In addition to seminars, SunFun Caribbean Cruises, and continuing education products, Linda Miles & Associates’ One Year Practice Enhancement Program has set the industry standard for in-office consultations. Miles & Associates is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia with associates in Michigan, Hawaii, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Texas. For more information, please call 800-922-0866 or e-mail: LLMiles@ix.netcom.com.

In his book, In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters points out, "Businesses in our country spend millions of dollars to market and advertise, but they do not spend a nickel training their employees how to treat the customers that call or walk through the front door."

With this in mind, setting goals within your practice and measuring your results are essential. While new patients are the life blood of every practice, the number of hygiene patients seen monthly is a strong indicator of patient retention. Many practices see only one-third of their active patient base regularly. The goal we set for each practice working with Miles & Associates is 75 - 85% retention.

Most offices see between 25 - 40 new patients per month. This includes first time emergency patients, which the dentist and new patient coordinator should then reschedule for a comprehensive new patient examination. When "shoppers" call the office, the goal is a simple one: Schedule the caller for a twenty minute complimentary "look and see" appointment and then "wow" them with excellent customer service skills. If a patient calls with a cosmetic dentistry inquiry, your practice should offer a twenty minute complimentary cosmetic evaluation. When your new patient coordinator expresses concern, knowledge, and excellent customer service, the caller will not only become a patient of cosmetic care, they will become a strong referral source as well.

To figure your recare system potential, multiply your active patient base times two and divide by twelve (months). This will give you an approximation of how many hygiene patients you ideally should be seeing in a month. For example:

2000 records x 2 = 4,000 recare patients ¸ 12 (months) = 333 active recare patients

Typically, this would require two full-time hygienists. (This does not take into consideration the active perio patients or new patients per month.)

When setting goals for your practice, collections should be at 98 - 105% (105% if the accounts receivable balance is more than one month’s production.) Production goals should fall between $15,000 - $20,000 per month, per chair. If you have a cosmetic/prosthodontic practice, this figure could be $20,000 - $30,000.

We can only reach our goals when we know the secrets of attracting patients and delivering quality service. They include:

1. Become a Master Clinician -- You must be good, gentle, thorough and fast!

2. You must not hurt the patient physically, emotionally or financially.

3. Surround yourself with top notch employees. Average people generate average results. Where do you find above average employees? You don’t. You create them with above average training, trust and praise.

4. Maintain an updated facility -- equipment, technology and decor.

5. Provide services that patients want the most (cosmetics).

6. Become a Master Communicator.

7. Make sure your customer service stands out from other practices.

8. I cannot say enough about your practice image. Your office should be "2000 color schemed" using earth tones such as taupe, almond, terra cotta, moss green, gold tones or gray. The doctor and staff must always project a quality image: Excellent oral hygiene and healthy cosmetic smiles makes your staff walking advertisements, and improves their confidence about your services.

Business staff should wear business attire. Clinical staff uniforms should be pressed and neat. They should wear scrubbed clinical shoes that are polished and buffed.

The office’s image on paper is a reflection of the service rendered. Stationery, business cards (doctors and staff), "Welcome to Our Practice" brochures, ads and signage should be congruent and reflect quality.

Management and marketing magic is not mysterious. Maintaining a thriving practice is quite simple if you know how to make every patient feel special and well-cared for. It takes a patient ten years to realize how good a dentist is technically. It takes a patient less than ten minutes to form an opinion on how well they’ve been treated.