The Orthodontist Dilemna: Dropping Fees to Improve Conversion Rates
In discussions with orthodontists regarding the case acceptance rate, the subject of reducing fees comes up with increasing regularity. Almost all orthodontists in today’s marketplace deal regularly with competitive pressure. I have seen instances where doctors have made an on-the-spot decision to drop the treatment fee upon request, usually in response to a lower offer from […]
How to Turn Questions About Financing into New Patient Starts
Three times in the past week, TCs that I am coaching via recorded consults have had decision makers ask if they could finance treatment in a different way than what the TC presented in the payment options. This situation most commonly involves a request to put more money down, although what I am about to cover is […]
Protecting Your Flank: Structuring Financing vs Low-Cost Competitors
Those of you who have read my books or recently been through my training program know that the most important component of case acceptance is your ability to communicate the value of treatment at your practice during the initial consultation – a skill equally shared between the Doctor and Treatment Coordinator, with support roles by […]
Trial Closing in TC Consultations
The main reason that I developed a consulting practice catering exclusively to orthodontics is that those in your profession have historically had very little opportunity, if any, to learn practical business skills that address the issue of improving case acceptance. My experience in working with over one hundred practices over the last three years has simply reinforced in my mind that, while you […]
The Financing Deal-Breaker of Lost Cases
In my fourth book for orthodontic case acceptance, No to Lost Cases, I spent most of an entire chapter outlining my opposition to what to this day remains the worst tactic that I have seen used within your profession: the use of a credit check to score, and then determine, the minimum down payment required for a family to begin […]
The Prompt-Decision Discount
Most of my orthodontic practice clients offer financial incentives to practice visitors. Perhaps the most common is a family discount for siblings of an initial case; in videotaped consults that I observe, this is almost universal in your profession to the point that the parents expect and often ask for it. A less common example […]
The Porcupine
During the orthodontic fee presentation, it is common for visiting families to ask the TC questions about flexibility regarding payment options. Some common examples would include: “Can I put more money down?”“Can I pay this off early?”“Can I extend the monthly payments?”“Can I use my FSA account to pay for treatment?” In most cases, questions like these indicate an interest on […]
How to Say “No” to a Discount Request
I have recently reviewed some interesting recorded consultations between client TCs and potential patients involving fee issues which will be the subject of the next couple of postings. One of these involved a patient that had been to two other practices previously and asked the TC, point-blank, if she would lower the fee to match […]
Handling the Haggler
One of the suggestions that I make to client TCs that I am coaching is to send me their more difficult patient consults when selecting videotaped cases for review; the reason for this is that I can often provide additional value if a visitor, usually a parent, does or says something outside of the norm. […]
Handling a Request for a Discount
“What can you do for me on your fees?”“Do you offer a discount?”“Will you match Dr. _____’s fee?” Due to a number of recent changes in the orthodontic marketplace, including increased competition, a slow economy, and better-educated consumers, practices face increasing pressure to “match” or reduce fees, often involving inferior treatment providers for whom an uneducated consumer […]