This week I want to share with you a little secret that can have a BIG impact on your practice. But I’ve got to build up to it with a little “rant”. Enjoy!

I have to admit that there are a bunch of things that really BUG me. At 39 I’m relatively young, yet sometimes when I repeatedly encounter things that bother me I feel like a crotchety old man.

Here’s one thing that really sends my blood pressure soaring:

“Indifferent Service”

This is a phrase I recently coined that represents 95+% of what we’re all getting nowadays in most service oriented businesses. And if you’re keeping score, dentistry IS a service business.

What is “Indifferent Service”? Well, let me define it by simply saying it is service with indifference, or a complete lack of motivation or passion to exceed expectations in any way. It’s often not “bad” service, but it’s not “good” either…which makes it BAD.

The worst thing about “Indifferent Service” is that it sneaks up on you, most commonly when you or your team is performing a service that you consider as very mundane or routine…maybe even a little boring in your eyes. Problem is, it’s none of the above for your patients, or your prospective patients either.

OK, here’s the secret I promised you.

In order to prevent “Indifferent Service”, you must continually look for ways to do routine things DIFFERENTLY, even if slightly so. That’s what keeps things interesting, even fun. Here’s an example.

Answering the phone, perhaps THE most critical task in your entire practice, can become very boring for those who do it most often. And that’s the LAST thing you want anyone on your team to become indifferent about! Most good dental practices have a decent greeting that goes like this:

“Thank you for calling Dr. Chris’s office, this is Kim, how may I help you?”

There’s really (yawn) nothing wrong with this, except for (yawn) the fact that (yawn) it’s plain, normal, BORING! It’s not bad, it’s just not GREAT. Isn’t that what you’re looking for?

So, change up your greeting a bit to differentiate your practice. How about this:

“Thank you for calling Dr. Chris’s office, this is Kim, I CAN HELP YOU!”

WOW, now that’s a greeting! Just 2-3 words were changed, yet this greeting takes on a whole new feel.

1- It’s UNIQUE
2- It’s ULTRA-POSITIVE
3- It’s CONFIDENT and ENTHUSIASTIC
4- It SETS THE TONE for GREAT SERVICE!

You’re stating that you can help them before they even ask. Like the late great Walter Hailey said: “The answer is YES…now what’s the question?!”

We’ve been using this greeting for over 5 years, and we still get tons of positive feedback from our patients and prospects who call. In fact, most of our new patients tell us that they chose us because of how they were addressed and treated on the phone!

Go ahead, give it a try…work through the initial discomfort of saying something new…and just watch how your callers react. You won’t believe how they’ll perk up when they hear it!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Now’s the time to take your “Shortcut To Success”! You can now “test-drive” Preferred Membership in Dental Insiders Alliance for *FREE*…all the details can be found by clicking here:

www.DentalInsiders.com/testdrive

Can you believe that we are almost halfway through the year? How are you doing towards reaching your goals that you set at the beginning of the year? Are you on track? Ahead of where you projected? Behind a little? Wondering where you put that list? Asking yourself “What list?” Whatever your answer, it’s OK. Don’t focus on what you haven’t done…focus on what you CAN do.

NOW is the time to refocus, redefine, reset and set some more goals. In just 30 days the first half of 2007 will be OVER, DONE, CAPUT. Spend these 30 days “loading the spring” so you can LAUNCH into the second half of 2007 with some serious momentum!

As author and speaker Jim Rohn says, “Every disciplined effort leads to multiple rewards.” Remember also that every discipline effects every other discipline.

So, when you work hard on achieving one goal, it can help you achieve your other goals…provided that you engage in the disciplines and take the actions necessary to achieve those goals.

Are you ready to make it happen? I’ll bet you are!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Join Dr. Larry Brooks of Smile-Vision as he interviews yours truly in a unique new tele-seminar on Wednesday, June 6th. Click the following link for details, and to register:

www.DentalInsiders.com/PowerHoursTeleSeminar

A belated Happy Memorial Day to you! I hope you had a wonderful long weekend.

As you know, it’s my mission as founder of Dental Insiders Alliance to help you grow your practice beyond your wildest expectations. These messages deliver hard hitting content to you that will either reinforce “proper” thinking, or perhaps even open your eyes to concepts you may not yet have considered.

In this message I’ll reveal why so many dental prospects (potential patients) and existing patients ask about “price”… and what you can do about it.

Understanding the concepts in this message could well be worth hundreds of thousands to you in new business for your practice. That is IF you apply them! So, let’s get started.

OK, there are two main reasons why people ask about your fees. First, they are at least partially INTERESTED in BUYING what they’re asking about! That’s a good thing. Think about it. Who would ask how much a crown is if that person didn’t need or want one?

Second, they are often comparing your fees with other dentists’ fees. This is not necessarily a good thing, but that doesn’t mean that it must have a negative effect on your practice…even if your fees are among the highest in your area.

Here’s the “secret”. The more SIMILAR people perceive a product or service to be, the more sensitive they become to differences in price. The same is true in dentistry. Very little if anything is done by ANY dental practice to differentiate itself from all the other practices. Services are listed in ads as commodities, with no explanations that describe those services as uniquely distinctive in any way.

If people perceive all dentists to be about the same (which they DO), and thus all crowns to be about the same (which they DO), then all they have to use as a basis of comparison is PRICE. Hence the famous question: “How much is a __________?”

So what can you do about it? The answer lies in the previous two paragraphs. When you can DIFFERENTIATE your practice from the others in your area, you immediately become the desirable office for those who appreciate and are willing to pay for higher levels of service. Price becomes far less an issue, even eliminated for those who want “the best”.

What differentiates your practice from the others in your area? Aye, that’s the big question that you need to answer. The sooner you and your team determine what sets you apart from the rest - AND actively get the word out about it - the more likely you’ll become the “go to” practice in your area. Best of all, you’ll develop relative immunity to questions about price!

My mission: your success!

All my best,
Chris