ARE YOU IN SALES?

Have you ever had that situation where you have discussed a treatment plan with the patient, but for some reasons they do not proceed. Do you know why this is?
After training over eight thousand delegates on my Two Day Ethical Sales & Communication programme worldwide, here are the top 5 reasons why patients do not take up what we have to offer.
To start with you will need the whole team on board to help overcome your patients concerns and objections in an ethical manner

I have been asking the question “Are you in Sales?”  to audiences of dentists all over the world for the last 22 years. At the start I would see around 10% of the audience actually put their hands up, now in 2015, it is around 50%. How times have changed. So how do you currently feel about selling?

Well, maybe you don’t see yourself as a salesperson; after all you spent over 7 years learning about dentistry, not communication or business skills. In fact, I often hear dentists tell me that it is criminal that they are not taught communication skills at Dentistry School. However, every day, everybody in your practice is selling an idea to another human being. The first person a patient communicates with is the Receptionist. In my opinion she is the most important person in your Practice. She can have a massive impact on your practice profits, based on how she deals with a patient. She can often make or break whether a patient comes through your door or not. The Receptionist is also the first person the patient communicates with when they walk through the door. Then there is the Practice Manager who spends all day selling ideas to the team, or to the patient. Probably one of their biggest frustrations is convincing team members to take action on their ideas.

The Dentist is always selling an idea to the patient, whether you are discussing a treatment plan, or trying to influence a patient to change their behaviour. Whether the patient takes up your treatment plan or not will depend on how well you communicate your ideas, or, in a lot of cases, don’t. Often the patient will ask the advice of the nurse, as she escorts the patient to the desk, so they are also part of the selling process. Treatment Co-coordinators are becoming prevalent in practices nowadays and of course, last, but not least, the hygienist is selling to patients every day. So you see, everyone in your Practice sells.

So have you ever had that situation where you have discussed a treatment plan with the patient, but for some reasons they do not proceed. Do you know why this is?

Well after training over eight thousand delegates on my Two Day Ethical Sales & Communication programme worldwide, here are the top reasons why patients do not take up what we have to offer.

1. Talk too technical – always remember that patients do not go on the same courses as you. They don’t understand half the words that you use.
2. Lack of Rapport Building – without rapport there is no trust, no trust, there is less likely of a sale taking place. Patients don’t care about you, until you first demonstrate how much you care about them.
3. Assumption – the biggest mistake Dentists make is to sell their services without first fully understanding what your client’s needs and wants are
4. Cost – cost is always going to be an issue. If the patient tells you cost is the issue, then it is because we haven’t fully explained what the major benefits are.
5. Lack of commitment – do you ever give your patient’s treatment plans and tell them to go away and think about it, if you do then that’s exactly what they will do

If you would like to read more tips on how to communicate effectively and create the perfect patient journey in your Practice then you will love this book. Get your copy here for only £15. Dont Wait for The Tooth Fairy 🙂

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