Murphy's Law: Customer Service. Is that an Oxymoron?
A corporate contact of mine from a major dental porcelain distributor recently called an airline to utilize points earned over the last several years to travel to Europe with a friend on vacation. Neither had enough mileage from individual frequent flyer accounts to qualify for a free ticket. A third party to this story offered to transfer 20,000 miles as a gift to make the whole thing work.
Risky Business: The Truth About Hepatits B Vaccine
There seem to be many questions recently regarding the Hepatitis B vaccine protocol so it’s time to review this safety issue. The offering of this vaccine is one of the requirements of OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogen Standard (BPS) at 29 CFR 1910.1030. The BPS requires the employer to define the tasks in the workplace where potential exposure to bloodborne pathogens may occur. At SafeLink we have defined those tasks for the typical dental laboratory as:
Dear Ms. Marketing: I am looking for a way to increase revenue do you have any suggestions?
I have some that may not have crossed you mind. Unused space in your business costs you money without adding to your bottom line. Someone may be desperate for space and willing to rent yours. Some companies have separate entrance and unused training rooms that added nothing to revenue but cost in terms of insurance and utilities. They have rented these spaces to other companies and it is a winning situation for both.
Dear Ms. Marketing: I have a customer that is always complaining. Do you have any suggestions on how to handle an unhappy customer?
If you have been in business any amount of time, you are going to have some upset customers and maybe even some irate ones. Everyone has to deal with these types of customers because if you don't, they will bad-mouth you all over town. They may not always be right, but they are your customer for now.
It seems like the dental laboratory is always feeling the crunch and taking the hard hits in the dental industry. And once again, we only have ourselves to blame for pulling the roof down upon ourselves. Over the next couple issues I'd like to address a few examples. This month, I want to talk about digital impressions.
While strolling the exhibits at the recent medical device manufacturing show, I pondered once again how fast technology is changing, and just how fast the gap is closing between other industries and dental technology. You see, we have always been the quiet little cottage industry that takes away the scraps and bit left behind by major manufacturers. The rapid prototyping industry has infiltrated ours, and we are being overrun with milling systems and scanners from all over the world. It’s almost too hard to keep up with them.
Risky Business: Impact of the Obama Administration on Worker Safety
All of us seem to be ready for change, but are employers ready for tougher enforcement of the OSHA Act? Under the Bush Administration, OSHA used special emphasis programs to address specific safety hazards rather than issuing new standards. The emphasis program that affected dental laboratories was control of exposure to silica and beryllium. The greatest random inspection activity that I’ve experienced for dental laboratories occurred in 2004 and 2005 as a result of the emphasis on silica and beryllium.
I am a prolific reader. I think it is a good thing. It helps me bring ideas, constructs and strategies to our laboratory profession that I might not have thought of. On a flight recently, I read a very timely article in Inc. Magazine, The Ultimate Business Tune Up For Times Like These. It was subtitled with: 23 things you can do right now to energize your employees, wow your customers and get your business back on track.
Dear Ms. Marketing: I am looking to spend some time outside of the office with my customers and I want to give them that wow factor. Do you have any suggestions?
Get into the game of golf. You maybe saying why golf? There are more than 27 million golfers in the United States alone. Golf is a great way to open doors and close deals, golf can enhance almost any business relationship.
