3 keys to selling dentistry -- and why they work

Editor's note: Richard Geller's column, Marketing Madness, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

You may think you create desire when you sell dentistry, but all you really do is match your dentistry with the "wants" each patient already possesses.

The desire itself already exists. The desire to be healthy, to be attractive, to get ahead in life. Even a very old person has these desires.

There are two major desires, what I call "überdesires." You may know them as greed and fear. I refer to them as desire for gain and avoidance of pain.

Of the two, which do you suppose is more of an immediate driver to action?

If you answered "gain," you need to go back three spaces and pay $25 to the bank. Desire for gain is not as strong as avoidance of pain.

We are all more scared of losing what we have than we are motivated to seek out something we do not (yet) have.

Many, many people do not go to the dentist even though they have the money to do so. So why don't they go? Is it because they do not believe in the benefits of dentistry?

Or is it because they are scared?

You already know the answer to that one. So how do you use the avoidance of pain -- the fact that many people are scared -- to get more patients in your chair?

The 3 keys

What you do is address the fear head-on. You do this in many ways, but there are three major things you should do:

1. Avoid using scary words and phrases. Words can be emotionally loaded. Words create pictures in the patient's mind. Your words trigger these pictures, and the pictures cause the patient to experience powerful feelings.

   So, avoid words such as "injection" or "x-ray." Instead, begin using "get you numb" or "take a picture of that" in your conversations. There are lots of positive words and phrases you can use, but by simply avoiding scary ones, you will be way ahead. (I wrote another Marketing Madness column on this topic alone; to read it, click here.)

2. Talk about fear. Don't pretend it doesn't exist. You don't have to use the word "fear." It's better that you don't. But talk about it.

   I like the phrase "hate the dentist" because people relate to this very much, even those who religiously get their dental needs met.

3. Tell lots of stories. Tell a new patient about other patients who hated the dentist and how scary it was for them. Then talk about how they are now. Sure they don't like to go to the dentist, who does? But they have a great smile and new-found confidence.

So there you go: three simple -- but effective -- keys to selling dentistry.

Make sure you get my underground best-selling classic in its third edition, How to Get Patients to Want the Dentistry They Need, completely free at this time, by visiting www.Cases4Dentists.com.

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