How do I get the real reason a patient called instead of just the marketing answer? You dig, and you ask differently than most people do. When you ask what prompted the call and the patient just says "I saw your mailer," they have answered the surface, not the pain. Don't accept it. Say, "That's great. Let me ask you this. Sometimes patients who call us have lived with a broken tooth or bad breath or sore gums for a long time, kept putting it off, and one day decided enough. What is it about your dental health that made you [...]