Kiera shares ways practices can make patients feel valued from that first visit to their final treatment, including tips for establishing consistency, intentionality, and the genuine connections between it all.
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Transcript:
Kiera (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I wanted to just talk about how to help people feel valued. Like, I know that seems so cliche. I know you're like, great, but patience to team members, like, what are some of those secret sauces that just really make people feel that extra ump to feel that extra peace? Because honestly, patients don't leave because of bad dentistry. Patients leave because they don't feel seen, known, or valued. And I don't think it's about being overly nice.
I just think it's about being intentional. And so today I want to just kind of dive into something that's going to impact your patients, your team, your leaders. of just like little tips. What are some little ways? And I'll I'll do a patient side and I'll do a team side of how do you help people just feel valued, feel like humans? And the reason I want to bring this up is because I feel like this actually is a like, gosh, it's like the
Like the cheat code, if you will, to success right now. I feel like so many people are mean. I feel like so many people don't genuinely care right now. People are just not nice in the world anymore. And so to me, I'm like, this is the cheat code to success. This is one of the easiest ways for you to improve and to win in the patient experience, to improve and to win in the team retention experience. And it's one of those of like, how do we have a full journey and different little things to have? So
A lot of pieces that I'm gonna pull from are a book that I really enjoyed, Unreasonable Hospitality. If you haven't read it, read it. That one is one of my like go-tos that I think of often of how can I make magic moments for my patients and for my team. And that's really showing them and help them to feel valued. So a couple of things, and this ties to leadership and this ties to patient experiences. We've got to make sure that we're consistent, having consistency in how we lead, not having favorites, consistency in our patient experience. There was a book, gosh.
I can see the title of it. It's blue. You guys are gonna like write me an email and tell me what it is. But it was about this guy who went to the barber. And every time you go into the barber, it was a different experience. So, like the first time he got like a warm towel and a great shave. Then the second time he like got a shave, but not a warm towel, and then he got a drink. The third time, like towel, no shave, no drink. And he left. And I thought about it like.
Gosh, if you could just be consistent. I think about Starbucks. People say I go to Starbucks not because they have great coffee, but because I know it's always going to be consistent every time I go. And I think about this like people want that consistency. They want the experience to be consistent. They want their boss to be consistent. Like every single month we do one-on-one check-ins and I check in on you on your life and who you are. And we do morning huddles every day. Like things that can feel consistent with our patients. We have a warm handoff. Like it's
A handoff every single time where it just feels like we're a put together movie set, if you will. Like it's like we don't feel rushed. I remember I was in the ER for my appendix years ago. Yep. That was fun. That was a fun moment. And I remember the ER doctor just it felt like he was the nicest human in the entire world. I was not doped up on drugs. at the point, I was in a lot of pain still, but he was so nice to me. And my husband happened to like step out to go use the bathroom and
I remember he's like, Kiera, I saw that ER doctor and he was freaking running, like running. But as soon as he got to the door, he like put himself together, walked in, and was like calm as a cucumber. And I think for us in our patient experience, like we don't want to feel rushed. We don't want to feel like we are rushing through. You can be very efficient and consistent and help patients really feel very valued. So for example, we have a very consistent handoff from hygienist to doctor, where the patient's a part of it. We're not talking behind their head.
We're talking to them as a human, they're part of it. And like I call it the ICRP handoff. So introduction, compliment, recap the treatment already discussed, and do a personal note. This way the patient feels like you heard me, you listened to me. This hygienist has been actually taking care of me or dental assistants. Dental assistants are a little trickier, I get it. but if we say like, hey, Dr. Jones, this is Kiera, you met her last time. she's been doing an amazing job on her flossing. She's really, really ramped that up.
Just so you know, we already chatted. She knows she's got a couple of crowns probably on the upper right. She knows she needs to come back for that deep cleaning. and then she also knows that there's probably a couple of fillings on the lower left. And then just so you know, Dr. Jones, Kiera is headed off to Hawaii next month. and she's just we're so excited for that Hawaii trip. She's gonna absolutely love it. Well, now Dr. Jones can seem incredibly warm. Have a warm welcome, talk to me about Hawaii, compliment me on my flossing. Me as a patient, I instantly feel at ease and I feel like you love me.
You know me, you heard about me, you're going to take great care of me and you're genuinely interested in me. Then doctor does the exam. Doctor then wraps up with the next visit, the date, the time, the recare, making sure that's all done. Wishes me well on Hawaii because we've already made that easy connection. That could take five to seven minutes tops from start to finish. And that patient just felt like I had the most incredible experience with that doctor. I felt like the whole team is on board. Then that hygienist takes that front office team member up.
Or that patient up to the front office and they say, Hey, perfect, Dr. Jones on C Care back in two weeks. We're gonna start with the upper cro the upper right crowns. We're also gonna get her scheduled for that deep cleaning. Kiera, Sarah's amazing. She's gonna take incredible care of you. We've already got your cleaning scheduled for you. I can't wait to see you back in a couple of weeks. she's gonna take great care of you. Now Sarah picks it up and Sarah schedules me and perfect. Let's get you in with Dr. Jones. We'll make sure you're super taken care of. How was it today for you? All these different pieces for you.
Let's get you scheduled. We're gonna get you scheduled for that crown. Blah dah da. Gets me scheduled, sends me on my way. I have a great experience. That feels so consistent. And if that happens every single time where the doctor gets a handoff, the doctor handoffs to the hygienist, hygienist hands off to the front office or clinical team. We say it the same way. We have it. People feel like this experience was magical. They feel like, wow, they like really have their stuff put together. They feel very connected. They feel like they know me. I didn't feel rushed through the process.
You can be psychotic, rushed and behind, but that patient doesn't need to feel that because you are like that ER doctor where you are a duck on water and you're just paddling underneath, but you're taking care of all the pieces. And they're judging like patients and team judge the entire experience. So if we're talking about patients and helping them feel valued scene, practice these interactions. Practice how it is. We can practice how the new patient experience happens. Like, what do we say on the phone? How do we schedule them? What happens if it's ringing?
Also pay attention to when they walk in. Like, does someone greet them consistently every time? Do we have our coffee bar stocked all the time? Do we have like nice things all the time for them? Whatever our experience is, you don't have to go expensive. You don't have to have, but you just make it consistent for them where they can count on it and it feels welcoming. I will also do a hard, like no food at the front office. It drives me nuts. I can't tell you how many times I've walked in and they're eating, and I'm just like, stop it. I know you don't think it's that big of a deal, but it feels you're in a medical space. Stop that. Don't.
Front office, I used to be guilty of this. I had like my little snacks in the drawer. No, go to the break room, get your water in the back. Don't have clutter everywhere. Have it clean when they walk in. Make those patients feel like this is the best decision. It's clean. It's welcoming. Also, if you're on the phone, no problem. You can like wave to them. You can make eye contact with them. You can like point to the drinks. give them a little heart. Like you're so happy that they're there and so welcoming to them. When you answer the phone, smile.
Like every single time we smile, we're so happy to answer that phone. and to truly love them. And so if you do each of those little checkpoints, patients feel insanely valued. And then we pivot that to how do we make our team feel the same way? Let's have morning huddles where we do shout outs of core values. Let's have one-on-one check-ins with them every time. Let's every single day doctors like if you need to, I had a doctor set a compliment alarm where you genuinely compliment and say thank you. Not just a
Thanks for a great day. It's a, hey Kiera, thanks for rocking that root canal with me today. Like you crushed it. I couldn't do this without you. And I'm so grateful I can always count on you. Very intentional thank yous to your team members. Both sides of that equation make both people feel very valued. Doesn't take a lot of time. It's just very consistent. Other things I feel are just very confident on like next steps. And this ties to patients and team members. that's NDTR. Like, what is the next step at the end of my exam? Like,
What am I doing? Where are we going? How much time is this? That way patients aren't defaulting to like, I'm gonna think about this or whatever. Same thing with team members. If we've got one-on-one corrective action, like what is the next step? What is that process? Britt in our company, she does a lot of our operations in HR and she says clear is kind. And I think for both patients and team members to feel valued, to feel seen, what's clear? Like how do I make this as clear as possible? Clear is kind. So what are the next steps? Being very clear on our communication.
Making sure our treatment plans are clear, making sure we're asking what questions do you have, not do you have questions? Same thing with team members. Both of these are interchangeable. Like, here is the plan. What questions do you have for me? When we're rolling out a new training, what questions do you have for me? I'm going to send over the plan. This is what's expected of every person. These are the dates. These are the times. This is the expectation of what we're going to do. This way people feel certain. Certainty creates confidence and certainty creates value. People feel like
They're ready to go. Like confusion is the enemy of execution on either side. Confusion is where people feel anxious. People feel don't value. They don't feel seen. They don't feel loved. So how do we make everything with our patient experience and our team experience where we have clear communication, where it's drawn out, it's very much where people can just feel solid. You might not like the decisions, you might not like the treatment, but you're very clear. The communication was clear, the expectations were clear. Pieces were very, very clear for you. And then another piece is like,
Making sure we have genuine relationships, not just transactional relationships. So knowing people, like so if we have a big case, I'm really big on like calling those patients. There are pe places where you can have automated voicemails so it acts like you call them, but you don't actually have to call them. Medenta was fantastic at this. And you could just have a voicemail after a big case where it's like, hey, care, hey, like, hey, this is Dr. Jones. I'm just calling to check in and see how that appointment went for you. If you have any issues or any pain, please give me a call. I'm hoping that you're doing really, really well on all of this.
You don't even have to the patient's name, but it feels like you cared about them. what are check-ins? How can we check in to see how they're doing? like when patients come in, remembering little subtle things about them. So if care is going to Hawaii, we put it in our notes and we ask her, How is Hawaii when you come back in? Those little simple things create relationships. Same thing on the one-on-ones. If someone tells you that they're going on vacation, ask your team member how was that vacation? if it's their birthday or anniversary.
What ways can I foster the relationship? And to me, this is where I tie into unreasonable hospitality of how do I make magic moments for these people where they're like making meaningful moments in the everyday moments. So how do I help people feel seen, heard, and loved in both of them? So we don't just stop at checkout for our patients. We don't just stop after the one on one. We know them as humans. shout out to Tiff with her consultant team. She does Tiffany's connection time.
And she literally like meets with the consultants, talks to them, connects with them as humans. And I love that she calls it connection time because I feel like that's her building relationships. Connection time with your patients. How do I build those relationships? How do I remember who they are? How do I remember little things? I have a fee for service chiropractor. I love her every time. She's like, So you just got back from Kentucky? And I'm like, Yes. And she's like, How is like in your next trip? You guys are headed out to wherever? Like, I feel she knows me. She has a lot of patience.
But people want to be known, they want to be remembered, they want to be seen for birthdays and anniversaries, like big small big team, small team. How do you make that person feel seen, valued, heard? How do you do the small daily things where you're looking out, you're sending out thank yous? you guys compliment each other? Do you guys have a shout-out jar where you guys call out on each other? What can you do to make sure that there's strong bonds and relationships? Because people don't leave offices because of
usually money, sometimes they do, but typically it's due to a lack of a relationship, a lack of a bond. Tip told me she said, cure the reason I've been with you for almost a decade. Shout out to the TT Spiffy Tiffy over there. she's like it's because of the relationship we have. And I think about that and I know it can feel like as our team's getting larger, this is something I'm often questioning of how do I make sure team members feel seen, valued and heard. And I will say as a CEO, one of the things I do and as an office manager,
Gosh, I hope my team doesn't listen. I don't, I'm not perfect at this, but I do have a list of every team member and I actually hand write letters to them and I'll mail them to them. or if I know something's going on for them, I will make it a point to either ask about it or make sure I help out with certain things with them. I'm not perfect at it, but I do feel like when people feel seen, valued, and heard, we always for their birthdays, we have in a survey and we send them their absolute favorite things. And every time, and we send them a gift, we send them something personal for them.
when I know someone's got a rough day, we'll just send over a little treat. You don't have to have a lot of money, you just have to have intentionality. And this goes to patients and it goes to team members. If you know someone's birthday's coming up, like so many times I I check in at places and it's my birthday, and people get my ID. They type in my birthday and they don't say it. Like, could you just look ahead and see whose birthday's coming up? How could I like could we celebrate? Anyone whose birthday is in June or July? Tell your patient happy birthday.
If you see something that they did, how do you just build the relationship so it's not transactional? It's very much feels like a it feels like you know them, that you love them. And I would say that comes from genuinely loving people, from genuinely wanting them to feel valued, genuinely wanting to make a magic moment for them, getting excited. There's a doctor in Georgia that's on our team, and he got so giddy. He just got so giddy. He's like, Here, I'm putting together the holiday party for them. And
He like goes all out and he like spent all night decorating and he just got so giddy. And I love working with him. I love learning from him because to have that genuine joy and curiosity and excitement and love for your team, it filters into then how you say thank you to them. And I think it's seeing teams and patients. Do you see them as liabilities or do you see them as assets? Do you see them as value ads or soul sucking?
and the way you view them is how you're going to treat them and you're going to create more of that. So I might encourage you of just looking to see how we can do that. So just a couple of things, just as a quick recap for you, is making sure you are consistent, making sure you have clear communication, clear as kind, and really truly trying to build that relationship with them. and I think if you can can just again.
To me, these are the sprinkles on a cupcake. You've already got the cupcake, you've already got the frosting. I feel like the sprinkles really are what make the pop, the pizzazz, the the what makes you stand out from the other offices. All the other offices have a cupcake and they got frosting. Maybe some offices only have cupcake. Like they do dentistry. You need dentistry and you at least have some of the pieces. But to me, this is where I feel like value comes from sprinkles. And I think it in the analogy of this cupcake, the cupcake's the core. That's their job, that's their coming to the dentist. The frosting is
I don't know, probably their management and their clinical care. the sprinkles to me are what are going to set you apart and what people are going to remember. And I love the analogy because the cupcake is the largest, the frosting is smaller, and the sprinkles are really just the accent pieces. but it's crazy. I had a designer come out, we were doing some fun things and she's like, Kiera, it's crazy because the little things, like she literally like had a bowl and
rolled the napkins and like the placemats and put them in the bowl rather than just like I was gonna just stack them. And she's like, Kiera, those small little details are what make people feel like this is a home and it's cozy and it's warm versus like sloppy and not put together. And I thought about that and I'm like, it's those sprinkles that make people feel valued or make them feel like they're just a transaction or just a number on the page. And so I would I would encourage you to figure out like what sprinkle of these ones that we talked about can you do to make your patients and your team feel more valued.
Again, it's not more and I know I said more valued, but I think it's just intentionally valued where it's not doing more, it's being intentional. It's changing of how I do it. Can I be intentional on my thank yous at the end of the day? Can I be more intentional on my communication with them so everything's clear and mapped out for them? Can I have it where I have a consistent experience for my patients every single time? can I look to build the relationship a bit stronger and write?
a thank you card. It could take six months, guys. Like I'm not saying it's every single month. Like I have a list and I work through it and then I go back and is there a way where I can maybe change our birthdays and our anniversaries? Our team does videos for everyone and I know it's like we have so many. They come up so often. But to get like that takes 30 seconds from our teammates to make somebody feel valued and important and special. Those to me are the sprinkles. 30 seconds out of an entire eight hour day is so minimal. And yet
That's sprinkle on your cupcake. So where can you add the sprinkles? Where can you add the value? Teams deserve it. You deserve it. And I believe that this is the greatest way to like truly it's the secret sauce to win, to win, to hire and retain people, to bring in patients that feel valued, to feel seen, to feel loved. We're all looking to see how we can compete with others and how we can have a cutting edge. And I would say, like, add the sprinkles, add the sprinkles, stand out just a bit stronger. Everyone else has the cupcake. Most people have the frosting. Not all have the frosting.
But if you've got the cupcake and the frosting, add those sprinkles, help people feel valued. And if you're struggling with this, or you're like, gosh, that's just not my thing. As I said, we give doctors the the to-do of you put a compliment alarm on your on your phone and you do that. this is where I love to help people go to the next level to optimize, to scale, to have structure, but in a way that's not necessarily production scale.
But in happiness scale and fulfillment scale, which ultimately is going to lead to higher production, higher profitability. So reach out. I'd love to chat with you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go make it a magical day. Go spread some sprinkles. Go share. Go love. Go genuinely enjoy what you get to do every single day. It won't be forever that you get to do this. So let's make it magical. Let's make it impactful. And let's make it meaningful with helping people feel seen, valued, and loved. And as always, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.