In part one of this three part series we examined the amazing power and impact on your business that connecting with your patients on a deeper level can have. In part two we explore the theory of “value creation” as it relates to the historically frowned upon concept of “selling” in dentistry.
Have you ever been sold something and then days, or even months later, wondered why you bought it? When you came to the conclusion that you were “sold to,” how did you feel — about yourself, the salesperson who sold it to you and the company that he/she represents? On the other hand have you ever purchased products or services that you really didn’t need… but you didn’t feel the same negativity towards the salesperson or the company? Why? In those instances, you were probably an integral part of the purchasing process. In dentistry, if your sales process is a one-sided regurgitation of procedures and techniques then this may not be very emotionally appealing to patients and they will not “buy” as often from you. To counter this challenge, many sales training programs, seminars or books on “selling” present it as a series of strategies, gimmicks, or attempts to control behavior — all designed to get a potential buyer to say “Yes.” The problem with these teachings is that they often promote manipulative sales techniques. They teach strategies like tie downs, open probes, get them while they’re hot, overcome objections, up sell (would you like a crown with that)… probe for the close (any reason we can’t schedule today?)… etc. These manipulative sales techniques may raise your batting average slightly on a per incidence basis but they do not form the foundation for long-term, trusting, mutually rewarding relationships with patients who are committed to preserving and enhancing their life-long dental health in partnership with your office.
For most dentists, the concept of “selling” was not something they signed up for when applying to dental school. In fact for many clinicians, especially first decade dentists, when they hear the word “sales” it conjures up images of manipulating people into parting with their hard earned money. This belief is rooted in the underlying mentality that; we are a medical profession and should simply be able to tell people what they need and they should just be able to trust us and accept our advice. This viewpoint can be somewhat self-limiting because most of us practice in a fee for service environment where even if the patient has dental insurance, the average policy does not provide benefits for a lot of what modern dentistry has to offer. This means that our ability to deliver optimal health and wellness to society will rest largely on our ability to inspire our patients to desire and pay for what we can do for them.
So what is it about this concept of “selling” that makes so many of us in our profession feel so uncomfortable? Is “selling something to someone” really a bad thing? Or is it our approach that determines its ethics and integrity? Does it have to be a manipulative dishonorable process or can it be something beautiful and empowering that connects us to people and empowers us to help them? My observation is that; it is the old school negative approach to “selling” usually applied by what we call “pushy sales people” that most clinicians have an aversion to.
The way you define the process of “sales” in your own mind will be powerful in influencing how you deliver the “buying” experience. I recently asked a group of dentists who said they hate “selling” to define the term based on how they feel about it… here is what they came up with… “sales is a process of coercing someone into buying something they don’t want or think they need.” Wow! If that’s how you allow yourself to see the process, then everything you say to your patients during the case presentation will be tainted with this negative belief system. In silent, powerful and unseen ways you will unconsciously project or mirror these beliefs on to your patients through your choice of words, body language and through your overall approach to the entire process.
With all the advances modern dentistry has to offer today, if we are to succeed as clinicians in the 21st Century it is imperative that we don’t view case presentations as a process of convincing customers or pushing them into things. That’s why we must redefine the term “sales” and give it a more positive and purposeful meaning. A meaning that can guide us towards delivering a more positive buying experience to our patients. The great philosopher Plato said “the beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” Our new improved meaning for selling should be based on the process of what we are really trying to achieve when we communicate with patients. It should sound something like this… “sales is a process of helping people to make decisions that will add to their quality of life.” This means that our entire case presentation must be converted from the all too common one-sided regurgitation of dental information (product and services dump) to a more interactive process that gets patients involved and guides them towards discovering for themselves that which is in their best interest. When you sell with ethics and integrity you don’t have to approach people with the intent of coercing them out of their money; rather, your goal will be to gain rapport and understand their objectives so you can help them get what they “want.”
Selling really is a process of guiding people towards self-discovery and hope. It’s a process of engaging a person’s heart and imagination towards something that does not yet exist in their lives. This is best achieved by listening to people. Listening is the greatest tool we have for inspiring others to take action. People really don’t care how much you know or what you can do until you show how much you care. Patients don’t like “product dump” speeches. When they sense one coming on they will tend to tune you out. This is why social skills are so important.
The next time you discuss treatment options with a patient ask yourself the following four questions…
• Whose dental condition / opportunity is it?
• Who’s recognizing the condition/ opportunity?
• Who wants to treat it?
• Who’s dedicated to the potential posttreatment outcomes?
If the answer to any of these questions is you, and not the patient, then we do not have patient involvement. The process of patient involvement is called co-diagnosis. Co-diagnosis is the development of a partnership. It’s the act of assisting patients to “discover” themselves and participate in the diagnosis. Our job is to help them to discover themselves and any potential problems/opportunities. It’s the patient’s job to decide what level of health and wellness they choose for themselves. We dental professionals spend an awful lot of time trying to convince people to have their dentistry done. We are excited about all the options that we can provide. But we fail to realize that before we can get the patients’ enthusiasm, we must first help them develop their desire for the treatment outcomes. Patients will only agree to services they want (not need).
The Greek philosopher Socrates talked about the use of questions to guide people towards developing ideas and conclusions in their own mind. By leading people through a series of focus questions we facilitate their “ah ha” moments but they take ownership of their breakthrough thoughts. Do you lead your patients through a process of self discovery that lets you highlight the range of possibilities available to them… possibilities that they would not have identified without you?
Ten tips to strengthen case presentation skills and increase acceptance
1. View the patient as an ally and adopt a healthy view of selling;
2. Listen twice as much as you speak;
3. Make comprehensive chart entries, including information regarding the unique life circumstance
s, views and emotional desires of the person attached to the teeth;
4. Begin creating an ongoing list of directed probing open-ended questions;
5. Take the time to connect on a personal level with your patients;
6. Identify their needs and present life circumstances… fit the dentistry into their needs and present life circumstances;
7. Avoid overselling the physical details of the raw dentistry (products and procedures);
8. Communicate beyond this; to convey the “quality” of life impact the dentistry will have on their lives;
9. Your values and attitudes are projected to patients… be authentically caring, open and honest and they will trust you and mirror this back to you in the form of “asking for your services”;
10. Remember the top four case acceptance barriers… can I trust you… do you care about me… do you know what you’re doing… how will this benefit my life.
We can all boost our case presentation skills and enhance case acceptance by learning to more effectively communicate in our patient’s language. Dentistry is a helping profession and “sales” is a helping process. By altering our thinking and approach slightly we can easily shift the focus from “us” and the procedures we sell to “the customer” and the quality of life impact our services will have on their lives. This shift in thinking will enable us to communicate with our patients in a more buyer-based, service-focused and solution driven way… and we will bring honor and dignity to this whole concept of “selling” within the profession of dentistry.
Peter Barry is a Practice Mastery Coach and founder of Successful Practice Architects. He is the creator of “The Dental Olympics Advantage™ Growth and Development Programs”. He is also a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants. peter@practicemastery.com/ 416-568-5456.
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We can all boost our case presentation skills and enhance case acceptance by learning to more effectively communicate in our patient’s language
