Many dentists hate the word “selling” when it comes to presenting procedure that may help people.
This is probably because they’ve had a bad experience with a salesperson, and I want to be viewed as more professional. That being said, we all have to sell the industry at some point. My approach is just to never sell something a patient doesn’t want or can’t afford. In this article, you’re going to discover how to sell to your patients without selling. I’m going to teach you how to persuade and compel the ideal patient to buy what you have by positioning you and your practice as their trusted advisor; an advisor that they can count on to help them get exactly what they want with your excellence in the industry
The best practices in the world have a process in place for developing rapport, and educating, but not overwhelming their patients. They have a systematic and compelling process that walks their patient from ignorance into awareness, and all the way through the decision-making process to the close. Smart practices engage their patients by being genuinely interested in finding out exactly what they want and need. Once they’ve determine those wants, they will look to see if their patients are willing to learn about solutions to their problem.
In today’s selling environment, it's crucial to be viewed as a trusted advisor and friend, instead of a needy salesperson. Successful practices know where to begin a sale, what the objections are at every stage of the process, and the best possible answers to each of those objections.
So, let’s get started.
1) The Sale Begins in Your Waiting Room
From the second your patient schedules their first appointment to the time you’re treating them in your chair, your patient is either developing trust, or not.
If your front-desk people are friendly, if your tools all seem clean and sterilized, if your “chairside” manner is friendly and courteous, and if your practice seems neat, orderly and efficient, the majority of your work in the selling procedure is done.
First, and lasting, impressions, aren’t just important, they are the very life-blood of your ability to sell specialized procedures.
2) Confidence is Key
Unfortunately, many people still believe that confidence is a mark of intelligence, success. and competence. While some of the greatest thinkers that have ever lived may not have been so confident, that doesn’t seem to matter to many people. That is why you need to ensure you present yourself as a confident professional who can completely tackle any given procedure within your realm of expertise.
Here are some ideas to assist you in ensuring you maximize your patients’ trust in you by a show of total confidence and control:
1. Practice talking about your procedures in a mirror. Now you’ll be able to see exactly what the patient is seeing. Do you have a nervous twitch? Do you stutter when mentioning price? Do you have a difficult time with eye contact? You always want to ensure you speak confidently, and empathetically, while delivering your words like an advocate, and not a salesperson.
2. Ask for feedback from patients. Ask them what their impressions of you are? What is their confidence in your abilities on a scale of 1-10, and why? You can encourage them to be honest by emailing your patients a private survey they can complete online. Now you’ll be armed with all of the information you need to eliminate that could be costing you money, while increasing what your patients already like about you.
3) Listen to Your Patient
You must realize that several of your patients right now would be interested in having a procedure done in the interest of their dental needs.
While you can easily spot, and detect procedures that may need to be performed based on an x-ray or your analysis, there are other pockets of opportunity that start in your patients’ mind, and not in their mouth. All too often dentists fail to have in-depth conversations with their patients about what they like or don’t like about their smile. This is why you need to get into the habit of asking your patients open-ended questions about their teeth.
For example, a lot of patients feel their front two teeth are “too big.” Now, to you and I they may appear totally normal, but that’s not the point, is it? Even a small deviation from what may be considered “normal” may bug a patient on a daily basis, and if you can fix that problem, you easily sold a procedure just by satisfying a pre existing demand.
4) Sell Based on Need
If you do deem that a patient requires a procedure, ensure to lay out all the evidence and make a compelling case, in a friendly and conversational manner. In your patient’s mind, having or not having a procedure performed may boil down to cost, and need. If you can do a good job of showing the value of a procedure and how important it is to your patient’s dental health, then they will be more willing to endure the potential physical and financial pain associated with it.
Remember, people don’t really buy products or services, they buy value. Because of this, you need to preach the value of how a particular procedure will improve your patient’s life, based on what you know about them.
For example:
1. I know you’re trying to make the best possible impression at work, and this procedure will help you accomplish that goal.
2. If you really want to ensure you’re doing everything possible to improve the health of your teeth, this procedure is critical for achieving that goal.
3. The last thing you want on your next vacation is unexpected pain, so if we take these wisdom teeth out now, there is no chance they will be able to bother you then. If we wait, your face could be puffy and bruised on your wedding day!
The bottom line is that you need to build likeability and trust with your office and staff, increase your patients’ faith in you with confidence and expertise, and easily sell your procedures by identifying need, and preaching value.
