This month, Bhavin Bhatt discusses the importance of consultation in the Invisalign buying cycle, including the magic formula needed to encourage patients to consider the treatment.
There is no need for dentists to take sales courses to allow them to talk about aligners as a treatment option.
What they need to understand is the fundamental science and psychology behind why people buy, when they buy, and what needs to happen after that for them to commit.
Our magic formula
To simplify the concept, we have come up with a powerful formula for you to help your patients to consider aligners: (IQ+DQ)*EQ
IQ refers to product information.
DQ refers to dental health benefits.
EQ refers to the emotional aspect of the client.
Product information
Product information is undoubtedly necessary. All patients should get enough information about aligners for them to make an informed decision.
However, product information is not enough anymore in today’s market.
You need to show your prospective patients what benefits they can get from aligner treatment.
More importantly, you should let them know what consequences they may face if they decide not to get the treatment done in a timely manner.
So, speak to them about the risks of not going ahead with treatment now!
Emotional aspect
The emotional aspect plays a crucial part in this formula, hence it becomes the multiplying factor in this magic formula.
This aspect represents how your client feels about the treatment, what results they hope to get from aligners, and other emotional factors.
As a dentist, your position is to help them get what they expect but within realistic expectations.
Start with a smooth transition
Transitioning from conversation to consultation should be smooth. This is to build effective engagement with your patient.
The key lies in the familiarity your prospective patient feels toward your practice. This starts with the initial conversion and rapport built in the initial stages with the team.
Create two or three pieces of content to let them know what to expect next.
We recommend:
- Fun and simple Tiktok videos or slides with flow charts to explain step by step what the process will be
- One of these should explain what patients can expect at their consultation
- Another should show the visuals of your practice and team members
- The last one should be short 30 second testimonials of happy patients from your practice.
Due to the high popularity of Tikok and Youtube, you may want content to be in video format to upload on social media platforms.
However, there are still people who prefer emails. Therefore, you also need the content as articles that can be emailed to patients.
Scripting your consultation – top tips and tricks
- Avoid being too plain and straightforward during your consultation phase. Show bold showmanship during the whole session. Script it like a theatrical drama. You need to use proper facial expressions, hand gestures, intonation, and confidence
- It is also essential to not use the same strategies and words for all of your prospective patients. You need to tailor each script for each person depending on their unique situation and expectations (eight value propositions)
- Consider their needs and wants – age, appearance, confidence, relationship, dream job
- Showing testimonials is super helpful. Most people tend to believe testimonials from people that have similar traits to them. The more elements you tailor to your script, the more engaging and effective your consultation session will be.
Understanding each of your patients is the key to a successful consultation.
Compile everything you know on the script using the formula, and then orchestrate your way with solid showmanship.
Help your prospective patient achieve their expectation through aligner treatment, and then you can move forward to the fourth C: commitment.
Catch up on the previous columns from Bhavin Bhatt:
- The four Cs of the treatment buying cycle – conversation
- The four Cs of the treatment buying cycle – consideration.
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