5 ways dentists can improve their customer service

Great customer service is crucial for the success of your dental practice.

If your patients aren’t comfortable with you and your office, they won’t keep coming back, and they definitely won’t recommend you to their friends and family.

However, if you make your patients feel welcomed, cared for and comfortable under your roof, you’ll build long-term relationships, and get more referrals (and patients) for your dental practice.

Related article: Achieving 5-star customer service in the dental practice

Today, we’ll show you 5 ways dentists can provide better customer service.

1. Maximize comfort

A dentist office isn’t exactly where people feel the most comfortable. Ever since they were kids, many people have feared going to the dentist. And some of those fears still linger into adulthood.

So, how can you combat this natural feeling of discomfort? You can do so by making both your waiting room and office as comfortable as possible.

Related article: Is it time for you to make over your dental practice?

Here are some tips for doing so:

• Luxurious chairs and a TV in the waiting room

• Relaxing music

• Comfortable dental chairs

Then, when you’re interacting with patients, focus on building rapport by asking open-ended questions like, “How have you been since your last visit?”

All of this will help your patients feel more comfortable and at ease.

2. Increase your service offerings

Nowadays, dentists are expected to do a lot more than just clean teeth and fill cavities.

Patients are looking for services like cosmetic dentistry, veneer applications and root canals. What’s more, they want to be able to find these services all in one place, under the roof of one dentist.

Related article: Why service beats product and why that matters in your practice

So, consider expanding your dental services. This will help you find a new stream of dental patients, and increase the loyalty of current patients.

3. Reward patient loyalty

Don’t just thank your customers for their loyalty-reward them!

You can reward customers for things like:

• Being a patient for a certain amount of time

• Referring new patients

• Consistently interacting with your content on social media

The best part is, it’s not complicated to track and provide these rewards. With apps like etrove, you can track patient loyalty “points” leading up to a reward.

Related article: 9 ways to improve your dental practice's customer service skills

4. Manage your online reputation

Potential new patients will likely search for information online about your dental practice. So, you need to make sure to manage your online reputation.

Here are some strategies for managing your online reputation:

• Maintain a quality website

• Resolve customer issues as quickly as possible

• Ask loyal patients to leave you reviews online

5. Hire a virtual receptionist

Do you ever have patients call your office, only for the other line to be empty? They wait and wait, and are disappointed when all they find is a voicemail message.

However, this is the unfortunate reality for dental practices that only have in-office receptionists. The receptionist can’t always be there, and when they’re not, your patients are let down.

Related article: Secrets of a dental mystery patient

But you can avoid this problem with the help of a virtual receptionist.

Not only is a virtual receptionist a tiny fraction of the cost of a full-time receptionist, but they also are available to answer calls 24/7 so that there’s always someone there to help your patients with their problems.

Aside from answering calls 24/7, virtual receptionists can also book and confirm appointments, provide directions to the office, and provide information about your dental services.

They improve your customer service and also help you get new patients!

Conclusion

By providing better customer service consistently, you’ll set up your dental practice for long-term success. So, use these customer service strategies to keep your patients happy and coming back again and again!