By Cheryl G. Murphy, OD
Patient loyalty is priceless. Each interaction with a patient can either add to or detract from their overall satisfaction and impression of a practice thereby increasing or decreasing their likelihood to return. By becoming conscientious of small gestures and self-monitoring decorum, practices can enhance each patient’s experience, grow a positive relationship and accrue patient trust.
Brett Paepke, OD, of FirstView Eye Care in Plattsburgh, NY, says that “once patients are in an optometric office, there is only a small snapshot of time to ‘wow’ them with exceptional service.” In his practice, he and his staff proactively work toward increasing patient satisfaction through each interaction. They also monitor each other for missed opportunities to show patients how much they are valued. Then at staff meetings each week they all come together to celebrate what they have done right and learn from what they could have done better.
Left to right: Charles Paepke, OD, and son and partner Brett Paepke, OD, of FirstView Eye Care in Plattsburgh, NY
By creating a weekly conceptual exercise called the “FirstView Loyalty Bank,” Dr. Paepke and his staff have found a way to self-police and track their loyalty-building behavior. Deposits are made each time a “loyalty building action” is shared and withdrawals are made each time a “loyalty disrupting action” is discussed. Much like a real bank account, having a negative balance is not a good thing.
Dr. Paepke asks his staff members to come to the weekly meeting “with at least one instance of a deposit and one instance of a withdrawal that they have witnessed someone else make during the previous week.” It is important to note that the individuals responsible for withdrawals are not identified. He says that this exercise has allowed him and his staff to “recognize the exceptional actions of individual staff members and to identify the areas that we need to improve as a team.”
The more deposits or loyalty-building actions accumulated the richer FirstView Eye Care’s practice grows in terms of metaphorically cultivating patient loyalty and trust. He also adds that by implementing this conceptual exercise, he and his staff have become more critically observant and conscientious of patient/staff interaction and that the FirstView Loyalty Bank is now rolling in the rewards.
The most important reward they have benefited from is that the bank exercise has given them the chance to recognize when a staff member has gone that extra mile. All too often in life we focus on the negative. While it is good to know when we are doing something wrong so that we can correct it and grow from it, it is equally as important to take the time to pat each other on the back when we do something right. The loyalty bank, and exercises like it, not only build patient trust and loyalty, they also build inspiration and energy in staff by showing an appreciation for their hard work and acknowledging a job well done.
How do you encourage and track patient satisfaction and loyalty?
Cheryl G. Murphy, OD, practices at an independent optometric practice in Holbrook, NY. You can like her on Facebook or follow her on twitter @murphyod. To contact her: murphyc2020@gmail.com.
