Why sales skills are essential for profitability in dentistry

Edusehat

Juni 6, 2026 - 17:00

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Why sales skills are essential for profitability in dentistry

Sales is often considered a dirty word in dentistry, but Ads Thanki argues that using sales skills to increase treatment acceptance may hold the key to greater profitability in your practice.

In any business, achieving profitability is essential. There are two primary ways to increase profitability: by reducing expenses and increasing income. While managing expenses and implementing effective financial strategies are crucial, their impact on a dental clinic’s bottom line is somewhat limited. For significant growth in profitability, the focus must shift towards increasing income.

In dentistry, profitability depends on three key aspects: patient acquisition, treatment acceptance, and the delivery of care. These can be simplified into marketing, sales, and service delivery. When profitability is lacking, many clinics tend to focus on either marketing or delivery. Clinics often increase marketing spend in an effort to attract more patients, or they expand their range of services, hoping this will boost their profits.

However, the concept of ‘sales’ – which directly correlates to treatment acceptance – is often overlooked or avoided in dental clinics. But in reality, the goal of sales is simply to ensure that patients accept the necessary treatments that will enhance their overall health, rather than just what they think they want. Sales, in this sense, is not just about pushing products or services; it’s about educating and guiding patients toward decisions that improve their wellbeing.

Focusing on sales

To increase profitability, dental clinics should place greater emphasis on improving their sales skills. But why not focus solely on marketing or service delivery?

Marketing functions like a switch: by investing in the right marketing strategies, patient enquiries increase, and more people will call the clinic. Marketing is easy to control and measure. However, the real challenge lies in what happens after the marketing efforts generate leads. If the clinic cannot convert these leads into treatment acceptance, then marketing expenses are wasted.

While delivering quality dentistry is crucial for success, it must be prioritised after treatment acceptance. High-quality general dentistry alone, without patient agreement to proceed with recommended treatments, will not result in increased profits. A clinic may have the latest technology and advanced treatments, but if patients do not accept the offered treatments, the equipment and skills will not lead to the desired financial results. For clinics to thrive, improving treatment acceptance should be the main priority.

Defining sales in dentistry

Sales, in its simplest form, is about getting patients to accept the treatments they need. Successful ‘sales’ in dentistry results in patients understanding the need for treatments that will improve their health, function, and overall quality of life. The ultimate goal of sales is agreement – in this case, the patient agreeing to undergo the recommended treatment for their dental and systemic health.

While financial considerations are part of the process, the focus should always be on the patient’s health and the treatment that will restore or enhance their dental function. Sales skills in dentistry are not about pushing unnecessary procedures; they are about getting patients to see the value in the treatments they truly need.

Increasing one’s sales ability does not require buying new equipment or upgrading the clinic space. Instead, it comes down to proper training. This training should involve not only the dentist but the entire team. Every team member should understand the importance of effective communication, as this is key to enhancing case acceptance.

The role of communication in sales

Sales in dentistry fundamentally rely on effective communication. Whether it’s discussing treatment plans or explaining the benefits of a particular procedure, the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively is vital. Communication allows the dentist and the team to convey the urgency and importance of necessary treatments, helping patients understand why those treatments are in their best interest.

Training the team to improve their communication skills can have a direct and significant impact on a clinic’s profitability. For instance, let’s consider Dental Clinic A and Dental Clinic B, both spending £10,000 on marketing to attract new patients. Dental Clinic A has an untrained receptionist who is only able to convert 20% of new patient calls into appointments, resulting in 20 new patients. In contrast, Dental Clinic B has a receptionist trained in patient communication who converts 50% of calls, resulting in 50 new patients.

When these patients come in, their treatment plans are the same, with an average treatment cost of £5,000 per patient. However, Dental Clinic A’s untrained team only achieves a £1,500 treatment acceptance rate per patient. Dental Clinic B’s trained team, however, secures treatment regardless of patient concerns or barriers, leading to an average treatment acceptance of £4,000 per patient.

In this scenario, Dental Clinic A has turned £10,000 in marketing spend into £30,000 in collections, while Dental Clinic B has converted the same amount of marketing into £200,000 in collections. The key difference is not the marketing spend or the delivery of treatment – it’s the team’s ability to communicate and secure patient agreement on necessary treatments.

The benefits of sales training

Sales training goes beyond just improving treatment acceptance. It can lead to better efficiency, an enhanced workplace experience, and most importantly, healthier, more satisfied patients. A team trained in communication can:

Improve new patient conversion rates, getting prospective patients to book and attend appointments
Increase schedule efficiency by ensuring patients understand the importance of attending their appointments
Encourage patients who wish to cancel or reschedule to honour their appointments, reducing no-shows.

Sales training also brings additional benefits, such as:

Strengthening the hygiene department by ensuring patients recognise the importance of preventive care and regular exams
Enhancing the clinic’s ability to collect payments for treatment, including past due balances
Teaching receptionists how to create a positive first impression with patients, setting the tone for the patient experience
Enabling dental assistants to effectively reinforce the dentist’s treatment recommendations.

In conclusion, investing in a properly trained dental team, including the dentist, is one of the smartest ways to boost a clinic’s profitability. Improving communication and sales skills throughout the team has far-reaching benefits, not only for the clinic’s financial success but also for its ability to provide high-quality care to more patients. By focusing on sales – which is essentially about helping patients accept the treatments they need – clinics can significantly increase their income and create a more positive, efficient, and patient-focused environment.