I'm about to show you a 5-second technique that took one of my clients from a 42% acceptance rate to 87% in just 6 weeks. So Dr. Alex didn't lower his prices. Alex didn't add fancy technology anymore. He didn't even change his treatment plans. He just learned when to stop talking. And if you're ever walked out of a consultation thinking, man, I explained everything perfectly. Why didn't they say yes? Well, this might be the missing piece you've been looking for. I'm Dr. TJyan and inside my Profit Alchemy Accelerator, I coach private practice doctors, not just podiatrists, on building high profit, low stress practice models. And today I want to talk about one of the most counterintuitive tools I teach: strategic silence. Most doctors think they need to talk more to convince patients. The reality, you're probably talking yourself out of more cases than you're talking yourself into. And by the end of this video, you'll know exactly when to speak, when to pause, and how those moments of silence can become your most persuasive tool. Here's what I see happening in consultation all the time. Doctor presents the treatment plan, gives the investment amount, and then panic. The patient doesn't immediately respond, so the doctor starts to fill in the space. Now I know that might seem like a lot, but like when you consider the long-term benefits, or we could potentially look at breaking this into payments. Some people choose to start with just the basic package. If you can listen to me, sounds familiar? I get it. Silence feels very uncomfortable. It feels like something is going wrong. But here's what's actually happening in that moment of silence. The patient is processing, they're weighing their options, they're having an internal conversation about whether this feels right. So when you jump in too quickly, you're not helping them decide. You're interrupting their decision-making process. So I was working with uh Dr. Park last month and he told me something that I hear all the time. Hey TJ, I presented a$4,200 treatment plan and the patient just sat there, so I started explaining why it was worth it. Then offered the payment plan, then mentioned we had a smaller option for$2,800. By the end, I felt like I was bagging selling. So that's not a pricing problem, that's not a value problem, that's a silence problem. So let me explain what's really happening in your patient's mind during those crucial moments after you present your treatment. First, they're not looking for more information, they're looking for safety. They're asking themselves three critical questions. Do I feel heard? Do I trust this doctor? Do I feel in control of this decision? When you keep talking after presenting the investment, even with the best intentions, you are sending some unintended signals. You're signaling that you're not confident in your recommendation. You're uncomfortable with their process. Or worse, you're desperate for their business. But when you allow silence, you communicate something completely different. You're saying, I'm grounded in my recommendation. I respect your thinking process. I'm not desperate. I trust that you'll make the right decision for yourself. And here's the fascinating part in that silence, patients often do something incredible. They start selling themselves. I've watched this happen hundreds of times in real and role plays with my clients. The patient will sit quietly for 10, 15, sometimes 20 seconds, and then they will start talking themselves through the benefits. So this is what patients say. Well, I guess I'm going to do this. I should do it, right? My sister spent twice this much on something that didn't work. I can't keep putting this off. Again, all patients own talk, closing themselves. That internal dialogue is worth more than any sales script you could ever memorize. So here's exactly how this works. I call it the strategic silence technique, and it has three specific components. Component one, the clean presentation. Present your treatment plan clearly and confidently. End with the investment amount. No justification, no buts, no immediate explanations, just the investment for this treatment is$3,200. Full stop. Component two. The conscious pause after you state the price. Count to seven in your head. Not out loud. Silently, right? One Mississippi, two Mississippi. All the way to seven. During this time, maintain comfortable eye contact. Don't fidget. Don't shuffle papers. Just be present. Component three, the patient-led response after your seven-second pause. Wait for them to speak first. Whatever they say, even if it's that's expensive, don't immediately defend or explain. Ask a clarifying question. Help me understand what you mean by that. Or what would make this feel like the right investment for you? Let me give you a real example. Dr. Kim, who I mentioned at the beginning, used to present a$3,500 comprehensive foot pain treatment package like this. So the total investment is$3,500, but that includes everything: the initial correction, the follow-up visits, the custom orthotics, and a full year of monitoring. Well, most patients find that when they break it down monthly, it's really quite reasonable. And considering what you'd spend on temporary solutions, again, he was talking himself out of sales. Now things are different. Now he just says the investment for the comprehensive package is$4,500. Then he counts seven and waits. So last month alone, this approach led to five patients saying some version of, okay, when can we get started? before he said another word. So now let me address the three biggest mistakes I see doctors make when they first try this technique. Mistake number one, the fidget. You know that feel uh you stop talking, you start doing other things, shuffling papers, clicking on your pen or adjusting your chair. The body language is feeling the silence even though your words aren't. Does that make sense? The patient can feel your discomfort, it undermines the entire technique. Mistake number two, the premature discount. The patient says, Wow, that's a lot, and then you give them premature discount. And you immediately respond with, well, we do have a smaller package. Stop. That's not an objection, that's a processing. Ask them what specifically feels like a lot. Is it the scope, the timeline, the investment? Again, don't assume. Ask questions. Mistake number three, the explanation explosion after your pause. The patient asks one clarifying question and you launch into 10-minute explanation of every benefit, every detail, every possible scenario. Remember, they asked one question, answer that one question, then pause again. So, how do you get comfortable with this? Well, practice. But practice systemically. So you start small. Well, this week, when a patient asks any question, not just about treatment, any question, pause for three full seconds before responding. Just three seconds. Get comfortable with that micro pause. Next week, when you're presenting treatment options, practice the 7-second rule. Present the investment, count to seven, wait for their response. Week 3, practice staying curious instead of defensive. When they respond, ask questions before you provide answers. One of my Prophet Alchemy clients, Dr. Jenny, told me that practicing this technique changed how she showed up in every conversation. Not just patient consultations, actually. She said, I realized I was rushing to feel silence everywhere, with my staff, my family, even my friends. Learning to be comfortable with silence made me a better listener in every area of my life. That's what she said. So once you've mastered the basic technique, there are some advanced applications that can be incredibly powerful. Use silence after asking diagnostic questions. What's been the most frustrating part of dealing with this condition, for example? Then pause. Let them think. Often they'll share something deeper than their initial response. Use silence when handling objections. Patients say, I need to think about it. Well, instead of immediately asking what specifically do you need to think about, pause for five seconds first. Sometimes they'll volunteer the real concern without you having to dig. Use silence during the informed consent process. After explaining a procedure, pause before asking do you have any questions. Give them time to process what you've just shared. So Dr. Sarah Stewart told me that once she got comfortable with silence in case presentations, she started using it during her clinical examinations too. She'd explain what she was looking for, then examined quietly, letting the patient ask questions instead of narrating every step. So she said patients started volunteering more symptoms and concerns because they felt more space to speak. So here's what I want you to understand. This isn't just a sales technique. This is about creating space for patients to feel heard, to process information, and to make decisions that feel right for them. When you rush to feel silence, you're not just hurting your acceptance rates, you're reducing the quality of the patient experience. The most successful doctors I work with have learned that confidence isn't about having all the answers ready to go. It's about being comfortable with the questions, with pauses, with a natural rhythm of human decision making. Strategic silence is just one component of what I call the high value consultation framework. So inside my Profit Alchemy Accelerator, I teach the complete system, how to position your expertise, how to present comprehensive treatment packages, how to handle every type of patient response, and how to build a practice model that doesn't depend on insurance or seeing more patients to make more money. So if you want to see the full framework, I've created a free training that walks through the entire consultation process I teach my clients. Use exactly how Dr. Kim went from 42% closing to 87% acceptance rates, the specific language patterns that build trust instead of resistance, and how to restructure your entire practice around high value treatments. The link is in the description below. And if this training resonates with you, you can book a profit accelerator session with me or my team. We'll help you map out your 60-day profit plan and show you exactly how to implement these systems in your practice. But remember this in a world where everyone is rushing to talk, learning to pause makes you unforgettable. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all. If this helped you, hit that like button, share it with another private practice doctor, and subscribe for more strategies on building a profitable, sustainable practice. And remember, talking more doesn't convince, listening more converts. So I'll see you in the next video.