How to Deal With Cultural Based Negotiating

Most practices encounter negotiation issues with various ethnic groups that, if not understood and addressed properly, can make getting to “yes” difficult. This week’s post takes a look at this issue and offers suggestions for finding mutual agreement to start treatment during negotiating.

To begin with, it is worth mentioning that there is a very wide disparity between what is considered appropriate negotiating behavior between cultures. To cite one example, as a corporate sales person some years ago I did a lot pf business with Japanese-based corporations that had US operations, and I quickly learned that Japanese executives never attempt to negotiate price. My proposals were always evaluated privately by a decision committee and, in due time, I was politely informed on whether or not my proposal had been accepted; no attempt was ever made to discuss my pricing, much less to lower it. Contrast this experience with other cultures in which everything, including orthodontic treatment, is considered fair game for negotiation. As with any business, it is important for orthodontic practices – and, specifically, the Treatment Coordinator – to understand why the request is being made. This knowledge will help with your frustration level and can also help in crafting a mutually acceptable solution to the request to lower fees.

In many cultures, a successful negotiated outcome is deemed one in which each side wins a concession. A concession does not necessarily mean that the buyer gets a lower price; it means that the buyer gets something as a result of negotiating that they would not have received otherwise. Also keep in mind that to the visiting spouse, often the wife, it may be important to her to show her husband that she succeeded in this effort, and that is often the primary reason for the insistence on wanting a ‘deal’. To this point, my suggestion is that you offer or “throw in” some item as part of treatment that is inexpensive cost-wise to your practice, but has a high perceived value to the family. Two examples that come to mind are an electric toothbrush and extra retainers, but you can be creative in this area. The objective is to solve the issue of giving the family a small “win” without dropping your price – which should NEVER do – and demonstrating that your practice is willing to work with the family to find a mutually agreeable outcome. Again, without lowering your fee and at an an insignificant cost to you.

Sometimes, of course, that may not satisfy your visitor. If the person continues to insist on your lowering your fees, remember the verbiage from my Book of Pearls chapter on handling “haggling”:

“It would not be ethical for us to charge two different patients two different fees for the same amount of value, so for that reason I cannot do that.” That statement will stop the price discussion in its tracks.

Lastly, remember that there are some people out there who truly care about nothing but the lowest fee, and they base their decision solely on which practice has the lowest price. Fair enough. You do not want those people for patients, because this trait almost always brings with it an assortment of other traits to the business relationship, including:

• Routinely missed appointments
• A general lack of cooperation
• An ongoing failure to meet on-time payment obligations
• Substandard Hygiene
• Wasting the time of your staff with tedious, high-maintenance minutia

And – here’s the best part – they are never, ever satisfied, no matter how hard you and your team works to please them. After you have done your very best, they will bad-mouth you to their friends and complain about the quality of your work.

So my suggestion is that if someone insists on your practice matching a lower competitors fee, and they truly care only about price, punt! Let them go to the competitor.  Let them wrap themselves around the axle of that practice instead of yours. You will be glad that you did. The objective is not to start every visitor, but to start every visitor that is a good fit for your practice.