Today, I want to bring together our two recent concepts for a successful life and private practice with a tactical implication for your patients.
The theme has been going on offense. More specifically, to avoid being caught up in worst-case thinking or having a negative expectation for the day. Instead, be more purposeful in your actions and specific in defining (and therefore creating) the outcomes you want.
Here’s where it gets fun…
It applies to everything you do.
It applies to everything your team does.
It applies to everything your patients do.
Let’s work through how this applies to your private practice patients…
It begins on the very first phone call where you have a choice to make: play offense or defense. If you are answering questions instead of asking questions, you’re on defense. Rather, your objective should be to educate and elevate their decisions.
This is why we ask questions, gain information, and express empathy. This gives you the opportunity to be their guide and more than anything else a strong advocate for what’s in their best interest.
You are changing the game.
You are supporting them in making decisions at a higher level which leads to more valuable outcomes.
Even from the first point of contact, you begin with the end in mind. You visualize a patient whose life you are going to transform.
You know if you don’t motivate them to come in you never get this opportunity and most of all the patient never gets the chance to experience your private practice.
Now, let’s take my new patient interview concept. The entire point about this is related to setting your patient up for success by giving them new information about your private practice, an expanded perspective of how dentistry impacts their lives, and change the entire way they will look at the
clinical experience.
Here’s the big lesson here… more information, new insights, fresh perspective equals a different, more involved, and deliberate decision.
If you want to positively influence someone’s outcome, change the data you are providing that they in turn use to make a choice.
It’s not really that challenging to get a specific outcome you desire. You just change the inputs to change the outputs.
The second lesson there was expand (elevate) perspective to change the context of the conversation.
I often say educate to empower people to make better decisions for themselves.
Patients want to make the best decision for themselves. It’s your responsibility to help them do this.
Most people stay stagnant because the information they have remains static. They play it safe since they don’t have enough insights to take a chance.
Change what they know, understand, and believe and you will change the decisions that they make.
In a clinical format, we are providing new data and information through pictures, proof, and pain. We are providing expanded perspective by asking them questions to take ownership over their health and responsibility for their future.
As I always say, a great patient experience is one that leaves an impression. No matter the type of practice or procedure, people must be involved participants in the process.
Maegen, our well-read team member, often quotes Maya Angelou when she says, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This is just as true for your patient experience as anything else. The feeling of pride, empowerment, confidence, excitement for getting healthy. They leave saying to themselves, “I am a stronger, healthier, wiser person because of the decision I made today.”
Here’s the big switch I want to flip in your mind today…
Just like I have provided you the challenge of being positive and going on offense by setting specific goals and visualizing outcomes… this is exactly what I want you to do with your patients.
Know this: they are starting from the premise of avoidance and being defensive. Generally about everything and certainly about the need and cost of dentistry.
That is why words matter so much. A desire to get healthy is stronger than a need to get healthy. An investment is prudent while a cost is avoidable.
Use powerfully positive words in every interaction. They have the ability to define
the experience.
If you go back and reread each of the last three Weekly Reports, it was a mini-course on exactly the way you want to transform your private practice through your people by following these principles of going on offense…
You can and should present more complete dentistry.
You can go all in on the treatment plans and execute pre-pay.
You can improve your schedule control and reverse engineer your goals.
The thing is, if you only try to execute the system, the steps, the protocols, and the process, then you miss the most integral part of this whole – the feeling you invoke inside of the people in your private practice.
When you commit to being on offense you create more opportunity, you have more fun, you achieve amazing results. Versus playing not to lose and always diminishing everything before you even give yourself a chance.
Every aspect of what Dental Success Today stands for always come back to empowering people. And that’s what your practice should be for your patients.
You’ll be amazed how much they value dentistry when given the proper insights, setting positive expectations, and giving every patient the opportunity to get healthy. It’s all starts by being on offense —a simple switch you can implement right now.
If you’d like to learn more about empowering your patients, please contact my office here.
Respectfully,
Scott J. Manning, MBA
