Thoughts from Japan

If you follow me on Instagram you will know I recently visited Japan.

I was struck by the culture of hospitality and consideration.

As I’ve written about before, as dentists, we are in the hospitality business and I think we forget this or certainly it is not front of mind when we are interacting with our patients.

These photographs are from a restaurant we visited for lunch, filling in time while a knife my daughter had purchased was being sharpened.

The owner of the knife shop had run next door to the restaurant to check they would stay open and we were welcomed as old friends. At the end of the lunch, the waitress whispered in her phone and showed us this message.

A moment of gratitude. From her smile you know she meant it.

Can you imagine this happening in a restaurant near you? It was such a simple act but it made the lunch truly memorable.

Do we ever look our patients in the eye and thank them for choosing us and letting us help them?

It takes vulnerability to be able to articulate messages of gratitude to a patient and if you can learn to do this authentically, you will grow a practice of patients that you will welcome back year after year and who, in return, appreciate you.

Have a great week

Rosie