Most health professionals would say “of course.” But is “belief” enough?
How does belief translate into action? Do you keep score?
Let’s look at some of the more common preventive strategies. How does your practice rate?
Here’s the scorecard:
How does your practice perform?
A score of less than 22-27 indicates that you have a great opportunity to improve the health of your patients and improve the bottom line of your practice.
Why wouldn’t one minimally offer all of these to every patient?
I hear several excuses:
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- Insurance won’t cover it.
- My patients won’t pay for it.
- I don’t have time.
What each of these excuses have in common is a failure to prioritize and a lack of perceived value, both on the part of the team and the patients.
Perceived values can be increased by a variety of tactics.
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- Patient Testimonials: Seeing someone else’s results uses the Cialdini Principle of “Social Proof.”
- Education: People don’t often know that there are preventive opportunities available. Tell people what you can do to help them prevent disease and deterioration.
- Authority: Another of Dr. Cialdini’s principles; it can be stimulated by constantly communicating the literature that shows the oral-systemic interaction, and the benefits of maintaining excellent oral health, patients and team members can hear from other “experts” what the dentists have been promoting.
- Stories: Like testimonials, stories of success or even stories of undesired consequences can stimulate a “fear of loss” stimulating Dr. Cialdini’s principle of “Scarcity.”
Dr. Cialdini’s 7 principles of INFLUENCE can be used during marketing, phone conversations and treatment presentations to enhance the perceived value of your services to patients in need of them. And who doesn’t need them?
If you truly believe that your services add value to your patients, then you have an ethical and professional responsibility to do your utmost to INFLUENCE your patient to accept the care. The ethical promotion of your services is a skill that can be learned. Indeed, to fulfill your responsibility to your patients, why wouldn’t you want to learn it?
Best yet, even if you have an insurance focused practice, some of these non-covered services, once effectively promoted to patients, will serve as a profit center that is not subject to some insurance company’s price control.
Want to learn more about how to use Dr. Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Influence?
You can become a Certified Practitioner of Influence. Dr. Cialdini’s program can help you increase perceived value for your patients as well as increase your own perceived value. Having such a certification will give you the courage to present things in ways that will remove the objections and increase the likelihood of you hearing “YES” rather than a “NO” or “I’ll think about it.”
Jim Rohn famously said:
“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills.
Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.”
Better yet, stop wishing and start doing. Start the New Year off by getting better, wiser and more skillful by learning how to apply the 7 Principles of Influence NOW!
We know how to help patients. Isn’t it time to start doing it?
To better preventative care,
Michael
Michael built a prestigious group practice in Manhattan where he focused on comprehensive, whole-body care. As he treated so many physicians, his colleagues dubbed him “The Doctor’s Dentist.”
He is a Fellow of the AGD, International Academy of Dental-Facial Esthetics, The New York Academy of Dentistry, the American College of Dentists, and a charter Fellow of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health.
Michael teaches practice management at Temple University and speaks nationally and internationally on a variety of subjects. He and Practice Perfect Systems are the official practice management consultants to the Spencer Study Club, their Business Elite Groups.
Michael has authored 3 books, including “What the Tooth Fairy didn’t Tell You”, “Beyond Ahh: A Guide For Physician’s” and “From Here To Where; a guide for dental practice success”. He’s recently had been the chief editor of a book on Sleep Dentistry written by 24 of North America’s finest dental sleep practitioners.
Michael is on the board of 3 charitable organizations that help provide care for the indigent and people with special needs around the world.
His mission: help people who help people help more people.
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