The power of virtual consultations

The importance of the free initial consultation has become more apparent than ever and many dental practices are making the most of virtual technology in order to offer this powerful service to patients.

By carrying out these sessions with my clients, I have been able to uncover some of the pain points and blockers that many are experiencing in order to find ways to overcome them. In this blog post I wanted to discuss with you 2 key areas that can help to elevate your virtual consultations.

Technology

If you are not currently offering virtual consultations, is it because the technology is putting you off? Software such as Zoom and Teams have seen a surge in uptake during lockdown and there are some great reasons for that: they’re free, easy to use, and have great functions that allow you to communicate really effectively.

If you are already offering virtual consultations, are you struggling to use the software to portray your services? I’ve noticed dental teams desperately trying to hold a Typodont model up to the camera, but if the patient’s device doesn’t have a strong signal or a clear picture, it’s wasted.

The solution is to have a consultation template set up and ready to use, that contains clear imagery depicting your services in a really desirable way.

Structure

This leads me on to structure. All too many times during a virtual consultation the patient ends up taking control… you wouldn’t allow this to happen in your surgery!

Having a clear structure for your consultations is key. This will enable you to share the information required, lead the discussion in a useful way that builds excitement and converts the consultation into a paid treatment.

Photographs

Preparation is vital for a good virtual consultation and part of this should be ensuring your patients have sent in their photographs. You need an easy system for them to be able to do this because anything that makes things complicated will become a blocker and you won’t see the uptake you expect from your virtual consultations.

I have created a variety of modules designed to support the patient experience and develop your dental business by giving you and your team the systems and verbal skills required. From branding your consultations, the presentation you need to create and a template to make it easy for you to get started. I also share my top tips on the technology available and opportunities to automate patients booking your virtual consultations, including ensuring you have their photos.

However, I hope that this post gives you something to think about to support your virtual consultations and conversion rates.

Laura

How virtual consultations are a different experience for different members of the team

In lockdown 1 in 2020, while many TCOs moved their consultations online, many dentists also took the opportunity to hold free consultations to patients too.

Even now, 11 months later, practices are seeing the benefit of implementing virtual consultations and I am still working with many practices that:

Had to use their TCO as a runner / nurse for so long and now they need that role back – they now require support to deliver world class consultations virtually
They are starting to implement Treatment Coordination into their business and want to start with the free consultation appointment, either virtually or in person
Have been holding free consults virtually but would like to maximise the opportunities they have, and to provide an amazing experience for the patient so as to increase conversions

Recently on a Clubhouse room I held we had great conversations – it was really interesting to hear everyone’s take on the virtual free consultation appointment.

My comments where that, from my experience, I preferred face to face consultations, for relationship building mainly. It is also hard to read body language when the patient is sat still in their office chair or sofa.

Other TCOs with years of experience agreed, they also described how different it is and that it is also so much easier for a patient to be less committed to the brand of the practice as they do not commit to actually coming in for a free consultation.

One dentist said how they love the virtual consultation. It was completely new to her, not something she had undertaken before, but she loves the rapport building that she is getting with her patients, and then how lovely it is when she meets them in person.

One TCO said how well the virtual consultation is in supporting new nervous patients and she is holding a high number of free consultations with nervous patients. The patients are really enjoying the appointments and feeling reassured to make an appointment for an assessment too!

If you are holding free virtual consultations, we would love to hear from you in the Treatment Coordinator Club Community.

We have over 300 members so far and I have a feed there to find out more from you. If you have any burning questions, please ask them too and I will support you!

To join click here

Scroll down and choose Complimentary membership

Laura

The importance of a Treatment Coordinator understanding the dentist personality and clinical skillset

To be a successful TCO you need to have clinical knowledge, great listening and relationship building skills.

You need to show patients that you work well as a team and are genuine when you discuss the dentist that you are recommending or that they have seen.

Lastly, you need to know that they are a great clinician!

Recently a practice recruited a new TCO. The induction for this TCO is planned for 6 months.

Stage one: Nurse for 3 months full time with the 3 dentists she is going to be a TCO for.

Stage two: Begin training in the first appointment type that she will be supporting. For this practice, it is supporting the dentists with treatment planning.

Stage three: Begin training in the second appointment type that she will be supporting. For this practice, it is supporting the dentists with options meetings.

This is a huge amount for the TCO to undertake in the first 6 months. I would like to explain why I have recommended the induction take place in this way:

Patients can tell if you are being genuine. Therefore, if a TCO is stating the dentist is great how can they say that with conviction if they have not nursed with them and been ‘wowed’ by their skills? Yes, you can relate to results patients have experienced and feedback received, but it is far better and more impressive to be able to say that you have worked alongside them as a dental nurse, and can describe nuances such as the way that would build up and layer the composite, and witnessed first-hand how if the translucency on the tip isn’t exactly how they would like it to be in comparison to the other teeth they will 100% not stop until it is perfect.

Stating that a dentist is ‘kind’ ‘nice’ ‘friendly’ is not enough. TCOs are great at building relationships so they will have so much information about that dentist that they will be able to connect them with the patient before the patient has already met them. Examples are children and similarity in ages, dentist’s sports and hobbies. Team sports are always popular with male patients.

A few examples:

If I know my dentist’s football team, I would be actively looking to find out what happened in the recent matches – this would allow me to drop this information into the conversation quite naturally.

Stating ‘they also play golf” is not enough. You need to know when, how often, which course and their handicap. Are they a bandit?!

Personality profiles:

If you are lucky enough to have more than one dentist providing a treatment that the patient wishes to have TCOs can personality profile both the dentist and patient and determine who is the best match for the patient.

When I am working with practices and providing DISC personality profiling training to support them, we will always discuss if there is a type a dentist prefers not to see. TCOs will get on with all walks of life (this is why they are a TCO) but there are personalities that some dentists do not want to deal with:

The dominant can make them uneasy
The influencer can be too talkative and this can frustrate some dentists
The steady patient may require a full social update from the dentist about their family and then talk about theirs.
The conscientious type will ask lots of questions – some dentists love this but the dominant type dentist does not!

Likewise, the dominant patient needs to be seen on time so ideally seeing another dominant clinician will work well as those dentists will always run to time – it is a strong trait of theirs.

For treatment coordination to be a world-class experience then world-class dental nursing is the way forward, in my opinion, as only then can a TCO really talk about the dentists in an individual and genuine way.

Laura

Treatment coordination top tips and myths debunked

On Thursday 28th of January, I held what will be the first of many Clubhouse rooms.

This was a nice start up ‘room’ and I had great support from the Dentist Club within Clubhouse.

The ethos of Clubhouse (currently for iPhone users only) is an audio-only collaboration. It is not a place to sell yourself but a place to connect, listen and learn. Perfect for me as I love to learn and engage with people as much as possible.

What did we discuss?

Myths of the TCO role –

It is a sales role.

I squashed this firmly on the head confirming it is an education and consent role.

You have to be GDC registered.

This is incorrect; however, my advice is always to recruit a dental nurse into the role which leads us nicely onto the top tips section.

For top tips for treatment coordination, we discussed:

To be a world-class Treatment Coordinator you need to be a world-class dental nurse first
How important it is to master the art of listening; it is such a vital skill!
We also touched on the importance of defining unique selling points
How important it is to know your dentists clinically and non-clinically
How the brand experience is key to success in a high-end practice

We were on for an hour and it flew by!

We also discussed who prefers virtual free consultations and who prefers face to face ones and the reasons why it was great to hear about each other’s experiences. My preference is face to face due to the relationship-building aspect. I know I am great at building relationships with people, but it is far easier in person!

I will post more in each of these areas discussed over the next few weeks.

Look out on my social media channels for updates of my next Clubhouse room, hopefully, next week!

Laura