It’s incredible the impact your patients have on your emotional state—there are patients who immediately induce anxiety when you see them on the schedule, and there are those that inspire peace. When you have great patients, you have a great day, and when your schedule is full of those people, every day becomes amazing! Like Kirk says, “Your favorite people care about the same things as you,” so getting more of them is a no brainer! However, this kind of practice only happens through intention, so you need to dedicate yourself to your vision and be consistent in how you execute it.
- Define Your Core Customer
If you’re going to attract more of the patients you love, you must first define what exactly that patient looks like by creating a profile for your core customer. One of the first steps we help practices take is to use this differentiation tool to empower them to think at a higher level about what they’re good at and who they want to serve. Ultimately, your Core Customers are your favorite patients because they:
- Are profitable because they choose dentistry and pay for it
- Are enjoyable to be around
- Value your services
- Refer people just like themselves
By creating this definition, you’ve started your journey toward seeing more of these patients!
- Implement a Patient ID System
What makes a patient identification system so powerful is that it’s an intentional way of aligning with your team to define exactly what a core customer is. By identifying the patient behaviors you want more of, it empowers you to take actionable steps toward seeing more of them. I recommend that you categorize your patients as A, B, or C, and these are some examples of how we define them:
- A patients show up on time, value your recommendations, and pay their balances
- B patients have one or two broken appointments, have shown up late a time or two, and require payment request follow-ups.
- C patients have multiple broken appointments, have been no-shows multiple times, and have unpaid balances or have been sent to collections.
The awesome thing about this ID system is that it’s unique to your practice! YOU get to decide the guidelines for what behaviors belong in each category. Once you’ve created these guidelines, you must then decide three things:
- How do you document the patient as A, B, or C in your Practice Management Software?
- When do you identify the patient as A, B, or C? (For example, in your Morning Huddle)
- How do you interact with A, B, or C patients?
Check out this tool that explains the whole process!
Remember, this process isn’t about who you “like,” but rather about agreeing as a team about the behaviors you’re seeing and how they measure up to your guidelines. Creating definitions and identifying the patients who exhibit those behaviors will have a profound impact on your practice, because when you know who you want as a patient, you can start working to get more of them in your practice.
To learn more about ACT and how we can help you build a Better Practice and a Better Life, reach out to Gina!
Tune in next time and learn how you can treat your patients to a 6-star experience!
