Of course, how could I not interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special message on Valentine’s Day!
As you know, Love comes in many different ways and people both receive and give it far differently based on their own life experience. Perhaps there isn’t anything more comforting that knowing you are loved by others.
This week, during our Practice Profit Accelerator Call, Maegen and I discussed the importance of having a Culture of Comprehensive Dentistry; whereas every aspect of your practice, your experience, your verbiage resonates with and resembles your philosophy of care, what you do for your patients, and what your practice stands for. That has been the topic we’ve been discussing in great depth related to diagnosing and the way you motivate your patients to say yes.
I would go a step further and say that even more important than having a culture of comprehensive dentistry is having a culture of love (or a loving culture) within your practice.
Now, I don’t mean you walk around feeling sorry for everyone. Sympathy is not love and is only appropriate in certain circumstances. I also don’t mean you go around pandering to every patient and bending on a whim by giving into to every objection.
You absolutely can’t be operating your Practice from a standpoint of “the customer is already right” – the retort to the old saying is naturally: “right about what?!”
What exactly does the customer know in your office? Well, nothing about dentistry and usually not much about their health.
If you go listening to what your patients think they need to do, you’d be giving the worst care possible, totally negligent with their health, and not providing what you know is in their best interest.
If you unpack everything we’ve done over the past several weeks it is about being the patients’ guide and taking leadership over the patients’ experience, value, and perception over their health in order to truly help them to have the very best and most complete outcome possible.
That is love. Isn’t it?
It comes in the form of passion and compassion. It shows up when you are being proactive, when you are being caring, and it when you are being tough.
Yes, love is many things to many people and it is used in a multitude of ways. The real secret to love is it always coming from a place of sincerity and the best interest of the other person.
Doesn’t that describe exactly what you are doing in your office every day?
So, here’s the thing… don’t be bashful about it. Be proud of it, proud of you, proud of what you do, and proud of what you stand for and tell the patient exactly how you feel.
Far too often we come across as apologetic, timid, or bashful in the way we approach patients about what they deserve most to have happen instead of strong, confident, and definitive in your diagnosis.
Put an end to that now. It doesn’t feel great to the patient. It actually gives off the opposite feeling than what you are trying to convey.
The bottom line is: your passionate and energetic encouragement for the patient to move forward with their health is the greatest motivator to them.
If used in the wrong way, it’s not productive and harmful. However, if it’s used for positive purposes, it’s the greatest motivator of them all.
So, put Love in your Practice by making it more about the person than the patient.
Now, since it’s Valentine’s Day, one other point… I believe you should find a way to show love every single day. One day a year to stop, pause, slow down, express your affection for the people around you (especially your significant other), is 364 (365 in a leap year) days too few.
Here’s what most people forget…
Your relationship with yourself is the relationship that determines whether or not you can have an effective one, a loving one, a purposeful one with anybody else. You gotta love yourself if you are going to be a center of influence for others. If you are going to be a source of energy, positivity, encouragement, and love for your patients, it starts with you.
That’s why, no matter how many bells and whistles, tips and tricks, systems and strategies or anything else we talk about, the greatest driver of success in all aspects of your life and practice is you.
Next week, we’re going to talk about exactly how you can influence more patients’ decisions by what you say. We’ll go to work continuing to build up your confidence in your own approach to comprehensive dentistry and how you convey your passion for helping your patients like only you can.
In the meantime, double down your efforts to create a culture of good vibes, positive energy, happy people, and a loving practice. I will tell you that patients just won’t be able to stop themselves from being happy, saying yes, and paying you for the privilege to be your patient, as they should!
Happy Valentine’s Day to You and Yours. Make sure nothing you want to say goes unsaid, especially on this day of the calendar. It’s a reminder of perhaps your greatest motivation: your significant other and those you cherish most!
