Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 29

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

Imola GP: How Norris almost beat Verstappen again