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Paddi Pages E-Zine - Issue #12


Meeting Paddi for the First Time


Dear Reader,

“Why don’t I go and find Dr Lund, then?” Merilyn says standing. (She’s referred to “Dr Lund” a few times during your talk.

You’ve been talking with Merilyn for about 20 minutes now, getting to know each other in your very first visit to Patrick Lund Dental Happiness.

“Please enjoy your tea and Dental Buns and I’ll be back in a moment,” she continues walking out the door. Curiously, Merilyn closed the door on her way out, but left it cracked open about an inch. (That’s one of their Performance Standards – more on that in a moment – nothing is left to chance in Paddi’s practice.)

As you sit in the lounge, you notice a puzzle on the table next to you – not a picture puzzle, but a brain teasing one with wooden parts that slide and colours you have to match up. You pick it up and try your hand. (Paddi has deliberately placed a variety of different puzzles like this one around the practice. Clients don’t “wait” in Paddi’s practice … ever. They are always occupied with something.)

After a few moments, there’s a knock at your door. (Another Performance Standard)

“Come in…” you instinctively say. (That’s why they knock, so that you say those words.)

Merilyn enters followed by the man you’ve come to see, presumably Dr Paddi Lund.

Your Name, I'd like to introduce you to Dr Lund.”

“Hi, Your Name” he says, looking you in the eye and extending his hand as you stand from your chair, “Please call me Paddi…” (Performance Standard)

And after a brief exchange, “May I please sit down?” asks Paddi. ({Performance Standard<
“Yes, of course!” you return immediately, thinking how polite and considerate everyone is.

And after another brief exchange, Paddi points to your silver service and tea or coffee.

“Oohh, that looks nice. Can I please share a cup of tea with you?” he asks quite genuinely. (This too is a Performance Standard that Paddi uses with most new clients – it’s a good thing he really likes tea!)

“Yes, I’d be happy to,” you reply.

Paddi quickly slides out of his chair before you have a chance to pour him some tea. He gets down on one knee in front of you ({Performance Standard<Performance Standard).

As he’s pouring his cup, he asks would you like a top up. (Or another if you’re out – also, if the tea isn’t hot, or has been sitting too long, or isn’t full enough, he’ll ask Merilyn for a fresh pot of tea. Merilyn has been busying herself just outside the door with that in mind.)

If it’s your first visit, normally your first chat with Paddi is only a brief one – just long enough for you to share food and drink and to get to know him as personable and human.

Only when he sees that you are comfortable and feel in control does he talk dentistry or suggest you go through to the surgery area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Significance of What Just Happened ~~~~~~~~~~~~

The exchange and sequence of events described above is repeated with little variation for pretty much every new client at Paddi’s practice. I can’t stress its importance enough.

This part of Paddi’s customer experience has been so perfectly choreographed for very good reason, so I thought it wise to take a moment to explain some of the depth of Paddi’s thinking.

As you’ve already read, Trust is vital for Paddi. So almost everything he does – referrals, Welcome Book, Care Nurses, Tea, Lounges, and this sequence – is designed to build strong bonds of trust very quickly. When people are educated about what you do, trust you, and feel in control, they tend to make buying decisions more easily and will stick to their bargains.

In Paddi’s sequence above, the trust building inflection points and Performance Standards are,

  • Leaving the door cracked (so that you don’t feel locked in)
  • Knocking on the door till you say, “Come in.”
  • Paddi looking you in the eye, saying your name and shaking your hand warmly.
  • Paddi saying right off the bat, “Please call me Paddi,” (after Merilyn constantly referred to "Dr Lund") thereby raising your status to equal that of his own.
  • Sharing your Tea or Coffee and Dental Buns.
  • On one knee in front of you serving your tea.

Now, before you pass these steps off as hokey or contrived, please understand that they are a natural part of your experience and they don’t feel “put on” at all.

Clients respond to this dialogue very well, in large part because the Referral System and Welcome Book System have already prepared them to expect something completely different.

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Paddi has discovered there are distinct principles involved in building trust in a commercial environment – eight of them in fact. Paddi calls these principles the Foundation Stones of the Tower of Trust. Paddi discusses the Tower of Trust in detail in the Advanced Manual, The Secret World of Customers Who Love to Pay, but you can see a quick preview of these principles at this Special Page only for subscribers.

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With that, I’ll sign off for this issue. However, in the next few days you might have a think about how your customers are introduced to your business.

How quickly do you generate strong bonds of trust? Or do you at all?

If you don’t recognise that as a common trait, you might explore how systematising trust (like Paddi has) can shorten your sales cycles and build stronger bonds with customers.

Kind regards,

Fletcher



Fletcher Potanin
Managing Director
Solutions Press Business Publishing
www.PaddiLund.com



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