Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2023 - 60

Staff Report
patient experience to be at each of those moments
of truth. What do you want the patient to feel? What
has to happen for the patient to feel that way? The
outcome of this work provides the foundation for
your service nonnegotiables. And world-class organizations
always have service nonnegotiables.
Success Factor 2: Make Patient Service a Significant
Part of All Training Opportunities
World-class service organizations look at training as
an investment, not an expense. They see training as
an ongoing opportunity to reinforce and perpetuate
the organization's values. In world-class service
organizations, customer service is part of every
training experience an employee goes through. I'm
often asked how long Disney World's cast member
training program is. The answer is that it begins
during the interview process and doesn't end until
you leave the company.
If service excellence is to be a competitive differentiator,
all new team members must understand
what is expected from a service perspective. Review
your new-hire orientation. How much time is
dedicated to patient service issues? Five minutes?
Fifteen minutes? If patient service is supposed to be
important to your practice, doesn't it deserve more
attention than a five- to 15-minute overview?
Ongoing Training
Formalized refresher training on patient service
should occur yearly at a minimum. Such training can
take place in a variety of formats, such as best practice
forums, e-learning, or simply straightforward
training that continues to build on your practice's
service approach. Committing to ongoing formal
training demonstrates that service is not a flavor-ofthe-month
initiative but an ongoing organizational
strategy. If it has been a year or more since specific,
formal patient service training occurred in your
practice, it's time to bring the troops back together.
If it isn't realistic to hold such training sessions in a
centralized location, the same thing can be accomplished
in individual offices and departments.
Service content should be included in every training
opportunity a team member experiences. If you're
training on a new piece of equipment or technology,
connect it to your service standards and describe
how it affects service. If you're training on a new
60
orthodontic product offering, use your service standards
as a foundation for the discussion. The important
thing is to constantly reinforce the organization's
commitment to excellent patient service.
Success Factor 3: Hire the Right People
If an ideal employee is an organization's most valuable
asset, then the wrong employee is its albatross,
its anchor. So, why do organizations often hire the
wrong person? I think it is because they never really
determine what they're looking for or wait until
they need someone before they start looking and
therefore hire quickly from a panic mode. When the
wrong person is hired, everything gets harder.
How do some organizations get their people to be so
friendly? The answer is that they hire friendly people.
You can't teach someone to be friendly, empathetic, or
detail oriented. Those are " talents " that someone either
has or doesn't have by the time they're old enough
for a job. Admittedly, someone might go through a
life-changing experience that alters their life view, but
it's not a good idea to count on that happening.
While the skills needed to be an orthodontist or
orthodontic assistant, treatment coordinator, and
so on can be taught, the applicant must bring
the desired talents to the table if they are to be
exceptional at the job. Through training, coaching,
and experience, those talents can be enhanced, but
they can't be taught.
World-class service organizations hire for talent.
They clearly identify the talents needed to excel in
the job and are committed to hiring only those who
possess those talents. They don't rush, they don't
panic, they don't settle-they find the right person.
Conclusion
If you focus on and excel at the three success factors
described in this article, you will be way ahead
of 95% of the competition. And the payoff is huge.
If your practice delivers great patient service, it becomes
a benchmark by which all other orthodontic
practices are measured. You become the Disney
World, the Nordstrom, the Southwest Airlines of
the orthodontic world. Then, everything becomes
easier. People want to work for you, patients line
up to do business with you, and they tell everyone
they know about your first-class service.
PCSO Bulletin Spring 2023
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2023

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