The Importance of a First Impression

In his fascinating book, The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell examines how new products, behaviors and ideas achieve critical mass in society, and identifies the three different types of people who are responsible for doing it: Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople.

Connectors are natural “hubs”; they love to network, are exceptionally well-connected, and seem to know everybody. Salespeople are natural persuaders; they are skilled at making ideas appealing to others, and then getting others behind those ideas. Mavens are “in the know”; these are the individuals that others follow and rely upon for new information.

Gladwell states in his book that Mavens start “word-of-mouth epidemics” due to their knowledge base, ability to communicate, and social skills. When it comes to word-of-mouth marketing, Maven patients are therefore key to your practice. They become either your best asset or your worst liability, because people in their social circles come to them for advice on a variety of subjects, including orthodontics.

As a Maven myself, I can say that in general, my experience as a patient in different medical practices has been influenced less over the years by my experience with doctors, and more by my experience with the staff of the practice. The following recent experience will illustrate.

Late this past summer, I injured my right knee playing tennis; after enduring some nagging pain for several weeks without improvement, I went to my doctor, who then scheduled me for an MRI and a follow-up consultation with an orthopedic specialist.

I arrived at my MRI appointment at 7:30 in the morning and, after a 45-minute wait in the reception area, was summoned by a clinical assistant; I have to assume that this person had an unpleasant evening, because it was obvious that my presence at that hour was an inconvenience to them. In complete silence, we walked down a long hall to the MRI room, at which time I received curt, matter of fact instructions for the procedure; following the visit, I had to find my own way out of the facility. This staff person also failed to arrange to get my records to the surgeon I was seeing, which later required a personal, second trip to their facility on my part simply to retrieve them. Which annoyed me.

Why am I telling you this? Because I play tennis regularly with a group of 60 other people at my club, many of whom had questions upon my return about the results of my MRI visit (which fortunately was negative). It cannot help that facility to have me repeat my customer-service experience to a group of sixty athletic friends with a higher than normal likelihood of needing joint care in the future, can it? All because of the apathy exhibited by one employee. That’s not good for business – and it should never have happened.

Irrespective of your job title, It’s too easy in the day-to-day routine to forget that the visit for the patient is a fresh experience, and that everything that you exhibit to them – your tone of voice, your attitude, your eye contact, your smile, your attention to detail – either positively or negatively impacts their impression of your practice. Whether you work in the front office, the operatory, as a TC, or are the doctor – the message you communicate must be the same to every patient:

• We are glad you are here.
• We enjoy our work.
• We value your business and respect your time.
• Your satisfaction with your experience here is our top priority from the moment you arrive until the moment you leave.

Last week, I finished a doubles match with a sore back and was referred by two of my peers to a massage therapist facility. Specifically, I was told to ask for a woman named Irene; one of my friends even had Irene’s direct number stored in her cell phone.  I was in Irene’s office within two hours.

I had a great customer-service experience with immediate improvement, and have an appointment for a follow-up session next week. All of which I have since shared with my friends at the tennis club.

Irene gets the point. Do you?