Welcome, but Expected Surprises

There are those things in life we come to expect. Simple things like the car starting in the morning, the light turning on when we flip the switch, or our coffee to be hot when we buy it.

Then sometimes we get unexpected surprises. Events like a power outage, or finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk.

One of the above surprises is an inconvenience, but the other is great, and can make a persons day. Finding $20 of “free” money on the sidewalk…that could make anybody’s day.

Two days ago, I purchased a package of Hostess Ho Hos. Chocolate snack cakes, which come 3 to a package. I returned to my desk to hammer out some work, and opened the package to find there were 4 treats inside the package rather than 3.

I was rather excited to get 33% more snack for my dollar, and it put a smile on my face. Was I expecting it? No, but it sure put a smile on my face.

How can you apply this to your practice? Create a system to randomly reward patients for using your services. Maybe at the start of the week, you pick a number, say 14. Then, patient #14 for the week gets a $10 Starbucks card, unannounced and unadvertised. If you don’t think that makes someone’s day, try it.

The same works for staff. Show up one day with a box of muffins and look at the smiles on their faces. Don’t tell them you are doing it, or make it a regular thing, just do it randomly. They will enjoy the little surprises.

These little unexpected surprises will help to keep patients coming back, and keep your staff productive as ever.

Just imagine the word-of-mouth you will create when patient #14 goes to work and brags about how here dentist surprised her with a free Starbucks gift card.