Blog - Page 30 of 310 - The McAnally Selling System

Informed Consent Versus Selling: Not the Same Job

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

Is informed consent the same thing as case acceptance or selling? No, and confusing the two gets doctors in trouble. Consent has nothing to do with the sales conversation. The options discussion, the fee, the takeaway, all of that is about helping the patient decide they want treatment. Consent comes later, going into the actual doing of the procedures. At its core, consent is headache prevention and legal-problem prevention, nothing more romantic than that. The better you set realistic expectations as part of obtaining it, the better off you are both short term and long term. So don't try to bundle [...]

Informed Consent Versus Selling: Not the Same Jobjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Avoid Same Day Decision Pressure on Big Cases

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

Should I pressure patients to decide on a big dental case the same day? No, and the doctors who do are usually the ones running the sleazy tactics that give our profession a bad name. I operate on a no-pressure, low-pressure footing, and I always keep a next step. Instead of demanding a decision today, I schedule a questions-and-answers visit in about two weeks, because if you're like most patients, more questions are coming. That serves everyone. The patient never feels cornered, and you stay sane because you're not white-knuckling people into yes faster than is good for them. Using human [...]

Avoid Same Day Decision Pressure on Big Casesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

When Friends and Family Sabotage Dental Treatment

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

How do I handle the friends and family who talk my patient out of treatment? You get ahead of them on paper. Outside parties, the spouse, the brother-in-law, the coworker, will sabotage more of your cases than you'll ever realize, and they do it after the patient leaves your chair when you can't respond. So you hand the patient a single document at the case presentation that lays out exactly what their friends and family are likely to say about this kind of dentistry, and why. You preempt the objection before it's ever raised over a kitchen table. I've had doctors [...]

When Friends and Family Sabotage Dental Treatmentjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Get a Prevention Commitment From Patients Before Fees

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

Should I ask patients to commit to returning for prevention before quoting a fee? Yes, and do it before the number comes out. Getting agreement that they'll come back for prevention isn't a hoop, it's protection for both of you long term. I don't like surprises, and neither does the patient, so anything that reduces them down the road is worth setting up now. Frame it as a condition of doing the comprehensive work: I want to help you, and there are a couple of things I need us to agree on first, one being that you'll return for your prevention [...]

Get a Prevention Commitment From Patients Before Feesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

The Takeaway Technique in Dentistry: Ethical or Not?

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

What is the takeaway technique in case presentation and is it ethical? The takeaway is simple. Before you talk cost, you make clear there are things you need to agree on together first, and you signal that you might not be willing to do this for just anyone. As humans we want what we feel we may not get, and that's hard-wired. The instant a patient senses the offer isn't automatic, they want it more. Is that ethical? It is, as long as you're using it to help the patient help themselves toward a decision that's genuinely good for them, not [...]

The Takeaway Technique in Dentistry: Ethical or Not?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

How Many Treatment Options to Offer on a Big Case

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

How many treatment options should I give a patient for a big case? Three as a rule: a best, a very good, and a good. That structure gives the patient room to choose without drowning them in choices, and it keeps you from quietly steering everyone to the cheapest thing. Occasionally a fourth, acceptable option makes sense, but rarely, and usually that's just a holding pattern while something else gets sorted out. Before you present any of them, say out loud that you only recommend what you'd recommend to your own family and a close friend. That one sentence puts the [...]

How Many Treatment Options to Offer on a Big Casejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Treatment Option Photos: Show Before You Quote Cost

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

Why should I show photos of every treatment option before talking about cost? Because people decide with their eyes, not your words. Whatever niche you're in, the patient needs to see what each option will actually do for them before any number enters the conversation. Walk through best, very good, and good one at a time, each with its own image, and pause so it sinks in. Then put all the options together on a single slide so they can compare side by side. This isn't decoration. A photo turns an abstract recommendation into something the patient can picture in their [...]

Treatment Option Photos: Show Before You Quote Costjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Who Presents the Fee in a Dental Case Presentation?

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

Who should actually present the fee, the doctor or the treatment coordinator? The doctor. A fee presented well, with real confidence, by the person who carries the clinical responsibility lands differently than the same number from staff. The patient knows the buck stops with you, so when you say it without flinching, they trust it. The coordinator's job is to make the arrangement afterward, not to deliver the number. If you're not comfortable doing this, that's the thing to fix, not delegate around. I tell doctors plainly: if you can't get good at presenting your own fee and the case keeps [...]

Who Presents the Fee in a Dental Case Presentation?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Presenting Treatment Fees: Wait Until Options Are Clear

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

Should I present treatment fees while I'm still going over the options with the patient? No. Keep fees out of the options conversation entirely the first time through. The second you put a number on the table, you add a whole new layer of complexity and emotion, and the patient stops listening to what the treatment actually does for them. Walk through best, very good, and good first. Show photos of each. Tie every option back to their pain, their motivation, and the things that make them happy. Answer their clinical questions. Only when they themselves start asking what it costs, [...]

Presenting Treatment Fees: Wait Until Options Are Clearjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Priming in a Dental Case Presentation

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

What is priming in a dental case presentation and how do I use it? Priming is letting the patient see themselves with the finished result before they ever say yes, and it is quietly one of the most powerful tools you have. On every solutions slide I keep a small photo of a patient with the new teeth or the completed work in place. It is subtle, but the brain does the work. The patient starts picturing that outcome on their own face. They begin to want it before I have asked for anything. That desire is what carries a big [...]

Priming in a Dental Case Presentationjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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