7 Star Customer Experience
Transform Patients Into Raving Fans
What you are about to read could very well double your patient referrals, build raving fans and make your practice the talk of your town.
That’s what delivering the highest level of Customer Experience can do, and it’s one of the core pillars I focus on in my dental practice coaching programs.
Customer Experience has the capacity to make or break a dental practice.
It is quite possible that you have an excellent and competent dental clinic with well-intentioned staff but still face a challenge bringing in clients because of a subpar customer experience.
There are several factors like a long wait, feeling ignored, being rushed around, no proper sitting area/arrangement, or not being welcomed properly that can leave a sour feeling for patients. As part of effective dental practice management coaching, identifying and eliminating these friction points is one of the fastest ways to retain patients and grow your reputation.
Here's a Few Facts About Dental Practice Customer Experience:
- 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain — however, 91% of those will simply leave and never come back. (1st Financial Training Services)
- 55% of customers would pay extra to guarantee a better service. (Defaqto Research)
- The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60–70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5–20%. (Marketing Metrics)
- Attracting a new customer is 7 times more expensive than retaining a current one. (Bain & Company)
- 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. (McKinsey)
These numbers tell a clear story: the experience you create inside your practice is just as important as any external dental marketing coaching strategy. You can drive all the traffic in the world to your practice — but if the in-clinic experience doesn’t match the promise, patients won’t return and won’t refer.
But What Is the Difference Between Customer Service and Customer Experience?
Customer Service means to give advice and assistance to your customers, it is in direct contact with the customer and its main goal is to increase customer Satisfaction. Customer Experience on the other side is the ENTIRE journey of the Customer with you, from the moment they click on the website until the moment they leave your practice.
Customer Service is the contact between your team and the customer. Customer Service does not include Customer Experience, BUT Customer Experience very much includes Customer Service.
Why Do We Need to Give a Great Customer Experience?
In my dental office coaching work with practices across Australia, this is the question I get asked most often — and the answer is simpler than most dentists expect:
- Patients come to know you, like you, and trust you.
- Patients give great reviews and referrals, effectively marketing your practice for you.
- They become loyal to your services over the long term.
- You create a friendly workplace where the main focus is helping your community thrive.
- Backed by practical, real-world experience and extensive research into the psychology and behaviour of both patients and dental teams.
We believe that a structured approach to patient experience – one that sits at the heart of strong dental practice management coaching has the power to generate significantly more revenue, referrals, and long-term loyalty.
There Are 7 Secrets I Teach as Part of Coaching.
Here is one:
1. Offer a wet Towel
Ever been on a plane or in a restaurant and they offer you a nice fresh warm wet towel? It’s refreshing and feels lovely. You know the classy type you get from airlines and high-class restaurants.
Now imagine a patient has just had a cleaning or a filling done. They feel so much better when they can freshen up, wiping their face and hands with a warm towel. It’s a small touch, but small touches are what separate a 5-star experience from a 7-star one. This is exactly the kind of detail I explore in dental office coaching sessions – the micro-moments that patients remember and talk about.
As a BONUS, I also wanted to share how to handle disgruntled patients — because we all encounter them from time to time. This L.A.S.T. Strategy has helped me transition the mindset of a patient from an unhappy one to a positive, loyal advocate.
I hope these were valuable insights into how to make a 7 Star Customer Experience the standard at your dental practice.