Three Rules for Winning the War—Even If You Lose Some Battles

No matter what business you are in, your passion for your work will always reveal itself in how determined you are to help others see the value of what you can do. People who achieve great success in just about any field are happily persistent; they never want to give up on helping others share in the excitement of what they know is possible.

It’s not always easy; when you have to deal every day with people who say no to what you know is best for them, it does take a certain amount of mental tenacity to keep yourself consistently positive and positively consistent. But it is vitally important that you never let a “no” affect you to the point where you sabotage your chances of getting the next patient to say yes.

  Remember these three rules to keep yourself on track:

1. Don’t take “no” personally.
   When a patient says no to the treatment you suggest, they are not rejecting you, your abilities, or your recommendations outright. And in most cases, “no” does not mean “not ever.” It means “not now.” Don’t take that first “no” as the end of the road. When you close the book on a patient early on, you are cheating the patient and yourself of incredible future opportunities.
    
2. Never assume.
   “He can’t afford it.” “She’ll never do more than what her insurance will cover.” “He’s just not interested in esthetic treatments.” These are things dentists tell themselves as a way of explaining why they don’t bother presenting comprehensively every time.

• But have you ever had a patient surprise you by asking for a treatment that you suggested long ago, and that they turned down back then? People change. Circumstances change. And if you are persistent in presenting their opportunities and your value, you can often play a significant role in getting their minds to change over time.

3. Ask permission to be persistent.
   But won’t patients get annoyed if you keep bringing up treatment options they have already said no to before? Not if you explain to them that’s what you are going to do. You simply tell the patient the truth—that it is your professional obligation to tell them exactly what you see and what your recommendations are, every time you see them. Ask for permission to be thorough and to do your professional duty every time. Not many patients would want to deny their dentist the chance to be completely professional in delivering the best care all the time.

The bottom line is that creating patient value is a process, one that you need to be engaged in with each patient on each visit, to the best of your ability, regardless of what has gone before. It can be tempting to think “this one has already said no” and turn your focus to the next prospect. But new patients who say yes to everything are few and far between. The real growth you will experience in your practice must come from steadily converting a number of those no’s to yeses.  You have to be prepared to be in it for the long haul.