My grandmother was right! (Actually, she was right about SO many things.) You only have one opportunity to make a great first impression. In many dental offices, the first interaction that a new patient receives is that they are thrown a clipboard and told to fill out both sides of a new patient intake form. “I said BOTH sides!” Really?… Is that the best way to create a great first impression? There must be a better way! Consider providing your new patients with a short office tour as an awesome way of creating a great first impression!
Karle is our Treatment Coordinator and she typically provides our new patients with the tour. She starts by walking around the front desk and greeting the patient with a warm, firm handshake. Give a proper handshake is important and here is a great resource from my friend, Janice Hurley-Trailor on the art of the handshake:
http://www.janicehurleytrailor.com/handshake.shtml
Karle then says something like this:
“Linda, my name is Karle. It is great to meet you, we love meeting new patients! We want our patients to feel comfortable when they visit our office. Let me start by giving you a tour of our office.”
Karle then takes the patient on a short tour that includes 8 specific ‘talking points’. Here are the 8 points we emphasize on our tour:
- Our ‘Wall of Fame’ with Dr. Nielson’s credentials
- Photos of all our team members
- Patient rest room
- Dental products display
- Whitening options (“We love helping our patients have whitest smiles in AZ!”)
- Digital x-rays
- Hygiene department
- After photos of patients on wall
The 8 talking points of our tour are carefully designed to allow Karle to comfortably showcase some of the services that are available in our office. This is all done in a very casual, comfortable manner and takes about 3-4 minutes. Notice that the tour is not a complete, behind-the-scenes event but rather a short highlight reel of some of the things that make our office special. Use the 8 talking points above as an example of what you might include on your tour and then customize yours to reflect the unique elements of your practice.
Consider creating a great new patient tour as a wonderful way of introducing patients to your practice. Patients really appreciate this and will help you make a memorable first impression. Grandmother was right, you only have one opportunity to make a great first impression! Keep Smiling!
