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The Secret Weapon You Don’t Even Know You Have by Jen Butler, M.Ed., CPC, BCC

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There is a secret weapon in your office and you don’t even know it’s there. You might think you have it but you for sure know you aren’t optimizing its capabilities. This secret weapon has the ability to make your work easier, less stressful, more productive and more enjoyable. This secret weapon can build your business full of trusting, loyal patients and make it so you have future business to call upon. Creating a positive reputation within the community and gaining referrals is this secret weapon’s specialty. Most of all, this secret weapon has the ability to make your practice money even when you’re not there. This secret weapon has a name and it’s called team!

Have you ever given much thought as to how many people talk to, interact with and touch your patient before you even get to them? Depending on the experience at each step of the process, your team can influence or possibly determine the outcome you have with your patients even before you have the chance to utter one word.
When you have a patient in your office, there is not one minute to waste. Every step of their patient experience must be structured to optimize the time your team gets to spend with them. Each team member plays a vital role and has an opportunity to create an engaged and trusting patient or derail the entire visit. Let’s learn specific ways each team member can be used as your secret weapon.

Front desk

On the phone:

  1. Offer a warm welcome. Your receptionist has the unique opportunity to help you provide a warm welcome for every patient who walks through your doors. While on the phone, your receptionist gets to ask questions that you and the team can use to tailor each appointment and make it memorable. Your receptionist can take notes on every call with patients and add them to the file so team members can ask about, comment on or build on a conversation that is relevant to each patient. Do not underestimate the power of a warm welcome.
  2. Set expectations. Although each patient experience is individualized, the patient flow and structure are not. Your receptionist can educate each patient on what to expect from their experience as well as encourage the patient to bring concerns or questions to their appointment. They empower the patient to become a participant in their appointment instead of a passive follower.
  3. Use power phrases. The receptionist has the power to create urgency and instill a sense of priority while talking to patients on the phone. Using phrases like “reserved doctor time for you,” “your visit with your orthodontic team,” and “the doctor wants me to remind you...” will let the patient know this isn’t an ordinary appointment with the doctor that can be easily brushed away. Reserved doctor time is important and being seen for a clinical visit gives a higher sense of urgency than just an “appointment.”
  4. Begin the trust cycle. Researchers say that there is one significant thing that builds trust between two people, and that is the number of connections two people have in common. The more people have in common, the more trust they offer. I f someone goes to your gym, reads similar books as you, has similar interest in animals, you will trust them more because you think, “I’m a good person. I like these things. They like these things, too. They must be a good person.” And so begins trust. Your receptionist gets to start building that trust on the phone by sharing points of interest about you with each patient.
In-office
  1. Give the first impression. Whether you have a new patient entering your office for the first time or a returning patient, the receptionist will set the tone for the remainder of the visit. When your receptionist stands and walks around the counter to greet and shake the hand of a new patient or offer a returning hug to someone who has been visiting for years, impressions are made. The first impression every patient receives upon every visit will have an impact on whether they are happy or displeased by the time they get to you.
  2. Emphasize today. It is documented that people need to hear something at least three times before they fully comprehend its meaning. And the more something is mentioned, the more it is reinforced. The use of “today” language should never be reserved for treatment presentation alone. “How are you today?” “What brought you here today?” “Today really is going by fast.” These are all examples of how your receptionist can begin to start the cognitive trigger by threading the word “today” into a dialogue with each patient, so by the time they arrive to treatment presentation, they are fully aware of and ready for treatment.
  3. Reinforce relaxation. Wait is one of the worst words in orthodontics. That single word is responsible for perpetuating the anxiety and agitation patients have at the office. Your receptionist can immediately reduce any physiological reactions by simply replacing the word wait with relax. The more relaxed and calm a patient is, the more inclined they are to want to stay and accept treatment. Instead of, “please have a seat and wait a moment. You will be called back shortly,” change it to, “while the team is preparing for you, please feel free to have a seat and relax. There are some great magazine selections for you and we are also cell phone friendly.”
Orthodontic assistant
  1. Deepen the connection. To build on the trust from the front desk, the orthodontic assistant (OA) has an even greater opportunity to deepen the doctor-patient connection. By asking very specific questions, the OA can easily uncover common connections that the patient and doctor can explore later. When patients feel connected to the team and doctor, they are more inclined to become a long-term patient. This is the foundation for retention.
  2. Frame the exam. The OA has a chance to gather important clinical information and any objections the patient might have during this phase of treatment. Also, OAs can ask about the patients’ plans for the day — do they need to return to work or do they have obligations directly after their appointment? This priceless information will help you as a doctor know how to prepare for any upcoming hesitation to possible treatment acceptance.
  3. Calm fears. If there is one thing for sure, patients will turn to OAs and ask their important questions. “Is the doctor nice?” “How long have they been practicing?” “What if I need something extra done?” OAs get all the questions orthodontists should be asked but patients are either too embarrassed or afraid to ask them. Fearful patients don’t accept treatment well and sometimes not at all. Your OAs will calm the fears of your patients and set you up for effective communication.
Treatment coordinator
  1. Promote partnerships. What would it take for you to talk money with a total stranger? Whatever it would take, that’s what you’re asking your patients to do each time they require treatment. It’s your treatment coordinator that represents the level of partnership you create with your patients. Navigating insurance plans, CareCredit applications, credit card processes and in-office discount plans takes full-time commitment from both patient and staff. How your treatment coordinator guides and advises your patients successfully through this critical step of the patient experience, all while reinforcing your clinical diagnosis as urgent, very much determines your patient’s return.
  2. Solidify trust. Your treatment coordinator possesses the skill and demeanor to sniff out objections patients have and know exactly what it will take to help them open up, be vulnerable and talk dollars. Your treatment coordinator has the ability to jump it into high gear when a patient even hints at a yes answer and is even quicker to offer a shoulder to cry on when embarrassment ensues and the funds don’t. If they can get patients to talk openly about money, you know your secret weapon has solidified a patient’s trust.
  3. Pack a punch. In many offices the treatment coordinator is the last team member a patient sees at an appointment, especially if they decline treatment. Too often dentists allow the money person to be the last team member to say goodbye and the experience ends on a negative note. In these cases, the treatment coordinator has the power to pack a punch in the patient experience. The treatment coordinator has the final say to the patient, creates the last feeling, and is the last one to have an opportunity to take action with the patient. This can very much work for you or it can easily destroy your patient retention.
Office manager
  1. Wow every patient. When working with hundreds or thousands of different patients, an office manager (OM) is going to encounter all of the different types of personalities. To complicate matters, many of these personalities have high energy, high anxiety, high fear and high stress due to the nature of the service and the financial price tag that follows most orthodontic treatment. Your OM is the master communicator and can de-escalate a patient situation and turn them into a promoter. Or not. Depending on how you optimize this function of your secret weapon, you might just read what patients think on Yelp! or Facebook.
  2. Compliant versus committed. Office managers have the ultimate influence. They work with your two primary targets: your patients and the rest of your staff. When your OM understands how to tap into and maximize their influence, they can create a culture of commitment, instead of compliance. Committed patients don’t miss appointments. They do actively schedule and refer. Committed teams go above and beyond, work out their differences, and work together to achieve common goals.
  3. Grow and differentiate. An office manager has two primary functions in any office: Differentiate your office from every other office, and grow the practice. What’s possible is an OM that takes your dreams and goals and creates a strategic plan to execution. The mastery of time management allows them to complete daily tasks while threading in marketing, outside partnerships and community involvement. The secret weapon not only asks, “What’s needed?” they ask, “What’s next?”

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 to go www.jenbutlercoaching.com. Take the Dental Stress Self-Assessment at www.jenbutlercoaching.com/quiz/ to find out your stress levels. Contact Jen Butler directly at 623-776-6715 or jen@jenbutlercoaching.com for more information.

Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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