Several years ago, when my Mac laptop still had a battery that could be taken out, I called Apple to order a new one as my old battery had stopped holding much of a charge.

I was leaving town the next afternoon to consult a dentist and was hoping to get a new battery sent to me overnight so I’d have it before I left.

Unfortunately it was too late in the day for next day delivery so I figured I'd make the 45 minute drive to the Apple store to buy a new one. Before I could get off the phone the Apple employee I was speaking to checked to see if my old battery was still under warranty. As it turned out it was so I was transferred to a tech guy who had me put the battery through a series of diagnostic tests. At the end of doing the tests the tech dude said the battery was indeed shot and he’d have a new one sent out to me at no charge. He said I should expect it in about a week.

So instead of having to pay over a $100.00 for a new battery I was getting a free one due to the initiative of the Apple employee I first spoke to. Pretty cool. I figured for a hundred bucks I could survive another week with my old battery.

The next day as I left my house to head to the airport I found a package on my front door step. It was from Apple. I opened it up and lo and behold it was a new battery from Apple. Wow! Not only had I gotten a free replacement battery but Apple had somehow gotten it delivered to me by the very next morning.

Now that’s service! And that’s what creates customer loyalty: Exceeding expectations. Probably explains why I’ve been an Apple customer for 25+ years.

The moral of the story: Do everything you can to exceed the expectations of your dental patients. That's just good practice management. If you do, you’ll have loyal patients who will stay with your practice for a long time and who will be glad to refer friends, family and business acquaintances to you.

Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is a full-service dental practice management company offering customized dental office manuals. Frustrated? High overhead? Schedule a chat with Kevin at