Dentaltown June 2017 - 10

howard speaks
column

Drive-Thrus and Dentistry
Here's why service and communication matter in both
Fast-food restaurants and dentistry have a lot in
common. Pull up to order at a McDonald's drive-thru,
and your first encounter will be via speakerphone with
someone who often couldn't get the order right if his
life depended on it. He can't see there are four people
in the car, so he repeats the order summary after each
person finishes ... only to have to do it again after the
next person orders. It's a joke! Then you pull up to the
first window to pay, and that guy is now taking the next
order while you're paying-or, if you're at a franchise
that has two drive-thru lanes that converge into one
with a single cashier, there's an added layer of "which
order did you have again?" Guess how that works out.
No worries-it's just the money!
If you drive across the street to In-N-Out Burger,
the difference is all-encompassing. You give your order,
face to face, to a human who can see that there will be
several orders from several people, and doesn't waste
time repeating each order after each person's turn. Who
would've thought that it'd be best for an employee
to be able to see you with her eyeballs? That concept
must be mind-blowing for the senior management
team at McDonald's, who can't seem to realize how
many wrong orders-and lost sales-are placed daily
in their 36,899 restaurants, in 128 countries, serving
68 million people per day.

You've got to pay attention to sales
Here's the dental equivalent: I could sit on the phone
for an hour calling dental offices, and half of the time
my calls go to voicemail. If the phone is answered in
person-by someone whose job title was named after
a piece of furniture, the "front desk
person"-chances are I'll hear, "Can
you please hold?" (That's not an
actual question most of the time, by
the way-it's just a phrase they say
perfunctorily, without listening for a
response, before they put you on hold.)
I've watched dentists talk to each
other on the Dentaltown message

by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, publisher, Dentaltown magazine

10

JUNE 2017 // dentaltown.com

boards several hours a day, every day, since we started
in 1999. They'll talk about the best bonding agents,
implants or composites until 3 in the morning-but if
I ask them how many new customers have to call their
offices before their front desk staff manages to convert
one to an appointment, many of these superdentist
clinicians have no idea. They're confused because they
don't know what a "customer" is; they say, "You mean
a new patient?" (The national average answer to that
question, by the way, is 3.5-that's how many people
your staff will need to speak to before one converts to
a new patient who comes to your office.)
Continued on p. 12

See Howard Live!
Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, is an international
speaker who's written books and dozens of
articles. To schedule Howard to speak at your
next national, state or local dental meeting,
email rebecca@farranmedia.com.

2017
JULY 29-
AUG. 1

Pearly Whites conference

AUG.
18-19

Dental Summit Nashville

AUG.
25

Watersedge Dental
Lab presentation

Melbourne and Sydney,
Australia

Nashville, Tennessee

Ottawa, Ontario
OCT.
11

Asteto Dental Labs
study group
Saddle Brook, New Jersey


http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown June 2017

On dentaltown.com
Howard Speaks: Drive-Thrus and Dentistry
Professional Courtesy: Planning Ahead
Continuing Education Update
Travel and Learn: Live Ce Events
Industry News
Poll
Message Boards: Rubber Dam Frustrations? Tips and Tricks?
Message Boards: Why So Hard to Make a Good Rpd Framework
Message Boards: Antibiotics After Surgical Extraction
Message Boards: How to Know When Asymptomatic Apical Lesions Need Re-Treats?
Women in Dentistry: (Private) Practice Makes Perfect
Women in Dentistry: Forward Momentum
A Guaranteed Win in Vegas
Laser Education: Science and Safety
What's Your M.o?
Strength in Numbers
Product Profile: Premier
Product Profile: Smartbox Web Marketing
Product Profile: Dentsply Sirona Endodontics
Ad Index
Untangling Web Marketing
Ce: Understanding Survivors of Childhood Abuse
Dentally Incorrect
Dentaltown June 2017 - Intro
Dentaltown June 2017 - Cover1
Dentaltown June 2017 - Cover2
Dentaltown June 2017 - 1
Dentaltown June 2017 - 2
Dentaltown June 2017 - 3
Dentaltown June 2017 - 4
Dentaltown June 2017 - 5
Dentaltown June 2017 - 6
Dentaltown June 2017 - 7
Dentaltown June 2017 - On dentaltown.com
Dentaltown June 2017 - 9
Dentaltown June 2017 - Howard Speaks: Drive-Thrus and Dentistry
Dentaltown June 2017 - 11
Dentaltown June 2017 - 12
Dentaltown June 2017 - 13
Dentaltown June 2017 - Professional Courtesy: Planning Ahead
Dentaltown June 2017 - 15
Dentaltown June 2017 - Continuing Education Update
Dentaltown June 2017 - 17
Dentaltown June 2017 - 18
Dentaltown June 2017 - 19
Dentaltown June 2017 - Travel and Learn: Live Ce Events
Dentaltown June 2017 - 21
Dentaltown June 2017 - Industry News
Dentaltown June 2017 - 23
Dentaltown June 2017 - 24
Dentaltown June 2017 - 25
Dentaltown June 2017 - Poll
Dentaltown June 2017 - 27
Dentaltown June 2017 - Message Boards: Rubber Dam Frustrations? Tips and Tricks?
Dentaltown June 2017 - 29
Dentaltown June 2017 - 30
Dentaltown June 2017 - 31
Dentaltown June 2017 - 32
Dentaltown June 2017 - 33
Dentaltown June 2017 - Message Boards: Why So Hard to Make a Good Rpd Framework
Dentaltown June 2017 - 35
Dentaltown June 2017 - 36
Dentaltown June 2017 - 37
Dentaltown June 2017 - 38
Dentaltown June 2017 - 39
Dentaltown June 2017 - Message Boards: Antibiotics After Surgical Extraction
Dentaltown June 2017 - 41
Dentaltown June 2017 - 42
Dentaltown June 2017 - 43
Dentaltown June 2017 - 44
Dentaltown June 2017 - 45
Dentaltown June 2017 - Message Boards: How to Know When Asymptomatic Apical Lesions Need Re-Treats?
Dentaltown June 2017 - 47
Dentaltown June 2017 - 48
Dentaltown June 2017 - 49
Dentaltown June 2017 - Women in Dentistry: (Private) Practice Makes Perfect
Dentaltown June 2017 - 51
Dentaltown June 2017 - 52
Dentaltown June 2017 - 53
Dentaltown June 2017 - 54
Dentaltown June 2017 - Women in Dentistry: Forward Momentum
Dentaltown June 2017 - 56
Dentaltown June 2017 - 57
Dentaltown June 2017 - A Guaranteed Win in Vegas
Dentaltown June 2017 - 59
Dentaltown June 2017 - 60
Dentaltown June 2017 - 61
Dentaltown June 2017 - Laser Education: Science and Safety
Dentaltown June 2017 - 63
Dentaltown June 2017 - 64
Dentaltown June 2017 - 65
Dentaltown June 2017 - 66
Dentaltown June 2017 - 67
Dentaltown June 2017 - What's Your M.o?
Dentaltown June 2017 - 69
Dentaltown June 2017 - 70
Dentaltown June 2017 - 71
Dentaltown June 2017 - 72
Dentaltown June 2017 - 73
Dentaltown June 2017 - Strength in Numbers
Dentaltown June 2017 - 75
Dentaltown June 2017 - 76
Dentaltown June 2017 - Product Profile: Premier
Dentaltown June 2017 - Product Profile: Smartbox Web Marketing
Dentaltown June 2017 - 79
Dentaltown June 2017 - Product Profile: Dentsply Sirona Endodontics
Dentaltown June 2017 - Ad Index
Dentaltown June 2017 - Untangling Web Marketing
Dentaltown June 2017 - 83
Dentaltown June 2017 - 84
Dentaltown June 2017 - 85
Dentaltown June 2017 - 86
Dentaltown June 2017 - 87
Dentaltown June 2017 - Ce: Understanding Survivors of Childhood Abuse
Dentaltown June 2017 - 89
Dentaltown June 2017 - 90
Dentaltown June 2017 - 91
Dentaltown June 2017 - 92
Dentaltown June 2017 - 93
Dentaltown June 2017 - 94
Dentaltown June 2017 - 95
Dentaltown June 2017 - Dentally Incorrect
Dentaltown June 2017 - Cover3
Dentaltown June 2017 - Cover4
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