I heard someone say to me the other day:
“You get what you pay for.”
And yes, this may be true.
But it is a cliché.
Capital C.L.I.C.H.E..
CLICHÉ: a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.
If you say a cliché for long enough and often enough then people begin to take those words as gospel.
And that is simply wrong.
We can’t have people accepting comments without due thought processes.
When we hear the phrase, “You get what you pay for”, people often think that the more you pay the better something must be.
But that is not always the case…
What needs to be considered is the value for money proposition.
Am I confusing you?
Yes?
We think that obviously spending more should mean an improvement in quality, and longevity.
But when does perceived value start to flatten out as we see an increase in cost of an item or service?
Sometimes paying more, much more, does not equate to a proportionate improvement in value.
The price of cars is a good example here.
Is the extra cost of a Lamborghini really worth it when we consider that all cars are only allowed to drive at a maximum legislated speed limit on our roads?
And so the extra dollar cost for the Lamborghini would be difficult to justify in terms of journey time savings….
We do know that there will always be a percentage of the population who will seek to pay the least for certain products and services.
Some people out there hate to feel that they have paid one penny more than they need to for something, despite the fact that the less expensive product is indeed inferior.
These people inherently hate to pay one penny more than they need to, despite the fact any extra cost could easily equate into a significant saving of time or effort or both.
But value is the wild card…
You see most people out there simply do not want cheap. They want to avoid cheap.
Most logical people simply want long lasting.
If we were asked:
“Do you want a haircut that’s going to look good for just today, or one that’s going to look good for four or five weeks?”
Most of us would logically take up the longer lasting alternative.
And if we were to ask a patient the following question when they call enquiring about our fee for crowning a tooth:
“What sort of crown were you after?”
And followed that question’s answer with:
“Are you after a crown that’s going to last a short time or a long time?”
What is any logical person going to answer?
They are immediately going to ask for a longer lasting crown.
And it is at this moment then that the penny drops, when they do make the mental connection that improved longevity will come at an extra cost.
Because in dentistry, workmanship and skill do come in as inherent factors that affect the price that we charge.
We’re not talking the difference in price between retailer A and retailer B for the same 500g large jar of Vegemite.
Callers to our office want solutions to their problems.
These callers have done their research on us and have chosen us to be their dentist before they make the call.
They have the information about us.
All we need to do in answering the call is to help confirm that decision in the caller’s mind.
The reason the caller asks the price question is that they do not know what else to ask. So they lead with price.
Our answer should always be about solving their problem, and we do this by asking some simple qualifying questions back.
Leading with an answer that is a number rarely secures an appointment.
Tracking the results of inbound phone enquiries, and whether or not an appointment is secured, and kept, will give valuable insight into the efficacy of what is said by your staff on the phone.
My comments above are not some dreamt up in some coffee shop.
These are measured results gained from years of running a successful multi-million dollar dental office of my own.
These results have been duplicated by my clients who are dedicated to improved results.
Will this work in your practice?
The answer is in the mirror….
*****
My next public speaking presentation showing Dentists how to grow their Dental practices will be in Melbourne Australia on Saturday 1 April 2017 with Jayne Bandy and Wolfgang Hofbauer.
For more information and to secure your seat click this link here.
*****
Have you read my book , How To Build The Dental Practice of Your Dreams [Without Killing Yourself!] In Less Than Sixty Days.
You can order your copy here: Click Link To Order
*****
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.
Email me at david@theupe.com
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