We’re not in the dental business.
We are in the problem solving business.
We have paying customers who we serve.
People don’t come to the dentist to buy a bushel of crowns.
Or a dozen Class I composites.
Your customers come to you to have their particular problem solved.
Or to prevent a problem occurring.
So as dentists you are in the problem solving business.
And the problem prevention business.
When you buy a drill bit, you are not buying a drill bit.
You are actually buying what the drill bit will do for you.
The drill bit creates a hole. And it is the use of that hole that is the problem that you are solving.
You might be trying to secure a heavy item on a rendered wall. Such as a large picture, or an electrical appliance.
The problem you are solving is the hanging of that picture or of that appliance.
In the same way, your dental customers do not buy fillings. What they really buy is the ability to eat foods comfortably without food getting caught between their teeth and in cavities. What they are purchasing is the ability to consume all foods without pain [caused by hot, cold, and sweet foods].
They do not come in and say I want a filling.
They come to see you and let you know that they have a dental problem.
And they want you to solve it.
Similarly, patients do not come in and purchase crowns for their teeth.
You offer the crown as the viable solution for restoring their tooth with the strongest material with the greatest prospect of longevity.
It is when we see our role as a problem solver rather than as a tooth panel beater, it is then that we truly realise our purpose in the community.
Imagine you had a hole in your roof and you called a roofer.
When the roofer arrives at your home he inspects your hole.
The first thing the roofer says is:
“It’s not that big a hole”
Then he says:
“Let’s give it a couple of weeks and see if the problem just goes away on its own”
He might also say:
“Well, if it only rains on the other side of your house, well that will be OK…”
And he can also say:
“We have three options of fixing this:
I could put down some plastic sheeting and that will be OK for light rain. As a stronger alternative, I can tie down a tarp, which will last for three months or so, while you save up.
“The best option is for me to fix that hole with tiles or tin like you had there before, but that’s the most expensive option, and you probably don’t want to spend that much money. Let’s try the plastic sheeting and see how it goes….”
And you’re thinking to yourself:
“Just fix this blinking hole so my carpet and walls don’t get wet again.”
The last thing you probably really don’t want is the roofer giving you a long list of options and you having to choose the solution.
After all, you are no roofing expert.
And he is!
What you want is the leaky roof fixed right, the first time.
You probably don’t want a lecture on the five hundred different solution options.
You just want it fixed so that the roof doesn’t ever leak through again into the inside of your house.
Why do dentists take it upon themselves to give patients with no dental knowledge a crash course in dentistry and then ask them for their educated opinion?
Let’s simply fix things right the first time…
After all, when asked, your patients would probably choose:
“Fix it so I don’t have to keep on coming back”
Over
“Well, let’s see how long that lasts…”
*****
Linda Miles is coming to Australia in August.
Don’t miss this once in a life-time opportunity to see and hear Linda speak first hand…
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Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
Convert more calls into appointments…Click the link: http://www.calltrackingexcellence.com
Call Jayne on 1300 387 044or email Jayne@theDPE.com for more details.
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Make sure you subscribe to my monthly Dental Water Cooler Podcast Series…. “The Ultimate Patient Experience”
Click on this link for all details
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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
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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