One thing that I always consider to be quite challenging is dealing with objections to treatment and turning things around so that the patient is happy to proceed. However, with a bit of time, patience and clever questioning, it is not a difficult task.
I feel fortunate enough to be able to deal with these situations after years of experience and also by attending a course run by Ashley Latter on dental sales and communication. Howevear they can still be tricky.
We had a new patient this morning, a lovely man who had just moved into the area and was looking for an initial consultation. He had not seen a Dentist for about 5 years, had lost a couple of fillings and wanted some thorough hygiene treatment- nothing major really. He informed me that he had dental insurance and that it was the top band and should cover him for the majority of the treatment. After seeing our Dentist, I presented him with a treatment plan consisting of hygiene treatment, a few fillings and a couple of crowns.
I could instantly tell that he was a bit surprised with our fees and I asked him how he felt about the treatment plan. He replied by saying that it was a bit more than he expected but “I guess that’s just private treatment”. I asked him a few more questions to try and get to the root of the problem and then we had a discussion about how we can stage treatment and make a plan which was convenient for him. The patient then decided to make his first appointment for the following day.
Later on that day, our Receptionist rang through to my office and informed me that my new patient had just phoned and said that he couldn’t afford the treatment and that he would need to cancel tomorrow’s appointment. Now, many people who had taken that call would accept this, admit defeat and move on. If someone tells us they don’t want to do something, then of course it’s only normal for us to think, “well ok then”. I decided however to phone the patient back and give it one last shot. Some might say at this point that it is bothering the patient- I disagree. All I wanted to do was speak to the patient, as our Receptionist (as good as she is) had not built up the relationship with this patient that I had and I wanted to inform him that if he felt he really could not have any kind of treatment with us, then I was sorry to hear that and we would be here for him if he needed us again in the future.
On speaking to the patient, I understood that he did in fact want to proceed with the treatment but on realisation that his insurance only covers him for a small amount of the treatment plan, he was beginning to doubt whether it was worth the effort and the investment to proceed. At this point, I thought to myself, “What more can I do in order to make this treatment plan as desirable as possible?”
I explained to the patient that if I was in his situation, I would at least have the hygiene treatment done as it is relatively inexpensive and vital to his health. I then said that I would take advantage of our membership scheme and join now in order to get the 20% discount off future treatment plans. After having a quick word with our Dentist, I was able to make the patient “a special offer” given his circumstances and give him immediate discount off his fillings and crowns if he joins our membership straight away. I informed him that normally, we would only be able to offer discount after 6 months of being a member but because we understand his situation and really want him to proceed with treatment in order to get his mouth healthy, we want to make it that bit easier and offer the discount after he has had his initial hygiene treatment.
The patient took advantage of this and booked in with the Hygienist and is calling in tomorrow to sign the membership forms.
The advantage of going that “extra mile” is that:
WE as a practice get:
- • A new patient signed up to the membership plan.
- • An accepted treatment plan.
- • A happy patient feeling valued and cared for.
THE PATIENT gets:
- • The treatment that he needs in order to restore his mouth to health.
- • A sense of value as we are giving him discount that we wouldn’t normally offer.
- • Satisfaction knowing that we went out of our way to help him.
Summary/
Don’t give up on a patient until you have discovered the true objection and if you are absolutely positive that you cannot help a patient in any way possible, then at least you know you tried your best!
Emma Lever-Pilling RDN.
