Methods for getting to “yes”
Over a period of some years I attended almost every seminar I could on the topics of “communication”, “case acceptance” and “sales”.
Those three topics mean pretty much the same thing but many dentists don’t like to think of themselves as being in sales.
If I were to summarise there are three main methods that I was taught to get case acceptance from patients:
Tool box
You can learn a bunch of fancy things to say to patients, for example the “sharp angled close”, the “alternate of choice close” or the “Benjamin Franklin close”.
The difficulty comes in knowing which one to use when. I always found this approach to be difficult and confusing.Psychological
You assess the person in front of you psychologically. Let’s say you think that they a kinaesthetic (they like the sense of touch). In that case you would tell them that they will “love how the treatment will feel”.
I found this approach to be very hit and miss as well as quite manipulative.Checklist
This is the best approach and suits the dentist mindset. It is totally systematic. For example, I’m sure that when you do a class I restoration you have a mental checklist: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 and so on.
The exact same can apply to getting case acceptance. By having a checklist you never have to wonder what comes next. You always know. This reduces stress and multiplies success.
When you talk about treatment with patients do you have a system you follow? Or, do you wing it?
I think that, if you don’t have a solid checklist then you are missing out on so much.
