In this video produced by Glidewell, David Schwab, Ph.D. discusses “sticker shock” that patients often experience when they review the cost of dental implants. There is also a new twist on a favorite analogy that can be used to explain why dental implants are a great investment and value for the dollar over time. Glidewell’s permission to use this video is gratefully acknowledged.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgOmXkzr-qM
Setting priorities in your dental practice is even more important that you may believe. I just finished reading Darren Hardy’s new book entitled The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster. I found myself laughing out loud at some of his stories about his painful experiences as a new entrepreneur. Mr. Hardy is now very accomplished, and he related a serious story that contains a lesson for all small business owners, including dentists.
Sir Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than 400 companies, including airlines such as Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard was invited to give a one-hour keynote speech for a fee of $100,000. When he declined, the company that was trying to land him as a speaker upped their offer to $250,000, but that proposal was met by another polite yet firm turn down. The company then increased the offer to a whopping $500,000 for the one-hour keynote. This offer also included a private jet for transportation. The answer was the same—thanks, but no thanks. Finally, the company decided to let him name his fee and agreed to pay “whatever it takes.”
Here is the response from Richard Branson’s office, as reported by Mr. Hardy:
“No amount of money would matter. Right now, Richard has three strategic priorities he is focused on, and he will only allow us to allocate his calendar to something that significantly contributes to the accomplishment of one of those three priorities, and speaking for a fee is not one of them.”
When I read this account, my first thought, as a professional speaker, was that if I had received such an offer, I may have been persuaded to reorder my priorities. That, however, is the problem.
Mr. Hardy writes that people such as Richard Branson and Warren Buffet achieve success, in part, because they have just a few priorities and they stick to them. Hardy suggests that you write down all your priorities, narrow them down to three, and throw the rest away!
If you develop the habit of setting priorities and have the discipline not to get sidetracked by everything else that could compete for your attention in terms of running your business, then you will be able to focus clearly on your goals.
Try setting priorities and limiting your list to just three.
And download a copy of Hardy’s book for more advice and inspiration.
Internet marketing generates patients who are a different breed of cat. Because they are not referred by family or friends, they are starting from a different place and need more time and education to convert them to good patients. Many patients who make an inquiry from the Internet will not come in or accept treatment. It’s a numbers game and you should look at the big picture and not get discouraged. Find out why even when patients say no, it’s not a waste of time because you are getting closer to the patient who will say yes. The key is team training and setting appropriate expectations.
The Personal Report
by David Schwab, Ph.D.
TPR episode 004 – Internet Marketing Requires Team Training
www.davidschwab.com
Dentists need scripts for three reasons: to make the practice more efficient, increase case acceptance, and provide consistent dental patient education. The word “scripts” is used as a short-hand method to suggest what are also called “talking points.” It is not a question of reading word-for-word prepared scripts when patients ask questions, but having key phrases available that each team member can weave into their own speech patterns.
Make the Practice More Efficient. A common scenario is that patients are told they need a certain procedure, such as dental implants. The benefits of dental implants are numerous, which is all the more reason to have a script that concisely conveys the most important information. For example, “dental implants are the most advanced tooth replacement system ever devised. They look and function just like natural teeth. They never decay or require root canals, and they can last for decades or even a lifetime with proper care.” One can always expand on this explanation, but notice how much information is conveyed in a short message.
Increase Case Acceptance. When patients cannot decide whether to go forward with recommended treatment, you can use a very compelling script: “The proposed treatment will never be more conservative, more cost effective, or less invasive than it is today.” Let’s unpack that sentence. Everyone wants conservative rather than radical dentistry. “Cost effective” is a very good term for conveying value. Finally, if patients delay treatment, they may need more extensive treatment in the future. The concept that the treatment will never be “less invasive than it is today” nicely captures that point.
Consistent Patient Education. For procedures that you commonly provide in your office, you need to have an agreed upon list of benefits. This list, or script, creates consistent patient education. If a patient asks why a crown is needed, it is likely that everyone in the office can provide correct answers, although the answers will no doubt vary depending on the person who is responding. The great advantage of having a script is for everyone literally to be on the same page and give patients consistent answers that the doctor has deemed in advance to be the best way to answer the question.
The wording used to answer commonly asked questions should not be left to chance. Dentists need scripts to remove variables and provide a consistent and efficient way to provide dental patient education and increase case acceptance.
www.davidschwab.com
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The issue of cell phone use in the dental office causes a conflict between two competing interests: the need for a total focus on the patient and the fact that we live in an electronic age where employees depend on cell phones to stay in touch with family.
This podcast puts forth a common sense solution to the problem and challenges practices to develop a clear policy that keeps employees’ cell phones out of the sight of patients but still allows opportunities for team members to discretely check cell phones during the workday as long as this privilege is not abused.
The issue of patients using cell phones in the office will be addressed in a subsequent podcast.
One of the greatest threats to dentistry is that it is often perceived by price shoppers as a standardized commodity. This off-the-shelf mentality undermines the dentist’s message and the value of dental services and creates a dental patient education challenge.
The mentality is as follows. Your child needs braces? No problem. Just shop for the orthodontist with the lowest fee, because—in the minds of many—the treatment is all the same and the orthodontist is programmed to work the same way again and again. Start with crooked teeth, put on braces, straighten the teeth, remove braces. Repeat with the next patient. Most people do not appreciate the diagnosis, treatment planning, and clinical skill necessary to get an excellent result in orthodontics, especially with complex cases.
Price shoppers are of course not limited to orthodontic treatment but are pervasive throughout the dental marketplace, whether the treatment involves impacted wisdom teeth, dental implants, or even a single crown. When told that a crown is necessary, a patient’s first question is often related to the cost of the crown, not the type of crown or the expertise of the doctor who provides it. If you told your patients that you have boxes of crowns in your supply room organized by sizes, like shoes, many would believe you and wait for you to grab one off the shelf to test the fit.
The need for dental patient education to combat this perception grows every day. When the patient says, “I can get it cheaper somewhere else,” the message should be:
Dental treatment combines my artistic judgment with all my training and experience in the science of dentistry. You can get something similar somewhere else, but the crown that I provide is unique because no two crowns are exactly alike. I am committed to high quality dentistry that is customized for you.
One well placed volley will not necessarily slow the onslaught of price shoppers who come to your practice, but the “dentistry-is-an-art-and-science” message is both high minded and resoundingly true. You are a Picasso in a studio creating masterpieces, not a Sam Walton opening chain stores filled with mass produced merchandise. There is no sale on crowns in aisle four of your practice.
Like so many other artists, you may not be fully appreciated in your own time, but you are teaching patients, often individually, and exposing them to unique dental artwork.
David Schwab Ph.D.
www.davidschwab.com
This dental podcast is all about your message. Learn how to create a consistent and compelling 15-second message and how to use it effectively. You will eliminate the guesswork and inconsistency and have a concise, polished message you can use inside and outside the office to promote your practice.
The Personal Report
by David Schwab, Ph.D.
TPR episode 002 – The Power of the 15-Second Message
Have you heard of “the curse of knowledge?” If an astrophysicist tries to help a high school student with his Algebra I homework, the supremely educated adult may not understand why the student just does not get it. Part of the answer is that the astrophysicist knows too much—that which is obvious to the scientist may leave the student oblivious.
Micah Soloman has an interesting article in Forbes on the curse of knowledge. Mr. Soloman writes:
“In healthcare, where the stakes are extremely high, the patient experience and patient satisfaction often suffer from devastating manifestations of the curse of knowledge. It can lead healthcare workers to deal poorly with the distress experienced–because they’ve seen a similar non-life threatening situation (say, a broken ankle) so many times before and it always turned out all right that they discount the pain and fear experienced by someone for whom this is happening now.”
A similar scenario plays out in dental offices every day. A patient is scheduled in an endodontist’s office for root canal therapy. Let’s say that the patient has been told by his brother-in-law that root canals are very painful. The brother-in-law is seldom right but never in doubt, even though he has never personally had this procedure.
Based on modern misconceptions of root canal therapy and comments from his uninformed brother-in-law, the patient is very nervous upon arrival at the office. To allay the patient’s fears, team members in the endodontist’s office may simply say, “Everything is going to be fine.” This message is part of their mantra because every day patients show up afraid and leave saying that they cannot believe the root canal was so easy. This message, though meant to be helpful, may not be Continue reading Dental Marketing: The Patient’s Point of View
Dental practices are losing patients because they are not tracking a secret statistic that is costing them money. By easily tracking this number and using specific verbal skills, dental practices will enhance dental practice marketing.
Key points:
The Personal Report
by David Schwab, Ph.D.
TPR episode 001 – The Secret Statistic Costing You Money
www.davidschwab.com
Dental practices often use car analogies when talking to patients about fees for dental implants. A typical response to a patient who recoils at the fee for dental implant treatment goes something like this: Think about what it costs to buy a new car. Dental implant treatment lasts longer so it’s a better value. This message is good but it needs to be much more specific and cogent to be an effective way tool for marketing dental implants.
I believe that car analogies should only be used in certain situations. If the patient has been fully educated about the benefits of dental treatment, including quality of life benefits, and still has a hard time accepting the fee, then a skilled treatment coordinator can talk about the relative value of optimal oral health versus a new car.
The problem is that most patients are unprepared for a large dental fee. The average person may assume that a visit to the dentist for an exam, cleaning and x-rays will be in three figures. Patients also often know ahead of time that treatment for something more extensive such as periodontal disease or the fabrication and placement of one or more crowns will be in four figures. Few patients, however, are ready at the outset to come to terms with a five-figure dental fee.
Once the patient has heard the fee and is wrestling with the cost/benefit analysis, then you can talk about cars. Here is a great message for patients:
The average person in the U.S. buys a new car every six years. The average price of a new car is about $33,500. If we add an inflation factor and subtract trade-in value, the average person will pay over $100,000 for four automobiles over an 18-year period. Dental implant treatment typically lasts for decades. In fact, with proper professional maintenance and home care, many people have dental implant treatment done once and it lasts a lifetime. The bottom line is that dental implant treatment improves the quality of your life and over many years it is an exceptional value for the dollar.
Patients who have dental implant treatment often say that it was money well spent and they wish they had had the treatment sooner. Prior to dental implant treatment, however, it is often necessary to talk about value, and the car analogy has its place in marketing dental implants when explained properly.
David Schwab Ph.D.
www.davidschwab.com