Customer Service Secrets

You may have seen those generic-looking, yellow-and-black computer reference books with titles such as Windows for Dummies or Microsoft Office for Dummies.

The publisher, IDG Books, has now expanded its line into some other aisles of your local bookstore.

Keith Bailey and Karen Leland, two internationally acclaimed corporate consultants, have put together a very comprehensive entry in the series, Customer Service for Dummies.  The volume covers the full range of customer service assessment, mission, development plan, implementation and reevaluation.

Leland and Bailey fill 333 pages with text; worksheets, group exercises, surveys and enough service plan development support material to keep you busy for years. The sections and chapters are easy enough to read through quickly at first glance.   However, if you hope to make lasting, predictable improvements to the customer service you provide to your patients, you may need to read more carefully.

Many of the chapters function as “stand-alone” solutions to the problems many of us face in dentistry.  For instance, you’ll find sections on phone etiquette, communication, solving conflicts, and many other topics.  This set-up allows you to reference the book in small parts, to solve specific area problems.  Or, taken in total, you can use the book to develop and implement an overall customer-service-driven practice style.

In these tumultuous times, and in dentistry today, many practices are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the norm.  Books like Customer Service for Dummies can help make up for the lack of business training found in dental schools.

Developing a strategy for improving or excelling in customer service areas may provide a path to excitement and rewards for you and your practice.

Customer Service for Dummies is available in local bookstores.

Do you have a question for Mark Murphy? E-mail jdt@nadl.org.