| I learned this principle quite by
accident. Early in my practice,
I was hungry and needed the business. But I always had a little
trouble with case presentations. As logical as I sounded, I would be
frustrated occasionally when people would decline clearly needed
dental treatment. Not only did they need the care, but I needed the
work to do. I was successful most of the time, but I was bothered by
the rejections.
It was only after I became busy and
even a little overworked that I learned what I was doing wrong. After
some time of being a little tired from the amount of work I had to do,
I sat thinking about this and realized what was happening. As I would
present treatment to patients, I came to have the attitude that I
didn't care whether they accepted it or not, not on a personal level.
Oh, I was a caring practitioner. I wanted them to have the treatment
because they needed it. But as for me, personally, I was plenty
busy and certainly didn't need the extra work to do.
So when I would sell, thinking about
my own needs, I wasn't successful. But when I would sell, thinking
only of the patient's needs, they tended to believe me much more
readily and would sign up to have the treatment done. I came to have a
very high rate of treatment plan acceptance--well over 90%. But I
didn't recommend treatment that I didn't personally feel strongly
about.
Here are some principles about case
presentation that it would be well to heed:
PRINCIPLE #1: IT'S WHO YOU ARE
THAT MAKES THE SALE
If you are doubtful or unsure, or if your
approach to patients is motivated by money or ego, you will not
succeed. However, if you are diagnosing, presenting,
and educating your patients with strong personal conviction,
integrity, and a sense of purpose in helping sick people get healthy, healthy people stay healthy,
and flawed people become beautiful, you will thrive and flourish. Who you
are as a person, your motivations, and your intentions will shine
through, and they are more readily apparent to people than you
realize.
PRINCIPLE #2: COME TO THE SALE WITH AN ABUNDANCE MENTALITY
RATHER THAN A SCARCITY MENTALITY
Only about half of all people go to the dentist regularly. There is
certainly no shortage of treatment needs in the population. Think
about this, and divorce yourself from the notion that everyone you see
needs to be your patient. There is plenty of work out there. If a
patient doesn't fit into your practice, let them go. There are people
who want a patchwork dentist, and if you're a comprehensive care
dentist, then maybe you're not for them. Also, there are people, who,
for their own private reasons, are not ready for the treatment you
recommend. Be gentle with them. Tell them what they need, and tell
them straight. But don't have in your mind that you need them
to undertake this treatment. If you have to, take a moment before you
enter the treatment consultation and remind yourself how you are
comfortable and have the things you need, and try to get your own
personal life out of your mind.
PRINCIPLE #3: PATIENTS BUY FOR THEIR REASONS, NOT YOURS, AND
YOUR GOAL IS TO DISCOVER WHAT THEIR REASONS ARE
We all have our own motivating factors that
will get us to act. An important talent in getting a patient to
buy is being good at getting the patient to tell you his or her
problems, needs, wants, and concerns. You will have more fun and
success when you stop trying to get what you want and start helping
your patients get what they want. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be
straightforward with your patients as to the true condition of their
mouths and what you recommend for them. Their decisions need to be
informed, and you are the professional that they are paying so that
you can give them your recommendations. But learn whatever you can about your
patients in order to serve them in the best possible way they can
relate to.
PRINCIPLE #4: LESS IS MORE
Selling takes time. Slow down, focus your attention on your
patients, and devote more quality time to each one. Your patients
notice how much attention you give them when they are in your office
and in your chair, and they're very sensitive about that. They
evaluate that in deciding how much they think you care about them. You
cannot be effective at closing patients on your treatment
recommendations when you are rushed or pressured, or when you are
attempting to be mentally and physically in 2 or more places at one
time. When you are with a patient, be with a patient with focus. Talk
less and listen more. Get them thinking, realizing, and making the
decisions that you want them to make on their own.
PRINCIPLE #5: MAKE THE OFFICE EXPERIENCE REINFORCE THEIR TRUST
From the first phone call to the end of
their visit and beyond, patients are deciding whether or not they are
going to buy from you. Therefore, the service you and your staff offer
must be impeccable and the physical environment must be immaculate.
Patients translate excellent customer service and a quality physical
environment into trust. They also equate the level of service and the
condition of the office with the quality of dentistry they receive.
They can't tell directly what the quality is, so they infer it from
what they can see. All of this builds trust, and trust is essential in
selling health care.
In addition, you need to handle
patients’ primary objections: time, money, and pain. Minimize the time
objection by running on time. Start on time. Tell the patient how long
to expect to be in the office and then finish on time. Remove the
money objection
by offering sensible and flexible third-party
financing options and in-house payment options that benefit you and
the patient. Avoid surprises when it comes to dealing with insurance
companies and presenting your fees by having a strong financial
coordinator and good financial policies that are discussed prior to
any patient treatment. These are just a few of the many ways to remove
monetary objections. Deal with the pain issue by utilizing every
method at your disposal to make your patients comfortable. With an
easygoing chairside manner, headphones, nitrous oxide, a comfortable
and effective injection technique, and other techniques, you can keep
your patients comfortable and improve case acceptance.
CONCLUSION
This article has presented a few of
the principles that can increase treatment acceptance without the need
to sell in the conventional sense. It is selling without really
selling--selling by cultivating trust, rather than by twisting arms.
And patients are looking at basically two issues when they are
deciding if they trust you. First, do you care? Do you know and
understand them and their needs? Second, are you competent? Do you
know what you are doing to the point where they can rely on you to
properly fix whatever is wrong? If you provide them the right answers
to those two questions, they will do what you recommend.
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