james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

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So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

How Thorough Should Your Clinical Examination Be

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

How thorough does my clinical exam need to be for big cases? Thorough enough that nothing surprises you later, and that means a written checklist. The clinical half of the diagnostic visit is genuinely up to you, your niche, your training, your judgment. If you have done a course like John Kois's, your list will be far longer than any generic one. But the point stands: clinical findings drive both the complexity and the fee. How hard the case truly is, whether the long term result is predictable or not, what the long term risks are, all of that lives in [...]

How Thorough Should Your Clinical Examination Bejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

The Cost of Skipping Case Presentation Steps With Patients

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

Why is it a mistake to jump straight to case presentation with existing patients? Because you are guessing at what they know, and you are usually wrong. With patients who have been around a while, the temptation is to skip the early steps and go straight to presenting the case. That is how good dentists bomb out. The patient has forgotten the specifics, their clinical picture may have shifted, and you walk in talking like they remember a conversation from two years ago. They do not. Skipping steps with a familiar patient makes no more sense than skipping the exam. Run [...]

The Cost of Skipping Case Presentation Steps With Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Non-Clinical Factors That Set Your Dental Implant Fees

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

What non-clinical things should affect my dental implant fees? Plenty, and if you only price the clinical work you are leaving money and sanity on the table. Roughly half of what sets your fee has nothing to do with bone or teeth. How badly the patient wants the esthetics, because high esthetic demand means more steps, more headaches, more remakes. Whether it is a re-treatment case, which carries its own minefield. The patient's expectation of long-term outcome. And then the behavioral side, which I watch for at the exam. Some people are simply harder to treat and harder to be around, [...]

Non-Clinical Factors That Set Your Dental Implant Feesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Using Old Smile Photos in Cosmetic Case Planning

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

Why do I ask cosmetic patients for an old graduation or wedding photo? Because it tells me what they are really chasing, and it puts expectations on the table early. I ask for a photo from graduation, high school or college, or from a first marriage. There is a running joke, with truth in it, that people smile more in the first marriage photo than the later ones. What I am after is whether they want to return to a smile they used to have, or reach for one they never had. That distinction shapes the whole anterior esthetics conversation. With [...]

Using Old Smile Photos in Cosmetic Case Planningjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Setting Patient Expectations Before the Clinical Exam

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

How do I set expectations before I start the clinical exam? Say what is going to happen before you ever pick up an instrument. I tell the patient something like this: we are going to look at everything in your mouth today closely and gather what we need to evaluate your situation. I will take all of it and come up with the options that work best for you. If anything comes to mind that would help us know, do not hesitate to tell Mary or me. Then I stop and let them answer, because that yes matters. Now they feel [...]

Setting Patient Expectations Before the Clinical Examjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Setting the Stage at the End of a Consultation

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

How do I end a consultation visit so the next appointment goes well? You set the stage, and you do not rush it. The end of that exam visit is one of the most important moments in the whole process. Tell the patient plainly: we got everything we need today, next time we will review what I found and walk through your options, and we will see you that day with your husband, John, as well. Then ask if they have any questions for you. That last line cleans up anything left hanging. Notice what you just did. You defined the [...]

Setting the Stage at the End of a Consultationjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Fee Framing: Prevent Sticker Shock in Dentistry

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

What is fee framing in a dental case presentation? Fee framing is giving the patient a realistic range, low end to high end, before you ever present the actual treatment plan and number. It is one of the most important guardrails against financial surprise, and skipping it is how dentists get ambushed by sticker shock at the worst possible moment. You do not pull the range out of thin air. You base it on reality. Tell the patient that based on other patients you have seen and treated with similar problems, care can range from this to this. Then pause. Let [...]

Fee Framing: Prevent Sticker Shock in Dentistryjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Patient Compliance: Why Reasons Get You a Yes

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

Why does giving patients a reason make them more likely to say yes? Give a patient a reason and your odds of a yes jump, even when the reason is thin. There is a famous copy machine study where people let a stranger cut the line far more often once the stranger added the word because, regardless of how weak the actual reason was. The word itself carries weight. I am not telling you to manufacture nonsense. I am telling you that humans are wired to comply when a request comes attached to a justification. So in every step where you [...]

Patient Compliance: Why Reasons Get You a Yesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Give Complex Case Patients an Emergency Contact Path

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

Should complex case patients have a way to reach me in an emergency? Absolutely they should, and giving them that pathway is part of caring, not just risk management. A patient carrying an advanced condition is already anxious. The last thing they want is to be scrambling at night, calling around, trying to find anyone who will help them when something goes wrong. So before they leave, hand them a clear mechanism to find you if there is a problem. It costs you almost nothing and it lands as genuine concern, which deepens the relationship right at the point where trust [...]

Give Complex Case Patients an Emergency Contact Pathjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

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