We usually talk about technical issues dealing with big cases but the first BIG problem is to make the patient accepts the treatment plan.
It’s not a mystery that in order to master these cases clinically speaking we need to master another art before …the art of communicating with patients.
If we don’t focus ourselves on mastering this skill, we will forever damned to listen a long serie of NO …
No I don’t want!
No I ve not the money!
No I am scared!
No, I don’t really need this!
and the maybe longer list of:
Thank you i will think about it
Thank you I will let you know.
Thank you I will discuss at home
The point is: what is your main thought when you listen to these answers? Cause here lies the genesis of your path to improvement in communication with patients.
Like in dentistry the first thing we have to understand is: DIAGNOSIS
Why they say no? what are their real motivations behind and are all the “NO “ equal or not ?
Here I will start discussing the several nuances of NO.
You have to become good in understanding these differences cause each one of these needs a different answer.
A first kind of NO is the fear of the customer of feeling “stupid “ accepting the treatment plan cause most patients know they have not sufficient data in order to evaluate and so, they re scared to be manipulated and to realize this just after.
A second kind of NO is the fear of other’s opinion. When people has to do an expensive work they also think they re going to spend a sum most of the people they know, friends or relatives, never spent. The fear to listen a friend asking: How much did you spend?!? all this money! are you insane?, or maybe the friend saying: my dentist would have done the same for half! Imagine also if the same may happen with your spouse or similar …
A third kind of NO is connected to fear of physical damage. This is quite understandable and poses many questions about finding a good balance between state of the art dentistry and dentistry patients can withstand.
A fourth kind of NO is the fear the proposed plan won’t work.
A fifth kind of NO is the economical fear of losing money.
Most of the people say they have no money because is an easy answer to close the discussion.
The reality behind instead is another one: or they are not patients interested in that treatment plan (useless to speak about esthetics to a patient not interested in esthetics for example) or they ve not been placed in the right scenario in order to understand the real value of our work.
People spend money when they feel the value, when they are not afraid to feel stupid (or at the opposite they think to raise their status like buying a rolex’s watch or a gucci’s bag) , when they feel it’s safe.
To make patient accepts is Not easy but, with the right answers, we can make this process much easier.
You have to find the right answer for each NO, you have to learn to diagnose which kind of NO you ‘re fighting with.
Being focused on technical issues in dentistry is not enough in order to thrive in the modern world and to learn these extra clinical skills will become always more important.
Cause dentistry nowadays is not only about teeth.
It’s much more.
