I was having some small talk with a woman at the airport on last week. There were a few questions, lots of smiles and the conversation ended with a kind farewell. We seemed to make a difference in each other’s day.
Big talk or small talk?
Dental talk or a chat?
What type of talk should we be focusing on in our Dental Office?
There are times when you become very focused on the big talk with your patients. By big talk I mean the talk about dental stuff, and you forget to make small talk.
By small talk I mean about the small personal things in life.
I believe the small talk can be the big talk when it comes to our patients.
Now I am definitely not saying that the big talk, the talk about treatment, the consequences of no treatment and a clear next step should not be a big part of your patient conversation but don’t ever underestimate the impact that small talk has on your patient.
Small talk connects you emotionally with your patient . It is where we find something in common. The small talk is also where likeability is developed and a foundation for an ongoing relationship is formed.
Small talk is what gives us the opportunity to really get to know our patients and know what they need and want.
I believe you cannot build a lasting lasting long term relationship with most of your patients with only a conversation about the patients treatment.
Nurturing a connection with the patient is ultimately what keeps your patients coming back.
Never underestimate small talk. It is very powerful stuff.
The stuff that builds your business.
The small talk can even take you to the big talk about patient treatment.
My personal experience is the small talk relaxes people so they are ready and open to the serious and important conversation about treatment.
Diving straight into discussing treatment with a patient can be very dangerous.
The small talk also gives you a perfect opportunity to find out more about the patient and what drives them in their decision making.
So next time your patient starts to chit chat with you, be part of the chat and see what a difference it makes to treatment planning and treatment acceptance from your patient.
My next public speaking event is my live full day Master Class “How to Turn Every Dental Phone Call Into A Valued and Kept Appointment” and is being held on the Gold Coast on Thursday 7th June 2018.
Click here on this link to register.
Click here for information on the Gold Coast.
There are only a few seats left.
After the Gold Coast I will be presenting my Master Class “How to Turn Every Dental Phone Call Into A Valued and Kept Appointment” in Sydney on Friday 22nd June 2018.
Click here on this link to register.
Click here for information on Sydney.
Then London here I come. I will be presenting with Dr David Moffet at the Ultimate Patient Experience Workshop on Saturday 4th August 2018
Click here on this link to register.
Click here for information on London.
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Dental Phone Excellence is a simple to implement complete Phone Answering system I developed that helped me to build an extraordinary dental practice in the heart of working class western Sydney.
If you’d like to know more, download my sixteen page FREE special report “How I Quickly and Easily Went From 35% to 77% New Patient Telephone Conversions, and Doubled The Size of my Dental Practice Along the Way” and discover some of the many costly mistakes being made on your phone…..
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At present I have availability for TWO new private clients. For more information on how I can improve your Dental Office’s Phone Numbers contact me, Jayne Bandy at jayne@theDPE.com