Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 28

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Chris Ramsey / Co-owner of Ritter & Ramsey

Watch the full video of interview by clicking here!

 Key Takeaways:

• Take care of your team. Your team will take care of your patients, and your patients will take care of our profits.
• Strive to be the best. You don’t have to be the best in the WHOLE world, but be the best in YOUR world.
• Success isn’t the same for everyone. Define what success means for you.
• Make sure you can answer the question “Why do people choose to come to your office?” Make sure you define your answer and clarify that vision with your team.
• Achievement is not always related to fulfilment.
• Chris Ramsey created a lecture program called M.A.S.T.E.R., dedicated to teaching people how to be great at what they do and do more of the dentistry they love.
• Mindset – The conscious, unconscious, and subconscious parts of your brain.
  • Your brain is working like a hard drive, storing information randomly.
  • Typical dental experiences are usually TERRIBLE. It’s uncomfortable, can be painful, and is filled with bad news.
  • You have to make the dental experience positive – start with a positive, and end with a positive.
• Addressing Choice – dentists have to stop overwhelming patients with too many options.
  • When it comes to choices, more is not better.
  • Influence people so they feel like the decisions they make are their own.
    • Use body language for subconscious influencing.
    • People remember most the last thing you told them.
    • The sequence you use in presenting options matters.
  • Storytelling – Approach as if you’re getting ready for a TED talk. There is an art to storytelling.
    • Craft a message map.
    • People make decisions based on emotions.
    • Use a voice recorder to really listen to what you say and how you say it.
    • Dentistry is not a commodity, it’s a service.
  • Training the Eye – Learn how to read body language.
    • Women are innately better at reading body language than men.
    • Strangers read each other at an accuracy of 20%. You can’t guess people’s reactions solely by first impression.
    • Scratching the neck indicates “I don’t really agree.”
    • Playing with hair is subconscious calming tactic.
    • Arms crossed could mean a million things, don’t assume it’s nervousness. Look at their hand position. If fists are clenched they are defensive.
    • See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil; touching their mouth/face, rubbing of eyes, rubbing/touching their nose, or touching of ears indicates anxiety or covering of truth.
    • Someone turning their torso towards you invites you into the conversation. If they turn away it’s a cue they might not want to talk to you at the moment.
    • Don’t rely on people’s faces to tell you the truth. Read their body cues instead.
    • Pay attention to the clues and craft your message accordingly.
    • Look for pacifying behaviors, assess what made them nervous, alter the conversation and move it back to neutral. Once there aren’t any more pacifying behaviors, stop talking.
  • Expectation – Why do things cost what they do? Is your product worth what you charge?
    • It’s all psychological, it’s all about the experience.
    • Trigger effect is something intangible that triggers you to say something is valuable.
    • Attention to detail is important.
  • Recognizing Persuasion – Social perception and influence is incredibly important to your business.
    • Search out the easy & right things to do for people. Those things go far to prove your value and create customers for life.
    • Reciprocation rule; do unexpected things for people and they will reciprocate.
    • Why spend money trying to get new patients who you don’t know rather than spend money on patients you already have? Invest in your patients.
  • Every person that comes through your door wants to feel a connection. You and your team should do everything you can to foster that connection. Make it about them.

 References

• Digital Smile Design (DSD)
• The Dip by Seth Godin
• Purple Cow by Seth Godin
• Poke the Box by Seth Godin
• Linchpin by Seth Godin
• Blink by Malcom Gladwell
• TED Talks
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
• Influence by Robert Cialdini
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

 Tweetables:

I don’t think anybody listening to this podcast ever wakes up, stretches, and says “I can’t wait to be mediocre today!” – Dr. Chris Ramsey

Success isn’t the same for everyone. Define what success means for you. – Dr. Chris Ramsey

Take care of your team, your team will take care of your patients, and your patients will take care of our profits. – Dr. Chris Ramsey

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Albert Einstein

It’s time to start trying new things, and start failing. – Dr. Chris Ramsey

Failure is just a seminar. A mistake is just a learning experience. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Your practice is not stagnant, that is a myth. You’re either growing, or you’re dying. – Dr. Chris Ramsey

Every person that comes through your door wants to feel a connection. – Dr. Chris Ramsey