Influencing Influencers – Rule 7 – Pre-suasion

What is pre-suasion? Pre-suasion is a term coined by the author Robert Cialdini and refers to the process of making a recipient more receptive to your message before you actually deliver that message.

How can this relate to dentistry? In dentistry we can leverage the patient’s predisposal to think of themselves as a diligent person, who sees themselves as proactive, preferring preventative habits and treatment as opposed to the downsides of reactive treatment.

Of course, this predisposal to see ourselves as diligent, even when we are not, can have its downsides. But what pre-suasion can do is appeal to the positive side of our narratives in a way that harmonises with a positive outcome in reality.

So let’s focus in on this “narrative fiction” that we are so prone to. Most of us live out much of our lives inside our own heads as a story. You have probably told yourself stories about winning the lottery, falling in love, winning a fight, escaping a relationship, rescuing a fair maiden, meeting God, being knighted, scoring a goal, owning a practice, riding across Route 66 in the evening sun… take your pick. The lottery fantasy is particularly common! These are fantasy stories.

We also tell ourselves stories about our own character. We tell ourselves stories to make ourselves feel better about our bad habits, our weight, our lack of progress, our successes (especially if it was just luck or inheritance), our lot in life.

If you find you haven’t ‘won the world’ the way you think you deserve to, it feels less hurty to blame the world with a story about the evil, oppressive government, patriarchy/matriarchy, school teacher, nasty practice principal. Again, a story.

The inner monologue we have reaffirms our self-identity and is extremely powerful. The story of our life is the story of who we are, and that story likes a happy ending. The happy-ending story we tell is one of us as a good person, a helpful, kind person, a generous and forward-thinking contributor to the world.

This inner story we tell ourselves has a moment-to-moment limited focus of attention. When you read a book, you read a line and then another until a page is complete. One part of the story is read at a time. We can draw patients’ attention to one aspect of their own story (life) and they will then happily complete the next few lines in a way that makes them feel good about themselves.

We automatically look for evidence in our memories of events that prove a narrative we are keen on.

Next time you chat to someone new, tell them you have been practising mind/palm/tea reading and that, as you read their mind, you saw they can be “very resilient and even stubborn at times”. Their mind immediately looks for confirmation regarding their stubbornness and fortitude.

Your words will prompt them to look for examples in their past which example this behaviour. You may even drag up memories they themselves had forgotten, and they look at you in wonder, nodding their heads saying, “Wow, that’s true.”

But… after a few minutes have passed, as the mind-reading continues, state the exact opposite. Tell them you can see they have some vulnerabilities but are very adaptable and flexible (the opposite of resilient and stubborn) and they will confirm the exact same phenomena about themselves as their mind’s focus has switched and they are doing the work filling in the story themselves.

Everyone reading this likes to think they are inherently good.

Even I do ?.

Let’s explore that aspect of you. See how you would honestly answer these three questions:

Are you, on the whole, a good person? (As opposed to a bad person)

Yes or No

– This answer would get a response which is 100% in the positive. Sadly, some people are not good, so it cannot be 100% accurate for everyone.

Do you value good health?

Yes or No

– Again, everyone would write ‘yes’. But many people reading this live unhealthily. They are perhaps sugar addicted, hungover too often, stressed, carrying more timber than ideal, smoke, or don’t exercise nearly enough.

So, is their story about valuing health true or not true? I’m not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, but this level of self-analysis can be quite discomforting. The story they like to tell is not always the one they like to live, but, when ‘necessary’, the story wins as it’s too painful to admit the truth.

Do you value hard work and effort?

 Yes or No 

            – I expect nearly everyone says yes. But they watch TV all weekend, like ‘chilling out’ too much, they turn up to work just on time and leave the second they can, they learn what they have to and not more… you get the picture. The conflict between the narrative and reality.

Now let’s spin this into helping a patient by asking them to describe their approach to their dental health. WE will create focus of attention on positives and then they will write the next pages in their own story book.

People tend to be either proactive or reactive. Are you more of a proactive person? (as opposed to reactive).

Yes or No

• people tend to think of themselves as proactive.

Do you prefer to prevent problems from happening or allow them to happen and then fix the problem later?

 Yes or No

            – prevention is well known as being better than cure and people like to think of themselves as wise.

Would you prefer to manage a potential dental problem today or allow it to worsen over time?

Yes or No

             – aversion to loss means people never want to wait for the problem to worsen; that would be nihilistic and foolish.

 Many people prefer to keep their teeth through their lives, others are happy to lose them all. Do you see yourself as someone who keeps their own healthy natural teeth in the long term? (as opposed to being gummy and toothless).

 Yes or No

            – no-one starts off in life with the ‘dream’ of one day needing dentures. We all want to remain healthy and youthful for as long as we can.

Teeth can be lost due to cracks, decay and gum disease. Are you the sort of person who prefers to prevent these things, rather than allow them to happen and hope it can be managed at that time? 

Yes or No

• repetition here just to confirm the internal narrative that they are a forward-thinking, proactive person who anticipates and prevents problems.

Pre-suasive questions create a platform and even an invite for a follow-up discussion.

“I can see from your answers that you really are quite forward-thinking and it seems you prefer preventing problems rather than facing the time and money of curing a later problem. Particularly a preventable problem. Have I got that right about you?”

Yes!!

“So, investing time with our hygiene team to really actively prevent you ever getting gum disease may be something a patient like you feels is really worthwhile.”

 “There is cause for concern regarding three of your teeth: although I’m glad they aren’t hurting you right now, their condition is such that they are at serious increased risk of fracture.”                    

*shows photos to patient*

“I’m mentioning this as you are a more proactive patient who values preventing problems and you can really reduce the risk of fracture if you wish.”

The conversations above, and particularly the pre-suasive questions, raise the idea of preventative dentistry within the patient’s focus of attention. Their internal narrative does the rest as it wants commitment and social proof; this is pre-suasion.

It works for any sort of qualities people associate with a positive version of themselves. Kindness, fairness, honesty, forgiveness, patience and many more.

Whatever subject has been elevated within the patient’s focus and attention will be the mindset for which they subconsciously seek confirmation. They then extrapolate the Commitment and Consistency principle and look for ways to exhibit this confirmation as proof to themselves and others.

If you ask someone if they value honesty, they will always say yes and subconsciously scan their minds for examples of them behaving honestly. For a time, they stay in that mindset (whilst in the questioner’s presence) and they will actively act more honestly. 

If you still need convincing: try, for fun, the reverse type of question.

 – Do you value dishonesty and lying…?

– Do you prefer to let a building burn to the ground or put out the fire before the damage is done?

– Do you think doing everything you can to wreck, sabotage and ignore your health is a good idea?

Lol. People clearly do think these are good ideas and if you need this proven please visit A&E the first night pubs reopen after lockdown, read any book on political history or study psychology and behavioural economics for more than five minutes, and you’ll lol along with me.

Try to create your own positive pre-suasive questions. You can create patient questionnaires for new patients which they complete before meeting you.

All this knowledge and methodology can be used to prioritise profit over wellbeing. Don’t. We are helping patients to become healthy and happy, and nothing else. If you make money in the process then great, but that’s a side effect, not a primary goal. As always, make sure your intentions are ethical and in the patient’s best interest.

This brings to an end our seven part series on persuasive psychology and how it relates to life as a dentist.

We have tried to repeat in each edition that this knowledge must only ever be used to improve patients’ lives and outcomes, and always in their best interests.

It should come as no surprise that acting in their best interest pays huge dividends to you too. Patients on the whole are good people and they see your diligence, your wish to help them and your caring intent. This, in turn, leads to recommendations, endorsement and loyalty. Instagram and TikTok adherents begging for patients cannot compete with that, particularly if you put down roots in a practice somewhere.

Helping patients as much as you can ultimately helps you. There are many dentists you have never heard of doing incredibly well who know this and don’t need to post a daily update displaying how they are staying happy/positive/mindful, etc.

Don’t be influenced by the influencers. They want to influence you so they can have influence over you. Nothing more. They are addicted to your attention and the thought of losing it is unthinkably painful.

Find your inner motives and unshackle yourself from the need for external accolade and applause.

We all love social approval, but, if it becomes our only source of drive and positivity, our opinion of ourselves becomes worthless, truly devalued to nothing, and everyone else becomes the arbiter of your worth.

Many more blogs on psychology in dentistry will come out this year. Be sure to share and subscribe, and look out for our additional webinar content, much of which may be available to all, not just Aspire delegates.

For those of you who want more, please let the Admin team know. Just write a single-word email. Many of you already have.

TELOS.

See you there.