Okay, can you feel the excitement? Are you ready to go? If not, well it might be another sign for you altogether. Which is just fine, by the way. This little break in the action could be a telling experience in more ways than one. None the less, you are probably jumping up and down chomping at the bit ready to get back.
So, let’s do exactly that.
Now, before we dive into the exact actions you should be taking now with about 2 weeks or so left, I want to share something with you. In my recent videos and doctor interviews, I mentioned that I’ve been hard at work creating a brand new training series designed specifically to help you navigate this difficult time, recover as quick as possible, and be in position to protect your practice no matter what the future holds.
You can get started right now with Video #1 >>>
Let’s dive in to week 2: There are four core actions that you should be doing right now to make sure you are ready to hit the ground running and in a very big way – I didn’t say a necessarily high volume way; just ready to make the most of it all.
By the way, I have Doctors who are adding hygienists and upgrading team members. Then there are others that have no idea when they can get their hygienists back and bringing the team back in waves, not all at once.
It really just depends on your individual circumstances, the area in which you practice in, and the size of practice. Rest assured, everything I’m going over with you today applies to everyone.
First, the question I get asked most often is, “What should I be doing with my patients?”
Well, hopefully you haven’t waited until right now to be doing something to your patients but if you have, it’s still better late than never. I have been encouraging video messages to your patients, personal cards, letters, calls, email, and any other surprises that just let them know you are thinking of them.
If you need additional help and resources, you can get several patient templates in the first training session of the just-released online course: Grab Your Free Access >>>
Ultimately the videos and the personal calls are going to go a very long way. These are items we have covered several times.
I would be following a four-part series at the very least. Some have taken it to a whole new level of team video sharing, patient education, personalized quarantining tips, or just making it personal from you to them.
In short order these are the four messages I would hope you will have sent out to your patients…
First, a message that just says we are thinking about you, care about you, and are here for you. During these tough times we know sticking together we will be stronger and get through it. Express how grateful you are to be their doctor and have the opportunity to care for them and you are doing that now even when you aren’t together.
Second, a message that shares very directly about how health is about more than hand washing and avoiding people. In fact, that really isn’t health at all as we know – real health is about preventative care and achieving an optimal state of well being for ALL parts of your body. “And did you know that your oral health plays one of the greatest role in keeping your body disease free and healthy. As we say your mouth is the entry point to your entire body.” Share with them about building the immune system and overall stake your claim on the significance of dentistry and what you do for them.
Third, I would send them a message about all the ways you have always kept them safe in your office and some of the enhancements you have made to their experience in order to further combat the virus. We won’t get into the facts of the whole thing but the bottom line is whether you are in New York City or not, you will have patients with different fears and mindsets.
These are realities, regardless of how you personally feel about it. You have to deal with the perception the patient has (and, by the way, your team too). So, do things that will proactively put them at ease and show them how you are helping keep everyone safe.
Finally, the fourth message, at the very least I would send out is announcing that you will be seeing patients again as part of your regular schedule. Many Doctors have preferred to NEVER announce that they have been closed and to always make sure patients know that they have remained available to serve them; while some have closed completely. So whatever you have done, just notify patients in a positive and encouraging way that you are ‘back in business’ or whatever message you want to bring. I know some are turning it into a celebration.
There you have it, patient outreach in a comprehensive way. You want to touch every single patient ideally in a few different ways. The more you do that, the more they will respond when we expect them to show up. In addition, when you start encouraging them to refer friends and family, they are going to do like never before because of how you have strengthened your relationship.
The next thing you must do in addition to setting your date and notifying everyone about it, is you have to rally your team and have very frank discussions to prepare a battle plan for the re-open.
Last week, we talked about getting the team back together to go over the schedule strategy and start getting everyone’s head in the right place. Now we want to take that to the next level and we have to have open discussions with how team members are feeling, what questions they have, etc.
And then you want to establish what are our safety protocols, how are we handling patients in the reception area, are there things we are doing differently, and how will we communicate with each other. Then discuss what will your flow be like, taking the scheduling structure to the next level, and mapping out capacity.
The other thing I really want you to do is to begin role-playing how to talk with patients. You must practice. Confirmation calls and questions about “is it safe” or “I want to wait” or “why have you been closed” and a long list of many other concerns that patients might bring up.
Map out these answers and practice. Be prepared. I will be helping you with some examples of these soon and talking through them with you, but you don’t have to wait. The more you get your team involved the better.
As a practical matter, you of course need to restock supplies, make sure you have whatever safety stuff you are going to need, and you’ll need to check on your lab among a few other things. Get ready to go my friend. It’s almost time.
In addition to that, if you haven’t already, take a deeper look at what patients you owe dentistry to or what patients need to finish things up. You surely have seated all of your crowns during this time and gotten patients out of temporaries (I can only hope), but it’s possible that you also cleared your books of anyone that was scheduled and you have a wide open schedule in May to rebuild or you may have May stacked up from April’s displacement.
Everyone will be in a different situation and it’s time to play chess. You’ll need to be strategic and figure out the math problem. You can get this thing in order on paper first. Next week we’re going to move forward with patient contact direct to scheduling and move full speed ahead into a proactive, responsible, methodical, deliberate, and you better believe productive final week into our re-open strategy that will have you running into May ready to make it your best month of the year.
Because you are going to find that the patients that come in are going to have learned their lesson – that life is too short and too uncertain to delay what is in their best interest – they are going to be ready to listen, ready to receive, and ready to move forward on their pathway to health.
You watch, they will. As long as you are ready to lead the way and be their guide, they will be ready to follow and say yes to dentistry, because now more than ever all health matters.
Next week, we’ll walk through the financial rebuilding of your practice and the direct patient contact to get you there. We’ll divide and conquer as a team and finish our 3-week re-open plan and move forward into our first week of our “new future” that you are going to create a more powerful, consistent, and profitable practice than you ever though you could have.
This, as one of my great and dear personal friends says, done right will be looked back at as “the great reset” for many things in your life – including a practice that will be better, more fun, and built on a stronger foundation than ever before.
If you’re ready for a great reset and an even greater rebound, be the first to start my brand new 5-part video training series and toolbox to put their practice on the fast track to recovery and success.
You deserve that – if and only if – you’ve done the work necessary to make it so right now.
