This last week I was talking to a dentist and the topic came up about how some dental practice staff have difficulty in having a conversation with the patients of the practice.
Over the following four weeks I’m going to be sharing four great ways that any staff member can quickly and easily become a conversational guru, no matter how shy or quiet they think that they are.
You know the situation…
You walk past a treatment room and there’s a patient sitting in the chair, bibbed up, and there’s a dental assistant in the treatment room standing behind the chair, where the patient cannot see them, and NOBODY IN THAT ROOM IS TALKING TO NOBODY.
The patient is sitting staring straight ahead at the wall…
It’s like a scene from a horror movie.
And the silence in the room…. well that silence is DEAFENING.
Well it could be worse:
The patient could be sitting ALONE in the treatment room, all bibbed up, and the dental assistant who is meant to be in that treatment room with that patient is out of the room doing something that can wait, like scrubbing instruments, or putting a stock order into cupboards….
All while a paying customer is PARKED in the chair in the treatment room ALONE, until the dentist arrives to begin treatment.
And I’ve seen this:
The patient is just about to have two of her back teeth crowned and fork over $4600 of her hard-earned to the practice, and she’s probably thinking:
“And they can’t even be BOTHERED to talk with me!”
If I was that patient, and that happened to me, I’d definitely be thinking about taking my business elsewhere.
Some staff have difficulty holding a conversation.
I get it.
Some staff do have a difficulty in beginning and maintaining conversations with people they perceive that they have very little in common with.
Over the upcoming next four weeks, I’m going to be sharing a secret formula with you that any person can use to be able to strike up a conversation with any other person, despite there being age differences, cultural differences, educational differences, or differences in interests.
But before I share that formula with you, there’s one KEY THOUGHT that needs to be the GUIDING PRINCIPLE for all conversations, and that is this:
Ask questions.
Ask questions. Lots of questions.
And listen to the answers.
And then ask more questions.
Always be asking questions…
Always be asking questions…
In a conversation, the person asking the questions is the person controlling the direction of the conversation.
When you are in a conversation, and you ask a question, and the person you are talking with replies, then to keep control of that conversation you need to follow their answer with another question.
And then another question.
Followed by more questions…
The person answering the questions can [and should be allowed to] talk for as long as they wish to.
And the reason for this is simple:
The questions being asked need to be focused on the other person in the conversation.
When you talk to someone and you ask them lots of questions about themselves, and they answer those questions with information about themselves, that person will actually believe that YOU are one of the most interesting people they have ever met…
And all this happens purely because they believed that you were INTERESTED in them.
Isn’t that fascinating….
If you want to be regarded as being INTERESTING, first you must be INTERESTED.
It’s really that simple.
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Dr. David Moffet BDS FPFA CSP is a certified CX Experience coach. David works with his wife Jayne Bandy to help SME businesses improve their Customer Service Systems to create memorable World Class experiences for their valued clients and customers. Click here to find out how David and Jayne can help your business