Very few people plan for dental care in their budget, and case acceptance will always depend to some degree on affordability. However, affordability is a mindset; patients can be persuaded to prioritize their dental care and value it accordingly.

Think of the patients who have come in and asked for a particular procedure. The patients who have been motivated by a smile they've seen on a movie star, or a procedure they saw on a makeover show, or in a magazine. These patients don't need convincing; they're already motivated and in the right frame of mind.

How do you create this kind of energy for all the treatment you present? How do you get patients to see the value that makes them want to take action?

This is where you have to go beyond case presentation and into a deeper conversation. You and your team should have frank discussions with each patient about the lifelong value of the mouth and how it's at the center of so many quality of life concerns.

Patients might spend 25 years paying for a house or five years paying for car. If you frame the discussion about treatment correctly and reinforce the philosophy in everything you do, you can certainly get them to see that their personal health is worth the same kind of commitment.

People may have come in just expecting a routine hygiene appointment, but just as they can go into the mall to pick up batteries and end up coming out with a widescreen TV, patients can be persuaded to do the right thing for their oral health – even if it wasn't originally on their economic agenda.


Post a Comment

Comments

Commenter's Profile Image John Sweeney
August 10th, 2012
You're right Imtiaz, getting the entire team to embrace this idea is so important. Value is such a hard thing to figure out with people because most are all over the place. But, what I have found is that people tend to value the things most that make them feel good, or better about themselves, or that gives them a sense of purpose. That's why they buy cars, and big houses, etc. In addition, value is always relative to their past experiences and their vision for their own future. Many times, it seems so hard to break through to patients even when we explain all the benefits of treatment, etc. etc. It makes so much sense to us and we think, why aren't they getting this? What's wrong? It's the same as a computer company marketing a product or a car company talking about all the technological features of their latest and greatest. This type of maketing or persuasion works many times but it's not how we make a breakthrough. We are not connecting with them is the problem. Value is a feeling. It's an emotional bond we have with certain things and relationships that we can't quite put our finger on. Or at least in my opinion. So, if we really want to see a "value shift" in our patients we have to connect with them on a personal level. We have to understand them and relate to them. This really breeds trust and makes you authentic to your patient. Once people trust you and believe you are authentic, then they really begin to believe what you believe. And, that's how we can get them to see the value of great dentistry. The key is getting them to believe what we believe and it can only be done by building trust and authenticity. This is where we can really see the "value shift" Your comment is so true about getting the team on board with talking about great dentistry. If our team also believes what we believe about great dentistry, then they will also connect with patients, build trust, exude authenticity, and only then will we see a true "value shift". You have talked about trust being the most important factor about case acceptance and I agree. I think our greatest challenge each day is building that trust with our patients..... Thanks for your inspiration Imtiaz, John