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Clients Rule, Patients Drool by Jen Butler, MEd, CPC, BCC

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In all areas of dentistry there is much attention spent on the ever-sought out patient – how to market to them, get them in the door, connect with them, get them to say “yes” and have them return, time and time again. Too often practitioners believe their success relies solely on patients and number of starts. This is far from the whole story.

There is another target market that plays a critical part in the success, diversity and longevity of an orthodontic practice. These are the clients. Clients are the decision makers. They decide if a patient moves forward with treatment, which level of service a patient will tolerate, if the cost-to-value ratio is acceptable and often drives the patient’s emotional response throughout the process. Often these important individuals are called guardians, parents or spouses. Don’t be fooled by those titles. These people are clients and must be catered to in marketing, technology, practice management, team development and office environment, with equal amount of thought and energy as is given to the patient. While patients drool in a practice, clients rule.

Marketing

Marketing is all about creating awareness of who you are and what you do. You want to generate a buzz around your product and service so people seek you out, consistently. Effective marketing talks to a person’s pain and clearly draws them a picture of how you and your practice provide them their only solutions. Patients and clients have different pains, so marketing must be diverse enough to cover the critical basis for each group.

Patients

  • Results focused: Patients will want to see before and after pictures and have some visualization of what their results might be. Helping them imagine what their new smile will bring them – confidence, that perfect job, new friends – makes for easy starts.
  • Part of the crowd: Whether adult or youngster, no one wants to feel as if they are standing out from the crowd. Creating the mentality that orthodontics is a normal, and important, step in creating their best smile helps calm patients anxiety while reminding them they are not alone.
  • Life changer: Patients are concerned about having to change their lifestyle for any length of time. Committing to braces, Invisalign or any type of appliance can be scary regarding what they will lose in their daily life, especially for six months or longer. Marketing that talks about the simplicity and ease of care while maintaining normalcy is key for patients.

Clients

  • Team skills: Where patients want to know about the end result, clients are more curious about who will be the driving force getting the patient to the end result. Marketing to clients includes specific information about the team, such as qualifications, certifications and experience. Clients need to trust the team they are about to enter an agreement with and it starts with bios.
  • Quality of equipment and products: Clients are looking for peace of mind when it comes to products. They want to know they won’t be spending additional time and money replacing or repairing lower quality brackets and appliances. They want to be rest assured they won’t need to be leaving work, hiring babysitters, missing school to attend to maintenance calls of the patient’s appliances. Everyone making a buying decision wants to feel confident that the product they got is worth the price they paid.
  • Convenience: Both client and patient are concerned about the necessary changes entering orthodontics will bring. The patient is concerned about changes in lifestyle while the client is mostly concerned about changes in daily life management. Effective marketing to the client includes information about locations, office times, staff availability, after hour options, weekend calls, emergency contacts and so on. Make treatment easy to add to their plate and clients will say “yes” to starting.

Technology

More and more people are looking at the level of technology a practice offers when making their decision to accept treatment. This is both true for patients and clients as each group wants available technology, at their fingertips and on their timeline, to make the experience easier. Clients especially look at technology as a way to measure the modernization of the practice, which equates to the modernization of the practitioner and the methods she or he uses.

Patients

  • Free Wi-Fi: The worst word in any orthodontist office is wait and yet it is one of the words a patient can hear the most in a single visit. Research shows that when a person is told to wait, they have an immediate biological reaction that increases blood pressure, triggers the fight or flight response, raises the heart rate and shallows breathing. Not a reaction you want from a patient about to receive treatment of any kind. First, change the word wait to relax; yes, it’s interchangeable in almost all situations. Then distract a patient from their wait time by offering free Wi-Fi throughout the office. Finally, give patients what they love, their cell phones, by letting them know the practice is “cellphone friendly.”
  • Social media links: Patients want to connect with others going through their experience. They want to know which of their friends, co-workers, schoolmates, neighbors and churchgoers are having similar struggles, feelings, frustrations and successes. An office doesn’t have to be on every social media site but your patients will want you to be on the most common and accessible. Give them a community of people to chat with and permission to chat. It’s free marketing too.
  • Video content: Today is a video world. Not only is it easy to create and share with groups, it’s a powerful way to educate and deliver a message. Offering videos to patients in ways of educating them on how-to’s, FAQs, virtual office tours, current patient transformations and team connection is a sure fire way to provide multiple solutions for patients.

Clients

  • Reminder system: Clients are concerned about daily life management. How are they going to fit more responsibilities, more appointments and more time commitments into an already stretched schedule? Filling in the gaps for them by having an auto-responsive system to remind them about upcoming appointments takes the burden off the client and makes any practice look like the hero.
  • Robust website: Empowering clients to take an interactive role in the patient experience starts with a robust website. Allow clients to complete forms, schedule, confirm and reschedule appointments, submit questions and e-mail the doctor all from the website. The more in control of the process a client feels, the more willing they are to say “yes.”
  • Comprehensive payment system: Clients worry more often about cost than any other aspect of orthodontics. Having a financial system that allows clients to track previous payments, anticipate upcoming payments, and automatically post payments to avoid late fees, is a technology must.

Reception Area

The reception area or lobby is going to be an important factor for patients and clients when deciding to embark into an orthodontic agreement. This is where any first impression from your website and or parking lot is going to be confirmed. Patients and clients look for different elements of a lobby that meets their needs and soothes any pains they might be feeling. It’s easy to impress both groups with some intentional design.

Patients

  • Pictures: Display pictures of your current patient base. Patients find it comforting to know others they trust picked the office too.
  • Resource center: Patients want to have their questions answered and they often find it embarrassing or intimidating to ask the doctor. Have a resource center that provides relevant information for all types of patient questions, situations and concerns.
  • Kids zone: An orthodontic practice is typically filled with kids, patients or family members. Having a kid-friendly area with books, computers, games, music and toys will entertain patients and give clients a breather.

Clients

  • Refreshments: Clients make appointments around school and work obligations. This typically means early morning, lunch or dinner times are interrupted or completely missed. Offer beverages and snacks during those meal-time appointments or have a “feel free to feed” policy for clients and encourage them to bring their own snacks.
  • Work stations: Make it convenient for clients to be delayed or leave work by having a work station for them. Giving them space to continue fulfilling their daily obligations will make it easier for them to keep all appointments.
  • Relaxing environment: Often when an office is being designed, practitioners go for cost effectiveness, modern looks (seriously, have you sat in those egg-shaped chairs?) or color, rather than comfort of furniture. Yet, when was the last time a team member sat in a lobby chair for more than five minutes? When clients are comfortable they are not only willing to return happily to the office, they don’t notice how long they are there (time distractor). Live plants, sofas, sunlight, soft indoor lighting and family-friendly music goes a long way.

Consultation Appointment

The consultation appointment is where patients and clients get their first real experience with the orthodontic team and practitioner. How the team and doctor interact, communicate and connect with both patient and client will ultimately determine if a patient wants it and if a client pays for it.

Patients

  • Personal: Since patients will be the ones physically touched and manipulated by the doctor and team, they are looking for more of a personal approach. Creating the personal connection with patients entails: body language (rounded shoulders, soft eyes, hands placed in lap, lots of head nodding and smiling); chair placement (height slightly below patient level, front facing for eye contact); communication (open-ended questions, ask-assertive, empathetic tone); physical contact (comforting hand on shoulder, pat back).
  • Results-oriented: Patients main thoughts and concerns are often results oriented. They want to make sure that when treatment is complete they will have their ideal results. Be sure to use a variety of means to talk about and share anticipated results (previous patient pictures, Photoshop, impressions, intraoral photos, etc.).
  • Feeling-driven: Patients are all about their feelings during the consultation visit. A blend of excitement, nervousness, fear and trepidation are very common for the first time orthodontic patient. Address these feelings upfront and directly. Let patients know it’s normal to feel a multitude of emotions. When the emotional barriers are broken down patients will want to start.

Clients

  • Professional: Clients are looking for the team to be professional versus personal. It’s important that the education and experience of each team member is easily observable by the behaviors the team exhibits. Demonstrate professionalism like this: body language (square shoulders, direct and confident eye contact, hands at side, neutral or relaxed face); chair placement (at eye level, 45-degree angle); communication (direct open- or closed-ended questions, tell-assertive, confident tone); physical contact (firm hand shake).
  • Process oriented: To comfort most clients’ worries, tell them about processes and systems established for treatment and office. Knowing they can rely on a strong foundation that moves them through the experience diminishes the amount of guessing, questioning and mental work the client has to do. Clients don’t want to have to think during the extent of the treatment, that’s what they are paying the team for.
  • Thought-driven: Patients are emotional during the consultation visit whereas clients are pragmatic. Clients want clear answers to specific questions so they can determine how this will all work in their and or their family’s lives. As much as possible, provide answers to common questions prior to the consultation visit and then reiterate during the appointment. Answering who, what, when, where, why, how and how long about the average, successful case is will calm nerves and move clients one step forward to saying “yes,” even before they walk in the door.

Monthly Visits

Monthly visits are so much more than fixing brackets, checking progress and collecting payments. During the monthly appointment, patients want reassurance and clients want confirmation that their decision to choose the office and start treatment was a wise and good decision. Monthly visits are prime time to build your practice by wowing each patient and client every time and then talk about referrals. Seeing patients and clients consistently offers moments, that when captured, will take any orthodontic practice to the next level.

Patients

  • Progressive: All patients think is, “When am I done?” Nothing personal, they just want to see the results of their decision. Each monthly visit, patients want to hear how well they are doing, how their teeth are positioning, how much longer and why not today. Always assure patients they are exactly where they need to be and doing a great job. If issues need to be discussed, go slowly and softly.
  • Engaging: Orthodontic teams can see 50 patients in a day and more. For the team, a patient could be their 50th person sitting in a chair. For the patient, it’s the first time in a month. Teams often feel energetic and upbeat as the day begins and then with every patient their energy drains a little at a time. By the end of the day all energy is gone and it’s painful to even smile. No matter the time, procedure or issue, engaging patients from start to finish is vital for the patient to walk away feeling as if it was a valued experience.
  • Fun: When anyone knows they need to do something on a regular basis, it makes it a lot easier knowing it’s going to be fun. When laughter is involved stress is reduced, the “happy hormone” is released, which then in turn triggers a brain response to want more of the experience. Monthly visits are routine, not mundane. There is a significant difference.

Clients

  • Open access: Clients don’t want to have to feel as if they need to monitor the patient experience. They are looking for a team where the level of trust is such that they feel comfortable dropping the patient off or relaxing in the reception area. This does not negate their desire for open access to all areas of the office in which the patient will be taken. Be transparent and offer total access while being trusting enough that clients don’t need it.
  • Open communication: Clients want to hear from the professionals how treatment is progressing and what issues need to be addressed. At no time does a client want the patient, especially if it’s a dependent, to walk out from a monthly visit and get the proverbial, “It’s fine.” Even the minimalist amount of communication can satisfy the client’s need.
  • Timely: Clients are the life managers and timekeepers. Some clients schedule their families to each minute. Sitting in a lobby one minute past an expected time can send a client into a spiral of frustration, panic, anger and resentment. Keep to the business adage, “Under promise, over deliver.” If something unexpected comes up and time is running short, call the client and let them know in advance. Use technology to update clients on where their appointments are at in the daily schedule. When surprise fixes and appliance problems arise, communicate with the client so they can adjust their thinking and expectations. Nothing is worse to any orthodontic practice than not exceeding the expectations of the one person who rules, the client.
  Author's Bio
Jen Butler, M.Ed., CPC, BCC has been working in the area of stress management and resiliency coaching for over 20 years. She is available as a coach, consultant, speaker and trainer. To learn more about her services and sign up for her monthly StressLESS newsletter go to www.jenbutlercoaching.com. Take the Dental Stress Self-Assessment at www.jenbutlercoaching.com/quiz/ to find out your stress levels. Her partnership with The Business Backer removes any financial barriers so you get the support you deserve. Go to http://www.businessbacker.com/jenbutler and contact Jen Butler directly at 623-776-6715.
Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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