Blog | Dental Blog - Ashley Latter

THE BIGGEST COMMUNICATION MISTAKE

What happens when you prejudge patients?
1. You may be costing yourself many thousands of pounds’ worth of new opportunities for you and your Practice.
2. By not making your patients aware of all the options, you will be denying them the opportunity to choose their favourite. You won’t even be making them aware of your diverse range of treatments. Remember: as a matter of informed consent, it is important that you do mention all the options.
3. You will be missing out on delivering technical skills that you have probably spent hundreds of hours learning – skills which you may well have developed during weekends and nights away from your family. Some of these courses will have cost you thousands of pounds, not to mention the amount of kit you will have invested in that will now have to remain pristine in its box!

THE POWER OF EVIDENCE

Nowadays we all spend time researching a product before we make a purchase. The internet makes this very easy to do from our own home. Whether its a new piece of furniture or a car or even a hair-dryer lots of us will go on line and search for information and customer reviews. We feel more comfortable parting with our money on a product that has a good review. We can apply this same rule to our Dental Practice. Do you have a video of your Practice on your home page which includes Patient reviews? How about testimonial letters in a nice folder in your waiting room? You will of course need your patients permission for this but if you do an outstanding job for them, on the whole, they will want to help you

15 TIPS TO BE AN OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATOR

In business, and life it is essentially important for you to be able to get your point across, whether it is to patients on a one to one basis, whether you are giving a formal presentation to an audience, presenting to your team at a meeting or presenting to your referring dentists, you are always communicating. If you want other dentists to refer patients to you, they will only do so if you are outstanding in front of them. Even when you conduct team meetings, you are selling ideas to your team; they will only take them on board if you can convince them. The fear of public speaking is very real. However, there are techniques to help you overcome your fears. There are even ways to help harness your energy in a positive way.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXCELLENCE AND MEDIOCRITY

Throughout my 24 years as a Business Coach, I have spent hundreds of hours working, socializing, and interviewing very successful people. They have many traits. They are persistent, if you knock them down, they bounce back, smile and start all over again. They take responsibility for their own lives and for their own results. If things don’t go quite as well as they would like, they don’t blame other people, or circumstances for their results. They never make excuses.

REJECTION – COUNT TO FIVE, FORGET IT AND MOVE ON

If a patient does not say yes to a treatment plan do you take it personally? Could it sometimes affect the dialogue you have with the next patient? The truth is there are many reasons why a patient may not wish to go ahead. It could be for example that you have not asked enough questions..or it could just be that their dental health or a great smile is not important enough to that patient in which case there is absolutely nothing you can do and you need to forget about it, move on and be sure it does not affect your next appointment.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

If you are a dentist or an orthodontist, I have some news that might upset you.

As an orthodontist, I am not sure your patients are interested in the fact that the treatment you are suggesting is made up of “passive self ligating brackets, which have low frictional forces using heat activated NiTi wires containing six per cent copper”. Similarly, if you are a dentist telling your patients that “an implant is a titanium screw surgically screwed into your jawbone under anaesthetic” is technical information that your patient may not understand.

The problem with too much technical information is that it can confuse the patient and even put them off taking up your treatment

THE PERFECT CONSULTATION

I received this email from Simon Belford and I have had permission to share his experience with a brand new patient with you. Please read and observe The Perfect Consultation. Simon has taken my Ethical Sales & Communication Programme several times

TWELVE STRATEGIES TO INCREASE YOUR MAINTENANCE PLAN SALES BY AT LEAST 25% IN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS

We all know the benefits to our practices if we have as many of our patients as possible join our plan, such as regular income, patient loyalty and not to mention money coming in whilst being on holiday! The big question is how do you grow the numbers and how do you get to hear a yes more often?
Here are 12 suggestions that if implemented can torpedo the sales of your plan.. Let me know how you get on!

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

Keep in Touch with your Existing Patients

Contact Patients who you have not seen for a few years. You already have a relationship with them, they like you and respect what you do. Make sure they are aware of all the services you provide and you could uncover thousands of pounds worth of new opportunities with clients who may not know you provided these products and services in the first place. For Patients you have not seen for a while you could send them an offer inviting them to return, for example for Teeth Whitening treatment.

Do not make assumptions

Fully understand what the patient wants BEFORE presenting a solution. There are probably thousands of pounds worth of new opportunities within your existing client base. Have a good conversation with your patient, ask lots of questions and listen carefully to the answers. Do not jump in too quickly with solutions, or make assumptions.

Eight Steps to the Perfect Patient Journey in your Dental Practice

If you follow these eight simple steps, then not only will you have more patients saying yes to your treatment plans, but you will deliver the dentistry that you love to do and your patients want. You may think I’m trying to over simplify the process but I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to build rapport. Once you can do this the other steps will be much easier to carry out. The ability to build rapport with people is a key skill. If you can build rapport with your patients, colleagues and suppliers they are more likely to trust you and take on board your suggestions.

Open All Hours

I am still surprised by the amount of times I telephone dental practices at lunch time to be met by an answer machine. If you have read my articles over the years, then you will know how I find this bizarre, as you could potentially be missing out on new clients. This is the only time of day when many people can undertake their private business. I’m not suggesting you keep your Practice open 24/7 but here are a few things you can do to avoid missed opportunities

The Power of Speed

We are living in challenging times and customers are becoming more demanding when they spend their money. Being quick off the mark is one way of not just impressing your patients, but ensuring that the business comes to you and does not go to someone else.

How to communicate value in order to hear a yes more often

Have you ever received a price objection from one of your patients? It will usually occur when the person presenting the treatment has failed to sell it well enough and not communicated the benefits or its true value.

This is my definition of an objection. It is a barrier to a sale, as a result of a failure to give it a more positive slant. This objection is in effect therefore, a request for more information.

How to compete against the Practice down the road when your prices are higher

This is a very common question! The first thing to recognise is that buying decisions are rarely made on price alone. This article discusses why you should not drop your prices and the steps you can take to stand out from the crowd

Do you consider the personality style of your patient?

Have you ever considered when you are communicating your services to a patient, what type of personality style they have? In my opinion, one of the areas that is important when communicating whether it be to patients or a team member is their personality style. In fact it can be absolutely crucial, because if you want to be able to influence somebody to take on board your ideas, then you might have to adopt a different style or approach depending on the personality style of the person you are speaking to.

Why did my hairdresser visit six Dental Practices?

A couple of months ago, I was having my haircut and I noticed my hairdresser was wearing some invisible braces. She was having her teeth straightened. Obviously, as I work very closely with many dental professionals, I was interested to learn why she was having this treatment and we had a long detailed conversation about this.

Are your patients going elsewhere?

Are your patients aware of the services you provide? Could they be shopping around for example for cosmetic or orthodontic treatment because they do not know that YOU provide these services? How can you advertise your services without turning your reception area into a marketing nightmare?

Do you know your numbers?

Almost all of the dentists I have ever coached have reluctantly admitted to being guilty of the following scenario: Faced with quoting a price for a treatment, they have started off with a figure of £400, which by the time they’ve actually uttered the words, has somehow come out as just £350! For some inexplicable reason, they have found the prospect of talking money so uncomfortable, that they have actually offered a discount, without even having been asked for one! In this case a whopping £50 – the equivalent of almost 15%

Those same dentists have also admitted to carrying out a basic procedure free of charge because it would only take them a few minutes to complete.
Sound familiar? Please read on..