Rhona Eskander says telling a story about how someone transformed their smile is marketing.
Ever wonder why it’s so hard to get a patient to accept a large treatment plan? Well, as dentist’s we execute everything in an extremely systematic manner. We collect information, diagnose and then construct a treatment plan.
What we tend to forget though is that patient’s are not geared in that way. Patients want to know what can be done in a simple manner. Importantly, they want to feel excited about treatment.
I provide a lot of Invisalign in my practice and with each patient I use the same presentation technique. I take photos of each patient and show them the photos. I let them talk about their concerns. I then make them feel enthusiastic about the options. This means telling them it is possible and also telling them a story.
Telling a story
Advertising as we do X number of cases evokes no emotions. However, telling a story about how someone transformed their smile is marketing. Stories spark emotions. We have an intuitive, emotional side as well as a deliberate, rational side to our character. Too often in business we only try and connect with people on a rational level, but this isn’t enough to actually convince people.
Tell your patients about how Kate’s uptake of Invisalign before her wedding made a remarkable difference to her wedding day – instilling confidence. Show them that testimonial to demonstrate that. Tell them about Rob’s ability to overcome his fear of delivering that presentation at work due to his new found smile. Inspire and watch patient’s take up what you want for them.
Marketing
Chris Barrow has some excellent points, which I adhere to:
- Product placement (we do X) is advertising and storytelling (Mary is now looking forward to her daughter’s wedding because she will smile with confidence after receiving X treatment from us) is marketing
- Advertising does not evoke emotion
- Good marketing frequently evokes emotion
- People will contact you when they experience a trigger event in their lives
- If they already feel as if they know you, the right people are less likely to shop around.
