Are you asking the right questions? We all want to know what is going to change in the next ten years. One of most prescient business leaders in the world, Jeff Bezos, founder of amazon.com, says that we should ask another question: “What will not change in the next ten years?”
Bezos, quoted in Peter Diamandis’ book, Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World, says that no one has ever told him that Amazon’s delivery is too fast. He concludes that in his business, one factor that will not change is the need to improve delivery speed.
Amazon is continually trying to deliver orders faster. The company pioneered e-books. No more waiting for a book to arrive; simply click and the books downloads to your Kindle or other device in seconds. The company is now testing how to deliver tangible products in hours using drones.
There are three critical factors that will not change in dentistry. Let’s discuss speed and how we can apply the lesson to dentistry. I will address the other factors in subsequent posts as we continue to explore lessons from Amazon.
In dentistry, there is always a need to make the delivery of dental services faster by improving efficiency. It is important to note that I am not advocating spending less time with patients. On the contrary, I am focusing on finding ways to use your time and the patient’s time more efficiently.
Here are the right questions for your team to discuss.
- How can our appointment process by streamlined? How can we spend less time on the phone scheduling and confirming?
- How can we make better use of automated confirmation systems?
- How can communication between front and back be improved so we can schedule more efficiently?
- How can we ensure that we have some openings in the schedule at the ready for new patients who want to be seen very soon, even if they do not have any urgent dental needs?
- How can we streamline the check out and fee collection process?
I pose these questions to teams when I consult with practices and challenge the teams to find answers. While practices do not arrive at perfect answers, they improve these processes, and that is the goal.
To have a substantive team meeting, work through these questions in depth to improve efficiency. As I always say, you may not have all the answers, but if you have the right questions, you will improve your business.
Next post: The second factor that will not change in dentistry and how you can improve.