Why Training Your Team Is Key to a Successful Dental Membership Plan

Why Training Your Team Is Key to a Successful Dental Membership Plan

You might think about why training your team on your dental membership plan is important and thought, “Isn’t that obvious … because they’re the ones who will run it?”

Well, sure, but you’re probably focused on the practical, can-they-use-the-software sort of training. While that is important, success with a membership plan also depends on how well the office integrates it into their daily routine.

Here at DentalHQ, we have an entire Client Success Department dedicated to making sure that your team not only understands how to use our software, but how to think about dental membership plans as a concept.

Why is this important?

your team will learn the platform and the pitch.

While it’s undeniably important for your team to know the ins and outs of our software, it’s just as key that they know how to present it to your patients.

If you’ve chosen to implement dental membership plans at your practice, you probably have a good understanding of how they differ from insurance (and why that’s so great). But your team may not completely understand. In our team training programs, we discuss the difference.

By the end, your team will see the full picture of how DentalHQ membership plans give control back to the dentist, putting you in the driver’s seat for the benefit of practice and patient health. That driver’s seat analogy is quite apt: we don’t control your dental membership plan, we just give you the tools you need to run one. And that’s why training is so important! Tools are useless if everyone doesn’t know how to use them in working together.

We also cover the concept of "selling" dental membership to your patients. And you're not really selling them so much as talking about them. Membership plans offer uninsured patients a solution that may seem obvious – regular, predictable payment schedules for dental health? Yes, please – but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need to be convinced. It is a fairly new concept, and most people are wary when it comes to monetary commitments.

Dental Membership Plan Team Training includes conversations about the how, when, where of this idea of consultative sales, as it pertains directly to the “product” of dental membership plans. In this portion of the program, our staff gives a presentation, offers up dos and don’ts, and also takes questions. While your team may not think of themselves as working in a sales capacity, it’s really selling without selling. Being consultative and informational goes a long way.

Training your team will empower each team member to act as a touch point.

When a dental practice gets fantastic results from a membership plan, it can be for a lot of reasons. But one of them, undoubtedly, is whole-house involvement. Successful offices don’t have only one member of the front-office team who is responsible for making membership sales. They integrate that goal into everything they do—everything everyone does.

Picture this: You have a patient standing in front of you. They’re checking in for their cleaning, and when they see the pamphlet about your practice’s membership plan sitting next to the sign-in sheet, they mention that they’ve been thinking about it ever since you mentioned it while confirming their appointment over the phone. You might nod and express how great it is, or go over some of the high-level points again. But next, the hygienist is ready for them to “come on back,” and now the mantle is passed to another team member. By the time the patient checks out, they have had a chance to think the idea over and heard the perspective of multiple people.

This approach really works. Some DentalHQ partner offices have more than 700 members, and they achieve the best results from using this many-touchpoint strategy.

Training teaches your team the “why” behind the membership plan concept.

We like to say that dental membership is a mindset. It’s a practice within your practice!

After so many years of doing things a certain way, integrating dental membership plans can feel like a total shift in perception. This is a part of what makes it so cool—and opens so many new doors for you and your patients—but it can also be difficult to wrap your head around at first. We get this, and we’re passionate about how dental membership plans help make the whole industry a better, more fruitful place for all involved, so we spend time on the “why” during our trainings.

We’ll talk to your team about the value dental membership plans bring to your practice. Dental membership plans benefit the patient’s outlook on their health and take one stressful element out of the experience, but they also impact your practice in a big way:

They improve dentist-patient relationships.

They decrease dependence on insurance for all, which saves you time, saves your patient money, and enables you to provide better care to uninsured patients. And of course, they present an all-around improved financial prospect: predictable payments for you and predictable billing for them.

All great concepts; all things we chat about.

Why is team member training key to a successful dental membership plan? Because your practice needs to be well versed in the software, educated on the unique aspects of the concept, and imbued with passion for the program. Once all of that is true, you’ll be prepped and ready to take the reins. And that’s when you give your business—and more importantly, your patients—an exciting new perspective.

To learn more about DentalHQ and how soon you could schedule your own team member training, contact us today.

Dental insurance is a problem. We solved it.
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