In the absence of value, people shop price.
I've heard it said that, "You can't put a price on…" (You fill in the blank: love, friendship, health?), but people do it all the time. What is the "value" of excellent health and quality care? If you're not clear for yourself, your patients won't be clear either.
In my last post, Treatment Presentation: Your Patients Can Smell Fear , I discussed how our deeply held beliefs about money can often cloud the cost-of-care conversation. Getting past this means getting clear on the value of what you’re offering.
If You Understand Your Value, Your Patients Will, Too
I had to do my own value assessment at a recent seminar with well-known business coach, Lisa Sassevich. In my field as a practice management consultant, there are doctors that look at my services as an expense they can’t afford. Lisa looked at my numbers and said, “OK, I know what you’re charging, Wes. Now I want to know why you’re worth it.”
I explained, “We have developed a model that produces a predictable result. When clients do my 100-Day Challenge, most practices make an extra $3,000, $5,000 or even $10,000 in that first 100 days. At a minimum.”
They also go on to generate that extra $10,000 a month for the rest of their careers. Clients might invest a few thousand dollars to work with me in the short term, but over the next ten years, they’re going to make just over a million dollars. Now that’s what I call a great return on investment.
Don’t Be Afraid to Have the Hard Conversation
In the dental profession, you have patients that look at dentistry and other health care as an expense they can’t afford. If your patient says ‘no’ to treatment today because of cost, it’s your job to help them understand, from a health perspective, the risks associated with not receiving care immediately and
the value of the service your offering.
You have to say to them, “If you leave today with a fractured tooth and next week you’re on a cruise with your boyfriend and you bite into a Snickers bar the wrong way, your tooth could break and then you’ll have a real problem.”
If you’re talking to a patient about gum disease, it’s your responsibility to share the clinical evidence linking it to diabetes, heart disease, and low birth weight in babies.
If you’ve spent time building trust in your relationship, then you should be able to have these hard conversations. You should be able to ask your patients, “What is it worth for you to keep your teeth for a lifetime? To not pass periodontal disease on to the person you’re kissing every day? What value do you place on your own health and well-being?”
I can give you a script, but if you don’t buy into the quality of your own services, if you don’t believe that you’re worth your patient’s time and money, then you’re not going to get the same results as someone who does.
Take a moment to answer the question that Lisa Sasevich posed to me. Why are you worth it? Leave a comment below and when you’re ready to put your beliefs into action, give us a call.