james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

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So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

Why Phone Calls Put Relationship Before Business

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

Why should the first phone steps be about relationship not business? Because patients buy from people they trust, and trust does not start with logistics. The first six steps of how I teach a call are deliberately about relationship and emotion, creating trust, intimacy, empathy, urgency, and genuine care. Only around step seven do you move into the business details you need, the marketing and sales information about how they found you and what they want. The order is not an accident. Patients calling about implants are consumers like you and me. They will still do their homework and call a [...]

Why Phone Calls Put Relationship Before Businessjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

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

Phone Intake Check In Keeps Callers Comfortable

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

How do I keep a phone caller from feeling interrogated during intake? Check in with them. If your practice has a string of business questions to get through, do not just rattle through them head down. Pause and reassure the caller along the way. You are doing a great job. Almost done. Just a couple of questions left. Those little check ins keep the call feeling human instead of like an interrogation. Think of it like a good dance partner who tells you where you are going next so you never feel lost. The questions still get answered, but the patient [...]

Phone Intake Check In Keeps Callers Comfortablejames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Are Phone Training CDs Enough for Dental Staff Calls?

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

Is giving my staff phone training CDs enough to fix our call handling? No. Passive training, handing your team recordings and hoping they listen, gets you from an F to maybe a C plus or B minus with a lot of nagging. That is the ceiling, and there is a clean reason for it. Nobody outside the office is hearing the calls. No third party is scoring them, no report lands on a desk every month, so there is no honest mirror. People drift back to comfortable habits the second the pressure eases. Listening to a CD is the dental equivalent [...]

Are Phone Training CDs Enough for Dental Staff Calls?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

Don’t Use Your Call Tracking System as Voicemail

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

Can I just use my call tracking system as a fancy voicemail? You can, but it is a waste of real money. When you invest in tracking numbers and call recording, the whole point is a live human answering and a record you can coach from. Letting it dump callers into a voicemail box throws all of that away. A prospective patient calling about a large case does not want to leave a message and wait. They want a person. Treating your tracking line as a glorified answering machine is like buying a chairside scanner and using it as a paperweight. [...]

Don’t Use Your Call Tracking System as Voicemailjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Repeat Back a Caller Concern to Build Trust Fast

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

When a caller finally reveals their real concern, what should my team say next? Repeat it back and agitate it a little, so they feel you truly get it. Hearing the pain isn't enough. You have to reflect it. If a caller says she doesn't want two years in braces, don't just nod and book her. Say, "So what you're telling me is it's the length of time. Spending years in treatment is just not something you're willing to do. Did I get that right?" Now she feels understood, and the problem you will solve is named out loud and on [...]

Repeat Back a Caller Concern to Build Trust Fastjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

How to Control a Phone Call With a Talkative Caller

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

How do I get a talkative caller to follow my lead on the phone? You earn it by sounding like the captain. When a prospective patient finally calls, they spill the beans, a long emotional story with a lot to get off their chest. That is good, let them. But while they talk, your job is to make them feel like the person on the line is the conductor, the one who knows exactly what happens next. The simple move of saying that is a great question, may I have your name, after their opening question quietly takes the wheel. They [...]

How to Control a Phone Call With a Talkative Callerjames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

Leading Your Dental Team Through a Change

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

My team resists a new patient communication system. How do I lead them through the change? Expect the resistance and name it before they do. When I teach a team the emotional pain step, they look at me and say that is really different. They are right. It is very different from the question and answer reflex they learned everywhere else. But here is what I tell the doctor. This is no different from the day you brought a new piece of technology into the office. Everybody had to stop, learn it, and change a habit they had run on autopilot [...]

Leading Your Dental Team Through a Changejames2026-06-18T00:00:00-04:00

How a Dentist Appearance Affects What Patients Decide

james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Does my appearance as a dentist affect whether patients say yes? Yes, more than you want to admit. Patients are running instinctual judgments on you the second you walk in, and those mechanisms operate 24/7 below conscious thought. Liking is one of them. People say yes to people they like and trust, and a large part of that first read is how you present yourself. Your appearance, your grooming, the way you carry yourself, it all feeds the patient's gut decision about whether you are the kind of doctor who does excellent, careful work. This is not vanity. It is recognizing [...]

How a Dentist Appearance Affects What Patients Decidejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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