How to Create a Customer-Driven Laboratory

George Obst details how creating a culture of listening uncovers your dentist-clients' unmet needs and gives you a leg up in meeting their expectations.

Want to boost sales, market share and profits even if dentistry is in a temporary no-growth or downward mode? Put your clients in charge of running your laboratory by consistently seeking their feedback and making changes to improve operations and service based on what you hear.

This customer-driven business concept is detailed in The Customer-Driven Company: Moving from Talk to Action, by Richard Whiteley, and I saw it work firsthand during my 20 years as a member of Dental Services Group's (DSG) management team.

Before you can give customers what they want you have to know what they want. And while many laboratories do a terrific job of communicating with dentists about technical issues, a customer-driven operation takes things a step further by creating a culture of consistent and...