Orthodontics is thought of as making patients’ smiles better, both by orthodontists and the patients themselves. After all, isn’t that what orthodontists do?
The simple answer is yes: Of course orthodontists straighten teeth and make smiles appear more aesthetic. The more accurate answer is no, that’s not really what orthodontics, and especially myofunctional orthodontics is about.
You see, straightening teeth is that what that you do for patients. As a myofunctional orthodontist, widening jaws and opening airways is also what you do for patients. These are great and noble things, but you see, they have little to no value in the minds of your prospective patients. Why do they need straight teeth? Sure, they look better, but is that really that big of a deal? To some it may not be worth the cost, and to most that benefit alone isn’t worth a premium cost. Is a bigger airway really that big of a deal? Is a wider jaw and C-shaped smile really worth putting in the effort to get?
These questions are deal-breakers. Sure, for some patients those benefits alone are exactly what they want, but the critical problem here is they don’t connect directly to day-to-day benefits. That part is left up to the patient to work out for herself, but many don’t intuitively make the connection, or if they do, they don’t realize how beneficial these benefits really are.
That’s why you need to focus on the why of what you do. I don’t mean you personal why, because the fact is patients don’t care why you do what you do, only what you can do for them. You need to focus on the patient’s why, and it’ll be different for each patient, so it requires an attentive and caring conversation to get to their real concerns and motivations. These tend to be along the lines of health and attractiveness, for example, better sleep, better digestion, less neck and back pain, better posture, more magnetic and striking appearance, and an overall easier and more fulfilling life.
Once you have that exact motivation for that specific person, you’re empowered to make the connection backwards from the patients’ concerns to exactly why your treatment can address those concerns and turn those insecurities into something they’re proud of. This even works on parents, although the children will have concerns of their own that you’ll have to elicit separately. If you can do this process right, you can not only convert more prospects into sales, but you’ll also have better buy-in, better compliance, and more advocacy from your patients, because they’ll understand exactly how beneficial your treatments are for them. As a side benefit, you can also feel even better about yourself and what you do for patients, because you’ll see more excitement and more transformation of self-image in your patients, causing their lives to improve as a result of your work.
If you’re interested in not only growing your myofunctional ortho practice, but also connecting better with your patients and transforming lives, fill out the form on the side and we’ll have a call to see if we’re a fit to work together.