Darren Kaberna

Do you know how to handle a price shopper calling into your dental office? AMPs here to show you the options you have in your dental practice to help overcome price shoppers. To begin we make them understand the importance of their condition, present their case and the value of their decision. 

How can you keep that person engaged on the phone, redirecting their needs by asking questions? What are they really calling about? Are they calling about the price of a product or are they calling you because they left their other office because of a bad experience? How will you handle this situation? Often times a new client is on your phone because of a reason other than what is being said. How willing are you to take the time to pause in the busyness of front office activities and have that potential patient feel special enough to make your office different than any place they have ever been?

Dentists are presented with a handful of different cases on a daily basis ranging from that little, easier to talk about case, to the big case that is hard to even find the right words to say. As a hygienist and dentist it is important to explore the psychology behind case acceptance.  

How do people make decisions? How can we understand what the patient is really saying with their yes or no to when it comes to spending money on dental treatment or on new shiny things.  What can we say as a dentist or hygienist to have the patient say YES to treatment? What words are we using? Do we use technical dental terms with drawn out explanations or are we presenting emotional outcomes like beauty, youth and/or change in appearance?

Research correlates performance of American dental practices with U.S. recession and recovery

Posted by DentistryIQ Editors

In an effort to "keep our industries aware of economic behavior relevant to them," according to Vijay Sikka, CEO of Sikka Software, the company released its latest white paper, the Sikka National Dental Economic Report, this week. The research, which is written by Mr. Sikka, offers an in-depth, year-over-year analysis of the recession, transition, and recovery of the American economy from 2008 to 2014 through the lens of the U.S. dental industry.

"Knowledge is power, and is the basis for measurement and comparison," Mr. Sikka said. "We publish these statistics to serve the markets we're directly in, but we also publish this data for more broad range comparison of economic measurement, allowing any consumer of our data to map the behavior in our specific health-care space to other economic data segments."

With a new year upon us, new beginnings seem to be the major thoughts of many in early January. What has your past year looked like? Did you reach the goals you created? Why or why not? Did you even make goals for last year? Was it daunting to think of all the things you wanted to change? Did you get overwhelmed, then didn't even do one of them? If you are like most, this is the path most often walked.

If you set the foundation for your goals for 2015 by writing them down, working on one or two of them daily in small doses, through time, those goals will be achieved. The key is consistency, making that foundation strong so what you build your goals and dreams upon won't waiver. This takes time and can have a latency effect – wanting everything to be done yesterday! Slow motion, accountability and consistency will change anything through time. Add patience to the recipe and you have your new beginning!

The Power of Gratitude and Appreciation within Your Dental Office

With the holidays close at hand most think of a Norman Rockwell type setting. In reality holidays prove to be a difficult time for most having to deal with stress of the season, co-workers and family. Yet the Power of Gratitude and Appreciation in your dental office (and your home life) not just during the holiday, but daily.

Practicing Gratitude and Appreciation is really all about mindset. It comes as a result of our perspective and expectations. Stephen Covey, in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, mentions 4 dimensions to keep in mind when it comes to our lives. It encompasses: spiritual, physical, social and mental aspects.