A Trip to the Dentist from the Patient's Perspective
The success of any business is linked with good service and making the customer happy. This focus on service is no longer seen as mere courtesy, but rather has become an expectation of the patient. Why deliver anything but high-quality service, especially for self-pay patients?
Good service begins with the reception, where the first contact between the patient and personnel takes place. The patient observes very clearly how he is approached, how he is spoken to, and how he is attended to at the very beginning of the treatment. It is natural for patients to feel a strong individual relationship to the occurrences and happenings in their surroundings. Thus, the receptionist plays quite an important role. Her well-groomed and friendly appearance should be the patient's first positive impression of the dental practice.
A patient must be greeted politely as if he were a guest, not as if he were an annoyance in the office. Letting the patients simply wait in reception area is a terrible faux pas, which could permanently tarnish the patient's overall impression of the dental practice.
Unfortunately, some kind of waiting time before the treatment is normally unavoidable. Yet every patient expects that he will not be completely left alone for this period, but rather that he will be taken care of. Information regarding how long and why he must wait should absolutely be made available to the patients. Otherwise the patient may grow angry. Without this information, the patient might quickly jump to the conclusion that the office is poorly organized.
The ambiance of the waiting room is also vigilantly observed by the patients. Tension before a dental treatment can be so extreme that some patients will overreact to the smallest details. A water dispenser for parched throats, relaxing background music to calm the nerves, and possibly a television to fight boredom – it can truly be simple to produce a pleasant waiting room environment!
The time spent in the dentist's chair is the climax of every dental appointment. The professional ability of the dentist is obviously the largest deciding factor in winning over the customer. But it's just not that simple. There are tiny details that a discerning patient uses to decide if he feels comfortable with "his" dentist. Is the patient a small part of the daily practice routine or does the entire practice revolve around him, even for just that half hour?
The dentist should greet the patient with a friendly handshake; unfortunately, this simple nicety is often forgotten. Sometimes the patient is already lying in the dentist's chair, when the dentist (possibly with dental mask) first makes contact with the patient. Without a doubt, communication is the bread and butter of a successful treatment. The patient needs to know what will be done to him, otherwise he will feel completely helpless. If the treatment is going to be painful or uncomfortable, it is only fair to inform the patient ahead of time.
Simply put, patients are more than just paying customers. They want to be able to completely trust the dentist and lay back carefree in his chair. Also important is the specialized treatment of phobic patients, who are incredibly thankful when the dentist and dental staff individually cater to them and are ready to invest more time for their needs.
At the end of the patient's (hopefully painless) treatment, he would like to be seen off in an appropriate manner. Properly saying goodbye to a patient prepares the mood and the success of the next visit. The patient should be thanked for his visit, addressed by name, and given a handshake. He should also be helped into his overcoat and the door should be opened for him. Should this individual treatment not occur, the impression might be given that at this dental practice, patients are treated like products on a conveyor belt.
As seen above, the emotional aspects of the dental appointment help the patients decide whether or not to return. Whoever can tune in to the expectations and feelings of the patients, can acquire regular customers and eventually win over new patients. Satisfied patients often give recommendations to friends and family.
Winning over the customer goes further than the treatment itself. A brief telephone call after the treatment is a positive symbolic gesture which every patient will appreciate. Greeting cards communicate to the patient that he is always welcome in the practice. A dentist should feel like a successful entrepreneur, when he is able to win over the largest possible number of satisfied regularly customers.
Many patients must dig deep in their pockets to pay for their visit to the dentist. It is thus a fair expectation of the patient to have a dental checkup that is run professionally by a courteous and friendly staff.
