'Tis the Season

Richard Rosenblatt

13 years ago

It's getting to that time of the year I love. I know, most people love the summer, but I can't wait for fall and winter. I love the change of seasons, the snow and skiing. The other thing that this time of the year means to me is the busy time in my practice. September and October tend to slow down from time to time, but once Thanksgiving comes, my office goes nuts. Everyone seems to want to wait till the end of the year to get everything done that we've been talking about for the last few months. They also want to max out their insurance.

This is the time of year that I love to connect with my patients. Sam wrote a blog the other day about the death of Steve Jobs and how apple separated themselves by creating a good product and also customer service. I pride my office on customer service. I love when patients tell me that coming to our office is like visiting family because of the caring personalities of my staff. We make sure to go above and beyond to get to know them and share things about ourselves, too.

I make sure that as the end of the year approaches, I send out a letter to all my patients. We pick out a nice fall stationery that people always comment positively on. In this letter, I like to share milestones that staff members achieved during the year. We talk about weddings, births and other great events that happened in our lives so the patients continue to feel connected to our office. I also share things that I personally have done. I talk about the wonderful events that occurred during the year like my daughter's bat mitzvah, my son's graduation from elementary school and the completion of the first year of preschool of my youngest child along with other memorable times.

I then go on to highlight courses we have taken to continue to keep our practice on the cutting edge. I talk about new procedures that we have incorporated into the office to improve on patient care over the past 12 months. This is a great time to let your patients know all that you do to continue to bring them the best, most comprehensive dental care possible. I will also remind them of insurance reimbursement ending December 31 and that our practice gets very busy the last two weeks of the year and to not wait because we may not be able to get them in, even if we expand hours some.

Use this time of year to stay connected to your patients. Invite them into your world a bit and humanize yourself and your staff. You will be shocked at the response that they give you. It is something that I enjoy very much putting together every year. It is almost cathartic to think about all that positive stuff, especially when we are always reminded of the tough times that we are in. Your patients will enjoy this uplifting read from your practice and I encourage anyone to try it!