Product Sales and the Principle of Bundling
Virtually every practice that I work with offers their patients ancillary products that provide an enhancement of some kind to the basic value of treatment. Most are geared towards the needs of adult patients and, as such, tend to focus on a cosmetic benefit. Examples would include clear appliances as well as products for accelerating tooth movement and whitening the teeth,
For most of you, “offering” these items to patients consists of placing a brochure stand at the front desk and waiting for someone to request the product. For that reason, purchases of these items are often virtually non-existent.
There is a simple reason for this outcome: your visitor knows virtually nothing about these products to begin with, and a brochure alone is unlikely to create an immediate desire to buy. These visitors frequently do not have the knowledge base to make a well-informed, on-the-spot decision about such items. Furthermore, even if they proactively ask about a product, the education they receive on its merits is often, in my experience, brief and not very effective.
Before continuing, I should mention here that I am assuming the reason your practice offers products like these is that you are confident in their merits to the user. That would be a prerequisite for offering them in the first place. Assuming that this is indeed the case, read on.
“Bundling” is a common business practice that puts value-added products where they should be – not on the brochure stand, but in the hands of those who need them when starting treatment. So, instead of peddling the product via brochures, with bundling the cost of the product is included (bundled) in the total fee, and it goes out the door with the treatment plan unless the patient does not want it. Which, if the product benefits the patient, will almost never happen.
One example would be the inclusion of a high-end whitening product in all adult treatment plans as part of your fee. Here, whitening would be included at the end of treatment in all adult cases, and the cost for it is bundled into the total investment. (In those cases where the referring dentist also offers this service, remove it and send them to the referring dentist for the service).
The reason for bundling here isn’t complicated, and it is done for the patient’s benefit, not yours. Every adult patient that you treat desires a beautiful white smile and will find this add-on to enhance their satisfaction with your work. Besides the obvious value to the patient, including the whitening treatment serves two purposes for you as well: it is a way to differentiate yourself from your competition, and it also serves as an end-of-treatment reward to them for completing the treatment process.
The bottom line? Stop trying to sell things with brochures, and focus instead on including these products in your treatment plan as a way to add value to the treatment experience.
