One of the real old-fashioned taboos in dentistry has always been about discussing the topic of money.
Some dentists HATE to talk about money to their patients in any way, shape or form.
In fact, there are dentists who go OUT OF THEIR WAY to avoid discussions with patients about their fees, and about how the patient can pay and when they would like their patients to pay.
And yet, money needs to be discussed.
Without payment for treatment, and without cashflow, we have no business.
We have bankruptcy.
When we have no business, we have no employees any more.
And those employees that we used to have lose their incomes.
Employees in a healthy business get paid and then spend their income on groceries, leisure, homes and home fittings and also on entertainment.
And those employees pay taxes on their salaries and those taxes help to pay for schools and roads and hospitals.
Money is important because it makes the world go around.
And therefore it needs to be mentioned and not be avoided.
I was told very early on in my dental career that I need to be able to look the patient in the eye and tell them the fee straight to their face.
And not beat around the bush.
And so should you.
You need to be able to look the patient in the eye and tell them the fee straight to their face.
So when should you let your patients know how they can pay for their dental treatment and care?
The touchpoints in the conversation about money at your practice can be:
Before your patient even calls you.
Your dental marketing can bear the logos of the credit cards you accept and the patient finance companies that you have available in your practice. The display of these logos works subliminally to inform your patients that your practice wants and expects prompt payment for dental treatment.
On the phone call when you make and confirm the first appointment.
During the initial phone conversation, it is important to set the payment expectations with the caller [at the appropriate moment, of course] about the fees for their upcoming first visit. This is also a good time to mention the various methods of payment used by your other patients.
On arrival at the practice.
Again, discretely placed logos for credit card companies and payment options serve as a subliminal At our practice we used to have an American Express “Welcome/We are closed” sign on our dental office front door.
When you are treatment planning.
It is always beneficial for the dentist to know in advance about the patient’s financial awareness when treatment planning and case presenting. A patient who has already enquired about patient finance options before they meet the dentist can be gently directed toward that method of payment for their necessary diagnosed treatment.
Making appointments to start treatment.
It makes sense to discuss methods of payment that you have available with each patient before diving into and making a raft of appointments that the patient may be unable to pay for.
Use your marketing
Use your external and internal marketing to raise awareness for your patients about the various ways that your dental practice has for them to easily pay for their necessary diagnosed treatment. This allows you to “prepare” all your patients so they know they have a number of choices when it comes to determining how they will pay for their treatment.
Seeing payment option logos on your marketing material can create familiarity for them because this is something they do normally when they make other purchases.
In discussions and conversations, invite your patients and prospective patients to start thinking about how everything is easy for them when it comes to payment, if large amounts can be broken down and managed in smaller amounts.
By doing this consistently you immediately reduce your patient’s concerns about whether they might be able to afford treatment and pay for it.
On the initial phone call to your practice
One of the most asked questions on the New Patient Phone Call is:
“How much does it cost?”
This is a question that is regularly and routinely asked at some point in nearly every initial phone call.
At the end of the call we can talk about money and payments:
Talk about the options you have available to make everything easy and manageable for your patient.
You need to make it OK to discuss money and payments.
When you are clear about payment options on the initial phone call, your patients will be warmed to the conversation about money and ready when you discuss the cost of treatment and care during their first appointment.
There is now a definite shift happening in the questions that first time callers are asking on the phone, sometimes before you have even discussed their dental problem and concern.
Now they are asking:
“Do you have any payment plans?”
“Do you have AfterPay?”
“Can I use ZipPay?”
On arrival at your dental practice
Have logo signage and appropriate videos that match the initial marketing your patients have seen before they have called your office.
These serve to prompt your patients to ask and initiate a conversation about the payment options, sometimes before they have even seen the dentist.
Talking about the payment for treatment and care at the front desk following their appointment
When appropriate and relevant, you can bring up the conversation about payment options at the Patient Handover.
Always let every patient know what payment options are available in your practice, and be aware AHEAD OF TIME which patients have previously expressed an interest in using third party finance options.
Keeping your available payment options a secret is a missed opportunity to help your patients comfortably go ahead with treatment.
Don’t wait until patients say NO to treatment to show them the payment options. Start with the payment plan options in the first instance when you have a comprehensive treatment plan to present.
Focus on the smaller payments as a manageable way to pay.
Then move to the larger lump sum of treatment.
Let patients know that many patients choose the third-party finance option as their means of payment for their dental treatment.
If you believe your treatment is what is best for your patient, then your patient SHOULD be given EVERY OPPORTUNITY to pay for that treatment.
Using third party finance options now gives your patient the choice to GO AHEAD with their necessary dental treatment.
Patients know that GOOD DENTISTRY costs money. It is your job to help your patients work out the best way for them to be able receive the dentistry that they need.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
Have you ever been in a discussion or a conversation with someone only to find out that you were talking about different things when you thought you were talking about one simple common issue?
And when you both realise, or one of you realises that you have both indeed been talking on different planes about different topics that, if the conversation continued, could have had dire implications, well, isn’t that the worst feeling ever?
I’ve seen this sort of thing happen socially, and in family discussions, but it can also be very disappointing when it occurs in the dental practice.
One reason why we end up with two different conversations being had simultaneously on tangential planes is simply this:
Neither person in the conversation stops for a moment to check in.
Simply, at all times during communication, we must remember this principle:
The message received may not be the message that we sent.
This is because the message that is received is INTERPRETED and therefore may well be received and acted upon based on the VALUES and KNOWLEDGE BASE of the person receiving.
And those values of the receiver may be at odds with the values of the speaker.
This is what happens when someone says something that they think is funny but the receiver does not see the humour.
I remember a friend telling me how a waitress had once asked her how long she and her husband had been married, and my friend jokingly replied:
“Well, it’s been that long that if I’d have killed him, I’d be out and have done my time by now.”
The waitress returned a few minutes later to say:
“I know you didn’t mean anything with your comment, but I just wanted to let you know that my sister was murdered by her partner, and so sometimes jokes like that aren’t always funny.”
My friend said she never told a joke like that ever again….
What one person thinks is “just their sense of humour” is not always appreciated by those who are subject to these people’s insensitivity and stupidity.
So, that being said, during conversations it is very important to check regularly with comments such as:
“Is this making sense?”
“Don’t you agree?”
“What do you think?”
“Do you have any questions?”Â
“Is that what you were expecting?”
“Do you have any comments so far?”
Checking in regularly with the person you are speaking with helps to avoid faux pas and also helps to prevent getting too far off track during important discussions.
It is very important to make sure that during discussion we check regularly that we have consensus and agreement between parties to ensure that unwanted confusion is kept to a minimum [if not actually eliminated].
Clarity is what is needed.
When we fail to ensure clarity we end up with confusion.
Recently I listened to a dental phone conversation between a caller and a dental front office person. The caller was enquiring about having their teeth straightened.
Having straight teeth is a result.
The caller was enquiring about a RESULT.
What the dental front office person did was to launch in to a discussion about the process of straightening teeth. Well, actually, she spoke about ALL OF THE MANY WAYS that this practice could use to straighten teeth.
The caller had not asked about PROCESS.
So one person was wanting to obtain a result, while the other person only wanted to talk about the various processes….
The dental front office person never asked the caller about WHEN they were wanting to get their teeth straightened by [did they have a date in mind], or when they were looking to get started [as soon as possible, or some time soon?].
The dental front office person never asked the caller whether she had any level of knowledge about the processes of straightening teeth.
The caller was never asked whether any of her friends or family had had their teeth straightened.
The caller was never asked why she had chosen to call this practice, or who had referred her to call this practice.
And sadly, the caller was not asked their name, and whether they were already a patient of this practice or not.
The resulting conversation was more A LECTURE TO A STRANGER rather than being a conversation between a person in need and a person wanting to help and being able to help.
And thus we ended up with confusion and also embarrassment when the caller and the dental front office person realised the conversation was not solving the caller’s problems.
As a dental professional, don’t let your agenda railroad a conversation in a direction that it should not be going.
The end of every dental conversation should result in clarity for the caller or the dental patient.
All they want is to know what to do next. This is simply their CLEAR. NEXT. STEP.
When we think about the patient’s CLEAR. NEXT. STEP. and we guide our conversations towards creating crystal clear clarity for our patients, it is only then that we will find that we truly become valued as health care professionals.
We want to be known as problem solvers and people who care.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
Why is it so important to be able to easily talk to your patients about money and payments?
It is important because you are wanting to be able to help your patients to going ahead with the treatment and care that they need.
However, there are a lot of dentists out there who avoid talking about money with their patients.
Discussing money becomes the elephant in the room…. and it need not be so.
But it happens…
Why do dentists go out of their way to avoid conversations about money?
When I was an employed associate dentist, my practice owning employer REFUSED POINT BLANK to act as receptionist and take payments when we were a staff member down…. In fact, he would even come in and be my dental assistant and get my assistant to go out and check out his patient…. [it was truly weird]
So here are some reasons why dentists want to avoid conversations about money:
They do not know how?
They do not know what to say.
They feel very uncomfortable
They get nervous.
They are not sure WHEN to talk about money?
They just hate it.
They do not want to sound salesy.
They do not want to push people away!
These dentists have the following belief system:
They feel that their patients will reject them when they tell the patient how much their dentistry will cost.
They feel that their patients will freak out and think it is going to cost too much.
They feel that their patients just can’t afford it!
They feel that their patients may not see the value in the treatment.
They feel that their patients may not want it.
Why do some dentists have these beliefs?
It often goes back to their own history with money.
How they feel about money.
It may relate to previous discussions dentists have had with people about money.
Dentists don’t like feeling they are being judged by others when it comes to money.
There is a Social Stigma “attached” around talking about money.
Other people on your team may also have these beliefs…..
Yet, the strange flip side is….
You as a dentist may have difficulty talking about money with your patients but your patients EASILY ask you how much it will all cost!
There has been a significant shift in recent times in regards to the way that consumers now prefer to pay for most things:
Consumers are being saturated ALL THE TIME by products that allow them to avoid paying anything in a lump sum.
In the marketing they are NOW seeing everywhere, consumers are NOW seeing lots of ways to pay.
Many Dentists are offering different ways for patients to pay.
Paying for Dental Treatment has now become similar to paying off a new TV!
Smaller more manageable payments is how most people can and want to pay for everything, including their Dental Treatment and Care.
Why managing payments is good for your patients:
More patients WILL say yes to treatment
It’s quick and easy
You pay less upfront
It’s easily available to most people
Your patients get to choose the way to pay that will suit them best.
Talking about money is easy! All you need to know is:
When to say it
What to say
How to say it
The core principle of business and of service, is to always be presenting the best options that are available and possible to your customers and then allowing your customers the opportunity of choosing how they wish to proceed.
If you believe your treatment plan for your patient is what is best for that patient, and is what they need doing now to improve their dental health, then it is YOUR DUTY to do everything you possibly can to help your patient have that necessary treatment done as soon as possible, without delay.
You owe it to your patients to give them every opportunity to find an affordable way to pay for the dentistry they are needing.
And that means that every one of your patients must be given every opportunity to learn about the various ways available to them to help them pay for their dental treatment.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
Last week I wrote about the CORE PRINCIPLE of business and of service, of always presenting the best options that are available and possible to your customers and then allowing your customers the opportunity of choosing how they wish to proceed.
If as a dentist you believe your treatment plan for your patient is what is best for that patient, and is what they need doing now to improve their dental health, then it is YOUR DUTY to do everything you possibly can to help your patient have that necessary treatment done as soon as possible, without delay.
You owe it to your patients to give them every opportunity to find an affordable way to pay for the dentistry they are needing.
And that means that every one of your patients must be given every opportunity to learn about the various ways available to them to help them pay for their dental treatment.
And once they know and understand their financial options and choices, it gives your patient the choice of being able to go ahead with their treatment.
Patients know that GOOD DENTISTRY costs money.
It’s your duty to help your patients work out the best way for them to be able receive the dentistry they need.
When you provide your patients with more options for them to choose from regarding payment for their treatment, what you will find is that you will have more patients accepting and beginning treatment, rather than delaying or postponing the care that they are needing.
But where do you start if you’ve never suggested finance before?
Start here:
Remember that money is used as a means of exchange for the wonderful service and care that your dental practice offers.
The more that you believe in the value of the treatment and care that you offer to your patients, the more that you and your team will become more comfortable and confident when discussing money and payment.
When you are comfortable discussing money, your patients will be more comfortable as well. So always presume that every patient is OK to talk about money and payment.
This will allow you to start to change the pattern of how you and your team respond and react to money discussions.
Remember, it is OK to talk about money.
You will need to educate your team:
Learning how to talk money with your patients is easy and straight forward.
When you start to train your team they will immediately become more confident and prepared.
This is because you will be arming your team with ALL OF the ongoing communication skills that they WILL need to help your patients.
This will be A WIN-WIN for both your patients, and your business.
Don’t wait until patients say NO to treatment to show them the payment options.
Let patients know that many patients in your practice are now choosing this option of payment for their treatment.
*****
Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
