The Making Of Smile & Co., The Art of the Yes Part 2: Presenting Treatment, the Buying Equation, and the SMILE Framework

Ashley and Collin pick up the communication series with the second half of Ashley’s team presentation. This time it’s about what happens once the patient is in the chair: how to present treatment, what a patient is calculating while you talk, and a five-step framework for case presentation.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

The Psychology of Saying Yes
Ashley shares the story behind her mantra that everyone deserves the chance to say yes to the best. Why she believes assuming what a patient can afford is a disservice, and why it so often comes down to our own bias about what “expensive” means.

How to Present Your Options
Ashley walks through how she lays out treatment choices, from doing nothing to the gold standard, and why the order matters.

The Buying Equation
What every patient is quietly calculating while you talk:

Outcome × Certainty − (Price + Risk)

How raising the outcome and the certainty can outweigh the price and the risk.

Selling the Invisible
Why Ashley doesn’t use the word “small” with patients, why she explains the problem before the solution, and how photos, scans, and AI tools help patients see what they can’t feel. Collin and Ashley also talk about the case acceptance numbers they heard at a recent CE course.

Patients Want a Transformation, Not Dentistry
How Ashley opens her new patient exams, the one-to-ten smile question, and why she asks before she lays anyone back.

The SMILE Framework
Ashley’s five steps for case presentation: Set the stage, Make it clear, Illustrate it, Lay out the investment, and Enroll. She also talks about why silence is the hardest and most important part.

Profit and Purpose
Why Ashley doesn’t want this series to feel like it’s only about selling, and how strong communication makes room to be generous with your patients, your team, and your community.

What’s Coming Next
A part three on how the whole team supports the patient conversation. Ashley and Collin also plan to cover objections and the role-playing exercises from the presentation, and to share more of the slides.

Where to Find Ashley
Instagram: @ashleyjovesdds, @smileandcompany, @themaking.of
Facebook Community: The Making Of a Dental Startup

Thank You to Our Partners

• Net32: The dental marketplace that helps practice owners stop overpaying for supplies. Compare and save at net32.com/themakingof.
• Studio 8E8: Dentistry’s story-driven growth agency for startups. s8e8.com/vsl
• Kasper Opportunity Finder: Fill those empty chairs and reclaim lost revenue with one click. Get it free at meetkasper.com/register.
• CallSally: AI front office support that answers your practice’s calls, including after hours. start.callsally.ai/tmo

Support the show

Find Out More

Thank you for listening to The Making Of podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share with anyone you think will gain value from the show by clicking on one of the sharing tabs above.

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Also, please consider leaving an honest review on iTunes. It helps other listeners find the show, and I would be forever grateful.

Questions or comments? Feel free to contact us at - themakingofadental@gmail.com

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Wellness Starts With We: A Message to Our Profession About Mental Health in Dentistry

If you’re in a dark place right now, or having thoughts of suicide, please pause this episode and call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

This episode is heavy. If you’re driving, you may want to save it for later.

Why Ashley Is Sharing This Now
In the last three weeks, our profession lost two dentists to suicide. Ashley chose not to name them out of respect for their families, and she couldn’t record another episode as if nothing had happened.

A Letter to Brian
Ashley shares a letter she wrote to her husband, Brian, and read on stage exactly as she wrote it. It’s about cancer, guilt, faith, and looking fine on the outside while falling apart in the car. She left in the references to slides so you hear it the way it really happened.

Four Things Ashley Asks of You
After the letter, Ashley shares four things, friend to friend.

1. If you’re struggling, tell someone today. Tell a spouse, a friend, a therapist, a pastor, or a colleague, and do it right after this episode. If you’re having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988.
2. Be the call. Reach out to the strong ones who always seem fine. You don’t need perfect words, and it’s okay to ask directly. If the answer is yes, stay with them and call or text 988 together.
3. Redefine what a high performer is. Your worth is not your production, your follower count, or your margins. The highest performing thing you can do is take care of the person doing the work.
4. Don’t do this alone. If you don’t have your people yet, borrow Ashley’s. The Making Of Facebook community is almost 20,000 people in this profession who will pray for you, cheer for you, and tell you the truth.

One More Thing
Think of one name, someone who came to mind while you were listening. Before your next patient or before you start the car, send them a text. It can be four words: “Thinking of you. Coffee?”

If You Need Support Right Now
Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Where to Find Ashley
Instagram: @ashleyjovesdds, @themaking.of
Facebook Community: The Making Of a Dental Startup

Support the show

Find Out More

Thank you for listening to The Making Of podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share with anyone you think will gain value from the show by clicking on one of the sharing tabs above.

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER HERE

Also, please consider leaving an honest review on iTunes. It helps other listeners find the show, and I would be forever grateful.

Questions or comments? Feel free to contact us at - themakingofadental@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook and improve your dental practice every day!

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Dental Startup Ask Me Anything: Insurance, Virtual Assistants, Staffing, and Build Regrets

Ashley and Collin work through questions from The Making Of community, then get into the build regrets Ashley would fix in her Folsom and Roseville offices.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

Learning Dental Insurance
How did Ashley learn insurance, and where can you start if you’re still figuring it out?

Virtual Assistants
Are virtual assistants worth it for a dental practice? Ashley shares what Smile & Co. considered and what she’d use them for.

Staffing a Startup and Using AI for Admin Work
Who should you hire first, and where does AI fit into the front office?

Whitening
Which in-office and at-home whitening systems does Smile & Co. use, and what else is worth a look?

Handling an Unprofessional Team Member Early On
What do you do when you can’t afford to lose someone but they’re not the right fit? Ashley talks through when to coach and when to let go.

Nitrous, Parking, and Build Budgets
Should you plumb every op for nitrous? How many parking spaces do you really need? And what do you do when the build runs over budget?

Ashley’s Build Regrets
Flooring, furniture, a missing laundry room, storage, outlets, and checkout privacy. Ashley shares what she’d do differently, and one regret about running two offices that might surprise you.

Protect Your Peace
A hard week for Ashley’s team and her reminder to anyone feeling burnt out.

What’s Next
Part two of the regrets from the community is coming. Send in your own questions and regrets for future episodes.

Where to Find Ashley
Instagram: @ashleyjovesdds, @smileandcompany, @themaking.of
Facebook Community: The Making Of a Dental Startup

Thank You to Our Partners

• Net32: The dental marketplace that helps practice owners stop overpaying for supplies. Compare and save at net32.com/themakingof.
• Studio 8E8: Dentistry’s story-driven growth agency for startups. s8e8.com/vsl
• Kasper Opportunity Finder: Fill those empty chairs and reclaim lost revenue with one click. Get it free at meetkasper.com/register.
• CallSally: AI front office support that answers your practice’s calls, including after hours. start.callsally.ai/tmo

Support the show

Find Out More

Thank you for listening to The Making Of podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share with anyone you think will gain value from the show by clicking on one of the sharing tabs above.

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER HERE

Also, please consider leaving an honest review on iTunes. It helps other listeners find the show, and I would be forever grateful.

Questions or comments? Feel free to contact us at - themakingofadental@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook and improve your dental practice every day!

Have you subscribed? Don't miss a single episode!