How do I train my team to end a new patient call so the person actually shows up? Close with a verbal contract, and train your team to deliver it without flinching. After confirming the appointment, you have them say, so will you just promise to call me if you can't make it, then repeat the office number twice, then go silent and wait for the answer. That silence is the whole thing. If your team member keeps talking, it is not a contract anymore. Robert Cialdini's work on influence shows that people who promise out loud tend to follow through. [...]