Blog - Page 79 of 310 - The McAnally Selling System

Single Patient Consultation: Who Should Attend?

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

Should single patients with no spouse bring someone to a big case consultation? Yes, and most dentists skip this entirely. A patient with no spouse and no partner still has people in their life who can blow up a case the moment they hear the fee. A friend, a sibling, an adult child. If that person is not in the room when the value gets built, they only hear the number later, out of context, and the deal dies. So ask it plainly. Is there anyone who has veto power over you doing a good thing for yourself? No? Then is [...]

Single Patient Consultation: Who Should Attend?james2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

Spouse Consultation Attendance: Get Them in the Room

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

How do I get a patient's spouse to come to the consultation? You ask, and you give a real reason why. Most dentists tiptoe around this and then wonder why a case dies at the kitchen table that night. If you follow the earlier steps, about ninety percent of patients show up with their spouse without a fight. For the rest, lead with honesty. Tell them this is a complex discussion and the only good way for everyone to understand the problems and the solutions is to sit down together on the same day. If there is active perio, say you [...]

Spouse Consultation Attendance: Get Them in the Roomjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

The Power of Because in Patient Conversations

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

Does giving a reason why really make patients more likely to say yes? It does, and the science is almost funny. Ellen Langer ran a study in 1978 at a Xerox machine, the one everyone calls the copier study. A researcher cut to the front of the line. When she just asked to use the machine, about 60 percent let her. When she added a reason, because I am in a rush, compliance jumped to 94 percent. Then they tested a nonsense reason, because I have to make some copies, which says nothing at all, and compliance stayed almost as high. [...]

The Power of Because in Patient Conversationsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

How Unanswered Patient Questions Kill Treatment Plans

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

Why do unanswered questions kill dental treatment plans? Because every blank you leave gets filled in by someone else, and they almost never fill it in the way you would like. I have a saying: small empty blanks equal major misunderstandings, disappointments, and bad decisions. Those blanks are how you drive the bus off the cliff. The dangerous ones are predictable. What the free and paid visits actually buy. What the treatment can do, cannot do, and is unlikely to do. Refunds and warranties. What happens after treatment, short and long term. Whether the financial other will be there. Leave any [...]

How Unanswered Patient Questions Kill Treatment Plansjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Preparing Patients for Cost Before You Quote a Fee

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

Why do I need to prepare patients for cost before the fee conversation? Because an unprepared patient hears a big number as an ambush, and an ambushed patient says no. By the time you discuss fees, the patient should already sense that real treatment carries real cost. You build that across the whole process, not in one panicked sentence at the end. Every visit gives you a chance to seed it, to hint at the scope, to soften the eventual number so it lands as expected rather than shocking. The dentists who skip this are the ones who watch faces fall [...]

Preparing Patients for Cost Before You Quote a Feejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Get the Financial Decision Maker to the Case Visit

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

Why do so many big dental cases fall apart at the treatment plan visit? More often than not, the decision maker is not in the room. Getting the financial other to the visit where options and fees get discussed blows up more cases than any other single step on the planet. The patient goes home to talk it over with a spouse who never met you, never saw the photos, never heard the why, and the case dies on the kitchen table. So you handle this early and repeatedly. The staff sets it up when they book the exam. The doctor [...]

Get the Financial Decision Maker to the Case Visitjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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

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

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