How To Make "Selling" Comfortable For You...
...but first, an update about me:
OK, I know...I've been very "quiet" lately. I'm actually in
the process of buying my half of my building, and it has
consumed every non-working, non-family moment of my life
over the past 45 days. I share the building with another
dental practice, and we're buying the building, converting it
to condos, then each of us is buying our own condo. Holy
red tape, Batman! I never knew this could be such a P.I.T.A.!
So, I apologize for the lack of communication lately. But
here I am today, back at it, and I have an extremely important
mission in this message. For some of you it'll be easy, but
for others it'll be a big mental LEAP...but this leap you must
make if you want to continue to grow in today's marketplace.
My mission today is to get you comfortable with "selling".
Personally I'm quite comfortable with selling, but I know
that you may be less so, or possibly not comfortable at all
with the idea of selling. If that's you, then this message
is ESPECIALLY for you, although everyone will benefit from
this approach that I'm about to share with you.
The way I see it, for you to be most comfortable with "selling",
we'll both need to agree on the definition of "selling". Here's
mine as it relates to dentistry:
SELLING is the process by which the seller (you) provides ALL
relevant and necessary information to the prospect/buyer (patient),
so that the prospect/buyer (patient) makes the most appropriate
decision for his/her situation.
Now think about that for a minute...just a bit longer. Do you
see what I'm saying here? I'm NOT talking about the very common
definition of "trying to get the prospect/buyer to buy your service
or product no matter what". In my view that definition is very
inaccurate. That's more like "manipulation", and it ignores the
ethical responsibility we have to consider the best interests of the
patient.
When ethics and effective selling are brought together, the right
things usually happen for the patient. However, ethics ABSENT the
selling usually result in a frustrated dentist and dental team,
and an eventually unhappy patient.
Yes, INFLUENCE is necessary for effective, ethical selling to occur.
Actually it's more like a psychological tug-o-war. The patient is
naturally trying to pull away from dental treatment that they need,
while you and your team (!) are trying to pull them toward treatment.
What's really happening is that the patient is often "negotiating"
with you to try to accept less dentistry, or even NO dentistry...
and he/she is trying to influence you to agree to that premise.
Example: you just told the patient that she has 7 cavities, and
she looks at you and says: "So, what do I have, 2 or 3 cavities?"
She's NEGOTIATING! She's pulling the rope her way. You MUST
pull it back your way, HARDER than she's pulling now! You do
that through influence. You influence by providing the relevant
information that helps her make the most appropriate decision.
You accomplish this by focusing on FACTS. What will happen if the
problems go untreated? What additional treatment will be needed
if the problem continues unchecked? How much extra time, money, and
discomfort may be necessary if existing problems are not addressed?
These facts will lead to an EMOTIONAL response from the patient.
The emotion is what actually closes the deal! Patients don't
want to picture themselves in a worse situation than they're in
now. You have to put them in that situation for them to see it.
Only then do most patients tend to say YES and move forward with
the recommended treatment.
Notice above that I mentioned little about the "benefits" of
treatment. Although an explanation of compelling benefits can
help, it's not enough alone to convince most people to move forward.
Thus, focusing on "treatment" is NOT the way to go.
Instead, focus on PROBLEMS. When you begin to spend 80-90% of
your time focused on the problem, how it starts, develops, grows,
is treated, and so on...your patients will begin to feel the
need to get it taken care of NOW!
Be sure not to leave out any relevant info. Many times you
need every shred of factual information to help patients make
the right choice. That's selling...effective selling...ethical
selling!
What you should find is that by focusing on the PROBLEMS,
your "closing rate" should increase dramatically over what it
was when you were focusing on TREATMENT.
People don't buy "treatment". They buy SOLUTIONS! Solutions
to their problems. If they don't perceive problems, they won't
buy the solutions...period.
So...your mission is to make your patients abundantly aware
of their PROBLEMS. In doing so, your "selling" of the solutions
(treatment) will naturally flow from there.
All my best,
Chris
PS: This Fall I'll be launching my NEW "Problem Presentation System"!
This invaluable resource will assist you in the "selling" process
that I described above, with no details left uncovered! You'll
not only become more comfortable with the selling process...
you'll also enjoy more success!
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