james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

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So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

When to Schedule a Separate Financial Visit

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

When should a patient have a separate financial visit? Set a fee level. Below it, run the patient through the normal way you handle basic treatment. Above it, even if the problem itself is simple, that patient should come back for a separate financial visit. And by separate I mean front office only. The financial coordinator, the treatment planner, whoever owns that role. Not the doctor, not the whole clinical team crammed into one room. The reason is that money pressure and clinical pressure do not mix well in the same conversation. Pull them apart and both go better. It does [...]

When to Schedule a Separate Financial Visitjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Listening Wins the High Value Dental Consultation

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

Why is listening so important during a high value dental consultation? Because the patient is telling you why they will buy, and most dentists are too distracted to hear it. The pro asks great questions, then listens intently to the answers, not only to what is said but to what it means. That second part is where the money is. Listen for the unspoken thing, the worry behind the words. We live in an age that is wrecking attention spans, and the phone in your pocket is the worst offender. Smart phones do not always make you smart. Before you walk [...]

Why Listening Wins the High Value Dental Consultationjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

Why Take a Lifetime Risk Dental CE Course

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

Why should I take a continuing education course on lifetime dental risk? Because it will change how you see every patient for the rest of your career. I went through advanced treatment planning training built around lifetime risk, and it reshaped my thinking permanently, even the cases I treated years later. A good course like this takes about a week to complete, which sounds like a lot until you weigh it against decades of practicing the old way. Look for instructors who take no manufacturer money. When someone refuses industry dollars, you know their recommendations are not being bought, and that [...]

Why Take a Lifetime Risk Dental CE Coursejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

How to Actually Use Dental Consultation Scripts

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

Should I use a script when closing a patient consultation? Use one, but understand what a script actually is. The language I hand you is a starter, a framework, not a cage. You are not supposed to recite it like a robot at the end of the exam. The goal is for every important element to live inside whatever you eventually say in your own words. So in the beginning you follow the script closely, almost word for word, because that is how the structure gets into your bones. Then over time it becomes natural and matter of fact, and it [...]

How to Actually Use Dental Consultation Scriptsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

When a Patient Refuses to Bring a Spouse

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

What do I say to a patient who refuses to bring their spouse? You escalate your reasons, calmly, one at a time. The first reason is simple honesty. This is going to be a complex discussion, and the best way for everyone to understand the problems and the solutions is to sit down together on the same day. If that does not land, get blunt and financial. Tell them this is a significant decision and it is good that anyone affected by it is present. For the rare hard holdout, I use an analogy. Would you buy a house, or go [...]

When a Patient Refuses to Bring a Spousejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Building Rapport With Patients: a Bank Historian Lesson

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

What can a bank's historian teach me about building rapport with patients? A lot, and it is one of my favorite examples of liking at work. Wells Fargo put a staff historian on the payroll to chase high net worth clients. Instead of a sales pitch, the historian researched the family, often generational wealth, and uncovered stories the family itself never knew. Then they simply said, we found some things about your family we would love to share. People love their own history, so they listened. The result, by the time that article ran, they had targeted roughly four billion dollars [...]

Building Rapport With Patients: a Bank Historian Lessonjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Handle Friends and Family Objections to Dental Treatment

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

How should I handle friends and family second-guessing the treatment? Address it before it ambushes you. Patients today don't decide alone. The minute they leave, a spouse, a sibling, a coworker, and a thousand strangers online will weigh in on what you offered, none of them in this patient's mouth and none of them knowing the situation. If you pretend that crowd doesn't exist, it controls the case from outside the room. So name it during the presentation. Acknowledge that people who care will have opinions, and that opinions from folks who aren't wearing their shoes aren't the same as a [...]

Handle Friends and Family Objections to Dental Treatmentjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Run a Credit Report Before You Offer Patient Financing

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

Why run a credit report before presenting third party financing? Because you don't want to dangle financing you can't deliver. Run the credit report before the presentation. If it comes back weak, take third party financing off your plan entirely, because offering it and then watching the patient get declined in the room is a brutal way to kill a case. If it comes back strong and you expect them to finance, do the opposite work. Build a little extra into the fee to absorb the cost of discounting that financing, so the lender's cut doesn't come out of your hide. [...]

Run a Credit Report Before You Offer Patient Financingjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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