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Get Patients to Rave About Your Practice by Dr. Donna Galante

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I have been spending more time than usual in airports, on airplanes and in hotels in the past few months and the one thing I have come to realize is just how bad customer service is in the travel industry. Now I know you are thinking, "I'm not in the travel business, how does this relate to my dental practice?"

Whether you provide a travel service or a dental service, you are in the business of taking care of people. Providing remarkable, extraordinary and consistent patient care is what will set your practice apart from your competitors.

We all have the horror stories of flight delays and even cancellations. Recently, while traveling to Costa Rica with my husband, we had a layover in Houston, but ended up in Dallas for four hours sitting on the airplane waiting for weather to clear.

We had already traveled from Sacramento (about 3.5 hours) and now had an additional wait in Dallas. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks in the airport before we boarded, but had no lunch and, by this time, no dinner. When my husband asked the flight attendant for some water, she curtly told him, "We are out of water!"

There was no effort to offer a replacement beverage and her angry demeanor intimidated him. He decided not to ask for anything else. The flight to Costa Rica had plenty of water, but when I asked about food to purchase, they had none.

I am sure some of you reading this have had worse treatment by a major national airline. From personal experience they act as if you are bothering them when you ask for more water or an extra pillow. They act like they do not care or appreciate you as a customer because they might be the only game in town to get you where you want to go. They got your money because you really had no choice in the matter.

We in the dental profession do not have the luxury of being rude, uncaring, angry or mean to our patients, but everyday, somewhere in a dental office, a patient is being treated rudely, or left waiting, or ignored or disrespected.

Do you know how your patients are being treated in your office? Is it extraordinary? Is it remarkable and memorable? Is it consistent? Are your patients raving about the experience in your office or are they ranting about it at lunch to their co-workers?

Certainly, your patients are paying your staff and your salary as well as the office overhead. How well are they respected? Are they thanked at each appointment for coming in and choosing your office?

Is your front desk "helping" your patients get the needed appointments and treatment or are they putting up barriers by saying "no," "not available," "that day is booked solid," or, my favorite, "the doctor is on vacation the entire week."

Teams that are patient-centered and delivering extraordinary service will say "yes, we have availability on Tuesday and Wednesday," or "yes, Mrs. Jones, we do need to see David next week to replace his braces that came off his teeth."

Westin Hotels did a survey and found that if its customer service agents used the client's name three to four times during a phone call, the likelihood of that client booking a hotel room or vacation increased significantly. Just implementing that single detail when on a call with a new patient can make all the difference in the end result to your practice's productivity.

Your front desk team is extremely important in making sure your patients are receiving the best service and care possible. But it does not stop at the front desk.

Let me share with you some ideas to make your sure your patients are raving and not ranting about you.

Escort the patient back to the treatment area.

Typically, your team will come out to the reception area and call out the patient's name. Try something new and have your team member walk up to patients and greet them warmly. Then escort them back to the treatment area while continuing to get updated on what is new in their lives. You will be amazed how surprised they will be when you do it the first time. It is a simple gesture that lets patients know you value them and that they are important.

Make sure patients are seen on time.

This is a big deal for many patients and parents. Everyone is overscheduled. Just know that from the start and you will understand why parents and patients are upset sometimes when they have to wait even five minutes to be seen for their appointment. We did a survey in our office about two years ago and found that being seen on time was the third-most important reason patients chose an orthodontist.

Communicate, communicate again and communicate more.

All day long we tell our patients certain things about how to wear their elastics, how to brush their teeth, how to remove their aligners and what they should avoid eating with braces. How many times have you heard, "Doctor, you never told me I needed to wear the elastics 24 hours" and many other similar statements.

Of course, all the important instructions are given to patients chairside and hopefully to the parents too, but as soon as they leave your office, they are off thinking about the movie they are going to see that night or getting dinner ready.

Use handouts, brochures and even videos if needed to communicate again what patients need to do for successful results. Different forms of communication given to patients on a regular basis will help them stay focused on their treatment and will help your office be perceived as informative, friendly and caring.

Recognize important events in your patients' lives.

Birthday cards handwritten (not e-mailed) to patients and signed by the entire team are an important part of your arsenal. We have been doing these for more than a decade and patients are always amazed and thank us that we remembered their birthdays and took the time to send them a real card signed by everyone.

Likewise, you and your team can easily recognize weddings, graduations, new babies and other important events with a simple card signed by everyone.

Handle all emergencies quickly and without blame.

We all know that the biggest headache can be those pesky broken brackets and wires. In our office, it is always that "bad glue" that we are using that is causing them to fly off the teeth during an episode of the Bachelorette. No matter who is to blame or what really happened, you need to get the patient in the chair and get it repaired as quickly as your schedule permits.

In our practice survey, handling emergencies quickly and effectively was number four in importance in choosing an orthodontist.

Provide extended hours for your patients.

When the economy turned for the worse in 2008, we started to notice that it was becoming even more difficult to schedule patients. Parents who were working were unwilling, unable or just fearful of taking time off from work to go to an appointment or bring their children in for one.

We quickly made some adjustments to our schedule to extend hours to 6 p.m. several days a week. The simple change in schedule gave patients the ability to come in after work. Having these "consumer hours" will get patients raving about your office.

Honor your commitments to your patients.

We all have our days in our offices where treatment does not go as planned, or patients are left waiting or are upset with a financial matter. This is all part of the business cycle. However, how you and your team handle the issues that do occur will make all the difference in how your patients talk about you to others. Make sure you follow through on your verbal and written commitments to your patients. Patients will rave about your honesty and integrity.

Be passionate.

Exhibiting passion for what you are doing day in and day out will be felt by the patients who frequent your office. Passion is contagious. If you are passionate about your practice, your patients and your team, everyone around you will feel the same way.

Change your mindset and your attitude the next day you are in the office. Make an effort to do this for at least 30 days and see what happens. Your team will follow your lead and exhibit more passion and enthusiasm for their jobs. Patients and parents will be more excited and enthusiastic about the changes that are occurring in either their smiles, their children's smiles and their family's overall dental health.

All of these steps are relatively inexpensive or free to implement. You do not need a huge marketing budget to apply these principles. What you do need is a plan of action and determination to get them started. Begin right now with one or more of these strategies and watch what happens to your practice.

Author's Bio
Dr. Donna Galante was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is now living in Northern California with her husband and two teenaged children. Dr. Galante is a 1984 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and a 1986 graduate of the Department of Orthodontics at the same university. After graduation from the Orthodontic Specialty Certification Program, she continued on for the next eight years as a part-time clinical instructor while starting her first practice in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

In 1993, she sold her practice and moved to California to marry her husband, Dr. Paul Cater, also an orthodontist and her partner in their current practices in Northern California. In 1992 she became a diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics. Besides practicing with her husband for the last 18 years, she is a speaker, author, seminar leader and coach. You can find out about her orthodontic practice at www.luvmysmile.com and her coaching, speaking and seminars at www.drdonnagalante.com.
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September 2025
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