Latest / Back in 10 / Episode 18: Secrets to Leaving a Lasting Impression in Dentistry

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Episode 18: Secrets to Leaving a Lasting Impression in Dentistry · Back in 10

• 0:00
  Chris Stone: All right, here we go.
• 0:01
  Here we go.
• 0:03
  The queens of the walkout and the music in 3, 2, 1.
• 0:09
  Jen Steadman: Back in 10 is a podcast for dental leaders who do it all
• 0:13
  and need 10 minutes to themselves.
• 0:14
  Savanah Carlson: It's about real conversations, not curated ones, the
• 0:18
  kind that happen off the clock behind closed doors, and between the chaos of
• 0:21
  running a practice and running life,
• 0:24
  Jen Steadman: hosted by Savannah Carlson and Jen Steadman, two women who've led.
• 0:29
  Learned and laughed through it all.
• 0:31
  Savanah Carlson: This show brings honest stories, leadership truths, and
• 0:34
  the occasional sassy take on what it really means to lead in dentistry today.
• 0:38
  Jen Steadman: Because sometimes the best leadership happens when
• 0:42
  you step away for 10 minutes.
• 0:44
  Savanah Carlson: This is back in 10.
• 0:51
  Hello everyone.
• 0:52
  Welcome to back in 10.
• 0:54
  I am Savannah.
• 0:56
  Jen Steadman: And I'm Jen.
• 0:58
  Savanah Carlson: And if you tuned into last week's episode, we talked about
• 1:02
  first impressions and how to really wow those patients, especially new
• 1:08
  patients when they walk through the door.
• 1:11
  This week we'd like to talk about leaving a lasting impression and how your walkout
• 1:18
  is just as important as walking in.
• 1:23
  Queen.
• 1:24
  Yes, queen.
• 1:25
  I just pulled that out of my ass.
• 1:27
  That sounded real fun and fancy.
• 1:29
  That was so good.
• 1:31
  That was so good.
• 1:32
  Who could have thought we could actually be podcasters?
• 1:36
  Jen Steadman: We started this episode really good, so it
• 1:38
  was a good first impression.
• 1:39
  We need to make sure we end it good on that note too.
• 1:42
  Yes.
• 1:42
  So, okay.
• 1:43
  Agreed.
• 1:44
  Okay, here we go.
• 1:44
  Okay,
• 1:45
  Savanah Carlson: so yes, lasting impressions.
• 1:48
  Let's talk about the handoff from.
• 1:52
  The clinical team to the admin team, and I don't wanna say from the front
• 1:56
  to the back because there's always a war war between the front and the back.
• 2:02
  That.
• 2:03
  It's so unnecessary and doesn't need to be there because Why?
• 2:07
  Because you all
• 2:08
  need to keep on focusing on the mission of the practice and that
• 2:12
  it is about the patient experience.
• 2:15
  Yes.
• 2:16
  Jen Steadman: And it's always about the thermostat, so we
• 2:18
  don't need to worry about that.
• 2:20
  Make sure that the patients are comfortable.
• 2:22
  If you need to have the thermostat lower.
• 2:25
  For your clinical team, have blankets, right?
• 2:28
  That's another thing that you could do too.
• 2:29
  Have something to keep your patients warm, especially if they're in
• 2:32
  your office for a longer procedure.
• 2:35
  That's gonna make them feel comfortable, right?
• 2:37
  So once you, get it, get them all together, get them cleaned up,
• 2:42
  please make sure that patient walks out with no bib, no impression
• 2:46
  material, no prophy paste any signs of any material on their persons.
• 2:53
  And whatever
• 2:54
  Savanah Carlson: appliances they might have walked in with and you put in to
• 2:57
  be cleaned, that they've been taken out and canid back to the patient.
• 3:03
  Yes, please.
• 3:04
  I've seen so many patients running back in being like, I didn't get my retainer back.
• 3:08
  Jen Steadman: Yeah.
• 3:10
  Yeah.
• 3:10
  We'll take care of that, but.
• 3:12
  It's even nice if you give them a new case for it too.
• 3:15
  That's a good lasting impression.
• 3:16
  If you give them a new case every time they come in, it's
• 3:19
  really not that expensive.
• 3:20
  They come in, what, two to four times a year?
• 3:23
  Give them a new case that's not grungy and gross.
• 3:25
  Just add it in.
• 3:27
  So I think that's definitely something that you could do as well.
• 3:30
  But that handoff, your team member, your clinical team member needs to
• 3:35
  physically walk with that patient.
• 3:39
  To the checkout area, wherever that may be in your practice.
• 3:43
  They don't need to like link arm in arms, although that could be fun sometimes too.
• 3:48
  But physically walk out there and get the attention of one of
• 3:53
  your admin team members that is responsible for doing the checkout.
• 3:57
  Sometimes they're busy.
• 3:58
  I've seen offices before that would use like a sticky note
• 4:00
  and we'll put down things.
• 4:02
  Just to make sure that what was in the computer system was what was done.
• 4:07
  Or they would use a routing slip or something like that.
• 4:10
  The biggest thing for me is I want the patient to hear again what the doctor
• 4:16
  or the hygienist just said in the back.
• 4:18
  So if I'm the assistant, I'm gonna come up and say, Dr.
• 4:22
  Carlson, you've been promoted Savannah.
• 4:25
  Dr. Carlson today said that.
• 4:28
  Chris needs to come in and have this done and explain everything
• 4:31
  to them, but it shouldn't be the first time that they're hearing it.
• 4:34
  So when they're hearing it multiple times, it's showing them the urgency, the care,
• 4:39
  the need to have that treatment done.
• 4:42
  It's not just go ahead, the next patient's coming, just go to the front.
• 4:48
  Right.
• 4:49
  And if you know you're
• 4:50
  Savanah Carlson: gonna be in a, a walkout blitz is what I like to call
• 4:54
  it, just make sure that your admin team knows at, five minutes of the hour.
• 5:00
  We're gonna have four to eight patients approaching the
• 5:04
  desk with the clinical team.
• 5:07
  Everyone needs to be all hands on deck and ready to accept those patients.
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  Not everyone will be, you know, you don't have eight admin team members
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  to go with all those patients.
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  So we had a couple of comfy chairs next to the wall directly
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  across from the checkout.
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  And it was open space too.
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  We could see who was waiting.
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  We, and you don't like to make them wait, but when it comes to checkout,
• 5:30
  there are a lot of appointments that could need to be made.
• 5:32
  But just acknowledge those patients.
• 5:34
  So if your hygienist walks out, Sally says, oh, Savannah's
• 5:39
  with a patient right now.
• 5:40
  I'm gonna let her know that you'll be right here.
• 5:43
  And when she is ready, she will call you right up.
• 5:45
  It won't be more than a minute.
• 5:46
  Mm-hmm.
• 5:47
  Your hygienist will go to Savannah and say, I have Sally right here.
• 5:50
  When you're ready and go on your way.
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  'cause you also don't wanna tie up your.
• 5:55
  Hygienist from going back and cleaning up for the next patient either.
• 5:58
  So there has to be some give and take for that too.
• 6:01
  I'm gonna say
• 6:01
  Jen Steadman: something semi controversial.
• 6:04
  Savanah Carlson: Oh girl, I'm ready.
• 6:05
  Let's do this.
• 6:07
  Jen Steadman: Hygienists I'm gonna say should be scheduling their next
• 6:12
  recare appointment in the back, in their operatory, number one.
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  Number two, hygienists can also do the walkout.
• 6:23
  It is not difficult.
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  If there is no operative appointment that needs to be made, then you can,
• 6:32
  as a hygienist, schedule their recare appointment, give them everything that
• 6:37
  they need, and you could be the one to give them the lasting impression and
• 6:41
  let them leave if everything is done.
• 6:44
  I love that.
• 6:44
  I don't, I don't think that's controversial at all.
• 6:46
  I absolutely agree with that.
• 6:48
  Savanah Carlson: There is
• 6:49
  Jen Steadman: a lot of hygienists out there that do not want
• 6:51
  anything else added to their plate.
• 6:54
  I will say that that is a, it's a big thing 'cause you're adding
• 6:58
  it to their appointment time.
• 6:59
  It is important in my mind that that patient is taken care of and
• 7:04
  there's no need for them to stop at the admin, at, at the checkout area.
• 7:09
  Right.
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  And just have them stand there and wait if they're fine.
• 7:12
  You could also collect payment upfront.
• 7:15
  Instead of it checkout, you should
• 7:17
  Savanah Carlson: collect payment upfront.
• 7:18
  Mm-hmm.
• 7:18
  Unless they're getting a product that they found out about in the hygiene room, but
• 7:22
  Jen Steadman: mm-hmm.
• 7:23
  Your treatment should be collected upfront.
• 7:25
  I'll be controversial again.
• 7:27
  Hygienists collect pay.
• 7:29
  They can collect payment from their operatory too.
• 7:31
  Savanah Carlson: Okay, well I haven't explored that.
• 7:34
  Jen Steadman: There's so many different things.
• 7:36
  So like if there is a toothpaste or something like that, it's
• 7:40
  very simple for them to do it.
• 7:42
  And this is when it's important that everything that's in your.
• 7:46
  Your system that you're proposing for today, that it's as correct as possible
• 7:52
  because your admin team can, should collect it at the beginning of the
• 7:57
  appointment before they even go into the back, go into the clinical area.
• 8:03
  And that also helps with bottlenecks too, if you have eight patients
• 8:06
  that walk out, so that way you can.
• 8:08
  Make sure that all of that done is done prior to, and you're not
• 8:12
  finding out at the end that the patient's not paying today after you
• 8:16
  just did this big procedure, that it can be collected in the front.
• 8:19
  It is a big switch.
• 8:22
  It's a different mindset if you're, if you are collecting at
• 8:25
  the end of the appointment versus the beginning of the appointment.
• 8:27
  But it also leaves a really good lasting impression if everything is done.
• 8:33
  It's, you know, I'm so glad that you have, did you have a great appointment today?
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  We would love a review from you.
• 8:38
  Ask them, how was your visit today?
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  Just ask them how it was.
• 8:42
  I see that you have an appointment scheduled.
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  Okay.
• 8:44
  You're good to go.
• 8:45
  Savanah Carlson: Yeah.
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  Rather than, I'm glad you had that appointment.
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  I hope you feel better.
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  $5,000 please.
• 8:50
  Exactly.
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  It's a tough pill to swallow.
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  It's a tough pill to swallow.
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  I am intrigued by having hygienists collect payment in the back only because I
• 9:03
  prefer to separate clinical from business.
• 9:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 9:08
  Uh, in terms of money.
• 9:10
  Um.
• 9:11
  And leave that, those kind of conversations up to the admin team.
• 9:16
  But I mean, that's a preference thing.
• 9:17
  I, if you have a cross-trained mm-hmm.
• 9:20
  Admin, that's fine.
• 9:21
  I, if that's the case, I would rather have an extra available computer at
• 9:28
  the front where that admin team member can collect that payment at mm-hmm.
• 9:33
  The front rather than in the clinical area.
• 9:36
  Yeah.
• 9:36
  Jen Steadman: And to clarify too, I'm not talking about like.
• 9:40
  Treatment.
• 9:41
  I'm not talking about like, oh God feeling and root planning, anything like that.
• 9:43
  I'm talking like if they wanted to buy an electric toothbrush
• 9:47
  today, or if they wanted a tube, a toothpaste or something like that.
• 9:52
  Anything that they need, a treatment plan for a thousand
• 9:54
  percent is never being done.
• 9:56
  You're never collecting anything that you're doing the back.
• 9:59
  It's really for like a product off of your shelf versus a. Treatment plan.
• 10:05
  And you can, it's not like some offices do it, some offices don't.
• 10:09
  It's just an option, right?
• 10:10
  We're here to, to share, so that is an option, but,
• 10:14
  Savanah Carlson: and utilize your practice management software.
• 10:17
  Ping.
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  Have your hygiene team, ping your front desk team.
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  If rather than, you know, I'm bringing Sally directly into the conference room.
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  We have a large treatment plan that needs to, to go over.
• 10:29
  They're not coming to check out.
• 10:30
  Okay, cool.
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  I won't have to expect that patient.
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  I will ping my office manager, let them know that there is a patient
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  waiting in the consultation room to go over the treatment plan.
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  So utilize your PMS when it comes to those things.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Jen Steadman: It's there to help you.
• 10:45
  Exactly.
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  And I think a lot of times people forget about it.
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  They forget or they don't know all of the advantages that they have,
• 10:52
  but that's also part of it, right?
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  So we're talking about lasting impressions.
• 10:57
  How about you send an email after the patient leaves, send 'em a text message.
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  Thank you so much for coming in today.
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  If you have any questions about the treatment that you had, or if
• 11:05
  anything comes up, please reach out.
• 11:07
  Right?
• 11:07
  You could also send them a link to a Google, you know, to, to write a
• 11:10
  review, and it goes right to Google.
• 11:12
  There's so many different things that you can do, but use your practice
• 11:15
  management software or different softwares that you have to also help
• 11:20
  with that lasting impression too.
• 11:22
  Savanah Carlson: And I, I can't believe there are hygienists that fight scheduling
• 11:28
  the next recall care appointment.
• 11:31
  If that is, if that's something that the practice feels strongly about and
• 11:36
  is implemented and you're allowing your hygiene team to walk over that
• 11:40
  you, there's some bigger conversations that need to happen with your hygiene
• 11:43
  team, uh, regarding your mission and your goals for the, for the practice.
• 11:48
  What's better than having the patient literally in your chair after having
• 11:53
  their appointment with you and saying, Hey, how about we reserve
• 11:58
  your next appointment for six months?
• 12:01
  Savannah at the front will have your card ready, or Savannah at the
• 12:04
  front will make sure to push that through in a text message for you.
• 12:07
  Done and done.
• 12:09
  I know the hygienists have a lot going on during a hygiene
• 12:11
  appointment, but the front desk also has a lot going on on the checkout.
• 12:16
  So
• 12:19
  it's, it's a give and take.
• 12:20
  Y'all,
• 12:20
  Jen Steadman: everyone has to help them help each other.
• 12:22
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:23
  We, I could go on for days about hygiene, scheduling and what that looks like.
• 12:28
  'cause they're.
• 12:29
  A lot of hygienists give treatment away, and it's really not what's
• 12:33
  best for the patient either, right?
• 12:35
  So they'll go in there and they'll scale their teeth for like 40 minutes.
• 12:38
  I'm like, that's not a prophy appointment then.
• 12:42
  So there's so much that goes into that.
• 12:44
  You know, I think, look, it is really important that you set yourself
• 12:49
  and you set your team up and you set your patients up for success.
• 12:52
  And when you're talking about hygiene specifically, you just need to.
• 12:58
  Get a better understanding of your workflow and figure out a system
• 13:01
  that works well for you so you can give the patient the best care, not
• 13:04
  just clinical care, their overall care and experience in the practice.
• 13:10
  Because if they don't have a good experience with you, they're gonna go
• 13:13
  right down the street to another dentist.
• 13:15
  Before we sign
• 13:16
  Savanah Carlson: off on this, can we just quickly clee chat about lasting
• 13:21
  impression with practice swag?
• 13:24
  This goes hot and cold, whether or not we should just hand out
• 13:29
  toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and a travel bag or offer it and
• 13:34
  let the patient make that decision.
• 13:36
  So cost effectness.
• 13:38
  Yeah.
• 13:39
  Where
• 13:39
  Jen Steadman: do you sit, Jen?
• 13:41
  Okay.
• 13:42
  This is what I'll say.
• 13:43
  I am not a fan of the prep and ready-made bags.
• 13:48
  Yes, it might take a little bit more time.
• 13:51
  I also want to showcase the organization in our office and have a patient
• 13:58
  giveaway, patient swag closet, and it might not be an entire closet, but a
• 14:04
  portion of a closet that you can like open the doors and say, Hey, Mrs.
• 14:10
  Jones, today I saw this.
• 14:12
  This is, these are the.
• 14:15
  Um, different care items that I would recommend for you.
• 14:18
  So here's a, you know, whether it's a mouthwash or coupons, you
• 14:22
  don't have to give them everything.
• 14:24
  Supply them with coupons, right?
• 14:26
  There's so many different ones out there that you can even
• 14:28
  check off which product it is.
• 14:30
  Mm-hmm.
• 14:31
  You can do that for them.
• 14:32
  Give them the toothbrush if they need a travel toothbrush or the specific
• 14:36
  toothpaste floss picks, especially if you have like children with ortho.
• 14:40
  Like, give them the things that they need.
• 14:42
  Those are things that you should have gone over with them
• 14:46
  during their recare appointment.
• 14:47
  So essentially, like you've used some already and here's your bag of
• 14:50
  the things that are specific to you.
• 14:53
  Another thing that I love on that note.
• 14:56
  Is having like a menu that you can share with them.
• 15:00
  So it is all, I love a good better menu.
• 15:03
  Yeah.
• 15:03
  Like I love it.
• 15:04
  All of these different products with check marks next to them and
• 15:08
  their hygienist or their clinical team member, assistant doctor.
• 15:12
  Can check off which ones that they would recommend for them.
• 15:16
  So it doesn't mean that you need to have it in your office to supply
• 15:19
  them with, but it's a little menu.
• 15:21
  It's a little checklist, and it's specific to that patient.
• 15:24
  So you can even put their name up at the top and put their
• 15:28
  hygienist name up at the top.
• 15:29
  Right.
• 15:29
  These are the recommendations that Jen gave you today, and you can
• 15:32
  check off which ones you could even.
• 15:35
  Have a little QR code and it goes to your office's, Amazon storefront, that
• 15:42
  key, all those products that are in there, and they can just click it.
• 15:45
  Very simple.
• 15:46
  While they're in your office.
• 15:47
  They'll probably get it tomorrow or the next day if they did it from Amazon.
• 15:51
  So there's so many different things that you can do, but.
• 15:54
  Please make it specific to that patient.
• 15:57
  It's also gonna give them that lasting impression that you care, and that even
• 16:02
  when you're not physically with them, when they're at home, there are things
• 16:06
  that you have supplied them or, um, recommended that they use to try to
• 16:11
  help them until they see you next time.
• 16:14
  Savanah Carlson: And we used to give out hygiene report cards so each we'd
• 16:19
  have a, you know, a standard report card and the hygienist would check off
• 16:22
  what was going well, what they needed to work on, products they should invest
• 16:25
  in, if they needed treatment, um, which was a good reminder to them when
• 16:30
  they were taken to the admin team of, here's your report card from today.
• 16:36
  This is what we talked about.
• 16:38
  If you have any questions, I know we talked about a lot.
• 16:41
  Gimme a holler.
• 16:42
  You did mention something about uh, uh, like a, a menu,
• 16:45
  like a checkout menu, a list.
• 16:48
  Something to think about is also to have a comfort menu for those
• 16:53
  restorative appointments that are long and in super invasive and.
• 16:59
  People just need an extra dose of TLC.
• 17:03
  Create a comfort menu and don't make it extravagant.
• 17:06
  We don't need paraffin wax unless you're like some bougie boutique practice.
• 17:10
  In that case, shoot me an email 'cause I wanna see what you're about.
• 17:14
  We'd love to come do that.
• 17:16
  Yeah.
• 17:17
  But a, a couple of things on a comfort menu goal, a real long way,
• 17:20
  and leave a great lasting impression.
• 17:24
  Jen Steadman: A thousand percent.
• 17:26
  Have a wonderful day everyone, and please make sure that if you do nothing else
• 17:33
  but this today, make sure that your patients have an amazing experience
• 17:37
  and a great lasting impression.
• 17:38
  So they come back and they tell their family and friends and everybody wins.
• 17:44
  Savanah Carlson: Ah,
• 17:46
  later y'all.
• 17:48
  Bye.
• 17:51
  Thanks for spending a few minutes with us on back in 10.
• 17:54
  If something made you laugh, nod or feel a little more human, share it with a friend
• 17:59
  and make sure that you're subscribed.
• 18:00
  You can also follow us on Instagram at Back in 10 Pod for
• 18:04
  more behind the scenes updates and
• 18:06
  Jen Steadman: probably a little chaos.
• 18:08
  We're not here to have it all figured out.
• 18:11
  We are just here to tell you the things that we wish someone had told us and
• 18:15
  remind you that leadership doesn't
• 18:17
  Savanah Carlson: have to be perfect, just real.
• 18:20
  We'll be back in 10, back
• 18:21
  in 10.