700: Christina Byrne - Case Acceptance - Navigating the Chairside Path to Profitability

In this episode, Kirk shares a recent webinar with ACT Director of Coaching, Christina Byrne, on case acceptance. They share a ton of secrets on how to improve case acceptance, like the importance of mindset, the role of the clinical team and the need for preclinical interviews to involve the patient, and the importance of customized care to differentiate a dental practice. They also discuss the need to address patient questions and concerns, handle objections effectively, and measure success using key performance indicators (KPIs). And as always on the Best Practices Show, Kirk and Christina provide a call action for dental professionals to implement the discussed strategies in their practice.

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• Subscribe to the Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listen
• Join the Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
• Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt/
• See the ACT Dental/BPA Live Event Schedule: https://www.actdental.com/event/
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Main Takeaways: 

• Believe in the value of dentistry as a valuable investment in oral health
• Utilize resources like the To The Top Study Club and the Best Practice Academy
• Involve the entire clinical team in case acceptance
• Use open-ended questions and change talk to understand the patient's desired outcome

Quotes

“I believe that money spent on dentistry is one of the best investments a human being can make, period, exclamation point. I believe that to my soul, I've seen it happen. We now have researched that shows that every investment you make into this, you know, to your oral health not only improves the quality, but possibly the length of your life, all of these things. And so I think that's the biggest part we have to start with is mindset.” (03:24 - 03:48)

“I think it's important when you set the patient up to learn with you and to pay attention, really, because that's going to be the biggest piece, is just keeping their attention the whole way through the appointment.” (23:58 - 24:11)

“Those preclinical conversations, we want to ask those open -ended questions to figure out what is it that's going to motivate the patient. And we say open -ended because if I ask you, do you have any questions for me? The answer is going to be no, and the conversation is over. There's no way to get back into that conversation once the patient has said no, and it's over. So we have some really good examples of some open -ended questions. What are your concerns or what concerns do you have for your teeth or your mouth? So you can see now they've got to think about that. Now, one of the things that I will challenge you with is when you ask that question, then again, be quiet. Don't try to fill the space.” (29:39 - 30:20)

“If I go to anybody's website, if I pick 10 office websites, I will guarantee you that at least nine of them all say that they provide comprehensive care. So that is not differentiating, but customized care is very different because now I'm saying to you, Mrs. or Mr. Patient or John C. Patient, I'm going to provide a treatment plan that is just for you. It's not a one size fits all. It is just for you. These are the things that I would recommend for you. And I think that that's really important, letting them know that everything is customized. We are the experts, right? I mean, they come to us for that reason. It is important for us to tell them exactly what we see.” (37:57 - 38:41)

“Final takeaways. You can't want it more than them, right? You have to know what they want and finding out what motivates that patient and how they're gonna benefit from the treatment and let them kind of discover on their own how this is going to affect them and improve their life. Sometimes just making a little sticky note and putting it in the back of your operation to remind yourself when you're sitting knee to knee with the patient to ask those open -ended questions. And it's not going to happen overnight. So just kind of think about it a little bit, try it out a little bit. You'll start to understand and feel for what sounds right coming from you. And the more authentic that you make it, the better it will be for the patient.” (01:07:42 - 01:08:58)

“PIT is procedure, investment, and time. And those are the three big pieces that most patients are gonna wanna talk about and feel really comfortable about before they even get in your appointment book.” (01:10:19 - 01:10:31)

Snippets:

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:24 The Importance of Mindset

05:12 Introduction to To The Top Study Club

08:28 Introduction to BPA (Best Practice Academy)

09:53 The Cornerstone of a Thriving Dental Practice

11:20 The Role of the Clinical Team in Case Acceptance

15:30 Preclinical Interviews and Involving the Patient

28:05 Understanding the Patient's Desired Outcome

37:29 Differentiating with Customized Care

43:14 Addressing Patient Questions and Concerns

45:02 Handling Patient Objections

51:07 Measuring Success with KPIs

58:06 Follow-up and Unscheduled Treatment Plan

01:03:06 Improving Verbal Skills

01:08:04 Final Takeaways and Call to Action

Christina Byrne Bio

Christina Byrne has been involved in dentistry since 1985. Over the years she has held many positions on the dental team including dental assistant, business office, and dental hygienist. Christina’s extensive knowledge of the front office and clinical procedures is a great asset and she loves to impart her knowledge to guide dental teams do the best they can to achieve a Better Practice Better Life!