The following is a quote that I noticed while reading a recent trade magazine.  It was contained within an advertisement by a dental appliance manufacturer whose product was being touted as something that would sharply improve the quality of a dentist or orthodontist’s clinical results.

“It’s important to remember that your patients’ results will determine your reputation in the marketplace.”

I was going to save this for a future email and had a different topic in mind for today’s email blast but just this morning Betty, my wife and a consultant as well, received an email from a client who had received a letter of praise from one of his patient’s parents.  Considering the point of the above quote I thought you might find this email thread interesting.

Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 10:41 AM
To anne@xxx
Subject: Jessica’s Phase I Payment

Hi Annie!

Hope you are having a great Wednesday.  Thanks for being such a bright light in our Tuesday and in what could’ve been a scary appointment for Jess.  It was so nice chatting with you, and you definitely put my girl (and myself) at ease.

I’ve had time to talk to Chris about our intentions re: payment for Jessica’s Phase I of treatment with Dr. X.  We’ve decided to pay in full, to get the discount, but also to earn some incentives on our American Express card.

I can pay in full when we come to our April 28th appointment, or I can do it over the phone earlier, if you’d rather.  We’d just prefer to wait until after this month’s billing cycle on our card, which turns over on April 10th.  Either way is fine with us!

Thanks again for all your help and your patience while we figured the financial side out.

Sarah X

Hi Betty,

Two things,

I can’t think of a better example of a letter from a patient that says that a T/C is performing at an exceptional level.  Your coaching and systems have been an integral part of all of that and I thought you would appreciate seeing this.

Also, I think this letter captures the essence of what you and Paul preach.  There is no way a letter like this happens without all of the Zuelke systems in place to allow a patient to be comfortable enough with the relationship to the office (after only her first new patient visit) to write a letter like this.

I just wanted to pass this on for you and Paul to see.

Sincerely,

John

John,

Thanks for sharing the letter plus your thoughts.  Yes, this is the essence of what we teach and it is awesome for you and your team to get this sort of reaffirmation as well.  This is the exact type of individual you want singing your praises, so market in the direction to get more new patients just like her!!

Betty

So, my point of putting this e-mail thread into this email newsletter is to remind you that your clinical excellence is only a very tiny part of what creates your reputation in your market area.  Jessica’s mom had not the slightest idea if Dr. John’s clinical skills are any good or not.  She made a decision to start treatment in his office, not because of his clinical excellence, his fancy office, or his digital technology, but rather because of how she was handled during the new patient exam, which certainly includes how she was prepared for that exam by the administrative person who took the original new patient phone call.

Fast forward a couple of years and now Jessica’s Phase One treatment is complete.  Mom does not actually realize what growth patterns have been improved, or prevented, to prepare her daughter for her braces.  She only knows of how her daughter has been handled by the practice team and how she, the mom, has been treated during the course of her daughter’s early phase clinical care.  The decision mom makes about another phase of treatment, and more important the decision she makes regarding how she speaks about the practice to her relatives, neighbors, and friends, is not based on the clinical excellence of the doctor but on her personal experience of the practice for the past year or so.

So, for all you doctors whose messages on hold, and other forms of practice promotion, promote your clinical excellence or the superiority of the clinical appliances you use, and/or for all of you whose marketing message revolves around your education, the fact that you graduated “at the top of your class,” went to the finest school, or operate with the best sterilization techniques, most of that means nothing at all to any but the smallest percentage of the patients and parents who contact your office.  They assume you know how to give them a beautiful smile!  What they want to know is whether or not you are going to take care of them properly while they or their children are in the process of getting that beautiful smile.

Little of what you tell them will be believed.  They will trust only in their experience of you!  Was everyone, on the phone or in person, friendly and accommodating?  Are you on time, always?  Does the child, and the parent, enjoy the clinical assistant as well as how they were handled by the administrative staff?  Were financial arrangements flexible and designed to fit the patient/parent’s situation?  Etc., etc.

Jessica and Jessica’s mom, Sarah, were obviously handled quite well.  Do the new patients who leave your office after their new patient exam have the same attitude and appreciation of your practice, your practice policies, and your staffing as did Jessica’s mom?  It is those things, and not your cone beam or your clinical excellence, that will determine your true success in the business of dentistry/orthodontics.

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