This week my car needed servicing. For me, servicing my car has always been a royal pain the backside! It takes up a whole day; dropping the car off and then picking it up again afterwards.

Now I have a different make,  I was pleased this week to discover the difference between the service that BMW offer compared to VW.

First up a confession: the service light came on three weeks ago but I just hadn’t got round to calling! On Monday – knowing i was driving to Cornwall on Friday I thought, ‘last-minute Laura strikes again, better get it serviced!”

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I called and they asked me if i would prefer to leave the car with them all day – in which case they would drop me off and pick me back up – or would I like to wait while it was serviced? They can book designated times and my car would be attended to at the reserved time.

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While I was saying “ummmm” she told me of the services they have to offer while i wait – free Wi-Fi, refreshments – tea, coffee and cold drinks, newspapers and magazines. So i decided to try out this option.

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I have to say I was impressed. My car was taken swiftly, I had a cup of tea, was asked by the team if I would like more drinks, had a choice of seats (I chose the table and chair so i could work from my Macbook).

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But what impressed me most was that they told me the service would take 90 minutes.

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At 11.25am I thought ” 5 minutes left” and just as I did the lady walked up to me and told me car was ready, clean and I was free to go – another company delivering and meeting my expectations!

Not only had my car been serviced it was lovely and clean and all of this in less time than they promised!

This blog post is about exceeding expectations.

First, I have to confess to being a lover of Domino’s pizzas – they are my guilty pleasure!

In the past I have complained about Domino’s on Twitter and have had responses and even received free pizzas from them! I haven’t complained about big things. One example would be that I ordered extra honey and mustard dips and didn’t get them – I got a free pizza for that and 8 dips turned up with my next order!

The thing i like about Domino’s is that they over-estimate how long your delivery will take. This doesn’t just happen to me locally either. Last week, while staying in a hotel, I wanted a pizza. I hadn’t had one for ages and I really, really wanted one! Again my delivery time was over-estimated and they turned up earlier than they said they would.

Now I have to say that exceeding your customers – or in your case, your patients’ – expectations is essential if you want to have a successful business.

Every time my pizza turns up early, which is every time it is delivered, I am a happy customer – and this is something that Domino’s get right.

(I must point out here that I don’t have a pizza very often as my other half doesn’t like them!)

So in your practice, what do you do to exceed your patients’ expectations? This is something you need to focus on and build into your patients’ experience. This is also where the TCO role comes in nicely!

One example would be running late. I love working with practices and putting in systems to stop this happening; yes I know sometimes it will happen, BUT what’s your backup plan to continue to exceed their expectations and outweigh the negative with a positive?

Exceeding expectations = happy patients’ who tell their friends about you!

Laura Horton

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help

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Laura Horton

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.

As with last week’s blog, my customer service story for this Friday comes from two wedding venues!

If you didn’t read last week’s, I mentioned that the investment for a wedding is comparable to high-end implant and cosmetic treatments that your patients may be paying for at your practice.

On Saturday I went to one venue. We were met at the door and taken in, then introduced to the owner who gave us what I would call an introduction – information on the background of the venue and the team, which really built value.

When he took us to the purpose-built marquee (which was stunning) he focused 100% on the USPs (unique selling points) of the venue –

• Décor

• Lighting

• Position of the dance floor and the bar

• Proudly showed me the bathroom facilities (nice hand soaps and creams)

• The quality of the glass

• The fine bone chine plates

• The chairs and chair covers

• The linen

• The wedding coordinators

You name it; the list went on and on!

He then took us into a lovely room with big leather sofas and a log fire. He made us a cup of tea and also provided biscuits.

We talked a little more about the dates and what we wanted and he helped us to visualise our goals. The owner then left us alone while he went to get a quote for us.

What he did next really made me smile. He handed me a box full of thank you cards which had been sent to the wedding coordinators and my fiancé a photo album of the wedding that had taken place at the venue.

We didn’t have to wait long but both thought the quote would be huge because he had built so much value.  It was less than we expected however, which was great news and we have “pencilled in” our preferred date! He is happy to keep this for a few weeks while we look at other venues but he is confident we will choose his venue!

The one thing I really loved was how he complimented his wedding coordinators and also proudly told us that he pays them an excellent salary. When you’re paid well you work well.

Contrast this experience with the following day where we went to a prestigious venue with an excellent reputation. We were met by a scatty old lady who couldn’t stop talking about her family member who was getting married there (who lives in a mansion).

She even started talking to other people while she was showing us the venue, pointing at children and saying how sweet they were and talking to their parents – how rude!

She also declared to us that she doesn’t talk about money – “the girls in the office do that”. Why is that? Because she doesn’t think the fee you pay is worth it!

That final nail in the coffin confirmed what I was already thinking; no way is this venue getting my money, it’s overrated , has poor staff who are unprofessional and have no people skills and the venue itself is more of a dump than a prestigious Hertfordshire venue!

So who do you have in your practice? Is it slick, trained person (a TCO) who makes your patients feel comfortable and important or a team who have no listening skills and just talk crap to people, while declaring that the fee you charge isn’t worth it?!

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and wow factor examinations. Visit the website today to see how we can help.a