My daughter needs an operation on her jaw. Apparently she has just about everything wrong with her mouth that one can have – cross bite, under bite, overbite. The intricacies of her mouth, not withstanding, here’s the key to this story, and it’s a very important sales lesson.

We were referred to her orthodontistby our dentist, Michael McMunn who is not only the best dentist ever but is also one of the best human beings I know. We were then referred by our orthodontist, Dr. James Riley, to an oral surgeon.  As with the orthodontist recommendation from our dentist, we didn’t question it, we just picked up the phone. My daughter loved the surgeon, Dr. Greg M. Zoghby. He spoke directly to her, explaining everything in detailand at a level she could understand.  She felt very comfortable with him.

He can perform surgery at multiple locations but recommended one hospital in particular. Here’s why he recommends this hospital: He performs oral surgery on children with severe facial and dental deformities. His services are donated, however hospital fees fall to the parents of those children. In many cases these families simply can’t afford the hospital fees. This hospital, which he now uses whenever possible, covers the costs for these parents. His words to us: “Generosity like this should go rewarded so I try to do all of my surgeries there.”

So here’s the moral of the story: You can’t go wrong doing the right thing. It may cost you something initially but you will be rewarded. This hospital, St. Mary’s in Richmond, a Bon Secours hospital, obviously knows this and will get my business from now on.  And with three kids St. Mary’s has many more stitches, x-rays and various other procedures to look forward to from my family.

The best way to “prospect” for customers is to do a great job for your existing customers. They will refer you as our dentist, orthodontist and oral surgeon referred us.

Does anyone have a similar story they would like to share?