The Power of Speed

We are living in challenging times and customers are becoming more demanding when they spend their money. Being quick off the mark is one way of not just impressing your patients, but ensuring that the business comes to you and does not go to someone else.

One of my clients is a dentist called Simon Belford, who has a Practice in the South of England. He took my Ethical Sales & Communication Programme in the early part of 2014 and subsequently has taken it on a further two occasions. He is of the opinion that the more you practice and personalise rapport building skills, the more comfortable you become communicating with your patients and more patients will take up treatment with someone who is genuinely interested in them as a person as well as their presenting issues. I have his permission to share this story with you..

He received an enquiry from a potential patient one evening, who was asking about Implant Treatment. Simon responded back to the patient more or less straight away. When we have discussed this on my courses, some of my delegates have stated that it sounded like a state of desperation, but I thought in this day and age the fact that Simon responded immediately, was pretty impressive.

The patient responded back the next day and subsequently an appointment was made for the following week. The night before his new appointment, Simon did his research about the patient by going on line and he soon discovered his patient was a Professional Speaker and had many videos on You Tube, which Simon subsequently watched.

The next morning after a morning huddle with the rest of his team, Simon welcomed the patient, where he built instant rapport with him, asked questions about his job as a speaker and a genuine rapport was built between the two of them. After questioning the patient about his problem and after a thorough examination took place, a large treatment plan was agreed between Simon and the patient and most importantly, a new relationship was formed. The natural conclusion was a win -win for both parties.

The lessons you can take away from this story are;

1. If you receive a new enquiry, act quickly, speed is important. We live in an age of instant communication and I honestly believe people are becoming more impatient, so act straight away.

2. There is no excuse now not to do your preparation. Years ago, there was only the local library for resources, now there are many such as going on line, do a Google search and try Facebook and LinkedIn. You can learn so much about a new person in seconds, by the push of a button.

3. I am a massive fan of group huddles in the morning before the patients walk through the door. Sometimes, if the Receptionist has done a good job at the initial call, then they can share with the rest of the team important information about the new patients who are coming into the Practice that day.

4. By spending time building genuine rapport, trust was built. Without trust, there is no rapport, without rapport, no transaction can take place.

This story features in my book “Don’t Wait for the Tooth Fairy”.

The ability to build rapport with people is a key skill. If you can build rapport with your patients, colleagues and suppliers they are more likely to trust you and take on board your suggestions. If you would like to read more about this skill go to Chapter Two in my book. You get can your copy here for £15. Its an easy read with lots of real life anecdotes.,.