Reach out to Community—Participate in community events to expand awareness in your neighborhood.

Track referrals—Keep track of facilities and providers who refer patients and let them know your appreciation.

Track complaints—Log patient complaints and let specific individuals know how their problems are being resolved.

Show appreciation—Let patients know how much you enjoy having them in your practice. People love doing business where they feel appreciated.

Maintain loyalty—Don't take loyal patients for granted while spinning your wheels trying to get new patients. And work as an office team to upgrade more of your customers into that "fiercely loyal" category.

Think world-class—Rather than looking around at your competition, think big and start modeling organizations who are the best in the world at customer service.

Be personal—Keep notes on how patients like to be addressed and record personal information on their activities so you can discuss them during their visits. Show interest in their interests!

Show you care—While patients may have a number of eye health conditions, show you care about them as people, not just their problems.

Keep it simple—Avoid dragging patients into confusing healthcare and insurance issues, and keep descriptions of medical conditions as simple as possible.

Answer questions—Take time to answer questions. A recent survey shows that 68% of patients believe the doctor taking time to answer all their questions is the most important part of their office visit.