Ginny Hegarty

Receiving positive reinforcement is one of the top predictors for success, yet only 39% of employees say their boss does a good job of recognizing and acknowledging their accomplishments. Are bosses falling short or do employees expect too much…? Ghandi challenged us to “be the change you want to see in the world” Imagine what positive change you could start if you began recognizing your boss and your coworkers for the good they are doing. Look for every chance to catch each other doing something great and tell everyone who will listen all about it. I’m willing to bet that you can start a wave of gratitude and appreciation within the practice. Don’t wait for the boss. Leadership opportunities are all around you.
-Ginny Hegarty

This classified ad for a Team Leader is currently on the web:
“You’ll be responsible for developing the team, and individual team members, to meet and exceed customer demand and expectations. The ideal candidate must be results oriented, have strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships at all levels, a passion for excellence, and familiarity with continuous improvement concepts.”

Would you believe that Chick-fil-A is the company behind this ad? You would if you’ve visited Chick-fil-A lately. After visiting a new franchise in our neighborhood, my son Dan called to say, “You have to drive down here, you’re going to love this.” Here’s how I was greeted: “Hello, my name is Josh, may I take your order please?” ..“My pleasure, please come around to the next window where Amy will be happy to serve you.” After thanking Amy for my lunch, she also replied “My pleasure.” Great service, servers who identify themselves and set themselves apart with high energy and above average manners. This was a far cry from the “do you want fries with that” stereotype of fast-food restaurants. I’ve come to learn that Chick-fil-A’s CEO, Truett Cathy was inspired by the Ritz Carlton hotel chain when he chose his restaurant’s trademark phrase, “My pleasure”. Mr. Cathy is dedicated to inspiring others to leave a positive impression on the people they meet. It sure worked for me.

It’s amazing what you can hear in the parking lot outside a dental office. I recently heard a teenage girl say “Mom, I’ve had teeth pulled and gum surgery, I’ve had braces and cleanings twice a year my whole life, but I’ve never felt like such an object as today when I had that filling done. That new girl working on me hurt me and acted like I was invisible.” The young girl then began to cry.

I have to wonder if this doctor was aware of what had happened under his watch. How aware are you of how your staff handle challenges they may face with your patients? How much training time is spent sharing your practice philosophy of care and service? Do you teach your team members how to care for and about your patients? It’s a mistake to assume that clinical competency assures a compassionate chairside manner. When all is said and done your patients won’t remember exactly what you said or did but they will always remember how your practice made them feel. This young lady deserved better.

10. Know Your Patients and Greet Them By Name when they arrive in the office and at every point of contact during their visit. Most practice management software stores patient photos so even a new team member can recognize patients.

9. Engage Your Patients in Conversation. Don’t just confirm their arrival and ask them to have a seat. Follow Walt Disney’s advice and treat patients like they were guests in your home.

8. Honor Their Time. Make it a point of practice pride that patients are seen within five minutes of their appointed time. Your patients will love it and they’ll arrive on time too!

7. Come into the Reception Area to Greet Your Patient – don’t call their name from the doorway! The clinical team can preview patient photos so they recognize patients.

6. Be Aware of Your Tone of Voice. Professional behavior doesn’t mean you need to be dead serious. You don’t want a call for a hygiene check to sound the same as if you were announcing “iceberg ahead.” Patients hear everything so be aware and be consistently friendly and upbeat and involve them in your conversation when possible.

5. Remember Their Special Days. Make it a point to notice if a patient’s birthday or anniversary occurs near their appointment date and recognize it with a cupcake or card.

4. Let ‘em Eat Cake. Have patient appreciation day once a month in the practice and treat everyone to coffee and donuts or cheese and crackers. Make it a party!

3. Celebrate the Holidays. Fill the office with poinsettias in December and Tulips at April and have patients take one with them. They’ll be so pleasantly surprised and will talk about you to their coworkers and friends!

2. Send Cards. Have each team member choose a patient each day and write a personal note about his visit. “It was great to see you today John and to hear all about your cruise to Alaska.” It takes two minutes and makes a huge impact in the community.

1. Call Patients After Treatment. Doctors, many patients have questions after treatment and don’t want to bother you. A two-minute call in the evening will make a huge impression that will distinguish your practice as a cut above the rest.

The biggest irony in the hiring and recruitment process is that just when you are understaffed you have more work than ever to do. Don’t wait until you need to hire to start preparing. Start right now and you’ll reap the rewards and lower your stress too.

Create ads and telephone screening guides for each position in the practice that allow you to attract and quickly sort through the resumes you receive to choose the best potential candidates to invite into the office. Prepare behaviorally based in-person interview guides that will spotlight the candidate who will be the best fit for your practice.

Check out our Resources for Managing People Well at www.ginnyhegarty.com A hiring system along with interview and training guides are all ready to go.

Our client, Dr. Bill Linger had this to say “Don’t hire or train another employee without these guides! We’re blown away by how this system has transformed the way we choose and train new employees. With this approach you can immediately separate the winners from the pretenders. We’re saving time, we’re making better hiring decisions and there’s no more baptism by fire for our new hires. This system is terrific.”

Do you have a philosophy of care that encourages all patients to stay active with their preventive care? If so, engage your team to bring this focus to life. Set a guideline that the team will check the hygiene status of every patient who calls the practice and encourage all callers who are overdue to schedule their preventive visit. Do this with every caller, every time. View the hygiene status of family members for increased impact. Take it one step further and ask all new patients “Are there any family members I can schedule appointments for today?” If you don’t ask, the answer is always no

A few minutes spent previewing patient care slips (routing slips) the day before their visit will earn perpetual dividends for your practice while raising the level of care and service for patients.

Highlight incomplete treatment so the team will be prepared to snap a digital image of the teeth involved as soon as the patient is seated. This creates a proper sense of urgency so you can then engage the patient in a discussion about moving forward with treatment. Highlight family members of the scheduled patient who are due for preventive care visits so you improve patient retention and keep the hygiene schedules humming.

This is a worthy investment of time that will help you achieve dramatic results to fuel your practice growth.

We all know how true it is, yet when shorthanded it can sure be tempting to hire the skill and think we’ll train the new hire to be nicer and friendlier. Don’t do it! By the time we reach adulthood we’re either personable and nice or we’re not. You either know how to be a team player or you don’t and won’t. Okay, some people can fake it better than others but if you hone your interviewing skills you’ll see right past their charade. Nordstroms has the right idea that it’s the parents who teach people how to be nice. If you want your patients treated like guests, hire the smile.

I returned a doctor’s phone call today and the call began with the dreaded “Dr’s office, can you hold…click” I was then on hold for nearly four (4!!) minutes before being told, “I’m here all by myself, can you call back later?” I wish I could tell you that this was shocking to me. Unfortunately, it happens more often than you’d think.

This phone call and the greetings I received are disturbing for several reasons. First and foremost, every team member should know the value of presenting news so it reflects positively on themselves and the practice. Second, every team member needs and deserves to be trained in how to handle the telephone professionally.

Consider the difference that exceptional verbal skills would have made, for example “I’m currently speaking with another patient, may I please have your name and phone number so I can call you back within ten minutes when I will be able to give you my undivided attention?”

Every phone call is an opportunity for practice growth yet far too often the least experienced team members are sent to the phones. Your practice could be paying a very high price for this error. If your team needs training, check out the Office Magic Book of Scripts and our telephone skills coaching program.

I first read this quote in Pat Croce’s book I Feel Great and You Will Too. Pat Croce is the former owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and an internationally regarded motivational speaker. Mr. Croce was talking about creating opportunities and realizing your dreams when he shared that a family member told him if he never had the courage to ask then he’d never know what could have been. I’m going to turn the tables on this interpretation and suggest that as business owners, you will never know what your employees’ true potential is unless you clearly define what you would like their contribution to be. Your team members need and deserve clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities if they are to reach their potential. While job descriptions may seem mundane and boring at first glance, they are one of your most powerful communication tools. I can tell you that in most every practice I visit the high performers on the team are asking for detailed job descriptions. These high performers want the opportunity to meet and exceed your expectations. If you don’t ask… you’ll never know and you’ll never enjoy the rewards.