Recently, I spent a week delivering a ‘Two Day Ethical Sales & Communication Program in London. During the program, someone asked how to respond if a patient says, “How do you compete with cheaper treatments in Turkey?”
Before I share my answer, there are a few things to consider, for example,
Type of Consultation: Was it paid or free?
- Paid Consultation: This often means the patient is genuinely interested in your treatment. They have visited your website, checked your reviews, and are actively seeking treatment from you.
- Free Consultation: You will attract more people, but many will be price-focused and not ready to commit.
In an ideal scenario, you do not want price-focused patients in your practice. If you do, it is a positioning issue, not a pricing one. It is crucial to position yourself as the go-to practice for the treatments you want to specialize in, in this case it was implants.
Here are some simple strategies to achieve this:
- Enhance Your Reviews: A client, Lawrence Neville from Sydney, mentioned in a podcast that you need at least four hundred five-star reviews to stand out. His practice thrives on reviews; he needs them, his Practice is on the fifth floor of an office block.
- Video Testimonials: Interview a few patients about the treatment they had from you.
- Create Your Videos: Record at least four videos addressing frequently asked questions. Being on video establishes you as an expert. Patients want treatment from an expert.
- Improve Your Biography: Patients read this when researching treatment. My late friend, Stephen Jacobs, often received comments about his biography from patients. They were sold on him before they came into his Practice.
- Author a book – Lock yourself in a room for a few hours and write as much as you can about your chosen treatment. Again, once you have authored a book, you will be perceived as an expert.
- Showcase Your Experience: Mention the number of cases you have completed on your website. If you are new, focus on the first five strategies. Everyone must start somewhere.
Adapt these strategies and you will not have price buyers in your Practice. You want to be in the category of ‘ONE’, the expert and patients will always pay higher fees from an expert. Ideally, you do not want price buyers. If you get them as I have already stated, it might be because you have not positioned yourself as the expert in your industry and ideally that is what you want to be.
Ashley Latter is the Number One Communication Coach in the world, over 36000 dentists have taken his two day Ethical Sales & Communication Programme over the last 28 years all over the World. Ashley is the author of five books and his latest book ‘The Perfect Dental Consultation- the eight essential steps to increasing treatment plan acceptance’ is out early September.
Ashley is delivering his programmes in Sydney on the 13th & 14th March 2026. Learn More