I want to knock down nine quick Michaelisms concerning case presentation and the ultimate business success. Too often, we tend to overlook the obvious while chasing the herd of dentists that are just getting by. This “sheeple” attitude is following the “common place”; the things every average dentist does or fails to do, instead of using common sense to leave the pack behind and raise your practice and results to a higher level of success. In dentistry every case presentation works for someone. The trouble is that the average dentist only averages about 60% success rate, and that’s for fillings. Our goal is to have a 90% plus case acceptance. While there are reams of information about case acceptance, please take the time to consider these nine, point by point.
- Case acceptance is not a strategy to sell someone something. Rather it is the challenge of getting them to “want” what they actually “need”. It is one thing to diagnose correctly, but that alone is a far cry from getting your patients to say yes, and actually follow through. Having a culture of serving your patients instead of selling them is the turning point for one hundred percent case acceptance. The second thing is partnering with each team member to make this happen. Case acceptance is not what you do, but what the patient experiences from the moment they call to make an appointment.
- Case acceptance, from my perspective, is having “patients show-up, pay for the treatment, and refer everyone they know”. It is not enough to just have a patient come to your office. Nothing happens until they say yes. It’s not enough that they pay for that first appointment’s cost. They may never return. Having them tell everyone they know about your office is confirmation that between each of these three requirements for “case acceptance”, the team, culture, systems, and the doctor are working together to help that patient want what they need. That’s why you have to track the number of referred new patients. That percentage of your new patients is the best predictor of overall success in a dental practice. We shoot for at least a 50% direct referral rate from our existing patients. Check and see what you have every month.
- Validity is created when your reputation precedes a potential patient ever considering coming to your office. You have the reputation of caring, compassion, and communication in your office. Non-patients cannot help but hear about your office. Validity means “no stress” and “no selling”. Just a remarkable office helping their patients keep their smiles for a lifetime. (NOTE: There is no perceived judgement by the team or doctor. We are there to serve them, not embarrass them for not taking care of their teeth.)
- Buying is an “emotional” decision rather than a “logical” one. There is no amount of logic, x-rays, or models of teeth that will get a patient to want what they need. We must become masters of personalities in our patients, so we communicate to the emotional side of a patient’s health, mouth and teeth, rather than just laying out the logic of doing what we want to do. The number one mistake doctors make is thinking that patients want what you have to sell them.
- This should be a mind opener: Patients want dentistry that “looks good, feels good, and lasts a long time”. That’s it! This is the absolute truth when we dissect the mind of a patient. Educational level doesn’t matter. Age doesn’t matter. Gender doesn’t matter. Give them something that looks good, feels good, and lasts a long time and you have hit the jackpot. If you can do this with no pain and do it quickly and on time, they will immediately become a raving fan.
- 6. Patients often say “no” or defer doing work until later because too many treatment choices create paralysis when it comes to making a “yes” answer to your case presentations. They only want to know what you would do for yourself or your close family members if they were not paying for it. Confidence and competence are never more evident when you can communicate what you would do for your family with these circumstances. Do this right and the only thing that will hold a patient back is your ability to fit the investment into their already tight budget.
- Expectations go up with more choices. This is bad. Tell them what you would do for yourself until the point that they say they can’t afford to keep the tooth, want the implant, etc., and then give them the next best alternative. Far too many times, we confuse our patients by laying out too many options. Remember: Common sense rules the day. Take a hard look at what you do currently and overlay it with common sense. This entire article will seem so right when you do.
- Eliminating choices decreases anxiety for patients. This is self-explanatory. Reread numbers 6 and 7.
- Partner with your team to increase your case acceptance. While it is against the dental practice act for any member of your team to “diagnose”, it is permissible for them to “triage” the patient. The advantage of co-diagnosis, where the assistant or hygienist points out decay, broken teeth, missing teeth, gum disease, etc., is that the patient will ask your team members questions that they would never ask you. Once there is consensus of opinion from the patient, then you will come in, and have the team member tell you what they saw as you look at the x-rays and the patients’ mouth.
Take this test: Do whatever you currently do, come to some consensus between the doctor and patient, excuse yourself, and then after the patient goes to the front to check out, ask your team member that took care of this patient if they asked anything after you left the room. If you have presented the needs to your patient in your case presentation, asked if they had any concerns or questions, and even when they said no, and the minute you leave the room, the patient turns to ask the hygienist or assistant more questions after you have left, everything was done incorrectly. My hope is that there are not any questions when I come into the room the first time because 99% of the treatment consensus exists and I am just confirming the patient’s needs.
There you go. Now, “get’r done” as we say here in Texas. Reevaluate the success of your case acceptance and rewrite your future by incorporating these 9 tips (Michaelisms).
Michael Abernathy DDS
972.523.4660 cell
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