Summary
The video addresses a common concern among dental practices about potential patients price shopping when calling to inquire about services. The speaker challenges the notion that price is the primary or only factor influencing patient choice. Instead, price shopping is viewed as a symptom of a deeper issue: the practice is perceived as just another interchangeable option in the marketplace.
Key Insights
- Price shopping occurs because patients see all providers as identical options.
- Practices that compete solely on price enter a race to the bottom, attracting price-sensitive patients who may be less satisfied and less loyal.
- Patients do not only care about price; they also value the overall experience and unique benefits a practice offers.
- Value differentiation is critical: Showing patients why your practice is uniquely suited to their specific needs reduces the emphasis on price.
- Patients are willing to pay more for a better experience, whether in dining or dentistry, highlighting that price sensitivity is often overstated.
- Practices should identify what specific aspects patients find valuable beyond cost, such as quality of care, personalized service, atmosphere, or convenience.
- By improving and highlighting these value factors, practices can justify higher prices and attract more loyal patients.
- The challenge for practices is to move beyond pricing tactics and focus on delivering and communicating unique patient value.
Core Concepts
| Concept | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Price Shopping | Patient behavior of calling multiple providers seeking the lowest price, often due to undifferentiated offerings. |
| Value Differentiation | Creating and communicating unique benefits that make a practice distinct and preferred over competitors. |
| Patient Experience | The totality of factors beyond price that influence patient satisfaction and choice. |
| Price Sensitivity | The degree to which patients prioritize cost over other factors when selecting a provider. |
Recommendations for Practices
- Avoid competing solely on price. Instead, focus on demonstrating unique value.
- Understand your patient base deeply: What do they truly care about? What makes a dental experience better for them?
- Communicate your unique value proposition clearly to reduce emphasis on price.
- Enhance patient experience in ways that matter to your specific clientele.
- Recognize that patients are often willing to pay more for a better or more personalized experience.
- Invest in empathy and patient research to uncover what differentiates your practice in the market.
Conclusion
The video emphasizes that price shopping is a reflection of a practice’s failure to differentiate itself meaningfully. By focusing on delivering unique value and understanding patient needs, dental practices can move away from competing on price alone, reduce the prevalence of price shoppers, and build a more loyal, satisfied patient base willing to pay for quality and experience.
Key takeaway: Patients are not inherently price sensitive; they become price sensitive when they do not perceive any other compelling reasons to choose one provider over another. The solution lies in value creation, differentiation, and communication.
00:00:00
I just got off the phone with one of our clients and he was concerned that people would call into his office and basically be price shopping. They would be calling and um whenever he would suggest that they come into the office because every case is different. Uh and then he could quote them a price when they heard that they would basically hang up and that would be the end of the interaction. So this is very common especially among practices who believe that they’re competing on price. And what I want to
00:00:30
challenge you is that you’re not competing only on price because price shopping is a symptom and what’s causing that is you as a practice are showing up in the marketplace as just another option. So when patients see you and they see all these other practices who look identical, then of course they’re going to be price shopping because if everything looks the same, then the cheapest price wins. So the challenge and the approach that I would recommend you take and what I recommended my client takes is to look
00:01:06
past price because if people are price shopping um that means they don’t see your value. They don’t see why they need to choose you. And if you show up as the provider for their specific need, as the only provider, then there is no price shopping to be had. And if you believe that people only care about price, then what I’m going to challenge you is that people don’t only care about price. If we only cared about price, we would be solving our problem of hunger by going to the grocery store and buying a can of
00:01:39
beans for 30 cents. and anything beyond that. If people are spending $10 for a meal out, they are not price sensitive. We are happy paying a bit more for a better experience, whatever that may be, whether it’s spending time with friends, um, or whatever, a better version of what it is they want. In that example, I was talking about a better version of a restaurant. But what is a better version of dentistry? It might not just be price. there’s probably other things that they care about such that if you
00:02:11
were the same price as other people and you offered that other thing, they would happily choose you. So if you offered that other thing such such that they would happily choose you and you started to raise price a little bit, they would be okay with that and they would still be choosing you. So the new challenge is not how can we lower our prices more or how can we show up in a way that um or use a trick to get those people to uh work with us. The new challenge is to figure out what are those things that
00:02:40
makes that gives value to those people. What is valuable to them? What are the things that they would consider to be a better dental experience or dental practice? And you have to do the hard work of identifying that or else you’ll be stuck in the race of going for the cheapest price. And in that race, there’s so many troubles that come along with it. You get those price shoppers. You get people who are inherently uns dissatisfied with everything like uh you deal with a certain group of patients
00:03:09
who um you know you get the idea. Whereas if you do the more empathetic work of understanding your patient base and what it is that they actually find valuable such that they would be okay paying more for. then not only do you make more money, but you’re also delivering something more valuable and you’re not just another dental practice that they see as another option of. So yes, you can have people who want cost effectiveness and who care about price, but there are also other offices who are
00:03:41
offering that same set of benefits. So what how can you go one or two steps further such that they would like your option so much that you could increase price even though they are price sensitive. So I I think you’re getting the idea here. People aren’t as price sensitive as we take them to be. It’s typically just an indicator that we haven’t done the work of showing up in a way that is different enough different enough in a way that they care about so that price becomes less of an issue. All
00:04:13
right. Thanks.