Page 14 - The Dental Entrepreneur

The Dental Entrepreneur

Become Educated and Comfortable About Financial Matters

Cost estimates and fee discussion are other areas where you can quickly separate yourself
from your competitors. Have you ever stayed at a hotel where you asked a room rate and you
were quoted $179 per night. Upon checkout it came to $225? The reason being sales tax,
lodging tax, Wi-Fi etc. How about your cell phone bill. Worse yet ,today’s airline carriers!!!
Consumers hate this and feel helpless about it. It is a chronic aggravating circumstance that
happens in almost every segment of our consumer life. Consumers have come to expect
misleading cost quotes. You can set yourself apart in a competitive economy by always being
very exact in your cost estimates. I know you might say to me that there are times that you
cannot give an exact cost estimate because of a variety of contingencies, but my answer to
that is give yourself enough latitude in your estimate or eat any cost over run. I have eaten
many a root canal that was unanticipated in a big crown and bridge case after fully explaining
to the patient that I had some unanticipated work but there would be “no additional charge for
it”. That's how Dr. Sam Walton would approach his practice and that is the way a competitive
consumer oriented dentist needs to think.

Who Presents The Fees

One area, that I really go against the grain of most medical and dental practices is with my
willingness to discuss fees. Many doctors act as if they are clueless, (some are) or that it is
distasteful or beneath them to discuss what something cost. I think it is ludicrous and
disrespectful. To have a six figure income is a distinct privilege and part of that privilege is to
know where that money comes from. I will happily talk about exactly what something costs and
express my interest in helping the patient figure out the way to pay me. Having direct empathy
to a patients challenge in affording your care is a great opportunity for deepen your
communication. Patients respond very favorably to this. They usually have never experienced
a doctor being comfortable about talking about fees. Work on this skill! This does not mean
that you can not have a treatment coordinator that assembles and talks about fees and
scheduling, what I am talking about is the willingness of the doctor to participate in the
discussion.

Master Communication Skills

My observations as to the key skill sets to be successful as a dental entrepreneur are in order:

1. Excellent Interpersonal Skills
2. Great Office Systems
3. Good Marketing Skills
4. Average Clinical Skills

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