It was a charitable organization based out of a university in Israel, working to help provide services to disabled people in specific neighborhoods. Every year they had a fundraising drive. One year, they did something a little different – something that nearly doubled the monetary donations over what they collected the year before.

What they did this time was to go out and canvass the neighborhoods before asking for donations. They asked residents about their feelings in general on the principle of providing help to people with disabilities.

They asked them to sign a petition supporting services for disabled people in their area. Then, two weeks later, they went around to those same homes asking for help. The results where amazing.

What these charity workers hit on was a fundamental truth of human nature. Most people want to have a strong sense of internal consistency. So if they are on record as supporting a particular idea, they are far more likely to respond favorably when asked to back up that declared support with specific action and resources.

This is why it is so important to get patients talking about their goals for their dental health. If it is just you doing the talking, it is easy for the defensive walls to go up. Patients can feel like they are being "sold" and they start to think of reasons to resist. But if you can get them to declare up front what they believe in and what their expectations are, it becomes a collaborative process of helping them achieve their stated goals. Then, when you present your proposed treatment options, it is now in the context of what they have said they wanted. That is when real "buy-in" occurs.


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