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The Four Forces of Change
Peter Sheahan
- Increasing compression of time and space.
The quicker something can be done, the quicker we expect it to happen.
- Increasing complexity.
Sophisticated new technologies, diversifying and intangible new demands of consumers, more information, more knowledge, and more options with too many choices can actually paralyze decision making.
- Increasing transparency and accountability.
- Increasing expectations on the part of everyone for everything.
We need to have a clear vision that compels us toward a better future based on our values and principles with a purpose beyond self-interest. Remember that action creates clarity. We learn by doing then applying what was learned.
“…..people seem to regret not having done things more than they regret things they did.”
Making the decision to act is the key to success
We have no choice but to make up our mind. If we ponder too long we will become irrelevant faster and faster. A decision usually requires some change and some risk, but the risk of not deciding and not taking action is much higher.
- Decisions lead to action.
- Decisions create momentum.
- Decisions create confidence.
NOT TO DECIDE IS TO DECIDE
Absolutely, Positively Sweat the Small Stuff because …. “The Small Stuff is Really THE BIG STUFF”
Today – Being good enough isn’t good enough anymore.
Advertising Research Journal, research has found that emotions are twice as important as any other consideration in customers’ decisions about what to purchase; and all decisions we make in life. Only after making the decision emotionally do we call upon our cognitive processes to rationalize our choice.
In fact, we automatically rationalize everything we do.
Feelings are the most important facts. Do you and your people strive to make every contact with your patients a warm personalized experience? When you see opportunities to gain efficiencies in your operations, do you first consider the impact they will have on how it “feels” to do business with you?
As you expand and grow your business you must hold on to what made you in the first place. It is exactly this kind of authenticity that makes brands attractive. It is the intangibles, like the “warm feeling” of the caring personal relationship that will differentiate your practice.
Service is essentially how it feels to experience being in your office….the design and layout, the behavior of your team, the simplicity and ease of getting to your office, making an appointment and fair payment policy.
Function is how it feels to own your dentistry….the design, comfort and function. It is about how your service integrates into and supports the patient’s daily life and lifestyle. It is about quality and integration.
Story is how it feels for patients to say that you are their dentist. It is the story patients tell themselves and others why they chose you to be their dentist and why they like the dentistry that you did for them. It is the most powerful of the three elements of the total ownership experience.
Dentists with the highest profit margins in their fees create a distinctive patient experience; because everyone wants to do business with people they know, like, and trust, and whom they can rely on for help in the future.
What applies to your relationship with patients applies equally to your team. Both groups are looking for experiences that give their lives meaning and enhance their sense of purpose in the world. Both want to be treated with respect, and be stimulated to grow and learn. In short, people not only want to do business with, they also want to work for and with, people they know, like, and trust.
People stay at jobs because they like doing quality work and because they like the people they work with. It is about whether people find the work interesting, but it is also about whether the work challenges them and forces them to grow. In fact, treating your team with care and respect supports higher and higher team performance, especially with regard to meeting patients’ needs and wants.
Doctors with good patient relationships were less likely to be sued, even when they did things wrong. Patients who trusted their doctors believed they had their best interests at heart. The way patients judged whether their doctors had their best interests at heart were very simple as:
- Did they “sound” interested.
- How “long” they spent in consultation.
- How intently they “listened.”
- The “tone” of their voice.
“Patients don’t want choice; they want what they want.”
However, many times they don’t really know what they want; and offering too many choices only confuses them. We need to ask the right questions and listen to understand what they want – then verify our understanding before prescribing a treatment plan.
