Psychology

Often, patients dislike going to the dentist because it’s scary. They may not like the sounds, smells, or have an aversion to someone so close to their face and mouth. If you hope to grow your dental practice, then psychology is likely going to be at the root of everything you do.

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Before you can get clients in the chair, you’ve got to persuade them to change their mindset. Ultimately, this is done through dental office marketing and having great customer service. When people feel relaxed, they’re more willing to listen to your treatment plan and go with it.

Another issue you have when dealing with psychology is your own and that of your employees. You’ve got to think like them and help them understand why they’re there and what they’re doing. This is often hard, and change is difficult for most people.

That’s part of what AMP does. Once we have analyzed your practice and help you come up with the right goals and targets, there needs to be a shift in everyone’s mentality. Structure is often the first step, but there are many others. Ultimately, you’ve got to know what people think (both customers and employees) so that you can use psychology to get them where they need to be.

Changing the Patient’s Mindset

Ultimately, you have to figure out a way to change the prospect’s mindset so that they become a patient. In the medical field (and dentistry is part of that), you must shift the focus from patient to customer. In general, this means shifting your perspective and that of the employees from a provider of care to customer care/service. This is going to provide a better experience for you and the patient.

Customer service is a big part of business, regardless of the industry. Now, the future of dentistry is customer-based. Therefore, if a patient doesn’t get the care they want, they’re going to go to another provider. This indicates that you’ve got to improve your customer experience, and the best way to do that is through psychology. We understand that you’re not a psychologist and probably don’t remember much from your college courses. However, it’s what we do, and we’re good at it.

With that said, we already know more about your practice through the analysis stage. We’ve helped you work out your goals and targets so that you know what you want and how to obtain them. Now, you’ve got to work on the psychology behind it all, which we call neurolinguistics programming.

Improve Communication

Regardless of the industry, a customer’s experience focuses on communication. This means that you and your staff do everything you can to listen to the patient and their needs. However, this also shifts to the communication skills between the staff members.

If you have a receptionist who doesn’t tell you the patient is nervous, and you breeze in without knowing it, you could traumatize the person. Communication is crucial for each step of the process, from marketing to intake to the treatment and beyond.

Happy patients are often those who feel that the entire practice cares about them from the moment they arrive until they leave.

Offer Online Tools

You may not know much about the internet, but online tools are essential. Most of your patients are going to be between the ages of 20 to 40 unless you’re a pediatric dentist. Therefore, they’re going to use their smartphones for everything.

Though the service you provide is still face-to-face, online services and tools are all the rage. People don’t want to call to make an appointment. Instead, they prefer to do that online. They also like text reminders or emails sent about their bill.

Psychology plays a part here; when you do things the way the patient wants, it shows that you respect and care about them. While it’s a small thing, every little thing matters and becomes part of the big picture.

The Billing Process

No one wants to spend money, but it’s part of the process. When the billing department does its job well, customers don’t have complaints. It could be as simple as offering payment arrangements or cutting prices to be more competitive in the industry.

While your goal is to expand the practice and grow, you’ve also got to consider the patients and their ability to pay. Having great customer service does nothing for you if the patients don’t visit twice a year for cleanings or come to you when they’ve got dental emergencies. Though the billing process is essential, there are ways you can make it easier on the patients, and we can help you understand that.

Focus on Their Education and Background

Patient demographics are the biggest key to your success. Psychology focuses on education, background, and other things. Are most of your patients in the low-income bracket? Do they have access to healthy foods? These things matter and can give you insight into the kind of services they need and what they can afford to pay.

Many times, people use the internet to get information, so the educated patient is something you’re sure to see every day. They’ve researched symptoms, know what’s going to happen, and understand more. It’s up to you and your staff not to be condescending to them.

However, the flip side is also true. Some patients aren’t going to be as knowledgeable, and you can’t rush through without explaining. Bedside manner is all the more important now because you’ve got two types of patients and must be professional and caring to both. This means knowing who needs what and giving it to them in a way that they respond well to.

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Personal Distractions Have a Price

Staff members have a life outside the dental practice, and you must understand that. However, personal distractions can cost a dental office over $100,000 in lost productivity every year. It’s important to teach your team a few methods to reduce those distractions and bring the focus back to the practice.

When you use psychology in the dental practice, you’re helping the office grow and expand, but you’re also helping each team member grow within.

We are industry professionals, so we understand how cognitive behavior therapy and neurolinguistics programming help with success. This approach creates change in leadership and behaviors.

The Right Marketing for Psychological Change

You may not realize it, but psychology plays a part in your marketing. If you want it to be effective, you’ve got to think about what gets people to call or go online to make an appointment.

While you’ve got to focus on your current patients, you also want to branch out and expand the dental practice. This means using dental office marketing the best way. We can help you understand your clientele and what they like. It’s going to help you create advertisements that get results.

Ultimately, you’re going to use various methods, but digital marketing is the top contender. Social media is powerful, so building brand awareness and your online presence are important.

Changing the Employee’s Mindset

Using psychology to change the mindset of your employees is crucial. While they have outside lives, you also want them to focus on work when they’re at the office. There are plenty of ways to do that, and we can help you figure things out.

Set Your Policies

You’ve already started creating goals and targets to reach, so you’re on the right track. The policies you have in place are another step. It’s important to have a documented policy encouraging growth and development for your employees.

Learning opportunities are a big part of that. Therefore, you may want to help with their tuition or offer more options to them.

Employee conduct is also essential. Make sure that you’re encouraging productive feedback and let them feel comfortable asking questions. When you’re focused on their improvement, they’re going to want to do better.

Use Training

Training is the most important thing for your employees. Many times, they’re not as productive as you want because they don’t know what to do. Have clear task lists and define their job.

From there, you can see who doesn’t know what they’re doing. No one’s at fault, but now is the time to offer online training, mini refresher courses, and mentoring. That way, you’re gently nudging employees to want to learn and giving them the tools they need to achieve their goals.

Psychology plays a big part here. When you care about your employee, it makes them want to care about their job more, too.

Utilizing Change to Succeed

Our goal is to help your practice succeed, but we also want to give you the chance to change long after our services are done.

Mastering the psychology aspect and mindset means understanding it. That way, you can boost employee performance, and the team is going to want to do better. In all honesty, most people don’t think rationally or logically.

Consumers typically invest in anything other than their health. That’s why you and your team have to know what language to use while speaking to your patients. It also means reducing distractions at the office so that everyone’s focused on their job.

Dental Practice Psychology FAQs

We realize that you’ve still got questions. It’s difficult to recognize that psychology can help your dental practice grow. Here are a few of the more common questions we get. If we haven’t sufficiently answered everything, call us because we’re happy to go into more detail.

Q: What Does Cognitive Behavior Therapy Do for Growth?
A: Cognitive behavioral therapy can challenge and change unhelpful behaviors and distortions to improve emotions and help with coping. Typically, CBT is used in dentistry for those who have dental phobias. Employees can also learn how to change disturbing thought patterns to improve productivity and their mindset.

Q: What Is Neurolinguistic programming and how can it create change?
A: With NLP, you can detect and change unconscious limitations and biases. You use language to bring change to behaviors and thoughts. It is great for dental office marketing, but it can also be used in training for the employees. When people aren’t scared of the dentist, they’re more willing to go for treatment. Also, when employees are focused on work, there are fewer mistakes.

Q: Why Should Dental Practices Use Psychology?
A: Psychology is important in dentistry. You’ve got to understand the psychological components of seeing the dentist so that you can help your patients. It’s also good to realize how employees think so that you can help them focus their efforts and be more productive while at work. You may say you offer personalized care, pain-free dentistry, and have a welcoming staff, but what are you actually doing to make everyone’s experience better. We can help you figure that out!

Q: Can Psychology Really Help with Dental Practice Growth?
A: Yes, psychology is at the root of dental practice growth, though most people don’t realize it. At AMP, we go a step further by focusing on neurolinguistic programming and CBT to help you understand your employees and clients. Where they come from and how they think is the key to marketing and training effectively.

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Get Set for AMP to Transform Your Dental Practice

We’ve already analyzed your practice and helped you set up goals and targets to reach. Now, it’s time to take the next step in transforming your dental practice. To do that, you have to know how your employees and patients think.

Psychology is a significant aspect of dental practices. In the past, this wasn’t the case, but times are changing. If you want to succeed, you’ve got to have the right tools to do it. Though you may not know how to use psychology to grow your practice, we do. Therefore, when you work with us, you’re going to get insights into your employees and patients. Their behavior can be changed, but it takes time and effort.

With us by your side, you’re going to learn how they think, how to use that in marketing, and why dental practice training can be a psychological method to boost employee productivity and morale. While it’s not the end of the line, this step is crucial to everything that follows.