Why Patients Say No (Even When You’re Right)

The difference between associates producing $8K a day versus $1.4K a day? It has nothing to do with clinical skill.

In this episode, the DPH coaches explain why building rapport with patients is the foundation of case acceptance. You'll learn how to coach your associates without pushing them away, a 2-minute exercise that makes patient conversations feel more natural, and how to work as a team to build trust before the doctor even walks in.

Topics discussed:

• When associates don’t want to build rapport
• A simple exercise to build patient connections
• The cost of poor treatment planning
• How to explain rapport to associates in a way that gets buy-in
• How to build trust before the doctor walks in
• Conversation starters that actually feel natural
• The right way to coach associates (& why it’s a non-negotiable)

This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com

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Transcript

Diagnosis Needs Trust First

Paul Etchison 0:01

Your associate, well, I'm afraid they've got a problem. And you, as the owner doc, you may also have this problem. I'm not talking about a production problem. Today, I'm talking about a connection problem. You see, most dentists, we think if the diagnosis is correct, that the patient's gonna say yes. And that's not how it works. Patients say yes when the person standing in front of them is trusted by them. They have to have that trust. So if your associate or you yourself, you walk into the room, you look at the tooth, you give the diagnosis, and you walk out. You really can't be surprised when the treatment plan acceptance is terrible. So today we're gonna get into the real stuff that actually drives production and case acceptance in an associate-driven practice. We're gonna be talking about rapport, treatment planning mistakes, and how to coach associates without pushing them away and why some doctors consistently produce at a high level while others struggle. And if you don't have associates right now, this applies to you as well. These are things that you should be doing so that you can make sure your associates are doing as well. This is one of those episodes we go, we go way off the rails a little bit. There's some pretty wild patient stories, some tangents, and some moments that are just, you know, real life dentistry. So I know you're gonna enjoy this one. Now, you were listening to the Dental Practice Heroes podcast, where we teach you how to create the team-driven practice that allows you to take off as much time as you want while still making an insane income and insane level of fulfillment in your life. Now, I'm your host, Dr. Paul Etchison. I'm the author of two books on dental practice management. I'm a dental coach and I'm the owner of a large five doctor practice in the south suburbs of Chicago. If you want your associates to produce more, communicate better, and actually enjoy practicing dentistry, you are in the right place today because I am joined by the DPH coaches, Dr. Henry Ernst. He's the owner of an 18-op practice in North Carolina, and Dr. Steven Markowitz, the owner of six practices in the Boston area. These guys live out what dental practice heroes teach us every day in their own practices. All right, let's dive in. You know, we got some good response. We did the episode on weird stuff when things get weird, and we had a lot of funny, funny, weird things. Henry, after that episode dropped, had a follow-up weirdy that happened. Tell us about it, Henry.

Henry Ernst 2:20

Literally, like the next day or two, it just came out of the blue. And I know you're gonna take a snippet of this and put it on the internet as a social media post. Yeah. But basically, it was a brand new patient, really nice, probably like 23-year-old girl, and just a regular exam. Everything looked great. And at the end of the visit, she did the characteristic, like look to the left, and there was an assistant in there. She looked at me and said, I have a weird question to ask you. And she pointed to her front tooth and she said, I'm concerned about this tooth. It looks like it's kind of weak. My husband's coming home. He's uh he's a marine, and he's coming home, and I want to perform oral on him. Should I be worried about this tooth? So, gosh, there were so many things going through my head, answers that I could have really said, but my really starch professional clinical answer was this tooth looks fine. I wouldn't be concerned about it.

Paul Etchison 3:11

I feel like my head goes like, is your husband like a human or like a stone statue? Like, has he been taking the Frank Thomas pills? Do you guys know the Frank Thomas pills or is that a Chicago thing?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I think that's a Chicago thing.

A Wild Patient Question

Paul Etchison 3:24

Do you guys have like ex-athletes on like late night TV? I see him on those commercials for like testosterone stuff, but I don't know he had like boner phones.

Henry Ernst 3:31

Yeah, yeah, that's stuff. That's what I'm talking about. I didn't know if that was just like a local thing. I know he had boner pills. Aren't those boner pills?

Paul Etchison 3:36

No, I thought it's just testosterone. Oh, that's part of it. I guess. Yeah. Yeah, we're just gonna let's move on.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

This is how we coach associate doctors to be better, to be better practice leads, I think. With pills? Whatever it takes, bitch.

Paul Etchison 3:50

Going on tangents. Yeah. Well, you know what? You're right. Whatever it takes. All right, let's talk about some associate stuff. I'm working with someone right now that's realizing, and it's one of those things with associates, is like we just pray that it works. And I've done this, like, pray. I hope they look okay. They seem okay. I don't know if I have to work with them that much. And then you start getting these occasional patient complaints, and you see it, and you kind of just push it off, and then you finally have the conversation and you realize something needs to be done with this. I have a coaching client right now that's dealing with this with one of her associates. And the whole thing is like just doesn't want to get to know the patient, doesn't want to do any rapport building. It's just not her style. But it's like, what do you do? I mean, how do you handle that? I mean, how many associate doctors do you have, Steve? There's 24 of us. Twenty-four? Yeah. Us. It's an us, it's not of them. It's an us, babe. Oh man. This is um whatever it takes, man. Whatever it takes, Steve.

Why Associates Struggle With Rapport

SPEAKER_01 4:44

There's a whole nother episode on uh what we can call each other. But when you do have a good group of doctors that don't isn't just you, there are a few things that are more freeing because you can then build a true business where you can be the CEO who runs the business, you can be a dentist, you can be you're not just the technician only. And that is super freeing, but uh it takes a lot to get there. Uh and I think the biggest thing for me is to make sure you have clear expectations for what that associate is, and then be patient enough and willing to invest long enough. And then I hear this a lot. Well, what if I invest and they leave? That's happened to me. They've they've left, so I don't want to do that again. So I'm either not gonna bring on an associate or I'm I'm just gonna not even worthwhile investing because they're once they get good, they're just gonna leave. And I just haven't had that experience. If you're able to really create an environment where doctors can thrive and they can make as much as they want and can have freedom to do the type of dentistry they want, it can be a very win-win for everyone. So that's kind of where my head goes, and I'm happy to get more granular as we dive into what that could look like.

Paul Etchison 5:55

Well, what's interesting from your perspective, Steve, is that I can talk about my experience and I feel like I have a lot of associate experience. And I've been through, you know, in my career of associates, I mean, we started so we're about a decade into associate practice, and I've had like maybe 12, 13, and I feel like I've got a ton of experience. You've got 24 active associates right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Yeah.

Paul Etchison 6:15

Like I don't feel like qualified to be in this room with you.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

That's that's below you. Most people turn to it into the show just to listen to you, and then they fast forward what I talk. So um well, I don't agree with that at all.

Paul Etchison 6:28

Well, Henry, let's get something from Henry. Henry's here. Hi, Henry.

Henry Ernst 6:32

Hey, what's up? Yeah, that plus 30 second button works really great for that, Steve.

Paul Etchison 6:36

Yeah. We only let it's a rule. We tell Steve, dude, come on, man. You went like 40 seconds there. You know the fucking rule.

Henry Ernst 6:43

30 seconds, Steven. This topic is actually top of mind because I had two coaching calls yesterday, and both of them, one of the main things were what's going on with can you help me with my associates, right? And let's go, like one of them, really bad treatment plan acceptance. Treatment plan acceptance is just terrible, right? So doing a deep dive, the associate never makes connection with the patient, just like you were talking about, Paul. Never makes connection. So this happens a lot. I don't know what it is about the dental school community when they graduate, but it seems like dental school provides a lot of people who don't have personality. Not everybody's like us, I guess, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

So yes, amazing personalities we have, Henry.

Simple Coaching To Build Connection

Henry Ernst 7:24

Yes, we sure do, man. You feel it, it's energy. It's it's hitting all the chakras. It's kind of like when I used to interview associates, I do the beer test. Like, is this the type of person that I feel like I could have a beer with and just have a normal conversation with? Apparently, there's not a lot of associates like this. So this particular associate was walking into a room. Let's say the patient had a broken tooth, and they were walking into the room and saying, I'm Dr. Ernst, let's take a look at your broken tooth. That's it. Like literally, that was it, right? So I've had associates like this in the past, and I'm just like you, Paul. I've been 10 years into associate practice, and I've had this happen before where we'll do an exercise at lunchtime and I'll get an assistant or two, and we'll give them note cards. And on the note cards, it has like, My name is John, I'm a truck driver, I'm originally from Washington, DC. I have two kids, and it makes them we make them have three connections. You're only you're not allowed to discuss any dentistry. So check me out. Yeah. So hey, I'm hey, I'm sometimes sometimes people are comfortable with, some people are not, but some people say it's better to walk in the room and introduce yourself by your first name. Hi, I'm Paul. I do that. And then, you know, uh, most common question that's easy is are you originally from this area? Oh no, I'm from Washington, DC. Oh man, what brought you here? I'm a truck driver. Oh man, I drive three hours to you know to come to work once a week there. Man, I can't imagine how you do that, right? So there's one connection.

Paul Etchison 8:49

Boom.

Henry Ernst 8:49

So the key thing is teaching your associates that you need to establish rapport with the patients. That improves your treatment plan segment so much. And the second one that came right off the charts was the dental associate that's not too far out of school that's doing like stupid dental school treatment planning, right? Decay that's really close to the pulp. Oh, let's have a six visit procedure where we remove the decay one visit, we come back and we do this, we come back and we do that. And I'm like, no, that's not how you do it, right? We have an office-wide policy where we have, you know, we're a four of doctor practice right now. And if there's decay that's really close to the pulp and we're treating plant a crown for sure, we treatment plant a root canal also. Not because we definitely gonna do it, but gosh, the worst shit in the world is when a patient's in the chair and you treat and plant it for a crown and all of a sudden it's into the pulp. Now you gotta stop everything. The patient feels like they're blackmailed, they got their mouth open, they're going through a treatment plan while they're numb and oh, you got to do this root canal too. Sorry. Yeah. How much better is it to already have the root canal treatment plan? So if that does happen, hey, hey, John, you know, it's just like we talked about it, maybe. It's into the nerve. We're gonna proceed with the root canal. You already have the consent sign, you already have everything. But also, you're like the hero if it doesn't. Like, hey, it doesn't look like we need to do it, but we're still got it just in case.

Treatment Planning Mistakes That Backfire

Paul Etchison 10:05

What's so strange about that is it reminds me of this one associate I had that did an E and E. Next visit, E and E number three. And I didn't mean for that to rhyme like it did, but it sounded really good off my lips. Felt good. And so E-E stands for excavate and evaluate. So, like here's my thought process here is that let's say you go in, you get into the nerve, like you say, Henry, and you're gonna say, okay, we need to do the root canal, and the patient's like, I can't do it. Then what? Well, you gotta do it. Why? Because if if you don't, this is gonna hurt really freaking bad lately, later. Yeah. Well, then why do we do this? The only thing that's like that's like hostage. That's like forceful.

Henry Ernst 11:28

Also, in a multi-doctor practice, both of you can attest to this. Sometimes we see a patient that's tree implanted by somebody else. And I used to hate that before we had this calibrated where, gosh, this two things are freaking root canal. It wouldn't even transplant for a root canal, right? So we try to make it so in our doctor team meetings, like years ago, we said this. Listen, when we see the kid that's close to the pulp, all of us are going to treat implant a root canal. And we're gonna tell them, doesn't mean it's gonna necessarily be there, but it's in the treatment plant already. So we make our lives easier. And it's calibrated for all the doctors.

Paul Etchison 11:59

Well, I'd like to know, like I always like to frame things when I'm trying to teach anyone on my team something, like why does this matter for the patients? Why is this the right thing to do? The E and E thing, the not treatment plan, the root canal, I feel like that's a very simple one. You put the patient in a really crappy position where you're almost forcing them to continue forward. Like you're taking away, you're taking away their like autonomy, you're taking away their freedom to choose, Meryl, more or less. But like, I'm gonna go back to Steve for this one. How do we put it in a way, like the rapport? Why is that important? How do you get the associate to understand that is important, even if that person cannot get out of their comfort zone and have one of those magical conversations Henry just made up there? I mean, he did you hear what he did? He asked the person where they're from. Did you ask where they're from, Henry?

Henry Ernst 12:45

It's like my my assistants will joke. I always say it to every patient.

Paul Etchison 12:48

Brilliant.

Henry Ernst 12:48

Originally from here.

Paul Etchison 12:49

I can't even do that. I mean, I how do you do that? You asked them where they were from. And then when they told you, you asked them a follow-up question. Who? Yeah, what magic school did you go to to learn how to do that?

Henry Ernst 13:02

Life.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

It is amazing. But how do you present that to a person? But I I think before we even start to have those conversations with the new doctor, it like hiring the associate doctor is not the finish line. That's actually just the beginning. Good point. And when if they want to help a lot of patients and they want to make a lot of money, they're not gonna do it by not connecting with patients. They're not gonna do it by not getting patients to say yes to their treatment. So I try to understand, doctor, you're coming into this practice. What is it that you hope to get out of it? What's a good day for you? Is a good day$5,000 in nursery? Is a good day just doing a buckle amalgams? Like, let me understand what that is because then I can help coach you to get there. And I promise you, if you only want to do buckle amalgams, that's great. Keep doing what you're doing. Like go in there and just say there's decay on the buckle of 30 and just do that all day. That's perfect. But if you tell me that you want more out of your days and that you want to really do more comprehensive dentistry, I promise you that this approach isn't gonna work. And then I will make it. The reason why I know that is because I messed up a zillion times walking in thinking that if I come in with a shirt and tie and my white jacket and I just point the teeth, that people are gonna listen and I'm gonna get to do the time of dentistry because I'm the doctor. And that just isn't true. So I try to share my experience with them so that they don't have to go through that same pain. And then we have the data, we have the treatment planning numbers, and I can show them what someone who does a really good job of building rapport, why they have 40 plus percent acceptance, and why someone who doesn't, or maybe that may be an opportunity, is only in the teens, and that this doctor is now doing$8,000 a day while you're doing$1,400. You know how much more freedom they have, you know how much more dentistry they get to do, you know how many more choices they get. And that's the conversation where how we start it. And now, once they see that this is actually beneficial to them, they'll be open to learning some of the techniques like Henry just did of how to how to take a simple conversation starter and turn it into a rapport builder.

Paul Etchison 15:15

Yeah, and I love that you said that. And I love that you said it's like it doesn't end at the hiring of the person. And for our listeners, a great book is The Art of Small Talk. I mean, it's a very basic book, man. Well, you know what? I liked the book. I'm gonna say it's amazing to me that you have to make a book like this, but I really enjoyed that book. So I I'm not gonna I'm gonna take that back. But you're right, like I think, you know, framing it a way of saying like I would almost take the approach that we don't help our patients get healthy unless they say yes. I would also take the approach of, you know, occasionally we've got family and friends that want to see us that don't want a discount. Not if you're like my wife's family. They're only coming because I'm the discount Donnie here. That's what they want. But I have a lot of friends that will come see me and they will say, dude, I don't want a discount. Charge me full price. I just want to come because I trust you. You know, and I think that's something to like kind of lean back on is that what we're looking for is building trust. And how can we build trust by just walking in with our power white jacket on and our tie? And I used to do that too. I used to do the tie and and the jacket, and and I used to jump right in, like, tell me what's ailing you. I mean, that's not what I said, but I would be like, you know, tell me what brought you in. And it's amazing when I started taking time to build rapport, which was incredibly easy. I mean, it it didn't take a lot. And you don't have to build a lot. I mean, I'm talking, it might feel like five minutes, but I think if I timed it, it's probably like a minute and a half, two minutes.

Use Goals And Data To Coach

Henry Ernst 16:38

When we do that exercise, it's amazing how it opens a doctor's eyes. It's gosh, you know what? This is not hard, right? I literally like I'll time them. Like, look, you just made three connections in a minute, four, fifty seconds, right? That was great. Because the problem is this is a typical avatar of a dentist, right? They're so concerned about their technical skill, which is great. They're so concerned about that 0.5 millimeter margin here or there, whatever, that they don't put any effort into the human aspect of things. I mean, we all see these forums. Like, how many times do people talk on these forums about how do I talk better to my patients about, like, you know, and getting developer poor? Never, ever, ever, ever. And I learned this as an associate. I worked as an associate for a doctor who I was just doing surgery for him. I'd go in there and do, he never removed teeth. So I'd go in there one day a week. I was like that hustle and bustle associate, trying to make money wherever I could. So I had an extra day and I'd go in there, and he was not a great clinician. Let's say it that way: like open margins here, this and that. But he was the nicest guy in the world. Everybody loved him. He developed report, everybody, you know, patients would just totally praise on him. But as a technical dentist, and I was like, that guy's terrible, right? Obviously, that's not we what we aspire to be, but it shows you a it's almost like a study. And gosh, you could be really successful if you're I was saying to myself, this guy's successful, and he's not a great technical dentist, but his personality skill is amazing. What if I could parlay that to have both? Oh my gosh, I'll be a rock star.

Paul Etchison 18:05

It's a superpower. I mean, you can't clean an open margin unless it's really open.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

That's a very good point.

Paul Etchison 18:11

That is true.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I also think it is helpful because it's so uncomfortable for most dentists to like go in there and be like, How was your weekend? This is what I hear. How was your weekend? Do you live close by? Like, I hear it all the time and I cringe because it's so uncomfortable. It also is okay to go in into that room and say, Hi, I'm Dr. Markowitz. I'm here to help you today. Do you have any questions for me before I begin? And just then sit there and let them talk at you for a little bit. Let them try to find ways to connect with you too. It doesn't always have to be you, you as the dentist going in there with your list of questions to build rapport. I find it that I can, once I get them talking, I can weave some things in there. I also lean on my assistant or my hygienist to find some information that I can walk in. So if they came to they just they just had a trip or something, I have my assistant or my hygienist be like, just got back from Chicago. And I was like, Oh, awesome. I I love Chicago. Give me some cues to set me up for success here. And that's the benefit of a team when the hygienist maybe spent 40 minutes in there and I'm just walking in and have three things on my mind, or the assistant was taking all the data and they just spent 20 minutes with them. Like, let's work together as a team to create that rapport. It doesn't just need to be on us to have these awkward conversation starters, but those do work. And once we can get a routine of or build the habit of how to start a conversation comfortably, then we can lean on those and find really good results with it.

Paul Etchison 19:47

You know what I'd like to hear, Steve, is like when you just said, hi, I'm Dr. Steve and I'm here to help, you've slowed down your speech a lot.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah.

Paul Etchison 19:53

Can I hear your real, like authentic, like walk into the room opening? Because I don't think that's it. That sounded way too slow.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

I dude, it's so funny. And no, um, because um it's such a show. I want to hear it. It's such a show. Like, I when I first started in practice. Sub, Steve. When I first started in practice and I would wear my shirt and tie and my white coat, like I had to be Dr. Markowitz. Like that was the that was the character I was playing because I I don't even know if I believe myself because I was only two in my twenties. But now I'm I'm very comfortable walking in and and saying, like, hey, I'm Steve Markowitz, I'm here, I'm here to help. So it sounds something like that.

Paul Etchison 20:29

Like it's I want to hear the real enthusiasm, though. I want to hear what it really sounds like.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Okay. I'll do mine. Yeah. Paul, it's so great to see you. Uh Dr. Mark Witz, how can I help you today? That's exactly what it sounds like. Hi, Dr.

Paul Etchison 20:42

Do you mind? What's your first name, Dr. Mark Witz? I don't I don't feel comfortable calling you doctor. Oh, please don't. Uh most people call me Steve. Yeah, Steve. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Mine's like uh, hey, how you doing? Hey, hey, Dr. Paul, nice to meet you. Welcome. We're happy to have you. You go by Dr. Paul? Yeah. I well, you know what? That that felt weird when I said it. I definitely don't say Dr. Etchison. I say Paul. Maybe I'd say doctor. I think I do say Dr. Paul now.

unknown 21:06

Cool.

Paul Etchison 21:06

I haven't seen a new patient in a really long time.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah.

Paul Etchison 21:08

Maybe you should do more dentistry. Yeah. Oh, well, I can't. I got this elbow issue. Oh, really? No, I actually I just tell my patients. Well, I tell some patients that because they only want to see me. Oh, he's got this elbow issue. Can't see him anymore.

Henry Ernst 21:20

Now it's out in the open. Here it is. Henry, you gotta go. You gotta go, man. Let's see. Oh. Let's hear yours. Hey, I'm Dr. Ernst. How's it going today? And I sit down, and then I usually, my first line is usually like, so are you originally from this area? And that leads to all these other paths, right? Yeah. And I do the same thing. I try to get three connections before I talk anything dentistry. It just works.

Paul Etchison 21:40

Well, I like the opener, like, yeah, how did you hear about us? Just curious how you heard about us. I like that too. Because then they can always bring somebody up. I can be like, oh, I love that person.

Team Cues And Better Room Openers

Henry Ernst 21:48

For us, the Charlotte Metro is like the fourth or fifth grow fastest growing area in the country right now. So most people are from everywhere else. So I've always got my go-to's. Like if they say they're from New York, I was born in New York. If they say Florida, shit. I know I used to live in Florida most of my life, Alabama, I went to school there. You know, like I can parlay any answer into something, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Every room that I walk into, I say it's so great to see you, whether I've I've met them before or not. Say, hey, Dr. Mark, it's so great to see you. And I want to start with something positive. And I like when they are sitting up in the chair. And then I will come in and I will say something like, once I have a conversation, is it okay if I sit you back? I want them to say yes.

Paul Etchison 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

And then I'll make a joke of like, it's kind of like kind of why you're here, right? And then once then I can sit them back and take a look and and start to do my exam.

Paul Etchison 22:39

You ever hear everybody say, like, I'm not going back?

SPEAKER_01 22:41

Get on my lap, big boy. Yeah. There is that person. It's like I my my neck hurts. My back hurts. I can only go.

Paul Etchison 22:47

But how do you sleep?

SPEAKER_01 22:48

And then I just uh I'm like, oh, I better press the eject button. That's the joke I use then.

Henry Ernst 22:52

That's that's actually really good for old people. That's really good for old people because some people have back trouble and it's being considerate, right?

Paul Etchison 23:00

Yeah.

Henry Ernst 23:00

A couple other points that I'll make. So let's talk like recalls. I think a really good one for recalls is you walk in and you just basically say, Hey, hey, Paul, how's it going? You know, anything exciting or new going on in life. I say the same thing.

Paul Etchison 23:11

Yeah.

Henry Ernst 23:12

Anything exciting or new going on in life. So this way, they may say something, and that leads to more conversation and stuff like that. So again, you're always continuing the rapport of that development of the relationship. And I'll say one other thing, because this was said earlier, I think I forgot which one of you guys said it, but as an owner doctor, right? We've had, you know, we typically will have three to four associates all times. And it's been 10 years now. Have there been times where I've put a lot of mentorship and effort and teaching and I turned somebody into such a rock star that they went on their own and they turned out to be an amazing doc and started amazing practice somewhere else? Yes, that has happened, right? So as an owner doc, you can't let that be a guardrail, right? I'm gonna put everything I have into this associate. And you know what? If I do turn them into a rock star and they go somewhere else and they develop an amazing life, you know what? They're always gonna remember me. That's like a legacy. So as an owner doc, don't have that fear. Like you're gonna limit. I'm just gonna have them just drill and fill. No, mentor them, train them, right? It also is a good thing nowadays, is it seems like there's a movement now for younger docks not to go into ownership between all of the expenses from school and nerve of getting into it? Is it me, Paul? Or have you guys seen that also? No, I feel it too. So sometimes, like, hey, we provide that nice home. I'll mentor the heck out of you. We'll get your production per hour at a great level. So don't let that be a guardrail for all you owner docs out there. Put everything you got into your associates, and hey, if worse comes worse, you may have five or six rock stars that are out there practicing in different parts of the country, and that was you. You created that.

Mentorship Without Fear Of Leaving

Paul Etchison 24:46

We just started an associate that's it. She's graduated in 2018, and she's just filling in two days because we actually had a rock star associate that went and opened his own practice, and now he's just two days. He went from full time to two days. So we're she's using filling in, and she's been seeing Pito for since she graduated. I was mentoring the other day, and I said, you know what? I totally stop me if I don't want to make it seem like I don't think you know what you're doing. I know you've been doing this a very long time. And her attitude was like, No, I want to learn from you. Like, this is great. Let's keep going. And it was like two days before I was doing my three-day virtual seminar. So I was like, Well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna get my slides out. I like literally popped out the slides and I went through like a bunch of patient experience things with her, one of which was asking permission to lean back. But she loved it. She had such a great attitude about it. And I find most associates do have that attitude. When I've gotten the reverse attitude, it's when I didn't lead with that and I was doing it reactively three, four months later, correcting issues. Whenever I've started with the mentorship, it's always acceptable. It's normal. So you got to make it okay. Uh, Steve, you got one more thing, and then we gotta wrap it up. This one got a little bit long.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Yeah, when Henry was talking, I was I think it's a Richard Branson quote. It was something like, When you're afraid to invest in your employees, and he said something like, The worst thing that you could do is not invest and they stay.

Paul Etchison 26:02

Yeah. And I think if you I mean, part of like engagement, team engagement is mastering the process of whatever your role is. And I think when we pour training into our team, they do stay. I think it plays hand in hand correlated with retention. I think it's the reason they don't stay is because you don't pour into them, you know? So yeah, the great topic, guys. I think that was awesome. All right. So what it really comes down to is this great dentistry does not automatically lead to great results. Connection does. Connecting on an emotional level and building that trust. And if you're associates or you are not building the trust, if you're not slowing down and talking to patients and taking the time to connect, it doesn't matter how good the clinical skills are, the patients are not going to say yes. So here are a few key things I want you to remember from this episode. First of all, rapport, not optional. It is the foundation of treatment acceptance. Deep in our hearts, if our mission is to get our patients healthy, we need them to say yes to treatment. So we need to do things that increase case acceptance and treatment acceptance. Rapport, not optional. It's one of those things. Next, coaching and associate, it starts way before the problems show up, not after. You do not want to be reactive in this. You want to proactively coach these people and you want to get in there so that you're getting the behaviors out of them that you want that are in line with your brand and the way that you take care of patients. And lastly, clear expectations and consistent mentorship. That is what's going to create a confident, productive doctor at your practice. So don't overlook that. Make sure it is a priority for you. And if you want help building an associate-driven practice where your doctors are producing at such a high level that you are able to make a great profit without even picking up a handpiece, then go to dentalpracticeherous.com slash strategy, set up a call with me. This is exactly what we teach our coaching clients. We teach them how to create a practice that doesn't require them as the owners to make money. And then as the owner of a practice like that, you can now insert yourself wherever you want. Want to practice four days a week? Awesome. Want to practice one day a week? Awesome. Want to practice zero days a week? Cool. We can do that too. So check that out. No pressure, just a conversation, just clarity. And before you go, if this podcast has been helpful to you, leave a five star review. That's the easiest way to support it. Tell a colleague about it. It takes just a moment, and I would appreciate it so very much. So you have a great day at the office today. We'll talk to you next time.