If They Don’t Accept Treatment – Who Do We Blame?

I dropped in to a colleague’s office recently because the doctor had requested some assistance on a challenging case.  His reception area had 2 people waiting, and the receptionist was intent on her screen with pursed lips and a scowl on her face.  She didn’t so much as glance up at me, and continued to ignore me for an additional 30 seconds.  Had I been there to theoretically spend money she alone would have changed my mind and I would have voted with my feet!  This is the same gal my colleague counts on to ‘close’ his cases once they leave his chair. He says his numbers are way off, and simply blames the economy.  Her poor attitude was contagious – so do you think her behaviour may have a part in all this? How can we control our teams’ attitude?

Recently, my marketing company trained us in a Dental Sales program.  This was a 2 day seminar event combined with post seminar ‘homework’ to ensure that the training was being used.   Most professional offices, whether medical, legal, or dental never entertain such an investment of time and resources.  Very few people in ‘professional’ positions understand they have a direct sales role in the final acceptance of customer cases. The rationale is basic:  every member of your team or staff is a salesperson, and some are simply better than others.  If a team member hates the concept of selling, she or he is undermining everything the rest of you are trying to accomplish.  They are ‘unselling’ you.  This concept of ‘selling’ may seem foreign, but the last time I checked we dental professionals also have payroll, rent, utilities, insurance, lease payments etc. That sounds like identical overheads that other business people enjoy – and they must typically ‘sell’ their wares to someone to survive. Perhaps we better take a page from their book.

The consumer today is a savvy and fickle animal.  Thanks to the internet, patients do arrive in our chair with an uncommon familiarity with dental options, pricing, and in some cases real misconceptions we must correct.  Everyone on your team has a specific duty to provide all the information your prospects require in order to make their best decision. Today’s buyer has a set number of conditions that must be ‘right’ in order to facilitate the decision to buy. There is a logical chronological order with points that must be satisfied in order for the ‘buying mind’ to move forward. Most practices try and close the deal (be it cosmetic, implant, or restorative) before it is actually open. This is not unlike asking the girl to marry you during your first dance! Not only is it doubtful they will accept, but you actually hamper the chances of ever accomplishing your goal because you are trying to jump from step 2 to step 5 with little regard for the other psychological conditions that must be satisfied.

In our workshop we learned the most appropriate ‘close’ I have ever experienced – one that doesn’t alienate the patient if they do not immediately accept. It is really about education and communication. In dental school I never studied sales techniques, nor has any of my team in their training. Every new technique requires repetition and scripting at least 20 times before it becomes a ‘habit’, so our facilitators rehearsed us in this workshop environment with repeated role playing until it became second nature. Frankly, without the discipline and supervision in this role playing exercise, this program couldn’t work to its full extent.

A sidebar – if you happen to have an employee who is in reality ‘not’ a team member – an off-site 2 day workshop will be troubling for them and this will be self evident. None of us can afford to have the wrong people in any position in our practices, so this type of intensive team training may lead to a restructuring of positions within your office.  It has been proven that making the wrong decision in hiring a key member of your team will cost you a minimum of 6 figures annually. Most dentists hire too fast, and fire too slow. Keeping the wrong individual in the incorrect position prevents them from being more satisfied elsewhere, and it is disastrous to your pocketbook.  These same team members accumulate ‘lost opportunities’ not only in new patient numbers but also in acceptance of restorative work with existing charts because they just don’t communicate efficiently – and the consumer leaves your office to ‘think about it’.

Our practice was able to develop our own scripting with post workshop assistance from Prosales Systems. Each team position has not only a responsibility to provide the patient with the information they want and deserve – but they have an obligation to present a case properly, providing it is in the patient’s best interests. We are not talking about manipulation or a ‘canned’ process, but rather a structured approach to ensure every patient is making their best decision with every piece of information they deserve

If our front end team doesn’t do their job properly, we don’t get to perform any dentistry. If our clinical team doesn’t present cases properly, we don’t earn the opportunity to do advanced clinical work. If we don’t train our team to professionally communicate in what is absolutely a consumer sales environment – we cannot shape the future of our practice. It is time to take a proactive role. You may wish to go to www.prosales.tv and learn more!

Guest Post by Dr. William Pearson

Technorati Tags: dental professionals, dental sales, marketing company, reception area