As a practitioner, you spent a lot of years getting trained to do some pretty amazing things for your patients, right? Then you started practising and got darned good at delivering those treatments and achieving some terrific results. When you first got started, you were probably fairly enthusiastic about what you could do to help your patients, remember?
Are you still as full of enthusiasm and interest and care as you were then or are you suffering from TPRS … Treatment Plan Rejection Syndrome (made up name!). Over the years, you have suffered through repeated rejections by your patients or clients when they should have gone ahead with what you were proposing for THEIR benefit. After a while, many practitioners start to say to themselves, “Well, I did my best and presented what they SHOULD do, and if they don’t want to go ahead, that’s their choice.”
You might be surprised then to find out what the #1 reason why patients or clients DON’T go ahead with the treatment you are recommending!
By Survey
You may think (and even hear from the patient) that the reason they reject your proposed treatment is because of the money or cost. However, in a survey recently done, it was found that money or cost was only the number 4 reason for not going ahead.
The #1 reason (by survey) was that the patient or client did not fully understand what they were being sold or presented.
Often, as a practitioner you may forget how much you know and how much technical vocabulary you have learned over the years. Did you know that the average Canadian has a Grade 10 vocabulary? The rule of thumb therefore might be that “if you didn’t know the word or words you are about to say by Grade 10, then don’t use them on your patient.
Simplify, simplify, simplify
“Dumb it down” is an expression that is not derogatory when it comes to explaining medical procedures and matters to people who are not trained in it.
What is second nature to you is totally foreign to them … there can be huge differences in reality. The “guy on the street” in the majority of instances has a very limited knowledge of body and health issues.
Since you are presenting a service that you truly believe is necessary, if the person totally understood why, they would obviously go ahead 95% of the time. You are not telling them what is needed for the sole reason that you like the sound of your own voice. You are giving them an expert diagnosis and treatment, right?
Becoming a true expert who is able to simplify (without belittling the person) so that they can totally grasp what you are presenting will result in a lot more treatment acceptances and will help you regain your enthusiasm for giving your patients ultimate care.
For in-depth sales training (Canadian style), contact us!
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