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 the part of the buyer in moving forward. However, fee presenters who are not trained in negotiating skills, including many TCs, miss the point. That is most unfortunate, because as you will see in a moment, knowing what to do when presented with these buying questions can be a pivotal factor in getting to “yes”.

Enter….The Porcupine.

The “Porcupine Technique” is a business negotiating tactic that is used to gain commitment on a point initiated by the buyer. Essentially, this is done by answering a question from the buyer with a question of your own – hence the name. To illustrate, lets consider how two different TCs handle the first question on the list, which, in my experience, is the most common of the group:

TC #1:
Patient: “Can I put more money down?”
TC: “Yes, of course you can.”
<silence>

TC#2:
Patient: “Can I put more money down?”
TC: Yes, of course you can. How much would you like to put down?”
Patient: “I was thinking around $1000.”
TC: Let’s see what that would do to your monthly payments.” (calculates)
TC: That would leave you with payments of 208.33 per month. Would that work for your budget?”
Patient: “Yes, I could manage that.”
TC: “Great. Let’s get your next appointment scheduled.”

Note that the questions the TC asks here ask for action, and with each response, the buyer is moving the decision process forward to closure.

It is worth noting that there is nothing pushy or aggressive about the Porcupine Method; you are simply asking good questions to direct the conversation in a way that helps the family make a decision. If they are not ready to proceed, they will let you know, but more often than not, you will have an outcome exactly as outlined above – one in which everybody, including the practice, wins.