Is Your Team Ready to Offer Five-Star Service?

How many times has this happened to you? You go to a restaurant where you have a reservation, and they make you wait because your table isn’t ready.

You are finally escorted to your table, but it hasn’t been cleared or set up yet. You’re ready to order, but your server is nowhere around. The kitchen is slow preparing your order, and when it finally arrives, you find they got it wrong.

In the end, you probably register your dissatisfaction with a smaller-than-usual tip, but of course, it’s not all the server’s fault — the server didn’t take (or lose) your reservation, or cook your food. It’s a team process, and clearly, this team was not ready for you.

At least they weren’t ready to make a great impression. After all, the staff was there, and the kitchen was stocked, so they were prepared to serve food. They just weren’t prepared to do it in a way that made you feel special. We know, because we know that’s what it feels like when a restaurant gets everything right — it makes you feel like a special guest.

Similarly, most dental practices excel at the basics of being prepared for patients. However, it takes exceptional team preparation to provide an exceptional experience — such as that extra attention for a new patient’s first visit, for example. There’s a vast difference between 99% and 101% readiness. In fact, I’d say it’s a bigger, more noticeable difference than the gap between 90% and 99%. And it’s in that top tier of readiness that great experiences — and great relationships — are born.