Dare to charge your true worth

In this guest blog, Dental Business Coach, Ashley Latter, urges practitioners to ensure their charges are a true reflection of their own value.

In an economy as challenging as our current one, it’s important to make sure that we are getting the maximum out of all aspects of the business. One way of doing this is to ensure that you set your fees correctly.

I was recently delivering some coaching for a client at a practice where the dentist had a special interest in endodontics. Her colleagues and I were of the opinion that she was under charging for her treatments. It turns out that she was basing her fees on those of another practitioner in the area. By following the lead of the other practitioner, it meant that both dentists were caught in a pattern of undercharging that did not reflect the quality of care they were delivering.

She was clearly well thought of as around a dozen dentists were making referrals to her and her treatment plan acceptance rate of nearly 90%. Feedback from patients was excellent and she was highly regarded by the dentists making the referrals. All the evidence pointed towards her having a great reputation for what she did.

Further conversations with her revealed that she had chosen to invest thousands of pounds in her education and in purchasing additional equipment. It was also clear that this was an area of treatment about which she cared deeply.

I managed to convince her that it would be possible for her to raise her fees without it adversely affecting her acceptance rate. By raising her charges by just 10% this could achieve an improvement in profitability of 25%. In the end, she was the only person hesitating to make the change.

Over several conversations, I managed to gain her agreement to try raising her fees. On the first day of the new pricing structure, to her immense surprise, the first patient she presented them to accepted them without hesitation. They even made a comment that they had expected the treatment to cost more.

Together, we reassessed her value proposition and clarified the true worth of her services. Not only did this improve the financial health of her practice, it also bolstered her confidence and enhanced her job satisfaction. The end result was she was now being paid for the true value she was bringing to her patients’ lives.

Takeaways from this story:

1. I often find the person who has the biggest issue about price is the seller, not the buyer
2. Price is always an issue but very rarely the issue
3. Setting your fees based on those of other dentists may not always be a good strategy to set your fees on what other dentists are doing. They might not be doing things correctly either!

If you find this story inspiring, you may like to read my book: ‘You are worth it- how to discuss fees with self-confidence and achieve the income your services deserve’, which covers this topic in depth.

About Ashley

Ashley Latter is an industry-renowned dental business consultant. He specialises in delivering the Ethical Sales and Communication Programme, creating a World Class Patient Journey, Creating a High-Performance Team.

He also works with a very forward group of Dentists and Orthodontists on his well-renowned programme called The Entrepreneur group.

He is also the author of four books: ‘Don’t wait for the Tooth Fairy, You are Worth it- How to discuss fees with more self-confidence, The Practice Managers Jugglers Book and his latest book ’The Perfect Dental Consultation.”