Why Your New Patient Experience Could Make or Break Your Practice

Narrator: This is The Thriving Dentist Show with Gary Takacs, where we help you develop your ideal dental practice — one that provides personal, professional, and financial satisfaction.

Gary Takacs: Welcome to another episode of The Thriving Dentist Show. I’m Gary Takacs, your podcast co-host. We have an awesome episode for you today. Today’s episode is titled Why Your New Patient Experience Could Make or Break Your Practice. We’re gonna provide lots of useful information that you can hopefully apply immediately in your practice to strengthen and enhance your new patient experience.

Hey, before we get to that, I have a couple of announcements to make. First announcement is coming up this fall — in fact, the date is October 24th. Mark your calendar. It’s our fifth annual RIDA Summit — Virtual Summit. RIDA stands for Reducing Insurance Dependence Academy. And this is a summit. It’s done virtually. It’s our fifth annual. We started the first one in 2001, and we’ve done one every fall since then. This is our fifth annual.

Gary Takacs: Every year we’ve doubled our attendance. That’s gonna be a big leap from last year, as we had awesome attendance last year. But hopefully we’ll be on track to double our attendance this year as well. It’s October 24th. It’s from noon to 5:30 PM Eastern Time. And everything about that summit is about helping you successfully resign from PPO plans.

We’ll have some keynote presentations. We’ll have a variety of panels — different people with different areas of expertise within the area of helping you resign from PPO plans. And it is gonna be an amazing day. You get five hours of CE credit. We’re required to take a couple of breaks in there — a couple short breaks — but you’ll get five hours of CE credit.

And here’s maybe — well, I think the best news is you’ll be armed with information to resign from PPO plans. But here’s a close second — there is no tuition. We’re providing your tuition as a courtesy for your listenership for this podcast. To register, go to RIDA.academy — RIDA Academy. You’ll notice a popup registration opportunity there. You do have to register. It is free, but you do have to register. And if you stay throughout the event — because we do have to monitor it for CE reasons — then you’ll receive five hours of CE credits. Maybe the most useful, business-oriented CE that you attend this year.

Come join us October 24th for the fifth annual Reducing Insurance Dependence Academy Summit. Again, RIDA Academy. Come join us.

Alright, the second announcement I have is I have our returning guest, Naren — my co-host on the podcast. He’s gonna provide a Thriving Dentist marketing tip. And this marketing tip is: What is the first step to take when you’re considering resigning from PPO plans? Where do you start? What’s the first step?

Well, I think you’re gonna enjoy what Naren has to say.

No further ado — here’s Naren Arulrajah with our Thriving Dentist Marketing Tip.

Naren Arulrajah: What is the first step I must take as I think about dropping PPO plans? That’s the marketing tip I’m gonna be covering right now. This is Naren, the founder of Ekwa Marketing and the co-host of the Thriving Dentist Podcast.

So what is that first step you must take before dropping PPO plans? It’s a great question. Sometimes it’s not what we do, it’s what we do before we do what we do that, you know, determines our success. Imagine you are looking at starting a new business, and you can’t do that business with your current job or current business, right? Current practice. You want to, before you give up your job, you wanna make sure you have enough money in the bank or you have enough income. So that first step sometimes is more important than the next step.

Naren Arulrajah: So, before you drop PPO plans, the number one thing you need to make sure of is you’re getting enough new patients without that PPO plan. So, for example, you know that for you to drop a particular PPO plan, you might end up losing seven patients a month. How do you know that? Because you can look at the last 12 months and look at the average number of patients that particular PPO plan brought in. So if you drop it, you will lose those seven new patients a month. So your marketing plan should replace those patients before you drop that PPO plan.

So the step before dropping PPO plans is replacing the patients you’re gonna lose when you drop that particular PPO plan. The good news is, you don’t have to drop all PPO plans tomorrow. You can only do one at a time.

Naren Arulrajah: So you can also scale your marketing one at a time. So you don’t need to replace every patient from every PPO plan — just the one you’re gonna drop next. So I would start there. I would figure out a way of building up my marketing, beefing up my marketing, so I can replace those seven patients before you even drop that plan.

Now, you are not on a back foot, right? Imagine you lose those seven patients and you don’t have any way of making up those patients — meaning your marketing hasn’t been prebuilt. Now you are in a challenge. You’re gonna have holes in your schedule, and people are gonna panic. You’re gonna panic.

But imagine, on the other hand, you’re already getting those seven patients. Now, even if you don’t get the seven patients from that particular PPO plan, you’re okay because you’re replacing them in advance.

Naren Arulrajah: So, I’m the kind of person, I don’t want to find myself on a back foot. So I always go on the offense — be proactive. So that would be my strategy.

Now, of course, you can use Google Ads, you can use social media ads, or SEO. I really think if you’re in it for the long game, SEO is the lowest-cost way to generate new patients and the most effective way, because people trust what they see on Google for free. They don’t trust what they see on Google based on an ad.

So that’s my tip for the day. If you have any further questions, book a marketing strategy meeting. The link is ekwa.com/td — e-k-w-a dot com slash t-d — and you will learn a lot about how you are doing with your marketing today. Is it all it can be, or are there gaps? And then if there are gaps — or even if it’s at a B-plus level — how do you get it to an A-plus level? What’s the action items you have to take?

So we give you a review and a to-do list. Book that marketing strategy meeting, and definitely take that first step before dropping that PPO plan, which is finding a way to replace those PPO patients.

Naren Arulrajah: Welcome back to the Thriving Dentist Coaching and Action Segment. This is Naren, your co-host. We have an awesome episode today, so hope you got some value from that marketing tip, and definitely mark your calendar for the 24th of October for the RIDA Summit. If you have further questions on marketing, go to ekwa.com/msm. If you want to reserve your spot for the RIDA Summit, go to RIDA Academy. Both would really make a big difference in your practice.

Now, let me jump into today’s topic: Why Your New Patient Experience Could Make or Break Your Practice. This is a great topic, and I think it’s a crucial topic because I have helped practices for the last 18 years become more profitable. Doctors enjoy what they do, and obviously, a team that loves jumping out of bed and going to work every morning. And I do think this new patient experience is a critical element in that success story.

Naren Arulrajah: The ones who have mastered this — and I’ve worked with Gary for 45 years — tend to have an unfair advantage. I love unfair advantages, because that way you don’t have to work harder and harder every year. Those unfair advantages kind of build a moat around your practice that’s hard for competition to beat.

And a good way for me to know if you are doing a great job with your new patient experience is your Google Review page. For example, many of our mutual clients — when I go to their Google Review page, like Life Smiles — I see these five-star, story-filled reviews, not just from existing patients, but from patients who just came to the practice for the very first time.

So if you can get someone who has just met you to rave about you in 50 words or more, you’re doing something right. You have mastered new patient experience.

I want to learn from the master himself. Gary, take it away.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. You know, why your new patient experience could make or break your practice — this is something that I’m extremely fond of. And if I can kind of frame our discussion today in the new patient experience, I want to repeat a quote that I first heard from the late, celebrated poet Maya Angelou. I’m sure our listeners will recognize the name Maya Angelou. Sadly, we lost her in 2018.

But Maya Angelou famously said, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget the way you made them feel.” Let me repeat that. People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. Now, she didn’t write that quote in reference to a new patient experience in a dental practice…

Naren Arulrajah: Are you sure, Gary? Maybe she came to Life Smiles.

Gary Takacs: She could have. But frankly, she could have written it, right? And you know, we talk about first impressions. I used to say, when a new patient called your practice on the phone, that was the opportunity to make a first impression on them. And technically, that’s not true. Statistically, most of the time today, that’s not their first impression.

Typically, a new patient caller — the first impression is maybe in a Google search where your office shows up, hopefully on page one, hopefully at the top of page one organically. And then if you do, they likely click on that search result, and it lands on your website. Your website becomes the first sort of non-Google representation of your practice. Right? They land on the website, and if they like what they see, some people just pick up the phone and call you at that point.

Gary Takacs: But many people today will take a look at your Google reviews. And if they like what they saw on your website, they like what they see in your Google reviews, then they’ll pick up the phone and call you. So by the time you get on the phone with them, it’s actually the third impression. I’m using your website as the first impression, your Google review as the second impression, and then the person answering the phone as the third.

And then finally, when they come into your office, it’s not the first impression — it’s now the fourth impression. Does that make sense, Naren? At least in the reality of 2025. Is that accurate?

Naren Arulrajah: I totally agree, Gary. That is 100% accurate. I do think these impressions — like the phone experience and the first time they meet you and so forth — are so critical. It makes or breaks…

Gary Takacs: …everything else. Absolutely. And then once they come in, it really becomes the first really human, face-to-face kind of interaction they’re having with your office. And, you know, like my grandmother said, you have one time to make that impression, and it tends to stick with people — positively, negatively, or neutral.

And two of those we don’t want. We don’t want negative, and we don’t want neutral. Neutral, in my opinion, is failing. If it’s neutral — if you’re like every other dental office they’ve ever been to — well, good luck with that.

So, if we want patients for life, that gladly tell all their friends about you — and patients that choose or agree with your treatment recommendations, and they desire ideal dentistry — then we need to really kind of start that process right in that new patient experience.

Gary Takacs: And I deliberately call it a new patient experience. Notice I’m not calling it a new patient appointment. It is an appointment — but "appointment" kind of makes me think that it’s neutral. And it’s also not a new patient exam. It is — we are doing a new patient exam, you bet we are — but I want more than that. I want it to be an experience. I want it to be the beginning of a connection.

The outcome that I want with that first visit to your office is the beginning of a connection between you — doctor — your office, and the patient. A connection where they feel like, "Ah, I found my dental home. I found my dental home."

And you know, what might be kind of cool is to get out the magnifying glass and literally do a 360-degree view of your new patient experience.

Gary Takacs: What is it? What are you doing? And if you discover that it’s kind of “eh,” hopefully this episode will help you change that. This episode will help you change that because it needs to be a wow experience.

You know, we’ve talked about restaurants in the past — and restaurant experiences. But if you’re trying out a new restaurant, the restaurateur — the owner of the restaurant — wants that first experience to be wow so you keep coming back. And they want wow so you tell others about it, whether it be literally through writing a review or telling all your friends, “You gotta try this restaurant.” Well, you want the same thing with your new patient experience.

So start looking at it that way. And, you know, there’s some debate about the ideal way to bring a new patient into your practice.

Gary Takacs: If you study the institutes — the Pankey Institute, Spear Education, Kois Center, Dawson Center — they will teach you the best way to bring a new patient in is to do two things: gather a comprehensive set of records, whatever that is with the technology in your practice, and then do a comprehensive doctor exam. And that generally is around an hour. And that’s what they would suggest is the best way to bring the patient in — where we’re not scheduling a hygiene appointment with that.

And academically, I agree with that. I couldn’t agree more with that, because now we have the records to know what kind of new patient we’re dealing with — what kind of hygiene appointment we’re going to schedule for the patient. We now know, because we have information about them.

But it fails in one regard. And let me tell you the one regard it fails at. Naren, what do most people want in their first visit to a dental office? What do they want? What is it that they want?

Naren Arulrajah: Most people want, I think, a cleaning, because they’re used to that, right? Especially if they’re going to the dentist for the first time — maybe not. But those who typically have a current dentist, that’s the first thing they want because they’re trained to know that this is dentistry — just getting my teeth cleaned twice a year or however often they get it cleaned.

Gary Takacs: So, I do agree with what the Pankey Institute is teaching on that. I absolutely agree with that. Spear, Kois, Dawson — I agree with that.

However, I think if you can combine it with a hygiene appointment of some sort — and the hygiene appointment could either be a cleaning, if they qualify, or a debridement — now, I do want to make a technical detail: if we do a debridement, we cannot bill out for a comprehensive exam on that appointment. Because the insurance industry has colluded together to not allow you to do a cleaning if you do — or not allow you to do a debridement if you do a comprehensive exam.

So it would have to be a limited exam — not a comprehensive exam — a limited exam, because the debridement, in their definition, is so that you have the mouth clean so you can do an effective evaluation of the patient.

Gary Takacs: But we either do a cleaning or a debridement, and that way the patient got what they wanted — which was having their teeth cleaned.

But I’d really like you to think about the different things you could do in that new patient appointment to make a difference.

Gary Takacs: What we teach at Thriving Dentist is a seven-step new patient experience. Let me walk you through those seven steps. I’ll name ’em really quick, and then I’ll take a little bit of time to go over each one.

Step one is: we do a quick tour. A very quick tour — it’s three minutes. The tour is about two things: making a great first impression — remember, they’re entering a physical environment that they’re not familiar with, so now we’re going to help them feel comfortable.

I kind of equate it to if you have one of your friends visit your home for the first time — maybe they’re guests at your home for the first time — we’re going to show them around a little bit before we sit down for dinner or sit down for conversation.

Gary Takacs: So show ’em around a little bit. It’s not a behind-the-scenes Disney tour. It’s three minutes, and it’s set up specifically to make a great first impression — and secondly, to subtly let the patient know what’s available in your practice without selling.

Step two is: we do an interview. The new patient coordinator does an interview in the consult room. It’s seven questions, takes 10 minutes. And those seven questions are all about learning the patient’s dental story. Dental story. Every patient has a dental story — unless they’re two years old. First visit to a dentist and we’re giving the child a happy ride in the chair. That 2-year-old doesn’t have a dental story, but everyone else does. Even a 20-year-old college student has a story. Let’s find out what that is. That’s the interview.

Step three: we now take whatever records you’re going to take in your office. They could be bitewings, it could be full mouth series, could be digital panoramic X-ray, could be CBCT series. And today, would likely also include — or maybe should include — a digital scan. The scan is amazingly effective. So we take the digital records.

Gary Takacs: Step four: we take six digital photos for patient education. And those are the photos as taught by Dr. Frank Spear. The six photos are:

1. A head-and-shoulders natural smile — like a portrait.
2. A close-up retracted view where the patient holds retractors.
3. Upper occlusal view using the hourglass-shaped mouth mirror — you’re taking a photo of the reflection of the teeth in the mirror.
4. Lower occlusal view (same method).
5. Right buccal corridor — patient holds retractor, camera points 45 degrees down the buccal corridor.
6. Left buccal corridor.

It takes two to three minutes to take those photos.

Gary Takacs: Step five is the doctor part of the new patient appointment — the doctor’s exam, the comprehensive doctor exam, however you do that. Depending on what kind of practice you have and your focus areas, you’ll have a process for that. In our case, it’s 30 minutes. That finishes with the patient looking at the photos we’ve taken on a tablet. We load them onto a tablet, put it on their lap, and then we make an excuse to leave the room.

So the new patient coordinator will say to the patient:

“Naren, you might remember the photos I took of you earlier today. I’ve taken the liberty of loading these here on the tablet.”

And we hand them an Apple iPad Pro — the big 12.9" tablet — and say:

“It works just like your phone. If you want to see the next photo, just take your finger and flick it. If you want to zoom in, just take your fingers and pinch out — just like your smartphone. You can zoom in to infinity. Doctor and I need to take a look at your digital X-rays. While we’re doing that, do me a favor and look at these photos and make a mental note of any questions you have. When doctor and I come back in, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.”

Gary Takacs: This is deliberate. This isn’t necessary, but it’s a deliberate design — because when you leave the patient alone with their photos, they will see their teeth in a way they’ve never seen before. Especially if they can zoom in to infinity.

You’ll come back into the room, and the majority of the time the patient will ask, “Oh, what’s this?” “What’s that?” “What’s this?” And Naren, wouldn’t you agree that now the dominoes are starting to fall — where the patient is starting to discover things about their mouth that they hadn’t known before or hadn’t been aware of before?

Naren Arulrajah: Absolutely. I’m amazed — amazed — how many patients say, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize my lower teeth are so crowded.”

Gary Takacs: By the way, if you get any comments like that — “Oh, I didn’t realize my teeth seem to have different colors,” or “I didn’t realize my teeth were so crowded,” how do you respond?

Does that concern you?

“Yes.”

“Well, now it does — now that I see it.”

And now — great way to respond is: Does that concern you? Because now it’s a dialogue. It’s co-discovery. They’re discovering it and they’re asking you about it.

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah. My question is, Gary, I know, let’s say if a doctor says, “You know what? I don’t want this appointment to be so long — I want to break it into two,” would you recommend doing the hygiene first, but the much more extended conversation and looking at the pictures be the second appointment? Or — I’m just asking — should it be spaced or should it be like, you know, six months later, or literally…?

Gary Takacs: We tried to do all of this in an hour and a half. And we failed at it. And I’ve had multiple clients try it in an hour and a half, and they couldn’t get it done. And it wasn’t because of the photos — not the taking of the photos, which is two to three minutes — it’s the dialogue that comes up after they’re looking at the photos.

So it’s a two-hour appointment in the office, representing 30 minutes of doctor time. But it’s two hours in the office.

But if you do have to break it up, I would not suggest breaking it up the way you described to me. I would suggest that the first appointment be records and doctor exam. Records and doctor exam. Because oftentimes if you clean their teeth, there’ll be people that don’t come back.

Naren Arulrajah: They got what they wanted.

Gary Takacs: They’re not coming back. So I would start with the records and the doctor exam.

Naren Arulrajah: So then how do you deal with the pushback on “No, no, I want my hygiene in the first appointment”? How do you deal with that?

Gary Takacs: Then let’s look at a time in your schedule when you can schedule that for two hours.

Naren Arulrajah: Okay. Makes sense.

Gary Takacs: But that’s — if you had to break it down — that’s how I would break it down.

Perfect. So we’re through step five, which is the doctor part of the new patient exam.

Gary Takacs: Step six is the hygiene appointment. We’re gonna do a cleaning or debridement. Remember, we’ve already taken the X-rays, so we’ll start with an IPE — initial periodontal exam — and then we’ll do a cleaning or debridement.

Step seven is we finish with financial arrangements and scheduling. And in our case, our new patient coordinators are our admin team members. So they bookend the appointment — they start with the patient in the beginning, and they finish with the patient at the end.

Now, I want to share one thing that I would like all of you to do — regardless of how you schedule your new patient experience. One thing that I haven’t mentioned — and those are the seven steps. So you have those. Again, let me rattle them off really quick:

1. Quick tour
2. Interview in the consult room
3. Taking of the records
4. Taking the six digital photos
5. Doctor part of the new patient exam
6. Hygiene appointment — cleaning or debridement
7. Financial arrangements and scheduling

Assuming it’s a relatively simple treatment plan — not a complex treatment plan. If it’s a complex treatment plan, we’re going to bring the patient back to present our findings. Because again, for time reasons, I don’t want that to be longer than two hours. So we’ll bring them back if it’s a big smile design case, complex restorative case, big implant case, etc.

Gary Takacs: But the one thing I’d like all of you to do is something I teach our clients to do at the beginning — when they’re meeting the doctor for the first time. That’s step five in this process.

When they’re meeting the doctor for the first time, I would like whoever has been with the patient — in our case, it’s the new patient coordinator — to introduce the patient to the doctor by sharing something about the patient that has nothing to do with their teeth.

Something that has nothing to do with their teeth.

And how that might sound… that’s how they meet the doctor for the first time.

Gary Takacs: How that might sound is, “Dr. Dave, this is Linda, our new patient today. Linda, this is Dr. Dave. Dr. Dave, Linda is passionate about animal rescue. She does a lot of volunteer work in these adoption programs, where she and her team help to adopt pets and find a forever home for pets that are in need of forever homes.”

And in this case, the reason why she’s picking this is Dr. Dave also loves pets. And so Dr. Dave can say, “Oh my gosh, Linda, that is so cool. I love your passion around this. What a great way to be doing good in the world and find forever homes for those pets.”

And they’re gonna spend 30 seconds, 60 seconds talking about pets and adoption.

It might be something simple. It might be, “Dr. Dave, this is our new patient, Maria. Dr. Dave, Maria has a 12-year-old just like you. You’re gonna have to talk pre-teen stories.” And they’ll talk about their pre-teens.

It might be, “This is our patient Beth, and she works at the Toyota assembly factory with many of our team members.”

“Oh my gosh, how long have you worked at Toyota? Man, we have so many patients that are your coworkers there. We love it. What do you do? What’s your department?”

Gary Takacs: And they’re gonna talk about things — and what’s happening here is we’re providing a connection. A connection. Does that make sense, Naren? A connection between you and the patient, and the patient and you.

And by the way, your team member has to be prepared to tee something up. And what does that mean? What have they done up to that part of the appointment? What does that mean — that new patient coordinator or assistant — what have they done, Naren, to lead up to that?

Naren Arulrajah: I think they got to know the patient, right?

Gary Takacs: Yeah. Yeah. They connected with the patient. They got to know them. They’re not just processing. They’re not just processing the patient.

And I would politely say that in a vast majority of dental offices, your new patient gets processed. And come back to Maya Angelou’s famous quote: “People forget what you said. They’ll forget what you did. But they’ll never forget the way you made them feel.” If they’re being processed, how do they feel?

Naren Arulrajah: Eh.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. I think… that’s why they’ll…

Naren Arulrajah: They’ll forget that.

Gary Takacs: Yeah, exactly. I mean, if you were to do a survey of 100 random people and ask them to, say, on a scale of 1 to 10 — 10 means you have a personal relationship with your dentist and you love your dentist — what number would you give?

I would argue not too many would give a 9 or a 10, right? So there’s a lot of room here — like a huge opportunity here — for you to stand out and build that lifelong relationship.

Gary Takacs: And I should have emphasized in the beginning — we’re talking about a new patient that doesn’t have anything going on in their mouth. They just moved to your area. Hopefully they met their neighbor, asked their neighbor for a recommendation for a dental office, and the neighbor highly recommended you.

Maybe they found you through a Google search, liked what they saw on the website, liked what they experienced when they called your office, and now they made the appointment.

But we’re not talking about someone where something’s going on — that would be what we’d call an emergency appointment. And we would take care of them with whatever palliative care they needed and get them out of pain.

A little tip on that: in your morning huddle, I would encourage all of our listeners to identify — every day — a morning emergency slot and an afternoon emergency slot, based on your schedule that day. And I would encourage you not to use a generic time, like, “Oh, just right before lunch, make that the emergency time.”

Well, that might not be the best time. So look at your schedule. Identify an emergency slot in the morning, identify one in the afternoon. Then if you have it, everyone will know — when we write a name in on the schedule in the lab that we’re working someone in — everyone will know. We agreed to that in the morning huddle. And everyone will be prepared.

Gary Takacs: But what we’re talking about is the patient who has nothing going on — they just want to get established with your office. And I would encourage you to consider those seven steps.

Now, before we get into the Q&A segment — what about results? What does this do to a practice?

I have hard data from many clients — multiple clients — that incorporating this new patient experience, and you might have to do it in steps, but incorporating your version of this new patient experience can produce profound results in the analytical, the numbers side of your practice.

Naren, can I tease our listeners with some results that we’ve seen?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, 100%, Gary.

Gary Takacs: We’ve seen clients — same team, same hours — where they were kind of plateaued in terms of office production, office collection. They were plateaued. And at a very good level, but they were plateaued.

We’ve seen offices increase as much as 50% in annual production by incorporating a version of this new patient experience. And the reason for that is — when it comes to case acceptance, case acceptance goes up dramatically.

And when it comes to percolating interest in higher-value services because of that new patient experience — implants, Invisalign, adult orthodontics, complex restorative dentistry, sedation, treating obstructive sleep apnea, just to name a few — then they’re more interested in those things. So your case mix changes.

Instead of spending a lot of time doing nothing but everyday general dentistry, you’re now going to do more of the high-value services.

We’ve seen significant increases by incorporating that new patient experience.

Naren, we’re at a good point for a pause. Let’s pause here, and let’s get into the questions that we have.

Naren Arulrajah: Welcome back to the Thriving Dentist Q&A segment. I hope you enjoyed that conversation Gary and I had about why your new patient experience could make or break your practice. Gary, I have four questions for you. Let me start with the very first one, and I do have some thoughts on this question, but I would love to hear your thoughts because you are the expert.

Gary, what are the biggest mistakes practices make during that first phone call with a new patient?

Gary Takacs: Well, Naren, do you remember me using the word process when I described the average new patient appointment?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah.

Gary Takacs: The biggest mistake offices make on the phone is they process the phone call.

Naren Arulrajah: When you say that — is it like you see it 10% of the time or you see it like 80% of the time?

Gary Takacs: Uh, it’s more like 90% of the time. The only time they get the patient’s name is at the end. And they have to get the name because they’re making an appointment. Meanwhile, the patient’s been talking — the team member’s been talking with Naren for five minutes — and there’s no name. We have no idea who it is. It’s just some person on the call. They don’t get their name.

So I teach some fundamentals in the calls. First, I want you to use your name in the greeting.

For example: “This is Life Smiles Dental Care, this is Carly — how can I help you?”

So now they have a name.

Then, get their name. If they don’t provide you with their name, you can say, “Again, my name is Carly — who am I speaking with?”

“George.”

“First of all, it’s great to meet you by phone. I look forward to meeting you face-to-face. George, let me answer your question — absolutely, we love seeing new patients. You called the right office.”

By the way, George — here’s tip number three — “How did you hear about our office?”

And I want to know that because it helps for marketing reasons. Would you agree, Naren?

Naren Arulrajah: Absolutely, Gary. I mean, we do track, so we know how they came through, but it’s also a good idea to ask the patient. They might say, “Google reviews.” They might say…

Gary Takacs: …“I did a Google search and I looked at reviews. That’s how I found you.” If that was the case, I might say…

Naren Arulrajah: …I would use the word “choose” versus “hear” — because “choose” implies what stood out.

Gary Takacs: I might say: “George, a lot of patients today find us that way. You called the right office.”

Tip number four: so, give your name in the greeting. Get their name early in the call. Use their name. Ask how they chose your office. How would you language that, Naren?

Naren Arulrajah: “How did you choose our practice?” or “What made you choose our practice?”

Gary Takacs: “How did you choose our office?” Perfect.

Then, step four is — find some way to connect with them. Now, that connection might lie in tip three — maybe they say, “My neighbor referred me.”

“Oh, who’s your neighbor?”

“Oh my gosh, we love her. I’m so grateful she told you about our practice. We’re going to take great care of you — just like we do with her.”

That’s a connection point. But the biggest mistake is they process the call. And they only get a name at the end because, well, they have to.

Gary Takacs: There’s no connection — and they miss the opportunity. Usually, there are so many ways to connect.

Let me give you an example. An emergency patient. When we ask, “Will this be a regular new patient appointment, or is something going on?”

“Oh, actually I’ve had this brutal toothache for three days.”

That’s a different appointment.

We’ve had situations — I’ve listened to thousands of calls — where we’re booking the appointment like it’s a regular new patient. And only at the end, it comes out: “Oh, I’ve got a toothache.”

We’ve been on the phone for 8 minutes — now we realize it’s a different appointment.

When you find out they’re in pain, say:

“Naren, I’m so sorry you’re experiencing tooth pain — that’s no fun. You called the right office. We have a lot of experience helping patients who are in pain. Let me see how soon we can get you in.”

That’s a connection point.

Gary Takacs: Or if they ask: “Do you do Invisalign?”

Here’s how not to answer:

“Yeah.”

(Painful silence.)

Versus:

“Do you guys do Invisalign?”

“We absolutely love doing Invisalign. We love helping our patients have beautiful, straight teeth using Invisalign. Our doctors have extensive experience. You called the right office.”

Which one meets the Maya Angelou test?

Naren Arulrajah: The second one.

Gary Takacs: Took me what — five seconds longer?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah.

Gary Takacs: And now it’s a totally different experience. That’s the beginning of the call.

Naren Arulrajah: I do have a couple of comments and would love your feedback.

First — yes, ask “How did you choose our practice?”

Marketing is a three-step process:

1. People have to find you
2. They have to like you
3. They have to choose you

Find you is all about SEO or paid ads.

Like you is about making yourself human — maybe via a warm welcome video on your website.

Choose you often happens through reviews or a referral.

You want to know what made them pick up the phone and call. They may not always be honest or open about it, but it’s still a valuable data point.

Naren Arulrajah: Second — you talked about “process.” Some doctors may not understand that if they haven’t listened to calls. What that means is:

• The patient is giving yes/no answers.
• The team member is just filling out an insurance form: “What’s your name?” “What’s your insurance number?”

That’s processing — not connecting.

Intentional is the opposite. You’re glad they called. You roll out the red carpet. You make them feel welcome. You deal with their concerns. You help them trust you — and then ask for the appointment.

Am I capturing what you said, Gary?

Gary Takacs: Yeah. And it goes back to Maya Angelou’s quote:

“They’ll forget what you said. They’ll forget what you did. But they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”

That can absolutely happen on the phone.

With the right training, we’ve seen massive improvement in conversion percentage — the percentage of new patient callers that book an appointment. We’ve seen offices double their new patient flow just by converting better.

Naren Arulrajah: I’ll give you a secret — most practices don’t know: the average office only books 1 out of 3 new patient calls.

You might be thinking you’re doing great. And you’re getting your data from your team — of course, they’re going to say you’re doing great.

But you have to look at your conversion rate.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. If you’re not recording your calls, you have no idea what’s happening. Sorry to be blunt — but that’s the reality.

Hey, if you’d like some help with this, maybe it’s a pain point for you, feel welcome to schedule a coaching strategy meeting with me.

Go to thrivingdentist.com/csm — stands for Coaching Strategy Meeting. Opens up my calendar. Schedule a one-hour Zoom call with me, and we’ll talk about this. You’ll get real information you can act on — instead of guesses.

I’ll share something else, Naren — just happened yesterday. I listened to a batch of client calls in prep for training. In those calls, 62% of the time, the caller asked the same first question.

Want to guess?

Naren Arulrajah: Hmm. Either “How much does it cost?” or “Do you take my insurance?”

Gary Takacs: Nope.

Naren Arulrajah: Hmm. Okay.

Gary Takacs: “Are you accepting new patients?”

62% of the time. Almost two-thirds. That was the first question.

Now I can answer that with:

“Yep.”

Or:

“Absolutely. We love seeing new patients. You called the right office.”

Which one meets the Maya Angelou test?

Naren Arulrajah: The second one.

Gary Takacs: Took me about five more seconds — but it’s totally different. That’s the beginning of the call.

And some of that comes from what’s happening in medicine — many OB-GYNs and physicians aren’t accepting new patients. So people assume dentistry is the same way.

So think about something as simple as how your team answers that question:

“Are you accepting new patients?”

And have them answer it with a Maya Angelou slant.

Naren Arulrajah: Thank you, Gary. Let me ask question number two. How can I make my first visit stand out, especially in a competitive market where patients have lots of choices?

Gary Takacs: Hmm. Well, I think the tour is one way that’ll stand out, because I think you’d agree that most patients have never experienced a tour. And the tour is — again — it’s not a Disney behind-the-scenes, open-up-every-cupboard and take them into the lab. No, no. It’s a simple “lolly the trolley,” walk down the hallway, point out some things.

What might I point out? Maybe we have a shelf with some products, and maybe we have some whitening products on the shelf. And we can say, “You know, one of the things we love is helping our patients have the whitest, brightest smile in [insert your state] — the whitest, brightest smile in Florida. And we’ve got a number of different whitening options for you.”

“Oh, here’s the patient restroom.” Let them know where the restroom is. And, you know, we talk about some things.

Gary Takacs: I like to stop the tour — the last stop — imagine having a beautiful “after” photo, head and shoulders, you know, of your patient. Obviously, you have to have their permission to have that. But we get that permission.

Have an after photo, and you can say things like — I’m making this up, assuming this might be in your treatment mix — “Although our doctors love doing everyday general dentistry, we also love helping our patients have a beautiful, healthy smile and the smile of their dreams. All of the photos you see here in our office are actual patients of ours that we’ve helped. In some cases, they’ve involved dental implants. Other cases have involved adult orthodontics — Invisalign. Other cases have involved what we call cosmetic dentistry. So all these patients are actual patients of ours that we’ve helped.”

And what does that tell them, Naren? Tells them we do implants, we do Invisalign, we do cosmetic dentistry — without selling. Right? I’m not selling them anything. Just letting them know it’s available.

And, you know, would I do that for a 20-year-old college patient?

Naren Arulrajah: You mean implants?

Gary Takacs: Absolutely.

Naren Arulrajah: Okay. Got it.

Gary Takacs: Would I say that? Yes, because that 20-year-old patient has parents and grandparents.

Naren Arulrajah: Oh, okay. Got it.

Gary Takacs: And that patient might say, “Oh my gosh, my grandmother’s been complaining — she has a lower denture, and she’s complaining about it being floppy.”

“Well, let your grandmother know — we help a lot of patients with floppy lower dentures.”

So yes. She doesn’t need implants — she’s 20 years old — but she has parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, great aunts and great uncles that might.

Naren Arulrajah: Right.

Gary Takacs: So yes — because it only took… it’s part of the tour.

Naren Arulrajah: Thank you, Gary. Let me ask question number three. We get new patients in the door, but not all of them return. What part of the experience might be missing?

Gary Takacs: Uh, I could probably rattle off 20 reasons why they don’t.

Naren Arulrajah: Gimme the top three. Gimme…

Gary Takacs: Well, I think I’m gonna focus on one — indifference. Indifference. They had an indifferent experience. “Eh, I went to the dental office.” It was indifferent. There was nothing about it…

Naren, have you ever been to a restaurant and it was an indifferent experience?

Naren Arulrajah: I have. Yes. I mean, I’ll tell you — I go to tons of restaurants, and I don’t like almost all of them, even the ones that are very expensive. The reason is, I feel I’m rushed. I’m just being, like, in and out. I’m being processed.

Then I go to Four Seasons — I’m sure you know it — great hotel, nice restaurants. The famous York Hotel in Toronto — it’s a landmark. It takes two and a half hours, but it’s amazing. You’re just relaxing, and they’re waiting on you. They make you feel like a VIP. The food is the food, but making you feel like a VIP — that’s priceless.

And I don’t understand — I go to nice restaurants with my kids for sushi and stuff — but it’s about in and out, in and out. And every day it’s a different experience. But Four Seasons — I’ve been there multiple times, and every time you come, it’s…

Gary Takacs: …pretty different. Yeah. So I think it’s indifference. There wasn’t anything about it that stood out.

And it doesn’t have to be elaborate, but I think what you can do differently is actually connect with the patient.

For example, one of the questions in the seven-question interview — remember I told you we do a seven-question interview?

Naren, I want to know a little bit more about your family health history, because today we know the health of your gums has a lot to do with your overall health. Among your blood family members, is there any history of:

• Heart disease?
• Stroke?
• Diabetes?
• Among the women — early births or preeclampsia?
• Cancer?

Nineteen out of twenty people are going to say yes to at least one of those five — at least one. Only about 5% of the population will say no to all five.

Now you’re connecting them to their family history. And we tell them that the health of your gums has a lot to do with those health issues. We want your gums to be as healthy as possible.

And now — especially when they’re thinking of a grandfather or a parent that had heart disease — they’re paying attention when we talk about their gums. And it’s not just talking about the gums. It’s talking about their health.

Gary Takacs: That’s just one example. All seven questions are carefully crafted to help us learn about them — but it’s really about connection.

So if indifference is the reason people don’t come back, then the way to break that is to connect with them somehow. Figure out a way to connect.

And I’d say sometimes it’s easy — the patient is extroverted, friendly, warm. Many times it’s not easy.

And I would suggest that the primary reason why sometimes it’s not easy to connect is because they’re afraid.

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: It’s because they’re afraid.

You know, it goes back to the sympathetic nervous system. Humans are in one of two modes at all times:

• Fight or flight
• Rest or digest

Where is every patient on the planet — subconsciously — in terms of their sympathetic nervous system on their first visit to a dental office?

Naren Arulrajah: Fight or flight.

Gary Takacs: Fight or flight.

But when we’re talking to the patient about their mountain biking… or we’re talking about their 12-year-old… or working at the Toyota factory — their mind switches to rest and digest. Subconsciously. Because now they’re talking about something familiar.

So really, the solution to indifference is to connect with them. You and your team — figure out a way to connect.

Naren Arulrajah: And you reminded me of a book I read — and it’s still imprinted in my memory — How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

He uses this phrase called the great conversationalist. And he talks about how great conversationalists are not the talkers — they’re the ones who ask questions. They’re interested in you. They’re the…

Gary Takacs: …listeners.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly.

Gary Takacs: You know, I just participated in a workshop — it was a Ritz-Carlton workshop — done by the Director of Customer Experience at Ritz-Carlton. They actually have a training center around that.

I participated in a two-day workshop, and it’s amazing how profound it was.

If any of you have ever experienced Ritz-Carlton customer service, it’s amazing. Phenomenal.

They talked about how if you’ve stayed at a Ritz-Carlton once, there’s a profile made up about you. All kinds of information. So if you go to another Ritz-Carlton, when you check in, they won’t just check you in. They’ll say, “Gary, it’s so good to see you. Welcome back.”

Naren Arulrajah: If you lost your shoes, they probably already have your shoe size and would get you new ones.

Gary Takacs: Right? And it’s done… it’s a very carefully orchestrated customer service — by everybody. It’s legendary.

And we can borrow some of those things.

I took that workshop because I wanted to adapt some of this to a dental office. How can we adapt this?

This stuff doesn’t require money. It just requires being human. You have to be interested.

This is a Dale Carnegie concept — you brought up Dale Carnegie. It’s more important to be interested than interesting.

Naren Arulrajah: Yes.

Gary Takacs: I think many dentists — subconsciously — are trying to be interesting. Not just in terms of personality, but they’re trying to inform them about dentistry.

Naren Arulrajah: “You need this. You need that.” It’s all about being interesting. And they think the more they…

Gary Takacs: …talk.

When you’re interested — when they look at the photos on your tablet and they say, “I didn’t realize my lower teeth are so crowded” — the one who’s trying to be interesting immediately starts telling them about ortho.

“Oh, we’ve got Invisalign! We can do that!”

The one who is trying to be interested says:

Naren, does that concern you?

Now I switch it. One little switch.

Now I’m interested in you.

Tell me more.

That is a phrase that should be in every listener’s hip pocket: “Tell me more.”

Try it.

Alright. These are fun questions, Naren.

Naren Arulrajah: Thank you, Gary. Yeah, I think these are some of the best questions we’ve had. So thank you for sending them in.

How can I train my team to consistently deliver a great first impression without sounding scripted or robotic? And this is the last question, Gary.

Gary Takacs: You know, it’s a great question. And I will tell you, I’m not a big fan of scripts. Scripts — we’ve all been on the receiving end of them — and they sound canned, robotic, routine, ingenuine.

So I don’t mind phrases — having some phrases on your hip pocket. Like in that phone call: “You called the right office.”

At the end of the call, use their name again:

“Hey Naren, it’s been great meeting you by phone today. I look forward to meeting you face-to-face in your appointment next week.”

You could call that a script, I guess, but I think of that more as a phrase — not a long script.

I really think the key to helping your team members do this is: you have to model being relationship-driven with them.

Gary Takacs: You have to model that.

If we want our team members to be relationship-driven — by that, I mean:

• we know their spouse’s name
• we know their kids’ names
• we know their dog’s name
• we know their hobbies
• we know their interests
• we know that maybe a patient is taking care of an elderly parent right now

That’s the stuff we want our team members to do — and we’ve got to model that with them.

How much, doctor, do you know about your team members?

• How much do you know about their extended family?
• Their faith?
• Their dog’s name?
• How much do you know about them?

So I think you can model that.

The other thing you can do is provide them with tools so it’s easy.

For example — provide a digital note card.

Make a digital note card for every one of your patients where you and all your team members enter personal information.

Then, in the morning huddle, have one of your team members hold the clicker for the TV — since you have your schedule up on the monitor. And literally just scroll through everyone you’re going to see today. Very quickly scroll through each one of their note cards — so you’re prepared.

Gary Takacs: Because if I’m your patient, and you’ve done that preparation — and you, as the doctor, come into hygiene to do the exam:

“Gary, it’s so good to see you. How’s your wife, Therese? Hey, how’s her yoga studio going? Man, I’ve taken classes from her before — I gotta get back in there. It always keeps me loose. I need to get back into her studio. And I have to ask you about your grandson, Canaan — how’s Canaan doing?”

Naren Arulrajah: You feel like a million bucks — because when we are interested in you, you are interested in us.

Gary Takacs: So bring it back full circle.

Was that a Maya Angelou touch?

Naren Arulrajah: Yes.

Gary Takacs: And that’s what they do at Four Seasons. They have all that — it’s in the system. So provide your team members with the system to do it.

Naren Arulrajah: And the other thing — I’m just reflecting on my Four Seasons experience — everyone is different. They all have their personalities. They’re not molded to say the same words or do the same things. Some are bubbly, and some are more…

Gary Takacs: …they’re encouraged to do it in their own personality.

Sometimes you’ll have someone from Britain — here at the York…

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly

Gary Takacs: …speak like they’re addressing the Queen.

Naren Arulrajah: Yes!

Gary Takacs: But it’s genuine — because it’s who they are.

Closing Thoughts

Gary Takacs: Well Naren, this has been fun.

So bring it back full circle — why your new patient experience can make or break your practice.

Hope we’ve given you some things to think about. More importantly, I hope you implement some of these things tomorrow.

You can implement many of the things we’ve talked about at no cost at all — just start implementing them.

This might be a good one to play for a team meeting — good podcast episode to play for a team meeting.

 Well, Naren, I want to take a minute and thank our listeners. We appreciate each and every one of you.

If you haven’t made plans already to attend our RIDA Summit coming up October 24th, make plans to do that. Again, you can go to rid.academy and register — no cost — to get five hours of CE.

On that note, let me thank you all for the privilege of your time and tell you that Naren and I look forward to connecting with you on the next Thriving Dentist Show.