yes, the property was beautiful. It was one of these grand old hotels, with lots of marble, crystal chandeliers, and lots of staff. But, is a beautiful facility world-class customer service? I have to say, “no.”

I had two issues with their customer service, well three, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The first was when I tried to talk with the concierge to find out what special events might be going on in town. She was very short and did not volunteer any useful information. My friend and I was very persistent and I kept going back to her and asking more questions, and she eventually warmed up and began offering useful tips and suggestions, but I thought this was the role of a concierge? I shouldn’t have to drag this information out of her and should get a warm response the first time I ask a question and not on the tenth or fifteenth.

The second issue, and this is my big one, was our room was never serviced. We went out for breakfast on Sunday morning and were gone from the room for about 3 hours. When we returned the room had not yet been cleaned and I needed to shower. So housekeeping would not walk in on me during my shower, I hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. An hour later we were off again exploring the city and I made sure to remove the sign from the door. It was after 10:00 p.m. when we returned to the room after a full day in the city only to find that the room had never been serviced. I was not happy, and called Housekeeping to express my displeasure. Rather than offering to send someone immediately or do anything to make amends for our room being missed, I was blamed for this lack of service by having had the Do Not Disturb sign on my room door for an hour. On Monday morning I again expressed my displeasure during checkout. Again, I was blamed for the lack of service rather than any offer to correct the situation being made.
Now, I wasn’t trying to get a free room, it just strikes me that if this hotel truly offers world-class service, the first thing out of an employee’s mouth should be, “How can I make this better?” or “How can I correct our mistake to your satisfaction?” rather than, “You must have left the Do Not Disturb sign on your door all day.” Blaming the customer for the lack of service, is not world-class service.

So, how are your clients treated in your dental office? When there is a breakdown in performance and a client is not pleased, does your staff respond by asking, “How can we make this right for you?” or do they put the blame on the client by their questions or actions? How clients are treated is a key element in building a brand. Logos, websites, artwork, and colors, all come together to help shape the experience, but when the human interaction breaks down, clients remember this and talk about it. Look at me today writing about my experience over the weekend. No where have I mentioned the comfortable sheets and pillows, or thick bath towels. It is the way I was treated by the people I interacted with that made the biggest impression. As part of your dental office design and interior branding be sure to make time to train your staff on how you want your clients treated. Be sure to role play problems and challenges so everyone knows how to ask, “How can I make this better for you?” Often times, the client will decline any kind of actual monetary compensation, just asking the question and acknowledging that their concerns are valid is all it takes.

Since the cell phone has become such a pervasive part of our culture, has our expectations of courtesy changed? Today I was to meet a friend for lunch. This friend was 35 minutes late for our appointment. He also refuses to buy a cell phone. One of the first things I ever used my cell phone for when I purchased my first one in 1992 was to call ahead when I found myself running late for an appointment. I am one of those people who would rather be 15 minutes early than 1 minute late. Letting the party I’m meeting know I’m running behind is only common courtesy. Sometimes things happen that we cannot control that puts us behind schedule, but leaving someone waiting is just not cool.

Once, I found myself in the reverse of this situation. I was supposed to meet the same friend at my house. Ahead of our appointment I was running some errands in my father’s truck and blew a tire. My father didn’t have a spare and I had to call for roadside assistance. I called my friend’s home and left a message to indicate that I’d be late, but I feared he’d already left for Indianapolis as he lives an hour away. By the time the truck was fixed I ended up being almost two hours late to meet him. Since he has no cell phone I had no way to let him know what was going on. I felt horrible.

This same courtesy extends to our service professionals such as dentists, doctors, and hair stylists. They deserve our respect to know when we are running late for our appointments and the cell phone is the easiest and best way to make such communication.

Now, back to my question. With the advent of the cell phone, have our expectations of courteous communication changed? What did people do before cell phones when a traffic accident left them stranded on the highway making them late? Did those they were meeting just wait patiently, or was there some unwritten rule about how long to wait before leaving? I’ll admit that I honestly cannot remember.

A friend relayed a story to me last week about an incident that happened to him at his dentist’s office. He was going in to see his dentist every two weeks for a series of treatments and had made arrangements with the dentist when he started treatment to pay $500 every time he came in until both the treatments and the bill were paid in full. On about his fourth visit as he was checking in, he was told that the doctor would not see him for his next round of procedures until his account was paid in full. Naturally, this coming as a complete surprise to my friend, there was a bit of a discussion between he and the office manager as to why the sudden turn of events and the demand for payment contrary to the agreed upon payment schedule. My friend wrote a check for the $1000 balance and left. The office manager seemed amazed that he didn’t want to continue his treatments after this confrontation.

There are so many things wrong with this scenario that it is difficult to know where to start. For today, however, I believe I’ll concentrate on the physical arrangement of the office and where this entire discussion occurred as this has a direct bearing both on dental office design and regulatory compliance. According to my friend the entire scene that I described took place right at the check in window in full ear-shot of everyone else in the waiting room. Under HIPAA’s privacy rule, “…all “individually identifiable health information” held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral,” is protected. “Individually identifiable health information” is information, including demographic data, that relates to:
• the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition,
• the provision of health care to the individual, or
• the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual,
and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual.

Obviously, holding a conversation about money and treatment plans in the waiting room in full visible and audible proximity to others is a clear violation of HIPAA’s privacy rule as it relates to, “…the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care…”

This conversation needed to be taken into a private office or consultation room out of ear shot of the rest of the patients. Unfortunately, my friend said that in this particular office, no such private consultation room exists. Perhaps his former dentist should be giving me a call to assist him with a remodel of his dental office so a consultation room can be added to his dental office design before he loses any more patients or incurs a fine for violation of HIPAA regulations?

Karl Zimmer, owner of Z-Success will be introducing us to the world of hypnosis and how it has helped countless people overcome unhealthy behaviors and habits at the September IDERA Membership meeting on Friday, 11 September. Come prepared with questions – ask about your fears or misconceptions about hypnosis and why hypnosis is so effective.

Karl works with clients to improve customer service and trains staff how to reduce client anxiety and fears. His approach dovetails neatly into the human interaction aspect of interior branding and sound dental office design.

Abuelo’s Trader’s Point
5910 W. 86th Street
Indianapolis, IN
317.876.0250

Friday, 11 September
8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Monday I wrote about how it takes a team of dedicated professionals to successfully remodel or build a dental office. Today I’d like to focus on the team that is required to build a successful brand.

Just like in building the physical structure of your office, to build a successful brand requires a host of professionals working together on your behalf. Unlike a dental office construction project there is no particular order that assembling this team takes.

Your brand is much more than just a snappy logo or a great looking website. Your brand is the essence of how people remember you or think of you when they are not in your office. Your logo, marketing and advertising pieces (print material), website, and office interior must all be coordinated to speak a singular message to your audience – your patients and staff. If any of these components is out of sync with the others, then it creates confusion and noise in your message and dilutes the power of all of them.

So, in assembling your team you will need, in addition to your dental office designer, a web designer, and a graphic artist. In addition, I like to recommend a fashion consultant and an operations consultant. Why are the last two important? Right along with what your logo looks like and how good your office design looks, what you and your staff wear also makes a visual impact on your patients. What you and your staff are wearing also impacts how you feel and act in and around the office. The fashion consultant can help in the selection of proper uniforms that blend with the overall branding theme that the team has created for the practice.

The operations consultant’s role is to help make sure that the way your staff interacts with your patients also coordinates with the desired branding message. This is a key point to what I call Interior Branding; so important that I list it second, right behind “Color, Light, & Texture” among the five elements. This team member will capture in the form of policies and procedures how your office team should be interacting with patients and train on these standard operation procedures (SOP’s).

Working together this creative team can design and create a branding message that will set you apart from your competition, increase the number of referrals you receive, and even reduce your cancellation rate. All of which has a direct bearing on the performance of your bottom line.

By Shep Hyken

Presenter at The Secret Service Summit

Shep Hyken

Recently I took my wife to a new and very popular restaurant. This place is always busy and it is hard to get a reservation. On this particular Saturday night they were extremely busy. On our way out I told my wife to stay in the restaurant where it was warm while I went outside to give the parking attendant the ticket to get our car. I then wanted to go back inside to wait with my wife while the valet went to get the car.   One problem.  The doorman wouldn’t let me back in the restaurant. The manager had decided that it was too crowded in the restaurant, so no one would be allowed in until people had left.

I pleaded with the “guard” at the door telling him that I had just come out to give my ticket to the valet parking attendant, and that my wife was waiting inside for me to get her. I even tried to get him to look at my credit card receipt. His response was, “I’m just doing what they (the management) told me to do.”  I told him that was ridiculous. Eventually my car arrived and my wife, being far more intelligent than the guy guarding the door, knew to come outside. As we drove away I told her the story. It was so ridiculous, that we actually had a bit of a laugh over it.

A couple of thoughts… First, I knew why the management of the restaurant had made the request not to let more people into the restaurant. So did the guy guarding the door. The place was crowded.

Second, did management ever think that my particular situation would happen? Probably not.  I’m not referring to me walking out to get my car and wanting to go back in to get my wife. I’m referring to management ever thinking that the doorman might take the request so literally that they wouldn’t let paid customers back in.

Do you or your company have rules and policies that customers might think of as dumb, ridiculous or inconvenient? Do the people you work with understand the concept of the rules and policies, or can they be misunderstood to a point of ruining a customer’s experience? Put another way…

What have you done to get in the way of success?

Bad Rules Part Two or… How To Say No.

There is an old saying, “Rules are made to be broken.”

There are some management people out there that would say this doesn’t work in business. They’re right –- up to a point. When it comes to customers, should there be rules? Of course there should. Some of them may favor the company and not the customer, and that’s okay. However, great companies know how to get around them. For example, Outback Steakhouse has a slogan that is, “No Rules – Just Right.” Do you really think that Outback has given permission to employees to break all of the rules and policies of the company? No!

My friend, Jon DiJulius, just wrote an article about Cameron Mitchell Restaurants that has a service promise that states, “The answer is ‘Yes.’ Now, what’s the question?”

They have removed the word “No” from the vocabulary of their 2000 associates. (By the way, I highly recommend Jon DiJuilius’ book titled Secret Service.) How do they get around that? Read on…

These companies have created a culture that looks for alternatives to rules and policies that could negatively impact the customer. The key word in that last sentence is ‘alternatives.’ The good companies teach or train their employees on how to come up with alternatives to anything that might get in the way of taking care of the customer. For example, a restaurant may be out of something. Rather than just say “we’re out,” the server could suggest alternatives. At that point, they may have to sell into the suggestion, but that is really what they should be doing anyway – especially if it is going to enhance the customer experience.

So, we’re trying to teach our employees to work around having to tell a customer anything they don’t want to hear. This is about being flexible, which I’ve written about before. But, now we approach it with a concept I term the service alternative, which is simply offering the customer an alternative that is acceptable and that may not just meet, but maybe even exceed, the original expectations. Getting there is not difficult. There are several questions to ask that will help get you the answer.

Is what the customer asking for really unreasonable?

Is what the customer asking for going to hurt the company in any way?

Will it compromise profit?

Is it illegal or will it cause harm to anybody? (In this instance it is always okay to

say, “No!”)

What can I give the customer that is a reasonable substitute?

Will this substitute meet or even exceed the original expectations?

This is the thought process that creates a culture where you can avoid the word,

“No.” It is customer focused, versus company or operations focused. Teach employees to ask themselves these questions. Even better, have a meeting and create different scenarios that force a service alternative. Brainstorm them. Publish these as examples in the employee handbook as a guide and primer to having to deal with negative news for the customer.

A recent study of 815 Israeli men has shown a possible link between erectile dysfunction and gum disease. While the percentages do not seem overly high to me, 9.8% diagnosed with mild erectile dysfunction also suffered from advanced periodontal disease while 15.8% suffering from moderate to severe erectile problems also showed advanced gum disease, there appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest a linkage between the two. To better understand how the study was conducted and what these linkages are, read more at WorldDental.org.

Credit goes to Adam Haskew and the August Issue of the Indiana Edition of Doctor of Dentistry magazine for tipping me off to this startling discovery. From Adam’s news clip I was able to learn more from the WorldDental.org site.

Does this mean when we go to our dentists in the future, in addition to Fluoride treatments, we might pick up a prescription for Cialis, too? Will we need to make sure operatories are private in the future as part of a comprehensive dental office design? One can only wonder.

I write frequently here about the importance of one’s branding message and interior branding as it relates to dental office design in particular. The real key to success in branding is to make sure all of the pieces are working together, in sync, to create a consistent message. Paul Isakson says this very well in his post, “Bits and Pieces and Brands, Oh My!” Even though Paul does not reference interiors specifically, an area so many people overlook, I highly recommend reading what Paul has to say.

My thanks to Kyle Lacy for his Tweet this morning on, “When to Fire Your PR Firm” that lead me to Paul’s post.

The Indiana Dental Education and Resource Association announced today that James Pienkowski will headline the Fall Education Workshop on Thursday, 29 October at the JA Center in Indianapolis. Mr. Pienkowski has worked in the dental industry since 1978, and he has extensive training in radiologic technology. He has been a trainer for Planmeca for more than eight years teaching digital, intraoral, and panoramic radiography techniques as well as tomography and 3D imaging.

Mr. Pienkowski’s talk will focus on, “Achieving Excellence in Tomography with the Promax X-ray.” The seminar has been designed to increase the technician’s understanding of the ProMax Digital X-ray and utilize all of its available feature to achieve superior tomographic images for diagnostic purposes.

As more and more dental practices convert to digital x-rays and 3D imaging, this is making a bigger and bigger impact on the overall dental office design. The IDERA Fall Workshop is sure to both increase one’s knowledge of the digital x-ray and 3D imaging, but stimulate ideas on how this technology can transform the dental experience for your clients. Make plans now to attend this exciting event.

When you go somewhere what causes you to want to go? This is the question that I ask myself at the start of each new dental office design project. When related to restaurants there are many factors that enter into my wanting to visit a particular establishment. The atmosphere; are the surrounds and décor interesting and pleasing? Do they generate a feeling of comfort and relaxation? The food; does it taste good? Do I enjoy what I’m eating? The price; do I feel like I get value for my money? The staff; do they greet me in a pleasant and welcoming way? Do they make an effort to take care of me or generally ignore me throughout my meal?

All of these factors, minus the food, are the same for a dental office. The atmosphere; are the surroundings and décor interesting and pleasing? Do they generate a feeling of comfort and relaxation? The price; do I feel I am getting value for my money? The staff; do they greet me in a pleasant and welcoming way? Do they make an effort to take care of me or generally ignore me throughout my appointment?

The above set of factors are all part of creating an interior branding message for your dental office and go beyond just a basic dental office design.

Now, substituting service for food, we can ask the same types of questions here, too. Is my exam and treatment conducted in thorough manner that is as pain free as possible? Are the treatments explained to me? Am I made as comfortable as possible in the exam chair?

Of course, unlike a restaurant one other factor may cause someone to want to visit their dentist and that is pain. Since we can’t influence whether someone is in pain, other than by getting them to come to the dentist regularly, we won’t address this factor here.

When you’ve considered all of these questions and made choices so your patients can answer “yes” to them, then you’ve created an interior branding message and dental office design that will cause your patients to want to come see you. Gone will be the excuses to cancel appointments at the last minute or avoid making them in the first place.

517 years ago today, Christopher Columbus set sail in search of a new route to China. As we are all aware his belief, though considered outlandish at the time, lead to the discovery of the “New World” and untold riches for Spain.
Just a few days ago, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of landing a man on the moon for the first time. When President Kennedy set forth the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade and returning him safely to Earth, many thought he was setting an impossible challenge.

What outlandish goal or impossible task have you set for you and your dental practice? Perhaps it is building your own building or reducing patient cancellations? How about improving your profitability and reimbursement rate from insurance filings? That one sounds fairly challenging to me. Regardless, of what they may be there is a new source of professionals in Indiana all dedicated to helping dental professionals achieve their goals and dreams.

The Indiana Dental Education and Resource Association (IDERA) was founded earlier this year for the express purpose of being a business resource for the Indiana dental community. While you learned how to do wonderful things for your patient’s teeth and dental health, chances are your time in school did not touch on the myriad of things that are involved in running a small business. And, let’s face it, a dental practice is just that – a small business. Whether finding a way to improve insurance reimbursement, a better way of staffing, providing benefits to staff, or reducing patient cancellations through dental office design and interior branding, the professionals that make up IDERA are all dedicated to lending a hand.

Check out IDERA’s website and create a profile. On this site the members post information, news, and tips. You can also attend an IDERA meeting free of charge. The next one is Friday, 14 August from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Abuelo’s at Trader’s Point. Lastly, mark your calendar for Thursday evening, 24 September starting at 6:00 p.m. when IDERA will be hosting a special CE event at the JA Center in Indianapolis.

I look forward to seeing you on Dental Talk Indiana soon and at meeting you at one of the dental events. I know you’ll be happy you checked them out!

After the dental office design is finished, the contractors have all put away their tools and gone home, and the furniture, artwork, and accessories have all been put in place, I really enjoy helping to promote my clients’ businesses. Over the years I’ve helped put on several open houses and cocktail parties where we’ve invited patients, prospects, and the media to come in and see the new or remodeled dental office. These types of events are fun and they really help spread the word that the doc has something new to brag about. And, what is better than word-of-mouth marketing? Nothing in my opinion. Friends telling friends how great your dental office design is and what a wonderful dentist you are goes much farther in building a strong patient base than all the advertising in the world.

Obviously, I have too many clients for me to use all of them for my own personal services. However, that does not stop me from telling friends about them. I do a lot of networking and am always mentioning my clients’ practices to anyone that will listen. Of course, if someone mentions a specific need, a periodontist on the north side of town, for instance, then I’m able to offer up a very specific referral to my client’s practice.

Recently, I’ve started posting video tours of my clients’ offices on my website. I’m very excited about this new way I can share new about my clients’ and their dental office designs. The more I can do to help them grow their practices the happier I am. If you have any ideas or suggestions I’d love to hear them!