366: Asking the Right Questions

It’s time for a tactical practical! Kiera has more tips for all you wannabe word ninjas out there, this time on the right questions to ask and how to ask them. If you want to be the best dental professional you can be, incorporating the right one or two words into how you’re interacting with your patients will go a long way.

Bonus! At the end of this episode is a challenge for you to share with all your team members!

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Podcast Transcript

Kiera Dent:

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices, coaching teams. Yep. We don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

            Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Keira, and this is going to be a quick tactical podcast for you guys, all around asking the right questions. This goes back to the word ninja, things that we've talked about. But you guys guess what? We are creatures of habit, and so I want to shake up your habits today. I want to give you guys a quiz, if you will, that you can go take, that you can have your office check-in on to see, where do all of you guys fall. As always, if you guys have yet to share this podcast with somebody, leave us a review, please do so. Stop the podcast. You guys, I do read those reviews and I appreciate them so much. I appreciate you sharing them because you guys know, what is the Dental A Team's mission? That's right, to positively impact the world of dentistry in the biggest way possible.

            And you guys get to be a part of that mission. So thank you all who have already done so. Thank you for being a listener of the podcast. You guys, let's crush it. Let's crush it this year. Right now, we're averaging about 40,000 downloads this year. And our goal is to go up to 50,000 downloads. So that means 10,000 more downloads and people. So you guys, I can't do it alone. I need your help. So please, please, please share this with somebody amazing, somebody who'd be great in our Dental A Team [inaudible 00:01:59]. This podcast is not for everyone. So don't share with those people, share with the people who love to grow, who are motivated, who want to take ownership. Doctors who are wanting simple systems, wanting to have an accountable team. You guys, people that believe that having an accountable team, running a dental practice should be easy and truly getting out on time and not being stressed, can and should be your reality.

            So if you believe those things, you know people like that, share this podcast and help us get that goal. Because at the end of the day, this is how we're going to positively impact the world of dentistry for good, in the greatest way possible.

            All right, you guys, so asking the right questions. So what I mean by that is let's check yourself when we are scheduling. Let's go to that. I'm going to go through all the different departments. Okay? These are just questions that you can ask. Most of the time, when I go into a practice, people, even if they're avid podcast listeners, they still say it their preferred way. Why? Because we're human beings and we go after patterns and habits. That's what we do. That's what we live for. That's who we are. And that's fine. Bottom line is, guess what? Sometimes those words are creating worlds that we don't want to live in.

            So for example, check yourself. Just do it. Do your normal way, and check yourself. How many times do you say, "Do you want to get scheduled?" Versus, "All right, let's get you scheduled. I have this time or this time, which works best for you. Let's reserve this time for you." I'm a lazy scheduler. So I'm usually the one that's like, "Awesome, Sarah. I'm so excited. Dr. So-and-so wants to get you scheduled back for that crown. Amazing. You are going to love Dr. So-and-so so much. Let's get you scheduled. It looks like, oh my gosh, they're so busy. I can reserve Wednesday at 10:00 AM for you. Let's do that. Let me reserve that time for you." Did you notice that's not really a question? Yeah, I hope you caught that, because I'm just assuming that they want to schedule it.

            If they're like, "Oh, 10 o'clock doesn't work."

            "Fantastic. Do mornings or afternoons work best for you? Afternoon's? Amazing. I've got this time. Let's reserve Thursday at 2:00 PM. Dr. So-and-so is great at this. Let's get that reserved for you."

            Hey guys. So one of my favorite quotes is "You're always one decision away from a totally different life." I would strongly invite and encourage, and bring all of you in that want to have a totally different life. We have Dental A Team, silver, gold, and platinum. It is going to be customized training for you and your teams. We're going to walk you through the things that you don't know, the things you wish you knew, and you're going to have accountability. So, you are just one decision away from a totally different life. We are inviting you. I am inviting you to come join us in Dental A Team. Gold is my favorite. So hop on over to the dentalateam.com and join us as our newest Dental A Team gold member. Remember, you're one decision away from a totally different life.

            By just switching it up, "let's get you scheduled," versus "do you want to schedule," that is literally going to change your patient experience. I mean, you think about it. Hey, I think I shared this on the podcast. I went to a store the other day. "So do you want your receipt? Do you want me to put it in the bag? Do you want a bag for this? Do you want this?" And I was like, oh my gosh, stop with the questions. I don't even know. It's a pair of shoes. Do whatever you need to do with it. But that was so many questions. So you think about it, just even as an experience, how is that experience for them of, "Let's get you scheduled for that. I'm going to make your life so easy. I've got this time. Dr. So-and-so loves to get crowns done early in the morning. That's when we're the best. So let's reserve 10:00 AM for you Wednesday morning."

            Well, all of a sudden, I just told them this is the best time. This is when my doctor loves to do it. Instantly, that feels like a really good time to do it. So just that small change. So check to see, also, are we looking to see in the back, do you want to get fluoride? Or are we even asking, do you want to get fluoride? That is something that I've looked at so many hygienists. You guys, I'm like Queen Fluoride. People know I love fluoride. So many people don't even offer me fluoride. And I'm like, why not even at least offer. First of all, we got to offer. Second of all, the way you offer will get more patients to have an easier experience.

            "So as a final part of your treatment, let's do a fluoride therapy. It's $25 out of pocket, and I've got bubble gum or mint. Which do you prefer?"

            Check yourself? What are you actually saying? Not what you think you've heard on the podcast. I want you guys to go through and just tally. So hygienists, tally it up on your [inaudible 00:06:19] slip. You can even do it on your schedule. Did you offer fluoride first and foremost? If you believe in it. If you don't, that's fine. What other things could you offer? Do you offer fluoride toothpaste? Do you offer sealants? Do you offer a night guard? Whatever you believe in, I don't care. Choose what you believe in, but make sure you're offering it to every patient. Truthfully, like really, just check, are we even asking that question?

            Then after that, the next piece is, how are we saying is the next piece to this? Are we asking, "Let's assess the final part of your treatment. Let's do a fluoride therapy. It's $25 out of pocket, and I've got bubble gum or mint. Which do you prefer?"

            Every one of these, I'm assuming patients want to do it. I assume that they want Florida. I assume that they want treatment. I assume that they want to come back. I assume that they freaking love us, bottom line, because guess what? Most of my patients, not all, most of my patients really did love us. I had patients rave about our offices. They loved, loved, loved us because I loved it. And I exuded that out of me. So check yourself. Doctors, are you also saying like, "So let's get what you want." Or are you saying like, "Well, you can get that scheduled back when it's convenient."

            Docs, own it. Own the fact that you're a freaking rock star, that you went to dental school and that you do the best dentistry, and your moral obligation is to save patients from bad dentistry. Own that. Own that today.

            And double check to say like, "Okay, so we're going to do the next visit. So let's get you back for that crown on the upper right. I'd like to see you back in a couple of weeks, probably two. And I need you back for about an hour and a half. Super excited to see you. What questions do you have for me?"

            Literally, just the way you say it. So check yourself. See how many times do you say, "All right, let's just get you scheduled whenever you can." Because we're nervous and we're scared of rejection. Check yourselves. Where are you at on these? Are we asking, "Okay. So like, what do you want? What would you guys like to do?"

            That's fine. I want people to do what they want to do. I never want somebody to feel pressured into it. I also want to make sure that the way I'm presenting it is a way that is going to be acceptable and easy for patients to say yes to. It's just like the brownie trick, guys. You guys have heard this. The exact same brownie, exact, nothing's different about it. It's presented on a napkin, it's presented on a plastic plate, or it's presented on fine china. Which brownie do you think people liked more? You know, it's the one on fine china, because it had a perceived value. It's a psychological perceived value that, that one is better. It's fancier. It's more expensive. So it clearly tastes better. They did it on a randomized study.

            You guys, "The Choice Factory" by Richard Shotton, I think is how I say his last name. I actually am having him work with us. He's awesome. Read the book, "The Choice Factory." It's crazy cool that you just change one or two little things. The way you present it, the way you write it, the way it's presented. Even if you guys change up your treatment plans, put them on fancier paper, you'll get higher acceptance.

            I guarantee you. It's crazy cool stuff, and it's all psychology. It's all about how you present it. So check yourself. How often do we say, do you want to get scheduled for that? How often do we, on the phone when patients are calling in and we say, oh, we don't accept your insurance. What if we say, "Absolutely. Come on in. There's so many patients just like you. We are out of network and this is how we're going to maximize your benefits, and you're going to love our doctor. I know you're never going to want to go anywhere else."

            Check yourself. Where are we saying those little one or two words that aren't asking the right questions? "Let's get you scheduled. Let's do fluoride today. Let's do this treatment today." Versus, "Do you want to get this done?" No, they don't want to get a shot, guys. [inaudible 00:09:53]. That's not what they want. So I want you guys to tally it up. Somebody, please send me an email. Hello, at the dentalateem.com. I want to hear from front office on your scheduling. How many times are you broken up with, on your cancellations? How many times is the patient canceling on you? How many times are we not getting patients to schedule because of the way we said it? All these different little pieces, all of them, all of them. These are little simple things that if we do them, we're probably going to get crazy results.

            So I want you guys, please, please, please. I want you guys to check it out, count it up how many times you're doing it. And then from there, I want you to then check to see where could you change that? Where could you change it and get different results? That's, at the end of the day, what we're looking for. So how many times are we saying, do you want to get scheduled for this? Or, well, you can get scheduled when it's convenient. And it's a very passive versus proactive. We freaking love our lives. We love our jobs. We love our patients and we want to make this the easiest, most awesome experience for you. So please, tally it all up, and then from there, I want you guys to figure out one word that you're going to change differently and record yourself on it.

            All right, you guys, there's my challenge for you. That was our podcast. Thank you guys so much for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

            And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.