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.

How Your Dental Office Environment Affects Case Acceptance

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

Can the physical condition of my office cost me big implant cases? It can, and most doctors never connect the two. A patient's gut is constantly scanning the environment for whether something feels right. Walk them into a place that feels tired, cluttered, or off, and that automatic system flags it. Hmm, something is not right around here. Once that flag goes up, the reflective system wakes and picks apart everything else, including you. So the room a patient makes a major decision in is part of the sale whether you planned it or not. Look at your office the way [...]

How Your Dental Office Environment Affects Case Acceptancejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

What Is a Complete Dental Physical Visit?

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

What is a complete dental physical and why use that term? It is the visit where you sit down and look at everything going on in the patient's mouth and use that information to build a solution. I call it a complete dental physical on purpose. The phrase tells the patient this is thorough and serious, the dental equivalent of a full physical at the doctor, not a quick peek and a quote. When I set it up I tell them exactly what happens. They come back, I gather everything, I spend about a week with that information working up options, [...]

What Is a Complete Dental Physical Visit?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

When Should a Spouse Attend a Dental Consult?

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

When should the spouse attend a dental treatment consult? On a major case, the spouse or financial partner has to be there early, not just at the presentation. I want that person at the complete dental physical too, because a fifty thousand dollar decision is not made by one person in a vacuum. The veto holder, the one who controls the money, needs to see the problem with their own eyes. The way I preface it is honest. I tell the patient that what stands out today are some serious problems, and because of that, their spouse should come along to [...]

When Should a Spouse Attend a Dental Consult?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Follow-Up After a No: What to Send Big Case Patients

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

What should I send a patient who said no to a large case? Mail, on a schedule, every year. A no from someone who actually sat through your whole process is not a dead end, it is a not yet. Their problem is not going away, and your job is to stay in front of them until the timing or the pain changes. The mistake is treating follow-up as something you will get to when you remember. You won't. If you leave it to good intentions, it never happens. So put it on an annual system. Decide how many cards a [...]

Follow-Up After a No: What to Send Big Case Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Scheduling Psychology: Offer Two Time Choices

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

Why does giving patients two appointment times work better? Because a choice between two options feels like control, and an open ended question feels like work. When my scheduler books the next visit, she never asks "when works for you." She says the next two dates and times I have are these, which would you prefer. Best bet is to always offer one morning and one afternoon. The patient picks, feels in charge, and you have a booked appointment instead of a vague maybe. This is classic scheduling psychology and it costs you nothing. While she does it she also reinforces [...]

Dental Scheduling Psychology: Offer Two Time Choicesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Top Dentists Use a Consultation Checklist Every Time

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

Why do successful dentists use a checklist during patient consultations? Because memory fails and a checklist does not. In a fifteen minute consult you have to look the part, ask the right questions, find common ground with the patient, keep hunting for what is really motivating them, and decide whether you can genuinely help. That is a lot to carry in your head while a stranger is sitting in your chair. Try to wing it and you will forget the question that mattered most. A pilot does not skip the preflight just because they have flown a thousand times, and you [...]

Why Top Dentists Use a Consultation Checklist Every Timejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

The Upcoming Surgeries Question Every Dentist Must Ask

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

Why should I ask about upcoming surgeries even if the health history is complete? Because a health history looks backward and your patient lives forward. When someone fills out that form they list what has already happened to them. They are not thinking about the knee replacement scheduled in three weeks or the procedure coming next month. So you can have the world's most thorough history and still get blindsided. Ask it straight, is there anything else going on medically that we have not discussed, or any upcoming surgeries? Skip that one simple question and over a year you will have [...]

The Upcoming Surgeries Question Every Dentist Must Askjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

What You Owe a Patient You Cannot Help

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

What do I owe a patient I cannot help after the consultation? You owe them a next step. It is rare, but sometimes you finish the interview and honestly conclude this is not a patient you can help. When that happens you do not just send them out the door. As a professional you are obligated to figure out where they should go and point them there. That is not a sales rule, it is a duty of care. The same ethics that let you confidently accept the patients you can help require you to redirect the ones you cannot. Think [...]

What You Owe a Patient You Cannot Helpjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Should I Compliment a Dental Patient in a Consult

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

Should I compliment a patient during a dental consultation? Yes, and not as flattery. Tell the patient they made a smart decision coming in to see you, and mean it. They did do something smart. The research on this is not soft opinion. Studies going back forty years and right up to the last decade show that a genuine compliment boosts compliance, meaning people are more likely to take the next step you suggest. The trick is it has to be true. "You made a smart decision to see us today" is honest, because they did. Pause after you say it [...]

Should I Compliment a Dental Patient in a Consultjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Dental IQ Questions to Ask Big Case Patients

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

What dental IQ questions should I ask a big case patient? Skip the brushing and flossing quiz. With a big case patient you do not care how well they clean their teeth, you care how much they grasp the bigger picture, because that tells you how deep to go in your treatment discussion. Ask them true or false on a few things that matter. Your teeth can make you feel better or worse. Problems with your teeth and gums can affect your whole body. How your smile looks changes how other people treat you. The severity of dental disease is often [...]

Dental IQ Questions to Ask Big Case Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Previous 363738 Next