Read time: 5 minutes.

At a glance:

• Quote:

• Picture

• What I’ve Learned

• Business Idea

What I Learned:

Brian Wright of New Patient Group delivers some world-class material.

If anyone’s heard him speak, he offers great advice about the new patient call—how it’s answered, what’s said, how to persuade a potential patient, and the emotions you convey.

And he has a point.

Listening to his podcast, he gave an example of what should be said when a new patient calls in.

Caller: “…So what should we expect for our first visit?”

Brian (acting): “I’m Brian, and that’s a great question. I’m happy to answer it for you. First and foremost, we know you are busy, and your time is essential. You will be greeted by our TC, Sarah, when you walk through the door. She’s great, and she’ll handle your appointment perfectly. She’ll also send you a welcome video text so you know exactly what she looks like! Then you’ll meet with our doctor. I’m super proud to work for him. He is always looking into the latest technology to ensure his patients receive the best treatment. You’ll love him.  Let’s get you scheduled in the next day or two that works best with your time?

A visual breakdown looks like this:

Which led to my curiosity:

….is this NOT being done?

This week, I thought it would be interesting to see what is actually happening.

So, I gathered actual responses from 5 practices in a local area to see if any of them had elements of Brian’s breakdown. With permission—and in keeping the names and practices private—I asked five front desk employees to provide me their responses to this common question:

Caller: “…What should we expect for our first appointment?”

Front Desk #1: “.. Ok… So you’ll come in and meet with the doctor and the treatment coordinator, and umm….they’ll kind of like take a look, see where your child is, and if there is anything that would be a potential treatment, we let you know. If not, we’ll say everything looks good for right now, and we’ll check back in a few months or a year. It’s a case-by-case basis and everyone is different. Not everyone is exactly the same, and we look at each person individually….so like do you want to come in? The earliest is in like five weeks.

Front Desk #2: “…Ohh you’d just come in, our doctor would look and see what he’d recommend, you’d meet with our coordinator, and we’ll tell you what we recommend and we give you fees. Do you want to come in?

Front Desk #3: “...This is completely complementary, no charge whatsoever, you won’t pay, and we do a panoramic scan of the mouth, go over options, you would meet with the doctor, the appointment takes an hour, and then we offer you financial options to pay us. Is there anything else?

Front Desk #4: “…. You’re gonna be here for an hour or more, so get here a little early, and we take photos, and umm....a scan…and …umm…we take the records, and then the back will just over what they see, and then if you’re ready for any type of treatment, we do more records, which is a couple more records and scan, and then we go over how much this will all cost you. Did you want to schedule an appointment? Have we seen anyone else in your family?”

Front Desk #5: “Just come in for a consult, and we would take some records, then we talk to your dentist, and we’d talk it over with you, we take an x-ray, and treatment would be reviewed with you. The appointment takes one hour. Does that answer your question?”

I get it, it’s not perfect, and hiring a steady employee to even answer the phone in 2025 is a win. (And I applaud any employee or practice looking to improve.)

But Brian Wright is right.

No one made their doctor or practice stand out. Adding something—anything— about the orthodontist or practice would have made an enormous difference. No one acknowledged that our time was important, alleviated fears, and worse…

…they all sounded the same.

The irony in orthodontics is that you can spend 12 years in school, complete 12 years worth of CE, and spend 12 hours perfecting a class II…. and have it all go out the window in a 12-second conversation.

But not anymore. A small change can make an exponential impact to your practice. Be front-desk different. Stand out. Set up your practice as different with a quip about why you. Introduce the TC by name. Build familiarity. Acknowledge the caller’s time and how special this first visit is.

Consider having a team member listen to one of Brian’s podcast on their way to work this week. I have no financial interest in his podcast or company; I just want your practice to be the best it can be.

I work in sales.

And in sales, it’s in the smallest of moments that make the biggest difference.

^{Reference: Brian Wright. New Patient Group Podcast. 2024. podcast.buzzsprout.com/156557/episodes}

The smallest change can make the most significant impact to your bottom line.