Be Yourself
Like many of you, I've taken my share of practice management courses. I wasn't too happy to learn from them that the reason my practice wasn't as joyful and expansive as I'd like was not my location, my staff, my treatment, or my fees. They said it was I! I was told that I didn't know how to relate to my clients (no longer called patients)--that I had to analyze my clients, label them, and adjust my communication to fit their needs.
One lecturer taught me there are four possible motives that dominate each person: self-preservation, recognition, romance, and money. My challenge was to determine which motive predominated and customize my presentation accordingly. For example, if money was the dominant theme, I could emphasize what a good investment orthodontics was. If it was romance, I could stress the esthetic advantages.
Another expert introduced me to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. I had thought there were just a few types of people in the world-- the good and the bad, the haves and the have-nots, the Yuppies and the Dinks (double income, no kids). Now we have ESTJs, INFPs, ENFJs, ISFPs, and 12 more. ESTJs? Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging people. INFPs? Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceptive. All I had to do was pigeonhole the patients according to their characteristics and respond to their personality types. Then they would choose my office for their treatment.
After weeks of trying to perfect my use of these systems, I was exhausted. Taking on a different personality for each patient took a lot of energy. What a blow it was to find that fewer patients were accepting treatment than before I acquired all this knowledge!
I decided to scuttle all these approaches. How about just being myself? How about simply communicating my intention to contribute to the patient's health and appearance?
It worked. More patients enrolled in my practice than ever before. I found out that people want authenticity. They know when you're trying to be what you think they want you to be. My presentations had sounded phony when I tried to win their approval. But when I told the truth--including the downside risks of treatment and the likely outcomes of not treating--the patients sensed that I was honest and chose to enroll in the practice.
Now I don't care what makes my patients tick. I just go on being me. I know I went into orthodontics because I love the work, and I get immense satisfaction from contributing to people's health and appearance. All I have to do is communicate my commitment to my patients, and they will want me to treat them.
When I was in dental school a teacher told us that if we went into dentistry to make a lot of money, it would be impossible to sell enough crowns and bridges to be satisfied. If we chose dentistry because we wanted to contribute to people's welfare, we would be amazed at how many patients would seek us out. My teacher was right.
It doesn't take a lot of management courses to learn how to be yourself. Simply listen to each patient as a friend, and communicate your commitment. If you can't do that honestly, you may want to go into another line of work, because people inevitably figure out whether you're motivated by recognition or romance--or money.