Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023 - 68

Practice Management
Staff Report
Designing WOW Experiences
What's the difference between an uneventful trip to
the orthodontist and a share-worthy one? You!
Ms. Brenda Ashwell
Director of Customer Success and
Principal of PracticeGenius™
Customer experience is the total of all interactions,
outcomes, and memories your customer has regarding
your business. Every team member plays a
critical role in ensuring that your customers' needs
are met and striving to exceed expectations. WOW
is a method of how you operate. It is cultivated
and taught and includes processes and systems
to ensure that everyone can provide a consistent
share-worthy experience. WOW experiences make
the ordinary more enjoyable and special and
therefore surprising and worth mentioning to
others.
Here are some easy, quick, and achievable ways that
you can design WOW moments into every patient
experience.
Be Curious
When you are curious about how your patients feel,
what they want, and what they need, they feel like
they are valued members of your practice. This approach
also helps you feel connected to your patients
on a deeper and more personal level. One easy way to
express curiosity in every patient interaction is to start
each appointment with an open-ended question
such as:
◾ What is the first thing you will eat when you finish
treatment?
◾ What's been the hardest part of wearing braces
so far?
◾ How do you feel about your smile?
◾ What is the best thing that's happened to you this
week?
Delight
Studies have shown that reliability, dependability,
and competence meet customers' expectations.
But meeting expectations isn't the same thing as
delivering WOW. WOW moments actually ignite our
conscious brain, causing it to slow down and catalog
the experience we are having. Below are some fun
ways in which you can add delight to your very next
appointment.
68
Change Up the Sequence
Everyone loves breakfast for dinner. Sometimes just
switching the order of things makes them feel brand
new and exciting! Walk a different path to your chair,
or high-five your patient at the beginning of the
appointment instead of the end.
Schedule Surprises
Allow each team member to choose a " superstar " or
" VIP patient " of the day. Present your VIP patient with
a certificate, let them have an extra spin if you have
a spinning wheel, or give bonus points if you use the
Patient Rewards Hub.
Play
Being playful and silly is one of our greatest joys. However,
sometimes when we clock into work, we clock
out of fun. Let your patient fill up a glove with air.
Tell them a joke or ask your patient to tell you a joke.
Jump in the treatment chair and suggest you switch
roles this visit and then join them as they laugh at the
thought. A little creativity goes a long way when it
comes to play!
Recognize and Celebrate
Recognition helps you connect with your patients
and makes them feel special. Recall a previous conversation,
ask about their hobbies, or acknowledge their
hard work with their treatment adherence. Know your
patient's primary goal, and then celebrate with them
when they achieve that milestone. It's imperative that
you adopt a system to ensure everyone consistently
celebrates those milestones and personal achievements.
Patient shout-outs, personalized messages,
and rewards are examples of tools and techniques
that your entire team can easily manage.
Although the concept of WOW moments might be simple,
without a scalable system in place the execution can
be challenging. Start designing WOW experiences using
the methods above. You'll see that by injecting fun, creativity,
and recognition into everyday patient experiences,
you'll see a measurable increase in happiness for both
patients and team. Creating a culture in your office that
recognizes and rewards your team for creating WOW
moments makes it a joy to come to work and a great
way to build a successful and rewarding practice.
PCSO Bulletin Winter 2023
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023
