james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

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So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

Your Unique Reason Why Patients Choose You

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

Why does my dental practice need a unique reason why patients should choose me? Because without one, you are just another set of hands with a drill, and patients pick on price. Your unique reason why is the honest answer to the question, why you and not the office across town. It feeds everything, your marketing packets, your practice tour, the whole story you tell. Most dentists have never finished this exercise, so they sound interchangeable, and interchangeable loses big cases. Sit down and actually complete it. What do you do, believe, or deliver that nobody nearby can copy with a [...]

Your Unique Reason Why Patients Choose Youjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Big and Outrageous Marketing Packets for Dentists

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

What is a big and outrageous marketing packet for a dental practice? It is the marketing material you build to be so far beyond what any other office sends that the patient can't ignore it. Not a tri-fold brochure. Think a professional video shoot with thirty patient testimonials, a short documentary about your practice, a news-interview style piece in the spirit of a Dr. Oz segment. Massive, miraculous, memorable. The point is to overwhelm the prospect with proof and story so the decision feels obvious. Most dentists send a postcard and wonder why nothing happens. If you already built these for [...]

Big and Outrageous Marketing Packets for Dentistsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Does Dentist Appearance Affect Case Acceptance?

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

Does how a dentist looks affect whether patients accept big cases? It does, more than most dentists want to admit. If you are selling work that revolves around perfection, you cannot show up looking like a cartoon and expect the patient to believe in the result. The dentist who looks like a pro comes out ahead of the one who does not, every time, on big presentation visits. That includes your own teeth. You are asking someone to trust you with their smile, so the state of yours is part of the message whether you like it or not. You may [...]

Does Dentist Appearance Affect Case Acceptance?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Questions for Building Similarity With Patients

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

What questions build similarity with a patient during the exam? Weave them in while you work, and write the answers down. Where are you from originally? Almost always something similar or interesting falls out. How did you come to live where you are now? There is always a story. Do you have family, children, grandchildren? They will tell you, and you will find common ground, oh, I have that many kids too. If they work, ask what kind of work, and share a bit of yours. And do not skip this one: do you have any pets? For plenty of people, [...]

Questions for Building Similarity With Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Discussing Clinical Findings: Now or at Presentation

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

Should I discuss clinical findings at the exam visit or wait? Wait, in almost every case. At the diagnostic visit you cover findings only in the broadest terms. What the patient needs to hear is simple: yes, you have some serious problems, but the good news is I believe I have solutions we can talk through next time that will really take care of this. That is it. If you dive into the clinical detail now, you damage the presentation and the patient's decision making before you have even built the case for it. There is one exception. If you sense [...]

Discussing Clinical Findings: Now or at Presentationjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Are Dental Procedure Models Worth Buying

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

Should I buy the procedure models that dental reps keep pushing? For the most part, no. Those expensive procedure models you keep getting sold do almost nothing to move a patient toward yes. The exception, and it is a real one, is when you are attaching an entire arch of teeth with implants. A model that shows how the prosthesis snaps onto the implants helps a patient understand something they cannot picture from a photo. Everything else is clutter. A good photo of the patient's own mouth, projected large enough that they can actually study it, beats a generic plastic model [...]

Are Dental Procedure Models Worth Buyingjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Should You Waive the Treatment Plan Update Fee?

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

Should I charge a fee to update a treatment plan for a returning patient? Usually no, and here is why. By the time someone comes back for a reevaluation, they have already paid once to learn all of this, and the odds of this case going forward are high. They are close. So charging another fee does nothing to help the buying psychology, and waiving it lets you do a little more reciprocity that pushes them toward the next yes. The small goodwill is worth more than the update fee. Charging or not will not change how the selling works on [...]

Should You Waive the Treatment Plan Update Fee?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

When to Give an Implant Fee Range to Patients

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

When should I give patients a fee range for implant treatment? Give it early, before the day you present the case. At the diagnostic visit it is a must. That is where you set expectations for what treatment costs, so there are no surprises when you sit down to present. I do it again as part of the actual presentation too, a fee range woven into that discussion. People think holding the number back protects the sale. It does the opposite. A patient who hears the real ballpark twice has time to settle into it, talk to whoever holds the purse [...]

When to Give an Implant Fee Range to Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Handling an Emergency Dental Patient Not in Pain

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

How should I handle an emergency patient who isn't in pain? Pain comes first, always. If there is physical pain, your job is to eliminate it before anything else. But when an emergency or new patient shows up and they are not in pain, you owe them a choice, not a sales pitch for full-mouth work. Think about it from their side. They did not walk in that day having decided to be evaluated for something big. So that is not what they want to be sold, and pushing it triggers exactly the defensive responses that wreck good decision-making. What you [...]

Handling an Emergency Dental Patient Not in Painjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Give Patients Three Treatment Options

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

Why give patients three treatment options instead of just recommending one? Because the moment you hand someone a single take-it-or-leave-it recommendation, you have cornered them, and cornered people get defensive. A patient who feels no room to choose will protect themselves by saying no. So I always lay out three real paths. Stabilize and buy time. Go to complete care. Or do nothing at all. That third one is real, and some patients will pick it, and that is their right. Giving the full set does two things. It respects that the decision is theirs, which is the heart of ethical [...]

Why Give Patients Three Treatment Optionsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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