Latest / The Word of Mouth Podcast / How to Raise Treatment Acceptance, Retention, and Referrals WITHOUT Ads | WOM 030
Transcript
- Jeff: Welcome back to the Word of Mouth Podcast, the dental marketing podcast where old school is the new school. I'm your host, Jeff, and I'm joined tonight by my co-host Troy. Troy: Hey, good to be with you, Jeff. Jeff: Awesome, so today we're gonna talk about trust. Troy: Well, and and as we talked a little bit about how to introduce it, there's a a fairly famous story that I thought illustrates it from a perspective outside of maybe the the dental world in a way that that might be helpful. So there was a as as we look across at all the different jobs out there, there's probably nothing less trusted in the world than car salesmen. I mean notoriously so. And there's a gentleman by the name of Joe Girard, who he started selling cars back in in the mid sixties and and sold for a number of years. And what what Mr. Girard is most well known for is holding the Guinness Book of World Records for the for selling the most cars. And over a stretch of his career he was selling on average six cars every single day when the average salesperson was lucky to sell two or three a week. And so you know a a a massive difference in the number of cars he sold. And he's talked a lot about the reasons why and and we can get into the mechanics, but the punchline is that what he realized, what Joe realized, in an industry that really has you know, effectively no trust, is that ultimately is what he was selling. And that realization and the strategies that that came as a result of that realization are the th are are are what made him you know able to sell ten times what the normal salesperson was. And so recognizing that somebody in that industry of all industries was able to build trust in a way that resulted in that kind of production on the on the car sale side is really instructive and so you know as we think about it from the dentist perspective and a lot of dentists feel you know, fairly commoditized and as they look at their marketing efforts, you know, there tends to be a lot of focus on on on on Google or meta ads or SEO, all of which is going to people who have no connection, have no knowledge of the practice. It's a good thing to step back and say, hmm, what can we learn from the s from the car salesman who set the record for sales by not selling cars? Jeff: Yeah, I think trust became not only was he selling that, but it became a key differentiator because it's what others weren't willing to do. He's talked a lot about how he was never secretive about his methods, which we'll get into, but he continued to do them and people kept asking him, How do you do this? And when he explained it, it was just the things people weren't necessarily willing to do. They're the things that are maybe when you hear them you'll say, Well, that's easy to do, but they're also the things that are easy not to do. And and so that was the way that he built trust is by doing those things and that's how he differentiated from other car salespeople. and there's lots of stories about how he would not compete on price. Someone would come to him and say, Well I can get it cheaper somewhere else and he would build the trust so that the person accepted their car pr his car price In spite of it maybe being a little bit more expensive than a competitor. And that all had to do with trust. And so as we've talked with dentists, we see that we're in sort of a trust recession and they're competing on price because they're competing for strangers' attention. When most practices have thousands or at least hundreds of people who have expressed that they trust that practice. And so as we talk about some of the ways that he built that trust and built out his kind of car sales empire, you'll see a lot of correlation to the dental industry and ways that dentists can leverage this. Troy: Yeah, and and I I wanna make one thing clear is i i especially as he moved his his career along, he didn't accept really any walk ins or walk ups. and the reason was twofold. One, they just weren't who he sold to. And two, he wanted to be fair to the other salespeople that were working there at the the the the dealership with him in Detroit. But when I say he didn't Though those weren't the people that he sold to. Is if someone came in and said, Hey, I've got this other price, I'm shopping around, I've got another price. Well, now his only option there is to sell. And he wasn't manipulative. I I want to make that really clear. Is he didn't talk strangers into buying cars. He built relationships, and it was those people who either bought cars repeatedly over years or sent their friends or family in to buy cars. So when they walked in, they knew he was going to treat them fairly, that he was going to, you know, ostensibly not waste their time or or do something that that was contrary to their interest. So they didn't come in with the expectation of being sold. They came in with the expectation of being helped. And that, you know, that becomes a really big difference, especially as we start talking about some of the the approaches that he took. It's not about being manipulative. And I think that that's a really important differentiation. When he talked with other salespeople, my expectation is a lot of those sp salespeople were saying, teach me how to sell. That's what they were wanting. What are the what are the the string of words that I can put together that's going to convince a skeptical person to buy a car from me? That wasn't what he did. So what he said instead is no, it's a lot of work over time, requires consistency to build that relationship so that then when they come, it's a transaction that's built on trust. It's a you're you are you're helping them get what they want. and I think that that's you know, there's some we we we see that parallel with dentist in a different way, but the way that they approach what they're wanting out of their marketing, where they're saying they tend to say talk about new patients. What they're really saying is we want appointments from strangers. And that and that's okay, but recognize that there's just such a profound difference by looking at people as an appointment. That that success is the appointment, versus the success is somebody with whom I have a relationship helping them get what they want. And You know, they're they're not mutually exclusive, you know, but but it's just an important differentiation. It's not tactics, it's not you know, v voodoo sells tactic voodoo sells scripts or something like that. It's it's about treating the person as a person. Jeff: Yeah, I mean one of the my favorite stories from Joe Girard was he had a woman who bought a car from him and then a couple weeks later she calls him and says, Hey, I'm sending my son in. I had such a great experience with you. He's getting married in two days. can you help him figure out a car? And he comes in, he has a great experience. Joe didn't r recommend the most fancy car or try and talk him into something that he didn't need. He said, Hey, you're newlywed, here's kind of what you need. and here's what I would recommend. Sold him a car, and he said, Well, this is amazing. How can I thank you? And he said, Here's two cards, give these out to people who, when they see your car at the wedding, give them give them one of my cards and just say, I had a great experience. And he had five people come into his dealership the next week who said, Hey, I saw saw the car, the Groom could not have spoken higher about you. And it was at his wedding. So clearly you made an impression. I'd love to buy a car from you. And so you see that those, even though they're strangers, they come in with this level of no like and trust where he's they're working from a completely different place than a person who's coming in saying, I know this car salesman's gonna try to screw me over. So I'm I'm already coming up with walls up. I'm gonna try and talk him down versus hey, I know this guy's fair. I I just need to get his recommendation. and so Troy: Yeah, and and no, it's it and and and and that's why we found this an interesting story, because again, you know, not to beat this dead horse, but this is a car salesman. This is the person that people do not expect to trust. This is a person that people expect to, you know, to try to sell them something. And so i it it's just illustrative of the power when We really do treat people like tre like people, where we really do consistently try to stay connected with with people that, you know, there's dividends that come from that, that that can't come from a clever ad, that can't come from, you know, being the the top ranked on Google Maps or anything like that. So that's the payoff. Jeff: Yeah. And this is a situation, the the situation with the Karim is what we call a golden moment where s someone's had a great experience. You ask them for referrals when they're in that that great mindset. And then it's top of mind, even at this guy's wedding, he's giving referrals because he had such a great experience. That golden moment, those are the things where you win referrals. So that was the first example of how Drew Gerard really succeeded at building trust. The second, we'll talk about now, and I don't know if you want to talk about the letters that he wrote. Troy: I yeah, he c he made an interesting finding at he was talking to a funeral director and in the course of a conversation found out that on average at a funeral there's gonna be two hundred and fifty people that show up. And so Joe kinda processed that and and it dawned on him that means there's two hundred and fifty people that have enough connection with this person. to to to show up at their funeral. And that means if I do a bad job, that's two hundred and fifty people who I don't have access to in terms of of getting a referral. And you know, the flip side of the coin is the is th those are potentially referrals that could come from from this person if, you know, if I I do a good job, if I do create a relationship that that encourages them to to send a referral. So this idea of of the the multiplying effect of treating people well and staying connected with them. So it's treat well, which that one's kind of obvious to everyone. When they're in front of you, you know, for a dentist, when they're in the chair and you're talking or when they come into the clinic, treat them well. Perfect. You know that that certainly is kind of the minimum expectation. The next piece that that that he recognized is I have to stay connected with them. A person doesn't know that I that I'm aware of them or that I care about them when it's at a moment of transaction. You know, it's it's in those moments when there isn't a transaction at stake. That if I demonstrate that I'm aware of them, that that's where it really carries water. And so he came up with an idea. Yeah. Jeff: I'll just interject there too that they don't know but in terms of referrals, they may not have people come to mind at the moment you're selling them a car. But three months later, when their friend is saying, Hey, I'm buying a car, if you're top of mind at that point, you get the referral. If not, that may kind of go in and out of their head. So it it's both sides of those things. Troy: Yeah, for sure. And and that's what he realized. Or you know, he came up with this idea of writing a brief note. you know, I I I I don't know the veracity of it or not, but but at least we we've read that he would simply write I like you on a postcard and send it to every one of the the past customers that he had, which, you know, at the end was thirteen thousand. different customers that he was sending a monthly postcard to. And on the one hand, you might think, well, you know, pretty trite, but it was something that no one else was doing. You know, it was kind of a a pattern interrupt from the standpoint that this salesperson, this car salesman, was taking time and sending something that was a nice sentiment That had nothing attached to it. No ask, no, no nothing. It was just, hey, you're one of the people that I'm thinking about. And and that's really valuable from a psychological and sociological perspective. So small as it is. It's one of those things that he did that mattered. Jeff: Yeah, he wasn't writing, I like you, who do you know who can send me a car or who will buy a car from me? Or I like you, it's about time to come in for an oil change. It was just value, freely given. There's no ask in return. And you send that out enough times and people come in, referrals get sent. I think you mentioned when we were researching this story that the service department as a dealership was like one of the highest producing service departments in the area because People would come back to the dealership for oil changes and services on their car because Joe recommended it and he was a trusted authority. Troy: Yeah, no, and and and and that's what I guess two points is one, there really is a cascade effect to creating that trust, you know, and that that relationship and that connection. it and especially in an operation like a car dealership as well as like a dental practice, that trust carries a lot as it relates to, you know, treatment recommendations and And the reminders to, you know, or or setting up their their next hygiene appointment after finishing all of those little nuances that impact the bottom line of a dental practice, every one of them, every one of them is enhanced by the trust factor. The more that those patients trust, the more connection they feel with the practice. It just will amplify every one of those those revenue points. the the I I guess the the other element to it is that what he was doing by sending these cards worked when he was doing it. You know, at that point in the in the the seventies and sixties and seventies, there wasn't bulk mail like we have now. There wasn't email, there weren't there wasn't texting, there wasn't social media, there w there weren't really anywhere near as many demands on people's attention. So it could cut through what little noise there was. Now you need to be a lot more sophisticated. You have to be a bit more you have to offer more than just a a note like that in order to to get resonance. So we bring it up as an example. We're not suggesting that every dentist in America now start sending postcards that say I like you. you know they're that that that's not going to be effective in this day and age. But but the consistency is the lesson. You know, that's what's really important. if I if I see you every six months, I hop your seat, you're really friendly, off we go. Then the only thing I hear from you, you know, for the next six months is a reminder, you know, a week before my next appointment. I I I mean, sure, you're you're you may be a great dentist and I enjoy going to you. Do I have a real relationship with you? No, you know, not really. Not not not because of a bat that there's anything and no animosity or anything. I just, you know, there's not anything that you've done for me other than the minimum of what I'd expect a good dentist to do, which is provide me dental care. If conversely I'm hearing from you and there's information and if you've you know, a new some new research about something that might be pertinent to my oral health and getting an email just saying hey thought this thought this might be interesting to you. this just this is some information we just came across. That just changes things a little bit, you know, and and we're there there's a trust piece to it, but but that consistency, it just changes things. So Jeff: Yeah, it's the difference between ordinary service and extraordinary service. People have come to expect email reminders for their appointments and birthday texts that are automated, but those research pieces or some of these other things, they're the things that build trust. You get the person in the chair probably two, maybe three days out of the year. What are you doing the other three hundred and sixty-two, three hundred and sixty-three days a year to deepen that relationship? And so I just pulled up a couple of stats about trust-based practices that we'll go through quick and then we'll introduce next week's topic and wrap it up. but the industry average for treatment acceptance is 35 to 45% for new patients or 50 to 60 percent for existing patients. In a trust-built practice, kind of the higher end where trust is kind of the center of the service, practices can easily see treatment rates over 80%. For patient retention at 18 months, the average practice is about 57%. And we've seen that. And it's crazy to see a practice that has 75 new patients come in and 67 patients are hitting their 18 month inactive point. Like that's just not the way that a a sustainable practice is built. Then you're having to flow in more of those new patients. In a trust bills practice, however, those retention rates are in the 80s to 90s. The average practice referral rates is twenty-five to forty percent of new patient flow. For a trust-based practice, it's usually over fifty percent. And that's what we saw with Girard, with Joe Girard, is that by the time he had built that trust at the end, he wasn't accepting any new patients or any new patients, any new clients that weren't referrals or previous previous clients. And then finally the last stat that we have is the no show rate in an average practice can be as high as fifteen percent. For trust based practices, they usually are under six percent. And so Troy: Yeah. Jeff: all of those numbers, every single one of those is a marginal improvement. Some of them are bigger marginal improvement, but they're all marginal improvement, but every single one of those affects a practice's bottom line. Troy: And and significantly so. And, you know, in upcoming episodes we'll talk more about the the specific implications of of some of those some movement in some of those stats. But the you know, at a time when so many people are chasing an an increasingly competitive supply of these new patients through Google or or you know, meta th there is A corresponding increase in the opportunities to plug holes within practices. As more people become, you know, really view as more people view dentistry as a commodity, there is more opportunity for dentists to differentiate as a trust or relationship based practice. It's becoming much, much, unfortunately, much more like the car industry. where people are going in with an expectation that you know that that this is just a transaction. A lot are skeptical. They think that dentists are going to prescribe stuff that they don't really need. so there we we've got a lot of those set skepticism markers that we see, you know, or that we've normally attributed to the the car industry. so just like in the case of Joe Girard for a car salesman, There is an increasing opportunity and an increasing divide between practices that are just sort of doing business as usual in twenty twenty six and those that are really making the commitment, like he did, to do those small, consistent things that increase that you know, that that level of of connection that they have with their patients or the level of trust that they have. And the numbers are big. you know, it's really hard to i i it it's it would be almost impossible to overstate the impact financially that that making this these kind of improvements can have on a practice. certainly much more than you know increase in ad spend or or you know getting to the number one spot in in Google Maps. If if if a practice is really serious about increasing profitability, increasing production. These are actually much, much more powerful levers to do so than, you know, trying to tweak what their marketing strategy is in terms of advertising. Jeff: Yeah, and it's becoming more and more important to people. We've talked about in past episodes that people have gotten detached from a lot of businesses. Google has made it so that average is kind of what gets pushed out there. And so people are going from f three to four different places to price shop. And if they have an experience that's not just ordinary but is extraordinary, they hang on to that because it's so rare in today's commoditized economy. There are huge opportunities for creating the kind of service and environment for the type of patient you're wanting to attract and making that difference r relevant and obvious for the the people that you're speaking with, the people that you're interacting with and how you interact with them. So that ties in great to next episode. We're gonna talk a little bit about a farmer and how he flipped an industry on its head because of the differences he noticed between his community and the community next door. So we'll leave you with that. Come back next week. If you want to be s notified when that comes up please subscribe. You can do so on YouTube or anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Leave a comment, let us know what you thought of the Joe Girrard story, if that is something that you feel like is applicable and interesting when it gr and how it relates to dentistry. we appreciate you being here with us and we look forward to seeing you next week.