What the Heck is a “Wow Experience”?

As you should know, to earn patient loyalty, a steady flow of new patient referrals and five-star reviews, you need to give your patients a “Wow Experience.”

To help define it, think of a Wow Experience you have enjoyed. Maybe it was the first time you saw your child or kissed your spouse. Perhaps it was when you hired your first employee or paid off your last loan. Maybe it was a place you experienced, like a California beach at sunset, the top of the Empire State Building or Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

How about your best Wow Experiences in the retail world? Maybe a delicious meal, with awesome service, at a gourmet restaurant. Perhaps the best hair appointment of your life. Maybe a clothing-store clerk made you look fabulous.

Why were these moments so awesome?

How to Give Your Patients a Wow Experience

First, ask yourself these questions:

1. “In what ways is my practice better than other practices?”
2. “How am I better at what I do than my colleagues?”
3. “What do my happy, life-time patients say about me and my practice?”

From these answers, identify your Wow factors. Discuss and promote these qualities. Make these factors more prominent and more permanent.

If you have nothing that really sets you apart, use your imagination and your love for your job to create a plan. Reinvent yourself! Ask yourself these questions:

1. “What changes can I make that will amaze and delight my patients?”
2. “What about my personality must I improve?”
3. “What can I be, do, show or tell that will give each patient a Wow Experience?”

Below are examples of how some of our top clients create Wow Experiences for their patients:

• The doctor knows how to make her patients laugh, no matter how serious or afraid they are.
• Patients are given an entertaining education that makes them appreciate the doctor’s surgical skills.
• The doctor and his wife make each patient feel like he or she is a member of their family.
• The office itself is the most beautiful, aesthetically-pleasing facility in town. It was designed by one of the best interior decorators in California and makes patients feel important and at ease.
• The doctor donates two weeks of his time each year to giving free care in third-world countries. Photos of his trips line the walls and he enjoys telling wonderful stories about these experiences.
• The doctor made himself an expert in his specialty and has the credentials and outcomes to prove it.
• The group practice invested all the time, money and effort that was necessary to create a dream team of “A Performers.” This amazing staff creates the Wow Experience for the group.