Who to hire?

March 8th, 2010 | Author: Virtually Sorted

Last week I had to hire a new dentist… I hate the dentist and have a fairly advanced and well founded phobia of them. However as I searched for the right dentist for me, it hit me that this is how many of my clients feel about working with a service professional. Now, I doubt that my clients come into my office shaking with fear… But it’s not dissimilar.

Trust

Trust is essential as I’m handing over complete control to my dentist. Likewise, when my clients give me work they are trusting me with its confidentiality, to be able to complete the work, and to be honest about what is needed.

For example, Dentist 1 who I spoke to insisted that I needed 3 x 2-hour appointments… all the other dentists insisted it was one appointment of varying length. To me, that suggested that Dentist 1 was padding the bill. He got struck off my list!

Top tip: Build trust with your clients by being honest about what they need and what you are able to do.

Expertise

People are prepared to pay a premium for specialists and are often attracted by the high prices, rather than put off by them.

Dentist 2 was supposedly a specialist in dental phobia and therefore I was convinced this was the dentist for me. I wanted the very best of the best working on my mouth – and if their prices were anything to go by, these guys were VERY good!

However, their customer service really let them down at my consultation and I decided not to go with them. Had they not been claiming to be phobia specialists and charging such eye-watering prices, I’d have probably forgiven the snags which came up. But for premium prices, I expect premium service.

Top tip: If you charge a premium for specialist services, you need to deliver excellence.

Professionalism

Around about Dentist 3, I suddenly realised that I hadn’t actually checked any of their professional qualifications… I was entirely relying on their professional attitude as a guarantee they were suitably qualified.

Now in dentistry, obviously you have a set qualification. But in many other industries (such as marketing, virtual assistants, SEO, web design, etc.) there is no “one qualification”. Sites like www.VACertified.com and www.w3.org are going some way to establishing industry-wide standards, but it’s a slow process to get everyone to comply.

Top tip: Ask lots of questions and get several different quotes – even if none of them tick all the boxes, hopefully they will give you some ideas about what you should be checking!