james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

About james

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

Should Your Front Desk Use a Phone Script?

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Should my front desk use a phone script for new patient calls? Yes, and stop flinching at the word. Script is the S word dentists hate, right alongside sales, and that resistance is exactly why their phones underperform. A phone slip is not a robotic read. It is the proven path through the call so your team hits every slat instead of winging it and dropping the patient somewhere. The skill slat of the call is precisely this, whether the person answering is trained, coached, and monitored to follow a real intake flow, not just fill out a form and book [...]

Should Your Front Desk Use a Phone Script?james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Why Case Acceptance Starts With Owner Accountability

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Does case acceptance really start with the dentist? Yes, and most owners hate hearing it. Accountability in a practice starts with ownership, full stop. If you as the doctor are not clear about your expectations with your office manager or your team, they will make up their own rules of engagement and their own processes, and those almost never move cases. I have seen it over and over. The doctor stays vague, the team fills the vacuum, and then everyone wonders why the advertising is not working. The best practices I have ever worked with are the ones where the owner [...]

Why Case Acceptance Starts With Owner Accountabilityjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Fix a Robotic Phone Voice at Your Dental Front Desk

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Why does my front desk sound robotic when collecting patient information on the phone? Because they are reading you a survey, not having a conversation. Most team members get a list of intake questions and fire them off like a cop asking for license and registration. Short, curt, next, next, next, no breathing room in between. They don't mean to sound cold, but that is exactly how it lands. I want them to sing instead. Singing just means changing the voice and tone. "The next question I'd like to ask is the best phone number to reach you at. Great. And [...]

Fix a Robotic Phone Voice at Your Dental Front Deskjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Should You Keep Score on Phone Performance?

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Do I really need to keep score publicly on my team's phone performance? Yes, and out in the open where everyone can see it. A sales business runs on a scoreboard, and the phone is the first place to keep one. If nobody sees how each person is doing on calls answered, calls converted, and appointments set, then accountability is just a word you say in meetings. People rise to what gets measured and shown. Hang the numbers where the team sees them and the behavior changes on its own, because nobody wants to be the obvious low scorer week after [...]

Should You Keep Score on Phone Performance?james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Should You Quote Implant Price Over the Phone?

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Should I tell a caller the price of implants right away on the phone? No, and the word you use matters before the number ever does. When a caller asks how much, never lead with the cost. Reframe it as the investment, then redirect to why they are calling in the first place. People who open with a price question are rarely shopping on price, they are scared, in pain, and testing whether you will treat them like a transaction. If you blurt out a dollar figure, you have handed them a reason to hang up and dial the next practice. [...]

Should You Quote Implant Price Over the Phone?james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Answer the Implant Cost Question Without Quoting a Price

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

What question should I ask a caller asking how much dental implants cost? Do not just quote a price. When someone asks how much an implant is, you answer with a question that uncovers why they really called. Say their name, then ask, Mary, what got you to give us a call today about the investment for implants. Notice two things. You say investment, not cost. And you plug back in what they already told you, so they never snap back with I just told you. They feel heard instead. What you are hunting for is the emotional pain, the itch, [...]

Answer the Implant Cost Question Without Quoting a Pricejames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Dentist Phone Mindset: Why It Is Not Just Front Desk

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Should the dentist think about their own mindset on the phone, or leave it to the front desk? You own a mindset on the phone whether you admit it or not, and it leaks into the whole team. Plenty of doctors quietly believe the phone is the front desk's problem and beneath them. That attitude sets the ceiling for how seriously anyone treats it. If you act like the phone is just a thing you are glad to have, your team will handle it like a chore. If you treat it as the instrument that decides whether your best cases ever [...]

Dentist Phone Mindset: Why It Is Not Just Front Deskjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Why Your Phone Team Must Match Marketing Promises

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Why does my phone team need to match what my marketing promises? Because the second slat of the call is message consistency, and a broken promise on the phone undoes everything your marketing earned. Your ads say you are the practice that listens, that you are always there, that you will take care of them. Then the patient calls and the person who answers has no idea which campaign they are talking about, sounds rushed, and says hold on, I have three other things to deal with. Every word of your marketing just got contradicted in ten seconds. Patients are consumers [...]

Why Your Phone Team Must Match Marketing Promisesjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Selling Expensive Dental Treatment Needs a Better Team

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Why does selling expensive dental treatment require a better team than basic dentistry? Because the price point exposes everything. Think about McDonald's. They sell a two-dollar burger, and the business does not need much sophistication, just speed. Take the order, flip the burger, take the money, move people out. Now picture the five-thousand-dollar burger in Vegas, where the real cost is a bottle of expensive Bordeaux sitting next to it. That is a completely different sale. Same food on the plate, totally different process to get someone to say yes. Your practice is the same. A general office doing basic services [...]

Selling Expensive Dental Treatment Needs a Better Teamjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

First Call Window: You Get Three to Four Minutes

james2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

How long do I really have on a first call with a prospective patient? Three to four minutes. That is the window, and most practices waste it gathering insurance details and demographics. Understand what is actually happening when that phone rings. Your marketing finally pushed someone to the breaking point, where they said uncle, I cannot live with this problem anymore. So they are what I call hyper responsive. They are sitting on a short list of three or four offices they planned to call, and they are wide open right now. This is the sweet spot. In those few minutes [...]

First Call Window: You Get Three to Four Minutesjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Previous 242526 Next