You know the scene all too well: a new patient presents, you do a comprehensive exam, form a treatment plan (and options), and upon presentation to the patient, who you were sure would accept it, instead find that they leave without so much as booking an appointment or a reason WHY they had not committed to move forward.
Now, for some of you, it’s a numbers game. If you have enough of these prospective patients coming through your door, chances are you will hit on enough to keep in business. That model, however, is flawed in a myriad of ways:
- You need a marketing budget large enough to draw in that many potential cases;
- You must have effective marketing to utilize those dollars wisely;
- Patients coming to you are “qualified” leads;
- To reach an “average” case conversion percentage that is acceptable might mean that you must read the data over a longer period of time to see anything hopeful;
- You have a referral base in place to cover shortcomings in marketing and qualified leads.
Having worked in a company that did nothing but implant retained prosthetics, with an enormous marketing budget as well as a talented call center to pre-screen and schedule clients for me to present cases to, I can tell you with all honesty that those numbers still won’t play out favorably if the person presenting treatment isn’t properly prepared to do so.
When I presented routine treatment in a general practice setting, my case acceptance rate varied between 95-98%. Moving into the specialized implant center, I was THRILLED to hit 30%. Of course, there were others who hovered in the 20% range and that was considered acceptable by management- meaning they got to keep their job.
So what was the difference between my general practice experience and that of the “specialty” setting? Why were my percentages higher than a co-worker’s?
Two words: Communication and Relationships
How Communication and Relationships Mix
An argument can easily be made for my high conversion rates in a general practice being the relationships I had built with the patients over the years: they had come to trust me, the dentist, and the staff. And that would be true: to a point. But we ALL have had established patients who put off, or flat out refused, treatment for one reason or another and still have a “good relationship” with them. (We aren’t going to delve into dismissing patients to avoid supervised neglect here- we will leave that topic to other people.) Those were the ones I had a personal drive to change: I was going to “get through” to them one way or another! Some days it worked, others it did not.
My “magic”, a trait I recognized early in life, was the capacity to meet people where they were at. Of course, as a teenager I didn’t even realize this was a “thing”. A cheerleader and what was then called a “preppy”, I was fairly outgoing… but I got along just as well with the burn-outs and haughty bullies. At lunch in my all-girls Catholic school, I ate with my grade school friends but flitted to different tables to chat with the many cliques so common in high school. The same scenario played out into college and eventually into my career. After about 3-4 years of practicing I would joke that I suffered from a multiple personality disorder: every 45 min to an hour my personality changed with the patient in the chair.
Boy. I was on to something- but I didn’t know what it was…yet.
Obviously, I was adept at the “soft skills”, connecting with people in a meaningful way. But what about those individuals who weren’t “people-y”? Why could I connect with THEM?
It wasn’t until many, many years later that I had the real reason.
When searching for a better way to teach -to “unlock” the door to communication than was available and known to me- I found PeopleMap™️. Immediately intrigued, I did what any normal human being would- I found out who the researcher was that created and developed it, obtained his cell phone number, and called him. (Yes, I am a super-sleuth!) On the other end of the call I encountered an engaging, kind and knowledgeable soul who took me on and personally trained me in all things PeopleMap™️. And HERE is what I learned: I had what are called learned strengths. Somehow, somewhere, early in life I had learned what others needed from me to connect with them and I implemented those skills. It was somewhat innate.
What I found, however, is that we all have the capacity to acquire learned strengths! It’s the basis of PeopleMap™️, being able to identify what our innate tendencies are, use them while avoiding the pitfalls of that strength (example- a people-type being so soft that they let another walk over them) and to take their weaker areas and develop them. Brilliant!!!! And the fact that it is based in positive psychology? Even more so!!!
These relationships I’d built with my patients came from a place of caring, like most of us in healthcare do, but the special sauce was -and is- in learning NOT to read from or rely upon a pre-set “script” to discuss treatment. It’s in being able to quickly assess a person’s communication style, and address them in a way that suits those needs.
How a Dental Team Can Implement a New Model of Communication
Since it’s physically impossible for me to go into every dental practice and do workshops with your teams (though I’m going to try!!), here are a few simple ideas you can begin using now when presenting treatment.
- Listen and watch: if the person you’re presenting treatment to seems to want to tell you stories, it’s likely they are people types. On the other hand, if they begin asking you about “cutting edge”‘or alternate treatments they’ve “heard of”, they’re most likely a free-spirit who isn’t interested in the status quo- they want to be pioneers and feel like you’re offering them something more than conventional treatment. Are they asking for the bottom line and what the long-term outcome is? Definitely a “leader type“. And if they are peppering you with what steps are needed, the timeline and when things will be complete- they are a task type.
- Give them what they need: Don’t try and bullet out a list of treatment steps to a people type. Spend the time listening to their stories (within reason) and make that emotional connection with them about their treatment. For the other types mentioned in point one, meet their communication needs, as well.
- Avoid overselling to fill airspace When you ask a question or present an option, allow them time to digest the information. We all process at different rates, and our brains are physically hard-wired to shove our emotional reactions out faster than logical ones. You’ve heard of “buyers remorse”? This is usually the cause of it. And it’s what hard-core marketing appeals to: people making the emotional buy before logic sets in and causes us to change our minds.
- Don’t go into panic mode: a very common mistake treatment presenters make is in trying to scramble if they see a patient about to say “no”. Take a moment and breathe. While you’re letting the information sit, quickly take stock and see if you can regroup. If you’ve misidentified the person’s communication needs, you’ll have a chance to readdress it- and hopefully get it right! Don’t be afraid to say “Mrs. Jones, I think you may understand this better if I explain it this way”. You’ve only lost them if they say “No, I heard you, thanks” and get up to leave.
Communication within the Team
Each person on your team also has a communication-type need. You likely know what it is without having actually put a name to it yet. Practice trying to “meet” one another while you’re working using their style. You’ll have extra practice for when you’re interacting with patients, and you’ll probably have less interpersonal conflict, as well.
This ability to connect where people need, to share information with them, goes far beyond treatment presentations, too. Whether welcoming a patient when they walk in the door, to dealing with an irate phone call about a billing issue, using a process like PeopleMap™️ works beautifully. Imagine being able to soothe someone out of a nasty diatribe by addressing their needs the way they can best process the information? How lovely would that be?
We’ve trained tech companies, government agencies, healthcare groups and more using this method- all with wonderful success. In a field such as ours, with overhead an omnipresent concern, PPO plans cutting reimbursements and people choosing to spend their discretionary income elsewhere, possessing a skill set to help them make the connection we try oh-so-hard to achieve only makes it simpler. And more enjoyable.
Give it a whirl- learn to be a chameleon every 45 minutes to an hour by trying to speak their speak.
Until next time,
Peace, Joy and Success!
Ascendant Dental Development LLC is built on the solid foundation of positive communication, both in the workplace and personal space. As a certified, master executive, personal and leadership coach, as well as a certified communication trainer with over 30 years in the dental field, we bring a new twist to dental practices and staff, focus primarily on leadership, team-development , communication skills, and case presentation techniques. We offer in-office workshops, individual leadership as well as personal life coaching and also provide lectures to larger groups. We are proud members of many organizations including the Academy of Management, the Institute of Coaching, the Via Institute and others. We are currently filling our schedule for 2019-20 and encourage you to call us Toll Free to learn more @ 833-876-TEAM ( 833-876-8326 )