james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

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So far james has created 3065 blog entries.

Procedures You Enjoy and Dentist Job Satisfaction

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

How does doing procedures I enjoy affect my satisfaction as a dentist? It is the foundation, and most dentists skip right past it. Before you chase a new marketing angle or a bigger production number, look honestly at two things: the procedures you actually enjoy doing, and where your natural talents lie. They often overlap, and that overlap is where the good days come from. There is real science here about a state called flow, studied for half a century, and the short version is that you feel happiest when you are deep in work that fits your skill. So if [...]

Procedures You Enjoy and Dentist Job Satisfactionjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Hire for Traits You Lack as a Dentist

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

Should I hire for the traits I personally lack as a dentist? Yes, and this is one of the smartest moves you can make. Once you honestly know your own tendencies, you can hire to cover the gaps. Take follow-through. If you are a doctor with weak follow-through, and plenty are, do not promise yourself you will magically get better at it. You will not. Hire someone whose natural wiring is to chase things to completion, then give that person real authority and real support so they can follow through on your behalf. That last part trips people up. They hire [...]

Hire for Traits You Lack as a Dentistjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Voluntary Activities: A Dentist’s Path to Happiness

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

Why do voluntary activities matter most for a dentist's happiness? Because they are the part of happiness you have the most control over. Your set point is fixed and many of your conditions are stuck, but voluntary activities are wide open. The research is clear that these move the needle: physical exercise, anything from a walk around the block to an Ironman, learning new skill sets, picking up a procedure or rebuilding a car or learning an instrument, meditation, volunteering, and real face-to-face social time. Even vacations count, though the surprise is that planning and anticipating a trip can deliver as [...]

Voluntary Activities: A Dentist’s Path to Happinessjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Selling Skills and Happiness for Dentists

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

Can selling and marketing skills make a dentist happier, not just richer? They can, and this surprises a lot of doctors. You run a professional services business, and the way you sell and market is how you adapt as the profession shifts under you. Patients' wants and needs change, technology changes, the market changes, and the practice that adapts successfully is the one that keeps finding fresh ground. That ongoing adaptation is exactly where the science says happiness lives, in the change itself, not in some fixed destination. So when you sharpen how you present cases and attract patients, you are [...]

Selling Skills and Happiness for Dentistsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Anticipation Brings More Happiness Than the Event

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

Why do I feel happier planning a vacation than actually taking one? Because anticipation is its own reward, and the science backs you up. People often pull as much happiness out of planning and looking forward to a trip as they do from the short window they spend on it. That is not a flaw, it is something to use on purpose. So stop treating the planning as a chore to rush through. Stretch it out, savor it, talk about it. The same idea carries into your practice and your life. Build things you get to look forward to, not just [...]

Why Anticipation Brings More Happiness Than the Eventjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Does Your Selling Environment Affect Case Acceptance?

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

Does my office environment affect case acceptance? Yes, and most dentists never plan for it. The context you sell in, the physical space and what is happening around the patient while you talk, has a real impact on whether they commit. A consult delivered in a cramped, noisy room sends a different message than one delivered somewhere calm, even when your words are identical. Patients pick up on the setting whether they could name it or not. The point is not that you need a palace. The point is awareness. Walk through where your big case conversations actually happen and look [...]

Does Your Selling Environment Affect Case Acceptance?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Using Transactional Analysis With Dental Patients

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

How does transactional analysis help me with patients? You may have brushed against transactional analysis in a psychology course and forgotten it, but it is playing out in every patient interaction you have. The short version is that people relate to each other from different states, roughly a parent state, an adult state, and a child state, and the state you operate from pulls the patient into a matching one. Lecture a patient like a scolding parent and you push them into a defensive child who nods and then never books. Meet them adult to adult and you get a real [...]

Using Transactional Analysis With Dental Patientsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

When a Patient Cannot Afford Treatment, What Do You Do

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

How do I handle a patient who genuinely cannot afford major dental treatment? Stop pretending everyone can afford ideal care. They can't. Major implant work costs real money, and a portion of the people walking into your free consultations will never be in a position to pay for it. That is not a moral failing on their part or yours. It just is. What you owe that person is to protect their time, protect their emotional investment, and protect them from embarrassment. Spot it early, be kind, and give them a courtesy referral to a practice or option that fits. I [...]

When a Patient Cannot Afford Treatment, What Do You Dojames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Patients Say No Money When They Can Afford Care

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

Why do patients say they have no money when they clearly do? Because they are not telling you the whole sentence. The patient says "I don't have the money," and they leave off the most important part, which is "for this, for this optional thing you are recommending." That same person has the exact same money, or more, sitting ready for a boat, a kitchen remodel, a car that will not last half as long as your dentistry. This is a much larger slice of your practice than most dentists admit, because most dentists just decide nobody has any money and [...]

Why Patients Say No Money When They Can Afford Carejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

What Case Acceptance Rate Is Realistic for Big Cases

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

What percentage of patients say yes to large dental cases with a good system? Anywhere from 35 to 100 percent of qualified patients will say yes to treatment of $10,000 or more once you run a real, repeatable process instead of winging it. That wide range is honest. It is what I have watched across clients for close to a decade. Most people who actually follow the steps land above 50 percent. A few outliers at the bottom drag the average down, usually because they cherry-pick the parts they like. The ones at the top, consistently in the 80 to 100 [...]

What Case Acceptance Rate Is Realistic for Big Casesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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