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Building a clientele takes years. Losing a client can take seconds.
My former dental providers found that out the hard way.
Last year, I had a broken tooth and considerable pain. When I called the dental office I had visited for years, the best it could do was the Thursday of the following week. This was on a Tuesday.
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Not willing to wait for more than a week, I called an office nearer to home. It had space the next day.
When I called my old provider back to cancel that Thursday appointment, I mentioned it was because another office was going to see me tomorrow. The three calls were in the space of five minutes.
I expected to hear, “OK, thanks for letting us know.” Instead, it was, “Oh, we could get you in at 2:30 tomorrow if that works.”
Wait a minute: if you’re only offering me that time now under threat of losing business, that’s not exactly good customer service. Especially since it’s highly unlikely that time slot magically appeared in the five minutes between calls.
I declined, and couldn’t be happier to have changed providers. I’ve been back three times since: a cleaning and two fillings and already have the next cleaning booked.
Dentists are no more immune to losing customers than any other business. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press Files)
The new office is smaller and a little plainer than my old providers’, but I can leave home with three minutes to spare and make the appointment on time.
The service is excellent and the staff seem genuinely happy to have my business. The new office has all the latest toys and has clearly been investing in the business.
There’s an almost 100 per cent chance that had my old provider offered that 2:30 time right away, I’d have never left. I wasn’t unhappy there, at least until it pulled that stunt.
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