Helping Patients Say YES!

I write it right here every week in some form or another, giving you so many ways to help your patients get healthy and move forward with the necessary dentistry that will change their life.

What else are we about, if not this?

What else are we doing everyday, if not this?

What else should be the point of our daily experiences with patients, if not this?

It is about the life-change, the health-enhancement, the restoring of function, the building of confidence, the design of a smile or mouth or face to give people what they need to be their best self.

So rewarding. So honorable. So admirable. Dentistry is the greatest healthcare industry on the planet. Gosh, what it must be like to be you waking up everyday getting to do this.

Why then is it such a struggle?

Why then do so many patients stop short of what they truly deserve?

Why then do so many dentists settle for less than what patients really need?

Why? Simple. Because of 2 very specific and exact reasons, both of which you have control over.

#1. We do not cultivate the vision of what’s possible, of what dentistry can do, of what we are really about in the patients’ minds…we do not help them to see the possibilities, to know what they deserve…we are not compelling in any way.

#2. Because it takes time to build trusting relationships, it takes time to create belief in the patients’ minds, it takes time to design a treatment plan that is more than just superficial, it takes time to do what’s right for your patients.

And in most Practices, they are simply not set-up, designed for, organized in a way that allows either of these 2 things to happen. Creating vision and building trust.

Both take time.

This is not new. I’ve talked about here and in other places.

It is however not going to change unless you deliberately do something about it, until you make a philosophical decision to realize that you are doing yourself and your patients a disservice to fill your schedule to the point at which you have no time to really take care of patients. Time to do dentistry is not the same as time to care for patients…or if you have a culture of doing patchwork (or what one of my friends calls crip crap or drill and fill) or whatever word you want to use dentistry.

Yes, there will always be some of this, it’s a matter of how much. And it is a vicious cycle, vicious I’m telling you, the more of this you do – the more you have to do and the more you become dependent on it.

Last week I told you about 3 of the biggest reasons why we miss big treatment opportunities with your Patients. Here’s a reminder…one at a time and what to do about them.

1. Not listening to patients’ buying signals and paying attention to their verbal and non-verbal language

If you are only looking to get the patient in and out, you will miss important things because you and your team will not be attentive to what they are saying, what they really want. This takes practice and conditioning just like anything else.

Questions like, ‘what brought you in today’, ‘what would you change about your smile’ (not would you change anything, but WHAT), ‘have you ever considered…’, and other things that will open the patient up to seeing a bigger picture and then you have to listen. Every patient will always give you something that will allow you to find the real reason they are now taking action, the real reason all the sudden their dentistry now matters.

If they are in Hygiene, then you have to dig a little deeper, chances are their visits have become routine and monotonous so you have to engage them, search, discover and you have to be willing to have honest and transparent conversations as if you really care, because you do or should, with them about what will make a difference in their lives.

2. Rushing treatment presentations; going to treatment plans and money to early

This is an easy one to fix though it requires great discipline. Do not fall victim to the patients using money as an excuse. It should be disrespectful to you as a Dentist. Stand up for yourself for heaven sake, you are the doctor. You want to be a commodity or a dentist – you can’t be both. Emergency care or life changing treatment. You pick, your choice, but for goodness sake back it up with your actions.

Make sure before the patients leave you, their questions are answered, they are clear and confident about the treatment, restate, engage, ask questions, get them to affirm, if they bring up money you say “money aside, is this what we have decided to do together, what’s best for you, what you need, want, and deserve to have.” The patient must make a clinical decision and commitment before they make a financial decision and investment.

Finally…the big one…

3. Having a lack of understanding (by all team members) what the ‘deserve’ even means when it comes to patients and what makes money actually move from one person to another

Well, well, well, that’s a lot in one sentence and it’s something that never ever can be neglected or ignored. “Training” and conditioning with practice on this never ends and is more important than clinical skills, it’s belief in the importance of what you do. And you simply can’t fake belief.

Patients, just like you, me and your team, all think about money in a certain way, differently. And people will only go out of their way to make an investment if we have made such an impression upon them and made them feel worthy of the outcome their treatment plan will result in.

If they can leave and not be thinking about moving forward and not be thinking about missing out on the benefits you have explained, they won’t make an investment before they leave.

We have to replace their desire to keep their money and use it for something else, with a greater desire of having the treatment done and the receive the benefits of health, function, and beauty…this requires time and vision…and here we are, we’ve come full circle back where we started.

So, what do you think?

What can you do better?

What would you change and improve if there were no limitations?

What would the perfect practice look like for you?

What would the ideal patient experience be like tomorrow if you had your way?

Make your wish list and let’s go to work on it.I’d like to know, I welcome your response and feedback. And in exchange I’d like to provide you a special gift…

Join me Tuesday, Nov. 17th for a Live Webcast where I’ll share…

How to Create Your Own Practice Profit Blueprint and The 5 Keys to Rapidly Experiencing Greater Freedom, Wealth, and Meaning from Your Dentistry

Save Your Seat for the Live Webcast >>>

Oh and just in case you haven’t figured this part out yet…very very very very few, if any, patients walk in knowing they need, want, or deserve life changing dentistry… nope, you have to do the work to save, change, help, enhance, make a difference in and on their lives.

Never forget this line:

If they knew what they needed, then they would have already had it done.

It’s our responsibility to show them the way. Vision takes time, give them both and it will blow your mind what you, your team, your practice are capable of and will do for your patients.

Hey the same thing applies to you. If you already knew what you needed, if you already had all the answers, if you already were living the perfect life in the perfect practice with the perfect patients doing the perfect dentistry that you want, enjoy, and are excited and passionate about…then you would already being doing it all.

Perhaps, just maybe, you need a little vision too…and I will, because I practice what I preach, give you the time necessary to help you find it, plan it, create it, and live out the practice you have always envisioned and deserve.

You want good patients, be one yourself, go here and let’s work together, let me help you.