Marketing in a Recession- (Part Three)

Part three in a six part series

How we present information is important at any time, but at a time when people are thinking more closely about every expenditure and whether it is totally necessary, how information is presented is vital.There are many different ways of presenting a treatment plan. Some of you go to great lengths to provide a fully written report, sometimes with diagrams and illustrations. Some have a simple one page summary; for others the whole process is verbal and the only paperwork is the invoice. How you present treatment options is highly personal However, considering you are presenting information of a similar nature year in year out, I personally think it is well worthwhile developing a highly informative treatment plan template which is simply tailored to the individual patients needs.
Illustrations and digital photos can easily be dragged from the practice management software files and dropped into a template of this nature. This reinforces everything you have verbally told your patient about your recommendations. It reminds them of the benefits of the treatment and outlines your overall philosophy of patient care, payment options and any warrantees you provide. It is also a wise provision of having written documentation of what was discussed and options outlined, in the case any misfortunate medico-legal issues may arise.

Whatever your chosen method of presenting patient treatment options is; written, verbal or both, the following points are worth remembering:

WIIFM

No, this is not a new radio station, but an acronym for “What’s In It For Me’, which is what we are all thinking whenever we are faced with a financial decision.
Certain treatments do not need their benefits overly explained, such as a missing filling or for a client who is in pain. However, whenever there are options or a chance of a patient delaying treatment, all the benefits of a treatment should be presented. Health benefits, functional benefits, appearance and cosmetic benefits all should be explained. The more beneficial reasons a patient has to go ahead with treatment the better and the higher the chances are of them proceeding. For instance, if I think a regular check up is just about having clean teeth, I may skip or delay a visit. However, if I fully understand that by visiting my dentist regularly could help prevent periodontal disease and therefore could stop the development of heart disease in the future, than I will be far more likely to be compliant with regular visits and value them more.

Options

In cases where there may be different treatment options and therefore different costs, it is worthwhile outlining these options. We want the best for ourselves and our families and having different options often helps us choose. The use of composite materials instead of porcelain is a good example. Most people will still go with your recommended professional option, but by having a choice and understanding the difference between the options will improve the chances of the work being done and not postponed.

Timing

For some, larger treatment plans can seem like an all or nothing affair and at the moment doing nothing is a popular choice. It is well worthwhile making sure that patients know they can spread treatments over a period of time if they wish.
A full mouth rehabilitation case may be handled in four quadrants over an agreed time frame, or at least the option be offered. This of cause helps with the patient’s personal cash flow and still means they the get all the benefits of the treatment as opposed to simply not going ahead until sunnier times.

Carl Burroughs Marketing in a RecessionDeveloping a template treatment plan or information sheets supporting individual treatment options is a well proven and worthwhile way of improving the number of patients going ahead with elective procedure. It may seem like a lot of hard work, however you will find you can easily document your views on a single treatment topic at a staff meeting. Even if you only tackle one per week you would soon have most of the topics covered. You will also find by discussing each of the topics in detail with all your team they get a better understanding themselves of what you are offering your patients. They can also explain the benefits with more confidence and it’s a great opportunity to make sure everyone is communicating your practice standards and beliefs.

The public needs more reasons to justify spending money in the current economic climate and the treatment plan is the perfect format to provide these reasons.