Disney’s Service Recovery: The Art of De-escalation Techniques for the OM and Team, Presented by: Kristi Abrahamsen, RDA, DAADOM

DISTINCTIONcast

Expert dental management knowledge from AADOM Distinction holders. 30 minutes of "cut to the chase" content for immediate and impactful education, ideas, and support for dental managers and administrators.

Please note: DISTINCTIONcasts are not eligible for CE.

This DISTINCTIONcast dives into the secrets behind Disney's renowned customer service, specifically focusing on "Service Recovery." As a graduate of the Disney Institute, Kristi Abrahamsen, DAADOM, will share valuable tips on how Disney cast members are trained to handle complaints effectively, ensuring a positive outcome for all parties involved.

Discover how Disney’s approach to Service Recovery goes beyond merely resolving issues—it aims to reconcile and salvage guest relationships. You will learn practical techniques to humanize complaints, acknowledge customer emotions, and use Disney’s simple HEARD (Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Resolve, Diagnose) acronym to navigate through the recovery process successfully.

Whether you've dealt with service failures in your dental practice or any other customer-facing role, this webinar will equip you with the skills to manage upset patients effectively. Learn how to create a safe environment, take detailed notes, empathize sincerely, offer achievable and appropriate resolutions, and diagnose the root cause of service failures to prevent future occurrences.

Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your customer service skills and ensure your practice can handle challenges confidently and gracefully, just like Disney!

Kristi Abrahamsen

Kristi Abrahamsen, RDA, DAADOM is the Administrative Clinical Supervisor for the Predoctoral Clinics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry.

Kristi currently leads a 10-team member Administrative Team supporting 268 dental student providers and five faculty Group Practice Leaders. The UCSF Predoctoral Clinic is the largest clinic in the UCSF Dental Center with 104 dental chairs resulting with over 300 patient appointments per day. She is proud that her clinic cares for the most underserved population with over 35,000 appointments per year and is the largest Denti-Cal (government assisted) provider in her home state of California.

In addition to her daily responsibilities, Kristi has been tapped to sit on multiple UCSF Committees including the Quality Assurance Committee/ Risk Management, Clinical Affairs Workgroup, Operational Strength Committee and the Epic Wisdom Implementation committee making UCSF the first academic health system in the West to merge medical and oral health records into a single electronic health record known as EPIC. Kristi worked directly with our EPIC team to implement improvements to the EHR; and as a result, she is responsible for most of the features that have been customized for the Dental Center, which has streamlined check-in, scheduling, and treatment planning for all providers. But Kristi is most proud of her work with the UCSF Clinic Curriculum Workgroup which will bring a comprehensive Practice Management course to the 2026 DDS Curriculum Program, a first for any dental school in the country. Her efforts will impact the future leaders in dentistry for many years to come.

Kristi is the recipient of two UCSF Spot awards recognizing her efforts not only for the Epic Wisdom Implementation, but her professional management of a crisis incident protecting the students and faculty she adores working with. Kristi frequently lectures to students and residents on topics such as “Hiring and Onboarding Associates”, “Customer Service Excellence”, “Clinic Essentials”, “KPIs of Dentistry” and “Finance Essentials” as part of Student Orientation into the School of Dentistry program. She is a continued supporter of other AADOM members including Joanne Miles, MAADOM who was invited as a featured speaker for the UCSF Dental Students.

Kristi was recently chosen to represent the School of Dentistry for the UCSF Leadership Institute Program, a nine-month initiative to further develop leadership skills necessary to navigate the administration of academic health centers, including financial management, change management and product management. Kristi was hand selected for this incredible opportunity by Eunice Stephens, Associate Dean of Administration and Finance and Dean Michael Reddy’s Chief of Staff. She was the previous AADOM’s Bay Area Chapter President and was nominated as AADOM’s Practice Manager of the Year Award for both 2020 and 2023. She is a proud AADOM Lifetime member and an active member with the Triangle Dental Connection. Kristi is an advocate for continued professional growth and received her FAADOM, MAADOM and DAADOM being the very first DAADOM graduate to cross the stage in 2021.

She is excited to share her de-escalation tips with you that she has learned as an alumnus of the Disney Institute and her real-life experiences in private practice and academic institution settings.