March 11, 2024 • 23 mins
Unlock the secrets of making a stellar first impression with keynote speaker Sylvie's science-backed strategies tailored for chiropractic care. This episode is a treasure trove of insights, where Sylvie illuminates how snap judgments can shape a patient's perspective from the second they enter your clinic. We cover the emotional currents flowing through chiropractic offices and dissect the patient-practitioner dynamic, emphasizing the crucial role of unconscious biases and the profound effect they have on healthcare outcomes.
Step into the world of patient care excellence as we explore the potent ABCDE framework, offering a blueprint to perfect every facet of patient interaction for a lasting positive impact. Glean wisdom on optimizing the visual and emotional cues that greet your patients, mastering the art of reception, and honing your active listening skills to transform the standard visit into an exceptional experience. This conversation is an invitation to refine the subtleties that forge strong patient connections, fostering trust and loyalty from the moment of arrival.
As we round off this enlightening discussion, the focus turns to the pulse of your practice – team communication and leadership. Learn how to navigate the choppy waters of negative patient experiences with grace and tact, and how confronting team behavior can uplift your entire practice's atmosphere. My enthusiasm is palpable as I anticipate sharing more at the Logan University keynote and Fair Advantage Conference, promising a deep dive into the principles laid out in "The Fair Advantage" to arm your practice with the tools it needs to thrive.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the activate your practice podcast.
I'm Dr Four.
Data always wins, always.
Hello everybody, I'm Dr ArlenFour, the founder and chairman
(00:28):
of Activator MethodsInternational.
Welcome to our podcast calledActivate your Practice.
Now, today, we have a specialguest, and it's not often that
you can get somebody that is akeynote speaker around the world
on a podcast because of herschedule.
And I met Sylvie.
I think it was about six, sevenyears ago at another convention
(00:51):
and she had a bad little bag.
So I said, sylvie, I'm going togive you an adjustment.
And she says, thank you verymuch.
That's how I met Sylvie wasfixing her low back and so,
sylvie, welcome to the activateyour practice podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Thank you very much for having me.
Now let me share it a littlebit from my perspective.
I had the honor to speak at aconference for chiropractors and
there was all this commotionabout this celebrity attending
the conference and everybody wastalking about the Activator
Method and the inventor and Ihad no idea, to be honest, until
(01:33):
you laid hands on my back and Ifor a moment I thought this
can't be real.
Right, this is I'm justthinking that I'm feeling better
, but obviously, since themaster himself laid hands on my
back, I instantly felt pain freeand relieved and honored to
meet you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, thank you very much, and the reason that I
asked Sylvie to be on theprogram today is because she's
written several books.
The last one is your fairadvantage.
That's brand new and just outon the press.
But she also talked a lot aboutwhat your first impression is,
and that it's actually.
(02:14):
You have about seven seconds tomake a first impression, and so
I asked her come on the podcastand tell us how can this apply
to the patient experience inchiropractic care.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, first of all, I want you to know we are all
judgmental human beings and thathas nothing to do with the fact
if we are good human beings,bad human beings, if we want to
do it, if we don't want to do it.
But there is science behindthat proves that we all make
initial judgments, opinionsabout each other.
(02:50):
It's automated brainperformance.
Now, some studies say it takesseven seconds, others say it
takes 13 seconds.
Supposedly, online, it onlytakes milliseconds.
To be honest, the number itselfdoesn't matter as much.
I just chose the one with sevenseconds for my work.
(03:11):
And what matters more is thefact that it happens
automatically.
Your patients enter yourpractice and instantly form an
opinion.
Form the opinion that you arethe best doctor taking care of
them.
Form the opinion that you aretrustworthy, reliable,
successful or not.
(03:32):
Now, obviously, you can changethat first initial opinion.
However, unfortunately,afterwards, very powerful
sources are working against youunconscious bias, because people
want to be right.
They're looking for proof.
So once they formed the initialopinion about you, they ignore
(03:53):
anything, subconsciously, thatgoes against their first initial
opinion, and so you have towork way harder in order to
change that first impressionthat you just made on them.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Are there particular challenges in the chiropractic
field when it comes to managingfirst impressions?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
First of all, you know verywell that you work in what I
call a very emotionally chargedenvironment.
Patients who come to youemotionally charged because they
are in pain.
They are emotionally chargedbecause they instantly want a
(04:35):
solution.
Right, they don't see thelong-term process you might take
them on.
They want to go to achiropractor and leave it
painless, or they might be acaregiver and bring somebody to
you that they trust into yourhands.
So they already come in with avery emotionally charged mindset
.
(04:56):
And then, secondly, it's notjust about you.
Usually you are not the one whowelcomes your patients.
Very often you have somebody atthe reception welcoming them,
checking them in, and even astep prior to that, maybe they
came to you because they foundyou on the internet and they
were frustrated with yourreservation system on your
(05:16):
website or something right.
So there are a lot of emotionsinvolved that, unfortunately,
emotions create more emotions.
It's a very thin ice that youwalk on, where rational
decisions are not as often as wewish they would happen, and so
(05:39):
we often think that the humansthink based on data, facts and
figures.
But in reality, yes, thatinformation, those numbers that
you give them, they matter, butwhen they come in emotionally
charged, their subconscious mindticks over their emotions and
they might not react and thinkand act very rational or
(06:02):
logically.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
You know you mentioned something there about
the first appearance and we havea referral system that I've
been working on only for 15years, but we wanted to have the
same standardization of careeverywhere you go.
Well, what we found out andeverybody always says I don't
say something unless I have datato back it up, and we do.
(06:26):
But if you have a picture ofyou and your staff or your
clinic, you will get twice thereferrals that you will get if
you don't have it, and we callthat a real way of getting to
the patient before they ever getto the office.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, you are in the paper business right, and
especially nowadays, such atechnology driven world where
artificial intelligence oraugmented reality and all other
fancy tools get so in theforefront, what people actually
value way more is that humantouch, the human connection that
(07:08):
I can instantly make when I notgo on your website and all you
give me is a logo which looksvery corporate and cold, but
when I actually going to see thehuman beings that I will
interact with and the doctor whowill touch my body and will
take care of me, which is a verypersonal, again, emotionally
(07:31):
charged situation you bringpatients into.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Can you share examples of how improving first
impressions can positivelyimpact patient experiences?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Well, let's just imagine.
Let's go into a hospital.
Right, you go into a hospitalbecause you either want to visit
a friend who is a patient thereor you have an appointment.
Some occasion brings you intothe hospital and you walk
through the hospital doors andthe receptionist is not looking
(08:04):
at you, is in their keyboardtyping where's the room, where's
the number, who do I have tocall?
Doesn't give you the attentionthat you would expect at this
moment.
Once they finally tell youwhere you have to go, you go to
the elevator.
Out of a sudden you notice howlong you have to wait for the
elevator.
Right, and you walk into theelevator and then you get up and
(08:26):
then, out of a sudden, yourealize there is some weird kind
of smell.
And then you go into thepatient's room and you find that
little piece of paper or dirton the floor that the cleaning
team didn't clean up.
What happens here is those areall unconscious biases working
(08:47):
against that hospital, meaning,once you had that first bed
interaction, your brain is justlooking for proof.
So, confirmation bias make surethat you find confirmation for
your initial opinion.
Then anchoring bias kicks in.
You cannot just let go of thatinitial thought.
(09:08):
Negativity bias kicks inbecause humans have a tendency
to always see the things thatare wrong before they see the
things that are actually right.
Bandwagon effect could kick inbecause you already heard that
this hospital is not good, so ifothers say it, it must be true,
right?
(09:28):
So this is now your opportunityto turn the table.
If your first impression at thereception is outstanding
already, then you train yourteam to welcome your patients
with the care and with theexcitement and enthusiasm and
(09:49):
professionalism they expect.
They already walk positively,with a positive mindset, to the
same elevator and will not evennotice that it takes long.
They will not even notice thesmell.
They might not see the dirt onthe floor.
So you can use unconsciousbiases to your advantage if at
(10:11):
the very beginning, you set aspecific tone for the patient's
experience.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
What are some of the things that parapractics can
implement to create a welcomingenvironment for the patients the
moment they walk in?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, first, I want you to be aware that the patient
experience starts before themoment they walk in.
They might have called youroffice and asked for an
appointment.
They might have googledchiropractors in their area,
they might have been on yourwebsite, they might have
(10:45):
communicated via you in theemail.
So you have to go three stepsback and identify every single
human touch, every interactionthey have with you and your team
, and where it actually starts.
And this is where you set thetone.
If they don't have a greatinteraction with you on the
(11:07):
telephone, or if they don't findtheir way through your very
complex or outdated website,they might never walk through
that door.
But once they walk through thatdoor, I use something that I
call the ABCDE framework.
What our brain subconsciouslylooks for is the A4 appearance.
(11:31):
What do I see?
We are visual creatures.
Our brains don't like to work.
That's why we take theshortcuts through our eyes and
they just look around.
What do they see in yourpractice?
What do they see in terms ofhuman beings?
How are those human beingsdressed?
They're hair, they're makeup,they're shoes, everything that
(11:53):
they instantly see.
We know that 80% of informationin our brain gets transmitted
in a visual way.
So the visual experience thatthey have in that room or again
prior to that, on your website,for example, or in your emails,
is tremendously important andsets the first tone.
(12:16):
But to be very clear, lookinggood is great, but it's not
enough, because then somebody'sgoing to behave.
Behave with them, interact withthem.
How is your team's attitude?
How about their emotionalintelligence in critically or
emotionally charged situations?
How about their businessetiquette skills?
Do they shake hands?
(12:36):
Do they look them into theireyes?
Do they tell them where to sitdown?
Do they have charisma?
So those micro moments ininteractions might just be micro
moments for your team, but theymight have a macro impact on
the patient's experience.
Then they're going to saysomething and very often we say
(12:59):
things without even sayingsomething.
Our nonverbal communication howdo they stand?
How do they sit there?
Are they engaged with theirbodies?
And, even more important thanspeaking in communication is
actually listening.
Do they have active listeningskills?
(13:19):
Because, let's just be honest,most of your patients come in to
share their story.
They want to throw all theinformation about their health
challenges onto your table.
And then how do they speak thewords that they use their voice,
the language palette, how dothey use their communication to
(13:41):
your advantage.
Then the D, the digitalfootprint, is the step either
before or afterwards.
How do you interact with yourpatients in a digital way?
Email confirmations, schedulingappointments, your website?
Nowadays you might have virtualpatient experiences where you
(14:03):
meet with your patients like wemeet virtually from screen to
screen.
What do they see there?
How is your setup?
So the digital footprint, orthe digital presence that you
have, has become tremendouslyimportant.
And then your environment, thepeople you surround yourself
with your team, but also yourfamily, your friends, your
(14:28):
network.
Do you belong to associations?
What is about your community?
All the living humans aroundyou play a role in terms of how
people perceive you, as a kindof breakdown.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
How do you handle this patient that comes in and
gets a quote, unquote badexperience from the front desk
or just along the way until theyget to you they've been unhappy
about something.
How do you handle, how do youbreak that cycle?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Well, it depends a little bit on the awareness of
the issue, right?
Because let's just be honest,some people, some patients,
might just come in because theyare in a bad mood, they have a
bad attitude and you can't domuch other than not mirror that
back.
I always say if somethingapproaches you with a bad
(15:20):
attitude, the way I find it, Igive them an extra positive one
because that distracts them fromtheir path, I interrupt their
thought pattern or theirattitude by mirroring back the
opposite and not the same.
But if something reallyhappened and the patient is
(15:41):
aware and you become aware ofthem because they had a negative
experience, then you need to dotwo things.
First, you need to address itwith the patient itself.
I would never look for excuses.
I would just state that you areaware of this problem and that
(16:01):
you're going to take care of it.
I would be careful with makinginstant promises, for example,
because you haven't heard theother side.
Because the second step is youneed to talk with your team.
Those are sometimesuncomfortable discussions that
you might have, difficultconversations, because we always
(16:24):
feel that we speak aboutsomething personal, like their
visual appearance they have beendressed inappropriately or
their behavior, or a patientcomplains because your team
member posted something totallyunacceptable on social media and
we feel like we go into theirpersonal space.
(16:44):
But this is not personal space.
This is your responsibility asa leader in your practice.
To address those issues andmake your team members aware
that they present themselves hasan impact on the patient
experience and has an impact onthe perception of the entire
(17:07):
practice, and then you need toapologize.
Once you have all the data,facts and figures together, if
you will see that there isreason to apologize, apologize
to the patient.
I wouldn't go this far to makespecific promises or try to fix
(17:30):
it in some sort of weird way,but apologize, state defects and
then say what you are going tochange Because the patient is
actually asking for is that youare going to change something in
that experience.
That doesn't have to be apromise to the patient to change
(17:50):
something for them.
It can be a promise like I willbe looking for or in the future
to make sure that they are notgoing to take care of this in a
different way.
Thank you for your input.
And then close it down and moveon.
Make sure that you don't getinto back and forth and back and
forth and back and forthdiscussions with the patients,
because, after all, it's yourbusiness and it's your
(18:12):
responsibility.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Now you're going to be doing the keynote at Logan
University in St Louis on April11th, 12th and 13th.
I believe is, and you're doingthat.
Seven seconds make them count.
What are some of the keytakeaways that carpenters can
expect?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, first of all, even if I'm not the host of this
podcast, I'm gonna first startwith a question back to you.
What are we going to celebratethere, when I have the honor to
be there?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, it's gonna be our big annual symposium and I
have the honor of having abuilding named after me and it's
the new four science center andthat will be dedicated in
September, September 26th and soI'm excited about that.
And somebody said why are youexcited?
(19:03):
And I said well, I usually namebuildings after dead people and
I'm here to enjoy it, and sothat's why and I wanted a
positive speaker for our openingand for our keynote, because
last year we had over 600doctors there and this year
we're going for a thousand.
So we think that it's obviouslya good place.
(19:24):
And I have a few pet peeves,you know, about doctors when
they don't have good hygiene,don't have good clothes.
My wife has a saying.
She says you want to dress forthe job you want, not the job
you have, and there's a lot ofwisdom to that, and so that's
why I'm asking is there anythingspecial that these doctors can
(19:46):
expect from you when you do thatkeynote?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, yes.
Well, first of all, I am sohonored to be there and so
honored to be invited by you andthe Logan University, and so
excited to work with doctorsagain, and what you can expect
is a very interactive experience.
So, while I will share a littlebit more about what happens in
(20:10):
your patient's brains when theysubconsciously make an audit
about you and the patient'sexperience that they will have,
I will take you through a veryinteractive and fun exercise
where you will actually find outwhat your patients think about
you and how they perceive youbased on your appearance, your
(20:32):
behavior, your communication,your digital footprint.
So you will not just walk awaywith theory, but a very
personalized experience that youcan instantly bring back to
your team or, even better, youshould bring your team, because
what I can do for you is I cantake that job over to make them
(20:54):
aware of the importance of thepatient's experience and the
perception of your practice.
Very often it is easier forsomebody on the outside to plant
that seed as for somebody onthe inside, and I bet you are
all fantastic doctors andleaders anyway.
So you might already know aboutthe importance of that and I
(21:16):
might just give you some usefulinsights, but the true power
might actually be if you alsobring your team, because then I
will be there to share thismessage and imprint the
importance into them.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Now I went through your book and it's a long book.
It's the fair advantage I haveto tell you.
It's quite an advantage to gothrough it, but you will have
some of those there at theconvention and show them the end
we're gonna.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
What is 460 won?
Yes, yes.
Last but not least, at the veryend, look what's one of the
first names, dr Aln Föhr, herein the acknowledgments.
So I would bring some of thefront of the book, put that on
the camera.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
there the Fair Advantage by.
Sylvia DeGusto, and we'll havethose at our booth.
We'll have a booth there, andso we will have some fair
advantages there for people thatare really interested in
building their ownself-confidence and finding out
what does it take to have a fairadvantage?
And that's you know.
(22:27):
I went through the whole thing.
I think I told you, sylvia,that the one word that stood out
for me was discipline, and youknow, if you don't have
discipline, you're going to.
all the other things are goingto fall by the wayside, and so
we're really excited about thisand we can't wait to have you
there.
We'll give you a tour of thecampus so you can see 109
(22:48):
beautiful acres of LoganUniversity and we're going to
have a good time.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Thank you very much.
I'm looking very forward to you.
I will always make space in mycalendar for you and yes, I'm
busy.
I'm on a lot of planes, so justimagine in what shape my back
is right now.
So I can't wait to be with youin April.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Well, you can count on an adjustment, okay, yes,
thank you.
Welcome to the activate your practice podcast.
I'm Dr Four.
Data always wins, always.
Hello everybody, I'm Dr ArlenFour, the founder and chairman
(00:28):
of Activator MethodsInternational.
Welcome to our podcast calledActivate your Practice.
Now, today, we have a specialguest, and it's not often that
you can get somebody that is akeynote speaker around the world
on a podcast because of herschedule.
And I met Sylvie.
I think it was about six, sevenyears ago at another convention
(00:51):
and she had a bad little bag.
So I said, sylvie, I'm going togive you an adjustment.
And she says, thank you verymuch.
That's how I met Sylvie wasfixing her low back and so,
sylvie, welcome to the activateyour practice podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Thank you very much for having me.
Now let me share it a littlebit from my perspective.
I had the honor to speak at aconference for chiropractors and
there was all this commotionabout this celebrity attending
the conference and everybody wastalking about the Activator
Method and the inventor and Ihad no idea, to be honest, until
(01:33):
you laid hands on my back and Ifor a moment I thought this
can't be real.
Right, this is I'm justthinking that I'm feeling better
, but obviously, since themaster himself laid hands on my
back, I instantly felt pain freeand relieved and honored to
meet you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, thank you very much, and the reason that I
asked Sylvie to be on theprogram today is because she's
written several books.
The last one is your fairadvantage.
That's brand new and just outon the press.
But she also talked a lot aboutwhat your first impression is,
and that it's actually.
(02:14):
You have about seven seconds tomake a first impression, and so
I asked her come on the podcastand tell us how can this apply
to the patient experience inchiropractic care.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, first of all, I want you to know we are all
judgmental human beings and thathas nothing to do with the fact
if we are good human beings,bad human beings, if we want to
do it, if we don't want to do it.
But there is science behindthat proves that we all make
initial judgments, opinionsabout each other.
(02:50):
It's automated brainperformance.
Now, some studies say it takesseven seconds, others say it
takes 13 seconds.
Supposedly, online, it onlytakes milliseconds.
To be honest, the number itselfdoesn't matter as much.
I just chose the one with sevenseconds for my work.
(03:11):
And what matters more is thefact that it happens
automatically.
Your patients enter yourpractice and instantly form an
opinion.
Form the opinion that you arethe best doctor taking care of
them.
Form the opinion that you aretrustworthy, reliable,
successful or not.
(03:32):
Now, obviously, you can changethat first initial opinion.
However, unfortunately,afterwards, very powerful
sources are working against youunconscious bias, because people
want to be right.
They're looking for proof.
So once they formed the initialopinion about you, they ignore
(03:53):
anything, subconsciously, thatgoes against their first initial
opinion, and so you have towork way harder in order to
change that first impressionthat you just made on them.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Are there particular challenges in the chiropractic
field when it comes to managingfirst impressions?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
First of all, you know verywell that you work in what I
call a very emotionally chargedenvironment.
Patients who come to youemotionally charged because they
are in pain.
They are emotionally chargedbecause they instantly want a
(04:35):
solution.
Right, they don't see thelong-term process you might take
them on.
They want to go to achiropractor and leave it
painless, or they might be acaregiver and bring somebody to
you that they trust into yourhands.
So they already come in with avery emotionally charged mindset
.
(04:56):
And then, secondly, it's notjust about you.
Usually you are not the one whowelcomes your patients.
Very often you have somebody atthe reception welcoming them,
checking them in, and even astep prior to that, maybe they
came to you because they foundyou on the internet and they
were frustrated with yourreservation system on your
(05:16):
website or something right.
So there are a lot of emotionsinvolved that, unfortunately,
emotions create more emotions.
It's a very thin ice that youwalk on, where rational
decisions are not as often as wewish they would happen, and so
(05:39):
we often think that the humansthink based on data, facts and
figures.
But in reality, yes, thatinformation, those numbers that
you give them, they matter, butwhen they come in emotionally
charged, their subconscious mindticks over their emotions and
they might not react and thinkand act very rational or
(06:02):
logically.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
You know you mentioned something there about
the first appearance and we havea referral system that I've
been working on only for 15years, but we wanted to have the
same standardization of careeverywhere you go.
Well, what we found out andeverybody always says I don't
say something unless I have datato back it up, and we do.
(06:26):
But if you have a picture ofyou and your staff or your
clinic, you will get twice thereferrals that you will get if
you don't have it, and we callthat a real way of getting to
the patient before they ever getto the office.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, you are in the paper business right, and
especially nowadays, such atechnology driven world where
artificial intelligence oraugmented reality and all other
fancy tools get so in theforefront, what people actually
value way more is that humantouch, the human connection that
(07:08):
I can instantly make when I notgo on your website and all you
give me is a logo which looksvery corporate and cold, but
when I actually going to see thehuman beings that I will
interact with and the doctor whowill touch my body and will
take care of me, which is a verypersonal, again, emotionally
(07:31):
charged situation you bringpatients into.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Can you share examples of how improving first
impressions can positivelyimpact patient experiences?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Well, let's just imagine.
Let's go into a hospital.
Right, you go into a hospitalbecause you either want to visit
a friend who is a patient thereor you have an appointment.
Some occasion brings you intothe hospital and you walk
through the hospital doors andthe receptionist is not looking
(08:04):
at you, is in their keyboardtyping where's the room, where's
the number, who do I have tocall?
Doesn't give you the attentionthat you would expect at this
moment.
Once they finally tell youwhere you have to go, you go to
the elevator.
Out of a sudden you notice howlong you have to wait for the
elevator.
Right, and you walk into theelevator and then you get up and
(08:26):
then, out of a sudden, yourealize there is some weird kind
of smell.
And then you go into thepatient's room and you find that
little piece of paper or dirton the floor that the cleaning
team didn't clean up.
What happens here is those areall unconscious biases working
(08:47):
against that hospital, meaning,once you had that first bed
interaction, your brain is justlooking for proof.
So, confirmation bias make surethat you find confirmation for
your initial opinion.
Then anchoring bias kicks in.
You cannot just let go of thatinitial thought.
(09:08):
Negativity bias kicks inbecause humans have a tendency
to always see the things thatare wrong before they see the
things that are actually right.
Bandwagon effect could kick inbecause you already heard that
this hospital is not good, so ifothers say it, it must be true,
right?
(09:28):
So this is now your opportunityto turn the table.
If your first impression at thereception is outstanding
already, then you train yourteam to welcome your patients
with the care and with theexcitement and enthusiasm and
(09:49):
professionalism they expect.
They already walk positively,with a positive mindset, to the
same elevator and will not evennotice that it takes long.
They will not even notice thesmell.
They might not see the dirt onthe floor.
So you can use unconsciousbiases to your advantage if at
(10:11):
the very beginning, you set aspecific tone for the patient's
experience.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
What are some of the things that parapractics can
implement to create a welcomingenvironment for the patients the
moment they walk in?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, first, I want you to be aware that the patient
experience starts before themoment they walk in.
They might have called youroffice and asked for an
appointment.
They might have googledchiropractors in their area,
they might have been on yourwebsite, they might have
(10:45):
communicated via you in theemail.
So you have to go three stepsback and identify every single
human touch, every interactionthey have with you and your team
, and where it actually starts.
And this is where you set thetone.
If they don't have a greatinteraction with you on the
(11:07):
telephone, or if they don't findtheir way through your very
complex or outdated website,they might never walk through
that door.
But once they walk through thatdoor, I use something that I
call the ABCDE framework.
What our brain subconsciouslylooks for is the A4 appearance.
(11:31):
What do I see?
We are visual creatures.
Our brains don't like to work.
That's why we take theshortcuts through our eyes and
they just look around.
What do they see in yourpractice?
What do they see in terms ofhuman beings?
How are those human beingsdressed?
They're hair, they're makeup,they're shoes, everything that
(11:53):
they instantly see.
We know that 80% of informationin our brain gets transmitted
in a visual way.
So the visual experience thatthey have in that room or again
prior to that, on your website,for example, or in your emails,
is tremendously important andsets the first tone.
(12:16):
But to be very clear, lookinggood is great, but it's not
enough, because then somebody'sgoing to behave.
Behave with them, interact withthem.
How is your team's attitude?
How about their emotionalintelligence in critically or
emotionally charged situations?
How about their businessetiquette skills?
Do they shake hands?
(12:36):
Do they look them into theireyes?
Do they tell them where to sitdown?
Do they have charisma?
So those micro moments ininteractions might just be micro
moments for your team, but theymight have a macro impact on
the patient's experience.
Then they're going to saysomething and very often we say
(12:59):
things without even sayingsomething.
Our nonverbal communication howdo they stand?
How do they sit there?
Are they engaged with theirbodies?
And, even more important thanspeaking in communication is
actually listening.
Do they have active listeningskills?
(13:19):
Because, let's just be honest,most of your patients come in to
share their story.
They want to throw all theinformation about their health
challenges onto your table.
And then how do they speak thewords that they use their voice,
the language palette, how dothey use their communication to
(13:41):
your advantage.
Then the D, the digitalfootprint, is the step either
before or afterwards.
How do you interact with yourpatients in a digital way?
Email confirmations, schedulingappointments, your website?
Nowadays you might have virtualpatient experiences where you
(14:03):
meet with your patients like wemeet virtually from screen to
screen.
What do they see there?
How is your setup?
So the digital footprint, orthe digital presence that you
have, has become tremendouslyimportant.
And then your environment, thepeople you surround yourself
with your team, but also yourfamily, your friends, your
(14:28):
network.
Do you belong to associations?
What is about your community?
All the living humans aroundyou play a role in terms of how
people perceive you, as a kindof breakdown.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
How do you handle this patient that comes in and
gets a quote, unquote badexperience from the front desk
or just along the way until theyget to you they've been unhappy
about something.
How do you handle, how do youbreak that cycle?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Well, it depends a little bit on the awareness of
the issue, right?
Because let's just be honest,some people, some patients,
might just come in because theyare in a bad mood, they have a
bad attitude and you can't domuch other than not mirror that
back.
I always say if somethingapproaches you with a bad
(15:20):
attitude, the way I find it, Igive them an extra positive one
because that distracts them fromtheir path, I interrupt their
thought pattern or theirattitude by mirroring back the
opposite and not the same.
But if something reallyhappened and the patient is
(15:41):
aware and you become aware ofthem because they had a negative
experience, then you need to dotwo things.
First, you need to address itwith the patient itself.
I would never look for excuses.
I would just state that you areaware of this problem and that
(16:01):
you're going to take care of it.
I would be careful with makinginstant promises, for example,
because you haven't heard theother side.
Because the second step is youneed to talk with your team.
Those are sometimesuncomfortable discussions that
you might have, difficultconversations, because we always
(16:24):
feel that we speak aboutsomething personal, like their
visual appearance they have beendressed inappropriately or
their behavior, or a patientcomplains because your team
member posted something totallyunacceptable on social media and
we feel like we go into theirpersonal space.
(16:44):
But this is not personal space.
This is your responsibility asa leader in your practice.
To address those issues andmake your team members aware
that they present themselves hasan impact on the patient
experience and has an impact onthe perception of the entire
(17:07):
practice, and then you need toapologize.
Once you have all the data,facts and figures together, if
you will see that there isreason to apologize, apologize
to the patient.
I wouldn't go this far to makespecific promises or try to fix
(17:30):
it in some sort of weird way,but apologize, state defects and
then say what you are going tochange Because the patient is
actually asking for is that youare going to change something in
that experience.
That doesn't have to be apromise to the patient to change
(17:50):
something for them.
It can be a promise like I willbe looking for or in the future
to make sure that they are notgoing to take care of this in a
different way.
Thank you for your input.
And then close it down and moveon.
Make sure that you don't getinto back and forth and back and
forth and back and forthdiscussions with the patients,
because, after all, it's yourbusiness and it's your
(18:12):
responsibility.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Now you're going to be doing the keynote at Logan
University in St Louis on April11th, 12th and 13th.
I believe is, and you're doingthat.
Seven seconds make them count.
What are some of the keytakeaways that carpenters can
expect?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, first of all, even if I'm not the host of this
podcast, I'm gonna first startwith a question back to you.
What are we going to celebratethere, when I have the honor to
be there?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, it's gonna be our big annual symposium and I
have the honor of having abuilding named after me and it's
the new four science center andthat will be dedicated in
September, September 26th and soI'm excited about that.
And somebody said why are youexcited?
(19:03):
And I said well, I usually namebuildings after dead people and
I'm here to enjoy it, and sothat's why and I wanted a
positive speaker for our openingand for our keynote, because
last year we had over 600doctors there and this year
we're going for a thousand.
So we think that it's obviouslya good place.
(19:24):
And I have a few pet peeves,you know, about doctors when
they don't have good hygiene,don't have good clothes.
My wife has a saying.
She says you want to dress forthe job you want, not the job
you have, and there's a lot ofwisdom to that, and so that's
why I'm asking is there anythingspecial that these doctors can
(19:46):
expect from you when you do thatkeynote?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, yes.
Well, first of all, I am sohonored to be there and so
honored to be invited by you andthe Logan University, and so
excited to work with doctorsagain, and what you can expect
is a very interactive experience.
So, while I will share a littlebit more about what happens in
(20:10):
your patient's brains when theysubconsciously make an audit
about you and the patient'sexperience that they will have,
I will take you through a veryinteractive and fun exercise
where you will actually find outwhat your patients think about
you and how they perceive youbased on your appearance, your
(20:32):
behavior, your communication,your digital footprint.
So you will not just walk awaywith theory, but a very
personalized experience that youcan instantly bring back to
your team or, even better, youshould bring your team, because
what I can do for you is I cantake that job over to make them
(20:54):
aware of the importance of thepatient's experience and the
perception of your practice.
Very often it is easier forsomebody on the outside to plant
that seed as for somebody onthe inside, and I bet you are
all fantastic doctors andleaders anyway.
So you might already know aboutthe importance of that and I
(21:16):
might just give you some usefulinsights, but the true power
might actually be if you alsobring your team, because then I
will be there to share thismessage and imprint the
importance into them.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Now I went through your book and it's a long book.
It's the fair advantage I haveto tell you.
It's quite an advantage to gothrough it, but you will have
some of those there at theconvention and show them the end
we're gonna.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
What is 460 won?
Yes, yes.
Last but not least, at the veryend, look what's one of the
first names, dr Aln Föhr, herein the acknowledgments.
So I would bring some of thefront of the book, put that on
the camera.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
there the Fair Advantage by.
Sylvia DeGusto, and we'll havethose at our booth.
We'll have a booth there, andso we will have some fair
advantages there for people thatare really interested in
building their ownself-confidence and finding out
what does it take to have a fairadvantage?
And that's you know.
(22:27):
I went through the whole thing.
I think I told you, sylvia,that the one word that stood out
for me was discipline, and youknow, if you don't have
discipline, you're going to.
all the other things are goingto fall by the wayside, and so
we're really excited about thisand we can't wait to have you
there.
We'll give you a tour of thecampus so you can see 109
(22:48):
beautiful acres of LoganUniversity and we're going to
have a good time.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Thank you very much.
I'm looking very forward to you.
I will always make space in mycalendar for you and yes, I'm
busy.
I'm on a lot of planes, so justimagine in what shape my back
is right now.
So I can't wait to be with youin April.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Well, you can count on an adjustment, okay, yes,
thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.