Dental anxiety cured -BNI member's Testimonial

I have been a member of the Jack O'Newbury Chapter of BNI for just over two years and have had the privelage of looking after a number of the member's dental needs.
Recently we took care of a painful problem for one member, who normally steers well clear of dentists! He's not alone of course.
Today he stood up in front of 40 local business people and read of the following testimonial for me, which is copied here. A helium moment for me! Here it is as he wrote it.

"     

TESTIMONIAL FOR RICHARD CHARON
AT
NEWBURYSMILEMAKERS

Richard,
I thought I would write you a testimonial for the outstanding treatment you recently gave me.
I am a very nervous patient when it comes to dentists and the thought of someone prodding in and around a tooth that was already giving me pain, picking up the phone and calling you was the best thing I could have done.
The treatment required and the options available were clearly explained and with your calming voice and music I have never felt more comfortable sitting in the dreaded chair.
My toothache has gone and although I know that more treatment is required I felt that I can no longer be in fear of the dentist, just as long as Richard, happy air and Jean-Michel Jarre are in there to back me up.
I would recommend Richard and his staff to anyone who is looking for regular dental care or emergency treatment. They do exactly what the name says. "NewburySmilemakers" "
yours

John Oram

Paddi Lund in Durham personal thoughts

Just a quick follow up to my last blog post.


Chris and I had a Great day with the North East Private Dentists group in Chester -le- Street, Durham at the Durham County Cricket Club. Having stayed over the night before at the reputedly haunted Lumley Castle Hotel. An exceptional experience in itself even though our stay was short and there were no apparent apparitions.


Paddi Lund delivered an excellent though shortened version of his story and the extreme customer service and added value has provided for over 20 years in his Brisbane suburb dental practice.
At the tea break Chris and I had a chance to meet him and I mentioned that I had heard of him many years ago and now finally had a chance to hear him speak, oh and by the way we were celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary today too.
He called me Roger, I gave him my card, he called me Richard and made his way to the podium for the next session. Towards the end of that session,Paddi gave Chris & I a special mention from the stage for attending on our wedding Anniversary, which was unexpected but very nice.


When he finally gave his curtain call he left the room as we prepared to queue for lunch. He sloped off out of the room but 20 mins later he re-appeared to hand Chris a bunch of flowers by way of thanks to her for giving up a special day to come and hear him speak. Now that's what I call a real wow. Practicing what he preaches. Extreme customer service. A super CNE (Critical non-essential)!

A big Thanks to Paddi Lund, his PA Fletcher Potanin, Richard Fretwell and Prem Sehmi of Walrus Dental Seminars.

We have taken away much and intend to implement as much as we can. Watch out for some new Critical Non-Essentials and some Paddi touches in the months ahead with me Richard Charon at Newbury Smilemakers

Paddi Lund in Durham

Paddi Lund had become probably the world's best known dental practitioner. An Australian dentist with a remarkable story , he is a one-man marketing phenomenon listened to and admired by dentists and non-dentists around the world. He has written several books and many articles on his unique brand of customer-service driven, dental practice and much more than that, on a template for running a "happiness centred practice/business" . He is currently touring the UK with Chris Barrow , a dental business and personal development coach and mentor of mine and one time dental business coach, who my wife, Chris and I first worked with about 11 years ago. So next week, we will be flying up to Newcastle-on-Tyne and thence to Durham County Cricket Club to listen to Paddi Lund. A first for us. We like to think that we have taken on board many of his lessons but I know we dont' yet implement all of his ideas to the full.

I first heard about Paddi Lund roughly 19 years ago. One of the big four UK banks, of which I was a customer at the time, hosted a full day seminar on business marketing held at Reading University. The day was presented by an Australian marketing company looking to expand into the UK market.

Amongst the many fascinating anecdotes they told, of a variety of their clients who had benefitted from their marketing system, was a "mad australian dentist"- you guessed it - Paddi Lund. Paddi had done amazing things in his small town dental practice. Long before Seth Godin's deliberations in Purple Cow and The Big Moo, on becoming remarkable to succeed in business,Paddi Lund had done just that. He introduced a series of " critical non-essentials" to pamper his clients. An amazing and flamboyant coffee machine with beautiful china cups, "Dental Buns" were baked on the premises and offered in the client's lounge.

Guess what people talked about when they finished their dental visit? Painless fillings or beautiful crowns ? No, it was the customer service and totally unexpected free extras that Paddi and his small team provided.

Pretty soon he had people queuing up. He cancelled his yellow pages ads, took down signage and became exclusive, to the point of requiring people to request acceptance to his practice. He thus built a business around people who liked him, liked the service he provided, were happy to pay for it and to refer friends and relatives by word of mouth.

Well that is just a small part of his remarkable story and we look forward to bringing the best of Paddi Lund's ideas to our practice in Newbury after we have had a chance to hear him up close and personal, as it were.

Amazing Bach Duo

This post has nothing to do with teeth or Dentistry but I would just love to share this with you. Apologies if you have seen it before. It was passed on to me by a close friend. Enjoy.