Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

June 13-19, 2011United Kingdom Edition For more information please contact your dental retailer www.septodont.co.uk Anaesthetics • Endodontics Restorative Dentistry • Dental Surgery Prosthetic Dentistry • Disinfection & Hygiene Racegel is a brand new gel specifically designed for gingival preparation procedures. It is easy to put in place, is not traumatic for the gingival tissues and eliminates the need for retraction cord. Racegel opens the sulcus without applying any pressure, keeping the gingival passive and the cervical margins ideally exposed making it the ideal preparation for impression taking. Dentists in the know use Racegel E veryone talks about meeting and exceed- ing customers’ expecta- tions, yet it is rarely achieved. Despite it being inexpensive to implement and requiring only the most basic of approaches, it is rarely well executed in prac- tice in this country. However achieving true customer satis- faction probably generates the greatest return of any sales or marketing activity a practice can undertake. To address this yawning gap, Lina Craven of Dynamic Perceptions is staging a series of two day workshops this au- tumn aimed at the entire team. During the course, participants will learn how to create and de- liver the kind of culture, proc- esses and practices that un- derpin an effective new patient process and truly utilise the role of treatment coordinators. Lina Craven set up Dynamic Perceptions after arriving from the USA, where the role of treat- ment coordinator is highly val- ued, to find that no such func- tion existed in UK practices. She set about educating dental professions about the benefits of improving the efficiency and profitability of the practice by training members of the team to become treatment coordina- tors. As a result the practices saw an upswing in case accept- ance ratios and a marked im- provement in patient satisfac- tion and recommendations. One such practice was Teeth in Line Orthodontics. After in- viting Lina to conduct an in- house training workshop, or- thodontist Mark Tobin said: “Lina introduced the concept of treatment coordinator to my practices two years ago. It has been without exception the sin- gle most important and influen- tial change we have made since setting up 10 years ago. We now have two full time treat- ment coordinators and I do not know how we managed without them; the answer is that we re- ally didn’t manage the patient journey very well at all. The systems that Lina introduced have essentially paid for them- selves as the uptake in private treatments has gone up by a third, whilst at the same time providing patients with a better overall experience. My only re- gret is that we didn’t make the changes earlier.” The two-day workshops Lina is running are designed for practices looking for ways to maximise the effective- ness of their team and keen to introduce the role of treat- ment coordinator. They are equally applicable for anyone new to the role looking for ways to fully embrace their new function. There are three parts to the workshop and in the first, dele- gates will learn about the func- tion and benefits of a treatment coordinator; those best suited to the job and their roles and responsibilities. Phase two ad- dresses the customer and sets out to explore what the ‘new’ dental patients of today expect; how to meet and exceed their expectations; to understanding the true nature of the products and services practices provide and the role of the entire team in the new patient process. Stage three tackles the busi- ness approach needed by the dental practitioner and treat- ment coordinator from the verbal skills needed to provide a powerful case presentation; the techniques that break down barriers before and after case presentations; how to create a winning ‘patient journey- how to utilise technology for enhanced case presentations and finally how to schedule the treatment coordinator into the practice appointment diary for maximum benefit. Dr Dai Roberts-Harry said that: “Competition in the den- tal practice market is now more ferocious than ever. With the additional burden of the eco- nomic downturn it is vital to fo- cus on customer care and sup- port. Four of my staff have been through Lina’s excellent treat- ment coordinator programme which has worked wonders for my practice. They are now much more at ease dealing with patients and confident in handling tricky interpersonal situations particularly where finance is involved. This makes my life less stressful and en- hances their role in the practice, making them feel an integrated part of the team. I thoroughly recommend this programme to all my dental colleagues.” Delegates will be able to earn 10 hours of verifiable CPD over the two days of the work- shop which are taking place in the autumn: Orthodontic practices: Sep- tember 1st and 2nd - Henley on Thames - Hotel Du Vin Dental practices: October 14th and 15th - Henley on Thames - Hotel Du Vin Dental practices: October 13th and 14th - Belfast - Stormont Hotel As places are limited and with entire teams attending, reserving a place early, before the summer break is strongly recommended. For more in- formation Dynamic Percep- tions can be contacted on 01296 748692 or craven@dynamic.fs- life.co.uk DT No-nonsense approach to case acceptance Achieving true customer satisfaction probably generates the greatest return of any sales or marketing activity