Blog - Page 93 of 310 - The McAnally Selling System

Patient Retention in Dentistry Through Free Visits

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

How does a free consultation help me keep regular general care patients? It is often the only mechanism that actually works. When you are promoting heavily and you still want to hold onto regular general care patients, the free or very low cost visit is your way in. People buy from who they know, like and trust, and a free visit is an easy, low pressure step to get someone to like and trust you. Once that bond is there, they tend to stay for the everyday care too, not just the big case. Without that on ramp, a heavy marketing [...]

Patient Retention in Dentistry Through Free Visitsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Time Management: Run On Time to Win Cases

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

Is running my practice on time really part of selling big cases? It is, more than most dentists realize. Strong scheduling systems and good time behaviors, meaning you actually operate on time, are part of handling free and low cost visits well. There are plenty of reasons to run on time regardless of any sales process, but it matters double when you market heavily. A patient walks in already unsure whether to trust you. If you keep them waiting, you confirm their worst suspicion before you say a word. On time tells them you respect them and you have your house [...]

Dental Time Management: Run On Time to Win Casesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Blocking Consultation Time to Protect Your Schedule

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

Why should I block out my consultation time instead of fitting them in anywhere? Because random consults wreck your day. If you stick a consult wherever it lands, you interrupt your flow of procedures, and that is an inefficient way to work. Think about the means of production in your practice. You are most efficient at procedures when you are already doing procedures. I will say that again, you are most efficient at procedures when you are already doing them. The more you stack up until that early afternoon point where you start to tire, the better you get at staying [...]

Blocking Consultation Time to Protect Your Schedulejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Handling Consultation No Shows and Free Visit Abuse

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

How do I handle patients who abuse free consultation offers? You build a system for them before they ever walk in. Some people cancel, no show, and never fill out their materials, and you have to protect your time from that behavior. The answer is not to argue or chase. It is to move them on to a next step that is no longer free. When someone shows they will not respect the free offer, you stop offering free. That is fair, and it filters out the people who were never serious. In some cases it is actually good news when [...]

Handling Consultation No Shows and Free Visit Abusejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Free Appointment System: Why Even Free Needs Structure

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

Why do I need a system even to give away free dental appointments? Because free is not automatic. I have worked with practices that, when they started, could not even give a free appointment away. Imagine that, couldn't give it away for nothing. That tells you something important. Systems and skills are needed even to close a free visit, not just a paid one. People still have to be invited well, scheduled well, reminded, and given a reason to actually show up. Without a basic system the no shows pile up and you conclude that free does not work, when really [...]

Free Appointment System: Why Even Free Needs Structurejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Phone Training for Dentists: Why Scripts Are Not Enough

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

Do I need a trained phone person to sell consultations? Yes, and training means more than handing someone a script to read off a phone slip. That is not training. Even with proven tools in front of them, it takes real coaching to get this skill into someone who has never done it. You can hire people who are already good at taking money over the phone, but for most practices they will not work at the rates you are used to paying for phone support. Here is the practical upside of going free or very low cost: selling something that [...]

Phone Training for Dentists: Why Scripts Are Not Enoughjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Free Consultation Time: Cap the Doctor at 15 Minutes

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

How long should a dentist spend in a free implant consultation? Fifteen minutes of doctor time. That is the guardrail, no matter how much time your staff invests around it. When you step back and look at everything you pour into one patient, from the first phone call through every follow up step before treatment starts, you are looking at a huge number of hours. Thinking you will recoup all of that on the front end is folly. You cannot. What you can do is minimize the damage, and capping the doctor at fifteen minutes is a big part of that. [...]

Free Consultation Time: Cap the Doctor at 15 Minutesjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Why Free Dental Consultations Drive Case Acceptance

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

Why do free dental consultations work so well to get patients to say yes? Reciprocity. When you give someone something of real value for free, they feel a pull to give something back, and that instinct is hardwired into the vast majority of us. This is not a gimmick I invented. Behavior studies have validated it, and it is an ancient idea. There is a Japanese proverb, nothing is more costly than something given free of charge, which captures the debt a person feels they owe. You can use that pull for good. A free visit gets the patient in the [...]

Why Free Dental Consultations Drive Case Acceptancejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

When a Paid Diagnostic Consult Makes Sense

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

When does charging for a diagnostic consult actually make sense? Only in narrow situations. The first is when you have almost no competition in your area. Those markets do exist, but they are getting rarer. The second is when you are already busy enough and fulfilled enough that you simply do not need many more cases, and you are fine running a smaller, premium funnel. The third is the big one. You have become one of a kind in your category, you have built true category killing advantages, and you have big, outrageous materials that prove it. At that point you [...]

When a Paid Diagnostic Consult Makes Sensejames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

Free Implant Consultations vs Paid: Which Wins

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

Should I charge for implant consultations or offer them free? For most of you, the free or very low cost consult wins. A paid diagnostic only makes sense in rare spots where you have almost no competition, or where you are already busy and fulfilled and genuinely do not want more cases. Think about your front end and back end together. If you charge at the door, you screen out the very people who need a low cost first step, and you end up with fewer patients choosing treatment at the end. Breaking even on step one feels responsible, but it [...]

Free Implant Consultations vs Paid: Which Winsjames2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00

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