Quality Always Wins

I changed dry cleaners recently. Briefly.

It's not that I had any objections to the quality of service I was getting from my usual dry cleaner. Quite the opposite; I have always been impressed by their extraordinary attention to detail and their excellent customer service.

They package each item separately, which I find very convenient because I do a lot of traveling and that makes packing easier. If there is a stain that won't quite come out, they alert me to it.

If a button is loose or a collar tab needs replacing, they deal with it without being asked. In short, they treat my clothes as if they were their own. But one day I was looking over my dry cleaning bill and I realized the service they provided was not cheap. At the same time, I noticed a well-designed ad for a rival cleaner in my area that offered significantly lower rates. I decided to give the cheaper option a try.

It didn't take long to discover why they were the cheaper option. It's not that they were bad at what they did or especially poor in customer service. They were average, and the work they did and the service I received reflected that. But I had become accustomed to more than just average. I am now back with my usual cleaners. The competition, in this case, was able to capture my attention. But they were not able to capture my loyalty.

This is the kind of story I tell to dentists who are concerned about other practitioners in their area undercutting them on price.

Yes, there will always be price-shoppers. But since patients don't usually know enough to judge the quality of your clinical care, your best differentiator is going to be the experience you provide. In some practices a patient will move five minutes farther way and decide to find a new dental home. In others, you find patients who move two hours away and end up staying with the practice and making the trip. In the end, quality always wins.