Welcome aboard the new patient group flight deck . Less chaos Check . Less stress . Check Less advertising costs Check More personal and financial freedom . Ah , check , All right . Business checklist completed . Let the takeoff roll begin .
Welcome to season seven of the new patient group audio experience , a podcast dedicated to forward thinking doctors wanting to learn innovative ways to run their business today so your practice can achieve new heights tomorrow . And now your host .
He's the founder and CEO of new patient Group , managing partner of RightChat and a trusted motivational speaker for Invisalign OrthoPhi and others , brian Wright .
Hey , new Patient Group and RightChat Nation . Welcome inside the broadcast booth . Brian Wright here . Welcome into the fifth episode of season seven , episode 98 overall in the New Patient Group podcast . If you're watching over on our YouTube station , hey there , I hope everybody's doing great out there .
If you've heard the previous podcast , we have a brand new format more frequent podcasts . A lot of them are going to be shorter . There are going to be times still where I sit back and contemporary radio show style , do a longer episode , but the goal is going to be more frequent podcasts .
We have amazing guests that are going to be upcoming that I cannot wait to announce once they're finalized . We have some deals working just to get these things finalized , because they're very big names in the industry , not easy to get onto podcasts and things like that . So , looking forward to that the more podcasts , more frequent episodes that are shorter .
Today's going to be an example of one that I'm not going to be doing in terms of a series , meaning that it's not going to be a part one through a part 10 . It's just every once in a while I'm going to kind of drop this in and if you stood up in front of an audience and you said okay , raise your hand if you believe you're in the people business .
And let's say you had a thousand orthodontists in their teams there . Everybody raises their hand . Right , everybody , pretty much across the board , believes that you're in a people first business . And if you listen and follow us , that could be for any business on the planet .
I don't care if you're a plumber , a restaurant , an orthodontist , a dentist , a plastic surgeon , a consultant , a website company , whatever it is , a maid service , lawyer list goes on and on . Everybody is in the people business first . But very few companies actually function as if they're in a people business first .
Right , it's easy to sit in an audience and be asked are you in a people business ? And raise your hand . It's a totally different thing to actually function like one , and there's so many things inside the practice environment that counteract the fact that you are in a people business .
Right , you say you are , but there's so many things that you and your team do every day that prove that you're actually not functioning like one . Today I'm going to give a quick example . Around your new patient paperwork Look , patients hate it , consumers hate it .
We've all had to fill out paperwork and then you go into the practice and they act like you've never filled anything out . They ask you the same silly questions as most of the questions on the paperwork , to begin with , and consumers are just tired of it . And , in the orthodontic world , because people are shopping so much .
Which you also have to understand is is that if they schedule at three different that's three places that they have to fill out paperwork , and the process usually is so many practices out there you ask completely unnecessary questions in the new patient call . Remember , the philosophy is your new patient call is a sales and marketing message .
It's to get them converted onto your schedule . It's to get them excited and ready to show up and psychologically prepared to buy before they walk through the door . There's a lot of things that we teach that get them to do that . Now , obviously , basic information your name , your phone number , your email , maybe even insurance information , of course .
Outside of that , it's a complete waste of time to be asking anything else . So you ask yourself why am I talking about the new patient call when today is quickly about the new patient paperwork ? I want you to put yourself in the position of the consumer as they shop and they talk to one receptionist that asks them 25 questions on the phone .
It's almost like an interview process on the phone and then , as the consumer , you receive paperwork from the office that asks the same questions that the receptionist just spent asking you over the phone . Now I ask all of you out there , what would a people business do ?
Well , if you're going to ask all kinds of unnecessary information on the phone , then I tell you what a people business would do is that then you would collect that data , you would write it down for the patient and then you would go complete their paperwork on their behalf and then send out any paperwork with any additional questions that you didn't ask on the
new patient call . That's a people business .
What a people business isn't is you asking countless silly questions on the new patient call just because you feel like you need the information , then sending new patient paperwork that makes them and hopefully you all are beyond that they have to print it out , or it's emailed and it's a PDF that they have to print out .
Hopefully all of you are digital , because if you're not , you only have yourself to blame if somebody doesn't fill out paperwork . Hopefully all of you are digital , because if you're not , you only have yourself to blame if somebody doesn't fill out paperwork .
But on top of that , back to the point , is that when they receive that paperwork , if it asks them to complete questions they've already answered on the phone with you . That's not a people business and you are not offering the unexpected hospitality that you must offer in this economy , with this consumer and a commoditization that you all survive in .
Now the other piece is are you going to ask for the insurance information over the phone ? Okay , I understand why people want to do that , but doesn't your paperwork make them fill that out too ? Once again , that means you should fill that out for them . Or don't take the time on the new patient call to ask that information .
If you send them paperwork that then asks them the same question , well , brian , they don't fill it out . They don't fill it out because of you . The receptionist doesn't sell the value . Every practice uses the paperwork the same . Nobody looks at it , nobody studies it .
No receptionist says we're going to sit down as a team , mr Jones , and go over this paperwork . Make sure we offer a very personalized experience for you and your family , because that's what you deserve , and any information you're going to give us over the phone .
Sir , we're going to fill that out on your paperwork for you so you don't have to fill in all those unnecessary or all those things again Like who wants to do that ? So we're going to fill that out on your behalf . Sir , nobody says that this is the opportunity that you have . If you actually comprehend that one , you're in a people business .
But if you actually function like you're in a people business and your new patient phone call and your paperwork very much are intertwined there . Stop asking unnecessary questions .
In the new patient call you need their name , their phone , their email , get them into your system , sell the value on why they need to fill out that paperwork , give your information and get off the phone and sell them why you're better . That's what your receptionist should do . If you absolutely want to ask for insurance and other information , fine , so be it .
But you better fill that information out on behalf of the patient before you send them their paperwork , or you are not functioning like a people business . Have a great rest of your day , everybody . Thanks for your support . We'll talk to everybody soon . Bye-bye .