#109: Why Patients Say Yes - Reciprocity (part 1)

In this episode of the Dental Marketing Secrets Podcast, I introduce the psychology behind why patients say yes, drawing from Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book Influence. We start with the first principle, reciprocity, and why it plays such a powerful role in building trust and confidence in dentistry.

I break down how education, time, and experience-based value create goodwill with patients long before treatment is ever discussed. You’ll hear practical, ethical examples of how reciprocity shows up in real dental practices and simple ways you can apply it to improve patient experience, case acceptance, and long-term loyalty.

If you want to help patients move forward with confidence without pressure or sales tactics, this episode lays the foundation.

Takeaways

• Reciprocity is a natural human tendency to give back
• Building trust is essential before patients make decisions
• Education helps patients feel valued and informed.
• Experience-based reciprocity can alleviate patient anxiety
• Lowering barriers of entry can increase patient visits
• Creating educational content builds trust and value

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Influence and Persuasion
02:56 Understanding Reciprocity in Influence
12:07 Applying Reciprocity in Dental Practice
21:50 Actionable Steps for Building Reciprocity

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Transcript

0:01

All right, welcome back to another episode of the Dental Marketing Secrets podcast. I am your host, Mark Thackeray, and today we are on episode 109, Why Patients Say Yes. We're gonna be talking a little bit about the principle of influence, and this is actually a six part series, maybe seven part series, we'll see, on this book by Dr. Robert Cialdini called The Psychology of Influence. And I got this years ago. and have read it multiple times. It's very, very fascinating. Goes into the reasons why we say yes to requests and breaks it down into six different principles. He later added a seventh. So we may add that in down the road, but it's really, really fascinating. Once we dive into this, you'll see how these principles of influence and persuasion show up in our life. And we'll talk about that in just a sec. but this is a great book if you haven't read it. It's a good lesson. He does the reading as well. But it's fantastic. It's full of lots of different examples and case studies that you can take and apply to your practice. He doesn't mention anything specific to dental, but we're gonna customize that a little bit today based on what I've seen and just what we're, all the research that's been done around these principles. And it's interesting too, because when we talk about the principle of persuasion or influence, what I, my worst fear is that you are thinking that this is going to be, we're trying to manipulate and that is not the case. That is not the case. If you've listened to my podcast for really any amount of time, you know how, how much stress I put on education and valuing the, the choices that we give to our patients, helping them see what their options are, see what the likely outcomes of those options are, and the empowerment that we can give them so that they can make the best decision possible. So that's really what I'm all about, but it's fascinating to learn what are those things that help us better motivate or help us come to someone's side a little bit. And so it's a really fascinating psychology, which is really kind of what marketing is at its... crux is trying to understand where people are coming from and help them get to where they're going. And so I'm not not by any means I'm not saying to use these principles for to deceive or anything like that. um I've just found this extremely fascinating and I think it can be very helpful and insightful. m And it also helps prepare us to if we feel like we are if these principles are working against us and how how we can kind of avoid that, falling into that trap. So I think it's very educational. So this is why I'm sharing it. But I'd love to get your feedback on this as well. So really, we're gonna start with the first principle today. And the first principle is reciprocity. uh reciprocity, the principle of reciprocity is pretty easy to understand. We see this all the time in our life. And I'll give you several examples. But the idea is that We feel we have a natural desire to give back to others what they've given to us. So if someone, let's say a friend invites you to a party, eventually down the road, you may feel obligated to invite that person to a party. Or if they bring over a gift, you may have the desire to return the favor at some point, right? We have this natural need to give back to someone. And part of that is because, well, and he mentions this in the book that societally and as developmentally as a species, we discovered that it's when we give something up, it's not lost. And so it's given us, it gives us a chance to continue those relationships and to give away things with the knowledge that at some point it will come back. And that allowed us to progress and evolve. in different ways that we couldn't before. And I thought that was an interesting take. It's also important to realize that why this works so well is because we don't want to be perceived as someone who only takes and doesn't give. We have, we can probably think of those experiences or people that we've known that will take and they don't give back. And it leaves a bad taste in our mouth. There's kind of this pressure to do that. And it may stem from this, you know, society that's kind of what we've been taught that we should do or this need to do that. But it's interesting how that's how that works and in our lives. And I have a few examples. I mentioned a few, you know, the gift or the party. But I've seen you see this all the time in the political arena. If you go back and you could really see this in in any administration. But if you go back to Lyndon Johnson's administration, so many people were amazed at his ability to get many of his programs through Congress in the early part of his administration. you know, upon further investigation, they realized that it's because of all the favors he performed to legislators prior to that. And it allowed them to essentially come to his aid when he was trying to push those programs through. also see this, Costco is a great example of doing this, those infamous samples that they leave out, those deviants, and they just try to slur you in. But it's tough, right? I mean, when you go and you take a sample, to not at least have that tug inside, that you should go do something for that person. Go, in this case, buy the product that they are giving away. It's become maybe a little easier over time as we see this all the time, or we go to Costco. time and time again, but it's interesting how effective this works. cites, Dr. Cialdini cites an example of an Indiana supermarket. There was an operator in there and this is maybe where the Costco samples came from, who knows, but he sold an astounding amount, 1,000 pounds of cheese in just a few hours. And here's how he did that. He would set out. this cheese on a cutting board with a sign that told customers to cut off slivers of cheese as free samples. They could do it themselves. They controlled that. And it led to thousand pounds of cheese being sold in just a few hours, which is remarkable, right? That's the power of reciprocity in play. Now, as we think about how this works in dentistry, it's important to realize that especially with new patients and even old ones too, but particularly important with new patients, they can feel pretty vulnerable when they come into the practice. They aren't quite sure what to expect. They don't know how they'll be treated. They may be harboring, you know, conjuring up images of the past where they had terrible experiences. They're often anxious. And it's important to understand that and recognize that so that we can help appease those fears, that we can help alleviate those concerns. We can help establish trust because trust must come before decisions are made. And essentially what reciprocity does is builds that emotional safety. It helps build that trust and it starts to build in this idea of goodwill, like we talked about. There's this desire to repay what we've been given. And it leads to an openness to hearing about the recommendations that you have. It makes them much more willing to hear you out, and not have already come to a uh decision prior to that. So it's important to kind of keep that in mind. as we're talking about this, having the context is always critical to understanding what our patients are going through, right? And I think it's good at this point to think about a common misunderstanding of reciprocity. It's not that it's about a bribe, although there's some elements in there, right? Where you're donating, you're trying to hook people in. uh It's not about just solely about discounts or giveaways alone. It's not this, I give you this, you give me that type of thing. It's really about the value. And I think that's what the ones that do this really well, they're not going out of their way to exert undue pressure. And I think part of this stems from their ability to articulate why they're doing it. And so if you can do that effectively, people... the trust goes up and their suspicion goes down, their BS level, their BS meter does not go off as much because there's always that lurking question, why are you doing this? And so if you can assuage that fear and it's often done by articulating properly why you're doing that, then it makes it a lot more valuable. in the eyes of the patient and it's less about, I'm doing this to get you to do this. That's not what I want you to walk away feeling. You know, I want you to understand that it is about adding value to the patients, to their experience. You know, if I were providing samples, it's not that, hey, I'm trying to just use this principle on you and exert this influence on you for my benefit, but it's, I'm... looking for people in this case, if we're using the cheese example, I'm looking for people that have never tried this cheese before or would might consider switching over to this brand of cheese. You know, I just want you to taste it to see, and I would love to get your reaction. I'm not gonna, you know, we're not here to strong arm you into a purchase. I'm just genuinely sincerely curious about this. And I think you can take that type of approach. into the dental practice. So how do we do that? Right? How do we build this value and not make this a transactional type of approach? So here are a few practical examples in a dental practice. I've mentioned, kind of alluded to that and I talk about this ad nauseum on this podcast really, but it's education. It's education before commitment. And that, what does that look like? It looks like explaining options clearly in terms that the patient can understand. It's answering questions with patients, taking the time to address their concerns and not feel rushed or talk down on them for having those questions, not judging them. It's providing really clarity without that pressure. So that ultimately your goal is to help patients think they are concern about me, you know, I mean, they, they helped me understand this and I trust them because of that. Even if, and again, I've even if they walk away and don't decide to pursue that treatment, they are better off because you took the time to educate them. That's the mentality that I'm trying to get across is, is just that you are providing that value so that it, it high tide raises all boats, you know, even if they decide to go and, and to a different provider. They are now equipped with the knowledge to make a better decision. And that is good because it benefits them, one, but also benefits the industry too, because you're raising that knowledge base so that people can discern between those practices that actually do a good job and those that do not. We are trying to filter those people that do not do a great job out of the equation. We don't want patients to be duped or tricked by those type of providers. Right? So that's a couple of good reasons why to do that. And education is a fascinating one. It's a very powerful one because it shows that you're an advocate for the patient, that you're going out of your way to do that for them. And this podcast is a great example. I don't have to do this, you know, for, for clients and, and prospects. And there's a lot of them that I've never talked to, but they, they listened to the show, they get some good ideas, they take them and run with them. And that makes me happy. That makes me happy. I don't have to take the time to do this research, come up with ideas to revise and rework this so that it makes it clear and more powerful and more applicable. But I do, you know, because I want to provide that value. And that's a great example of this. In your practice, it could look like helping people understand what it is, what the options are when they have a missing tooth, for example. It could be could look like a dental implant, it could look like a bridge, you know, just explaining the different, you don't have to do anything, right? That's an option. That is a viable option for patients. Not to do anything at all. And plenty of people choose that. But do they understand the consequences of each? Do they understand that if they don't replace that over time, it's gonna restructure their jaw and it may... cause a caving in look on their face. Something they probably didn't know, right? Because when we use that, when we use those roots in the bone and obviously you guys know better than me, but as dentists, but that maintains that strength, that jaw. so, patients don't understand that, right? And so it's education can be a very valuable example of reciprocity and helping them see what they need to know to make the best decision possible. Another example is experience-based reciprocity. And what I mean by that, comfort amenities, addressing the needs that they have, addressing their concerns, their fears, and articulating to them, again, while you're doing this, just say, we realize that there are a lot of patients who, when they come inside the dental office, something changes. They feel nervous, they get anxious, they might start... to sweat even, they might start envisioning the worst case scenario, the smells, the sounds, the discomfort, the sensitivity. It could be just the squeamish behavior that we have in the chair and there's a drill right in our mouth. You know, and we are addressing that. We realize that it's uncomfortable, but we also know as an expert, as a dental provider, we also know how important your oral health is. You need to do this. Like it is in your best interest to take care of your mouth. And we're here to help it make it easier, help you help make it easier for you by doing these things. List out your comfort amenities. List out that you have weighted blankets, that you have noise canceling headphones, that you have 67 channels uh cable network, or it's not cable really anymore, but. Netflix, you have all these streaming providers that allows them to take their mind off of what's going on, that you offer nitrous, you know, that you offer, I mean, those are great, great examples of how to build that reciprocity from an experience-based perspective, okay? Or it could be, let's say it's more of respect for time and you're efficient with your appointments or. we recognize that you have a lot of things going on, that you, you know, you're a busy mom or a busy parent. You are shuttling your kids to and from sports practice, extracurricular school events, and groceries, and just your own personal time. And as a result of that, we've done this and this and this to make it easier for you. So how can you think of ways that you can build that reciprocity? from an experience perspective. We talked about educational, now think of it from an experience-based perspective. Another one that falls kind of in line with the educational but is uh a little bit different is guidance content that helps them. uh Well, really doesn't that is now that I'm speaking about it, it's really about the same thing, but it's just another few examples about that. If you think about, so we talked about a missing tooth, it could be just what to expect on their first visit. Simple as that. Doesn't need to be a thesis on porcelain veneers and why they're the best cosmetic option out there. It could just be something as simple as that. Their main goal is to help them understand what to expect when they're coming in. If they know what to expect, we talked about this in a few episodes ago, So if you haven't listened to that, go back and listen to it. But once they know what to expect, it makes the whole process easier. That's what McDonald's is built on. That's one of really the pillars of their success is that people can go almost anywhere in the world to a McDonald's and they know what to expect. They know where the menus are. They know what food options generally are on there. So there's obviously some uh custom ones based on the area, but they know what that experience is gonna look like. Take that same principle and apply it to your practice. How can you help people that are coming in for the first time know this is step one, step two, step three, steps four, step five, and then they'll be done. Just so they can follow along, they already have that expectation. Show them what that looks like. uh It could be a video walkthrough is one of the easiest ways to do that. Introduce your hygienist. Who's gonna be seeing them? An assistant, the doctor. Walk through that, the front office. This is what we'll go through. Simple as that. you can make that video in two to three minutes or a two to three minute video and use that again and again and again and again. And that will be so helpful to your patients, especially those who have never come to your practice before. So that's another option there. I've seen some that are more offer-based. so for example, it could be free exam and x-rays. And it's really to... lower that barrier of entry, you know, to make them feel that much, it's that much easier, reduce the friction on coming in because now they can come in, there's no risk, they can get things checked out and they know where they stand, you know, and that can bring in a lot of patients. And you may say, well, some of those aren't gonna do anything and that's probably true. Not everyone will, but it will most likely increase the amount of patients that come in the door. And some of those will have not had an appointment for years, for years. And they will have a lot of work that needs to be done just because it was a barrier before. Now they can at least check it out and know where they stand. So that's a specific offer that you could make too that I've seen work really well. But it's about that idea of reciprocity and building value upfront. um This is a, know, I don't, gonna spend too much longer on this, but I just think it's one of those areas that a lot of practices miss out on because it takes time. You know, it requires an investment in time to think about how can we do this? One, decide on how to do it and then actually execute on that. But it's an area where once created, we're talking about educational assets, creation of a unique offer, things like that. Once you have that, it can make your job so much easier because now you're building that trust with patients. makes it, reduces that friction, reduces the fear, reduces the uncertainty and helps patients feel helped and heard. so objections tend to decrease because of that. Okay, so one simple action. uh item for this is just choose one area that you can do this. Maybe it's educational, maybe it's experiential, maybe it's an offer. And then figure out what that looks like, create it, and put it to use. You know, if it is uh a what to expect at your first visit video, then you record it. And now, soon as there's a new patient book, what is that process? New patient schedules. Let me grab your email address. I'm gonna send you a short three to five minute video that shows you, walks you through exactly what will be happening during your first visit. You'll love it. Something simple as that, you send it over. That becomes part of your process. And it also, more importantly, allows the patient to feel like they know what's going on. They're not worried about any surprises or anything like that. So that's your action item for this episode. decide on one simple action that you can take right now to help build this law of reciprocity, help build value for your patients. Share that with your team, set a due date and get at it, okay? So that's your action item, that's your homework for this episode. The next episode, I'm gonna be talking about commitment and consistency. This principle of commitment and consistency and why small little yeses. can lead to big decisions. We're gonna apply this to treatment, acceptance, and follow through and a few other things. So that will be our next episode. If you have questions, please reach out. can reach, just reach out to Maria, Maria at Markthackery.com and she will get those over to me. But if you have any, well, let's start there. Yeah, just have any questions, do there. And we'll end with that. And then next episode, again, we'll be on commitment and consistency, and we will talk to you then.