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

In previous articles, I have written about the importance of using the correct language when you are presenting treatment plans to your patients. Also about the importance of communicating features and benefits when presenting to your patients and not to talk too technically. Although the correct language is important, it might not be enough to influence your patients. Another thing that might help, however, is evidence.

So what is evidence?

It is anything we can use to back up what we say when presenting our treatment options. Let me give you an example on why it is so important. A few weeks ago, I decided to go for a run. I had the evening planned, I was going to come back to a hot bath and then settle down to watch some TV. As I left the house, my wife Graziella was on the internet reading customer feedback on a couple of vacuum cleaners that she was interested in buying. When I came back about an hour later, guess what? She was still on the computer reading these reviews and she stayed on for a further 20 minutes.

Three things really hit home to me. These were:

1. People read customer feedback before making a decision on purchasing something.

2. The power of evidence and the importance of having good feedback from your clients.

3. People will spend a long time reading and researching before making a decision to buy something.

My wife spent the best part of two hours researching to make a £250 purchase. My gut feeling is that some people take longer. I also know that a lot of people, including my wife, will carefully read reviews from websites such as Trip Advisor before booking a holiday, or hotel. I believe that we are all becoming more investigative and doing our research before we make a purchase.

The one thing you need to be aware of is that people’s buying habits have changed.  They need more reassurance, they need convincing and evidence can play a large part in this. With this in mind – if people are indeed influenced by reviews and testimonials – how can we take this concept and apply it to our dental practices?

Here, I look at two types of evidence – video and testimonial letters.

A good place to start using evidence is your website and on the most important page, which is the home page. When people are seeking out services of any kind on the web, they are in fact surfing and not actually buying at this stage. So, after looking at your website, if you don’t have them switched on and excited after about 10 seconds, they will most likely leave and go surfing somewhere else. I could fill several pages on this topic alone, but let’s get back to the evidence and how it plays an important part on your front page. I would strongly recommend a short video on the front page. This could involve a short tour of your practice and some brief background on yourself and the philosophy you and your team abide by. I would also include live testimonials from patients explaining the real benefits and ask them to share their experiences by using your services. I believe there is nothing better than third-party references and this will make your video very powerful. Many of my clients now have a video on the front page of their website and have reported an increase in new opportunities and enquiries. I have one on my website – www. ashleylatter.com – and I have been amazed at how many people have watched the video and commented on how much they like it.  When you are filming the video, ask your patients to really go into the real tangible benefits they have gained since using your services and how pleased they have been using your practice. In addition, if you think about the top three objections, or reservations, your patients share with you on a weekly basis, if you can somehow get your patients to overcome some of these themselves verbally in your video, it will go a long way to inspiring potential clients to make contact. For example, if patients are worried about the cost of a treatment, and in the video you can get one of your patients explaining the real benefits and that the treatment was a great investment of time and money, not only will it increase the volume of calls to your practice, it will also help increase your treatment acceptance.

Another advantage of using video is that it can help promote your services and create new sales. Let’s say, for example, you are an orthodontist specialising in providing treatment for children. If you can have a couple of videos from adults, it should encourage more enquiries and sales of adult orthodontics. Testimonial letters can form another part of your evidence and these are extremely powerful. These are letters from your patients explaining the benefits they have gained by using your services and having treatment done by you. In the same way as video, they should address the major benefits they have gained by using your services and if possible address any objections your clients give you. Once you have obtained several letters, I strongly suggest you place them in a nice leather folder, or something similar, and place it in the reception area and, of course, have one handy in the surgery. You would need to have your patient’s permission to use these, but if you do an outstanding job for them, on the whole, they will want to help you. I cannot stress the importance of obtaining this type of evidence. We are living in increasingly challenging times and having third-party evidence to show your patients is one of the best ways to improve the number of calls to your practice and increase treatment plan acceptance.

You can read more about the Power of Evidence in Chapter 10 of my book “You are Worth it” Get your copy here for only £9.95

Does talking money in your surgery make you feel uncomfortable?
Do you find yourself reducing the price of your fees in your head because you feel your Patients cannot afford them?

If you have answered YES the you will love this book. It will smash through the restrictions you often place on yourself when discussing fees with your patients. The methods described in the book will provide you with the tools and self-confidence to feel more comfortable communicating your fees and achieve the income your services and years and years of study deserve.