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Dental A Team Podcast

Dental A Team

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#1202
Yesterday · 27 min
#1,202: Do This Monthly To Protect Practice Profit
Tiff and Kristy break down monthly financial controls that protect your practice's profit. These include identifying lag and lead measures, getting your supplies in check, creating a budget around the team's fun money, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. Welcome back to the Dental A Team podcast. I am your host today, Tiffanie, and I am so excited to have Miss Kristy here with me. Kristy, you have been with us for quite some time. We have done a lot of podcasts together. and I truly love and appreciate your willingness to jump on. You just came from a coaching call, so thank you for hopping over here to me. I know your brain's a little busy with Notes and getting everything wrapped up. We do a lot for our clients. So I know Kristy, you just spent an hour with a team or or doctor, and next steps are making sure your notes are wrapped up and you get a nice little email over to them and that's what our clients come to expect. So Kristy, how are you today? Thank you for serving our clients in coaching calls and serving our clients and our audience here on the podcast today. How are you? DAT- Kristy (00:55) I'm doing good. Happy to be here with you. Tiffanie (00:58) Awesome, thank you. And this guys is why I normally schedule them on Mondays and I am just feverishly working to get ahead. And Kristy graciously accepted my Tuesday invite to come podcast with me. So thank you, Kristy. Kristy, I know I always say this, I kind of handpick different podcast topics to make it the most fun for you ladies while you're here with me. So I get to talk about all of the pieces and I Pick things that I think you guys are gonna enjoy the most. I think all of you, all of us consultants could speak to all of the topics that we have, but we all kind of gear towards favorites and things we love, things we do a lot of. And something that you do a lot of is you look for the money and finding it seems to be something that you enjoy, but also something you're just really, really good at. I know Kira speaks to that often as well. And today I wanted to talk a little bit more in-depth. on profit because I know we talk we've spoken a lot on a lot of different podcasts about AR, bringing AR down, kind of how to find those controls within the practice, but making sure we're looking at monthly financial controls that protect the practice profit was something I wanted to chat with you about today. So how's that sound Kristy? Sound awesome. Awesome. Good. Let's DAT- Kristy (02:16) Sounds like a plan. Let's find the money. Tiffanie (02:20) find the money. So one thing I love that we like to do with our clients And something we do, I think, in our personal lives too is control what we can and then, you know, leave the rest for later. We we fix the rest later, we work on the rest later. And something that we can control is how much of our profit is being spent to a certain extent. So there's different spaces within the PL, within the practice spending that we do have control over that I think we don't spend enough time projecting and looking at to be able to know. that we are profitable or that we can create that profit. And to me, when I see a topic that says monthly financial controls that protect practice profit, I think of budgeting. I think making sure we're working with it as a means of what we already have so that we're not overextending ourselves just like we do in our personal lives. So Kristy, you work with practices within their finances and their profit a lot. What are some areas that you work specifically on helping them to protect their profit within those numbers. DAT- Kristy (03:28) Yeah. Well, I think it's important, Tiff, that we look at it routinely, number one, and understand what our fixed expenses are and then what are ones that we can actually maybe pull levers and see where we can budget and plan for. so many things. Again, just like we look at numbers inside of the practice, there's lag and lead measures, right? I kind of look at the PL the same way. There's lag and lead measures. And so sometimes it's just being more proactive and really looking and planning ahead versus reactive and looking at the bank account to go, is there money? Tiffanie (04:11) Yeah, which I think we all do that at some point, right? Personally DAT- Kristy (04:14) Yeah. Tiffanie (04:15) and professionally. When you're looking at a PL, I love that lead measure, lag measure. PLs are full of lag measures and doctors will look back and gosh, I have a practice that only gets them quarterly, and I'm like, I don't know how we do this. Like it's so hard. We've got to be looking at these every month, like you said. So we're looking at those like lag measures. How do you pulse within that? those lead measures. What are you using and what are you seeing as lead measures when you're looking at those numbers monthly? DAT- Kristy (04:42) Yeah, well, number one, we might be planning ahead for hiring a new teammate. What is that gonna cost us? And so wrapping that into our budgeting for the month, or maybe there's a new piece of equipment that we're looking to buy or a CE course we're going to, like looking ahead and planning for those expenses on a monthly basis so they're not a surprise to us when when they do hit. Tiffanie (05:09) That's brilliant. I love that. So making sure even if we know, hey, we're gonna try to bring on an associate this year. So that associate cost, a lot of dentists know look at the associate costs and start, you know, planning for thirty percent goes over here or twenty percent or whatever you're gonna do, goes over here, start putting that aside. But to your point, Kristy, for Hiring, something that I think we fail to think about often when we bring on an associate is the rest of the team that may need to be brought on as well. So do we need more dental assistance for the associate? Do we need another treatment coordinator to work that schedule? Sometimes, even Kristy, there's hygiene, right? There's a hygiene hire that needs to come along with that associate. So it sounds like for you, you're looking at with that practice, okay, this is our current lag measure. This is our current what we can say is. our usual and customary employee cost. And then as we add these other additional team members, we can expect that employee cost to become X dollars. And then turning that into being able to see what the what the production and collections costs need to be in order to cover that volume. DAT- Kristy (06:19) Yeah, you got it, tips spot on. And we can almost do that for anything that we're future pacing and planning, right? To see if it makes Tiffanie (06:27) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (06:28) sense even. Tiffanie (06:29) Yeah. And I as you're seeing as you're saying that too, you said planning for a a large equipment purchase. So with that, then you can look and say, okay, well, this is what our profit is or what we project our profit to be in the next coming months. Can we set aside or how much can we set aside out of that profit each month to be able to afford that large purchase rather than vice versa? I think a lot of practices And people we say, I want or I need this, and they offer low percentage rates or no percentage rates. So instead of saving towards that thing this day and age, we just say, cool, let's get it, and I'll pay monthly to pay it off. So you're you're even thinking potentially flipping that mindset and saying, let's let's project and see when do we need to make this purchase? How much will it be? And how can we get the money for it? DAT- Kristy (07:24) Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes we do need to finance it, but also knowing what that's gonna look like too. I mean, maybe that makes more sense. Yeah, Tiffanie (07:33) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (07:34) agree with you, Tip. We need to kind of look at where our expenses have been, especially like with team, it's easy to look p back at the last 12 months or six months and say, this is where we've been running. You know, what's kind of funny about that is we just came off of a month where many of our clients had three payrolls. And being able to budget for those ahead of time, right? So Tiffanie (07:56) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (07:57) planning ahead and knowing what we're looking at, but you have to be looking at it routinely. Tiffanie (08:03) Absolutely. I totally agree with that. Quarterly, yearly does not, it just doesn't work. It does not, you're left in the dark so much. monthly financial control. So we can project, we can look and see, okay, where's our growth taking us? Do we need to prep and plan for any expenses? And I love your like even adding if we're adding debt, what does that added debt look like against the current PL? And then two. I was thinking earlier about this, like what pieces do we use a lag measure for to like pull into this month for, like you said, a lead and a lag. So I know a lot of practices I have them working off of budgets, like to the max. And so I have obviously I think a lot of practices work off of an ordering budget, so a supply budget for the back office. But I know a lot of them are like a little skewy too. They're kind of all over the place. Or they're like, it's fine. We're $3,000 over. And I'm like, $3,000 is like another percent or two sometimes. So making sure we stay in line with that, but projecting that and putting it on spreadsheets, right? So I have practices that have budgeting spreadsheets for that reason. So they know exactly how much money they have to spend. And I have dental assistants that find that to be like a game. Like that inspires them to go find the best deals because they know they only have X amount of dollars because the spreadsheet told them and then they're entering all that data. What are you seeing outside of supply costs that you've got offices? I know I've got, you know, if you're doing some obscure things, like what are you having practices look at or have you in the past trying to gain that control maybe of their profit within the budgeting world outside of just the normal dental supplies? DAT- Kristy (09:52) Yeah, I love that you mentioned the dental supplies and doctors, if you're not letting your team do this, like do it. And and really I liken that Tiff to going to the grocery store without a list or with a list, right? Be Tiffanie (10:05) Mm. Yeah. DAT- Kristy (10:06) very intentional. And I really like to have my offices ordering twice a month and you Tiffanie (10:12) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (10:12) set the time aside, you know, Wednesday the first week of the month and Wednesday the third week of the month or something similar. So to your point there, but also the other things that I would look at, and it's coming up big right now, especially with insurances. How much are you spending? Are you taking the credit card payments and letting another 4% go out the door? You know, so many docs are complaining about their reimbursements, but yet you're allowing them to pay you with credit card. You know, that's Tiffanie (10:41) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (10:42) a big one that could save you. Look at look at those. Hopefully you're entering the payments in your software and you're designating it to a payment type. Run that report and see what what how much did you take in on credit card insurance payments? And pretty much you might as well times it by four percent, you know, and see what you could Tiffanie (11:02) Yeah, yeah. DAT- Kristy (11:03) be saving. That's a huge one right now. Tiffanie (11:06) Yeah, I completely agree with you. That's massive. And a lot of practices are doing credit card payments for supplies in order to get points. And then they pay off the credit card. But I do see often practices that end up and we all do that, we do this in our personal life too. We're like, I'll get the points. But then when the payment rolls on, we're like, shoot, I didn't plan for that. So now we're paying it over time and we are adding that extra whatever percentage that APR might be per month to that pay to that balance. DAT- Kristy (11:35) Yeah. The other thing when you're talking supplies tip back in our day, we had to wait for things to come in, right? Now, truly, yeah. Now, Tiffanie (11:42) Yeah, weeks. DAT- Kristy (11:44) truly, most practices, they're getting it within a day or two. I I just I challenge you to reframe your mindset. Sometimes the salesperson comes in and they're like, buy three, get two free, or whatever, you know. It's like that's money sitting on your shelf. And many times, even if you think you're gonna use it over time, that money could be worth more to you in the bank than sitting on the shelf. Tiffanie (12:10) Yeah, that's a really good point. And I was thinking too as you were speaking, there's so many different areas of that like quick return. I have an office that we've dug into their finances many times and their supplies are just like out of this world. And I'm like, what the heck? They were up to like 15% one month. And I was like, guys, what are you ordering? Like what is are we remodeling? Are we restocking the entire office? Like, what did we order? And when they went back, they're like, I don't know. So they go back through and we have them on budget spreadsheets, right? Well, they go back through, and what was happening is the office manager and the front office gal were every day like, we need toilet paper. we need, and they have prime. So prime is a phenomenal tool, very dangerous tool, right? It's dangerous in my own home. DAT- Kristy (13:04) Yeah. Tiffanie (13:06) So being able to at the click of a button get something tomorrow or sometimes even the same day because you need it, it's very easy to just keep that open and be like, order this, order this, order this. And the next thing you know, you've spent two, three, four times your budget because you're not paying attention to it being all lumped together. So I love your ordering two times a month on the budget because it avoids that, even if you have an Amazon cart full, right? I tell them that's fine. Put it in the Amazon cart. If that's how you want to roll, put it in the Amazon cart and you press order on the order day and you see your total. Because how many times have we gone? I used to do this and I probably should do it again. I would throw stuff in the Amazon cart and then I'd wait a couple days. And if I remembered that I needed the thing, I'd go back and I'd order it. DAT- Kristy (13:55) Yeah. Tiffanie (13:56) Or I'd sometimes go back in and be like, I don't know why I thought I needed that. There are so many things that I did not end up ordering. Because I just sat on it for a couple of days. So if we do that instead of the quick instant gratification, because to your point, no matter when you order, it's gonna be there in a couple days. It used to take weeks. It used to take like a month to get implant supplies. We had to schedule implants six to eight weeks out just to ensure we had the parts and the rep would still have to bring stuff. But it's not like DAT- Kristy (14:25) Yeah. Tiffanie (14:26) that anymore. Like there's zero competition when it comes to shipping rates, remember, or shipping shipping days. Remember Henry Schein was like, we'll get it to you within the within the week, free shipping. And it DAT- Kristy (14:36) Yeah. Tiffanie (14:37) was like, yes, I'm using you because you have that, but now everybody has it. So I love that you mentioned that. DAT- Kristy (14:42) Yeah. I love that you said the implant thing, Tiff, because I know even back in my day it was like, gosh, it's not here, and Doctor would spend seventy-five dollars to overnight it and I'm just looking at it like, man. Tiffanie (14:54) Yep. DAT- Kristy (14:55) So I hope that you guys are separating out your invoices and you're really scrutinizing those truly. Tiff, you know, when Tiffanie (15:00) Yeah. I agree. DAT- Kristy (15:02) you were talking, one of the other ones that's really hit me hard lately is ink and and heaven forbid, guys, if you still have the Pitney Bows. postage machine. I challenge you to get rid of it yesterday because truly in this day and age with text to pay and I hope you're not sending postcards anymore and I hope you're not sending paper statements like the ink and the postage is just outrageous and what you're paying for those machines. Get get on, use your technology. We all have it. Tiffanie (15:37) I agree. I loved my Pitney Bows machine when I was in office. That was a long time ago. But I was obsessed with that machine because it was so handy. But I think to your point now, even s paper statements I think are done online and a company prints it and ship and sends it. So we don't even like print at the office and touch them anymore. It's literally all done online. So yes, get rid of the Pitney Bows. I know they're really cute. And they're super helpful. I was attached to mine, but we all gotta say goodbye at some point. I love that. DAT- Kristy (16:10) Yeah. Tiffanie (16:12) another area that I've seen practices like forget that they spent on is like team fun budgeting. So I just you know got my team Starbucks three, four, five times. Like I've walked into an office, I have a couple offices that do this. And if I come to your office, yes, I do enjoy this, so by all means create a budget around it. I'll walk in and they're like, hey, we're putting a Starbucks order in, Tiff. What do you want? And I'm like, heck yeah, right? So I get on there and it's DoorDash or Uber Eats or whatever app that's gonna deliver to the office. And I'm like, bro, this is like $125 worth of Starbucks. Like that's I know I refill my app way too often and I need a budget for that, but those types of things go unnoticed. Again, because everything's just it's not cash, we're not seeing it, it's auto online. And it's like right now. So I have a lot of practices. My practice actually with the Amazon situation, they have an Amazon bucket, but then they also have a team fund bucket. And so they DAT- Kristy (17:15) Yeah. Tiffanie (17:15) have a budget every month of you know profit and amount of profit that goes over to their team fund bucket and they use it or they bank it. And so they can get future items. But that was something that we had to create for that practice because their profit was just getting eaten up because the office manager's like, well, she needed new shoes, you know? Like it's it's uniform, I'll yeah, it's not part of your uniform allowance though. So it was just like this weird spending habits. Are you seeing things like that too, where it's just these like one off yes team appreciation, but we're when we're not budgeting for it, that's where we get confused on the P and L. DAT- Kristy (17:55) Yeah. I th I think it's funny in listening to you talk. It's so funny how it mirrors our personal life. And again, you think about going to the grocery store. If I don't have a budget, all of a sudden, I mean, think of Costco. We walk out and it's like, man, that hurt. But if we have our Tiffanie (18:11) Yes today. DAT- Kristy (18:12) list and our budget that we're sticking in, we leave and and we know about what it's gonna be. So to your point, we love team fun, right? We love celebrating and doing that stuff, but Yeah, have your budget and and even more so than that, like have your budget and let your team plan it. You know, let them Tiffanie (18:31) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (18:31) have fun with it. But but definitely know where you're spending and know what the budget is for it. Tiffanie (18:40) Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I actually have an office that just started a new kind of like a a kudos board, if you will, right? It's a big board and they write these kudos up there. They put the the post it sticky notes up there with so and so's name. And what they do now, instead of it being like this person got five, she gets a gift card or whatever, or we pulled her name, she gets a gift card, or he gets this. What the office manager decided to do was count up all of the praise that's on the board at the end of the month and the number of sticky notes that she has for each one it's a dollar and then one but she has a rotating schedule so then someone is responsible for taking that pool of money and going and getting something fun for the team. And so DAT- Kristy (19:28) Yeah. Tiffanie (19:29) it could be a hundred dollars because they put a hundred sticky notes up there. She has she has no idea she just put the sticky notes up there and then they get that budget amount and they go get lip glosses for the team or lunch or something with that money. And I just I thought that was really cool. But what she did was she budgeted that, right? She's like, okay, well we know what our profit is. And if I have a team allowance of X amount of dollars every month, it might roll over some months, may need more, et cetera. But she's created that budget around it as well. DAT- Kristy (20:01) Yeah, I love that. It it's it serves so many purposes, right? Keeping the culture alive, celebrating. They could even make it around core values, but also having that budget and it gives teams something to look forward to celebrating too. So Tiffanie (20:17) Yeah, I agree. And give them a reason to put sticky notes up there. I'm like, heck, I'd DAT- Kristy (20:20) Yeah. Tiffanie (20:20) be up there all day putting sticky notes up there. You'd have to create a whole new budget. But go ahead. DAT- Kristy (20:25) Yeah. Tiff, you mentioned something else. You know, a lot of us have subscriptions or apps that we're using. I think Tiffanie (20:32) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (20:32) those at least quarterly, it's worth taking a look at and just seeing, are we using this anymore or not? I mean, yeah, dues and subscriptions is a big area for looking for some leaks there. Tiffanie (20:48) I totally agree. I totally agree. I know I I tell myself if it's an app or if it's a subscription that you don't want to look at, you probably need to look at it. So my Starbucks app that's very easy to be like, add 25 real quick, or I I usually add 15 or 20, but the other day it was like the 25 said get an extra star, right? And I was like, cool. What's I'm gonna add it anyways, start adding 25, start adding 30. And when you look back to see how many times you just added whatever to that app to be able to buy from that store. And when I look and I'm like, would I have bought $125 worth of Starbucks if I were using cash? Probably not. Probably not. But it's so simple to add it to the app and spend. And that's their business, that's the whole business model. And it works and it's phenomenal. But when we're looking at monthly financial controls, I think that's a huge space, Kristy. that we forget about, like how much are we paying for these subscriptions? And realistically, Prime, if you're not using the TV, you know, the movies, the TV shows, the whatever music, all of these other pieces, the Audible that comes with it. Like if you're not using those pieces, we're only using it for shipping, to your point earlier. I don't know if you guys have checked this or not. I love Amazon. I'm not here to say don't use them or don't subscribe. I'm not here to say that. So Amazon don't come after us, but the shipping's like two or three days more than what it was going to be. And it really just makes you stop and think. So for your practices where you're off your your team members are just like click, click, click, it's really easy way. Those are really easy ways to your point, Kristy, to take a look at what are we actually spending. And like you said, those are our monthly financial controls, controlling when we're ordering, how we're ordering, and how much our budget is in any perspective of the practice applies or not, really are those financial controls. DAT- Kristy (22:52) Yeah, I agree with you so much, Tiff. So take a look inside. It's not just the health of the practice inside. It's also looking at the health of the practice from the outward perspective too. And planning, right? Plan for Tiffanie (23:04) Yes. DAT- Kristy (23:04) it. Tiffanie (23:05) Yes. The planning is huge. If you're not planning, you're not budgeting, please by all means do it. And if you're here saying, I feel like it's sometimes like the blocked scheduling conversation, Kristy, where they're like, Well, I can't budget because I'm overspending and I know that. Like, no, still budget and look at how much you're overspending. You should still be saying five percent of last month's collections would be this amount to order supplies. And if you're ordering Eight, nine, or ten percent of supplies because you're building, cool. Still be in the habit of budgeting, just like block scheduling. Well, Kristy, I can't do block scheduling because I just need patience on the schedule, and we've just started. Okay, but what if what if you put it on there and you got used to it while you're building? Same thing with the budget. Like just because you're spending more than what you should be. Because maybe you need to right now doesn't mean you can't build the habit of at least looking at it and knowing what it should be. DAT- Kristy (24:09) I agree with you a thousand percent because even if we say five percent, if you're at eight right now and you come in at six or seven, it's still over five, but we're gonna it adds up, right? And you're gonna be pleasantly Tiffanie (24:20) A massive savings. DAT- Kristy (24:21) surprised at the end. So yeah. Tiffanie (24:24) Agreed. Yeah, agreed. I love it. All right, action items. I love your perspective, Kristy, what you said looking at the PL's monthly and looking for the lag measures, which is everything a PL is, and the lead measures that are within that because they're there no matter what, your lead measures are in there as well. So take a look where are you budgeting, where are you not budgeting, and where are you off budget when you are budgeting? I think those are the three key pieces and look at the PL monthly. Kristy, I knew this would be a really good one for us to ping and pong off of. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom and for being willing to jump in with me in the middle of your coaching call day. DAT- Kristy (25:04) Absolutely, it's a pleasure. Tiffanie (25:06) Awesome. All right, guys, go take a look at your PNLs. If you need help deciphering any of it, if you need help like putting it together, I know a lot of practices come to us and say, hey, I can't read this because it's confusing and my CPA now does it differently than my CPA before. Well, guess what? You have all the tools at your disposal to ask your CPA for what you want. So reach out to Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and we are happy to help you get all of that in order, learn how to read the PNL, do all of the pieces and budget. We are happy, happy, happy to help and leave us a five-star review. Let us know what you thought of this podcast and any tips or tricks you may have for others and any nuggets you took away from us. And just like always, we will catch you next time.
#1202
Thursday · 29 min
#1,201: Let's Talk Honestly About AI In Your Practice
Kiera is joined by Dr. Rania Saleh, founder of Oryx Dental Software, a dental practice management platform that will streamline your practice's inner workings. The two talk about the journey of AI from when it first launched in dentistry to now, how AI can work in your practice as an accompaniment (not a replacement), the honest pros and cons of this intelligence, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and today is an exciting innovative day. I am so excited for our guests that we have on here. Her and I met about three years ago in person, maybe even four. Gosh, I can't even remember. But I remember being in this event in Napa, and we were all hanging out in this lunch area, and there was this amazing woman who was talking about her AI innovative dental platform. And I was so fascinated by it. I went up to her, started asking her questions, and here we are four years later. So I've got Dr. Rania, she is the founder of Oryx Dental Software. And some of you may have heard it. It's a new I remember when we were talking, she's like, it's an AI platform that's gonna like take over and help schedule and a lot of the tasks that offices struggle with. And she's a dentist. And so I loved her for those reasons because not only is she a dentist, so she gets your pain point, but she's also created a software that helps a ton. And she's here to talk about all things innovative AI. And I know so many dentists are just chomping at the bit because. Dr. Rania, you know dentists are about like four, five, six years behind where you were. And so I'm super excited to have you here to talk about AI, talk about how AI is impacting dentistry, talk about how your platform's been able to help and serve. So Dr. Rania, welcome to the show today. How are you? Dr. Rania Saleh (01:10) Very good. Thank you for having me. Kiera (01:13) Course. So I gave a little bit of an intro to you. I don't know if you remember the lunch. I know we had a pre-show of how it was like that was so long ago and things have just upgraded and elevated since then. But give the listeners a little background to how you went from dentist, which I know you are still dentisting, to building this software to being like this AI innovative KOL in the industry. Kind of give us a little background of who you are and how we got to this point today. Dr. Rania Saleh (01:38) Yeah, so I started out as a dentist. and I I was an associate like most of us start. Then I went to the COI Center and I learned like a whole new way of doing dentistry. And at that point, I'm like, I'm gonna open my practice, fee for service, startup. and that happened in the middle of the global financial crisis. everyone thought I was crazy for doing it, but I went ahead with it and my practice started growing. I was doing great. it grew to multiple specialty, multi-location. and I got pregnant with twins and I had to be put on bedrust. Kiera (02:23) Mm-hmm. Dr. Rania Saleh (02:24) And it was a big, big shock for me because I had a lot of systems in my practice and I thought we were doing amazing. And at that point I wasn't practicing that many days. I had multiple associates. my practice started declining when I wasn't there. and this is when I realized that a lot of the systems were just in my head and not everyone was implementing those. and I started thinking, like, how do we get back on track? How do we stop losing? Losing money, losing patients' confidence, getting bad reviews for the first time ever, all of that really hurt me. And this is how Oreg started. Kiera (03:06) I love it. Because I think, Dr. Rania, you can really speak to how a dentist feels, right? How many dentists, I think, as you were saying it. I'm sure they're saying, yes, me too. Like I can empathize. I know I've seen it with all the clients that we work with. Systems aren't systems, right? Standards are not standards. They're what we tolerate. It's what we have as processes. And I remember you saying, like, orgs basically is going to become these offices, office manager for them. And don't worry, office managers, we're not replacing you. We're just enhancing this for you. But I remember I was so fascinated by your innovative way. And so I wanted to talk about what things can AI do from, you know, when your software first started to today, I feel like AI has just taken off, right? I was always curious what would take down like Google, right? Like coming with the internet was something in my lifetime that changed. And I was like, what's gonna be the next piece that is that innovative in our world? And I believe AI is here for that. So I'm just curious, like from what you've seen, those systems you said like they were living in your head. What things have you seen that practices can do from like AI is not a replacement, I think, for clinical decision making. It can be a tool for it. But how are you recommending that we use AI and dental practices that you've seen from software to clinical to front office? What are some of the I wanted to like really just rift with you? This is my selfish side because I'm like, Dr. Rania Saleh (04:18) Yeah. Kiera (04:19) let's chat all things AI. And what are you seeing that are like the pros and the cons? Where can dentists start leaning into this? What are some of the best on the market right now? You're one of the I love you were you're a you're a founding female in the industry and you're very innovative in it. So let's have a good rift on on AI and what you're seeing in that realm. Dr. Rania Saleh (04:38) Yeah, I mean, like AI touches every aspect, and I was so excited when something like this was created. And what was really good is with Oryx, we started with systems. What I said, like a lot of the systems were in my head, and we started like, how do we create a check-in checklist, a checkout checklist? How do we make everyone's life easy? So we made a lot of automations in the system very early on, but these automations still needed a human to intervene to be able to make it work. And with the emergence of AI, we're like, my God, this whole workflow that works perfectly for us can now be automated. So although it was easy to manage, now it's a click of a button and the whole workflow of scheduling patients, having AI receptionists call and and get patients that were not scheduled, like this is a great innovation. getting getting your clinical workflow, having to spend time with the patient. If you have your AI summarizing for you, we talk to our AI, and I always say that way, I want my AI receptionist to be the same as my best assistant. So I want I I don't want to learn a new language to speak to my AI. I want to speak as if I have Jessica or Jennifer or one of my best assistants and I'm just telling them I'm gonna do a crown on this tooth, let's extract this tooth. I see a recession here and it's capturing all of this and charting it. So AI charting is like a game changer because now my assistants could be doing other stuff while I'm doing my charting Perio AI is great. The same for imaging. It's a great tool to help us locate conditions, share our findings with the patients, and patients are just fascinating by that. So I don't see an aspect of the software where it doesn't touch it. Also like on the insurance collection, auto-attaching the narrative, anything that the insurance needs, all of that. is built into the AI system and there's a lot of tools to do that. So I I really think people should try it to see what it's capable of. Some people are a bit scared to dip in there, but I it's a game changer for us. Kiera (07:09) Yeah, so let's talk about let's play devil's advocate. because I think so many people listening are sitting on that side of the fence of like, but we're in clinical. And so how do I know that this is HIPAA compliant? How do I know that this is safe? I think that that's a big, a big concern. And then the other concern is like, well, yes, it can help me attend. How many mistakes does it tend to make? How much more double checking? Because I know there's offices and like insurance verifications. Let's go back a few years. Insurance verification, I feel like insurance verification companies have popped. Left and right. Like I feel like they're daisies in springtime. Like we just have a lot of them. And offices will say, I love it, but it's not accurate. So I don't trust it. And I'm just going to do it myself. So I think it's a twofold one. What are you finding for like AI with HIPAA and us being compliant in that realm? And then part B of that question would be: can I actually trust this and how much error? Like, are we talking 70% error, 80% error? And is it really helping my team or is it something where my team is kind of like, turning a blind eye to it, thinking it's taking care of it, and then we're just getting a lot of mistakes we have to fix first. So first question is like let's talk about hip end compliance and making sure in the medical space that we are we're protected and safe on AI. Dr. Rania Saleh (08:19) Yeah, I I would say like there's a lot of new AI companies every day. It's like a new name and people would tell me, Do you integrate with this? Have you heard of this? And if you don't have a BAA agreement with the company you're working with, then it's not HIPAA compliant. So that's the very, very basic. Before you go with any AI or any company in healthcare, just make sure that it's HIPAA compliant, that it has all the certifications needed to administer AI. And I would say that's the bare minimum to to protect yourself, to protect your practice and to protect your patients. W with the errors, it's like Anything that you do, the AI is not a hundred percent accurate, so you still have to check. But for me, I think if if I'm charting, could my assistant make a mistake and put the crown on number twelve instead of number thirteen? It happens in real life. So there's always that human in the loop where I'm gonna stop, double check, make sure. If it's taking ninety percent of my work, if it creates that summary but there's these two sentences that I don't like, I'm gonna read it. I'm not just signing. blindly progress note. But it's a lot of help. Like for example, when we do our claims, we're doing an automatic attachment. I would say that's a 99% success rate. The systems are great at detecting which radiographs they need to attach. But if you take your radiographs the wrong way, if you're putting a lower molar in the upper molar slot, then that might go wrong to the insurance. But even if you had Mary at the front sending that x-ray and it's in the slot of number three, she will probably send that x-ray. So it's not you you still need. The human to verify, but it's removing a lot of the redundant work. Kiera (10:17) Mm-hmm. Which I think that that's a good call out, right? I think that that's a a smart path to go down. I think it's a yes, but you're not wrong. Like mistakes happen in your day-to-day anyway with humans. Like, let's cut out half of the time. I I was reading up on some AI how it can like go through all your emails and respond to 60 emails in 20 minutes and have it about 80% success rate compared to what a normal human would do. And I thought about this and I was like, wow. 60 emails, 20 minutes, 80% success rate. I think that that's like a risk I'm willing to try because it frees up so much manpower for things that can't be done by AI, like blocking calendars or running interference and other things or talking to patients like right now. Who knows? There will probably be a robot someday that's gonna be. I know I had one office that was doing a robot a few years ago, but I think Dr. Aenia, what do you feel? a lot of practices like Orix is awesome, right? ORX has so many great things. There's a lot of AI in it. But a lot of offices don't want to switch softwares. I feel like switching CPAs and software is probably dentists like two biggest headaches that they just don't want to do. So, what are some tips like that a dentist? Like, what are some of the things you've seen in dentistry of AI that you might bring to the practice if they're not quite ready to do a full conversion of software? And then I do want to talk more of like what ORX can do. And like you've mentioned a few things. But if I am a if I'm a dentist, I do not want to switch my software. I love my dendrics, I love my eagle soft, I love my Open Dental. And I'm like, I'm not changing. It's too much change. We already have all of our systems processes, but I do want to start dipping my toes into AI. What have you found? What are some of the successful things that you've found that you feel like every office should be doing this? And maybe some of the ones you've heard on the market that are some of the top notch. And this is as of today, right? We're gonna timestamp it because things are shifting and changing constantly. So just realize like as of today, this is the best. What would you recommend for that practice? Dr. Rania Saleh (12:08) So I I would say like imaging, period charting, all of that could have a direct impact on the clinical workflow. AI receptionists, some people are not comfortable with that, but like maybe after hours when no one is answering the phone anyway. Don't give your best leads to the AI receptionist. But if you're not gonna answer these calls on the weekend, this would be a great way to start dipping your toe. I think People are shifting more to a comprehensive software like Oryx, and we see it more and more because you need all this data to be interconnected. If you're on EagleSoft or one of the on-prem older software, you have so many point solution and you cannot create that amazing workflow with that. And I feel AI is that tipping point for us as a software company. So maybe five years ago, I used to hear about like, why would I shift to Oryx? Why would I shift to a cloud software? It's not worth all the hassle. I have I have Dentrix and I have like six add-ons that are working so well, and my life is good. Why this disruption? So cloud is not enough of an incentive for people to shift. But now with on the Kiera (13:24) I agree. Dr. Rania Saleh (13:24) cloud features and on the interconnectivity, we're seeing a lot more people moving even from paper charts straight to AI. And it's just Kiera (13:32) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dr. Rania Saleh (13:35) amazing. Kiera (13:37) So let's talk about, I know some of the critics of a one software are like when they're I won't say the name of some of the software. People know I don't need to to bring them up. But some of the complaints I've heard from a one-stop shop is, well, I like some of those add-ons that I'm able to put in other softwares because not every software is gonna nail everything 100%, right? So like just because we're really good at maybe we're great at the receptionist and we're great at the clinical, but we're not so good at our rub. Revenue cycle management. So every software is going to have, right? It's like a Toyota car out there. Like I can have really great la longevity and liability. Maybe you don't love the aesthetics of it. And so do you guys have any plug-ons and add-ons? Are there ways that things can integrate in? Because I know a lot of people are scared to switch to these all-in-one platforms. Because if I don't like something about it, there's nothing I can do to incorporate or change or modify, unlike some of the other softwares that are out there on the market. I don't like this, there's a bunch of add-ons that can integrate. And I found like with integrations, integrating into certain cloud-based all-in-one software, there's no integrations that they can have. So I think people are concerned about that. What are your thoughts around that when it comes to the softwares and the platforms and being able to make sure it's again, it's not gonna hit every single thing perfectly. It will do a lot of great things. How do we, how do we circumvent that and feel confident moving forward? Dr. Rania Saleh (14:58) Yeah, look the way we think about it is is it something we want to create? Is it easy to create? Is it gonna give a lot of value to our user? And does it make sense to have it only in Oryx or do we have the add-on? For example, like image annotation. We integrate with Pearl and Overjet. They're the best in the market at annotating x-rays. Kiera (15:18) They are. Dr. Rania Saleh (15:19) We're not gonna redo this work, we're not gonna get into all the certifications. They had to go through. So we have this integration and we always believe in choice. So if someone really loves overjet, they could stay with that. If someone wants Pearl, they could go with Pearl. And that's our approach to think. If it's something very minimal in the early days, people would say, Can you please integrate with this? And we have it for free in our system. We do the integration, then they don't use it. And it's not good for us and it's not good for the vendor. So like membership plans are so easy in Oryx. We never integrate it with anyone because it integrates into directly into the patient's ledger, into the credit card processor. It's a whole system built together that makes a lot more sense being inside of Oryx and a third-party integration does not make sense. So in the areas where it makes sense to integrate with other companies, we do it. In some areas we don't because users are happy with what they have. Kiera (16:21) Got it. No, that's helpful. What would you say are some of the like top things that people would consider in oryx that would make it as a switch for them to move over? Dr. Rania Saleh (16:32) the clinical was always our strongest suit and it's What makes people want to switch because you're able to give the patient a great exam and you're able to have the best relationship with the patient. Our patient report is very detailed. It has the patient's photos, it has a summary of their findings. It's the biggest source of referral for most offices. So a lot of users consider us for our clinical and the patient experience. Kiera (17:03) Got it. And can you break down specifically what are in that clinical? Like I'm looking for like the nitty-gritty. So it's like it helps us with the exam annotation. It helps with charting it, make sure that it sends the follow-ups, that it does the period. Like, what exactly is that? Because I think for a lot of buyers out there and a lot of people looking at AI, I think that they're just like trying to figure out it's like, why? Why should I switch? Like, that sounds great, but like you said, my life is good, my life is easy right now. So, what are some of those things? I feel like AI is the Life that we don't even understand that we're missing, right? Like I can have this great life, but if I don't see that Bora Bora and the four seasons exist, I don't even know that that's something that should be on my radar of a bucket list item. So what are some of those items that might just expand doctor's horizons of like, hey, I never realized that a software could do this, or I never realized that AI could do this. Like, let's do a little teaser sampler for doctors listening today of like. What are the possibilities that maybe they're not even imagining are real that are happening today for other offices? Dr. Rania Saleh (18:04) So like the whole experience starts with the patient booking online or talking to the AI receptionist, getting the scheduler and getting scheduled. And then they get the forms. The forms are extremely engaging, but we also ask Kiera (18:18) Okay, sorry, Dr. Rania. I'm gonna like just interrupt and I'm gonna back it up. So when I'm scheduling online, just clarifying, can they schedule all appointments or is it like new patients and profis? Cause I know in some of the other scheduling online platforms, they could only schedule certain types of procedures. So I'm just curious, like when they're scheduling, can it be all types of appointments or what are kind of the the logistics with that scheduling? And then we're gonna go into paperwork. Cause I'm like, hold on, break it down for me. I need a few more specifics over here. Dr. Rania Saleh (18:42) Yeah. No, it could be anything that the office wants. so if you want to expose all your scheduler, all your days with the online receptionist or with the AI receptionist, you can choose to do that. If you want treatment or not, you can decide what days, what times of the day, what providers are gonna take these online appointments or get appointments with the receptionist. so that part makes it super easy for patients to schedule and then they get an invitation to complete very engaging forms. and with these forms, we're asking a lot of questions, but patients love to complete them because they're like, that's really thorough. Like my doc I want to give my doctor that information. Very rarely someone would complain that the forms are long, but for the most part, people really like saying, Yes, I have I get food packed in here. No one ever asked me this. So we're gathering as much information as we can, and we give a summary to the dentist and also an explanation of what that would mean. So we have the latest evidence embedded into Oryx. someone comes with a rare genetic disease. It already tells them what that means, what you should be careful. Careful of how it could affect their teeth. And patients used to think, my god, my dentist is so smart. I just read it before they get in. And I'm like, you know, that puts you at a higher risk of this or that. And they're like, my doctor never told me this. so it makes the first engagement with the patient amazing because you know so much about them. If someone is Telling you that I have a click in my jaw joint and you're doing the TMJ exam, it's going to remind you. So now you have that extra engagement with the patient saying, You mentioned that you have this click on the right hand side. I cannot feel it right now. Tell me more about it. And that's what's creating that report. So the exam is extremely structured. It takes about seven minutes to complete. At the end of the exam, the patient gets a report showing their findings, their own photos, their own radiographs. So before they commit to a treatment, it's explaining to them like your periostage three. And that's why we want to have this periodontal treatment. We're going to have the scaling, we're going to have the maintenance. And patients understand, and they're not going to Google and saying, asking, like, is SRP a scan? They understand why they need that extra treatment. Kiera (21:20) I see. Okay, so it sounds like we go from being able to schedule online. I do love comprehensive forms that are saying specific things because that's also going to help us TF treatment. And also, like you said, I love making our doctors look incredible. Then when they come back, we're able to explain it, talk to them. And then on the clinical side, from things I've heard and like just repeating back, make sure I didn't miss any of the like features that are smart to be thinking about. I think the periocharding is a big complaint for a lot of hygienists. I have heard that a lot of them don't work super well. So I've heard like a lot of hygienists complain. How does your software or what are some of the softwares you've seen? Like, how do we actually fix that for them? And then also the same thing with doctor side, because I feel like a lot of it is that being able to hear it and being able to translate it into the software correctly. I've heard from a lot of clinicians that that is, it sounds so great, but actually in practicality, it's really hard. Can you speak to that of how you guys have been able to overcome that or softwares you've seen? to make that to where it's like not the annoyance. Like it's I feel like so many people think it's gonna solve their day and they're like, it's just so annoying. It's always broken and it's not working and it did the wrong numbers for me. How does that work for you? Dr. Rania Saleh (22:28) So w we had to train the models and retrain them and train them specifically to dental terminology, to specific numbers, to listen to thousands of hours of recording, and hygienists don't all talk the same way, don't say the teeth numbers the same way. So every few weeks we we come up with a new model that makes it more accurate. and it's not an easy task, it's not easy for us, it's not easy for anyone. We have office. That says, like, you have the best period charting on the market. We love it. It's amazing. It never makes a mistake. And another office that has some issues. And it's like, you have to go figure Kiera (23:08) Darn it. Dr. Rania Saleh (23:09) out is it the microphone? Is it the model? And then we start enhancing, and we realize, some people talk about it this way, and they jump into different directions. And Kiera (23:19) Mm. Dr. Rania Saleh (23:20) that's why it's not catching it. So I think from the very early days of Oryx, we've had a very strong commitment to making the software. The best, and that never changed. From creating the exams with the COIS Center, from putting the latest clinical evidence and committing to updating that evidence yearly. I don't think anyone does this much work. The same thing with any feature that you have, especially on the clinical side, where you commit a lot of dev hours to keep enhancing our features. Kiera (23:57) That's incredible. All right, Dr. Rania, I have like peppered you on so many questions. Thank you. What have I missed? What are things that you feel like, hey, Kiera, the listeners need to know about this, whether it's AI, whether it's platform specific, whether it's just like innovations in dentistry, what's something that I should have asked you that I didn't ask you that you're like, I feel like all dentists, like if I could go and help the the world of dentistry in the best way possible, what would you, what would you tell our listeners or what things do you feel like we need to explore a bit more today as we wrap up? Dr. Rania Saleh (24:26) I think the future is really, really exciting if if some dentists have not explored any of the AI tools that are available on the market, like start with the easiest one. start with having AI write your emails. I I don't think I can write an email anymore. Kiera (24:45) Which one do you use? I'm gonna interject because everyone's like, Great, but what one are you using? Who are you using for emails to write them? Dr. Rania Saleh (24:50) So I use Claude a lot and I also use Gemini. Like if I'm quickly writing an email, I just answer it and just polish and it looks amazing. and Kiera (25:00) Yep. Dr. Rania Saleh (25:01) like for for more deeper conversations, I typically use Claude. So start with like the general models and try it out and then th think how this can impact your life and then how it can impact your practice and then consider a software that is very AI forward. Kiera (25:22) Amazing. And then just break it down for us. I love that because it's like start easy, start with the emails. Gemini or Claude, you guys have it. I think she mentioned two for X-rays. I agree. Pearl and Overjet, two fantastic ones to just help with that clinical diagnosis to kind of just dip your toes into it. I know within our Dental A Team community and in-person masterminds and virtual masterminds, we are always talking about what are the AI innovation tools, what are dentists using right now, who's got the best. And I think like that peer group of being able to ask consistently. Walk us through specifics of like orcs. If I'm curious and I want to like find out more, I'm like, hey, maybe this could be a better software for me. Maybe like it is time for me to like broach it. what can people do to get more information on this Dr. Rania? Dr. Rania Saleh (26:04) Yeah, they can go at OryxDental.com and book a demo. We have an amazing team that would do a consultation with them, see what's right for their practice as a the pro tier, as a the AI tier, the automate tier, and and walk them through all the capabilities of Oryx. Kiera (26:24) I love that. And something I love about you is that you are a dentist. And so I can feel the passion bleed through you of just wanting to to serve dentists to make their life easier, to make the to make the practice and the patient experience. I think all of us could feel that today of like it is that patient experience. We want these patients to have a great and then I love that you're like, and we help the dentist look great and they don't have to do any of the extra work for it. I think that that just speaks volumes to the passion and the the pieces that you bring to the table. So I'm so grateful we were able to hang out, guys. Go. try something. I feel like kind of like offices that didn't want to get into the internet. They didn't want they were like, we'll just stick in the yellow pages. People will find me in the yellow pages. It's been tried and true. I feel like that's kind of like the internet now. And if you're not getting into AI, you're sitting a little bit in those yellow pages. And so let's make sure that we're able to be easier. We're taking advantage of these tools. You don't have to go a hundred percent all in, but I do encourage, I mean how long has Oreg's been in business, Dr. Mania? Let's just like for reference for everybody, how long have you guys been around? Dr. Rania Saleh (27:23) Since twenty sixteen. Kiera (27:25) 2016, so 10 years she's had an AI software working out there. And we're like, AI is brand new, because chat just came out two years ago. no, she's been doing this much, much longer than that. Ten years in the making, 10 years in refinement, 10 years in being able to be there. It's time if you have it. So like book the call with orcs, even if it's just to learn more. get on Claude and Gemini and write emails. I love it. You're like, I don't even write any more emails. But really, Dr. Rania, it was so great to have you. And I just truly appreciate what you're doing for dentistry, your knowledge on AI, the passion you bring to our profession and knowing that we have people like you that jumped into realms to make to make dentistry better and are really spearheading that from a space of true commitment to the dentists that are at hand. So thank you for being here today. Dr. Rania Saleh (28:07) Thank you for having me. Kiera (28:09) Of course. All right, for all of you listening, take the AI challenge, do something. And then I always love a good pen pal, I love a good accountability partner. So email me Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to hear what's the AI challenge you took on. What's something? And hey, depending upon how many results we get, we might even be sharing these on social. So be sure to watch there of the best of the best that we're hearing from you as listeners. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. And we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
#1198
September 9 · 31 min
#1,200: The Practice Growth Secret
This DAT podcast episode is a fan favorite! Danny with Swell is on the pod! In this episode, Kiera chats with Danny about Google reviews, Google reviews, Google reviews — a very necessary part of having a practice. Danny shares what practices can do to get their name out in front of potential patients; what not to say in your review responses; why bad reviews are actually good; how to get patients to leave the best kind of review; and a ton more! Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time. on the Dental A Team podcast. speaker-0 (00:32) and you guys, I am so pumped for today's podcast. I have one of my favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite companies. I met them when they very first started. We were just starting, so I think we kind of have a little like duo friendship that way. But these people are amazing. And if you aren't utilizing them, if you haven't figured out how to boost your Google reviews, you are in for the best treat. So I'm so pumped to bring on Danny. Danny works with Swell. If you guys haven't heard about Swell, You need to. because in my opinion, the reason they're the best is because they do it so well. That's how I remember swell. they're just the best at getting Google reviews and I'm excited. Danny's got some cool things to kind of help practices, even if you are utilizing swell, even boost those Google reviews more. So Danny, welcome to the show. How are you today? speaker-1 (01:14) Thank you kindly. I'm doing well, just here in snowy Utah, living the dream. speaker-0 (01:19) I love it. I love it. We actually pre-show connected on the fact that Danny may have gone to school with my husband. So we're waiting till post show to see if they know each other. I feel like it's like who's behind the door? My husband wasn't free. but it's kind of fun that you're in Utah. But Danny, kind of for those who don't know about Swell, Zeke and I I literally remember being in an office. I was in Alabama consulting a practice and they needed help with Google reviews. So I looked up, I had been told About swell. I was on a flight and somebody had mentioned swell. And so, and you guys were like early, early, early on. I was early on in my career and I remember I like just picked up the phone. This is when you guys used to not have a great branding. It was like a well. And I'm like, I don't understand what this is about. And I called and Zeke answered and I said, Hey, I'm Kiera Dent with the Dental A Team. I heard you guys are great. I want to utilize you in a practice and see if you're good. What do I need to do? And that's honestly how Zeke and I got connected. And Zeke has just been awesome. and the practices that I put you guys in, no joke, I think the best one the worst one did thirty Google reviews in one month. The best one did eighty five Google reviews in one month. And so it was super fun for me to have immediate social proof and great testimonial. And since then, Zeke has told me many times, Kiera, any event you go to, please tell me we will be there because you're a little walking advertisement for us, which I am because you guys do it so well. So that's kind of how I met you guys, how I got introduced. But kinda tell us like what the scope of swell is and how you guys even got started. speaker-1 (02:50) Yeah, so Swell actually kind of fell backward into dentistry, initially was hoping to help small pharmacy groups survive against the big boys, but then stumbled into dentistry and realized that there was a great fit in that a there were many systems that were currently attempting to help practices get reviews. A lot of them was just the five digit short code. less branded or personalized messages just with a link and then a few different steps that they had to do in order to leave a review. But Swell just said, well, we need to make it super easy, super convenient, and with as few steps as possible for patients to leave a review. So went out and integrated with all of the practice management softwares, stayed hyper focused on driving the most reviews possible for practices. And really swell as we know it today with without the whale that you're talking about, new branding. We think we're a little bit sexier and agree. And you know, our our design and and the aesthetic of our product, our branding, all of that is really great. But most importantly, we're just super effective at getting practices, reviews to the sites that matter, mostly Google and then Facebook, Healthgrades, other sites as well. Totally. yeah, that's that's swell in a nutshell. Primarily we know reviews are the tip of the spear, but then Swell built a little bit out and said, hey, reviews help you stand out online, but then you need to connect conveniently and convert these patients. And so we've built out some tools like web chat and and different things after the fact, but it all starts with the reviews. speaker-0 (04:27) For sure. And I will say, I am a swell, we have been a swell user. So swell, up until we joined with HubSpot, we've actually utilized Swell's chat on our website and it was awesome. We loved it. It was so easy and it actually started building so much traction. And literally the only reason we don't have swell on ours is because HubSpot integrates and it just pulls all the information. But guys, if I didn't have HubSpot, I would still be Wispwell. You guys were fantastic. You helped with our Google reviews. We still utilize you guys for Google reviews. but kind of like so offices, obviously. I hope if you don't know, we are in 2022. You've got to have a presence on Google. Like, no ifs, ands, or buts. Everybody finds you on the website. That is to me your website, and being on Google is your resume to the world. And if it's not there, you're not going to be found these days unless you are attracting a different clientele than the current millennials, Gen X, Gen Z. Whome coming in, like that's what they're looking for. So, Danny, kind of walk us through. You were telling me some crazy cool algorithms. I also love that you guys have always only been with Google because I was never a huge fan of some other platforms. and so I love that you guys have just stayed primarily, primarily Google because Google doesn't take away reviews unlike some other platforms. but kind of just tell us some of the algorithms you guys have come up with because you guys, that's honestly why I think you do it so well, is because you've stayed very niche, you've stayed very focused. And you guys crank Google reviews. So kind of just walk us through some of the things you guys do differently that practices can do to increase those Google reviews. speaker-1 (05:58) Yeah. Well, just I think one thing that's really important for practices to understand is that Google reviews to the Google My Business page affect local and broader searches. So, like you were saying, Kiera, it all starts with an online search. Dentist near me, affordable dentist, cosmetic dentists, all on for, whatever the case. And if practices aren't showing up in that initial Google search, it's referred to as the Map Pack. then They're being overlooked and potentially missing out on a patient that could have searched them online through social proof, read through very positive reviews, and said, Great, this'll do. I'll I'll make an appointment. so Google is tracking several different things. one is the location of the searcher, that's pretty intuitive. It's just how far away is the business from where that patient is searching. there's proximity, and then there's something that's called authority. So that's how well. Are they known online? Are they do they have SEO? Is their website getting lots of hits? this is less important for the review side. but the two important things that we like to focus on is number one, Google is constantly tracking the star rating of the practice and then the frequency or the recency that they're receiving reviews to the Google My Business page. So Essentially, we think that if you can raise your star rating or maintain a high rating and have fresh recent reviews coming to the page with responses as well, because responses are factored into that freshness or recency, those pages are more, excuse me, those practices are more likely to show up front and center when a patient within proximity searches for a dentist or or anything of that nature, they'll they'll pop up. One other thing you and I spoke about were the keywords. This is something that practices. Those of you who are already using Swell, I want you to listen closely because this is a great way to increase in terms of keywords and boost your chances of being front and center on Google. If a patient, when when you're sending out your review request, you could actually in the verbiage say, please describe your experience with us. Now the patient is able to say whatever they want based on HIPAA. They can say, I went in. To Dr. Lenary, I got an implant, an all-on-forecase, you know, they they changed my life. And then when I respond to that as the practice, I know I can't say the patient's name or or anything tying specifically to their actual appointment, but I can say we love to do all on four cases, we love to place implants, we love to do veneers, we love Invisalign and those keywords. So that will be the patient saying it. And the practice saying it and those keywords, those are that's a big deal with Google and their rankings as far as the current algorithm goes. And so that's something I'm always telling practices to do is ask patients to be as descriptive as possible. And then within HIPAA, you can't, you know, you have to walk a fine line, but you can say, we love placing implants, we love doing Invisalign. And now when patients are searching Invisalign Dentists or All On Four or Implant Dentists near me. they're they're much more likely to be ranking higher than other practices who are just saying, thanks for your review, or the patient just said, love the practice, would will come back for life. They can use those keywords to start ranking much higher now as Google has factored that in. speaker-0 (09:28) Interesting. So Danny, you talked about this a lot and I actually don't know. So I'm gonna ask you since you're the guru on it, when people do respond, because I do have a lot of practices who don't respond. So that was really helpful to hear that that keeps you more relevant. Also, podcast listeners, this is why I'm telling you guys to please go leave us go like reviews on the podcast because just like Danny said, yes, we have quite a few reviews from you guys. Thank you, but we have to stay relevant. So if we're not getting reviews every single month. The podcast doesn't actually stay as relevant. It's not ranked as high. So, guys, if you haven't left Dental A Team a five-star review, because hello, he just said reviews and star statuses. So it's the same thing within the podcast world as well. So, guys, that's why I'm always asking, like, please, if you haven't done so, because it makes our podcast relevant. Same thing with your practices. So that's how you can help the Dental A Team out that gives so much value to you. And also what you guys can do for your practices. Unfortunately for me on the podcast, I can't actually respond to any of the reviews. The way they have it set up, you can't respond to podcast reviews. but Danny, when you talked about responding on the Google reviews for your practice, it does keep you relevant, but you also mentioned HIPAA. So what are some of the things not to do on those reviews so people can remain HIPAA compliant on their review responses? speaker-1 (10:41) Yeah, well and I I I have to say that in terms of HIPAA compliance, this is something that I don't know all the ins and outs. speaker-0 (10:50) Agreed. So go check with your coup your HR people guys. So we'll tell you like the basics, but go confirm this is correct. speaker-1 (10:57) Yeah, for sure. It really just comes down to acknowledging a patient in the practice. You know, you you can't say, we loved placing for you, or we love having you as a patient in the practice. it's it needs to be a little bit more generic, like, thank you so much for that feedback. We love, we always strive to deliver a wonderful experience and we love placing implants as opposed to. Thank you for being our patient. And we loved placing that implant, and the results have been phenomenal. follow up with us if there's any problems. You know, it it's really just it's basically taking it a layer removed and just being a little bit more general in terms of you can say the services that you like to offer, the experience that you like to provide, but you can't actually make it so that. The public knows that that patient is a patient of record and that you treated X, Y, and Z in their mouth. speaker-0 (12:01) Got it. So can can you do one, not the other? You can there's no way you can say that this patient, like, thank you so much for coming in. We love you as a patient. That's like a hard pass no, because it'd be acknowledging that that patient's coming to your practice. Is that correct? speaker-1 (12:15) That is my understanding. Yeah, that people have gotten in trouble or practices have gotten in trouble by being, you know, just trying to be personal, but they were a little too personal and there are certain things that you can't acknowledge through the the Google response. speaker-0 (12:31) Sure. Which makes sense. So I think like guys just err on the side of safety. But what Danny was saying is like thank you so much for this feedback. We absolutely love treating every patient with the greatest experience possible. Like those things you can say. And if they do talk about a service that you did, it sounds like Danny, what you're trying to say on this with the keywords is to reemphasize basically the exact same thing that they said with that keyword. So implants, new patient experience, sleep apnea, ortho, Anything like that, because I'm trying to think of what people would be would be searching or those keywords that would be coming up. But be clever and creative on those responses to capitalize on what they said and then what you're responding back with to get a double. It sounds like it's like a two for one deal. Like they gave you the review. You can actually maximize those keywords with your response. Is that correct? speaker-1 (13:19) Yeah, absolutely. And once again, just encouraging those descriptive responses. I've had practices and and even close dental friends that have come to me and said, How can we avoid people just going and leaving us a five star and not saying anything? And I just say, Ask, you know, make it clear in your text message that should be highly personalized to begin with, because Swell is sending a branded it's either the logo, it's a photo of your team. It's it's even we can even scrape the schedule of the provider, the operatory. And if there were 30 hygiene appointments, four extractions, and three implants, we can take every individual provider and intuitively swap in a photo of the person that they met with. Clever. Calling them by name, the the provider by name. And then in that text request, you could say, please click the link, take the 30 seconds to leave us feedback, be as descriptive as possible, as this helps. the general public know about our practice and this is how we gain new patients. You know, that's not necessarily an invite that you're going to send, but you can find a way to craft a message like that and people will start leaving you a lot of feedback and then you can mirror those responses. Or even if they're not being descriptive about specific procedures, you could find a way to thread that in. Experience certain procedures, Invisalign implants all on four. I mean Lots of practices really harp on this and and they're ranking higher and seeing a lot of new patient influx because of it. speaker-0 (14:48) Is so brilliant, Danny. And I hope offices are listening to this because to me, I feel like that text message you send out to your patients is the bait you're sending out. And if they're not giving you back what you want, change it up. Like try different things. Danny, is there a way? Like my marketing brain's clicking on me. Can you A B test different responses? Or would I just have to try like one month of this type of a text the next month with another type of text verbiage to try and A B test which one will give me better response rates? speaker-1 (15:17) Yeah, well that's that's a great question. So we actually that's absolutely possible through Swell. we actually keep the click data on every individual template. So how many sends, how many clicks, how many opens, how many responses. So essentially, like you're saying, and it's not always you just plug this in and it's it's magic, but we we love that to be the case. But if not, the fine-tuning is absolutely there because we have the click data on every individual response. We can track these reviews all the way from invite sent to landed on Google because of our integration with Google. So we we can really give them some intel in terms of what photos, what logo, what verbiage, when to send it, all of all of the which sites are performing the best. It's it's all there in the swell dash. Cool. speaker-0 (16:06) And then and guys I think it's to me I feel like somebody listening to this, you're probably one of two people. One's like, Wow, that's way too much information, I'm not going to do that. The other person's like, That's so cool, I'm totally going to do this And what I would hope is like swell is insanely affordable. Like so ridiculously inexpensive, especially Dental A Team like Guys, Zeke and I got together at the beginning of this whole thing. So you better believe he has taken care of Dental A Team clients and still continues to do so. So anytime Dental A Team people come through, guys, you are taking care of with white glove and you get the like, I don't think there's any other company that gets as low of pricing as we do. And Zeke has been so amazing to maintain that. So guys, like definitely say you heard from on the podcast. But what I think is so cool is like to me, that marketing budget is so inexpensive for it. And we get so many Google reviews for it. And if you'll get your team and you'll change up just these text message responses and to see what response you get back. So I guess the text message verbiage to see the responses coming in. To me, I feel like it's almost like almost not quite there, free new patient marketing. Like it's very expensive to bring on a new patient. But if like you were saying, you can rank higher in Google, you can capitalize on those keywords, you can get more people to respond, more people are going to find you. just by Google searching. So to me, I feel like this would be a high priority project that I would definitely try and work on over the next couple of months to see if I can get our rankings to come higher. Again, it's not like an immediate instantaneous thing. It will take a little bit of time to grow in those rankings. But gosh, Danny, I heard from somebody and I'm not going to quote it because I could be totally off, but do you guys kind of have an average of based on the number of patients you see on average, how many Google reviews you guys tend to see? with that information, just so people can kind of see if they did utilize swell, how many average reviews they should be getting per month based on the patient numbers they see. speaker-1 (17:57) Yeah, well, just like you said with two the two example practices, you put this in one was 30 and one was 80. So funny enough, we we do think that based on all of the accounts that we've activated, that around 30 percent of the active patient base that they're seeing, which is usually trumping whatever they have going on. but then on the high end, you know, like I've got a friend in Dallas, Chad Duplanus. I I think you know Chad Duplanus, I'm not sure. but we plug, I I searched Chad on Google last year and he had 10 reviews on his Google My Business page. And I was like, Chad, people know you all over the country in dentistry. You're you're a speaker well renowned. I'm sure the experience in your practice is great. What's going on? He had a system. Funny enough, it was a company that I used to be with that was soliciting his reviews. And I said, do me a favor, plug in swell and Now, after a year of using us, he's over 450 on Google. I mean, it it was he was texting me on the weekend saying, I got seven, seven, five star reviews last night. High five, you know, and he's responding to all of them personally through our mobile app. So obviously, in his case, it it's a much larger percentage, but we typically think that we can we can convert around 30 percent of their active patient base if they're seeing. You know, it doesn't matter the number of patients. If they have a patient flow, we can take a certain percentage and convert those into online reviews, which will lead to new patients and just higher rankings. speaker-0 (19:32) It's so cool. Because at the end of the day, like what's so cool about this is guys, like, again, I see this as like, I don't know. I'm I must be really lazy, guys. I'm a Taurus, like by nature, I'm more of a lazy individual, I think. but I I prefer the term efficient. To me, I'm like, okay, if I exert just a little bit of effort on these Google reviews, utilize a great software, I can get so many more new patients in easier than having to build newsletters and flyers and social media campaigns, like that stuff takes freaking work. Yet alone, like I could literally implement swell, change up my text message and send it out to my patients and then check the data that's coming back to me and respond to these reviews. Like to me, that I guess this is just like my ROI on my time. How much how much ROI will I get for it like I to me, honestly, I've I've done swell, I've worked in practices. I'm talking less than an hour a month. Like it takes no time to respond to these reviews. It's so easy to do. You guys have such a great software for it that I'm like, okay, so I do an hour of input of time and I'm getting so many new patients back from it. Why would I not want to exert my time there? Even if I was at five hours a month, to me, that's way like I have done social media campaigns. That sucker takes me a good like solid five hours minimum to just like write posts for can like social media posts and then you've got to do your story and then you've got to respond to people and those people don't always convert. So just thinking of like ROI on time, I feel like it's a no brainer for practices to do it. So I am curious because I know I hear this a lot with Swell, and I want to know your guys' take on it. Some people have told me, Kiera, I'm nervous to use Swell because they don't let me filter the reviews that come through. They won't let me. So if I have a patient who's bad, they're gonna post about me and there's no way for me to control it. Whereas other review softwares will allow me to control those reviews coming through. So Danny. Please like respond. I you guys get this, I'm sure, for lots of people. I think it's great that you don't let them filter them because one, I think it forces the practice to actually be a great practice because you should always have a five star experience. But what's your what's your response to that as to like being able to filter the reviews? speaker-1 (21:41) Well, so the first response is that that is actually to stay in alignment with Google, number one, in that you cannot gate reviews. If you gate reviews, meaning if you're saying, how was your experience one to five? And then they go four and five-star reviews are then asked to leave a review, and one, two, and three-star responses are then taken for internal feedback. If Google finds out about that, they flag that and they pull those down. Because Google is trying to have the most authentic real experience or a real depiction of the practice. But then to, you know, if we have notoriously grumpy patients, we've actually made a great effort to make sure that it's simple and easy for practices to avoid even sending that patient a request. So with three different practice management softwares, Dentrix, EagleSoft, and Open Dental, you can write pound DND, do not disturb, into the chart notes for that patient, and it will not. When we sync with the software, it won't send that patient a response. Or because we're syncing with all of the practice management data, you can go through and and see all of your patients in a list form and just click a simple box that says block and they won't receive a review request. So we know that there are individuals who will gripe, but really even one of our other comments to this is that negative reviews are not the end of the world. Agreed. It's one, they come in, you're notified through SWEL in real time, you respond to that review. Once again, with HIPAA, don't get into an online argument, but just say, so sorry, there's a misunderstanding. Thank you for your feedback. We'll reach out to you privately. Now the general public, we have to remember we're not these reviews aren't for the practice. They're for the public to get an idea of what it's like to do business with the practice. So when they see a negative review or response from the owner, it was handled well. That can actually turn into a plus, but then they don't need to really worry about that because with the freshness and the re frequency that reviews are coming in, that negative review will be buried in no time. speaker-0 (23:48) For sure. And I think like to your point, I've actually had a lot of luckily I haven't had a lot of them. So I should like quantify this. but when I have had negative reviews, I have contacted those patients. I call them. I don't respond. Some people are afraid to call them. Guys, even in the Dental A Team, I had somebody give us some negative feedback. I was so freaking thankful for I called those people and I like wanted to hug them and high five them and I told them thank you so much. two of them became clients. So it's crazy that you can like That is the best feedback. And also, like you said, Danny, guys, if you're getting negative reviews, please do an internal check on your practice. Like I think that that is one of the best things that could ever happen to you because it can show you where your systems are low, where your patient experience is low, maybe where your dentistry needs to be improved. Like please thank those people. I I think a good life-changing book for me was Raving Fans. And it talked about like the worst thing that can ever happen to a business is for that customer not to give you feedback. Because if they don't give you feedback, they have no confidence that you will ever change. If they are willing to complain to you, tell you how you can improve, they have trust and confidence in you that something can be done to make this better, which is why they're willing to be vulnerable and share. So yes, the five stars feed our dopamine ego and they want us to be great. But gosh, those like one and two stars, please, please utilize a software that allows them to come through. Please, like allow your practice to get better because I think it's so hard in today's day and age. To actually get honest feedback, to find out how we can improve. So that's why I'm always pro. I'm like, no, I love that swell doesn't let you sift through and only choose the positives. Cause one, it's false and you're having a false impression of your practice. And two, you're not able to give yourself an opportunity to be better. When your neck is on the line and you know every person that's can leave you a review is going to, yes, of course, there's a few people that no matter what you do will never be happy. So please don't send them a review link, like save yourself that headache. But like when every single patient you know could get a review link, you actually are gonna act as a a more elite practice. You'll raise the standards of you'll raise the standards of your whole practice and you're going to raise the experience as well. So I think like I love that you guys do that. I'm such a huge proponent of what you guys do. I love that you gave some tips of how they can utilize those keywords in their responses. So Danny, I've just like been the biggest fan of you guys. Not only are you amazing with your technology, you've stayed niche. I told Danny pre-show, I'm like, I'm so glad you stayed niche because some companies are awesome and they take off and they're great at the beginning and then they go downhill when they become bigger and more popular. And swell has not, you guys have stayed consistent, you've maintained and you've only branched out in areas where you genuinely are making a bigger impact versus like trying to detour. So I love that about you. So Danny, if people are interested, they want to boost those Google reviews, try you guys out. I love that you're month to month as well. How can they connect with you? What's the best way for them to get swell in their practice? speaker-1 (26:45) Well, I believe given our relationship with Dental A Team, we have a link that will go out in the show notes. so they're we'd love to have you click and take 10, 15, 20 minutes. It's you know, it's not a long-winded demo. We think that seeing is believing. Let us show you how we differ from other systems. We're not trying to rip and replace other other systems in your practice, but we're a hyper focused bolt-on that plays nicely with others. We sit side by side. So click the link, or you can go to Sales@SwellCx.com. Excuse me, send an email to Sales@SwellCx.com, or you can visit our website, SwellCx.com. But the most important thing, like Kiera said, she's she's been with Swell from the beginning, and the pricing really is phenomenal for Dental A Team members and podcast listeners. So make sure to mention Kiera, Dental A Team, and we will take care of you with the discount. And they can also reach out to me personally if they want. I won't necessarily do the demo, but I can put you in touch. Danny Danny@SwellCx.com. I'd love to hear from you and get you in touch with our team. speaker-0 (27:56) Cool. I love it. And guys, I'm not kidding. Like when we say like this pricing doesn't exist at all anymore. And Zeke has been so awesome to just like maintain the relationship he and I set up. I think we're like pushing almost three, four years in a relationship together. So I just adore Swell. Danny, I appreciate you so much. You guys are fantastic. You're gonna be at our Dental A Team Summit. I'm excited for you guys to be there. Literally, I feel like Swell and Dental A Team were a good peanut butter jelly, and we like duo around the world together because I think what you guys do is just awesome. I love who you guys are as a company. I love what you guys stand for. And I love that you get results. I'm all about results. Like any person I work with, I want them to ensure results. So guys, just try it out. Even if you're with a review company, like test it out, see. I like to compare and they're month to month. So you could try it with some of your patients going through swell, some of your patients going through another one and just see. But at the end of the day, I don't care what you do, who you use, two things I hope you take away from this is one. Boost those Google reviews because it's the easiest way and the way of the future for you to be noticed and seen. And number two, make sure your practice is truly five star worthy. I think that's the biggest takeaway I have from today. So Danny, thank you for being on here. Thanks for being part of Swell. Super appreciate you guys and all that you do. speaker-1 (29:07) Yeah. Well, thanks so much. We love you and the team and look forward to the summit here shortly. Kiera Dent (29:11) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine. to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene or associate onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
#1197
September 8 · 25 min
#1,199: How to Take Perio More Seriously For Your Patients (and Your Practice)
Perio does not get the attention it deserves. Tiff and Kristy discuss why periodontal health is such an underutilized area in dental practices, and give specific tips to bridge the gap through diagnosis, case acceptance, and follow-up — for everyone from your hygienists all the way to the front office. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am back with you today on the podcast hosting. This is Tiffanie and I'm just so excited to be here. I have one of my favorite podcasting guests with me today, one of our prized consultants. You guys know I bring the consultant team here to you, and I love them all dearly. and I have a few that just Calm me. And Kristy, you're one of them. I know I say it all the time. And and the practices who are lucky enough to work with you know what I'm talking about when I say you calm. So thank you for being here. I value you and I appreciate you and I'm excited for this topic, first of all. But secondly, how are you doing? It's like peak monsoon season. It's you know in my books a month and a half late for a normal what Arizona should have monsoons, but we're finally getting rain, which is huge. DAT- Kristy (00:52) I know. Tiffanie (00:53) And that's totally different. And when this drops, it'll be like a month from now. So they're gonna be like, What are you guys even talking about? But how is the end of your summer turning out? I'm pretty excited over here. DAT- Kristy (01:04) Yeah, it's been a good summer. the storms I had forgotten like intensity of it last night definitely had me up a few times and felt the house rumble, but thank goodness it's it's all good. It's all good. Just a fun light show. Yeah. Tiffanie (01:19) Yeah. It was crazy, right? I said it was like a it was like being at a concert. Like the it just wouldn't stop. And it's funny you say that you forgot how intense they were because for the listeners here, Kristy lived here in her younger years, moved away for a while, and now she's back with us. But Kristy, that in between space, we haven't had storms like this in a really long time. So when it happened night before last in the backyard is like crazy and it's coming in all wild and it's beautiful and I'm just like sitting there in awe like a child. Aaron, my fiance, is like, this is crazy. And I'm like, this is my childhood. This is what DAT- Kristy (01:57) Yeah. Tiffanie (01:58) the storms are supposed to be like. We just we haven't had them in I'm not even kidding, probably eight years. It's been DAT- Kristy (02:06) Yeah. Tiffanie (02:06) so long since we've had good storms. DAT- Kristy (02:10) That's crazy. Well, I'm glad they're happening now. Like you said, we do need the rain. It it got it got kind of intense, but hey, I'll take it over the tornadoes and the other stuff happening. So yeah. Yeah. Tiffanie (02:20) I know. I know. I agree. This is why I live in Arizona. For the beautiful storms and the no like natural disasters. I'll take the heat. I love it. DAT- Kristy (02:29) Agree. Agree. And if you haven't smelt the desert when it rains, like nothing like it, right? Tiffanie (02:35) It really is. It's incredible. It's incredible. I love where we live. So we are blessed. I love Arizona and people think I'm crazy for that, but I really, really do. It's my happy place. DAT- Kristy (02:45) great. Tiffanie (02:46) Well, off topic of weather, which I could talk Arizona all day long. I wanted to dig into some systems with you today, Kristy. And we've done a podcast, we just recorded a podcast on finances. So if you haven't found that one, go find it. But this one I really wanted to dig into a couple of in office systems that I think are still being missed. There's still some gaps in a few places. And one of those places I think is perio. I think that it's still not getting the attention that it deserves. in in the office, chair side, and then when the patient leaves, like I just think it's still not a hot topic. for practices. Kristy, am I off base or do you feel like do you feel the same or similar? DAT- Kristy (03:36) Yeah, no, I feel 100% the same, Tiff. And and though I didn't grow up being a hygienist, I definitely have a soft spot for them and a passion for oral wellness. So 1000% I agree with you. And it's one of those areas in the practice that I think there's a lot of low-hanging fruit and and opportunity. And to my hygiene friends, please hear me. Like I know you're treating the disease. We just We just need to approach it a little bit differently so that you're doing well by the patient and the practice. Tiffanie (04:12) Yeah, I agree. And I think to that point, Kristy, I hear you. And I hear a lot of hygienists say, you know, well, I am I'm doing it, I'm just not coding it correctly. And my question is, and this is maybe a red button, I don't know, hot topic, I'm not a hygienist, right? So I will say that loud and clear, I'm not a hygienist, but based on my scheduling knowledge and the treatment planning that I've done. I know that when you do diagnose it and code it correctly, you want extra time. But if we're not doing that and we're not getting the extra time, like how are we really eradicating it and helping the patient? And I think there's still this financial stigma tied to it. And I get it. I I understand that. It's not easy to it's not easy to tell somebody they need to pay you money. Especially when you're the one doing the service. I get that. We sit in that situation sometimes and it's not easy. And I also know that I trust what I'm paying for when I'm paying what I should be, if that makes sense. Like if I'm if I'm told, you know, I'm I'm I look up and I find this doctor who's supposed to be great and yeah, they're they cost more than the doctor down the street. Who's offering discounts or or what have you, but says he gives the same value and the same treatment, like how you value the treatment that you're giving is perceived by the other, the other side. So DAT- Kristy (05:53) Yeah. Tiffanie (05:54) a long-winded way of saying stop discounting yourself and your services, because it's not actually helping anything. it makes me sad. Like, gosh, I want patients to know. That they're getting the treatment that they deserve. And imagine if they went for one second somewhere else in an emergency out of town and somebody said saw something and said something, and they're like, Wait, what? What do you mean there's something there? I just had XYZ. That would make me so much more sad as a practitioner than to have to tell someone, hey, there's more going on here. You're you're older. I'm older, our bodies are changing, you know, our cells are regenerating, you're taking different medications, whatever it may be, things change every single day. And I'd rather have that conversation than the conversation of, yeah, but it's fine, I'm watching it. You know? Yeah. DAT- Kristy (06:55) yeah. Yeah, what are you watching? It's kind of funny that you say that because Tiff, I was listening to a thing for Pearl AI, and I remember the gentleman talking about his wife had gone to have her yearly exam done and a doctor was like, Wait, you're too young for this, like breast cancer is not that early. We'll we'll just watch this. And it was like a ding ding ding to him, like, what do you Watch what? We're not watching anything when it comes to our health, right? So yeah, I I agree with you, Tiff. And I think it's kind of funny listening to you because I was literally just talking to a team about how we create a lot of our outcomes. And I think part of it is it's well, I know most of it starts with us and how we create the verbiage around it to create value for what we're doing. And hygiene's no different. You know, we get really upset because They're the first ones that fall off the schedule, technically. I mean, I challenge anybody to go back and look at last month's cancellations, and majority of them are going to be hygiene patients. And so, with that being said, I do think we do ourselves a disservice by saying it's just your cleaning. You guys, none of our hygienists are maids. Like they're oral wellness people. And truly nowadays, I mean, back when we started, we didn't know all the all the connections, Tiff, but now. When you guys can can put some of those eye-opening stats to Pereo Health, and we know that gum disease can be prevented or stopped from progressing. we have a due diligence to treat our patients different. So truly, number one, I challenge people to not call it a cleaning and start creating value for your hygienist. Like They are oral therapists and a lot of disease starts in the mouth. Like I'm have a huge passion for it. A lot of disease starts in the mouth. And when we can make those connections and approach it differently, because we know all of our dental people are caring people. And when we approach it from that caring aspect, we're gonna get a different outcome when it comes to treating our patients and having them value those services. Tiffanie (09:15) Yeah, I think adding to that beautiful statement is you said when we care about them, right? So we're adding value, we're ca we actually care about the human. I think that flows into also making sure that we're doing the due diligence of following up when patients say no in the office. Cause I do think that space is still really disregarded in treatment care follow up. So when we're doing follow up calls. I know the implants are important. I know the crowns are important. I know the doctor side treatment is important. But how often are we calling the patients who need the periodontal services? I know when I was in office, we we would be like, hygiene's got openings. Pull the periolist. Like, why weren't they already getting calls? Why weren't they just on our call list, but they weren't? Because it's not as important or air quotes around that, guys. to us as the dental side, the doctor's treatment is. And I think that's still an underutilized area of the practice when it comes to periodontal health. DAT- Kristy (10:23) Yeah, I agree with you, Tiff. And sometimes, you know, well, our patients are no different than us as humans. And and sometimes we do question things, right? And if patients walk out the door and whatever excuse they give, because typically there's a few of them that we all heard, right? when we don't follow up, we're we're really sending a message that maybe it doesn't matter because well, was it true? Did I really need it? 'Cause They didn't call me. They didn't care to follow up and say it was important, you know? Tiffanie (10:58) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (10:59) So even the lack of of doing nothing, or how many times have you heard a team member say, Well, call us when you're ready? You know, they're Tiffanie (11:06) Uh-huh. DAT- Kristy (11:08) never gonna be ready. Let we need to care enough to share and invest in their health and show them that it's worth caring about, right? Tiffanie (11:18) I agree. I agree. I remember and I and it still happens. I've been in offices consulting when I've seen this happen that patients will call back and they're like team members like, I can't believe this. They called back and they're like, Can I get my regular cleaning? You had SRP diagnosed. You can't have a regular cleaning. And it's like I remember having those conversations of like, Are you crazy? Right. But what did I do leading up to that to ensure the understanding that you actually really do need this type of a cleaning? And we need to do our services correctly and get you scheduled for it because patients will be like, Well, it's been six months since I saw them, whether I had a cleaning or not. Time to get back in, get my exam, and then they'll they'll slide back in. And so many patients I think go under the radar and do get scheduled back in the recare. Right. And Kristy, I don't know if you've seen it or not, but I've seen it where then they get the cleaning and they had DAT- Kristy (12:12) Yeah. Tiffanie (12:12) the burial I had been diagnosed last time, but today they got the cleaning. And they're like, Yeah, I knew it. I knew I was right. I knew I didn't really need that. DAT- Kristy (12:20) Yeah, 100% Tiff. And and I truly think again, a lot of it starts with us, right? Even down to, you know, when we're diagnosing the period, what are we talking about? Are we saying, hey, there's a little bleeding here? Or are you saying, my gosh, I'm concerned with the amount of infection I'm seeing today? I think when we start calling it something different, it's going to create more attention with our patients and awareness because. They just repeat our same words. She said it was just a little bleeding. And you Tiffanie (12:49) And yeah. DAT- Kristy (12:51) guys, when it comes to perio, bleeding might be common, but it's not normal, right? We wouldn't walk around with any other part of our body bleeding and just ignore it and go about our day. So yeah. Tiffanie (13:03) good point i've i and i've had patients myself be like well i said it was a small filling i think it can wait right and i'm like those words like i DAT- Kristy (13:11) Yeah. Tiffanie (13:11) can't overcome this as you're speaking Kristy something i'm thinking because you're you're talking verbiage and you're saying make sure we're educating the patients the patients understand that they need it and i'm thinking too like it goes from the hygienist and the doctor right hygiene hygiene sees it doctor then comes in confirms the diagnosis we say great you need period Then it goes up front and the the treatment coordinator prints out the sheet of paper and they say, Okay, for that deep cleaning it's going to be. But then I'm thinking, Kristy, what does the front office team know? What's their education on Perio? Because I DAT- Kristy (13:46) Sure. Tiffanie (13:47) think we focus so much on the hygiene diagnosing correctly, the patient using the right words so that the patient accepts it. And then there's not a lot of education from what I've seen at least. for and even in my experience for the front office to know what is this disease, right? I remember for years I just repeated that we can't get rid of periodontal disease. We can only arrest the situation. And so we have to do our due diligence and bring you back in every three to four months to ensure that it doesn't get out of control again, but it never goes away. I just regurgitated that because that's what I was told to say, right? But DAT- Kristy (14:29) Yeah. Tiffanie (14:29) what did we learn taking CE as a front office team. Like we don't we can't even get into those courses without a license. So how are the teams training to ensure that everyone knows what Perio is? DAT- Kristy (14:42) I think it's a good point, Tiff. And to be honest with you, we both started the conversation that we're not hygienist. And again, we're not teaching people how to scrape teeth, but we can certainly Tiffanie (14:52) No. DAT- Kristy (14:53) pass on the information and the knowledge that we're learning. So ideally when we're coaching in teams, having each other cross-reference or learn, sharing with them the knowledge is powerful because we support each other. Yeah, maybe the hygienist is the one treating the disease, but the treatment coordinator is supporting you in getting the patient over the hump of a financial obstacle, right? So having Tiffanie (15:21) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (15:21) them know the knowledge to be able to support you enough and hold those conversations is huge. So don't think just because it's perio, we don't need to involve everybody else. It it's hugely important because they pay play a supporting role. to the hygienist. Tiffanie (15:40) Absolutely. And I'm thinking as you're speaking too, like, imagine a hygienist. And again, we're not hygienists, so I'm just putting myself in this seat. But I'm thinking, I've seen this patient or this practice has seen this patient for X number of years, and I've maybe just been kind of like helping them get by, which is great. And now it's to the point that like I can't continue helping you get by. And I have to have this really hard conversation with you. What if? I have the support of the front office team who's like, yeah, we will get them over the financial hor hurdles because we understand how important it is. Because flip side of that, I can imagine it's gotta be really scary to be the only one carrying that burden. Because sometimes that front office team doesn't and necessarily like get it, we'll say in air quotes. And so they're like, hey, you do know their insurance isn't gonna cover this, right? And now the hygienist is carrying an extra burden. And imagine if we all had the similar educational pieces and mindset on a disease that we were all empowered to support one another through that. I wonder if and this is theoretical, right? I don't know, but I wonder if that would be supportive for a hygienist and maybe change the game on some perio conversations in some practices. DAT- Kristy (17:04) my gosh, I think without a doubt, Tip. And and I like how you pushed it on the other side, not just the hygiene perspective, but they also need to hear the conversations from the admin team. And truly, you know, again, we got into dentistry because we care about the health of our patients. And when we can put that at the forefront, we're both trying to achieve the same thing. It's just coming at it from a different supporting role, if you will. And I think they they do mesh together and go hand in hand. So Even your hygienist needs to hear about how the admin team te talks about finances, right? So they Tiffanie (17:40) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (17:41) can play the supporting role in that too, to say, hey, I I totally get it. Great news is you have insurance. Bad news is they may not cover as much, right? Yet Tiffanie (17:52) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (17:53) I know we care about you as a person, your insurance, you're just a number to them, right? That they will never care about your health more than we do, right? Tiffanie (18:02) Yeah. Yeah. Well I think this opened up a huge can of worms and it opened up something I know that we work on with practices, but maybe not to the extent even of the the depth of this podcast today, Kristy. So I love this because we're both gonna go on a tangent with it now. But it's making me think of how much cross training we do in the practice. But we I just think that's a huge space. Dentistry has lacked. Perio and hygiene in general is just an island. Like we let them be on their own little island and they they're okay with it most of the time, right? They like their island. They're like, no, leave stay out of my department. It's totally fine. But what if we pulled that island closer and started to cross train more, educate more, and have more value added for the patient because we are all a team. I know, you know, periodontal health is the literally the foundation. And I I know my doctor used to say that it was like building a house on top of an uneven foundation, it just it won't DAT- Kristy (19:03) Yeah. Tiffanie (19:03) hold. It'll end up cracking and breaking. So putting an implant or a crown or anything into a rocky foundation, the longevity is shortened. And making sure that we remember those things because without that foundation, nothing else can be as great as it could be if it were different. DAT- Kristy (19:23) Yeah, I think part of and I love hearing you say that, Tiff, because I always say it's like building a house on quicksand, right? And so, Tiffanie (19:30) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (19:31) but you know, with that, having those type of verbiage that we all tend to speak as a team and we all are speaking to that same language, I think is also such a benefit for our patients to be hearing that same tonality and messaging throughout. And so it is very important that we we Don't leave hygiene on a gap, right? And and on their own island, so to speak. We all funnel back to that. And truly it is the foundation, right? But finding words to speak to our patients, we in dentistry know it and we talk it with each other, but sometimes I hate to say dumb it down, but speaking more in layman's terms so they understand. It's like the quicksand or the termites in the foundation. And I want to get you the pretty smile, but let's make sure it's there forever because. This is the foundation, right? How are we having those conversations? And then how are we supporting our hygienist with those Tiffanie (20:29) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (20:30) conversations? Tiffanie (20:31) Yeah. I love that. I think periosystem gaps in general in the diagnosis, in the tree in the case acceptance, and then in the follow up as well. And I I really do think we hit something hard today with really just doing it together, supporting. I love that support and making sure that everyone's on the same page and training as a team. We do my suggestion is perio. program. Like make sure your period programs and your period protocols are in place. They're foundational, that they're utilized, everyone's using them the same. And make sure that everyone knows them. Like everyone in the practice knows what they are because that's so key to have everyone cross-trained in this kind of at least verbiage and these conversations. It's so key in ensuring the patient's health. So I would say Kristy today, I I think hands down It's address your period protocols, make sure that DAT- Kristy (21:32) Yeah. Tiffanie (21:32) they're systematic, everyone's using them, and cross-train the whole team. Dental assistants, front office, dentists, everyone. I think your periode departments, my hygienists who are listening today, Kristy, I love how you said my hygiene friends, go advocate for your periodontal systems. Go advocate for your period programs and schedule a freaking meeting. Put it on the books. Get everyone in the practice together and you step up and teach the team something that they might not know. DAT- Kristy (22:04) I agree with you, Tiff. And to be honest with you, maybe step one is you as a hygiene department get together and pull out what is our hygiene standard, right? What when do we all agree that we are gonna intervene in the disease process and create some clarity around that? Because again, too, sometimes I see it with hygienists where one's calling it one thing, but the other one's not. And again, we can we can get in trouble with that because You have a husband and wife come in as new patients and they see different hygienists, then they start going home and comparing. So start with you guys and get really solid on what is our philosophy and when do we intervene in the disease process and then roll it out to team. And I I love Tiff that you empowered them to be the ones to do it. And yeah, I that it's fun. It's fun. And then you'll align the team and Have questions and answers. How do you answer when we speak to this? Or, you know, any of those things that come up so we all are speaking that same language. Tiffanie (23:08) Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. I love it. That's our wrap. That's our action item. Kristy, thank you so much. This was this was fun. I love that we go into it thinking like we have a plan, you know, but something sparks and we just we always expand and come up with new fun tools for ourselves as well. So Kristy, thank you for taking that adventure with me today. DAT- Kristy (23:29) Absolutely, my pleasure. Have fun. Tiffanie (23:31) Thanks. Awesome. All right, guys. Go do the things. You heard Kristy. If you were driving while you were listening to this, I want you to get where you're going, replay this soccer because I really think there's a few gems in there that a lot of you guys can go implement. So go do the things Kristy said to do. Drop us a five-star review as always. Hi Janus who are listening, please give us some some feedback. Give us some yes, this is great. We want a team who supports us, whatever that looks like. in your reviews, doctors go through and read those, they'll see them too, and they need to feel empowerment as well. So go do the things, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We are here to support you. We love you guys and we will catch you next time.
#1196
September 3 · 28 min
#1,198: Don't Be Scared to Talk Finances With Your Patients!
Kiera and Kristy share tips on having financial conversations with patients, including the type of mindset to adopt so it's not so intimidating, key language to use to get everyone on the same page, the power of a litmus test, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and today's a lucky day. I'm so excited. I get one of my faves podcasting with me today. I get the one and only Kristy Treasure. If you don't know Kristy, she's one of our dynamite consultants and she just drives offices to success faster than most people I've ever met. She's absolutely dynamite. And today we're gonna be talking about how to have financial conversations with patients. This is right up her alley. Things she's obsessed about talking about. Kristy, welcome to the show. How are you today? DAT- Kristy (00:26) Good, thank you. Pleasure pleasure to be here. Kiera (00:29) I love it. Kristy, it's so fun to talk. You love talking all things money, numbers, metrics. Like that's your jam. How did you even get into numbers and metrics, Kristy? Like, walk us through for those of you who don't know Kristy, she was an office manager. She's been like every position in the practice. She grew this exponentially large practice. But for some reason, her niche is numbers. So, Kristy, how did you get into numbers? Like, why are you this like obsessive woman about numbers? How did that like passion and obsession come to be for you? DAT- Kristy (00:56) It's so funny. I think at one time I actually thought about getting into accounting, but I never did. Yeah. But in the dental world, you know, really Kiera (01:02) I could see it, I could see it. DAT- Kristy (01:07) the numbers are really only a measure of how well we're taking care of our patients and getting them healthy. And so from the dental realm, you know, oral wellness is a passion of mine. Maybe I should have been a hygienist too in a different life. But with that being said, the numbers don't lie. And so Kiera (01:25) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (01:26) the you know, being in OM and practice administration, it it was the guide to let me know if we were winning or not. And so it it's not so much about the number, but where is it trending, you know? And so being able sorry, Kiera, being able Kiera (01:38) Mm-hmm. How do you no, no DAT- Kristy (01:42) to give that back and have teams know where they stand too, I think is hugely important. Kiera (01:49) So, how do you get teams on board with this? Like that was gonna be my follow-up when I was about to cut you off. Sorry on that. Like, I agree with you. It's ch it's shell, but how do you get your teams on board? Cause I think this is a common piece and a common like fear of offices is they don't want to tell their teams. They don't want their teams to talk about numbers. Doctors are afraid if teams look at numbers and they're gonna think they want to buy a new boat, which I'm like, go for it, buy the boat, like live your life. But how do you get teams on board to look at these numbers and doctors not to be afraid to share numbers with their with their teams? DAT- Kristy (02:18) Yeah. I think first and foremost we start out by talking about why did we all get into dentistry? Because usually it's about caring for our patients. And Kiera, I think there's also a misunderstanding that just because a practice may be collecting six million dollars doesn't mean the practice is financially healthy. And so when teams understand there's numbers inside the practice and numbers outside of the practice, I think it helps them understand and just like they have to manage their finances, you know, what's in the bank? How am I gonna pay my mortgage? Like getting them on board to understand that helps them also drive for the success. And I don't know, you've been in dentistry a long time too. And I truly haven't met a doctor that isn't willing to give back when the practice Kiera (03:05) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (03:05) is profitable. So typically, you know, when teams are on board and we're rowing in the same direction for a goal, it's a win win. Kiera (03:14) Yeah. I hope the doctors heard that. I hope the teams heard that of it is a win-win. It's a good way for us all to get aligned and be on the same page with each other. And like doctors, it is a business at the end of the day. And having a practice and having the numbers tell you, I love numbers because I feel like they're the non-emotional facts of the business. They're able to tell us, are we winning? Are we losing? It's just like a scoreboard in sports. Like it's up on the board. We know if that team is winning or if they're not winning. and for us not to have like visibility into our business to know are we on track, are we off track? To me feels like what do we do when we're flying blind? Like I can't imagine a sports team like playing against each other and there's no score up on the board. It's just like hoops versus hoops. Like that's fun for a while, but the drive and the like, how do I protect my craft and how do I become a better player? And how do I know if we're actually playing as a team or we're just out here all open? Like those are the ways that you can actually see if you're winning or not. So Kristy, I'm gonna pivot us now to financial conversations with patients because it's all things money. We just gave you guys some tips on how you can talk to your teams about this, teams why you need to look at the numbers, how it is a scoreboard of the success of your practice. They don't lie. Every number tells a story, every number t ties to a system of what is broken, what can we improve, how can we improve it? It actually makes like your job easier as a team member because then we're not trying to solve the whole practice. We're just refining based on what the numbers are telling us. So now pivoting that to patients, I think so many treatment coordinators, doctors, hygienists, like everyone in the practice is so scared to talk money with patients. So Kristy, like let's dig into that. How can people like what is that? Why are people afraid of this? Any tips on how we can have these financial conversations with patients? DAT- Kristy (04:56) Yeah. I think first and foremost is understanding that, you know, we're in it to get patients healthy. And we Kiera (05:04) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (05:04) all understand that if there's active infection going on, it's not gonna get any better than it is today. And so Kiera (05:12) Right. DAT- Kristy (05:13) coming from the you know, reframing our brains and coming from the space of taking us back to why we got into dentistry and caring for people, their oral health equates to their overall health. And if we can get them healthy as quickly as possible, all the better. But I also like to tell my teams, we play the healthcare advocate, but it's always in the patient's hands. So when we can put it back to the patients and say, you know, I'm here for you. And truly this is your journey. You get to be in the driver's seat. And we're going to do this in your timeframe. And within your budget. It takes that pressure off and it really makes it a relational thing. And we can be the guide to getting them healthy. Kiera (06:03) That's amazing. And I think Kristy, as you said that, like it's just a reframe, right? Like I think we have the reframe right now. Like you you're telling yourself a story. You're telling yourself a story of, like people have to pay money and it's uncomfortable and they w but there's also another story of we're doing this amazing service and they're paying for a great service, just like Kristy. You used to cut hair. Like people, you give a good haircut, people want to pay you for a great and they even tip you. Like no one has tipped me in my career for not sucking up their uvula. I would love to have a tip jar. Like you're welcome patients. I didn't suction that up. but like they want to, they want to pay for a service. And I think in dentistry we get kind of weird because like we are in healthcare and when we go to the doctor, but like never once have I ever gone to the doctor and been like, I'm just not gonna pay for it. Like, I know I have a copay, I know I have this. And so I think for us to reframe it of we've done great dentistry, we've done a great service. People naturally know, like when I go to the grocery store, I buy groceries. When I get my haircut, I pay for my haircut. When I go to the dentist, I pay for my cleaning. I pay for my my care. Like that's what I pay for. And so I I love that you talk about Kristy of like this is just why we're even in dentistry. We did this to get patients back to health. We're here to serve. I think that there's this space of having confidence in who you are and not being afraid of asking for money. Like it's okay. You did great work. You brought them back to health. Like you did something amazing for them. They are more than happy. It's the gift of reciprocity. And that worked so hard for me. But when we've done something good, people naturally, as a byproduct, want to pay for it. and so helping us, like you said, let's just do a reframe. Like, what if for the next week everybody in our practice just thought like every patient wants to pay us? Like I promise you, it will be that you've just like activated that and you'll start to see more patients want to pay you. More patients are not having financial conversations of issues with you. It's not a conversation, like they're not rejecting you. They just want like they're just asking questions. And I think we often take those questions as rejection rather like it's confrontation rather than just conversations. DAT- Kristy (08:11) Yeah, I love that you say that, Kiera. And I tell teams every day, number one, when you take a step back and figure out why are they here, because we all know every single patient walks in and what do they say? I hate coming to the dentist. And I'm thinking to myself, there is nobody standing outside this door with, you know, holding a gun to you saying, You have to go to the dentist. So they're Kiera (08:32) Mm. DAT- Kristy (08:33) here for a reason and we just need to figure out what that reason is. People's motivation can be different, you know. We talk about wellness, longevity, cosmetic, right? And the last one on that list that we tend to shy away from is the cost. But every Kiera (08:47) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (08:50) day I tell my teams, it truly doesn't matter if it's 6,000 or 60,000. I know I maybe exaggerated that a little bit, but it's about fitting it in their budget and finding them away. So when you take that pressure off yourself and realize we're tying it back to what they really walked in the door for. and help them again as that guide to getting what they want. Truly the money is just about finding a way to fit it in their budget. And if we have the tools in our tool belt to do that, it makes it so easy. Kiera (09:23) Mm-hmm. Well, and like you said, Kristy, it's it's just finding the solution, right? Everything we want in life, we figure it out. We find a way. Like people want to buy a car, so what do they do? They figure out how to pay for it. It's just tying it back to something that they want, need, and deserve. I will throw that like and deserve. I think so many patients don't feel like they deserve, they deserve to have a healthy mouth. They deserve to get this beautiful smile back. And I think actually like Our mouths are slightly hidden and they can be hidden. Like you can keep your mouth more closed. You don't have to smile in photos. but the confidence that you have to be able to be unapologetically smiley and to have confidence in your teeth and your smile and your breath and your health and all of that is a gift that I don't think that we realize because in dentistry we just do this day in, day out. but I was the girl who had my smile completely obliterated by someone in my life, and I didn't have that confidence anymore. And I know what it feels like to be able to speak with confidence and to have my smile perfect and to speak where you don't feel as confident. And I will say that people might give you the push of finance at the top. And I just want to say, like, whenever, like to me, I don't know how you feel, Kristy. To me, objections are just a way for me, like, I haven't educated them enough. And there's just a question. That's all an objection is, is it's just a a a question packaged in a different way. So someone's like, it's cost. I'm like, fantastic. Let's talk about that. Like, why am I taking this as you don't like me? Like we can make this up all day long, but instead it's just them giving me information. My job is to find the solution with them. There's always a solution. Let's talk about it. And I will promise you, every single one of you listening, and Kristy, you know this just as well as I do, it will never be cheaper or more predictable than it is today. So if it is cost, high five is the best day of your life because we get to make it like the most cost effective we possibly can. We wait longer in dentistry, it just gets more expensive. That's how it works, that's how it operates. And also, like we lose our options and our our choice the longer we wait. And so let's take care of it now. Let's get it taken care of. And really, like you said, Kristy, they're here at the dentist. Like they chose to come. There's a reason they're here. So I think for us, like, I feel like thinking about cost as an objection is just a pair of sunglasses of a filter you choose to put on. And I'm like, what if I put on the filter of Every patient wants to say yes to me today. What if I put on the filter of everyone's here and they want to get something done today? What if I put on the filter of everybody has like finances? I'm gonna help them find the way to make this like fit within their budget. I feel we get to choose these pairs of sunglasses, aka filters every day when we walk into the office. And for a lot of you, you might be picking up this like, people don't like insurance, people have this. Like, you're choosing to put on the black sunglasses, the dark gray sunglasses, the brown sunglasses. Well, there's a whole other pair of sunglasses of yellow and green and pink and purple that are brighter, that are lighter, that are also available for you. And I don't think that that's just like Mary Poppins over here skipping through life. I know it's an actual fact because treatment planning and presenting and talking about finances is 80% the what you think about, 20% skill. It's not DAT- Kristy (12:31) Yeah. Kiera (12:31) the reverse. And I think so many people think it's 80% skill, 20% like how you think. Kristy, break that down. Do you agree with that? 'Cause I do, but that could be Kiera's like la la land over here that I live in. DAT- Kristy (12:41) Yeah, no, I 1000% agree with you. I'm I'm gonna age myself a little bit here, Kiera, because I remember when I first got into dentistry, crowns were three hundred and eighty-five dollars at the office hours. And yeah, I mean yeah, a hundred percent, right? But Kiera (12:51) my gosh. It's okay. How much were haircuts, Kristy? DAT- Kristy (12:59) with that, you know, the same patients that today when you say fifteen hundred dollars for a crown, they said the same thing back then. It's so expensive. Kiera (13:08) Yep. DAT- Kristy (13:09) And you said something earlier. My favorite comeback is you are worth it. You are Kiera (13:14) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (13:15) worth it. I I literally maybe only had one person ever tell me, No, I'm not. I'm gonna die tomorrow. But I said, But you're gonna die with a healthy smile, right? And you know, truly people will go spend three thousand dollars on a couch and not bad an eye. So Kiera (13:29) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (13:30) when you turn it about them and what they really came in for, what they want, and find that solution to get them. It it's just a win win and it's so rewarding as a treatment coordinator to have that relationship with the patient because once you do it one time, they come back to you, they look for you, they know your name, they know you're gonna help them get what what they want in the end. Kiera (13:54) Mm-hmm. You're exactly right. And I think Kristy, like so many people don't realize that they're worth it. And like you said, like people are willing to shell out money left and right. Like it's wild. I don't know if people have seen the memes, they or the reels. They make me giggle when it's like the patient who's asking for the discount and they're driving like all these amazing, like beautiful cars, huge house. And I like to me that just like that cracks the code of our limiting beliefs. Their beliefs DAT- Kristy (14:19) Yeah. Kiera (14:20) that we've chosen to pick up. Like I feel like they're pebbles in my pocket, their beliefs in my pocket. What beliefs am I putting in? Because it's a lot of times like I'm I'm projecting, I'm putting my own assumptions on other people when that's not real. I have a friend going through a pretty severe medical situation and we were talking about it. And one of our other friends was just like a hot mess express. And my friend was like who's going through the actual medical issue, she's like, That friend's projecting on me. Like I actually don't feel any of that. But that friend saying, like, I'm sure you're so scared, or I'm sure you're so this or that. And she's like, I'm none of those, but she's projecting on me. And I think going into our financial pieces, how many times are we projecting our own limiting beliefs? Like you might think that Starbucks is expensive, but for someone, Starbucks is just part of their daily budget. Like that's that's that's just it's like brushing our teeth. They don't even bat an eye at it. Like you said, they're willing to drop money on a couch, they're willing to do this. It's the value of what people value. And so For me, it'd be another question of how can you create more value of dentistry? I will tell you as a girl who's had her smile be available and not available, it is one of the greatest gifts you can ever give a patient. And maybe that's why I'm so like passionate about this topic, is because I'm like, I know what that feels like to not feel confident, to not feel like your smile is your own, to not feel comfortable talking to people, to not like I'm modeled for half of my life. Like, you want to believe like. I I very uncomfortable in my own skin. And so to have that taken away and stripped away is something that I feel we don't if you've never had that taken away from you, you don't even know the gift you're able to give somebody, but I do. And so it's like, let's give that value of the health, like whatever it is. For some people, it's health. For some people, it's guys, I want to look really good in my coffin. Like I'm not gonna lie to you. I am such a vain human. Like I want my teeth to be pretty. I want to look gorgeous. I'd be your 90-year-old, like getting like veneers, braces. Please don't limit that because you wouldn't pay for it. Like, if that's not your job, but your job is to present it to me. Your job is to find solutions with me. And your job is to help me see the value and what this is. And like Kristy said, to show me that I'm worth it, that I'm deserving of that. And that I agree, Kristy, is the best comeback. Like, no person is going to deny that. And that's probably one of the few places that they've heard that they're worth this treatment. And I also just want to break down like such a limiting belief. Dentistry, we think is so expensive. Like when you said $1,500, I'm do you want to know how much it is to get Scorpion anti-venom serum? Like that stuff is like, I think it's $10,000 a teeny tiny vial. And you have to have three of those minimum. That's $30,000. That's expensive. Like, let's please put into like the scale of expense. Like medical DAT- Kristy (17:01) Mm-hmm. Kiera (17:01) bills are very expensive. $1,500 for a crown that's gonna last you for the next, I don't know, five, 10, 15 years. That is a very low cost to be able to eat great subsidence for our body. Like, so again, please just please just also put that out there. There's financing options. You can do care credit. You can have other things. Please don't give them a smorgasborg. Like less is more. Let's make decisions very easy for them. Like, are we doing personal savings or do we want to talk financing options? Like, don't project and dump on them. Like let them choose from what it is. Perfect. Let's talk through this. Let's see where we're at. Let's come up with solutions that way you can afford this. But I'm not going to project that onto them. I'm going to make them ask the questions. And I'm going to assume that they freaking just want dentistry done. Like, why not assume that? Like, I know this sounds so silly and Kristy and I are having a good giggle over here. But Kristy, I really think it's that black and white. Like you said, no one forces person to come to the dentist. They're at the dentist. They clearly want something done. Let's just find the solution to help them get it done. And to be confident and to assume they want to do that, finding the solutions, building the value, teaching them that they are worth it. And then putting on those sunglasses of those filters of that you're able you're able to get the dentistry done and let's just find the solution together. Those are my thoughts, Kristy. What are yours? I know this is my rant. DAT- Kristy (18:17) Yeah, I agree with you, Kiera. Yeah. I 100% agree with you. And I also challenge people to start at the comprehensive level. Cause many times we tap our patients out. We we say, we're gonna scare them with the number. We don't wanna like show everything up front. And we'll just find a financial solution for this first phase. Sometimes you tap them out and they never come back for the rest. So again, if we put our advocate hat on and we go with the intent, like purely in our heart. Our intent is to get you healthy and well. If you start at the hole, you can always go backward, but it's really hard to start with one tooth or one procedure and then go up comprehensively. I'll never forget, Kiera, the day I had a elderly lady come up and tell me about her fixed budget. I'm sure we've all heard those, right? And she had to have four Kiera (19:07) Yes. DAT- Kristy (19:09) crowns, one in every quadrant. And I was like, boy, how am I gonna fit this in $200 a month? And you know, in the long run, I would have been better to find a solution to fix all four than to just start with the broken one. Because literally one month later, after we found the solution for the one, all I was doing was eating bread. Kristy and I was like, gosh, what am I gonna do? It's gonna be another payment, Kiera (19:31) Mm. DAT- Kristy (19:34) you know? So I also challenge people start at the hole and work backward. Cause again As a advocate, our job is to help them get healthy. And if we can do it quicker, why would we not? You know, then Kiera (19:49) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (19:49) then we've achieved and I always like to use a litmus test. What's best for the practice, best for the patient? If you can answer Kiera (19:55) Mm-hmm. I agree. DAT- Kristy (19:56) yes to that, we've done well. Kiera (19:58) Mm-hmm. And I think people often get a little funny on that. And they think, like, if it's best for the practice, then it's not best for the patient. And I'm like, no, there is a world where it's both. It's an and, not an or. It's best for both of us. It's best for each other. And I just I agree with you, Kristy. I throw this out of I do believe it's our moral obligation to tell patients really what's going on, not what we think DAT- Kristy (20:20) Mm-hmm. Kiera (20:20) they want to hear. Like I would be so angry, and I am still angry. Do you know how many hygienists never offered me fluoride? Like I'm still angry about it to this day because I'm like, that's the most proactive preventative thing that I can ever do for my mouth. And you chose because you didn't think I'd want it or you was afraid to talk money to me, that you never offered it to me. Like, how many other times do we just not offer to people that we don't tell them what's really going on? Like you said, give them the comprehensive plan. Now, with that said, dentists, when you're doing a comprehensive plan, please don't Don't talk so many words that they get lost. And there's there's an art of being comprehensive and using it in patient jargon that they can understand. So being very clear of perfect, here's everything going on. Your next visit's going to be this. This is when I want to see you back. Like this is the whole plan for treatment coordinators. Here's the whole plan. We're going to start with phase one. We're going to schedule out phase one, phase two, phase three, phase four. Like, let's make it very simple for them. Please don't get into the like. All right, we're gonna do like seven crowns and it's gonna take 17 hours. Like they they don't need to know all that. They just need to know like where do we start? What's what does what does complete look like? also when they know about what the total is going to be, but also that we're able to break it down if they need to. Like, let's break it down. We're we're gonna do this in chunks. I do the same thing with implants, like our implants are 25, 70 grand. Like we have an office that does 150,000 per like full mouth, so it's 75,000 per arch. some of you might be listening, like, my gosh, like, yes, guys, this is real. Like they really can do this. And they really do. And they have several patients that say yes to them. Again, I think it's your value. I think it's your confidence. I want people to realize they're buying your confidence. So you being confident in your treatment planning where you're doing it out of moral obligation and what's ultimately best for the patient. Patients trust, they believe, and they know you're genuine. That's how this doctor's able to charge 75 grand per arch for doing it. He's a phenomenal dentist. Like I would trust him too. I'd pay for him over several others that are much cheaper than him. People, there are some that want to go for the cheapest. but I think that most people, when they look at their mouths, they recognize that it is an investment. They recognize that it is a and I think if you can present it that way and you can show them that this is long term preventative for you and it's long term care for you. I think people are able to see that. It's much better than even like your couch analogy. Couches like wear out. And you have to replace them. Your teeth do DAT- Kristy (22:42) Sure. Kiera (22:43) wear out, but they have a lot longer lifespan on them than others. So, Kristy, I think it's a brilliant way to talk about comprehensive as well. DAT- Kristy (22:50) thank you. And you know, true truly, Kiera, it it is an investment in their health. And I hope that and I challenge people to even speak that way, you know, use use power words instead of out of pocket. And I always share with my teams, like I literally see a guy with his pocket hanging out. Like Kiera (23:07) Right. DAT- Kristy (23:08) you're sending a negative connotation. Say, you know, and and the total is this. Kiera (23:14) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (23:15) It's an investment into your health, you know. Kiera (23:17) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (23:18) And I'm here to find a solution with you. So I I love it. It it definitely is a passion. And like I said, when you can meet the patient where they are, find what they want and tie it back, it's always a win. I was gonna share with you when you were talking earlier, you and people don't forget about the cosmetic things, just like the fluoride. I'm with you, Kiera. I don't have a problem with decay, but if they don't offer me, I'm not coming back because I feel like you haven't really treated me, you know. But I was Kiera (23:46) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (23:47) gonna share. My mother-in-law, she was playing cards and she had always come to the office that I worked at. And and one day she left and came back for the hygienist because she loved the hygienist. And doctor comes in my office like, and I'm like, What? You never offered, you never asked her. She had this bright, sparkly front bridge, and nobody ever stopped, even when they got her healthy, to say, Hey, what you're doing at home's great. Now's the time to ask. Is there anything you'd like to change about the shape, size, and color for your teeth? So going back to what you said, it's our job to share the possibilities. And again, it takes the pressure off of us because the patient's always in the driver's seat. They get to say Kiera (24:30) Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (24:30) yes or no. And it's okay. Kiera (24:32) Mm-hmm. Kristy, I love that. I love that it's why are we not sharing more? I think people are so afraid that you're going to overwhelm. And I'm like, whatever you think is what people will feel. So if you think you're DAT- Kristy (24:43) Mm-hmm. Kiera (24:44) going to overwhelm them, you're going to overwhelm them. If you think you're pushing on them, you're going to. There is another pair of sunglasses, aka filter, if you want to. Like Kristy said, like, give them the options. Do you know how many people I wish would just fix my lateral for me? Like now, all of you are going to look at it. Don't worry. I'm taking contributions. You want to like. Fix my ortho for me. I will happily be your patient. No one talks to me about it. Cause they assume Kiera's teeth are beautiful. She works in dentistry. I do love my teeth, but I would love to just do a slight correction on that, but no one asks. And so again, like talking to them about possibilities, just letting them know like patients in the driver's seat, they don't have to, but if they never know what it is, right? To me, it's almost like dreams and goals and and big ideas. The reason we achieve things is because we've seen them from someone else. We've seen that someone has the house or the car or the life or the kids or the nanny or the healthy fitness or the whatever it is. We've all seen somebody that has it and therefore we want to achieve it. If we don't even know it exists and we don't know it's a possibility, guess what? They'll be talking to their friends and then they come back and they're like, Dr. Johns did my like whole mouth. And you're like, Well, we do that too. You didn't choose to share. So when it comes to finances, when it comes to talking these things, I think my whole overarching thing is like, Let's put on the filters and assume the best. Let's share with people. Kristy, it was absolutely a fantastic podcast. There were so many nuggets in here. Kristy, you're so easy for me to podcast with because you and I just have so much passion for it. So we just rally. But Kristy, I just want to say thank you for sharing your perspectives. And I hope everybody picks up one or two nuggets, one or two perspectives, one or two beliefs, and you implement today. You can sit here all day long. You might have heard this before, but you can pick up one of these tools, try it out today, try it on for size, like get a little uncomfortable in the in the new realm. And try it out because I promise you, those patients need you, they're coming to you, they trust you, and you have a moral obligation to help and serve them. Kristy, any last thoughts as we wrap up today? DAT- Kristy (26:35) No, the only thing I say is please share your wins. We want to hear your stories. Kiera (26:39) Absolutely. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com if you need help getting your team on board. Kristy's a freaking dynamite, amazing at doing this. Our consulting team is absolutely incredible. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. As always, thank you, Kristy. Thank you all. Thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
#1197
September 2 · 18 min
#1,197: The CEO Dentist Playbook: Lead a Practice That Can Grow Without You
Being a CEO dentist doesn't have to mean fewer patients. It means leading your business as intentionally as you are clinically. Kiera gives specific tips on how you, as a dental practice owner, can shift your mindset so you're operating like a CEO and your practice is humming. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we're just gonna kind of like jump right into it. I hope it's an amazing day over there. And I hope, as you're listening, today this is going out to our dentist owners. and I think that a lot of dentists actually own a practice, but very few of them actually run it like a CEO. Is that fair? Would you agree? Would you not? what do you think? What do you think about that? Do you feel like that is And the way you'll know if you're running it like a CEO or if you're just being owned by it is do you feel trapped in your business or do you feel in control of your business? And I think I want to just kick this off because there are times, and I will tell you, once you hit one or the other, that's not forever. That state is not a forever state. So just because you might be there today doesn't mean you'll forever be there. So if you're trapped, great news, you won't always be there. If you're if you're feeling in control, great, you're not always going to be there either. But The goal is like being a CEO dentist doesn't mean that you're actually having to see fewer patients. It's about leading your business as intentionally as you are clinically. And being the leader of that, being the person who actually is setting the tone and being a CEO. And I think when I started my business, I didn't know what a CEO was. I did not know the difference between like owning a business and managing a business. Like I just thought you worked in it. but I think when I started looking at if I left tomorrow for two months, excluding your dentistry. Could my team function? Could my practice continue to grow? Do I have systems? Do I have processes? Do I have things in place to where I could do that? If the answer is no, then great, you're still managing your practice. If it is yes, then great, you're sipping into that CEO role. Does your team have the playbooks? Do they have that? And so today I just kind of want to dig into like a CEO Dentist playbook of like, how can you lead a practice that grows without you? I will say this is tricky. Like you still need to be the CEO, you still need to have a vision, but I think it's a lot of pieces will be on mindset shifts that we're able to have. what you can possibly do differently. And then like what are some habits that you can do to grow to have growth, profitability, and freedom. Now again, this is if you want to. You don't I also think some people get into this weird black and white. Like if it's this, it's that, or if I don't do this or I do do that. I hate when I say do do. Guys, you just heard it come through. but I hate when you don't have to have it just be black and white. All right. You don't have to have it where it's all or nothing. There can be an and You can be a great clinician and be a CEO. You can be a CEO and you can still be in your practice. You can step out of your practice. We just want to make sure that you are not just being a clinician. And if you want to, that's fine. But just make sure we have a CEO of your business. So know thyself and be free, I think is where it is. and if you want to look and think and lead like a CEO, these might be some great tips for you of some mindset shifts and what we what we should go through to help. The CEO Dentist focus on where your focus should be, what things you can prioritize. So even if today it feels impossible, at least you have a roadmap of how to get there. So number one, as a CEO, you own the vision, not every task. And I think that's a bold statement. Own the vision, not every task. Your job is not to do everything, your job is to create the direction. And this feels weird to me. This especially like dental assistant turned CEO. That's a weird shift. So you better believe I was the girl who did everything. My job is to look 10 steps ahead of my doctor. I'm supposed to be on point. I'm supposed to be doing these pieces. To have now an assistant who I'm like, hey, I need you looking 10 steps ahead of me. Where am I at? Like what things are coming down the line? That's weird. It's a weird shift for me. and but just helping you see like your job as a CEO is to own the vision. And most of the time you walk out of meetings without tasks. Now, if you are having tasks, that's okay, but make sure that they're truly CEO tasks that only you can do. And usually they tie to vision. Profit culture. That's pretty much, and sometimes it will be like leading edge of a new initiative. So if you're wanting to build out a surgery center in your business, you're probably gonna be doing that right alongside with it, with your with your office manager. So what it looks like when it's broken and you are not owning the vision, and every task is coming to you is team constantly asks you what to do. You priorities are changing weekly, doctors making every decision or a lot of the decisions, like what toys are we buying for the toy box? when should we schedule lunch? When should we have this person in? That means like you're still doing a lot of this, you're still managing your business, you're not leading and guiding it. So, like what a CEO dentist would do is you set a clear vision. This is where we're headed, this is where we're going. You have the priorities, this is what's happening in the next three months, and then you communicate what success looks like. So you see how there's a shift. The daily tasks are still getting done. You can still oversee them. You still have a manager who you meet with. But you're not the one doing this. You're not stamping off on that. And I will tell you, it's a really awkward, it's really weird, but it's very freeing. And ultimately what it does is it also like we're doing a mastermind talking about Dan Martell's buy back your time. And that one we've got to just make sure we figure it out. And we like when you buy back your time, I look at my tasks and I think if I can have anybody do this task for less than four X what my hourly rate is, I need to do it. And I need to push myself into my own comfort zone. And I need to be working on things that I can't also like right now. The projects I'm working on, like I can I can do my own confirmation calls, I could book my own travel, like I could stamp off on where team members are going and PTO and like lots of people can do that. What people can't do in our company is figure out where the next level of Dental A Team is going. And I that's my job. That's what I'm paid to do. That is literally Kiera's job. I still podcast with you guys, I still hang out, like. Other people can podcast, these are things that I really enjoy. But I've simplified it down. I only block this much time in my calendar. So I have much more of my time that's dedicated to building our company. No one else is doing that. I'm literally the only person that does it. So for you to go from solving daily problems to leading the quarterly planning, leading team priorities, having the team become proactive and less dependent on you. So that would be what success looks like. So that's building a leadership team. We love to do this. We help build leadership teams. We help you to run your quarterly meetings and Set up those rocks and teach the team how they're able to drive and influence rather than being dependent on the doctor. You're still there. You still get to help them. You still get to influence them. You still get to mentor them. Those pieces are going to be great for you. So what happens here is teams actually need you to be the lighthouse. And my team told me this. They said, Kiera, I know you want to be in the weeds with us, but we actually need you to be the lighthouse of like where the heck are we going? Because none of us can see that. And without your guidance and your direction, we're all going to be lost. And like I like shirk over here. To me, that sometimes doesn't feel as good because I can't check a check mark. And I know that sounds so ridiculous. And I think that sometimes this is why people do sit in the day-to-day manager rather than into the visionary CEO seat because the day-to-day tasks feel good. Having the like I'm just gonna call myself out. This is speaking to Kiera. I'm having an intervention with myself over here. This is where I am wanting to be important. me stamping off on things makes me feel like I have control. Me telling a team what to do, there's so many people that report to me. That's a freaking ego. My team does not need that. Do you know how many great leaders and managers I have in my team? They do not need me. I do not need to be stamping off on everything. Now, do we have a maturing team right now? Absolutely. Do we have a lot of like I feel like we shook the snow globe based on where we're headed? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean it's a forever seat for me. It's a temporary, it's an interim, and I know that they know that. So it's sitting there just in the interim. and so what I would do for this is help your team feel empowered, where we can we move you to what are the three goals for the practice? What are the quarterly plans? Who's responsible, not the dentist? And then questions that come to a doctor. I want you to truly start asking, like, is this something only I can do? And if so, solve it. And if not, start delegating and having empowering your team to do it. This will help you. This is going to have it. So That's CEO shift number one. Number two, I would say know your numbers that drive your business. and this I've talked about, I've harped on, there's so many podcasts on this. I just want you to know your performance. So you've got to look at your numbers before things feel wrong. You need to know numbers beyond production, and you need to make decisions on those numbers always. You gotta be looking at your KPI scorecard, your overhead, your PL. And every single month minimum, you are looking at like be the CFO. Like, A CEO works with a CFO, and until you're large enough, you need to know these numbers forward and backwards. Your office manager should be preparing them, you should be looking at them, but you have got to know the numbers of your business. I'm not saying you need to be the one who preps all the reports, but you have to know what's going on. So that way you're able to see, are we making money? Are we not making money? And I think so many dentists get into this hustle and bustle of like, I'm just gonna go produce, produce, produce. And I'm like, Do you realize that if you just spent a little bit of that production time on looking at your numbers, you would actually be able to know. rather than guess. You would be able to work less and create more. And so I just really think for you to start shifting. So number one is you got to set the vision and the culture and you got to have your team do it. You set the priorities, you define that where we're going and you communicate what success looks like. You're not solving every decision. Next step is you're using your numbers to make every single decision and you're having a monthly meeting on numbers. Money monthly meeting there you go money monthly meeting and you know what it is. You know your numbers today, forward and backward. You know what your overhead is. You know where we're spending more, you know where we're spending less. You know what your profit margins are, and you know what you need to produce to cover all your expenses, including paying yourself. You need to review that every single month at a minimum. Set it up with your CPA, force yourself. Like that's what I do. I have a meeting with my CPA. I don't really need to talk to them, but that's Kiera's time where it forces me to look at the numbers, to review where I'm at, to make sure that I'm making decisions based on that. And then the third thing is going from an operator to an owner. Is you've got to have leaders and systems so there's less dependency on you. so if we lucked again, I think about myself like if I were to leave, what things are gonna break in two months? That's where we start with those systems and that scalability. and what am I going to put into play? What am I going to do? What is going to happen? Like, where is this going to get resolved? And we start having those systems and those people built into those leadership spots. So I really want to make sure that you guys have that of this is where it's the systems, the structure and the scalability. And I think the Dental A Team does such a good job of this. Like we know the systems to put into place for you. Like they're very basic, they're very minimal. Most things can get resolved. We have decision trees that are in there. We help your leaders look at the numbers so they know how to make the decisions too while you're gone. And this way it continues to grow and there's no more dependency upon you. You can truly step away. So If you have this, I think that oftentimes doctors and office managers are firefighters and it's like, my gosh, care, I'm so exhausted and everything's coming to me. And it's like, okay, great, we're gonna make a list of everything coming to you. We're gonna chunk those into like what categories do they fit into. Then from there, we're gonna figure out who should be the owner of this, what protocols need to go into place, and what systems could reduce this. That way, when you go, then what we typically do is we recommend that you do actually schedule like a two-week, like start there. vacation where you're going to be gone and the practice is still going to operate. And we want to just see what breaks. We're going to do the same thing for our office manager because we want to be able to make sure that this practice can truly start to function without you. Now, again, I get to a spot and I'm like, I'm on this path and I want to be the CEO of it, and I don't want to be there every day where I have to be there. And then I actually like achieve it. And I'm like, my gosh, who is Kiera? What is it like? What is my life if this doesn't happen? And what's What's my own like what's my purpose? And I think this is where a lot of people get trapped in the cycle of your purpose is not to be doing tasks. Your purpose, like they still need you to set the vision. It's not something I can ever stamp off and say, I've done this, this, and this. I can't stamp a check mark on a vision. I can't step a check mark on a culture. Those things are almost like these soft skills, like they're they're soft. Like I can say I have a vision, I can say I have a mission statement. I can say we have a great culture. I do check, check, check. But ultimately they're intangibles. They're things that people feel. They're things that people experience. And honestly, when I get to a point where I'm like, wow, the business can run without me. Sometimes I go in and I create chaos because I want to be needed. And I want to just caution you that as you're going to this, whiplashing a team can actually be so detrimental to them. Sending them on, like, I want to be here. But then you come in and you undercut everybody. This is me talking to myself. I'm sure none of you do this. So sorry, Dental A Team. I do it. And it's I have to recognize that that's ego. That's not serving anybody, including myself. It's not serving my team. So if I have great leaders, which I do, I've got an amazing leadership team. But if I constantly go in and I'm answering questions in Slack and I'll calm myself out on this of like, that was wrong. That's not my place to overstep. And I need to connect in with the leader. you can have the best of intentions, but if you're not willing to let leaders grow, you're not willing to truly want to be the CEO, don't Preach it unless you actually are going to execute on it. You can have sluts like small setbacks, but you need to own it. You need to call yourself out and you need to move forward and your team needs to be able to trust you and have confidence with you. These are pieces that are non-negotiable for me. You have to check yourself and recognize that there's an ego that's chirping in the background, that's chirping. It's loud, it's annoying. It wants you to do all these things, but that doesn't mean that that's right. It doesn't mean that you should do that. It means that you have a chirpy ego that needs to zip it and you need to be the CEO. You need to trust your leaders. 80% of them doing it is better than 100% of you doing it. So when you look at this for this, what are kind of the steps of you owning the vision, not every single task, you knowing the numbers of your business and making decisions based on that? And then making sure you're truly building leaders and systems that reduce dependency on you and you truly are stepping into that CEO seat, you're trusting and empowering your leaders to do it. They can do it. Develop the leaders, create accountability and build systems for consistency. And if you struggle there, Reach out. That's what we're good at. We do this. We help you build the fundamentals for you. Get the vision in place. Teach you what your job description is. Call you out when you're stepping in your lane that you're not supposed to be in and say, get over there. They've got this. They can handle it. Teach your leaders how to run effective meetings, how to hold accountability lines. This is what it is. Your goal is not to be the busiest person in the practice. Your goal is to be the leader that helps your practice thrive and truly helps them and gets out of their freaking way. I'm thinking about a doctor right now, and this doctor says they want to be the CEO. They say they're not growing. They're at the office all the time. And I'm like, you've got a leadership team, but you get in their way. You want the chaos. You don't get out of there. You live in this chaos day in, day out. That's your emotional home, and you go there because it's comfortable for you. You have to start doing things differently if you want a different life. So this is a call out to all of you. If you really want to be the CEO of your practice, you've got to own that step out and get out of their way and get your chirpy ego to zip their lips. You've got to change how you lead. You've got to change how you're working. You've got to change the priorities you're doing. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. I've surely sat in bed a few times and cried and been like, my team doesn't even need me. And then I like wipe my tears and I get up and I'm like, you will never say that again and you're going to move forward because they do need you. They just don't need you to do every task for them. I'm not an operator. I'm an owner of this business. My job is to lead. To guide, to mentor, and to be the one who is sharp and to create the space, to give me the space to dream, to figure out the next layer, to read the books, to move into the next evolution of growth. That's my job. No one else is doing that. And that's your job as well. So if you feel like your practice can't function without you, maybe it's time to step into the CEO role and like let's be more intentional and let's get them to be able to function without you. Next level of growth is gonna come from changing how you lead, not how hard you work. So. If you're ready to change, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Come to webinars or whatever it is, but make the change now. Commit to that. And your CEO role can look very different. But ultimately, the goal is to not be the busiest person, but to be the person who guides, leads, and gets out of their way and empowers your team to do this without you. Set the vacation, set the deadline, and let's make it happen. This is what we do. We help you guys. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Commit to being the CEO of your practice. You can do it. I know you can. I've been able to evolve. It's an evolution. This is why we have our mastermind in person. So doctors can talk to each other. They can share their woes. We can talk as CEOs together. We can talk about the things we're doing. We can call each other out because we see it in each other. Come be a part of that. Don't do this alone. It's really hard to do on your own. Come be a part of it. I'd love to have you be a part of it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1195
September 1 · 27 min
#1,196: Automate the Busywork and Get Your Time Back
Tiff and Pam talk about the current intersection of technology in the practice, and how using and understanding AI as a tool for busywork means you can focus on the tasks that really need that human touch. They talk about why training AI could be just as critical as training humans, where to look first when incorporating the software into your practice, how a staff member can serve as quality check for automated tasks, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Tiff back with you here on the podcast. And we are in the studio today. I have myself and I have Miss Pam with me. And Pam is one of our prize possession consultants here at the Dental A Team. We have had Pam on our team for a little while now. And if you are special enough and blessed enough to work with her, you know exactly who she is and you have some solid foundational systems. Pam is a systems guru. She busts them out. And she holds accountability like I've never seen before. And when she learns something, she learns it forever. And I love getting to watch you, Pam, progress in your Dental A Team journey. I watch you like taking notes all the time on the systems that we, you know, hold tried and true. Yesterday Dana was talking about a couple of systems during our collaboration and I was like, gosh. She's just over there feverishly writing and I love it because I know exactly what's gonna happen. You're gonna like go back, you're gonna relearn Pamela (00:54) I was. Yes, I was. Tiffanie (00:58) it, and you're gonna teach it. And it was just really cool. So I love that, Pam. Thank you. And I love that you have these skill sets that you're able to then take and you help so many practices implement the same skill sets, like not just our systems, but how to retain it. You know how you retain it. But then you're also looking for how are other people retaining the things that they're learning so that you can help them grow in their learning as well. So it's just really cool to watch, Pam. Thank you for everything you do and thank Pamela (01:27) Thank you. Tiffanie (01:28) you for being here today. How are you? Pamela (01:31) you know, I'm doing fabulous and thank you. I appreciate all those kind words, Tiff. That was very nice. I think it's a unique and great time to be in dentistry. So v we've seen a lot of changes over the years and now we're to a stage that is changing very, very quickly. Tiffanie (01:50) I agree. I I love that you said that, Pam, because something that I think we've said in dentistry for a long time is that dentistry is really progressive in a lot of ways. I think there's a lot of things in dentistry that haven't changed and haven't progressed, like Rick canals, things like that are still being done similarly to how they were thirty years ago. But so much in dentistry is so progressive and it's changing all the time. But I I think we've always said that. But I think in the last five, six years that has Like us saying that before doesn't even make sense anymore. Like the progression we're seeing now is wild. Pamela (02:26) It's it's crazy. you know, I was thinking about this, and there are so many systems that we have done for years that we're not perfecting, right? That we still could perfect and are in addition to any AI stuff we have. But the interesting thing is is that now something that has been in scarcity our entire human existence or now or soon will become like an abundant commodity, which is intelligence, right? Tiffanie (02:53) Yeah. Yeah. Pamela (02:55) So I think that it's really wild to be thinking about that intelligence is a commodity and we can buy it. Tiffanie (03:03) Yeah, I think that's amazing. That was a great perspective. And you are not wrong. I listen to a lot of Pamela (03:07) Yeah. Tiffanie (03:09) podcasts and I know you do too that speak to that same thing. And I think both of our households house many conversations around that same thing. I think we we share that. Pamela (03:18) That is so true. It's so true. Tiffanie (03:22) Yeah. So with that, Pam, I think that's a great start. What are you seeing? expand on that for me. Like what are you seeing as far as I love that like intelligence is is a purchasable at this point. What are you seeing with your practices or just the research you're doing and the things you're hearing and and listening to within the dental world, narrow that down for us. What are you seeing from your perspective how that's changing dentistry? Pamela (03:48) Yeah, well I I think the the question is is how do we react to that reality, right? And a lot of practices are have not gotten into the AI and are now saying, okay, I want my insurance verification done, I want, you know, RCM done, the revenue cycle management done by AI, but it is a little daunting. Right? It is like I had one practice say yo well we have this company that's doing our RCM and and I said do you are you like what are you doing with it and they said nothing they do it and I'm like dear goodness gracious like there are you have to manage it unfortunately I think we're at a real a space where we're not the Ironman like Jarvis runs everything Tiffanie (04:43) Yeah. Pamela (04:43) you know stage we're at the Alexis and we have a lot of really smart AI tools. Most of them, I'm well, they're all sitting on top of separate systems and what we are contributing. I don't think we're pardon me quite to the point where it's an operating system as opposed to, you know, pieces. So I'm seeing practices now take those pieces, try to learn them, and then develop their skills even more in the stuff that they were doing. So what I mean by that is how are we, how are they actually doing at clean claims, right? Are they Tiffanie (05:23) Yeah. Pamela (05:24) getting the clean the claims clean before they send them in? how are they doing on you know managing the online scheduling? Are they reacting to that? And is all the patient's insurance information accurate before it goes to the AI? So that's that's what I'm seeing. That's a s a little bit of a struggle. Tiffanie (05:47) Yeah. I think something you pointed out there was that a lot of people a lot of people seem to be jumping headfirst and just like handing the keys over rather than allowing it to be a tool that they use still with oversight. And I noticed recently, even just on my chat GPT that I use down at the bottom, it's like, Hey FYI, these may be inaccurate. Like this is not to be taken as truth. Yeah. And I'm like, well Pamela (06:11) Yes, I j I saw that, yeah. So true. Tiffanie (06:16) We need that reminder though, kind of like the McDonald's coffee cup that now has, you know, since nineteen ninety or whatever it was, says that the contents are hot. Like humanity needs those reminders 'cause I think we're so it's like a it's a catch to me too, 'cause I do think we're so quick to jump onto things and try them. But Pamela (06:34) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (06:34) at the same time we're like second guessing and thinking we can't and thinking they don't work, but we do latch on to certain things where we're just like, wait, that was expected. I expected to be able to drink my coffee as soon as you handed it to me. You know, that it wasn't gonna be scalding hot, that I could just just go. And same with the AI. I think there's so many aspects of it that we just expected all of the truth to be on the internet somewhere. We've been primed that the truth is on the internet and we just expected it to be true that now chat is like, hey, wait a second, like, hey, I'm just like your buddy who did the research online, the same as your friend next door. Like this Pamela (07:09) Right. Tiffanie (07:13) could be wrong. And I think it's an interesting thought because to your point of view, handing over your cycle management, your your revenue and all of that data, handing that over to AI and expecting it to just be perfect from here on out with no mistakes is wild. Right, but we're doing it. So many of us are doing it. Similarly to the online scheduling. I know we have a lot of practices and we have some doctors that have spoken for us at our events. we had one last September that our doctor focused on AI, and she pointed out the facts of needing to train their AI the same as they're training a human. Like you get a Pamela (07:51) Yeah, yes. Yes. Tiffanie (07:54) result and you're like, you got that result, you're fired, you're done, we give up. You say, actually, Let's tweak it to be what we want it to be. So we're saying yes and okay, cool. And let's do it this way. Let's move it this direction. with that statement, you also said insurance verifications, making sure they're accurate. And it made me think too, we've always said, you know, good information in is good information out, bad information in is bad information out. And I think That's the same with any of it, with any of the AI tools or any of it, right? The it can only scour the internet for so much information and find so much truth. With the good information in, that goes as far as everything. So whatever it is that we're asking and training these systems and these tools to produce is what we're going to get. So we're not spending the time with the AI and we're not spending the time saying, This is the result that I want, this is how I want you to get there. we're doing a disservice to ourselves just the same as so many people we were just talking about this. So many people are still misusing or underutilizing tools that we've had for gosh, at this point I always say 30 years, but at this point I think it's going on like 40 years, right? Like we've had these tools for Pamela (09:12) Exactly, yeah. Tiffanie (09:14) a long time. We're still Pamela (09:16) Yeah. Tiffanie (09:16) misusing them because I know both of us have walked into offices where they're like changing the prices in the treatment plan. And they're doing all this math and there's a calculator. I still have offices that have the calculators that have the tape, and I'm like, where are you even where do you buy the tape anymore? Right. But they do, they have this running tab. And I'm like, what are you doing? And they say, Well, it's never right. We always have a balance. And I'm like, Okay, this is like a band-aid fix, right? So no matter what technology you have, there's so much tech that saves us so much time. And that's the point of this conversation is what kind of tech is out there that can save our team Pamela (09:52) Mm. Tiffanie (09:53) time. And a lot of that time is for the administrative team, gives them the the chance to do other things, right? So automating things gets rid of busy work, allows them to do other things. But if we're not utilizing the tool correctly from the get-go, it's not saving the time because we're going back and fixing it anyway. So maybe we're saving time on we have an online scheduling app and it works. So our team maybe doesn't have to answer as many new patient calls. But then that same person is over here calculating by hand a treatment plan estimate. It's like, cool, well, we just like took nonsensical Pamela (10:28) Yeah. Tiffanie (10:29) time and put it into a nonsensical time suck again. So, Pam, how Pamela (10:33) Yeah. Yeah. Tiffanie (10:35) are you helping the chain offices to really utilize the tools to actually save the time? And when they're not, so like that situation, how do we how do we get to the bottom of it? Because for me, When I see somebody calculating treatment plan estimates because they always have a bill at the end, I'm like, cool, that's like a band-aid over this massive gash on your arm and it stopped the bleeding Pamela (10:59) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (11:00) in that one spot, but it's not fixed. Like you still need stitches. How do we get to the bottom of it? And how do you help practices really figure out what truly is going to save them time and how they can get there? Pamela (11:14) Yeah, I think it goes back to basics. Before we layer on that AI piece of it, we have to have those basics in place. And you're right, there are a lot of practices and you know that are struggling with that. They're still doing things by hand. So, you know, have going back to the basics and having that correct verbiage, I think, is super important. to with the patient of knowing that. There may be, it is an estimation, and there may be a difference when once your insurance pays. And you can offer to the patient, you know, if you would like to call, I don't like doing predeterminations, pre-D, I'm kind of against them. A lot of people still do them for larger treatment. I understand that. but for if you are to, you know, tell a patient, look, if if it's a credit. we will get that credit right back to you within the month, right? have Tiffanie (12:12) Mm-hmm. Pamela (12:13) some sort of verbiage that gives you a little bit of out, but also be confident when you're prevent presenting those numbers if you've done the homework. So I think that's where it goes is back to the basics, making sure the basics are correct before you, you know, are giving that treatment plan to the patient. And then your verbiage is super important. And trusting it. Tiffanie (12:36) Yeah, I totally agree. And trusting it exactly. Being able to trust the system is huge. So making sure I think you're you're like spot on back to the basics, right? So making sure your verbiage is in line and making sure that the information that we're putting into the computer system is as accurate as possible. And you can use AI tools for that too, right? So we have Pamela (12:55) Right. Right. Tiffanie (12:56) AI tools this day and age that do insurance verifications and they upload it into the system. They do all of the pieces. But then again, back to what we said earlier and how you said like this practice is like, we don't even look at it, right? Same thing. Like if you're if you're paying for an AI bot to go scour, get the information, put it into your system, and then you're turning around and you're like, well, it's always wrong, right? I I always have a balance or a credit. And so I calculate it just to double check, like, okay, maybe we need to look to see. Further back, where is that miscalculation coming from? Because the insurance data in the system, the patient's data in the system, the right fee schedules, all of those pieces are feeding the tech and the intelligence, the information that it's spouting out to you. So it can only do so much. So if you've Pamela (13:47) Right. Tiffanie (13:48) got, you know, you didn't mark the you didn't you didn't tell the bot that you needed to mark that there was a downgrade. So you're you're having crowns come back and there's two hundred dollar balance because it was downgraded, right? Well, stop hand calculating that and tell the bot to do it differently. Tell the system to do it differently. Whatever your system Pamela (14:06) That's right. That's right. Tiffanie (14:08) is, there's a little button somewhere that you you click it and it says downgrades, right? Account for downgrades, etc. So utilizing those tools from the ground zero, I think is just massive and it's something that's been severely underutilized for a really long time. that needs to be right first. Because then if we go in and we layer these AI bots on top of that, that data is what they're working with. Just like Dentrix can only give you a treatment plan based on the information that you put in there. You put the fee schedule, you put the percentages, you put the treatment plan. You did all the buttons, you clicked and you put the treatment plan. It spouts out these numbers based on the information you put in it. The bot's going to do the same thing. So I think that's our soapbox bot. Pamela (14:55) yeah. Tiffanie (14:55) situation there, like we go on forever. Go for it. Pamela (14:59) Yeah, no, I I agree and a lot. a lot of practices are struggling with this and they're because they're getting this AI and saying, Hey, it's not worth it. Like I'm still having to call the insurance company, I'm still having to, you know, calculate by hand, right? And I think it it does go back, like we said, to the basics and really digging down on that. And I mean continue to use AI, but like you said. it's so interesting. You have to teach it, right? And you may not be able to look to say, this is the exact to the penny downgrade amount, but once you have taught it, you do need to trust it. Yeah. Yeah. Tiffanie (15:40) Yeah, I agree. I love it. Okay, what kind of tools? I've I've got a few, you know, that I'm I've been seeing the online scheduling, I think, is finally making it headway. It's been a tool that we've had for a really long time, but we've Pamela (15:55) Yes. Tiffanie (15:55) all been very afraid of it for good reasons. That's fine. But what are some other tools that you're seeing them implement? So AI bots, like what are what are your practices using them for that people could start looking at? Make sure their foundations are correct. Start looking into how could we automate some busy work to give my team back time? What are you seeing out there in in dentistry right now, Pam? Pamela (16:17) Yeah. definitely the RCM, the revenue cycle management. I think that AI does a really great job with that. But the thing I I spoke about earlier is I the and getting to the root of the problem, if you don't want to have to manage it more, then you have to make sure your claims are clean. And what does that mean? And that's going back to basics, truly, as well. Like, are we taking all the photos? Are we taking you know, all the blood points when probing. Are we doing are we doing everything we can do to make sure that they have as much information as they have. So I think RCM is kind of the number one I'm seeing. insurance verification, where a lot of practices are moving there. I think there's still a little struggle with that because we don't get the patient information a as quickly. And you know, I think most of the most of them say put it in two days before. Tiffanie (17:15) Yeah. Pamela (17:16) Patient communication, so even filling the schedule, right? texting people to say on an ASAP list, you know, those kind of things are being utilized very well. schedule optimum schedule optimization as well. So I think there are programs out there that help you say fill that schedule and say, here's the patients that would work in this hole, right? So I think it's We have to accept that AI is here, right? so I think very, very to your point is yes, training it, but also yes, we do have to learn it. And it it will be it's one of those things. We're kind of lifelong learners, people in dentistry, because we always have new things coming. And so we have to look at it like this. This is just a a piece to learn, and the more we can learn about it, the better. that we are gonna get. We can't just be afraid of it. I say dig right in, figure that, you know, whatever you're using, figure it out. Call the company, ask questions, ask the right questions, you know, what what how do I get my insurance verification better? You know, and let them help you and tell you because they know everyone doesn't know. And if you just like one and done, I'm leaving it alone, you're probably not gonna have as good of experience as you could have with it. Yeah. And so I think doctors Tiffanie (18:43) Yeah. Yeah, I love those. Pamela (18:45) need to be a little bit aware aware. It takes time to learn. It's not just plug Tiffanie (18:50) Yeah. Pamela (18:50) and play. Tiffanie (18:51) Yeah. And to piggyback off that, it sounds like making sure we still have KPIs in place, there's still somebody overseeing results, that somebody's still verifying that that employee, right, is doing the job right is key because if we're if we do have an AI bot that's helping with revenue cycle management, and then we're not looking at AR numbers, we're not seeing, you know, our over ninety. decrease or or is it increasing like we're not watching those KPI points. That's how it gets lost. Just the same as somebody with a great resume comes in and says, hey, I'm gonna clean up your AR for you. Pay me X amount of dollars and we stick them in a corner and never look at it. Right? It's the same thing. So making sure those KPIs are in place. I think there's a ton of AI style tools that have come out for front office administrative work, which makes sense. You know, that's that's where AI is in the administrative world right now as the recording of this podcast at least but something that I see a lot of practices using too and I think you have a few that are using them the like Pearl and Overjet AI systems for that second opinion at least I know a lot of doctors are liking that second opinion which has helped it's not I I think of it as busy work now but that like co-diagnosing space and really just that confidence in what I'm diagnosing seems to come across a lot more from the doctors and those tools have been super beneficial as well. So I think there's starting to be this massive shift in the AI tech kind of industry where there is going to be more coming out for the the back office as well. And I think Pam, a lot of insurances are actually using systems like Pearl and Overjet, those AI tools to read x-rays and process claims a lot faster too. Which to your point then they gotta be super clean. You're okay. Pamela (20:45) Well, yeah, and and sorry, I totally did not mean to interrupt you, but that that brings up something that I've thought about and I've heard from practices, a lot of claims are being denied, right? Tiffanie (20:58) Yeah. Pamela (20:58) More. I think it's up like by twenty percent over the last few Tiffanie (21:01) I agree. Pamela (21:01) years. And that's probably because they are using AI to read the x rays, and Tiffanie (21:09) Yeah. Pamela (21:09) there is no way the human eye can be as good as an the AI assistance, you know, the tech Tiffanie (21:19) Yeah. Yeah. Pamela (21:20) the the radiology it it it that is going to become an AI job. So just in general. Tiffanie (21:25) For sure. Pamela (21:26) And so reading reading X rays, they're they're proficient. They're they're extremely intelligent at it. And so we need to jump on that bandwagon to make sure that we are seeing everything too. But yeah, that's Tiffanie (21:40) Yeah, agreed. Pamela (21:41) very, very true. Tiffanie (21:42) Yeah. And the same as the other AI tools, they have their variances as well. And you train those Pamela (21:47) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (21:47) tools too. And you train yourself to see like, okay, well, this variance of that is like that's that's pretty extreme. I'm not like my practice doesn't diagnose that way. Cool, that's a watch for you, right? But at least it's being pointed out and you can compare. You can look at okay, what did last time look like versus this time? Which is super cool because that's not something you can do. with just our eyes of that kind of comparison. Pamela (22:11) Yeah. Tiffanie (22:12) So whether you're diagnosing off of it or using it as a tool to see progress and change, train it, train it and train yourself just the same as you're training your scheduling bots. Pamela (22:22) I I agree a hundred percent. And it it does have to be managed, right? It it does have to we have to learn it and we have to manage and it i it's just not a one and done. Just yeah. So very sh very Tiffanie (22:33) Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love it. There's so much tech to be found. I think some key ones that we can kind of action item here to go explore at least. I love the online scheduling tools if you're not using them yet. I think they're worth it. they weren't always. They have turned a corner. They are worth it. and Pam, I think even the scheduling bots that answer, you know, new patient calls, things like that are taking over and they're doing really phenomenally. And then I think I would push to make sure your insurance information is accurate. obviously, you know, Pearl or Overjet kind of tools, those are phenomenal too. But I think starting with those scheduling and those insurances, if you're not using those tools yet, I think it's worth looking into because I really do think that revenue cycle management, all of those pieces are hugely beneficial at this point. So do your homework. Go ahead. Pamela (23:30) I agree and I think I think it yeah, do your homework and I think it's exciting what's happening in with the voice activation. I don't think it's quite Tiffanie (23:38) Mm-hmm. Pamela (23:39) there yet, but that is something I know dental offices are very hungry for. I know it's a little intimidating, but when it gets better, and I I think it's developed huge amount from when I was in the office because it d had Tiffanie (23:53) Yeah. Pamela (23:54) just started. and you know, I think Offices are really looking forward to that and doctors are looking for their notes to help with their notes, right? Tiffanie (24:05) Yeah. Pamela (24:05) So I think those are the two big areas that we want to watch Tiffanie (24:08) Yeah. Pamela (24:09) and really keep abreast of what's going on and you know, keep automating and you can do it slow and it shouldn't be intimidating. Tiffanie (24:18) Yeah, I completely agree. I think slow is fast these days. Everything's changing so much. It's worth it to do Pamela (24:24) Yeah. Tiffanie (24:25) your due diligence and make sure that you're using it correctly and to its full extent. So I love it. Thank you so much, Pam. This was a lot of fun. I know that the AI tech world is your jam. you do a lot of introspective work on it and just it's a big conversation topic for you. So thank you for Being on here with me today and being willing to share your knowledge. Pamela (24:49) Thank you, thank you. I love AI and I can't wait to buy a robot. Tiffanie (24:54) Yeah, no right. That's what a our we have an almost 13-year-old in the house and he's ready to buy one, ready to build them, ready to go. I love it. I love it. Of course. Pamela (25:02) I know, it's it's very cool. Well thank you for the time, Tiffanie. It was great to talk about this. Tiffanie (25:09) Thanks, fam. Awesome. Okay, listeners, share this with a buddy. share some information you might have. You might be trying something in your practice now. Drop us a five-star review below and call that out. People do read through those comments. or if you're on our socials, put it in the comments section. You guys have some conversations about this. There's a lot to be learned here and there's so much to be shared. I know we had a doctor speaking on how she's using AI, but then we also just had a massive conversation in our doctor's only mastermind last Tuesday about AI tools, AI bots, kind of how different practices are using them. So it's a huge conversation. Get it rolling in there, get on board with some other doctors and share these tools with each other. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you need anything from us at all, we are always happy to share all of the knowledge that we have and we're always happy to help you in your practice on your journey towards an amazing rest of the year. Thanks so much guys and we'll catch you next time.
#1195
August 27 · 21 min
#1,195: Burnt Out? Get Your Life Back Without Sacrificing Growth
Kiera gives three tactical shifts to help practice owners get their time, energy, and life back, while still maintaining a successful business. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I want to talk about a fun topic that I think a lot of you deal with. and that's burnout. And I know we've talked about it before, I know we've talked about it in the past, and I know it's not a fun topic, but I think it's a fun one to help people not have. I think burnout, I was listening to I have a podcast that I really enjoy. It's Life Wisdom by Words of Taoism. And I just love different mindsets, different perspectives, and I think this ties really heavily into today's topic. And he was talking about how, like, so many of us are per burnout, and it's this feeling of like, I'm just spent, I'm just exhausted, like I can't do one other thing. And they were talking about how oftentimes it's not just about the work that we're doing. A lot of times it's not actually the work, it's the mental load that we're carrying or the things that we're carrying behind. And it's that is what I want to talk about today is. like the burnout and how we can get our life back without sacrificing all of it and what this looks like and work life balance and the cliche around it. But when I started thinking of like all the pieces that we do carry the stress of a team, the workload of actually doing it, stress of our families, conversations, replaying conversations in our mind, wondering if we did things correctly, like did I check the books? Did I talk to this team member correctly? D what do I need to do? There's so much weight. thinking about how oftentimes like we build these businesses, not to be prisoners of them, but to actually have freedom from them. And I think sometimes it feels cliche and it feels like we're getting the exact opposite of that. And so I wanted to talk about like why we get the burnout similar to that. Like we're caring so much. It's not the workload. I don't think most of us, I think a lot of us are fine. I think it's the how much we're caring, it's the subconscious caring that doesn't ever leave us alone. And so what causes that shift in an Hopefully just some like three tactical shifts that help you get your time, your energy, and your life back. And burnout is a lot of times a conversation we have with a lot of doctors. And I think having a coach, having a guide, having someone in your corner can help prevent that burnout sooner and quicker because we're gonna be listening to it, watching it. And I think having a safe space where you can say, like, I'm exhausted, I'm tired, like I don't physically think I can do that anymore. And then somebody questioning and saying, All right, like there's other, there's a thousand other paths to do it. Let's look and let's find that solution where you don't have to do it. But we're able to have other people there with you. and I just I think that burnout, I think stress, I think carrying it, it's at every size of practice. So please don't think like, well, people don't deal with this. No, they do. No, like there's highs and lows, everybody has it, that we've got days we've got more of it, we've got days that we have less of it. and I don't think it's like needing more motivation. I think it's like w what what do I actually do? And so kind of just going through that Dental A Team, we work with hundreds of offices across the nation. Like we've seen it across the board. I've dealt with it. I'm a business owner. I'm a multi-million dollar owner. I've built practices, I've run dental practices, I've started my own business. I've gone from scratch up. I've sold. I mergers and acquisitions, selling to DSOs, you name it. I've been there, I've done that, I've done it a lot. I've done it in my own personal life. I've built multiple multiple businesses in my own. I've built my own personal brand. The things like let's talk, let's talk as business owners, let's talk about these different things. And so I think one of the biggest things that can help prevent this burnout is to stop being the solution to every problem. I think that we carry this weight constantly of feeling like, especially founders who have built up from the ground up, feel like they've got to be the solution. You were. That's who you were. You had a GSD to get there. But that doesn't mean that's who you need to continue to be. And I'm I'm guilty of this. I watch Slack and I watch myself. And how often do I just jump in and solve a problem? Or I'm sitting in meetings and I know the answer, but just because I know the answer doesn't mean I need to raise my hand and answer. I need to have a team that can create solutions. I need to have a team that genuinely can do it. Because I genuinely believe one of the fastest paths is being the answer for everything. team members are like, how to know if this is the case is you got team members who are constantly coming to you. Every decision requires your approval and you are solving problems all day long, even minimal problems. And I know I'm guilty of this in my own company. I watch it and I'm like, why are they asking me for that? Like, how do I give them the permission to not need that? And I need to just let them be dependent. And Let them be independent and not dependent on me. I think when I see teams very dependent on an owner, including myself, I think people being exhausted. I think the practice that can't function without you, can they handle these decisions without you? But also there you think there's a flip side of can you handle them making mistakes? Can you handle letting go of the control? Can you handle if things break? I remember me and a dear colleague, we were having a very spicy conversation and I was like, what? You want me like sign off on these things and let our reputation get destroyed? I was very sassy that day. This was just like six months ago. You guys, this was not like young Kiera. This was real life Kiera. And she's like, no, Kiera, we're not like just gonna let our reputation fall apart. She said, but you do need to have things like she sent me a decision matrix and she said, You've got to make decisions like which ones really are going to destroy our business, and which ones do you need to realize are not going to destroy and you need to stop being involved in those. And to have somebody who's willing to push back on me like that, I was so appreciative of because she's like, Kiera, you're sitting here making decisions about cards and branding. That isn't like we're not gonna destroy it. And she's like, I understand in the past that might not have been the case, but guess what? If something goes wrong, your team's gonna fix it. But you have to let them, you have to trust them. Otherwise, you're forever gonna be held in bottleneck, choke hold burnout. And I think when I hear that, I think about the monkey who. puts their hand in the hole and they hold on to the nut and they can't get their hand out and they end up getting trapped. And I think about how many business owners with burnout have their hand holding on so tightly to control and wanting everything perfect that they don't let go of it that they end up suffocating themselves and burning out when it didn't necessarily need to be that way. So when I look at like doctors and how much are you answering and office managers, how much are you answering versus how much is your team able to do? This doctor I was in, we were looking at like etching glass and the team found some cool things on Etsy and the doctor's like, yep, sign off stamp. You guys do it. I know you're gonna do a great job. And it's not something where they're gonna check over their shoulder. No, if it doesn't look good, of course they're gonna say something, but that's such a small decision with such small ramifications versus they're building out the entire construction of the business on the other side. Two very different pieces. Like what is the ramification long term? And so When you're looking at it, I would say But number one, when questions come to you, start to ask your team what solutions do you think are we can do for this? And then trust them and let them run with it. Second, for yourself, in meetings, stop being the answer to everything. And then third, just look to see like what's one, two, three, four items that you don't need to give an answer to. Just sit and watch and observe. And I think for me, I almost like have the visual putting my hands, like sitting on my hands and pretend or pretend my hands have glue on them and they're stuck together. If I couldn't do anything, would my team be able to handle this without me? And I think it's a good test to see how much they're actually able to do. Anytime I go on vacation, I completely check out and I come back and I'm shocked at how good they can do. And I think reminding myself that my team wants to make me proud, that they can answer these things, that I don't need to answer it for them, trusting them they're gonna have better ideas than me. And again, them doing 80% of the work is better than me doing 100% of it. And so I think a great way for you to look at like, Start asking your team to bring solutions. You can even roll it out that guys, I'm not, I'm not great at this. So please, like everybody, this is my ask. This is my goal for the next six months. Put a bracelet on, whatever you got to do to remind yourself. Like, I literally have a bracelet this year that says no. And that's to remind me, like, no, like, don't do that. Don't say yes to this. Like, let your team flourish. Let go of that control, trust. Because honestly, as a team member, that's the greatest thing your your boss can ever do for you, is to give you the trust and the confidence into. Let you flourish. That's where people love to work. No one loves to work when they're being micromanaged. And I know I'm guilty of this. So my team listening, I'm sorry. And just know that I'm hyper aware of it, actively participating in letting go of that. And genuinely, I know my team will do far better than I ever. Like they want to make me proud. Our team is such a great team. And your team's the same way. So let them stop stopping the solution to every problem. The second thing to help prevent this burnout that's tactical is. have boundaries around your time. And this is something I learned early on. I used to work sun up to sundown, seven days a week, on holidays, on weekends. And I think we protect our production time. Like you better believe I ask you for a meeting. Do you how many offices come in? They to coach and they want to solve their problems. But like, but don't do my calls during during production time. I'll talk to you on my drive home. And I'm like, hard pass? No. You're blocking out two hours a month during production time because I know you're gonna be way more proactive. And I'm probably gonna do like In the morning. You are not running through our meetings and you better be on time to every single meeting. Otherwise, don't sign up for coaching. Like hard and fast. If you can't give me two hours to work on the business, you are not prepared to do coaching because you're not going to implement anything. I'm not talking to you on your drive home. Like, sorry, that's just not where it's going to be. You product your production time, but you don't product your personal time. And both are equally important in my opinion. So, like, are you working through lunch all the time? Are you answering messages at night? Are you h working every single weekend? Do you have this constant mental load that never shuts off on you? And what I found is you gotta block CEO time where you work on the business during your week. Every time I'm getting stressed out, Marissa and I and Shelbi, we look at the schedule and it's like, Kiera had no time to work on the business. This is why she's stressed out. It's a non-negotiable for me. That is the rock. That is the number one thing that goes in the schedule. Non-negotiable. Then after that, like I have family time. I have a date night. And our team, we made it all like a very conscious effort that like after five, we don't do work. I'm not gonna say it's perfect and I'm not gonna say you have to have that because sometimes working. Like sometimes I get up at three in the morning and I'm freaking lit and I'm jazzing. It's not depleting for me. That's not burnout. That's working and it's passionate. So it's not a like hard and fast, no one can work. Because sometimes we do want to, but there's there's a conscious shutoff. And so I look at it, I try hard not to send slacks after five o'clock at night. I can schedule those for the next morning. Like shut my email off, take it off of my phone. Don't have Slack and emails on your phone. And really truly be intentional. So I actually have a box. This came from a friend. she has a really cool box, and that box no longer is being made, otherwise, I'd share it with you. So I bought a like nice $5 box from Target. It's a white box, it's pretty, it sits on my counter, and that's my phone box. So when I'm done with work, so at five o'clock and I have something where I've got to go, like go for a walk with my husband, have something that I'm looking forward to, have a set end time. my phone my watch comes off and my phone goes off and it goes in the box and I leave and I completely disconnect. Now, for a lot of us, I can feel like a heart palpitation. There's also, I think it's called the brick where you can brick your phone where it turns back into like a brick phone, where honestly there's like calling and messaging, and that's all you have. There's no other apps or anything like that, and you can set it up. for me, I just stick it in the box. And what's really awesome is to be able to disconnect. On the weekends, phone's completely off. Like I'm a princess wife and my husband has his phone and he loves it. And I leave my phone. I leave it plugged in. I don't take it with me. Because I need a complete disconnect. When I go on vacations, it's a hundred percent offline. I love to go out of the country for that reason because I'm out o offline and I know it's gonna charge me more to to talk to people. Now I know some of you have kiddos and whatnot, but the more you can have blocked family time, blocked CEO time, blocked personal recharge time, and you protect all three of those equally, you will actually feel like like even that, like I feel like this breath of fresh air. It's and again, it's not about being perfect, it's about being consistent. So you might miss in one week you're gonna have a lot more. But our consultants, they're working for such long hours and we set a quarterly rock that all of us would get out at five o'clock. And every week we actually start asking, like, how is it? And it's shocking. We have seven consultants, and I've been watching all of them start to trend more and more and more to personal life. I've also watched happiness levels increase across our consultant team. I've watched burnout become less and less, and they're still able to take care of their clients, they're still able to work with their Teams, they're still able to get their things done. We just consolidate. We also started having it where like every Monday people list off how many hours they have available for the week. Like, hey, how many hours do you have? Looking at the schedule, who's got time? And then we're using each other within the department to help each other out. So that way people aren't getting burnt out. We've got people who have hours of time. They're not as busy. You might have an assistant or a hygienist who's not as busy. What do people have on their workload? Can we share the workload with each other? Can we pass out the recare list, the reactivation list? Like, how can we do this to where we all get out at five? We're all committed to it. Let's all work together as a team. Let's all get our pieces done so that way we're all together. But I think for you, don't answer messages at night. If you knew I'd pay you a million dollars for the next month, okay? Million dollars is on the line. For the next month, you didn't do any work after five. I'll give you till 5.15 because your patients might go. 515 and on the weekends you're not touching work. Would you do it for a month? A million dollars is on the line. And I know every one of you would say yes to me. So if you're gonna say yes to that, Your life is worth more than a million dollars. Your health is worth more than a million dollars. So you do have a million dollars on the line for you. I'm not paying you. You're paying yourself this. So create those boundaries and dedicate this time. For me, I do have on the weekends. I've got one hour, two hours. I'm gonna block my week on Sundays. Like I do that. That's part of it. I'm okay with that. That's something that I don't take away from my family. Jason knows it. We're good. I've got it. But it allows me to decompress and I'm able to be there present with him. I literally. Control my calendar. So my calendar doesn't control me. I am actively creating my life and man, I'm not managing my circumstances. I'm creating my life. So for you, I used to think like working harder was better. No, there's a place to work hard and there's a place to play hard and there's a place to sleep hard and there's a place to rest hard. All of those are important. So block your CEO time and guard that. Block your family time and guard that. Block your personal recharge time and block and like honor all three of those equally. You're doing it with your production, so I know you're capable of doing it. Shut off, be done at five. Go give yourself that freedom. And like even me saying that, I feel this weight come off my shoulders. So I would say schedule those three non-negotiable blocks of time every single week. Treat it like production time, non-negotiable. You will be shocked at the life you will get back and the burnout will go away very quickly. Now, you might be like me, there was one summer I was completely burnt out. I sent I slept 17 hours a day for almost an entire month. Sometimes we're so far into the burnout phase that we have to give some massive recharge. And like just taking this isn't going to be enough. You might have to schedule in a week off or you just sleep nonstop. But once we get to that point, and I'd say don't wait to that point. Like let's start doing some things proactively now. it is capable, it is doable. And these are some tactical things that I would say put it in now. Let's put some guardrails in and let's protect that very, very, very strongly. And then number three is build a practice that supports your life. So and we always say that your business should serve your life, not the other way around. And so like I think you should just ask yourself and like it's okay, pull out the crayons, like let's get the canvas back out. What do you want your life to look like? And we do this with our doctors when they start with us, like how many days do you want to work? What kind of a schedule do you want? What role do you want long term, like in one year, three year, 10 year? And then let's put into place and start making your practice work for you. So if you tell me I only want three days, fantastic, let's work for it. What is our bam? What's our production? Let's build this just a math equation. And I love because math always maths. So let's just build it. What does it need to look like? And what I've watched is when people are living their dream life when they're having it. Now, ego plays. For me, I keep saying, like, I only want to work three days. But my ego is so strong and she really wants to be just important. So I need something to fill that time that's equally as important. I have Jace and I now have a side gig that we do on Fridays together. And it makes it to where like I have a set thing that full like fuels me, fuels my spouse. and we do it on Fridays together. And so I do. I've got I've got other CEO responsibilities that are not Dental A Team specific. But even if I didn't have something else, that's okay as a CEO. You're allowed to to have your business, serve your life. You do not need to work constantly. You are allowed to have whatever life you want. And so let's let's put those systems into place. Let's have leaders in place that are freaking thriving on it and they want to do this. Let's like make our decisions based on vision, not on guilt. Like that's what we're gonna do. And so you can reduce your clinical days. We can hire people for that. me and a doctor were working and we just created this like awesome two year vision. I'm so pumped. I was like, okay, in two years, like let's build this. Like, what's your tenure? And I was like, sweet, let's build it into a two year. To be able to help people see it. Sometimes we can't see that. Sometimes we don't think we're worthy of it. Sometimes we I don't know. I think we just get in a rut and robotic and then we just forget that, like, no, no, no, we're the creators of our lives, not the managers of them. You get to create this. You didn't build yourself a prison. You build yourself freedom. But it depends on which route you're gonna go and if you're actually gonna live it. So you've got to have your practice supporting your life, not the other way around. So I want you to look down, like what your, you can write down what your ideal work looks like, what it's gonna look like in one year, three years, ten years, and then like let's just work backwards. Some of you get so stuck and you're like, I don't know, how do I get my team bought into it? Your team wants you to thrive. Your ego wants you to just survive. Like it's usually ego that keeps us there. It's not really our team. It's not all those excuses we tell ourselves. It's not that mental load that we're carrying constantly. That mental load is heavy. It's a constant guilt running and guilt's not serving. It's just keeping you stuck. So if you've been feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, trapped, or even none of those, like I just want you to know you're not alone. Let's put into place these safeguards. Let's let's have this where number one, we're going to stop being the solution to every problem. Number two, We're gonna create those boundaries around our personal time and we're gonna block them like we do our production time. We're gonna honor them, we're gonna value them. It's our CEO time, our family time, and our personal recharge time. Block those. And then we're gonna build a practice that truly supports our life. And we're gonna be so committed and know that we deserve every ounce of this. And we're we are so committed that we're gonna get it. Non-negotiable. Pretend a million dollars, billion dollars, whatever you want, your dream car, your dream vacation, whatever it is, it's on the line. If you'll just show up for yourself. I think so often burnout comes because we're not willing to. Reduce the load. I think a lot of it is self-induced, and then I think a lot of it is just habit. We've been doing it for so long that we don't know a different path. But I will say that other path is always there. The HOV lane is always open. Let's get over into that HOV lane. Let's start doing things easier. You deserve it. You are a billion dollar asset. Treat yourself like it. You guys have this. You don't have to work harder. You just need to have it be a like we've had one formula and it's been running. There's nothing wrong with it. But if we want a different life, there's another formula that we can start running, and I'd encourage you to do so. So that's what we do. We help you build leadership teams. We help you build your vision. We help get your team bought into that vision. We could give you the permission to shut off at five. We tell you, like, stop, grab a PA, like a personal assistant, hire this person. Like these things you don't have to do. You're welcome to keep doing it. There's no force on our side. There's no judgment on our side. There's just love and unconditional love to make sure you are taken care of. So reach out. I'd love to help you. You can grow your business and you don't have to sacrifice your life. It's not one or the other. It can be an and. And I hope you choose that. And I hope you know you're worthy of it. I hope you know you're worth it. And I hope you know that it is possible. So come be a part of it. There's so many of our doctors that live their best lives. I got one doctor who's a million-dollar practice working three days a week, wants nothing more than that, and is so freaking happy and is an incredible leader. I have another doctor. They work four days a week. They got a three and a half million dollar practice. Incredible, incredible. They could build another location. They don't want to. We got it set up for their kids, their life. They're on vacation. They're able to serve and get back to their community. Whatever your life is, it's doable for you. I've got others that have like five locations and they're so happy with it. Whatever your life is, it's doable. So let's make it, let's create it, let's not manage it. You guys, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of the life you're living. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1193
August 26 · 19 min
#1,194: Are Your KPIs Lying To You?
Key performance indicators are fundamental to a successful practice. But what about their dark side? Kiera shares how to know whether those metrics are telling you the right information or not, including what a false sense of KPI security can look like, common mistakes when reviewing those numbers, and how to keep your greater vision in tune with the indicators. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera, and today's topic makes me giggle. because I feel like I'm such like hot to trot on KPIs, and I talk about them all the time. And this is gonna be like the other side of the coin of KPIs. And are your KPIs actually lying to you? Dun dun dun, like are those metrics actually not telling you what you want to know on it, like makes me giggle. And I loved because we've been podcasting for golly, so many years. I mean, I think about the conversations we've had together, the tactical tips, the leadership growth, the confidence in becoming a CEO and running your business. And if you're not there, great. Come join us. Like let's take the easy route. You don't have to listen to all thousand plus episodes. you can take the like hit that easy button. My last name used to be Staples. So hit that easy button and come join us. But I felt like today would be a fun twist for myself as a podcaster and a podcast host of let's talk about like when do your KPIs actually lie to you because you can have some sexy numbers but still not be making money. And you'll be like, well what is going on? Right? Your CP is like, you're doing great. And you're like, but I feel broke. your trainer at the gym is like, you're doing great. And you're I don't have the six pack. I feel like KPIs can be lying to you. And so I think it's a like, let's make sure that our numbers are telling us the entire story. And let's make sure that if they're healthy, our practice really is healthy and you know how to use your KPIs rather than be used by those KPIs. So number one, I hope you're tracking KPIs. If you don't know what a KPI is, it's a key performance indicator. I call them the vitals of your practice. So let's make sure that our Our height, our weight, our blood pressure, our heart rate, all those are healthy and that they're tracking correctly. And if not, then like let's figure out how to fix those for your practice. Because they're not like our KPIs aren't a report card. They're KPIs are clues. And our whole consulting team, we have a KPI scorecard, and we all know that that is like the tip of the iceberg. And if one of those numbers is off or if all of them aren't looking right, we need to go and dig and dig and dig to make sure that they're correct. So I want to walk you guys through how something like KPIs can create some false sense of security, which ones to look for. What are some mistakes that people often have when they do review their numbers? And then what are like maybe a couple of ways for us to make sure that those metrics are actually helping you to make better decisions? So, as you guys know, we're Dental A Team. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry and obsessed with you. I want you to have your yes success life. I want you to have everything you want. I want your practice to serve your life. I want you to be profitable and successful. I want you to have structure and systems and stability where you just feel confident to be able to scale to the level that you want. There is no Check mark and Dental A Team There is no you need to hit this level of practice ownership. It is what is your life? What is your dream? Let's make that a reality. And then let's make sure that you're doing it in the easiest, most efficient, fun way. Our job is to Posivate, impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And I'm so happy you're here. If I could give you a giant hug, I would. If I could give you a high five and tell you you're doing better than you think you are, I would. So just take those today. Give yourself a squeeze, give yourself a high five. And just remember, as business owners, it can be hard, it can be challenging, but it doesn't need to be. So let's make sure that we're we're showing up, that we're rising up, and that we're being the best that we can be. And today I really want you to like stop chasing numbers and actually like understand your KPIs and what it's actually telling you. So step number one is gonna be like let's stop looking at KPIs in isolation. So like one KPI does not tell you the whole story. And so like a lot of times we'll say like production's up, we're all celebrating, but our profit's down. You're like, this doesn't make sense. Like we're producing more, but we're not profitable. Like it feels like this like very off-kilter scale. That's like, well, if production goes up, my profit should go up. But that's not always the case. What about like our new patients are up, but our schedule still isn't full? Like, what is this? Or maybe like collections, they're up, like we're hitting at collections, but our AR is growing and our bank accounts not getting better. Like, why? Like that number is healthy with air quotes. So what we've got to look for is like, what is the relationship between the numbers and what's the driving result of the KPI and using the KPI as a system, not just an isolated piece. So When we look at this, we want to make sure that like while production could be high, let's make sure our payroll and our overhead's actually where it needs to be. Because sometimes our production can go up and our payroll goes up. So we're hoping that production and profit go hand in hand, but sometimes they don't. So we need to figure out like numbers don't lie, but they can mislead us. So I don't want you sitting there like, well, my production's great. That could be false. Our profit could be high. That could be false. We need to be looking at the whole story, the entire, like it's. you know, I can have good blood pressure, but what if my heart's not doing as well? Or what if my, I don't know, my I don't know all the medical terms, but there's other things like what if my cholesterol's not doing well, but that would never show up if you're looking at my heart rate. So there's just different ways and I think it's the same thing. So when we look at the vitals, this is why we get labs that are comprehensive on us. That's why we look at multi data points of our bodies. It's the same thing with your practice. So let's make sure that it's like KPIs are clues, but they're not a conclusion. And you gotta know the whole the whole picture of this. So what I would do is like when we look at it, production should be tied. Like I usually look like my my first step is going to be looking at your production collection, making sure those are sitting at like a 98% ratio of each other. I'm looking at your like and I want net production, not gross production. Then I'm gonna be looking at the profitability of your practice because those ones are going to tell me a lot, just production collection and profitability. Those ones are going to tell me a lot. And if one of those is off, then I know can I go dig into this, this or this? Like If your production's not hitting what we need it to be, fantastic. We need to go dig. We need to look at our case acceptance. We need to look at our hygiene. We need to look at our period. Like those things are gonna help us. I'm gonna look at your block scheduling, but that's gonna dip. Now, if our collections, they could be high, but we need to make sure like again, if our profitability is not there, collections could be high, but what's our AR? Ped practices have like two to five million sitting in AR and they didn't even know that. Well, that would make sense when you're like, well gosh, I feel broke. You could be having 105% collections, but you're broke because we didn't collect that money last year or months prior. So again, they don't they need to go hand in hand, which then ties into like step two, which is going to be focus on the leading indicators, not the lagging ones or results. And this I think is really tricky with KPIs because a lot of our KPIs are lagging indicators, like production, collections, profitability, where the leading indicators, and I always hated lag and lead. I like, these people are so dumb. I don't understand it. Like, ugh, like. But they do like what leads into production? Well, that's gonna be unscheduled treatment. That's gonna be our case acceptance, that's gonna be our hygiene reappointment percentage, that's gonna be how full our schedule is, that's gonna look at our new patient conversion, it's gonna look at our block scheduling. Those are gonna be leading indicators. So we could be tracking how many unscheduled treatment calls did we make. We could be tracking what our case acceptance is to see are we closing enough cases? We should be looking at our hygiene reappointment rate that's gonna help me see if my hygiene schedule is full. We're gonna look to see how filled out our schedule is at certain points in the month to see are we filling enough? Are we diagnosing enough? We can also be looking at our diagnosis percentage and see how much we're actually diagnosing. All those things are gonna drive you to where you actually can see, is my practice healthy? Is my practice not healthy? So when we do these items together, they're going to give you visible warning signs before you hit a plummet. So if you're just looking at production, collection, profit, which are the main ones I go after, because like, hey, if those are there, they're usually pretty good. But what leads to it. And sometimes what can happen is collections can dip automatically very quickly and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Or production can drop really quickly. If you're not looking at case acceptance, unscheduled treatment, reappointment percentages, those quick items, you can get into hot water real fast because we could be like production, production, production, and then all of a sudden we have a September. Okay, well, why do we have a September? Please. And everyone's like, it's because kids go to school. And I'm like, is there a way though that even with kids going to school and this and that, if we knew that? If we strategically scheduled and we called all of our unscheduled treatment, because not everybody is going back to school, you still have elderly people that are not in that population. So what if in August we started targeting elderly populations that do not have kids at school? We're not targeting those younger families and we're making sure that they're in there, that they've got deposits paid for their treatment. We're calling on scheduled treatment starting in July. And August, we're calling our recare and we're making like 50 outbound calls a day. That's going to help proactively prevent this. Those are leading measures that don't hit us on the lag when our productions all of a sudden suck Tember. Can we look for this? Can we look cyclically across the board of which are my lower months? Can we schedule vacations during that time if we know they're historically lower? Can we proactively put like ortho cases? Let's do an Invisalign day where we actually pump our September. So we're always doing ortho and September like back to school braces or those types of things. Like, could you start doing some of those things? Those are leading indicators that make it to where. Before the production drops, we are proactively looking ahead. So I love to have KPIs that are leading and lagging, but the best KPIs are going to predict the future, not explain the past. So when I get my PL from ICPA, that's why you're all annoyed because you're like they said I did great, but now I feel broke. Well, it's because they're always looking one month retroactively and you're living in real time today. Your bank account doesn't match. Like you did great. And you're like, yeah, but I already spent it. It's because your PL is such a lagging measure. You get it, but there's nothing. So what's our leading? What could we be doing? What do we look at? Let's look ahead. Let's see how far booked out we are. Let's see our new patient conversion rate. Let's see how many case acceptance we have. Let's look at how many patients are on our unscheduled treatment list. Let's look at our recare list. Now, if those are up to date and current, then we know we need to be pumping more new patients in there. But if we're not watching those leading measures, which those are the annoying ones to track, those are the annoying ones. People don't want to live in leading measures. Nobody out there wants to be like, okay, care, I made my like 25 calls of unscheduled treatment today. Team members are like, I'm so busy answering the phone and just keeping the schedule full. But what they don't realize is if you make those outbound calls every single day, every day, non-negotiable, just like we brush our teeth, have that as part of it, those leading measures. If we are reviewing our cases every single week to see how we did so we can proactively improve our case acceptance every single week, we are proactively doing those things and we just stick them in on routine, you're not gonna have the dips nearly as often as you currently do. We tend to live in firefighting reactive KPIs. rather than in proactive looking to see what we can do. For us it was always like, okay, how many, how many calls have we booked? That is such a lagging measure versus how many outbounds did we make? We can control the outbounds, but yet so many people don't want to do that. So I'd recommend absolutely 100% step two is let's make sure we're also tracking leading measures, not just lagging measures. And then the other piece is like don't just chase a metric where we're ignoring like what actually is happening. Like why are we even looking at this metric? So if we're only looking at production, well then we can have like stress and we forget about patient experience and all that. So again, numbers are should be like like I feel like they're the table of contents of the book. And we don't miss the book because we read the table of contents. It gives us the quick highlight. But ultimately production's impacted by great patient experience. It's going to be impacted by having great case acceptance. It's gonna be having that warm connection with each other. And so when we look at these KPIs, and this is where a lot of times KPIs like they should drive behavior. Like they should tell us where we're lacking, where we're dropping the ball, where we could improve. They should be telling us what behavior should change in the practice. That's why we look at them as a key performance indicator. It's like the lights that pop up and they tell us like, hey, we're going too fast or we're going too slow. Like great, it should be telling us how we're tracking on those. But it shouldn't be replacing stress. And like that's the only thing we care about. we don't want to have it to where we're like so many times people are like, well, we could get more patients in if we just cut hygiene and we've dropped it to 45 minutes. And I'm like, you're not wrong. But like, what's our ultimate goal? Like, what are we ultimately trying to achieve? And is there a space where if we kept 60 minute hygiene appointments, could we maybe possibly serve our patients more? So let's do a focus of we're all gonna hit our fluoride. We're gonna do fluoride, that's a great thing. Then we're gonna move it into fluoride therapy where we do fluoride and toothpaste. Then we're gonna make sure that we're doing scans in the next six months. Like I do them in six month chunks for hygiene. I know like we can't like dump everything on the hygienist. They gotta have like a few things. If we know September's coming, let's start doing scans in Q2 so that way we have all of our orthoscans already pre-done for three months before we even get to that level where we start to have it where it's gonna drop on us. That's where we become obsessed with making sure we focus on the patients and we use our KPIs. To me, they're like a forecast and a projections if you use them correctly. They can also be a like nail in the coffin and you're like, well, shoot, our production's down, our collections are down, we got to fix that. So it's how can I look retroactively and see what do we do? How can I use leading measures to proactively make sure that we don't get into that? But then put those two together and ultimately tie those under the vision and the goal and make sure that they're driving us towards that. That's what it should be. The top of everything, the umbrella over all those. Like if you want to think of an umbrella and your KPIs are like the the spokes that hold the umbrella, the the core umbrella over the top is what's our vision and what's the purpose of our practice? and if your KPIs like if you're just production, production, production, that's not who you ultimately want to be. Like if we're just profit, profit, profit, like yeah, you should be. But ultimately, like, yeah, I'm gonna say like profit's number one. To me, we have a rule. We don't lose money. That's been my rule. That's been my standard since I started the company. And I stand by that because cash flow is the most scary thing as a business owner, in my opinion. so profit is number one for me, and I will always make decisions based on that. but profit in conjunction with possibly impacting the world, the dentistry in the greatest way possible. Pro profitability in conjunction with having a place where team members love to work. You can have both. It can be an and it doesn't need to be an or. You can have both of those. You can be obsessed with a patient experience and production. You can be obsessed with having the best patient experience and having a very profitable business. Both of those coexist. And so using your numbers as a compass, using them as a guide, and making sure that we're we're headed towards the ultimate destination of our our vision and our mission, which is why it doesn't only we do business fundamentals. We're going to work with you on getting your vision and your mission and your core values like. What ultimately is your goal as a business owner? What do you want your life to be? That's the ultimate goal. Jump more freedom. And guess what? It's written in pencil. You can erase it, you can redraw it any day you want. It doesn't have to be set in stone and like we we chiseled that sucker out. No, this is a like, it's in pencil. So what does I what do I want my life to look like today? Because when we achieve it, we might want it to look differently. Or as we're walking up that mountain, we might say, You know, I really thought that I only want to work three days, but I love dentistry and I want to work four days. I just want to do this type of procedure. Or I love to be in the practice, but I want to do two days clinical and I want to do two days of mentorship. That is totally allowed. Your business should just serve that. Your business should be the one that's there. So that's the ultimate arching is your KPIs then should be like the guiding pillars to that in leading and lagging measures. So this is where your KPIs, KPI numbers don't lie. But isolated numbers can definitely give false positives and false negatives if they're not seen altogether. So, like just a quick recap is don't look at your KPIs in just isolation. Make sure that we're tracking leading and lagging indicators. And then make sure that ultimately all of those are headed towards our greater vision of where we ultimately want to go. That's how we use KPIs. That's how we use numbers too, to make sure that we're actually headed in the direction we want to go. And you are welcome to have one of those in isolation. You're welcome to have KPIs that just sit on their own. You're welcome to have where we only are tracking lagging measures. You're welcome to have like we only think about our vision and our mission, and that's what we care about, and everything will follow. I will say you're welcome to do that. I would say an easier path that helps you have all the data and the best data points is going to be where you put all three of those together, where you're able to look at them simultaneously, use them as data points to ultimately make your best decisions because KPIs are incredibly powerful. But only if they're used correctly, even if they're used to be tools, not like like goals or stars to guide by, not sticks to beat ourselves with. I don't care. Like we're just we're like, I don't believe in failures. I just believe that there are results. So are we getting the result we're looking for or not? And if not, let's change and adjust. if we're constantly missing production, what are maybe a couple leading measures that we could do? Also having too many KPIs, you get lost in data and you can't actually see what you need to do. So simplifying it, having less is more. making sure we're actually tracking outcomes rather than activity. Like what I usually say like reduce unscheduled treatment by 10% every single month. So I don't care how many calls you make. Yes, I know I said like make 25 calls. You can do task or you can do outcome. I prefer outcome based, but you might just be starting out and can't figure out that outcome. So like let's start with 25 calls a day. It's easy, all of us can do it. We can track it. Ultimately the goal is that our schedule is always full and we're putting enough outbound calls to make sure that when patients are canceling, which is gonna happen, they're gonna move their appointments. that we're always able to get our schedule up to what we want it to be and we're not stressed, we're not going chaotic. So if you feel like you listen to this, you're like, you're I don't even know where to start, or like we're kind of doing this, we're halfway doing it, or I'm looking at this, but I don't know how to get my team bought into it. This is what we do. This is how we're able to help you. We're able to help you put it all together. Let's build your vision, let's build that mission, let's figure out where we're headed with no guilt, no judgment, just your life. Like, hey, grab the crayons, grab the confetti, like let's make what you want this life to be. Then let's figure out which KPIs are going to lead us to that. Let's figure out which leading measures we need to help your team get on board with and why. Get them bought into the vision and the mission. And then we're able to help maintain and contain that consistency for you. So this is the zone. You usually don't need like a lot more reports. We just need clarity to cut through and to look at the things that really matter and put them together so we're not doing them in isolation. So you're not getting hit with those surprises, but actually being able to be proactive on that. So this is where I'm obsessed with helping offices have their dream life, look at the numbers. use the numbers, not be used by the numbers and to get a team bought into it at whatever level you want. There is no set path. There is no set, every team has to do this. It's what's your vision, what's your life? How do we make sure that you're profitable and successful? And then how do we build the systems, the structure for scalability for you of whatever that looks like for you. So reach out. I'd love to help you out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1193
August 25 · 25 min
#1,193: The Foolproof Way to Build Community Anywhere, Anytime
In this episode, Tiff and Nikki talk about a critical piece under the marketing umbrella: networking with people in your community across different "genres" of expertise. They discuss knowing your demographic, building a two-way street of referrals, leaning on your hobbies, and a ton more ways to get your business out there and being talked about. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are excited to be here. I say it every single time and we truly, truly mean it. I think you guys believe me and know that by now Nikki is here with me today. Nikki, thank you so much for being here. this is our podcasting morning and we block out the a morning, we do a couple hours and make sure that we get the best content we possibly can out to everyone. I'm actually really excited about this one. We just talked through it. for those of you who don't know, our marketing company, they comb the internet and they comb our calls, they look through all of the data and information they possibly can and look for the best topics they can help us think of, and then they deliver those topics over to us. So for all of you out there, if there's a topic, subject that you've loved you want more of, please let us know. If there's a topic that you're like, gosh, I wish these ladies would just talk about this or dive into this more, let us know. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com you can tag any one of us in there. Doug is our podcast guru in the background today. and of course we're the ones recording them. So if you've got ideas, we love ideas. We love nothing more than to bring you the stuff that you guys actually need. So Nikki, how are you this morning? Thank you for being here. We were talking earlier about our random Arizona summer storm, which I think it's gone and it's like just hot and humid now, and here we are. So anyways, how are you today? Nikki Mack (01:23) so good. I know recovering all the damage, you know, the flipped over chairs, the lawn furniture. Nothing flew out of the yard this storm. So always a win, but I'll take it. The hot is worth it because the storms are beautiful. And Tiffanie (01:37) They are. Nikki Mack (01:37) in a couple months it's gonna be amazing. We're gonna be really, really happy. Maybe we podcast outside. Just kidding. That's crazy. But Tiffanie (01:44) you would be so happy. Nikki Mack (01:45) happy to be here this morning inside in my AC in the aftermath of the storm for sure. Tiffanie (01:52) Same. Kiera and I did podcast because I think we've done it twice. We've done we've podcasted from South Mountain here in Arizona. Yeah. And Nikki Mack (01:59) Amazing. Tiffanie (02:00) that was when that was I mean that was gosh, we were just starting. That was a long time ago. And then we've podcasted from a mountain across the street from her house in Nevada. So and that was our I think that was our birthday podcast last year or the year before. So you never know. We might end up outside. I do love being outside as an Arizona native. as I'm sure you do as well when it's not 115 or humid. Yeah. Arizona Nikki Mack (02:25) When it's one hundred and fifteen. Tiffanie (02:28) doesn't do well with humidity. Like it's been a little humid this summer, and I'm like by a little I mean like there's been like five to ten percent humidity out there, and you feel every ounce of it. So I'm ready for just good weather. so with that, thinking about outside, thinking about outside of ourselves, I love marketing. It's one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Like to me, I think communication is marketing. Like I'm constantly marketing myself, right? Who I am, how I show up, and like how I speak to people is marketing. I I just think marketing is showing up in a certain way to get the result that you want. And people overextend it, they overcomplicate it and they think that they have to do it a very certain way. And the reason marketing is It's a an amazing tool, but the reason it sucks is because it's really hard to like guarantee results, right? So there isn't a certain way. There are multiple stabs in the dark that we take to get different results. And luckily, our blessing is that we get to see a lot of those different ways. We have a lot of practices. We've worked in a lot of practices. We've taken shots in the dark and really figured out and narrowed in some things that work. And today I really wanted to talk about like strategic community networking and becoming partners with different people in the in the community, different networks in the community and just different genres outside of dentistry. And I think it's really important for dental practices and dental practice owners, business owners in general to do this. I know Toastmasters used to be like this massive thing. It's still here. Like I know someone who does Toastmasters and She's like the shyest, like most internal person. She's like, I will learn how to talk to people. And so like Toastmasters is still a thing, but the best thing about Toastmasters is wasn't hasn't always been that you learn how to speak in public. It's the community that you build and those referrals, right? And you know, my fiance is a business professional and Within his profession, he goes to networking events a lot. He's not a good, like he he's a very internal person as well. But he goes and he does these networking events because then he can refer his own clients or his friends. We've used people to, you know, by referral. And building that network totally changes the game because it's a bit like it's a forward and backwards. Like I refer to you, you refer to me, we know each other. We help each other, all of those different pieces. So I wanted to talk a ton today about how to strategically build that community as a small business owner and a dental practice owner, you know, in any town. And Nikki to your point earlier and maybe speak to this a little bit, you were saying the reason that we and the reason marketing isn't super cookie cutter. is because we all live in different demographics. But I do think we have some great ideas that could work anywhere. But Nikki, take us through some of what you were talking about there. Like why does it make a difference that where we live? Nikki Mack (05:42) Absolutely. Also, quick nerd alert. Five years in Toastmasters back in the day. So a hundred percent. Tiffanie (05:47) There you go, I knew it. I should have known that. Nikki Mack (05:52) yeah, I think when we talk about, you know, things not being cookie cutter and knowing your demographic marketing, especially, especially if we're talking community outreach, is a huge place to be in. you know your demographic. This isn't even where I'm like, okay, doctor, sit down and like think about your patients. You know your patience, your team knows your patients. What is important in your area? What are the things that people post about, go to, talk about? And then being able to lean into that opportunity. Do you have if you're a pediatric office, right? We were just talking about this one. are you right in the middle of a bunch of school districts or a lot of school areas? Do the school nurses have your office information, right? do you participate in teacher appreciation week? Like what does your outreach look like in those areas? Because not just for the teachers who deserve the world, of course, but also that's when they talk to parents, right? Or the parents that come and see who's taking care of their teachers as well, you're building that not just relationship, but that reputation. And that's what really drives those referrals, that culture, that everything we talk about. Now, maybe if you're a very specialized, I don't know, periodist. sponsoring teacher appreciation day might not yield the same results, right? So this is where I say, like, know your area, know your demographic. every city has a chamber of commerce, right? the action level and what you kind of get for that membership varies everywhere. But if you look into it and it responds well with your culture and what you're driven, especially if you're very community focused and they do have a lot of those opportunities. Reach out, right? You know, sign up, try it out for a year. Usually it's an annual membership or so, because the relationships you're gonna build to Tiff's point with those other business owners in the community too are going to be very impactful and possibly spread that reach even further than you would have thought of. And a network who's also trying to actively market and grow their business, what a resource. Because we may not all Tiffanie (08:02) I see. Nikki Mack (08:02) be dental, but we can share best practices. share opportunities and even partner on certain things sometimes. So knowing your demographic, knowing what's really key and crucial, so important. If you're a downtown people commute in, you're right by all the businesses, well, the community pieces might look a little different for you. And so maybe you find out that who did what who did we use Wells Fargo, right? Tiffanie (08:29) Mm-hmm. Nikki Mack (08:30) Wells Fargo corporate building is a block from your office. Does that HR lady know your name, right? Are you guys in network or do you file out of network for them? Knowing your audience is a great way to start before we just cause marketing when it doesn't work is exhausting. So let's be strategic to start and and get some really good results. Tiffanie (08:54) Yeah, I love all of that. All of that. There are a few pieces there I wanna point out. You said referrals, right? Well, you said periodonist that might not yield the same results and it made me think, Okay, well, how much work are we doing to build the relationship back with those referring practices? I know when I was in that or in office I used to ha have a gosh, get my words together, an orthodontist. that was really had a really close relationship with our doctor because of a community networking group that they were a part of outside of the dental practice and they routinely sent us families because families found them without a GP dentist because they knew their kid, their teenager needed braces, right? So they'd go to the orthodontist but need a GP dentist so they'd refer him over. Same with periodonists, you know, people look up implant, they end up at an oral surgeon or or a periodontist and they don't have a GP. You guys need them. To have a GP, so you send them over. So making sure we're building that two-way street of referrals is huge. The Chamber of Commerce, I love this Chamber of Commerce situation and I've seen it really spike up recently with a few practices that we're working with. And I I have one that comes to mind and he'll know exactly who he is. he joined the Chamber of Commerce a few years ago. He's one of the business owners, but he's also the the like practice manager. He manages the business manager, right? He joined the Chamber of Commerce for their practice when they relocated into a bigger building and he did it in order to really get to know the community. They lived outside of their community, about an hour outside the community that they worked in for a long time. Then they decided to move to that area, and now they're about five minutes down the road from the practice, which is super convenient. But they didn't feel like they knew the community. They felt like they were outsiders and they wanted to be more invested and involved. So they joined the Chamber of Commerce. And they really started showing up at different events. They started doing, he did a leadership course through the Chamber of Commerce and through the the City Community College there. He knows everyone in that town. Like they have so many connections and so many amazing businesses that support them and vice versa, they support. And something that I don't think people really understand about the Chamber of Commerce is that it's like just that networking piece, the emails that say, hey, We've got a ribbon cutting event coming up. Like, cool, there's a ribbon cutting event for a small business. Let me go show face and shake hands and say hello to the new owner and welcome them to business ownership. If there's anything that you come across, by all means, I've been through a lot. I might not know it all, but I might have something to offer and just be a neighbor, like be a friendly neighbor. Those community networking pieces could go so far. And something else you made me think of. I don't remember why I thought of it, but I thought I think you said knowing your demographics, and you said like what what plays to them, right? And then I thought, Nikki, I've never thought of this before, and I think it might be gold mine. I'm not sure. What Nikki Mack (11:55) Yeah. Tiffanie (11:56) are your hobbies? Right? What do you love to do? So I'm thinking we're in Phoenix, so we have a lot of foodies, right? We've got a million restaurants here. So what if a dentist who is a foodie who loves food or a team member Who is a foodie and loves food, and they go and they try all these restaurants, and you're out there, right? I have we have a restaurant in downtown Buckeye, Arizona. It's phenomenal, best Mexican food I've ever had in my life. And I have grown up in Arizona. Best food. Okay. I tell everyone about this place. What what if your dental practice that's like, hey, these are our monthly newsletters, and also let me highlight our restaurant this month. what restaurant did we go to and we love in our community or in thirty minutes from here? Because now it's become something that's not just brush your teeth, floss. Like people don't I'm not gonna lie, most people are not reading those. Like they're not they're not. They're just not, right? But if you catch their attention with something like the best hike I've taken since I've lived in Arizona, best hike of the month, best restaurant, best ice cream. I have a doctor who loves popcorn. Like where are you getting your best popcorn? What's your popcorn flavor this month. Like spice it up a little bit with something that's different. Because as I was as you were speaking earlier and I thought of that, I thought, how cool would it be to be like, you're going to that restaurant? I've actually heard of that. And I'm like, where did you hear about it? It's so obscure. And they're like, actually my dentist. Who's your dentist? Because now you've just created a new conversation topic that you can insert yourself into in a network of people across your whole city. Nikki Mack (13:37) Yeah, absolutely. It makes me think of do you know how sometimes coffee shops or like little bakeries or cafes will have like the question of the day and you Tiffanie (13:46) Mm-hmm. Nikki Mack (13:47) answer when you come in? I've seen some dental practices do that, right? Like they have Tiffanie (13:51) Yeah. Nikki Mack (13:52) their question of the week or you know, question of the month. and it's just that fun little connection, like you said, and especially if it's something community driven, like what's your favorite Mexican place around here? What's your favorite restaurant? Who's your favorite coffee shop? to drive kind of that conversation and connection because yeah, then if someone goes and tries it, it's like, how did you hear about us? And you're like, my dentist, actually. Tiffanie (14:13) Yeah. Nikki Mack (14:14) it's such a like full circle moment, especially if it's someone that you have partnered with in the past, whether it's meeting each other at a ribbon cutting or you know being at some other event, or they just maybe they're a patient too, right? Like there's always those small world connections and finding ways to close those little links there. it's always such a neat and unique opportunity because this is why we talk about referrals are the best source for patients because you're it's patients you love referring people they love, right? To come into your practice and they know who you are and like what your culture is. And so when you build those relationships with our networking sources or referral sources and opportunities, it's that same type of environment where they're gonna be referring people that fit like what you're looking for and kind of fit that mold. so you just you put so many opportunities out there by by making those connections. I I love that. Also after the cast, I'll need that restaurant. we'll check it out. Okay. Yeah. Tiffanie (15:14) Totally. Yeah, I will. I will. I'll send it to you. It's so good. It's so good. and also I was thinking you said, if you've partnered with that person or if they're patients, like why not host we do Invisalign days all the time, right? Or ortho days, Clearliner days, Candid Pro days, whatever you're calling them. and you also do study clubs. Like study clubs are Nikki Mack (15:38) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (15:39) cool because you need the CE. But study clubs are not like you're not generating a lot of referrals because it's a bunch of other dentists, right? Why not host a networking like day, right? Or or a couple hours and a networking group in your dental practice on a Friday morning from like eight to ten AM. You can have muffins and donuts and coffee and orange juice and water and invite your patients that have businesses, real estate agents, insurance brokers, financial advisors, they're all in your patient base, I promise you. Doesn't mean you have to use them. It means, hey, I know that there's a community of people here who need a networking group. I would love to do a once a month networking group or once a quarter network networking group for two hours. Invite your patients and invite your patients to invite their friends. Nikki Mack (16:29) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (16:29) Everyone knows somebody. So bring a buddy, maybe every third one. I mean, I would do everyone, but I would do bring a buddy. Like bring a buddy and get a free ticket. you know, to enter to win the blackstone. I don't know. Do something, but if you were to host something like that for your patients and for local businesses nearby, bam, more. And you're just the whole point in this is marketing is is hard. Marketing is difficult. And we rely on outside sources to do a lot. And I love nothing more Nikki than to look at what can I do? What can I control? And building a strategic community network, all all it does is start self-promoting your business. Be a good person, know good people. People talk about you. So this whole thing is not only fun, I think, and some doctors might say, like, yeah, you're crazy, you like people. Cool, have your office manager Nikki Mack (17:26) Yeah. Tiffanie (17:27) do it. Like, I don't know, ask somebody in your practice is gonna want to do something like this. But what it's doing is it's building your patient base with out paying for new patients. It's it's a outside the box, out of the normal way of expanding your reach into your community to bring in new patients to your practice to grow your dental practice that's just completely outside the box. And I think in 2026 and whatever year moving forward, you're listening to this, outside the box is what we have to do. The norm just isn't cutting it anymore. You can't just place Google ads And expect the floodgates to open. You can't just send postcards to your neighbors and expect the floodgates to open. You've got to do something different that gets attention. And building that community and that networking group not only helps you, but it helps all of those other people. And that's when those floodgates open, in my opinion. Nikki Mack (18:28) I agree. And I think to your point with when you think outside the box and you come up with an idea, right? Or your team comes up with an idea because it's maybe something they saw or heard or read about, or maybe an idea shared on the Discord that another doctor in a different state Tiffanie (18:42) Yeah. Nikki Mack (18:43) used, right? And you're like, I want to do that. Here's what I feel like happens a lot. I want to do that, but I know I don't have time. And so I shelve Tiffanie (18:50) Mm. Nikki Mack (18:50) it. Right. Or like, I don't have the bandwidth. Like I absolutely love the network hosting idea. I don't have the bandwidth to organize that. Well, guess what? There's probably a local group already out there that is doing these things or looking for places to meet. I know in my neighborhood area in Phoenix, we have this huge Facebook group that they do a lot for networking. There's a couple people who run it. They host networking events. They host like open table nights for the neighborhood for people to come and meet each other. And one of the things that they're always looking for is places. to host. So Tiffanie (19:27) Yeah. Nikki Mack (19:28) maybe you don't have the bandwidth currently to create a networking group, right? And host them and do all of the the kind of legwork. Absolutely. But if you like that idea and you have the space, if you have a beautiful break room, right? Or a beautiful lobby, reach out. I bet you or someone on the team knows a local group. Do a quick little local search, right? Reach out. make sure that they fit, you know, it's the right type of group, their their kind of vision or what they're searching out to do is what you align with. But I'll tell you what, I've been that person trying to find locations and organize groups and where to meet. And when somebody comes out like, hey, you can use my space, here's what it would look like, right? Here's how we could make it work. my gosh, like game changing. And then now you have just solidified your piece like in this network. And now that's going to create so much opportunity because we all know once they come in the office and experience you and your team, game changer, right? And they have that Tiffanie (20:28) Yeah, I agree. Nikki Mack (20:29) opportunity to do it. So any idea, it doesn't just have to be the network hosting. But if you hear something or see something or think of something and your first thought is, I don't have the bandwidth, don't drop it. How do we pivot? What can we do? How do we adjust it? How do we tweak it so that it is something we could fit in, at least in some companies. Capacity. And that's where your consultants come in, right? I love those messages, Nikki. I had a great idea. I'm like, yes, lay it on me. Let's talk about it. So you're not alone. You don't have to figure out how to make it work. If it's a great idea, let's work it out. Let's talk it through and see how we can make it work for your practice. You have a network. you have consultants, you have the other doctors with the Dental A Team. There's being out of the box means all hands on deck sometimes. So Tiffanie (21:18) I agree. one last idea, you were talking bandwidth and I I agree. And I thought, like, okay, you can you said earlier, teacher appreciation, right? Make sponsoring that could also sponsor the mommies and muffins and muffins and mom, like whatever it is, like those types of things as well. But also you could go to the donut shop or the kofi coffee shop or whatever like local small business is near you and say, Hey, here's two hundred dollars. the next two hundred dollars worth of purchases is on me. So when somebody comes and they order their coffee, all I ask is that you let them know that we purchased it for them and we want them to have a great day. Write a little like motivational like have a great day. You are loved, you are seen, you are whatever on a little card. Give that to the desk and let the let $200 worth of money be your marketing for the morning for that coffee shop. Something that's just different and people are like, wow, that was so unheard of. Okay, that was my last idea. Listen to this. There's a ton of ideas in here, you guys. And the biggest piece is strategically build your community. Your network, what does Kiera say? There's a there's Kiera doesn't it's not her saying, but it's someone's right. But your net worth is directly correlated to your network. And so the people that you know, the people who are help building you up, the people who are referring back and forth, the the people that you call when business sucks and even though they're not indental, they can relate to you because they own a business. That's your network, right? So build your net worth by reaching out and building your community network. See what you can do to help other people. Nikki, this was really fun. Thank you for taking the journey with me. I know I made a lot of stops and pivots and turns, but that's what marketing is. So thank you and thank you for your time this morning that you blocked out for me. Nikki Mack (23:13) Always, thanks for having me. Love talking marketing. Always happy to work through stuff. So I'm really excited to see what some of our listeners come up with. Tiffanie (23:23) I agree. I agree. And with that, go brainstorm. Drop us a five-star review below and let us know what you did, whether it was something we suggested or something you thought of on your own. Let us know what you thought of. We want to share all of these with the community. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We are here to help you to work through it, to brainstorm, to do all of the fun pieces. So let us know how we can best support you. And with that, we will catch you next time.
#1192
August 20 · 25 min
#1,192: How To Know If Your Office Suffers From "Artificial Harmony"
Artificial harmony is what happens when teams work alongside each other day in and day out, but never actually talk about what needs to be said. Kiera and Dana walk listeners through why getting to the root of problems in a practice is so critical — from not just a teamwork point of view, but for the business itself — as well as where to start to turn your practice into a place where honesty and trust happens regularly. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today's a lucky day. I have the one and only Dana on the podcast with me. I love this. Dana, you happen to fit right in my podcasting schedule at the perfect time. So I'm getting more Dana time. You guys are getting more Dana time. Dana, how are you? Welcome to the podcast. Dana (00:16) excited to be here. I know it's rare. Like it's rare anymore that I get a ton of podcasting time, but especially podcasting time Kiera (00:22) Okay. Dana (00:23) with you. So I was super excited when Marisa confirmed it on my schedule. So Kiera (00:27) I was too. I was because Marisa has them in like I like to start early and I like to just run. And so Dana tends to have a break between coaching calls that I'm able to like slip a podcast in. So always excited and I agree. Like Dana, we've had a we've had some good ones. And I wanted to get you on the podcast today because I feel like you've been doing some awesome things with teams. I feel like there's been this new wave of Dana going into offices because I think as a consultant, our job is to reinvent ourselves over and over and over. Like who Dana was when she first started versus who Dana is today. Like that is a complete evolution. Who Kiera was, who offices are, like there's an evolution of that. And I think that this is the even the new evolution of team. I think the teams are shifting. I think that there's a new emergence from like even when I started the company to when you started to when we are here today. and I think you've just been doing some awesome things. So let's dive into like what are some of the fun things that we're doing for teams? What are some of the ways that you've been able to turn teams around and get to maybe like, cause I feel like a lot of people struggle with artificial harmony is probably the best way to say it where teams are working day in and day out where they're not saying what needs to be said. And then I feel like Dana, when you and I get on calls or we show up in offices, instantly like the floodgates are open and we just get a dumping. And it's like, okay, well, clearly there's a lot you want to say, but how do we get that to be the norm in the practice rather than the abnormal? So Dana, take it away. Like, let's talk about some of the offices you've been working with, how you've been able to like Crack that nut and get more to the root cause of problems and get teams to really gel and jive with each other better than I think we ever have. Dana (01:55) Yeah, this is a really exciting topic because I think it comes up in like a variable of different ways in like, okay, people want to have stronger leadership, right? They want more accountability for their team. They want a cohesive team or a culture that people love and are super excited to show up to every day. And it's funny because we might not think that this kind of all ties in together, but I've been talking so much to teams about just. Saying the things that need to be said, communicating with each other, solving like root problems versus just like you said, that artificial harmony. Kiera (02:34) Yeah. Dana (02:35) and I was just talking to an office actually this morning and and they're kind of creating their quarterly meeting agenda. And they're like, well, what do we do? And you know, we feel like the same people participate and the same issues kind of get brought up. And like we never kind of get beyond like that surface level. And so we kind of talked about how just having open, honest conversation about that and really building an and Increasing team, I feel like it all kind of very like boils down to like team trust and like communicating and saying all the things that need to be said. And I said, could you have a great like if you don't address this, could you have a decent meeting, right? Where you come up with good goals, you come up with good action items, you walk away feeling pretty good. Yeah. But when you don't have that trust and vulnerability, and when you don't open and have that communication, are your meetings great? Probably not. Do we solve the things that need to be solved? Probably not. Do we solve them forever, right? And we're all on the same page and we're super committed and then we're able to hold each other accountable? Probably not. And so I've been working a lot with a ton of teams, with leadership teams, even with owners on. We have to be able to say the things that need to be said to be able to truly. Be committed together and truly set goals that are going to move your practice, move your team in the right direction the most. Kiera (04:04) Mm-hmm. And Dana, I love that you brought that up because I think, gosh, I'm like gonna like date myself and go back to like when Tiff and I first met. And I grew up in a family where artificial harmony was like status quo. Like I feel like there's a a pendulum and you either are like artificial harmony or you're like kind of like mean spirited and like a little cutthroat. Like kind of is the that pendulum swing. And I grew up very much artificial harmony, right? Like we had like my siblings, we'd all run to my mom rather than like having a knockout drag out with each other. And as we've evolved when I met Tiff, she was very much an anti like no cure. We're just like gonna go to the root cause of this, we're gonna hash it out. And I it was very foreign and uncomfortable for me. But getting a taste of it, I was like, wow, that was so much more efficient. And that was so much easier. And I feel like I can know what's going on with Tiffanie now. I feel like I'm not sitting here, and especially with us being in a virtual team, it was my first time running a virtual team. And I was like, whoa, like I really need to know what's going on rather than what I think. Like, there's no vibe check. Like, Dana, you and I don't get a vibe check with each other often. It's like, hello, maybe there's a little like snide slack comment that goes through, and you're like, okay, like let's check it. But that's all you get. You don't really get that vibe check. And once I feel like you you cross the bridge into trust and vulnerability, saying what needs to be said. You can't go back. Like you are so, I don't think annoy's the right word, but you're just like, wow, there's like such a more efficient way to do this. Even my sisters, I remember a couple summers ago, my little sister, she was like still sitting in artificial harmony. And like went for it. I was like, all right, let's talk about it. I understand I can have a little bit more direct approach. I think I can maybe soften. And my little sister was like, no, like this is good. Like us having a hash, like, what's your perspective? What's my perspective? Like, let's come to that root cause. You and I are gonna be so much more bonded together. We'll have so much more trust with each other. I'm gonna know that what you tell me is really truth, rather than sitting here guessing, wondering, wishing, hoping like my mom doesn't need to come in and intervene between us. Like neither of us want that. And I think you can relate that to offices where no one wants the office manager or the doctor to come and intervene. Like Dana and I should be able to talk it out. We don't need Tiffanie to come in and mediate. Sometimes you do, but if you can get that as the status quo of a practice, it is fascinating to see meetings start actually become very enjoyable. People aren't bored in these meetings anymore. actually say what needs to be said. We like you said, Dana, I feel like it's like it's the good to great. It's the like mediocre to excellent. And I think we've even watched it evolve in our consulting team. Like I was like, all right, we had a moment where I watched our consultants not give feedback that I I thought that they would have given. And it was such an amazing eye opening for me of like, all right, consultant team, like let's talk like how do we get more trust and vulnerability? How do I as a leader make it to where this feels like a safe space for you to say what needs to be said and We worked on it this quarter and it's actually really fun to see it in our company evolve and in teams have it evolve. So, Dana, how do you like virtually and in person get teams to feel safe to start to change? Because to say what needs to be said, to healthy debate it out, to trust one another that you're not gonna go talk about me to my neighbor. And if I say something that's very off topic, like I always pull the example in an office, I'm like, all right, everybody, we're working Saturdays, and it's like crickets. And I'm like, okay, well, clearly we don't have trust. 'Cause I know none of you want to be working Saturdays. Like, let's have this and this is a good example. But I'm just curious, like, how do you even like broach this? How do you even one, I guess, like let's back it up. How do you know if your team has true trust and vulnerability? And then two, how do you start to bring more of that into the table? Dana (07:32) Yeah, I think it is just I usually take a gauge of okay. I'll notice in teams, right? That we'll come up with action plans or that we'll come up and it's like we we lack sort of follow-through, right? And then there's after conversations, or there's like, well, I didn't really do this because I had all these questions, or I didn't. So like that is kind of a sign to me in my team meetings and in my meetings with teams that, like, okay, we're not really saying the things that need to be said, or we're not because we aren't moving forward, right? We aren't implementing, we aren't getting to the point where, yeah, like we had this really great meeting, we came up with these actions. Items, we're super excited. We went and tackled them, right? So Kiera (08:12) Mm-hmm. Dana (08:13) when I have a team that kind of struggles to do those things, or they're constantly like, well, we started and it fell off, or we did like to me, that is a sign of we aren't getting to the bottom of things, we aren't getting people committed, we aren't getting people bought in, so things aren't being said. So just like you said, that crickets where like that work on Saturday. kind of conversation, then I just start to ask questions. And I think where it gets to kind of be an eye-opening point is so many times people feel like I had in an in a virtual team meeting, a team member's like, well, you know, I don't say the ideas I have or I don't say the issues because I don't feel like as a team member I have like the authority to, right? So then it's just looking. So then I looked at the doctor and I said, okay, do you want to know the things that are frustrating your team? Do you want to know the things that are stressing them out? Do you want to know where they feel like things are? in inefficient. And of course the answer was absolutely yes. Like I don't Kiera (09:10) Uh-huh. Dana (09:10) want my team members beating their heads against the wall on the same things if we can come to a team meeting and we can solve it together. And then on the flip side, I've had the conversations of when it comes to like leadership holding back or owners holding back on the things that they want to say. It's truly asking the team like, do you want to know what the expectations of you are? Do you want to know if you're doing something that frustrates an owner or stresses them out? Or do you want to know that you are aligned? And every time, right, everybody is like, yes, yes, I do. Kiera (09:41) Yeah. Dana (09:42) Then it is giving them the tools, right, to Kiera (09:44) Mm-hmm. Dana (09:45) be able to create that with themselves. And for them to really realize that it comes from there is a lack of trust or a lack of vulnerability on one side, both sides. And like, is it between leaders and teams? Is it between team members and team members? Is Kiera (10:02) And you Dana (10:02) it and it can always be strengthened and it can always be improved? But I think just getting to like, hey, this is an issue and let's talk about it. Kiera (10:12) Absolutely. And I think Dana, you you brought up a lot of highlights of like they're not following through on their accountability. People are like, I want an accountable team. And if you go to like Patrick Lenciani's Five Dysfunctions of a Team, which is where a lot of this is pulled from, like bottom layer of that triangle is trust and vulnerability. Then it's healthy debate, then it's commitment, then it is peer-to-peer accountability, and then it's winning and hitting results. So when I think about that, it's like if people are not being committed, it's because they didn't hash it. So they're like, I don't want to do that. And what happens is you get the side hallway conversations of like, Dana, I'm not doing that. Are you doing that? Like, there's absolutely no way. We're trying to cut those side hallway conversations. And that's where we tell teams. I tell all teams, I'm like, here's a safe space. Like, you guys get to say whatever you want to say. I don't care what it is. It's always with respect, it's with professionalism, and it's in the best interest of the practice. Not Dana's best interest, not Kiera's best interest. We have different perspectives. Let's bring them to the table. But all of us are here to make Dental A Team or Whatever your practice's name is, it we're here to make it better. So as long as like those are ground rules. But I tell everyone like you have an open voice, you have an open space. And if you choose not to say it today, well, bummer, you committed to this. So you're gonna commit, you're gonna follow through because that's who we all are and that's how this team operates. But next meeting, when you're like, Dana, I don't wanna do this, we talk about it. And also as coworkers, if we hear someone saying I don't want to do that, you say like, hey, dang it, like I hear you. Next time bring it up because like we all committed. That's how you're going to fix. And like people have to get on the same page and it gets awkward. But I'm like, if you can get 1% better every meeting, team members get very bought in. Team members then start to realize like, like I tell people, if you're not having a little bit of spicy fireworks in your meetings, you don't have enough trust and vulnerability. There should be some spice. There should be some fireworks. It's not like yelling, it's not like Dana and I are going at it. It's a Dana, like, let's talk Saturdays, right? Dana's like, all right, cool. So we want to work Saturdays. I don't want to work Mondays and Tuesdays. Like, let's talk about why we want to work Saturdays, why we don't want to work Saturdays, what's really like ultimately in the best interest of the business. I'm like, cool. Could Dana and I get to a point where if Saturdays really are a great practice, like practice plan, we don't necessarily have to work it. Like, that doesn't mean Dana and I have to go work it. Like, could we go find hygienists that want to work Saturdays? Like, yes. So instead of having teams shut it down, it's a let's. Let's innovate, let's create, let's figure out what's in the best interest of the business. But all of us need to have a voice and then all of us commit. And then that's where I love the peer-to-peer accountability. Instead of it's leadership accountability, it's peer-to-peer. So if Dana's like hearing me talk, smacking those sterilization, she's supposed to call me out. And I think teams building up to this, teams realizing that this is normal. What's fascinating, I will say this for myself, it actually improved my marriage, it improved my family relationships, it improved so many things because I realize. that that's healthy. Like that's actually a healthy culture. That's that is a harmonious whole culture, even though you're like, whoa, that doesn't feel like it, versus the ones that are sitting there silently. And when Jason and I started getting more into this, I'm like, tell me. Like I remember sitting there and I was like, I love having a good spice even with Jason. I love to be like, tell me what you think. What do I think? Like let's get to that. And I recognize some people like myself can be a bit more bold. and so I think the bold personalities need to recognize that some of the quieter personalities give them a space to also speak up and quieter personalities, we need your voice. We need your perspective. Like it it's not you, it's just your perspective. So we can all get on the same page. But it's it's fascinating to watch the churn. And what I see is team members are going to rise up and some are going to rise out. They're going to be like, this isn't for me. I want to go back to the place of artificial harmony. But leaders when they start to see this is how this is how teams solve their own problems. This is how meetings become effective. This is how your business starts to actually like move, make traction. evolve. Like you start to actually have functioning and and teams that don't turn over because they actually say what needs to be said and they're not sitting in that artificial harmony. Dana, what are your thoughts on that? Dana (14:05) Yeah, I I agree with you and I love there are gonna be team members that can come in and they can really take this on and they can embrace it. And then there's gonna be team members who use it like they put their just their big toe in it. And I just did this recently in in person with an office and it was an office where they like really wanted it. They were like, Yes, we know that we need it, we need to say the things. but it was really scary for them because they cared about each other and so they never wanted to, you know, that fear of like, well, are they gonna hear my intention? Are they going to understand that like I'm saying it because it's for the good, right? Kiera (14:39) Mm-hmm. Dana (14:40) So what we did, and this was really cool and really helpful, and they've had so many of these conversations since I was in there, and I can't tell you how proud of them I am. We basically came up with a code word, and the code word is I'm saying something that is uncomfortable for me to say because I anticipate that maybe it's going to feel negative, maybe it's going to feel abrasive, right? But my intention is if I say this thing, then we can solve it together and we can move on, right? Those so like that is the framing behind this code Kiera (15:16) Yeah, uh-huh. Dana (15:16) word, right? And for them, they picked something that makes them laugh. So they just it's a flat tire conversation, right? Kiera (15:21) Yeah. Dana (15:22) And so they always say like, hey, flat tire, and then say the thing, right? And that's just their way Kiera (15:27) Mm. Dana (15:28) of really just making them comfortable with this whole philosophy of we're going to say the things that need to be said. We're going to do it kindly and professionally. But it was kind of like their little lean in tool that Kiera (15:38) I love it. Dana (15:39) they use. Now I said we can't ever use flat tire of a like, hey, I was supposed to do This, but flat tire, I didn't, right? We can't use it to get out of accountability for things, but it really is just to set the tone of I'm gonna say a thing that I'm scared to say that's hard to say, but I hope if I say it, we can grow together, right? Kiera (15:57) I love that. Dana (15:58) And so I love that as a tool, and I find myself kind of using it in a few offices since then, and they can pick their own word, it doesn't have to be flat tire, but you're right, this is hard for some team members to really get on board with because I do think that. When they genuinely like each other as humans, this can be uncomfortable at first. So even using a tool like that, hey, we're not gonna not have the conversations or not say Kiera (16:22) Uh-huh. Dana (16:22) the thing, but maybe I need a crutch to get there. Kiera (16:25) Yes. Well, and Dana, I love that because I think I think most teams actually love each other and most teams want to work together. Most teams respect each other. And I think if we can even reframe that to me having the conversation with you, like let's go to the book Raving Fans. They said the worst thing that can happen to a business is for people to leave and not tell you. And you might feel like someone telling you and giving you feedback, like that's actually the best thing that can happen to a business because that means they believe in you that you're willing to change. And so I think if we even reframe of the way I really love my team, the way I really support my coworkers, the way I really show them that I trust them is by having these types of conversations. Me not saying anything actually like is a disservice. None of us, like I ask every team, I'm like, how many of you enjoy like walking on eggshells around team members? Like we all know what that feels like. We all know when someone's like upset with us, but we don't know how to have that conversation. We're like, what did I do to this person? Versus someone where it's like, Dana, like I feel like things are a little off. Like flat tire. Like, can we have a conversation about this so we can solve it together? That shows so much more camaraderie. That shows so much more professionalism. That shows so much more, like to me, that's a maturity of a team. There's like, I feel like it's like layers, right? Baby teams, Dana (17:36) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kiera (17:37) toddler teams, middle school teams, high school teams, college teams. Then you get into professional services like teams. Like you just think about like, Even think about the type of communication all those different layers are going to have with each other. And maybe that's also a way for us to graduate into those different layers of communication with each other. But I will tell you, as someone, and I think that that's something I'm very proud of, is I am a very like people pleaser. I love people like me. I'm very much sit on that artificial harmony. And sometimes, like even with Britt, like my hair, I'll like push it up and I'm like, all right, Britt, this is a moment where I'm really stressed. Like I need to say something to you. And I'm like, Every ounce of me wants to say it, but I don't want it to ever land wrong. So just know, like right now, like this is me like pep talking myself to go into this combo. And I appreciate that Britt will giggle because she knows like it's so hard for me, but I just need to say what needs to be said. And I think for teams, like this is a muscle and a skill that's really going to take you from where you are to where you ultimately want to go. Like this is that bridge. And you can either sit on one side of the river or you can dip your toe in, you can step on the bridge, you can start having the conversations. And what's wild is your team culture will start to shift and evolve in ways you've never imagined and you'll never look back. Like it's not like you might have some knockout, drag outs, but you're like, you what, I'd rather know than like not know. And you start to get into this where it's like, cool, let's have a conversation. Like you said, tell us about the flat tire office. How long has it been? What's kind of been their experience, highs and lows, and where are they today? Dana (19:07) Yeah, yeah. So this it we did this more recently in an in-person. It was probably like three months ago. And Kiera (19:14) Mm-hmm. Dana (19:15) they've had, I think, teammate to teammate conversations. They've had leadership to team member conversations, and they've had team member two leadership conversations since then. And I can tell you, like they are more committed, they are tracking things, they are, you know, they've got a board where things are like red and green. We did it for just like a visual for them. There is more green. On the board since then than I've ever seen, because they truly, truly are using morning huddles to like work through things and just communicating at a level that I'm so proud because I they really, really struggled with this. And I wasn't they were committed, right? But I had seen them fall off in commitment before because they did struggle with this. And so watching them really be able to Take it on, use that. And two, the last call that I had with them, just feedback in like, hey, I had a flat tire conversation and I didn't even have to take say flat tire, right? Like I didn't Kiera (20:15) Yeah. Dana (20:15) even have to use that crutch. I'm getting so comfortable with having conversations that I didn't even have to use our funny word. And you know, they did laugh because it was like after the fact we were like, flat tire, right? but Kiera (20:27) Ha ha ha Dana (20:28) the fact that like they could just go in and say it in a meeting, right? Say it Kiera (20:32) Mm-hmm. Dana (20:32) in a not even in a one-on-one space, like this happened in a team. meeting where they were talking about things, it honestly and truly has made such a difference in their ability to work together and honestly and truly commit and then hit their goals, right? And Kiera (20:49) Yeah, uh-huh. Dana (20:50) actually hit their action items. And it's been really fun to see how proud of themselves they are too. Kiera (20:56) That's incredible. And I hope I don't know if you guys heard. I heard. I was watching Dana's face and hearing you're like, they were committed. Like you even like the little like trying to like, they were committed. And to me, that's not committed. Versus on this latter half when you're like, they commit and they hit, there is like a stalwartness. There's a solid, there's a grounded of are we like committed? Like, like we're there, but we're not, versus like, we know we're gonna have the conversations, whatever we say we're going to actually achieve as a team. Do you know how much teams love to win and actually like Be confident they're going to win, be confident that the goals we set are realistic, to challenge each other and to see a team like Dana, that was three months of a change in an evolution. And I think that's fun. And it now just becomes a standard, it becomes a baseline. You gave them the tools to get there. And I think having a consultant, see that, give your team the tools. I mean, Dana, kudos. I'm definitely gonna take that because I think having the like word of how do I go into this conversation and making it funny that they all agree to my husband, I have the word Arkansas, and that's like if I want him to tell me the truth. And I feel like he's like kind of like, hmm, not I'm like Arkansas. And he's no, no, Arkansas. Like, this is really what I'm trying to say. And I'm like, okay, great. Like sometimes we all need to just have that where we can we can check in with each other. And I think kudos to you, Dana, for doing that. And to get a team to just rally and to hit great goals and to be committed. And what's wild is this team, like I guarantee you, they've got the base foundation, just like Patrick, Patrick Lanzioni says, it's the trust and vulnerability, the healthy debate, and you lock in and commit. And if you will do the trust and vulnerability where you healthy debate, your team will actually commit and then they hold each other accountable. It's like, no, we committed to this. Like we're all in it to win it. And then you hit your results. And people want to do it the reverse order. They want to hit the results, but they don't want to talk about the trust. And like Dana said, like we can like, we can kind of hit results, but we're not like so grounded and solid that we know we're gonna do it. So Dana, huge kudos to you. I think mad kudos of you giving that space and giving them the space to trust. And I think for other offices, if you're struggling with that or your team's not quite there. This is what we're really good at is peeling back those onion layers, helping to open up the conversations. Because yes, you come to us for wanting systems and you want case acceptance, you want morning huddle and you want to drive your production. But a lot of times the secret to that bridge is getting your team to actually communicate with each other, getting your team to trust each other, getting your team to be solely locked in and committed to what we actually say rather than like half-heartedly trying to do it because they want to please you. Let's get people who are actually like very committed and this is their practice that they stamp off on. And they own. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Dana, I'm so freaking proud of you. Any last thoughts you've got before we wrap today? Dana (23:28) No, I think just when you want this for your team, be willing to do it yourself. owners, dentists, right? And and just it is hard, right? It can be hard to say the things, but know that when we can say the things, the traction that we can have and the movement that we can have is unimaginable. Kiera (23:47) Dana, that is like a solid mic drop. You're right. Like it starts with leaders first. You've got to be willing to do it. You can't be backbiting. You can't be gossiping behind the scenes. You can't be walking out of a meeting saying, I'm not doing that. You set that example. Dana, love podcasting with you. I adore you. I'm so proud of you. For all of you listening, commit. Like, let's let's get our teams to be functional. Let's get them to be rocking. Let's get them to be totally committed. And this is the first step. So try it or reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. As always, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
August 19 · 26 min
#1,191: Breaking Down the Benefits of DSOs
Re-releasing a Dental A-Team podcast fan favorite! Britt is fresh off visiting a ton of practices, many of which are part of dental support organizations (DSOs), and she's sharing her insight. With Kiera, she talks about the foundational pieces to set up DSOs for success — everything from training the leadership team, setting up KPIs, providing profit and loss statement education, and allowing culture and patient experience to grow in each practice while keeping an overall brand. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time. on the Dental A Team podcast. speaker-0 (00:31) and I've got the one and only Brittany Stone back on the pod. Guys, she has been a freaking road warrior, traveling to seven offices in one day. Dang, Britt. Welcome back. How you doing? How you feeling? How are you today? speaker-1 (00:45) I'm good. You made me sound better than I was in one day. Seven in a week. Still a lot, but seven in a week. speaker-0 (00:51) Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. We could edit that or you guys can just know. in my mind, I think it felt like you were seven in a day. Like you were cruising speaker-1 (00:58) Yeah. speaker-0 (01:00) to practices. Seven in a week is so many offices. But guys, don't worry, Britt wasn't like leaving them high and dry hanging out. You were seeing it kind of walk us through. I know you went to quite a few DSOs that had multi practices, multi locations. Kind of what was that like and and how does that even look when you're going to multiple practices like that? speaker-1 (01:19) Yeah, it's fun. So that was it was a week of my like multi practice location. So one had three offices, one had four offices, the two groups that I work with last week. And so it's fun. It's fun to see one you get to know kind of like the visionaries who who started a thing, whether it's just an owner or multiple partners that are involved in it, get to see kind of their vision and it's it's fun to see the different also types of practices that are underneath their umbrellas and how they run 'cause usually we've got some different sizes, obviously different locations. So so yeah, I got to go in, meet everybody, go see all the different practices, kind of see what's going on with them, what things we could help with on an individual practice level and then also as an organization. So it was a good time. speaker-0 (02:07) That's a lot. And I I do think it is fun when you go see multiple practices because this whole idea of DSO is that we want all of our practices to run exactly the same. And I know when I was a regional manager of ten practices, the bottom line is there is no such thing as running every practice the same. I think it's more like getting rid of that illusion that they're all going to be the same. And it's more what are the foundational pieces and the the silver lining strings that we want running amongst them all. Britt, I know you had one practice, that kind of wanted to do their own thing within a group. Like, how do you how do you get like one, paint the vision of all the practices needing to be at least fundamentally pretty consistent and similar. And then also helping the doctors and the team members understand like, I get it, it might be annoying for you, but for the greater good of all the practices, it really does make everything easier when we run the same. Because I know a lot of practices just want to run as solo practices, but when you're in a group and multi-offices that no longer serves the greater organization. Like what was kind of your findings with that? How do you how are you finding to get people on board? Is that something you were running into? Just kinda give us your thoughts around that. speaker-1 (03:16) Yeah, I think every DSO probably struggles or like group practice struggles with all right, how much do we have the same and like where can we kind of let them be their own and shine in their own way? And also from the business side of things for the DSO, right? What things are more financially beneficial for us to be able to do them the same and have on the same system? so that we run it across all offices and get the true benefit of the DSO. And so that's where you s kind of start to to figure out, all right, there's gonna be a lot of systems that one, yes, anything that impacts other offices or the group overall, we've gotta make the best decision for the group on how we want that to run, whether it's but easy things like payroll is a pretty pretty common one that's gotta be obviously the same across all over offices. If we're using the same software, right, the way we run our schedule, who's allowed to be on our schedule. All of those things kinda need guidelines that go across the board. So we all know a little bit of the rules of engagement on things like the schedule. So that's kinda I start to think of it as all right, what are the most important things that impact each other that we need to have the same that's also gonna allow us to be most financially beneficial for the DSO? And then what things don't necessarily impact the other offices where those offices can start to really like, all right, what are procedures you do? Great, go run with it, build it up and Even if we can get some referrals from other offices for that thing, fantastic and they kinda kinda do their own a little bit. speaker-0 (04:48) For sure. And but I was thinking like it actually might be fun on this podcast for us to dive into when you're in a DSO, because Br I know your private practice sold to a DSO. I work with lots of DSOs. You work with lots of DSOs. And I think DSOs are a pretty hot buzzword right now in dentistry. of kind of what are some of those things that you should have standardized. I love that you brought up the payroll for sure. for me, some of the things I know I'm looking at is I really am just looking at Key metrics amongst all practices. And I know, Britt, with a lot of the DSOs that you and I are consulting together, that is one of the biggest things of making sure all of them are hitting the metrics. And then whatever they want to do outside of those metrics, it's pretty much free reign from there. So, like we're talking labs, supplies, overhead, production per hour per provider, hygiene production. those are like my main things. Case acceptance is another one I really like to watch. Number of new patients per practice is another key indicator that I really love watching. but those are kind of the main things. And then I really feel like in DSOs and multi practices, some of the biggest things that get lost are culture and patient experience. And those are to be different shades for every practice. And I really I like practices to think in like, no, you want the patient to feel the exact same way whether they come to this location. Or whether they're going to another location. It is that way. And having practices and offices think like I've got one right now and they just acquired another practice. And they're really doing a divide between the offices. And they're they're labeling each office based on the city. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. let's call them all the practice name. So we are all, let's just say, healthy smiles. It's not healthy smiles of probos and healthy smiles of orum. It is Healthy smiles, and then we have our Aurum location and our provo location. Those are just a quick way because I think when you can have it as an umbrella of all the practices operate as this way, and then here's these different locations, but helping everyone realize there is the healthy smiles way. And we operate on healthy smiles first. Secondary is going to be our location. Are those some of the things you've seen? Like those are one, the key indicators I like to look at. And then secondly, making sure that people realize like the culture and the patient experience. really need to be dialed in in my opinion, to really help these DSOs grow and flourish. speaker-1 (07:09) Mm-hmm. I'm with you on KPIs, right? Teaching office managers how to be able to kind of take charge of those, know what's going on in their practice, and that we're all watching those important numbers to be healthy for sure. That's an across the board thing. and then I'm with you on capitalize off the brand. from a lot of the DSOs we work with, where it's a few different locations, usually I feel like a lot of them are gonna be like five or less, where you can truly make sure that we are maintaining our standard, maintaining our brand, and then capitalize off of that brand for all practices to where there might be a patient who's looking to go to the office, but maybe it's a little bit farther. great, they've got a location that's closer than to me. Awesome. Let me just go ahead and go to that closer location. And agreed. You've got to keep then the culture and the patient experience up to be number one. And what does that look like? What does it stand for? And there are I will say different pieces that go into that when it comes to maintaining that culture in our practices and that experience. And I think those would be some non-negotiables like you start to build in if it's we're on time, right, with our appointments as much as possible. So that's something we really drive with our teams. We're always friendly with our patients, we're always welcoming. How do we present on the phone? you can start to dig into some of those things that you really want to represent as a practice and make sure it's ingrained in our team members and how we present. speaker-0 (08:41) Yeah. And I think like you said it's that culture in that brand. And honestly, I think people forget that that's actually why you became successful. Like that culture, that brand you started developing, that's how you're able to multiple scale across other practices. And I feel like offices that that see all the practices as one company and then the the different locations are just extensions of that company are the ones that really flourish. In that same thing, I feel like Britt, something you and I have really been trying to hone in on with offices is to make sure that they have a key leadership team. So people that are really in sync to make decisions. and that's for your operations, for your labs, for your supplies, and and then making sure that things can actually execute forward. Because I feel like when we get a lot of partners involved, what happens is everybody has a strong opinion, but those opinions actually are great unless they stop all the the forward progress And I think they really just have to be key decision players that everybody elects. It's almost like a board. I feel like all the practices are almost like a neighborhood and you need an HOA, like somebody who can actually just make the decisions and execute in the best interest. And maybe you've got a few of them. So you've got, say, your regional manager who's overseeing all of the practices, the overhead, the operations really. You've possibly got a clinical manager on there who's really looking at the hygiene, the dental assistants. Then you've got probably a dentist on the board who's making decisions as far as what are the clinical diagnoses, what are the supplies that all dentists need across the board. And then you're probably gonna have somebody who's your finance person. So someone really looking at the financials of the practice. And if you can have one of those key players, I feel like just get that honed in. Then you can have all the practices have their own like little leadership teams and whatnot. But really you've got those four players who can make very strong decisions. And maybe the dentist is the same person as the clinical lead. Maybe that we don't need an extra person there, maybe not. But I think if you can really get that dialed in, you're going to be able to make a lot stronger decisions and be able to move things forward more. Britt, what are you seeing? Like you were literally just in DSOs. Are you finding that that type of structure helps move things along? Or are you finding like, no, we need to have key leaders in other areas? Wha what's kind of your take on how to make sure decisions can be made? Because I truly feel like once you get the the KPIs dialed in and everyone's reporting in, once you get your office managers looking at their practices, making sure they're profitable and reporting in, then you got your culture and your brand, it's really about getting decisions made quickly and moving things along rather than getting stagnated with so many opinions. speaker-1 (11:20) Mm-hmm. And I am big on agreed. You've got to figure out who are your key players, what leadership team do you need in place. I am in big support of having someone who's a strong regional manager in place to help make a lot of those kind of smaller decisions for offices, the offices need support on and empowering office managers to make decision decisions within the balance that you give them. I think the more you expose your office managers and teach them some of the business side to where they really know what those KPIs are, they really know what they're watching, they know how to influence it, you'll become more confident in their decision making as they see things at a kind of higher level, a bigger picture. but when they can have that information, know how to see it from a little bit higher level, start giving them the the opportunity to make decisions within their practice. So one, they can kind of see the fun and feel empowered to where they really can run that team and own that office. and they don't feel like they're just kind of sitting waiting for people to tell them what to do. and then that they've got a really strong regional behind them who also has the ability to make decisions within the parameters that if it's partners or owner gives them. to keep moving things forward and same thing. It's a super empowering thing to where they can get more creative and think of o opportunities for the practices than just feeling like they need to wait because they can't make a decision or do anything because someone's not gonna approve of it. speaker-0 (12:47) And I really love that you talked about having that regional manager understand the business. I feel like in DSOs, you have to have somebody who understands the business and can think like a business owner. That way they can make decisions. Britt, what were some of the things that as you were basically their regional manager, you were in that DSO role? What were some of the things you felt helped? Because I I think I think sometimes business owners forget everything they've learned. So having somebody come through, it's almost like we've forgotten what business 101 is. of what things we really need to teach them. What have you found that was maybe helpful for you, for your owners to teach you so you could be more successful in your role within that DSL? speaker-1 (13:28) Sure. I think one of the first things is helping the office managers and regional managers understand what a PL is. Like, and it doesn't even have to be like the terms of this is a PL, but understanding, I like to relate it to it's just like at home if we have a budget, right? And what money do we have coming in, what things are we spending money in, and at the end, you know, what do we have left over? Just helping them understand not overall. kind of equation of how the business runs and what are the different pieces within that that they can impact, which is ultimately how many patients we have, how much we treatment plan is truly our ultimate potential as an office. And then what we close, what we schedule, what we collect on, and then controlling our expenses, so then we can have a greater kind of profit left over at the end. So helping them understand that big picture and then helping them to understand within each of those little sections, which are Then KPIs, what are the more like tangible things that we can track that impact that bigger equation to the business? And agreed, I think we don't realize how much we've learned along the way or people have taught us along the way, even myself kind of running through sometimes these KPIs when you haven't seen them before and you don't understand one, maybe where they come from, or two, why would we even track it? And three. What could I even do to change that number? Like those are things you have to learn over time and someone's gotta gotta actually take the time to invest in teaching you. speaker-0 (14:59) Which I I don't think people realize that PNL. When I first looked at a PL, I'm like, this looks like a straight up foreign language. Like I don't even know what ninety percent of this means. And so just imagine, if you will, if you've been running a business, you've been looking at PNLs, pretend you were just plunked into like for me, I do not speak Chinese. So being stuck in a class speaking Chinese and them handing me a report and saying, Kiera, you need to be able to read this and figure it out and tell me what I should do with my business. I would literally look at that and want to cry. And then I'd probably take a picture with my phone and I'd start Googling and I'd hope and pray I could find some type of Google Translate to figure it out. That like I feel is a good way for you to really understand like what it feels like to be those team members when they first start looking at PL. So I think one of the best ways is just practice. and what I've done is like Britt said, is really just Sit with your regional. Also, you can do this with your office managers, especially in DSOs, because the more your office managers understand the PL and what it should look like, that can help. So it's really just dial into that. tell them what a healthy payroll like payroll should be sitting at less than 30% of our total collections every month. Our lab should be at less than 9% of our total collections every month, supplies 5%, and just go down the list with them so they can see is this good or is this bad? I love HDA accounting. I think they do a great job. Profy is another one. I'd Bailey is another one. those are just some some accounting companies. I like when they send the P and L because it's red and green. Like HDA is like you get a thumbs up or you get a thumbs down. Makes it a little bit easier. But then asking your regional or your managers to say, Hey, when you look at this P N L, what do you see that's going really, really well? And what do you see are some of the areas that might be trouble areas and why? Because I feel like when you can start to almost quiz them and role play with them and have more of a collaboration with them, they start reading that PL and figuring it out rather than you always telling them. But like Britt said, you've got to take the time and invest with them. That way they can look at a PNL. I know Shelbi's been doing RPLs. She sends it to me every week and finally I said, Shelbs, what do you see on this? And that was the first time she'd really looked at it. Sha I just had an assignment for her to send them to me every week, which she does great. But then I started asking her to look at them and then we start diving into it and looking at different numbers. And it's crazy how when you just spend a little bit of time, people can really start to find things that you as the owner might even be missing. And then they can take the accountability and the ownership of it. But just realize like it is a completely foreign language for these poor people. Let's not forget to train them and educate them so they can be set up for success. speaker-1 (17:38) Mm-hmm, for sure. And I think also when it comes down to it, when you start looking at some of these numbers and you haven't looked at it before, so even office managers, when they look at it and they haven't seen it or regionals, they're gonna start to understand and like it it's fun in in a way to see their eyes kind of open to like, I understand why like I really want to be able to hire an additional team member, but here's where we are, so it makes sense now why now's not the time to hire. And we need to work on some other things so we can afford to hire another team. speaker-0 (18:10) Exactly. And then you're no longer as the business owner, the bad guy or the good guy. When your regional says, Hey, I want to hire, you say, Prime, can we afford this? What does the PNL say? And they then are the ones who are answering the question rather than you being like giving the green light or giving the thumbs down. And then they are more again a partner with you. Britt, as a regional, and I'll give my insights of how it felt for me, how does that make you feel when you can as a regional start making those business decisions and truly be like a trusted side partner where you're like really, really informed in the business. How does that make you as the regional manager, you as the manager, the practice like, what do you feel like when you feel that competent reading PNLs and understanding the business? speaker-1 (18:54) I loved it. I loved it for one of the biggest reasons is because I'm in a practice, especially as OM, like I'm in a practice every day and can see what I have and what I need and what's actually going on like as close to the ground as possible. So when it's something like this, we're like driving numbers in a certain direction, I'm like, all right, I can see multiple things kind of in the puzzle that I can start to manipulate or impact. to be able to drive those numbers, drive the results, or if it's like, hey, we want to get new technology, what do we need to do to get there? Great, we want another ITero. Here's a plan of how we can afford to get that new piece of equipment. speaker-0 (19:33) Exactly. And it it feels so good. Like for me, it just felt like the I like to win. And I felt like it was finally my my roadmap to being able to be successful and and hit the goals that my doctor had, but literally have like the optics, if you will, for success. And so I think it's super paramount of teaching your team members and empowering them. Like even as team members, I know Tiff, Britt, Shelbi, like our whole team. They'll look like, Kiera, can we actually afford that? That is like one of the happiest days of all of my business time because I'm like, they're actually looking to see, can we afford that? Can we do this? Does this make sense for the business? And it's not me just carrying the weight anymore. So I feel like it's really important for for offices, especially DSOs. Like I would say if we were to recap this and Britt, it's fun that you just came in off of DSO. So I thought, like, hey, let's dive into DSO success of one. Like set up your KPIs. Make sure you've got all practices reporting in and they understand and like truly spend the time to teach your office managers at each practice what those KPIs need to look like, how to get the information, and then have a set cadence where they're really reporting in with you. The next thing is like build up that leadership team within the DSO of the strong people that can actually make the decisions and they have the autonomy and the authority to execute. And then third, train the team members to really look at these PL so they understand. Before all that we did talk about like having the standardization of culture, the name, making sure those things run the same. And I feel like within DSOs, you are way, way, way more needed to be structured and to over-communicate than you are in solo or even secondary practices. Like the type of communication, the amount of communication, the amount of I would say like rules with massive air quotes. Like people just need to know the guidelines of what we can or can't do, and they've gotta be black and white. That's kind of like my recap of everything we talked about, Britt. Of like DSO success, but is there anything I may have missed or things you want to just highlight on your own that you feel really really makes or breaks a DSO from your perspective? speaker-1 (21:35) I think those are all key pieces that ultimately build to like there's no one or three people at the top that depending on how big you get, right? They can be responsible for making all decisions. So a lot of it is making sure you've got that flywheel of culture going to where you don't have to put so much effort into controlling it. And then you've got key people and support so that the people kinda at the top or the the OGs, the originals who kind of started it. that you build in support for yourself and you're not having having to make all of those decisions for everybody. speaker-0 (22:10) Think that that's actually one of the like key pieces that I hadn't even realized is this allows more freedom of those visionaries to go and make decisions, but have a team that can also make decisions and think like that visionary more so. So, like, and to be honest, a lot of people get excited about going and buying the practices that they forget. You need to have that foundation, those guidelines, those ways for people to make decisions without the OGs being there to answer everything. And if you don't have that in play. Get that in play, hire a coach. That's what we do. We literally help offices get these things set up, things they might not have thought about. Be that mediator who can really remind, show, guide people to get things done. But make sure you have that in play as you're building, but or I would truly suggest before you do it. However, I know all visionaries just go and they buy the practice and then figure it out. So like it's cool. We we know you, we see you, but really getting that ability for people to be it have autonomy. And so that way the owners don't have to always be making every decision. I think one just empowers everyone and two, it's an easier flowing process for sure. speaker-1 (23:16) Mm. Absolutely. speaker-0 (23:17) So guys, there you go. There's Road Warrior Britt coming back in off of a DSO week. We love our DSO practices. But really, I just thought it'd be fun for us to highlight today of what are some of the the key sticks success for DSOs. And Britt, I know you came from a very successful DSO before joining Dental A Team. And so I feel like you just have such a knack for it. And offices who work with you, shoot. You got some of the most raving reviews from the offices you were with. Like I got personal text messages from those doctors thanking you for being there and how much you're able to clarify. So Britt, kudos to you. it's fun to have you share on DSO secrets and success. speaker-1 (23:53) Thanks. I do love my D SOs. speaker-0 (23:56) They're just fun. Britt and I giggle were like, we loved our our new practices, but man, those DSOs, they're like puzzles for us to have to try and figure out, put together. Britt and I will collaborate on these all the time, and it's so fun for those DSOs. Kiera Dent (24:12) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine. to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene or associate onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
#1189
August 18 · 27 min
#1,190: For the Practice Owners Stuck in the Weeds
Tiff and Nikki share how a hands-on operator can become a strategic owner, and at the same time set the team up for success. By sharing responsibilities and establishing clear systems, your practice's culture, business, and team can blossom in unexpected ways. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello Dental A Team listeners. We are back with you today and to share some really fun things. I have Nikki here with me today. I love nothing more than podcasting with the other consultants on our team. And Nikki is a favorite, a fan favorite, and a Dental A Team Nikki Mack (00:17) Yeah. Tiffanie (00:18) favorite. Nikki, thank you so much for being here this morning for us and whatever time of day the listeners are listening. How are you today, Nikki? Nikki Mack (00:26) I am good. I'm excited to be back too. I this has become one of my favorite parts of Dental A Team. and especially when I hear from doctors and listeners, my gosh, I heard you yesterday on the podcast. And it's fun to know that like while I get to have a good time with you, this really matters and it helps our listeners. So happy to be Tiffanie (00:44) I love that. Nikki Mack (00:45) here. Tiffanie (00:46) I love that you walked into an office not that long ago and they said, my gosh, I just listened to you. I think it was that morning, right? You had a doctor that had said that. Nikki Mack (00:52) Yeah. On their way into the practice. So that was a how do you follow up yourself? Like that was a that's a tough act. Yeah. Tiffanie (00:59) Yeah. Yeah. I gotta do a whole meeting. This is wild. I love it. Yes, we have definitely built a cult following here and we love it. I know you actually you are working with an office who is one of our biggest podcast fans of all time. and it's a husband and wife duo and I won't say who they are, they know who they are because they're listening and she is just one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life. She's so sweet. And I am hoping that they're coming to the Masterminds as well. I'm pretty sure that they are. but I will be excited to see them. I know that's a podcast family for you as well. And it just makes it super fun and it kind of makes us feel like, okay, cool, they know me. And so it gives us an outlet and an opportunity for you listeners and you practices who work with us, practices who will work with us in the future. It gives us an opportunity to showcase who we are. So that you and your teams kind of have an idea before we get to you, whether we're in office or whether we're virtual, just like this. And I think Nikki, you've experienced it now too. You've experienced both worlds, like going into practices obviously who've never heard us, and then going into practices who have heard us. And I think both of us can agree that those practices where the doctors love the podcast, have maybe found us through the podcast or or listen to it and then share it with their teams, those teams are like almost a step ahead already. Their brains are ready, they're in that growth mindset and they really understand the angles that we come at consulting from. And I think that it really just helps us give that give that like extra footing to make progress. Do you feel the same, Nikki? Nikki Mack (02:44) Absolutely, I agree. I think we've talked about this, I feel like in a previous podcast. I think in dentistry, fit matters so much, you know, that our team is the right fit, our patients are the right fit. And I think when it comes to consulting, you need to make sure that they're the right fit for your goals and your vision. and our podcast is just a nice way for listeners to, like you said, really get an understanding of who we are and and how we operate, you know, kind of what we're about. And so you really enter the relationship. a step ahead 'cause we're like, okay, I know this, especially when they've seen us specifically, they already know what they're in for with me. So it's a pretty good start to the ride together for sure. Tiffanie (03:25) I agree. I think one of my favorite pieces of you in general, but of our c whole consulting team, is that how we show up is like who we are. We don't really show up any differently. I might become a little peppier on stage. People will see Nikki Mack (03:38) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (03:39) that than my normal everyday life. I might talk a little bit more. Erin probably disagrees, my fiance, but I think I talk a little bit more at work than I do at home. but no matter what, like our personality shines through and we are who we are. So then practices, doctors, people, teams, they do know what to expect. And today I wanted to chat through some aspects and some different ways that we can pull doctor, we'll call it out of the weeds, right? Practice owners out of the weeds. And I think this is actually a huge segue into that because I think sharing your goals, dreams, aspirations, and sharing the things that are helping you feel connected to dentistry or your business or your systems, things that you've learned that you want to implement, or just really you're like, gosh, I really love these ladies' personalities and I want like some semblance of that kind of culture in my practice. So taking things like this and sharing it with your team is really a great way, Nikki, I think to step that first foot into pulling themselves out of the weeds of being like the one, right? The one that has to make all the changes, the one that has to make all the decisions, and really just like totally in the weeds of the business, the dentistry, the HR, the people, the team, that like all of the pieces and they're trying to hold all this together, but sharing that I know in our company is specifically with the consultants, we share constantly, we share different things we've heard or listened to or different podcasters or books, things like that, because it helps to build our culture and helps to keep us closer together. So with that, Nikki, what do you feel like what would that do for a practice or how do you think that it helps a doctor to pull themselves out of the weeds when they do share different things like that? Whether it's this podcast, a different one, could be completely non-dental. How do you think that helps them to set their team up for success to be able to pull out? Nikki Mack (05:38) Yeah, I think sometimes we get so caught up in that leadership position with our team that we think it's just office focused, you know, making them a better dental assistant or a better office manager or better treatment coordinator. But I think when you look back on some of your best jobs and experiences and cultures, it's where they also work to help develop you as a person. And that's where I think some of these come into play. a lot of these books and podcasts and Things that even we talk about sometimes I've never heard of them. You know, I'm like, my gosh. And then it's on my regular rotation, a favorite. So the same can be said for your team members. They may not even realize some of these resources are there. And when you share that with them, it creates a different type of connection. like you said, it helps them understand. Like, if I'm like, my gosh, this is my favorite podcast, here's what I took from it today, it helps you relate to them. And then sometimes it just gives those pieces and it's like, wow, okay, we really are working for this goal, right? We really are trying to get to the next level. And I love things I get at work that I can apply to my personal life because there's a lot. It happens a lot. Tiffanie (06:45) Mm-hmm. I agree. And I think too, as you're speaking, I'm thinking of how like different people hear things differently, right? So one podcast, I might hear a certain message and it might be there. You might hear that message too, but you might hear it in a different angle or from a different perspective or apply it differently. And per position too, a dentist and a business owner might hear a marketing podcast and think overarching marketing and like how do we do all of these pieces? And then you pass it along to a treatment coordinator or an office manager and they're like, cool, I could apply it in this way with my verbiage to my patients. And so like wherever we're sitting, we get to spin it for that perspective and how it's gonna suit us the best. And I think that that makes a massive difference. And pulling ourselves out of the weeds, well, and right there, right? Sending it to an office manager or treatment coordinator, it's like, who is your team? Right? Who are the people that you count on? at your practice, at your business, who are the people boots on the ground who are there supporting you. And how can you allow them to support you in your journey and be that show up as that leader? You said Nikki, like the leaders in the practice. And sometimes I think doctors silo themselves and think they have to be the one or they have to do it all. But farming some of that responsibility out to the leaders within the practice or the count it on team members, I think Nikki, you've got a couple teams that are like a handful of people, right? We've got like seven, eight team members. Nikki Mack (08:16) Yeah. Tiffanie (08:16) You might not have a leadership team, right? Because like you got seven people, what are you going to do? Pull full four departments up and now they're managing each person's managing one person. So you might not have that full leadership team, but how are these people countable, right? How are you counting on them? And how can you share that culture and that experience and ideas with them? Nikki Mack (08:40) Yeah. Well, and I think a key thing that we forget a lot, especially as leaders in a practice, sometimes our systems systems are Tiffanie (08:49) Mm. Nikki Mack (08:50) created or adapted because of an outlying like thing going on in the practice. We're short staffed, someone's out on leave, right? These things that are going on. But a lot of times we get ourselves in the habit of never shifting back or never reevaluating. So when we get really stuck in those weeds, I think what happens is that allows us to have these not bad systems, but just they're not efficient, right? They're the things that really bog us down or make us feel really exhausted at the end of the day, but we don't have the opportunity to step back and say, could this be done differently? What should I do? Then when we take that moment, get ourselves out of those weeds, and it's like, my gosh, I not only do I not have to own this, it's better if I don't. There's someone on my team that's better qualified for it, that should handle that and run in a sense that interference. And it's relearning ourselves how to redirect those people or those issues or those tasks. And then also that's when we have to kind of retrain our team. That's where the leadership comes out, that we are able to say, hey, I can see this clearly and I'm confident that this is a better direction. Here's how we execute it, right? And hold them accountable to it. Don't just take it back on because you're used to it. but sometimes it takes something, a podcast or a book or a conversation to have that aha moment and realize, this is really like kind of slogging my day down. I shouldn't own this. This could be done better. So having that opportunity to see it through different eyes, it can change so much. Tiffanie (10:28) I agree. I agree. And I do have practices as they were say saying all this, I'm thinking, how many times have we been asked how do I need to pay them for this to listen to this thing or learn this thing? And we've got our online courses that a lot of practices utilize and we get asked that a lot. Like that's totally up to you guys. We don't have a say in that. but they you know, or practices that say they send it and they don't listen to it, right? And so they're just like beaten down and they start to feel upset by it or hammered down and like why do I even bother? Do I have the right people? And I think Nikki within that is more of an expectation. And what that leads me to is what is the expectation of each position? And then what's the expectation of that person within that position? So do we have job descriptions? I know we talk about these a lot. We talk about them Nikki Mack (11:19) Yeah. Tiffanie (11:20) a lot because they really, really matter. Clarity is everything. Clarity is everything in life. In a world of chaos and a sea of crazy If we can bring clarity to something, why wouldn't we? Right? It seems wild to say, meh, I just don't feel like it when we could bring some clarity. So if there's clarity to these positions, these these team members know this position means this thing. This is what I do, this is how I show up, these are the tasks that I do. But really a job description is how do I present myself within this seat? How does this seat show up for this practice and what are the goals within that? So then layering in those expectations too of that personal development. Like, is it built into your culture? And did you do it without seeing why you're doing it? Right? Did you send the podcast like, hey, take a listen to this? You might enjoy it. And they're like, okay, cool. Maybe one day, right? It's on the back burner. This thing is more important. Or did you say, hey, I love growing and learning? And I truly want that to be an aspirational part of our culture. in our community here at this practice. So from time to time, I might send you little tidbits. I'm gonna tell you why, like what my favorite takeaway was, why I think it's relevant to you, to your position, to your life, if you'll take a listen or read it, right? You can sign up for newsletters, send them a newsletter, send them the Dental A Team newsletter, like whatever that might be, but did you have a description of how they're supposed to show up so that when they see this thing come through, they're like, cool. That could help me with my team member one on ones. Like I have to do my doc's asking me to do one on ones and I don't understand them yet. This podcast looks like it might help me with that. But not setting those expectations and just flippantly being like, Well, I've sent them the things. I've asked them to do book club with me and nobody wants to. Yeah, well, I'm not a dental nerd either. Like Nikki Mack (13:17) Yeah. Tiffanie (13:18) I love dentistry because of where it's gotten me in life. I think it's an amazing amazing industry. and I I do love dentistry, but I'm not on my off hours listening to a ton of dental podcasts. I'm just not. There's a couple that are floating in there because I need the the continuing education I need to be relevant as well. But I love emotional intelligence. I love, you know, I I love listening to Andrew Huberman, right? And there's so many different things that even in those other podcasts are so applicable. to business, to relationships, to dentistry, making sure that we figure out what is our style, what is our culture and what are the expectations and then setting those with people, I think make a massive difference, Nikki. Nikki Mack (14:02) I agree. And I think this is where it comes down to. We talk a lot about I think strong leadership comes to knowing your team, right? And understanding Tiffanie (14:09) Mm-hmm. Nikki Mack (14:09) who you have with you and kind of what those desires or those goals are. I know in one practice that I managed, that was a part of our annual reviews. Like, what's a professional goal for you? And then like what's a personal goal? Because if there was anything we could do to kind of support that, and it also benefited the practice or their you know growth as a team member. Absolutely, why wouldn't we? And then you kind of know how to approach it. So if you know that there's a tip who's less dental nerd, right, then some of that stuff, that's not who you send that podcast to. On the flip side, full disclosure, such a nerd. I did not do back office. All my teens have heard my spiel. I'll save it. It's our little internal secret. But man, do I love some of the nerdy stuff. Brit and Dana and I actually got to attend a local event here in Arizona a few months ago and do some CE. And when we were comparing what courses we had signed up for, it was very much an aha moment for Brit to realize exactly the level of my nerdiness because I was like, Yeah, I can't wait to go listen to this. Like I just yeah, I I will pull a couple pearls and it will be amazing. and it actually was, and absolutely it was a little dry. Some people left, you know, this is what happens. but that filled my bucket because it's it's your what motivates you, what drives you is what drives you, right? And then knowing that being able to tune into it is so important and it can sound overwhelming. I know someone is driving in their car right now thinking about, my gosh, now I have to personalize my podcast recommendations per team member. But I promise you it becomes so easy because when you lead with that type of style and you create that culture, this is not where I need you to calendar a task. To look for podcasts for every team member. It's just gonna come organically and you're able to share those observations, share those pearls of wisdom. And that's how you get out of the weeds, right? We grow our team, we grow their abilities, and we are so aligned that that's what helps that clarity and that confidence because we're like one team, one dream, right? And we all know where that vision is. And this just helps to support it and and boost them up for sure. Tiffanie (16:21) Yeah, I love that. And so then now we're working on that culture piece. We've got job descriptions clear, right? we've got our our culture piece really starting to fit. And I think that's where a lot of that trust comes into play. So then dentists and owners, they can say, Okay, I trust that this is going to happen. I trust that this team member does have my back. I have full support within them and I can give them this thing. So then we start trial and erroring it. And it's not to say they didn't listen to the podcast. I can't, I can't give them something. I can't delegate. Like, no, Nikki Mack (16:55) Right. Tiffanie (16:56) just be realistic, right? What can you delegate over to them and like dip your toe in that water? Clear expectations on everything. So clear job descriptions, clarity around what does your culture need to look like, clear clarity around your goals, and then start delegating things off that you don't have to do. We like to say any tasks that don't require your brain. Anything that somebody could do at 80% their level that could look very similar to what you want it to be, it might not be a hundred percent. Their hundred percent might be your eighty percent. but is that okay for this task? Start delegating those things off because that's how you get out of the weeds. Your clarity, your culture, and your delegation are how you get out of those weeds and then having that feedback system. And I think Nikki, within that, like you mentioned goals. I love a good three, five, ten year goal. not easy to sit down and be like, what do I want in three years? What I want in 10 years. Like do some prompts, ask us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Like we're more than happy to help you dig into what those need to look like to work backwards. But when you have that vision, you have that goal, you know where you're going. Same with your culture. You know what you want your culture to look like. Now it's something that we can create. It's something that we can do together to reach those goals and get you pulled out of the weeds. You talked, Nikki, about knowing the team members. And I think something that we've done really well with the Dental A team is as a virtual company, we've done a lot of like one-on-one time but group time at the same time. We have a lot of meetings. I I think there are companies that have more than us, but we do have a lot of meetings. But we do know each other. We get to know each other on a personal level. So like I was listening to a book the other day and I thought, my gosh, Christy. Absolutely nothing to do with dentistry, not business, just like the idea, the premise of it was what you believe to be true will be true, right? Hands down, I believe that. And I thought, my gosh, Christy's gonna love this. So I send it to her, and within 30 seconds, she's like, I had an Audible credit, it's downloading right now. Thank you so much. Like, but I knew Nikki Mack (19:06) Yeah. Tiffanie (19:08) that was Christy, right? And I know. Sometimes I'll pop something into the consultant chat that I'm like, hey ladies, this is actually really cool for business or for marketing. Or I'll be like, Nikki, this made me think of you. Or it's my like TikTok Instagram real friend that I like sending all those things, right? Nikki Mack (19:23) Ha ha ha. Tiffanie (19:24) But spending that one-on-one time together and really knowing each other, and it's not long. Like we get two 30 minute slots a month that's one on one with each other. That's all that it takes and paying attention to one another on meetings and during different tasks, during different things, just paying attention to those pieces and who a person is really gives you key insights to what that could look like when you're sending something along like that. And Nikki, how do you see that? Like how can a dentist step back enough to see the people to be able to to see how can they create that culture to again get out of the weeds? Nikki Mack (20:04) And I think some of it comes to the time that we dedicate to that culture, right? You Tiffanie (20:09) Right. Nikki Mack (20:09) know, do we have a morning huddle? do we check in with our team members? Do we have our one-on-ones? And if the doctor's not having it, does the OM check in with the doctor, right? On those one on ones? What's that kind of communication piece? How do we close that circle? Because it is those like random moments, those passing by. docs usually know so much about their DA because the things that'll Tiffanie (20:32) Mm. Nikki Mack (20:32) come up, right? in a chair working with a patient and just utilizing those and kind of capitalizing on it because that's where it's so funny when we talk about like getting out of the weeds but weeds are different for everyone too right like based on your skill set and kind of your interest. So as you as a practice owner or a leader are looking at your team or maybe looking at your tasks that you could possibly delegate. And like maybe you're sitting there right now like This eats up a lot of my time. And you're right, someone else could do this at 80%. Like I need to Tiffanie (21:04) Mm-hmm. Nikki Mack (21:05) let it go. Let's be smart about who we let it go to and using what we know. If I have someone who is like camera shy, hates being in the reels, hates being in the videos, you know, it's like that's not their jam, but they come up with them. They see the good ones, they see that content and they're handy with like the cameras, with the apps, with the social media. Maybe that's my social media person because they get to film the reels, right? Takes Tiffanie (21:32) Mm. Nikki Mack (21:32) all the pressure off of them and they can just excel, plan for when we're gonna film them. And then I as an owner, I don't have to think about it, right? Because I've got things I could do differently. Same when it comes to some of our patient relationships or you know our strategic efforts. Who do I have that that they would own? It wouldn't be weeds for them. And then I can take it off of the plate. Who is? So it's super important to understand who you have. And people show you who they are every day, the way we work together, the way we chat when we make our coffee before Huddle, you know, all of those kind Tiffanie (22:05) Yeah. Nikki Mack (22:06) of little opportunities. we just have to listen and kind of act on it. And also, I say this to doctors all the time ask. Just ask. Sometimes I'm Tiffanie (22:16) Hm. I agree. Nikki Mack (22:18) guilty of it myself in the past. I would be like, gosh, I don't know if Yara would actually be into this. Like, I think so. And you you spend all this time like going back and forth on your mind because you feel like you should just know. But guess what? Like just go ask. Never has an employee been like, I can't believe the doctor asked how I feel about this. Why didn't they just know? Are you kidding? The ask is such a trust builder. So if we're not sure, ask. Ask a question. It's okay. Because clear is kind, right? And making sure that we know where we're coming from. That's what gives us the confidence as the leader to pass this on, to have clear expectations. and then have the appropriate follow-up because that's how it all ties together. For myself, one of the things I love about Dental A Team so much is that we don't just work with the doctor or the practice owner. We really do be have that opportunity to spend time with the team as well and making sure that everyone understands that full circle piece. My favorite thing is to remind them that like I am here to help keep you accountable. So we're not going to forget about this in two weeks. This is something we're going to give a real try. real follow up and then have real conversations about how it's helping us. And that's a real benefit to finding the things that stick and being able to execute not just for the first couple of weeks. So Tiffanie (23:35) I completely agree. I think that was a beautiful wrap. And if I had to pull action items out of what you just said, I hope doctors and listeners, you heard them as well. Job descriptions, clear as kind. Morning huddles, make sure that you're communicating every day on some level. And monthly one-on-ones. And I heard the other day they were called feedback sessions, and I really loved that. I was listening to a podcast, Nikki Mack (23:59) I love that. Tiffanie (24:00) non dental. and she said that she called them feedback sessions and it was a feedback loop. It was how are you doing? How are we doing as a company? What are you loving? What are you hating? What's making your life difficult? Like what are blockers? And do you have any feedback from me as your lead? And I loved that because on a monthly basis that is way easier. Yearly reviews. I hate when offices wait till the yearly 'cause that's tied to a metric and like we're not a corporate we're not Wells Fargo. Like Have a monthly one-on-one. So if I were to pull action items, it would be clear as kind, get those job descriptions, get those morning huddles in place. If they are in place, what can you do to spice them up a little bit this week? And where are your monthly one-on-ones? Where are you getting to know each team member individually, whether it's you or their office manager? And then I think my last piece would be really look at the things that you're doing every day, maybe journal. Like just every time you do something, write it down and go through and highlight what do you s what do you have to do? And then what are some things that you could delegate off and then how will you do that? Nikki, this is a beautiful podcast. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. I appreciate you. And I just love the joy that you're bringing to so many practices. Thank you for what you do. Nikki Mack (25:12) Yeah, thanks for having me. I love it. Tiffanie (25:14) Of course, of course. All right, listeners, you know what to do. Go leave us a five-star review. Let us know how you enjoyed today's podcast and who you'll be sending it to. Go send it to somebody. Like legitimately, you guys know other owners. You guys know people who need to hear this same message. You are not alone, and neither are they. Make sure that they know that. So go send this podcast to someone. And as always, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, and we'll catch you next time. Bye guys.
#1187
August 13 · 32 min
#1,189: The Future of Private Practice Is Actually Very Bright
Did you know: Today's dentists are waiting five years longer to buy a practice than they were a generation ago? Kiera is joined by Brian Hanks of Dental Buyer Advocates to talk about delayed ownership traps and why the future of private practice is an encouraging one (Brian shares numerous data points to back that up). They also touch on overcoming fears and all the information out there that makes everyone seem more prepared for business ownership than they actually are, and how to go about buying a practice while asking the right questions. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners, this is Kiera, and today is an awesome day. I am so excited to be podcasting with one of my favorite humans. He and I have spoken across the country together. We go to different things, we share clients together. I have Brian Hanks, the owner of Dental Dental Buyer Advocates. And today we're gonna talk about like delayed ownership trap because I think so many people get stuck into this of should I buy, should I not buy? And Brian and I are just here to have a fun rift. So, Brian, welcome to the show today. How are you? Brian Hanks (00:28) So nice to be back, Kiera. You're one of my favorite people too. Thank you for having me. Kiera (00:32) Of course. I'm excited, Brian. It's a good time. It's been a hot minute since we podcasted together. So it's time, it's time to talk about this. Because when we were chatting about episodes, you were saying that dentists are now waiting like five years longer to buy a practice than they were a generation ago, which is fascinating to me because I've been on this like whole hot to trap of like, do people buy? Are DSOs taking over? Like, is there still money to be made in private practice? Like literally my chiropractor and I were talking about this the other day because she's like, My dentist told me that they were like not able to make any money. And I was like, well, they sh just give them my card. Like private practice to me is still one of the best businesses and industries, even if you have to buy a top dollar right now. and so just like super fascinating to talk about like delaying that purchasing, why people do it. But Brian, I've jumped right in and pretended like everybody knows who you are. Brian, give us a little intro of like who you are, how you got into Dental Buyer Advocates, what your background is, and then like let's talk about to delay or not delay buying a practice. Brian Hanks (01:29) Sure. Yeah, I one of my favorite stories. I'm an ex-Wall Street guy, so I'm a reformed Wall Streeter. And my father-in-law is a dentist. And I would watch these Wall Street people come in and like sell a very aggressive investments. And when they went bust, they would turn around and sell the crappy investments to dentists who at the time my was my father in law. Active practice, he lived in the Seattle area. And anyway, I went to go work for a dental CPA in the Dallas area. I went to work for another one. So I'm I've lived in the accounting world, Kiera. And when I was in that world, I got younger dentists who were in the pro they were the associates and they were asking accounting questions and tax questions and you know financial planning questions. And inevitably they would come back to dental practice ownership. Like, how do I do this? How much do I pay? Is Kiera (02:13) Yeah. Brian Hanks (02:13) is this a good deal? And so I went looking for the book. I was like, well, where's the book? I was on Amazon, I was other places. There was no book. And I thought, all right, well, let me try writing this book. Famous Last Words, by the way, it's way harder than you assume. But the book is called. Very creatively, How To Buy A Dental Practice. And that helped me start my own business. And that's Kiera (02:30) I like it. Brian Hanks (02:33) what I do. I I only help buyers of dental practices. And, you know, Kiera, my business is good, your business is good. Dentist business, we can talk about why the future of private practice is very bright. I can give you some stats and Kiera (02:46) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (02:46) statistics. But one of the interesting, the most interesting facts for me is Health Policy Institute has data that shows that. Dentists get into ownership, like they they end up in ownership. Okay, so I'll give you like they've broken it down by like graduation rates. So like the the Kiera (03:07) And what I Brian Hanks (03:08) dental school grads from 1990 and then 1995, and everybody between 95 and 2000, so and so forth. So they have these like vintages of graduates. And Kiera (03:16) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (03:17) very reliably, they're showing that nine out of ten dentists, of which you know there's 203,000 in the US, nine out of ten end up in ownership. At some point in their career. But like you said, Kiera (03:27) Fascinating. Brian Hanks (03:28) they're waiting longer to do it. And I think that's what we're going to talk about. Kiera (03:32) Yeah. Which like again, I think people are scared. So many students I worked at Midwestern and they're like, Kiera, should I buy? Should I go associate? And I was like, listen, you're just delaying the inevitable so like get in there and get it done. Now, I like always throw an asterisk on that. Like if you're not good at your hand skills, like yeah, go go associate for a hot minute. like if you aren't confident with your speed and with case acceptance and like presenting, that's gonna be but I'll tell you there is nothing more thrilling than throwing yourself into a business that you have to produce for. You learn case acceptance really freaking fast. Like, ask me how I know. We surely did that. Like I took a student, we took our first practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months. Like she was a she was a power producer. Do I have an office right now that just bought a practice less than a year ago? We're already on track for two and a half million. Yes. Like there are a lot of success stories from that small town. It's not like they were just given the keys to the kingdom. Like they've had to work for it, they've had to build things. They don't have full schedules. But I just, I don't know. I'm the same way and I I don't know. I'm I'm at a space of but do what makes you happy. Like, do not go Brian Hanks (04:37) Yeah. Kiera (04:38) own a practice and make less than being an associate. That's like a hard line for me too. I'm like, 'cause if you're gonna like not be a good business owner, keep associating. But I Brian Hanks (04:43) No. Yeah. Kiera (04:46) agree, I feel like the trajectory of dentists is always to purchase. Like they want their own stamp, they want their name on the building. I will also highly recommend don't put your name on the building. Like that's really fun and not scalable. Ask me again how I know that. Like Cura's dental consulting was real fun till it wasn't. Like the things you the things you evolve on, but truly I I'm excited to hear why you think people are delaying, what that's costing them. Brian, I love that you always come with a bunch of stats and facts. And I love that you named your book, like How To Buy A Dental Practice. That's what people want to know. so it sometimes simple is no, that is the best. Brian Hanks (05:13) I know. I just yeah. I'm not the best at marketing, right? So yeah, like we we call Kiera when we need marketing advice. So okay. Kiera (05:24) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (05:24) So Kiera, here are some more stats for you. Kiera (05:28) Okay, ready? Brian Hanks (05:29) the average owner, dentist, makes $151,000 than the average more than the average associate. Okay, 151. Now that's Kiera (05:37) I was like, hold on, 151 is bad. That's more than if you're being an associate. You're gonna make 151,000 more. Okay. Brian Hanks (05:43) Yep. Yeah. And think about why that is. Yep. That's obviously the you're taking on the risk. You're taking on the the pain and suffering of being an owner, right? So there's some compensation involved in Kiera (05:51) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (05:52) that. Those are two medians, right? And there is a bell curve around both of those numbers. So is it possible Kiera (05:57) Course. Brian Hanks (05:58) to make less as an associate? Yes. Yeah. Is it possible to make a hell Kiera (06:01) Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. Brian Hanks (06:02) of a lot more than $151,000 more than an associate? Absolutely, yes, right. So there's there's room on both end of the ends of those those bell curves. but think about So here's why I one of the data points why I think private practice ownership and dentistry is still it's bright and it's getting brighter. Is you think about the average associate you talk to, Kiera, the average associate I talk to when we're standing around a cocktail party or at mid mid the you know, wherever, some conference, Yankee, Midwestern. Kiera (06:30) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (06:31) And I will tell you the average associate that I talk to isn't saying, gosh, Brian, you know what? I love my boss. I love the DSO I'm working for. I love my hours. I love the insurances we take, the assistant they force me to use, I love her, right? It's the future of private practice dentistry is bright because dentists are people. And people generally like Kiera (06:52) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (06:52) a little bit of control over their career if they can get it. And dentists absolutely can get it. So that's one of the data points that Kiera (06:55) Yeah. Brian Hanks (06:58) I love. Now, are dentists scared to get into ownership? And do higher on average student loan balances scare them marginally more than they did 10 years ago, 20 years ago? For sure. Yep, absolutely. Here's the mistake Kiera (07:11) Absolutely. Brian Hanks (07:11) they make. So I'll give the associates listening or the students or whoever it is that's maybe telling you, Kiera, or telling me, or they're telling their, you know, the the person next to them on the treadmill at the gym while they're listening to this, like, sure, Brian, easy for you to say, but I don't feel ready. Right? I haven't taken all of Care's courses. Kiera (07:30) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (07:31) I haven't, I don't know how you know, I'm not the pro at treatment planning. My hands beat because you I I want to take this implant course first, right? You come up, your brain comes up with all these excuses of why you don't feel ready. And I'm not gonna dismiss your feelings. I think your Kiera (07:45) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (07:46) feelings are valid. You should listen to them, but don't here here's another thing to consider in addition to your feelings. Is you know how there were like a hundred people in your dental school class, probably ish, right? And 10 of whom you would never let near your teeth. Like you watch them go through all four years of dental school and you're like, Okay, of those 10 over there, like they're never getting, they're never giving me a shot. They're never in that nothing, right? Kiera (08:10) Yep. Brian Hanks (08:10) Because I guarantee you, nine out of ten of those dentists, they already own their practice. They're not bankrupt. They're making more money than you, Kiera (08:16) Yeah. Brian Hanks (08:17) and they are killing it. Meanwhile, you're scared to run a practice. And those, if Kiera (08:22) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (08:22) those jokers can figure it out, you can figure it out. Kiera (08:26) Totally. Well, and I think also on there like, Brian, let's be real. Is anybody ready to be a business owner? Like I wasn't, I'm sure you weren't. Brian Hanks (08:31) Nope. Nope. Kiera (08:33) I think are people ready to be parents? The answer is no. Like nobody feels ready for that. Were you ready when you went into dental school? The answer's no. I think that there's this imposter syndrome that hits us all that we think, like, give me a little more time and I'm gonna get ready. Give me a little more time. And I will say that like the brass taxes, you jump into owning a business and you figure it out. Now, should you listen to some podcasts? Should you do some things? Like for sure. But like how many consultants and coaches are there that literally are gonna like grab your hand, walk you through, and make sure you don't make the mistakes? Like how many people like yourself are gonna walk you through buying the practice to where it's an actually great practice? I I think that I think there's more help today. Now, do I think there's a lot of noise and a lot of people that might be like posturing out there saying that they know what they're doing? Yes. So make sure you like vet them a little bit before you go and jump on a bandwagon of somebody, like someone who's been there, done that, done that successfully multiple times is who I'd bet on. But like We are in such a day and age where there is so much information out there. You need to be a great clinician. We're gonna teach you how to be a great business owner. And as long as you're comfortable realizing that you've got to learn that side of it, that's to me, like if you're a good producer and you're a good human, like go for it. There's dentistry is so fun owning and practice because the sky is the limit. And ultimately there is no cap on what you're able to do, what you're able to produce, how you're able to do it. And I think that there are very few careers out there, very few job opportunities that really are the sky's limit. Now, remember how I told you about that dentist who bought their own practice. They're now doing like two fifty this year, whatever they're he was making five hundred thousand as an associate. And so this Brian Hanks (10:06) Yeah. Hi Bart. Kiera (10:08) is one where like people be like, Well, gosh, like, you know, he went from five hundred thousand and now he's at a two point, I think he's gonna end around two to two point four this year. But like he had a great associateship. And so I think There is still this just like uncanny, unnatural desire that you want to just own, you want to build. And I think dentistry is also if I look at like banks, they lend to dental practices, like almost guaranteed, like they have a they're pretty lucrative with like just shelling money out to your dental practice. And I'm like, if banks are willing to back, you've got to also see that your dental practice, like you have the greatest opportunity of not failing. of any business venture you're going to do. Why is private equity coming in strong? Because they know dental practices are almost bulletproof of an investment to have. So when I look at all those reasons, I agree with you, Brian. People don't feel like they're ready, but I'm like, you're never gonna feel ready. But you have so many things stacking in your favor to help you be successful. Brian Hanks (11:03) At the beginning of that, I I don't I don't want people to miss that. If they missed the wisdom that Kiera just shared at the beginning of that, as she said, yeah, you use parenting. I think you use business ownership as some advice. Like I I just want to repeat what you said because it's so important. Dentistry is not like, I don't know, Kiera, scuba diving, right? If you go get scuba certified, you like practice in the pool. And then they like make you, you know, they learn, you know, you you learn taking the regulator out of your mouth and putting it back in and all that. And I imagine like dentists think ownership, like there's gonna be some course I can take that's gonna prepare me for ownership kinda like scuba certification. That's like you gotta help me come up with Kiera (11:38) Yeah. Brian Hanks (11:39) a better example, but it's not it's not true. It's like parenting, Kiera (11:42) I got you. Brian Hanks (11:42) it's like marriage. It's like I don't know, business ownership, whatever it is. Like the the thing that prepares you for it is just doing it. Just just try it out. Kiera (11:50) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (11:50) Yep. Kiera (11:51) Well, and I think Brian, to that point, like the analogy is I think people think business ownership is a skill that can be learned in a one, two, three step versus like marriage, relationships, child, like being parents, business ownership. It's an evolution of soul and it's a it's a creating of who you are. It is not a skill. Like there are skill points to it, like learning to read a p PL, learning how what profitability is. But business ownership in and of itself, I had a friend she's like, Kiera, you have to have kids. Like it will strip you down to your core and it will like show things to you that you've never had. And I said, Have you ever been a business owner? Cause I'll tell you that I'm pretty confident. I've got a lot of that stripping over here that's like breaking me down to my utter like most. But I think we think business ownership and running a practice, I'm not here to say that there's not like tactical pieces and we've broken it down. Like our team actually just went through this something. I'm like, there's really like 10 things that you need as systems that are really gonna make or break it. And you gotta know a couple of like core foundations and you got to know your numbers. Like beyond that, that's kind of your checklist. But to your point of like scuba diving or cooking or whatever, it's not this like checklist skill that you're going to have. And so I think, like you said, you're gonna look for this course. But I'm like, the course is life, the course is doing it, the course is going through it. And I think you've got to have the confidence of are you confident in you that no matter what comes your way, you're gonna be able to figure it out. And if so, business ownership is there for you. And I would give more confidence to you than you give yourself. I've watched a lot of students. I worked at Midwestern. To your point of those 10 students, there was probably like 50 of them. Sorry, Midwestern grads, I was not letting any of you touch my mouth. Like genuinely, you needed a few years to practice and I'm not your practicey. But like I think I think you're more equipped than you give yourself credit for. Just like you're more equipped for life than you give yourself credit for. And I think business ownership is the same. Brian Hanks (13:31) So Kiera, let's break down some of those numbers. by the way, better analogy for business ownership is like health. Do you remember the first time by the way? if you're listening to this, it's pretty obvious if you're watching, but if you're listening, Kiera's in a lot better shape than me. But if if Kiera, I don't know if you had this moment. I I did when I was like 21, 22, that I realized at the I was at the gym, I was like lifting some weights, and I realized, I'll never be done with this. Like you're never done with health. So I think business ownership is a lot like. Kiera (13:59) I do remember my moment of that. Mine was Brian Hanks (14:01) Yeah. Kiera (14:03) not at the gym, Brian. Mine was actually in Bali, like a little flex there. I remember because Brian Hanks (14:07) There you go. Kiera (14:07) I was like having a lot of like knee and hip pain. And I was like, okay, I just have to like work out and then eventually this is gonna get better. And I remember I was walking down to the pool overlooking the ocean. I was like, I'm never gonna be done. Like this is my forever. Like I'm not like I used to just work out to be like skinny and fit. And now I'm like, no, you gotta do this so you don't freaking hurt and you can actually walk and get out of bed. Like it's never gonna end. And I sat there and read a book, quite depressed. And then I was like, okay, like this is what it you're right. It's it's a constant evolution of soul. You're never done parenting, you're never done in a relationship. Like you don't hit this, like, check the box, we've got a golden thing. It is a forever perpetual. But I also think that that's what drives dentists to go into that because they are of this obsession of wanting to be the best of the best. You want to get a better prep. You want to get a better crown crop. You go to CE, you're CE junkies out there. Like, this is just another level of obsession. Of a space that's going to evolve you as a human and it's gonna allow you to grow. So yeah, thanks. That was that was a great that was a great analogy, Brian. Good good call on that one. Brian Hanks (15:02) Yeah. Yeah, the the the negative of the health analogy is that you're never done, but the positive is you can break it down. Like you can learn how to do certain lifts a little better. You can learn how to macro track. You can learn diet and exercise. Kiera (15:14) So you're right, Brian. Like that was a solid call out on the health analogy. Like this is what people are obsessed about, but they want to have that evolution of soul. They want to like I think that that's why dentists are drawn to ownership, but I think they're just afraid. But I'm like, we're also afraid to work out. We're afraid to have kids. We're afraid like, so don't let fear hold you back. I think it's just a like, I don't know. It doesn't be like Nike, just do it, guys. Like that sounds like terrible business advice on my side. Brian Hanks (15:37) Well just do it and but remember remember how good you weren't at at all the clinical stuff that you're really Kiera (15:44) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (15:44) good at now, right? So dentists, the the superpower that most dentists have is that attention to detail, like the obsession over the details and and the the minutiae. And and as a patient, like I gotta go to filling next week, and as a patient, I want my sister thinking about all of the all of the little details, right? and Kiera (16:04) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (16:04) that superpower is real. And I want the density like lean into it. If you're listening to this and that evolution of soul that that Kiera's talking about, part of that evolution for you is just remembering that that superpower that you have comes like there's another side to that coin. It comes with a downside. And the downside is the overthinking when you're not. You know you're not that good at a thing. And if you know you're not that good at finding a dental practice to buy, analyzing a dental practice to buy, actually buying that practice, applying for a loan, like talking to lawyers, all those things, your brain is gonna start to spin a little bit. And j but but but here's the good news: your brain spun a thousand times already. Remember that first time they opened up the little mannequin to like practice, like prepping a crown or something, and you were like, How do I even do this? Right. Kiera (16:49) Dexter, their little type it on. Brian Hanks (16:51) Yeah, like seriously, like you figure this out. You like and if the dentists that I deal with they're the smartest people on the planet, they're awesome. And and so if you can figure that stuff out, Kiera (17:02) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (17:02) my gosh, like first of all, hire somebody else like you to just be amazing for you in all the areas that you aren't amazing, and just remember that it doesn't this isn't rocket science. yeah, so you can figure this stuff out. Kiera (17:14) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (17:14) But okay, so speaking of minutia, speaking of details, I gave you the hundred and fifty one thousand dollar number. Okay, here I did some math. I'm an accountant. I I know I know spreadsheets. Kiera (17:22) Yeah. Brian Hanks (17:24) I know how to do like compound interest and some those things. Here's what I did is I just is I said, what's the cost? Okay, if dentists aren't feeling ready, they want to feel like they have their student loans under control, which is smart, right? I'm a financial planner. Yeah, don't get yourself over your skis in debt. That's great. But like, how much is it gonna cost if you're the statistic? Right. And the statistic is you're you, listener, right now, if you're not a practice owner, are waiting five years longer to own a practice. How much does that five years cost you? Right. And if you do the math, and I did the math at like a 38-year-old dentist versus a 33-year-old dentist. And I assumed that they actually retired at age, both retired at age 60. Okay. So like different lengths of associate part of your career and owner part of your career. with compound interest, assuming 7% and some of those other variables that I put in there, it was a $1.14 million difference between those two numbers. So don't forget that while you're busy like taking care of your student loans so you can feel ready to buy a practice, it's costing you an enormous amount of money. And Kiera, I would just add, and I'm curious if you can think of any others, I would say the compound. the compound effect that I'm talking about is not just money, although money is a big part of it. I think the compound effect applies to other things. Like how many more times and at bats would you have for treatment planning, for managing that difficult assistant, teaching someone how to answer the phones better, hiring, firing. Like there's a compound effect on all of those behavioral things too and and it's gonna cost you some money. So any thoughts on that? Kiera (19:04) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think it's a I I was fascinated. I'm so glad that you went into the 1.1 because we had talked about that pre-show and I was just very fascinated of like, my gosh, like that's so much for people. That's so many things. Like there's a financial dollar amount, which I love because I think dentists really do. Like that's an easy one for me to be like, gosh, like me delaying this decision can cost me that much. But I think like there's also you still have to go through the growth of learning to run a business. So not only is there a financial delay, but there's also the growth of you getting good at running a business and having it profitable and being able to make this thing run longer. And then you have more opportunities like I think about yourself. And the longer you're able to build this practice and like maybe do multiple like there's to me that's like such a it's fascinating. And I think I think the the call to today is there are some people that definitely are meant to be owners and there's some that aren't. but I think if you have that itch, that scratch, I would really ask yourself, like, what truly are you waiting for? And when are you going to know that you're actually ready? Like you're never going to feel ready to have a child. You're like, I need to get these ducks in a row. Well, those ducks get in a row and then you got seven more ducks that come behind that you're like, I need get those in a row. So to me it'd be if I'm really wanting to buy a practice, what things do I need to have? Cl schedule a call with Brian. Like, I think Brian, this is why we put you on the podcast. I think you're fantastic. You don't put people into weird zones. you're very much like If that dentist is producing and you don't do those skills and you don't do those type of procedures, don't buy that practice. Like you're not, you're gonna be broke. You're very, very pro making sure people feel confident and that they're able to buy it. And I think it's like buying a home. I remember when I first like went and talked to somebody about buying a home, I had no freaking clue and I wish I would have known more. But like until you start having the conversations, I think it can feel more daunting than it actually is. Then from there, like listen to the podcast, start listening to there's our podcast, there's other podcasts out there, start reading up on how to buy a practice. But I think to me, there is like two parts to it. One is finding the right practice. Like what you buy, and I say like eyes wide open when you're looking in, and then rosy glasses as soon as you sign on that dotted line, and you're gonna see a lot and you're just gonna deal with it. From there, make sure you got somebody really solid in your corner. Like our practices, as soon as they buy, we take them on. I try to get them two to three months before they close. I wanna make sure we're getting things in. If you don't close on time or things happen, no problem. We're gonna pause you, get your practice in place. Like it's happened twice in hundreds of offices we've helped. But then, like from there, just have somebody in your corner, somebody who's gonna help you grow in your first year. Most practices are seeing like a 10 to 30% increase in their first year. So if I'm buying a one million dollar practice, that's a hundred to three hundred thousand dollar uptick just by having somebody in the corner. That's very conservative. A million dollar practice, like we are usually growing those exponentially. But like you don't have to stress and freak out. Hey, I'm pinned. Brian Hanks (21:45) Yep. By the way, I I d pin put a pin, put a pin, Kiera. You you gotta you gotta underline that. Yeah. That's like underline that, underline it. Like keep going, keep going. I I'm throwing you off. I'm interrupting you, but like I will tell you the Kiera (21:59) Yeah. Brian Hanks (21:59) average buyer I talk to on the phone is so scared of patient attrition. They're like, Kiera, like I'm gonna have 10%, 20%. What if 50% of the patients don't show up? Listen, that's a real fear. By the way, I want you to have that Kiera (22:10) Right. Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (22:12) fear when you're like doing the margin on my crown, right? Like again, it's your superpower dentist, Kiera (22:16) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (22:17) but like my stats show exactly the same thing, Kiera is saying I have data to support what Kiera is saying that the average Kiera (22:22) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (22:24) dentist doesn't they have a negative attrition, which is just two negatives, right? So it's a positive. They the average buyer has more enthusiasm, they've got some more energy, they're gonna update the website, they're gonna maybe get rid of. That one employee that everybody kind of knew probably s needed to go. And suddenly the practice is just gonna it's gonna take off. Ten to thirty percent. That's yeah, right in line with what I'm seeing. That's awesome. So sorry, I I'm interrupting you, keep going. Kiera (22:47) Mm-hmm. And I think, no, y you are always this is a conversation. It's not like a dictation. So we're like this is real life rift here. I just think people like when you look at it, I think you're more capable than you think you are. I know that you can get the skills, you can figure it out. Like you said, I'm always like, okay, play the what ifs, lose 50% of your patients. Great. Well, we're gonna take those 50%. And there's ways you can actually grow a practice without even needing to have more new patients. So we're gonna maximize all those, we're gonna optimize them. You're going to pull in more people. Like it is one of those things that I'm like, I have yet to have a practice go bankrupt. So knock on wood, like you can be my first challenge accepted. Like I feel very confident that I'm not like, unless you completely botch it and you go into malpractice, like we're probably gonna be just fine. So odds of it happening, so minimal. Are you gonna be a little stressed out? Yeah. Like, welcome to business ownership, but you're also looking for growth, and that's why you're being called to this moment. Like It will not go away. That itch will not go away until you scratch it. And scratching it, and I love that you said like they're waiting five years and that's a $1.1 million minimum. There's so many other pieces to it. So I think I think a lot of dentists like to have facts. I think a lot of dentists like to have that decision make logical sense. And then we back it up with emotional reasons. And I think it's a wise way to make decisions. But I I would just say if you're even remotely curious, like start going down the path. I know when I was going to buy a house. I needed to go find out, like, I don't know about lenders, I didn't know about interest rates. I did and until you get into it, just like you wanted to be a dentist, but until you got into it and you started working on that type it on and you learned about dropping the box and like waxing it up and working on Dexter and then taking x-rays, like you didn't know it. And I think most of the time the fear comes from the lack of knowing. I will also say, and I've seen this a lot, Brian, a lot of dentists feel like because I'm a doctor and I'm a dentist, if I buy a practice, I should know how to run a practice. And Brian Hanks (24:38) And Kiera (24:38) I just want to like Scratch that out. I want to tell you that that's not true. But I know a lot of you come in feeling like but Kiera, I'm a dentist, or Brad, I'm a dentist, like I'm a doctor, like people expect me to know this. And I want to say you think people expect you to know that, but the reality is you don't. You just need to be scrappy enough to figure it out. No one's expecting you to know anything. Honestly, you probably know way more than you think you do already. But I I want to just cut that because I know a lot of you have perfectionism like fear of being exposed that you're not that great. Except that you don't know how to run a business just like you didn't know how to prep a crown, but you learned that and you're gonna learn how to do a business and you're gonna do it exponentially well because you are so detail oriented and you're gonna hire a great team around you, hire great coaches around you that you're literally like it's impossible for you to fail. And so I think Brian, like kudos on it, kudos on the stats, any other thoughts that you have around people and like how do they get to the nitty-gritty of actually going through Brian Hanks (25:26) Let's get some yeah. I'll hit I'll hit you with more stats. Yeah. Kiera (25:31) that. Brian Hanks (25:32) Some more facts for dentists. You and you mentioned the failure rate. What is the actual failure rate in dentistry? It's it's 0.14% of dentists go bankrupt. Okay. And it's always, always, always one Kiera (25:43) Incredible. Brian Hanks (25:43) of three things. It's drugs, divorce, and then jail. You know, some kind of felony that doesn't have anything to do with practice. so you stay away from those Kiera (25:51) Yep. Brian Hanks (25:52) three things and you're guaranteed not to go bankrupt. And it so what do dentists actually need to buy practice? We've done a good job of pumping people up, given the rah-rah speech. What do you actually need? You need five things, okay? and I almost guarantee you, unless you're in dental school right now, listening to this, you have the five right now. All right. almost guaranteed. and I'll go from hardest to easiest, Kiera. Okay. Hardest for people to get is you need 50k Kiera (26:18) Okay. Brian Hanks (26:19) cash. You need some cash. 50k is your magic number. Has to be liquid. It's gotta be in a checking Kiera (26:24) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (26:24) savings money market account. Can't be in an IRA or home equity or something like that. but you need that money to show the bank that you're responsible. And by the way, you don't actually hand that money over to the bank. You keep it. Yeah, the bank just wants to see that you have some money to see that you're responsible. Kiera (26:39) Mm. Brian Hanks (26:40) And if you know COVID shuts us down again, can you still pay the bank the bank back a few months? All right. So most people have that. Kiera (26:46) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (26:47) They've got fifty K or access to fifty K. That's like a side thing we could talk about. Kiera (26:51) Totally. Brian Hanks (26:52) Yep. Kiera (26:52) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (26:53) you need production history. You got to be able to do about 80% of the production of what a seller could do. So million-dollar GP practice, let's say 250 of that Kiera is hygiene, means the doctor was doing 750k a year in production. that means you as an associate need to do about 600 a year Kiera (27:12) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (27:12) to buy a million-dollar practice. Okay. Most associates listening, you know, public health, military, there are some special exceptions where we need to learn how to count. procedures and things Kiera (27:22) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (27:23) like that. But most associates, they can do 600 to buy a million dollar practice. Okay, the 80%. most dentists don't have any problem with numbers threes and four, number three and four. Number three is you got to have a credit score over 680. It's pretty low. And it's a green light, red light. 681 credit score gets you the same interest rate as an 820. And and then you need a clean credit history is number four. And so no bankruptcies, no short sales, or a really good story. Behind a bankruptcy or short sale. And then you need one year of experience out of dental school or a residency program. GPR, AEGD, specialty program, whatever it is. If you're in a residency program, you could buy a practice the day you get out of your residency. So that's it. And so technically, Kiera, you need number six. Number six is you need a practice to buy. And I'll be I'll be really blunt with people, that's the Kiera (28:17) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (28:17) hardest step. Finding a good practice to buy is the hardest thing because everybody Kiera (28:21) I agree. Brian Hanks (28:22) wants to look for the practice in their pajamas. They think it's like buying a house. Like I'm gonna go on the MLS and I'm gonna look Kiera (28:28) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (28:28) for a dental practice. There is no such thing as the DLS, there's no dental listing service. And so if you're in your pajamas looking for a practice to buy, it's Kiera (28:34) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (28:36) not there. Sometimes it is, which is why people do it, but it's almost certainly not there, especially in the city you want to live right now. and so we'll have a podcast episode about how to Find a practice well. But the sh here's the short version is you go talk to dentists. Build a network of dentists that know like and trust you. That's the Six things and and most associates have And so attitude, like don't let us stop you, don't be scared. Like we did the like pump you up version of the speech. And here's the facts to back that up, is it's not actually that hard. Like with those six things, banks will not only give you a hundred percent of the purchase price, they'll give you a hundred percent of the purchase price, and then they'll hand you another seventy-five K in cash just to make sure you don't run out of money on the first day. Sometimes it's a hundred K. I've seen d banks give two hundred thousand dollars in cash. Kiera (29:21) Mm-hmm. Brian Hanks (29:21) before they even walk through the doors with you know the key in hand as an owner. So it's awesome. If if you're thinking about ownership and nine out of ten dentists are at some point in their career, it's it's really not it's not it's simple. It's not necessarily easy, but it's simple. Kiera (29:41) Yeah. And Brian, even on the I've been talking to the Bank of America guys, and they were like, we even give like thirty to forty thousand to a new startup practice for consulting fees in addition to our working capital because Brian Hanks (29:52) Yeah. Kiera (29:53) we know that it's also going to help grow them. So there's so many pieces, and I think you've just listed off like really, I agree, like finding the practice and like sending out the postcards, getting to know the network, finding the dentist, like the practice that actually works for you, finding a seller that wants to sell for the price that you want. I agree with you 100%. That is the hardest part. But I think Brian, you did an incredible job of breaking this down from the like, okay, you're probably gonna do it. Nine out of ten is do buy that. What are the exact steps that I need to take for this? And then I agree with you. Like, absolutely a follow-up podcast on like how to actually find a practice. But Brian, I'm curious if people are interested, like they want to start connecting and like this is what you do. And I know you guys are really generous with your time. How do people connect in with you to like even start the process? Like, again, I feel like curiosity. Is the best place to be. Like let's just ask the questions. Let's figure it out. So Brian, how do people get connected in with you? Brian Hanks (30:41) Pop over to Amazon, type in How To Buy A Dental Practice. That's the book. if you want, by the way, if you want a cheaper copy, you can go to the website. The website is DentalBuyerAdvocates.com. I'm happy to ship it to you like as a publisher copy, no strings attached. but yeah, just pop over to Amazon, DentalBuyerAdvocates.com. Care if people want to email me directly. I always offer this. And it's so fascinating to me how few people actually take me up on it. I would be more than happy to have a half an hour conversation with whoever you are, free of charge. Send me an email, Brian@BrianHanks.com. It's B-R-I-A-N and Hanks like Tom Hanks. So yeah, that's how you get a hold of me. Kiera (31:20) Amazing. Well, Brian, thank you for breaking this down and for all of you listening. I hope that today was just a really insightful podcast for you. I hope it gave you the facts to back it up. I hope it gave you the emotional piece. I hope it gave you kind of the like step by step by step of how to get there. I'm so grateful for Brian being here. Everybody connect in with him. And for all of you listening, thank you for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
#1187
August 12 · 22 min
#1,188: Your Secret Weapon for Hiring
Do you prefer retaining the employees you have rather than constantly hunting for new ones? Kiera shares an example of a practice that evolved from high turnover to solid team retention, and how effective leadership played a critical role in keeping people long-term — plus how you can craft it for your own practice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera. And today I want to chat with you guys about hiring and staffing and retention. I think this is something that a lot of you are struggling with. I think it's just, I don't know, it's just annoying and it's obnoxious and it's just part of what we are dealing with now. But I think that there's a lot of solutions that we can do that I think a lot of people aren't thinking about. So with that, I want to give some tips of like what we can do to retain team members more than having to hunt for them. So I know that there's ways for us. I know there's a lot of things. And we're gonna just kick it off today. So I'm excited for you because what I found is there's probably a good way. And I was talking to an office about this. I'm really excited to share some some office growth that I've watched in office over the last five years evolve from team turnover to incredible team retention. and I really do think that a lot of it has to do with leadership, a lot of it has to do with growth and what we can do is to solve that retention rather than needing to always hire. Now, there's always going to be hiring. So we're going to kind of talk through both of it, but also like what things can we do to retain our team that we have. Dental A Team is a consulting company where we work nationwide, we work across the globe. We work with private practices, multi-locations, we work virtually and in person. We have an incredible community where we come together in in-person masterminds, sharing the best of the best. And we're from startup to multi, multi-millions. And I'm obsessed with helping you say yes to more in your life. And that stands for you, focusing on you and your vision, getting your team aligned, earnings and making sure you're profitable. And then system structure and scalability, really truly making sure that you guys are set up for success so you can say yes to more in your life. our goal is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And I'm obsessed with you. I'm obsessed with your practice. I'm obsessed with your team. I'm obsessed with your struggles, I'm obsessed with your wins. And I'm here to help make your life easier. I'm very big on tactical practicals. So if this podcast has served you in any way, shape, or form, please share it with a friend, share it with a colleague, share it with someone who you feel like it could brighten their day. Post it in a Facebook group, post it online, leave us a five-star review. Anything that you do helps us spread our mission. My goal is to be in the ears of every single dental practice out there because I believe that dentistry is special. It's sacred. It's It's a zone where we're able to change people's lives. And I'm so excited for you to be here. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry, including my last name. So let's kick it off and let's start seeing of how we can figure out where and what we can do for this retention piece. So, number one, I feel like so I was talking to an office today. Me and the doctor, I said, it like this doctor has an incredible team. I think they've got 20 team members. most of them are women. There's two male doctors there. And I said, I watched you. You went from like four operatories to now we've got 15 operatories. The team has grown. And I said, What do you feel makes this place special? Like team members love working there. And I was like, what is it? So much so that they're all like recruiting from other offices and bringing people here and saying this is the best office they've ever worked for. I was talking to one of the team members and they said, I no longer have the Sunday scaries. I don't get stressed out at work. This is my second family. Like team members are telling me this as a consultant. Usually I and I asked them like, What do you guys need help with? And most of them are like, we're just really happy. So I was asking the doctor and the team, I was like, what is it about this place? I asked both sides of the coin because I was like, what is it? I'm obsessed. This is one my favorite things to dig into practices. And maybe I'll get this doctor on the podcast and share from theirs. I'll just share kind of some snippets from today. And the doctor told me, he said, Kiera, I'm just really big on treating people like people. He's like, I'm never gonna expect them to have work be more important than their families. he's like, I want to make this into a lifestyle practice where We work seven to three a lot of the days so that way they're able to get home and be with their families, but we're still able to like work hard and take care of patients. I have never seen a practice where they literally leave at five o'clock. And this is in California, like it's not for overtime. They just work hard and they get home and they go be with their families. if they have time and they need to like take care of their kids or they're sick, they are able to take care of them. they expect them to work hard and they all do work hard and they build really great people there. I asked the team, I said, What is it about this place? And they said, Well, I think it's the fact that Like our doctor trusts us and they let us do things. And but it's wild. Anything I asked this team to do, literally, I was like, let's do morning huddle prep sheets. Let's treatment track. They don't fight with me on it. And a lot of teams do. And so I was like, okay, this is fascinating. The team is very accommodating. They're willing. They want to. All of them were so excited to morning prep huddle prep. Do you how many teams are like, womp, womp, womp? So much extra work. This team was like, Yeah, absolutely, we'll do this. We'll take care of it. I had them roll out route slips. They did it. Like no pushback. And I was just, it's fascinating to me. And I think something I'm picking up from this is one, they really do hire for great culture. Two, they see potential in people. Three, they really do treat this as like an amazing place to work. Like the doctor is just getting so excited. They're talking about putting a gym in there. Like fun things to make this where they make their life incredible. And I watched the doctor just get like twinkly-eyed about getting so excited to. Do these surprises. They took their team on a cruise and just for fun. Like it was just a fun thing that they did. And when I think about all of that, this office used to struggle to hire. And now they literally most of their employees that they've had in the last three years have all come referral-based. and I think about Dental A Team, the bulk of our team is coming referral-based. And they're coming back and they're sharing with people, and their friends are interviewing with us. And I think about that, and I'm like, as a business owner, I think that that's the greatest compliment. If your team is willing to refer their friends, their colleagues to want to come work here because they love it so much, you're doing something right. And people stay where there's a great, incredible culture. And so hearing both sides of the coin, hearing what team members are loving, hearing what doctors are loving, there's so many other ones. I've got another doctor, they've got team members, I've been with them for 12, 15 years. And I asked that doctor, I said, what What do you do that makes people want to stay with you for so long? And this doctor said, you know, Kiera, I think it's that I really listen to them and I have clear expectations. They know what it is. That office also, like when we say we're gonna be there at 12 o'clock, they are there at 11:55 with their notebooks and their pens. I think that a lot of these practices, so one of the pieces I see is people really do stay where expectations are clear. Both of these offices have high standards, both of these offices expect a lot, both of these offices work really hard. Dental A team is no exception to that. and I think having clarity, I think having clear job descriptions, I think having clear expectations from all leaders, I think team members knowing if they're winning or losing, you define it. You define it for them. And I really do love that there's clarity all the way around. Like both offices have different expectations, but both offices have them clear. The team knows how to win, the team knows what's expected, and both offices really do treat their team. like humans. They I just watch and I watch these cohesive teams and there are clear expectations, but there's also a space where they they want to be there. There's this want, there's this draw, there's this happiness, there's a lightness about it. But they're hitting great goals. And so I think clarity really can create confidence for team members. So that's that's a good space. Another thing I notice with these offices and with teams is people really do want growth, not just like an employment path. So, what is growth in that practice? How do people evolve? How do they grow? Like, what is a development plan? All these offices have regular one-on-ones. And one-on-ones can be about performance, one-on-ones can also be about what they want in their personal life, what they want in their professional life, what that looks like. And talking about growth opportunities, for me, every single year at the end of the year, I talk to my team about what their personal and professional goals are. When people join our team, they take a survey of what they want their personal life to look like in their next one year, five years, 10 years. and as a leader, I'm obsessed with making their dreams become a reality. So how can we make those dreams become real for them? How can we figure it out? anything we can possibly do? Let's give opportunities, let's find ways. It doesn't always have to be with work because sometimes you're gonna tap out once you're at a certain level as a dental system. That's kind of where you're gonna be. But can they learn? To do for an office work? Can they grow in other areas? Can they become a mentor consult or assistant? What ways can they grow? can we grow them personally? Can we send them to CE courses where they're personally growing, not just professionally growing? what's the training and development we can do? I know there's an office, another office I know of, and they hired Dave Ramsey. And so everybody who wanted to learn about financial management, they were able to do it. I know I've had offices where I teach them about how to do investments a little bit. like very small, like high yield savings accounts and the things that they're able to do. growing people as people, not just as employees. Like that, I don't know. I think as an employer, one of our greatest gifts is to be able to like grow people to make their dreams become true, to look for opportunities to help them become the best version of themselves, and really just having pasts and plans and Knowing your team, knowing them as humans. as our company grows, Britt and I talk about this often. I'm like, Britt, how do we grow and still maintain this authentic one-on-one seeing people as people in our company? Our mission has slightly changed to where we're so focused on growing practices, but it's one person, one life, one practice at a time. And I'm very obsessed about being obsessed about the individual. How do people feel in a large organization, how do they feel like they're still seen as a person? How do they feel like they are being grown as a human? And I think the more you can do one-on-one growth conversations, the more you can invest in them in humans. And it's crazy because I think as management gets bigger and you have leaders and you're not as involved as a CEO, finding ways where you're not overstepping your leaders and you're able to still stay connected to them as humans. I was hired we just hired a A new C-suite member on our team. And I was talking to him, and I was like, okay, this person's favorite tree is this, and this person's favorite thing is this, and this person's favorite thing is that. And when I finished, I thought, no matter how large our organization ever gets, I want to make sure that all of my team members, all of our clients, always feel like they are like one in a million, and they are that one, and that they are seen as that one, that they are so valued. even in a large organization. There was the Dean of Midwestern when I worked with him. His name is Dr. Gilpatrick. And I remember he knew every single dental student's name. He knew my husband's name. He and we're talking, there were hundreds, and I remember being like, whoa, that's so impressive. I want to be like Dr. Gilpatrick and I want to know everyone's name and I want to remember their names. And at the time I was not great at that. And this is a skill I really had to develop. but people loved Dr. Gilpatrick and we were talking, I don't know, it was probably I think 150 people per class. We had four classes in there. So at any given time, there's probably 600 students plus spouses. Dr. Gilpatrick knew every single one of them by name and knew something personal about them. Would ask me how my husband was doing, would ask how Jason's doing in pharmacy school. So it wasn't just my husband. It was by name and what his profession was and what he was going to school for. That type of intentionality as a leader, people don't even get that from their family. People don't even get that from their spouses. And as a leader, You can show them that they're important, that they're valued, that they're loved. One of the greatest things that you can ever do. And then I think another piece for being able to retain great team members. Yes, we need to hire, but you're gonna be able to hire if you have a great culture. another great thing is is to actually build a great culture. So what are the things of what is your culture? For us, I literally have them read like what our culture is and values we live by, and all of our team knows core values and I've set it up to where they core value shout out each other every Wednesday. As a leader, like I get a little teary-eyed on this part. to show up and to hear my team calling each other out. I'm not there a lot of Wednesdays. I'm not there at a lot of our meetings anymore. And when I do get to be there, to just watch each other love each other. to see each other help each other out. We're a virtual team, guys. Like they don't even live by each other. And see marketing and consultants call each other out to positively praise one another, to offer to help, like shout out to Pam. I know she listens to the podcast a lot. Pam is always willing to help. And I see her go behind the scenes and help people get their numbers entered and to have our marketing team love on our consultant team and to have our consultants love on our like C-suite team and to have our C-suite team love on our VA team to watch them call out core values to each other. To watch them do Thankful Thursday. to like see people as people. I know our team's getting bigger, and I keep getting like, like when we run leadership meetings, I'm always like, no, it's always personal and professional wins every single week. And I'm so big on that. I'm like, that takes so much time. And I'm like, that's how you connect. The times how you connect, that time's how you make people feel seen, heard, and loved. I can't tell you how many times in these meetings I learn about my team's struggles. We learn about people get connected. There's a a game I play in office called the Silver Thread, I think is what it's called, or like connected thread. I don't even know what it's called, but I get people in groups of four usually and I say, All right, you guys have to come up with four things that you're connected by. And I I have people that don't know each other. I sometimes get in the group, and what I found is every single time they're able to come up with four things that they all have in common. A lot of times it's holidays, a lot of times it's songs, but it's so fascinating because no matter what group you're in. People are connected, people are striving for community, people rally with each other, people want that connection. And so to be able to have your team come connected as a culture, these are just the little things. These are where people feel safe, they feel seen, they feel heard. addressing issues early, like having leaders that support, having people that connect in with their departments, having people that grow their departments. I also think making sure the standard is like not what you preach, but what you tolerate. And looking at what you tolerate, and is that really the the standard of what you're going to to have? Like, do not destroy your top performers by tolerating poor performance of the lower performers. Hire great talent. Expect people to be at the same level. People love to be surrounded by A players. Like, so hire A players, create a culture of A players, create a culture where they love each other, create a culture where they're connected to each other, create time for them to bond. Like, Because we have a virtual team, you have it so much easier in an in-person team. There's so many things. You can have potlucks together. You can have book clubs together. You can work out together. You can do painting nights together. You can go to sports games together. Get people connecting as people. and always recognize that in culture, your entire team is always watching you and what you're willing to tolerate, what you're willing to accept. They're watching you like a hawk. And I think about when I have to make hard decisions or ones that I don't want to do. I had to remember I got an entire team of eyes watching and seeing what we as leaders will do and what we will not do. I remember when I was first a manager, I tolerated some really poor performance. And I remember there was a hygienist. I remember exactly who she was. I remember the exact day. I remember her name. She came in and she said, Kiera, I have lost so much respect for you. And that was duly served. I was not being a leader. I was not having the conversations I needed to have. I was not holding team members to the high level of accountability that we had. I was not creating a culture. I was just squawking. I was seagull managing. I come in, I say a lot of words, and I shiz all over and I leave. That's not the way we create culture. And I think when we talk about hiring and having staffing, having a kick a culture, having people where They love to work there where they want to refer their friends, but that doesn't mean they get everything they want. You can have high standards and have people obsess about it. People love to work hard. People love to be a part of an organization that's growing and innovating and creating. And they want to be a part of growth. Like growth equals like progress equals happiness. These are the ways that we create and retain. And so it's one of those things of creating clarity, creating growth, protecting your culture, having it be a space where people are obsessed with working there. Finding out, talking to people, getting in, hearing what's going on, having leaders that really are developing their team, you pouring as a leader, like as a CEO into your leadership team, like that is where I pour the bulk of my energy to trickle down to love because I can't do it, nor should I. I want leaders to rise up. You want leaders to rise up. But I think more than even hiring and attracting is how do I build a culture that people are obsessed with? How do I create raving fans? And that does not mean they get everything they want. Think about spoiled rotten kids who are getting everything they want. They don't respect their parents. Think about the kids who respect their parents, who love their parents, who are raving fans of their parents. They work hard. They've got accountability. They've got structure. They've got discipline. Same thing in an organization. how can you be the best leader? That doesn't mean the most loved. I've said this quote before and I'll say it again. You're gonna be loved as a leader, you're gonna be hated as a leader, and where I hope you ultimately land is respected as a leader. And that is a zone of like hiring and staffing is not just about hiring. It's about having an environment where great people want to stay. And so I'd ask yourself, look at it. Look at our company and see how do I create this into a practice where people don't want to leave, where people are obsessed, where I have high performing people that want to be here. Look at yourself as a leader, look to see what you're tolerating, look to see what you can change, ask your team. Be careful how you ask because I found that self-reported oftentimes is based on the week. And if it's a bad week, I get bad reports. but really look to see how are people performing? What things do you want it to be? What things do people talk about? Why do they love it here? There's books so called I I love it here. Read culture books on how you can produce these great cultures. We had a podcast where I talked to a Chick-fil-A owner and how they create these raving fan cultures there. But really, I think on hiring and retaining, it's about retaining. Because great teams that retain have word-of-mouth referrals left and right. People crave to work in great environments. People crave to work with great leaders. People crave to be there. And then when you are hiring, have those. Have your team have testimonials. We have a lot of testimonies where we've got video testimonies of our team where they're obsessed with working here. And when it doesn't work out, that's okay. This is not the place for everybody. Your place is not the place for everybody. Your place is for the right people. But hopefully there's some tacticals in here for you to take, for you to look at it. And if you need help, this is a zone. We've turned around a lot of cultures. We've turned around a lot of leaders. We've had, we've said the uncomfortable things. I've had a lot of coaches give me uncomfortable advice. but really truly it's a space where I believe if you can think about how do I retain the right people, how do I attract the right people, how do I create this as a practice where people work hard, they play hard, they love being here, they don't get the Sunday scaries. that's the place where people are gonna want to stay. They're gonna wanna cleave, they're gonna wanna like cling on and just be obsessed with you and refer all their friends. Have that be your standard, have that be what you want to be. And I promise you, hiring will be no longer as hard of an issue for you. And then be cautious on who you hire. Make sure you're always hiring for that culture, for the standards you want. A players make life a lot easier. And I know they're not always there, but seek after them, find them, and retain them. If we can help you guys in any way, we help build leadership systems. We help build accountability. We help build cultures. We help turn cultures from maybe negative cultures to positive. We help leaders. We help CEOs. office managers sometimes are struggling with their doctors. Let's have those open conversations. Let's mediate between the two and help you two have uncomfortable, healthy debate conversations to where you guys can grow and flourish. I'd love to help you out. I'd love for you to just have a team that you're obsessed with. I'd love for you to be like the doctors I I said, where they love their teams. They love working there. but it's not done out of entitlement. It's done out of accountability, empowerment, love, and great cultures. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1187
August 11 · 25 min
#1,187: Must-Know Tools for Re-Care + Reactivation
This episode is all about eyes on fall/winter 2026. Tiff and Pam discuss what's top of mind for practices as they look to the final stretch of the year, including stepping up on re-care and reactivation, how to talk about it with patients, and how to make sure it's incorporated into your practice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team Podcast Listeners. I am so excited to be here with you today. I always am. I literally love doing this with you guys. and I more than that, I love doing this with our consulting team. And I have very, very special women on as our consultant guest today. I have Miss Pam with us today, and you guys have actually not heard from her yet, even though she's been here with us behind the scenes for a little while. Getting these podcasts like scheduled and in the system and all of those pieces takes a little bit of time sometimes. And Pam is a prized, prized possession in our consulting department. And I am so excited for you guys to meet her. If you work with her already, you are very excited to hear her on the podcast today. I know there's a few of you who are avid listeners who work directly one-on-one with Pam. so I'm excited for you guys to hear from her today. Pam, I've got you here. We've got the listeners and I'm just so excited to be here with you this morning. You did some prep. I appreciate that. I love the questions and making sure we're ready to go. you prep way more than I do and I value that and you push me to do the same thing. So Pam, thank you for being here. How are you today? Pamela (01:12) Hi, Tiff. I am doing fantastic. I'm super excited to be here. Tiffanie (01:17) Good. And you're here in Phoenix as well. We always say we are just so hot and I think we had some rain the other night and I thought by by rain I mean I got some light sprinkles in the backyard and I thought, gosh, this might cool us down and I mean it did, but it was still like a hundred and five at eight PM last night. So how is it you're like forty five minutes ish from me, how is it on your side of Phoenix? Pamela (01:45) Yeah, we did not get much rain like you. We got like the little pitter patter, but it no, it hasn't rained. I think the storms just go around us. I don't know what's going Tiffanie (01:55) I think so. Pamela (01:56) on, but it just makes it humid, so we know what the Tiffanie (01:59) Yeah. Pamela (01:59) east coast feels like when there's a little bit of rainstorm coming, but yeah, nothing nothing like the east coast, the humidity, but we do get a little bit. Tiffanie (02:10) I agree. I always when I travel and and I tell people where I'm from and Pam, I'm sure you have and will continue to experience this as well. When I say I'm from Arizona, everybody goes, my gosh, how do you do that summer? And I always say, Listen, there's a season for everything and everyone, and I don't have to shovel snow, and I love that. And I would take this hundred and twenty degree summer for two months over shoveling snow any day of the week. And Pam, you've done both. Pamela (02:40) I I have originally I'm from California, so when I moved to Utah to go to college, yes, I experienced shoveling snow and then I raised my kids there. And to be really honest, that's the reason why I moved to Arizona. I couldn't Tiffanie (02:53) Yeah. Pamela (02:54) get out of my driveway a couple of times and I'm like, nope, not doing this. Tiffanie (02:58) No, thank you. Pamela (02:59) So yes, I agree. I would take the two months of the heat and jump in the pool. Tiffanie (03:04) Yes, my fiance says the same thing. He had he says that there were multiple times he lived up in Lake Zend, Oregon area. He said there were so many times that he had to shovel out and shovel back in in the same day and he was done and moved to Arizona. So we like to say we don't have a lot of natural disasters or issues here. We just have the heat during the summer. So here we are. I Pamela (03:26) That's right. Yeah. Tiffanie (03:27) love it. Well, speaking of seasonalities, I think Something that's really fun about dentistry is that there's seasonalities in that as well. Everything runs on a cycle, and we like to talk about those cycles within our consulting and Dental A Team runs off of a few different cycles ourselves. And one of those systems, systematic cycles, I shall say, is scheduling and walking into the fall slash winter. The fall slash winter in dentistry is like a mixed bag. I feel like a few years ago. Everybody was, you know, prepping for September is what we like to call it. And then prepping for October to December to be chaotic and crazy. And then I I really saw a shift within that after COVID. I think the COVID shutdowns were about six months from September, October. And so it shifted and changed quite a bit within that. But we do still see that scheduling really needs to be a high priority in this time period. And I truly believe with everything I have, whatever we can prep and plan for and take the guesswork out, kind of control what we can and let the rest happen around us and then you know, control what we can within that is the best avenue to take. So making sure that we're looking ahead at things and really taking in those killer systems that can really depict how your fall and winter are gonna go are are gonna be massive. So I wanted to take the listeners here, Pam through a couple of systems and And again, this is kind of that seasonality. So we chunk it down and we we see every month or every quarter kind of seeing what does that focus need to be within Dental A Team. This is something that we believe is a heavy focus at this time period in this season. So with that, Pam, I really want you to chat through with me Dental A Team systems for sure, but Pam, you've been a consultant and you've been in dentistry for a while, and you've got tips and tricks and tools. that you brought to our company as well as to the clients that you've served over the years. So I want to pick your brain and speak to obviously Dental A Team systems, but really pick your brain and and kind of see what are some things that you've done in practice, what are things that you're doing with your practices as you're consulting them to prep and plan for this. And one of those spaces and something that's been coming up with a lot of my clients is that recare and reactivation. I know in dentistry and you probably remember this, Pam, I remember this from years and years and years ago, everything was about new patients. And it was like, how many new patients can we get? How can we get them? Spend on marketing, get the new patients, get the new patients. And there wasn't a lot of focus, I don't think, on the other side of it. So keeping the new patients for sure was never a thought, right? It was just get more. And then the recare piece was kind of an afterthought. It was like, well if the schedule's falling apart and we don't have new patients, then we call on recare. And that mindset really did a disservice because if we're not taking care of the people that are coming, like what are we really doing? And I think it gave a little bit of a foothold for things like DSOs to step in and really take over, but we're trying to shift that and practices are shifting that model. And hygienists especially are always really concerned now about what's happening with my patient I've already spent so much time with. So when it comes to recare and reactivation, we'll focus recare first. Pam, what are some things that you hammer in with practices to make sure that that recare is happening, whether it's a new patient or a patient they've had for 15 years? Pamela (07:05) Yeah, great question, Tiff. And I I do feel like I've seen that same shift as well. Tiffanie (07:10) Yeah. Pamela (07:11) So I I think that recare percentage is such a big deal because it does tell us are we bleeding out the back? Are we losing patients that were right in front of us and we could have scheduled them right then? That is the most effective and efficient way to do that. I I tell hygienists give the patient A reason to return. Like notice an area that tells that says, hey, I'm well, I'm looking at this area. Your upper right is having a little inflammation and some, you know, I got just a little bleeding, not anything to worry about, but I'm gonna note that and write it down in your notes so they see you noting it, right? And Tiffanie (07:56) Yeah. Pamela (07:56) that you will come back to say to them, I'm I'm really excited to see you in six months. And when you come back, we're gonna check. check on this and and just you do a great job with your home care. Just do a little extra on that upper right side and we'll see what you can do at home. Tiffanie (08:15) I love that because you're really focusing in on them being seen, you know, and the value of the cleaning. I think we oftentimes say, you know, let's get you scheduled for your next cleaning. And it's like, well, I schedule my next carpet cleaning when it's needed. And I know you're really heavy on the verbiage and the way that we speak about it as well. And and us as a company, we use things like you guys have heard of NDTR. the handoff and the reason that the recare is in there is because we want to put the value on the appointment and not just that routine cleaning. So setting that up where it's like, hey, we saw this, we're gonna check on this when you're when you come back in and then you look at your dose and you do it really sets the value for the personalization, the relationship, and it changes the script on the value of the quote unquote cleaning. What is it I'm trying to remember as I'm speaking palm and I'm not it's not coming to me. What is it that you there's something that you change and I can't remember what it is or you you coach practices through how to speak to scheduling that recare appointment and I can't I can't think of what it is. What is it? Pamela (09:24) Yeah, yeah, no, I know exactly what you're talking about. So I I teach teams to say something like, you know, we consider this a confirmed appointment as a courtesy. We will always send you text reminders by email, you know, let's make sure, let's go up front. You said you didn't get one last time, let's make sure we have the right phone number on on file and If you happen to have a change in your schedule, please let us know 48 hours in advance. And that way we can get you back in. But I really want to check on that one area so that you go back to that reason to return as you're doing that handoff. But I like saying that it is, we already consider this confirmed. As a courtesy, we are just going to send you those reminders. So it's an easy Tiffanie (10:14) Yeah. Pamela (10:15) way to kind of also inform and remind your patients about your cancellation, or we don't say cancellation, right? About your about your Tiffanie (10:24) Yeah. Confirmation process. Yeah. Pamela (10:27) exactly. Yeah. Tiffanie (10:28) Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And what you did there too is they're scheduling in the back office then. So it sounds Pamela (10:33) Yes. Tiffanie (10:34) like you've got hygiene scheduling their next recare, which I think allows for that personalization again and that like importance that's being placed on it. Not to say that other appointments aren't important, but they're coming up quicker. And so when the when you're tied to the hygienist and that is the person you're coming to see, I mean, we've all experienced where a patient, you know, gets switched to a different hygienist or the hygienist maybe moves out of state and they're no longer seeing that hygienist. They're like, wait, where's Joanna? Like I've been seeing Joanna forever and they're a patient of the practice, but they get attached. My fiance's very attached to Amy at his place. Like I've never even met her and I know I know about her because he's very attached to her. The kids are attached to her. And that places value on the appointment and makes it more difficult for us to cancel it. Now recare is phenomenal, tracking that, making sure that there's like in the background, there's constantly recare efforts going on. So we're making phone calls, we're sending out the emails, coming up due, do now, past due reminders, all of those pieces are always happening. Pam, something that I struggle with. practices. If you're busy, what tends to happen is we're like, well, we can't if I can't fit appointments in my hygiene schedule. So I'm not going to call on them because then I'm just disappointing patients. The likelihood of them answering is very slim. And so when you reduce your outgoing efforts, now you need the schedule full and you're just igniting those efforts. You're not going to see a result for probably 30 to 45 days realistically, because it takes like four to seven times your effort to get that return back in. So I beg of you Please make sure no matter how busy your schedule is, you're always doing recare efforts to help you keep that schedule busy. Something that I love to do with my practices, Pam, I think we all do, is really, really, really capitalize on the patient base that they have, not just active patient base. But there's some some practices have been around. I've got one that's been around for like 30 years. It was his grandfather's, it was his dad's, now it's his. And they've got like 19,000 patients in their database and like six thousand active patients for three doctors, right? So I'm like, you guys have thirteen thousand patients that haven't been touched. And I'm not saying everybody's got thirteen thousand, but everybody has inactive patients. Every month patients go inactive. That's your attrition rate. Every month patients are sliding out the back door, like Pam talked about, and we're focused on new patients. You got 24 new patients, but you lost five. You only have nineteen patients added to your patient base. So those five patients, when are they being touched on? So that reactivation program or campaign, I really have them focus, Pam, on those patients who are not active in the practice and just getting touch points onto them like emails. You can do phone calls too, but really making sure we're hitting those people who have an established relationship, just maybe haven't come in, they forgot. What do you what do you do? Pamela (13:43) Yeah, no, I I love that and I think that's really true. I think sometimes in dentistry we think we haven't seen them in 18 months, they've forgotten about us, Tiffanie (13:52) Yeah. Pamela (13:53) but I don't think so. I think that they still think, that's my dentist. And Tiffanie (13:58) I agree. Pamela (13:59) right when they even if it's been two years and they haven't been in, you know, people may not be as conscientious about coming every six months. That's okay, but we still want to reach out to them and whether that's by email, whether It's you're making you know a big email campaign to reactivate those patients, or it's a texting program, right? That you have. I think you know, look for those patients that haven't had an exam and reach Tiffanie (14:27) Mm. Pamela (14:27) out for those patients just to get them back in. And like you said, it takes some time to do, but when they are prompted, I think, and they know that you care, they're more likely to just give you a call. And in this day and age, I've believe a hundred percent what you said people are not picking up their phone right yeah so it's yeah I might pick it up either I don't pick it up either unless I recognize the number so Tiffanie (14:47) Yeah. Yeah. I'm not. I no ain't nobody got time for that. No. Yes. And I'm ready to talk to them. I still have to be ready to talk to them. I have to be in a space. I have to be in a mindset. I have to be ready to engage in whatever this conversation is that's about to come. So even if I recognize the number, I'm like, I don't really have the space for it right now. So I will call you back. And then six months goes by and I'm like, wow, I never did that. Like I never I never finished that. So then two years goes by, right? I have a friend that was we were messaging on Instagram just last night about her wedding and our wedding coming up and all of these pieces. And she's like, I can't believe how big Brody is. And we realized my son is 18. We have not seen each other in person since he was a baby. She lives three hours from me. Like we put that together and I was like, gosh, but the reality is it didn't feel that long. It felt like It was just the other day because we have this this social media connection, right? She's in front of me. And so it felt different. And so when we're in front of the people, even our email correspondences, things like that, if we're in front of them, that time passes differently. It doesn't feel as long into your point, Pam. With all of those correspondence continuing to go, you still feel like that's my dentist, right? That's my practice, like that's who I'm going to go to. when I'm ready and how many patients have we answered the phone for and they're like, my gosh, I can't believe it's been two years since I've been there. I'm like, time really does fly. so the reactivation campaigns are huge. And to me, I think of those patients almost like new patients, right? Because they haven't been seen. And so they they need a full workup. They need all of the pieces. You didn't spend any money to get them. And their appointments are easier because they already have a relationship with the practice. So it's way less work, time, and money to reactivate people than it is to continue to search for new patients. Let the new patients come in, let the new patient flow be there, and reactivate patients simultaneously. Pamela (16:59) Yeah, a absolutely. And I I love your point that it's just it's should be part of our processes. It should be part Tiffanie (17:05) Okay. Pamela (17:06) of our systems. And you know, if we tend to let that go, we're letting a huge opportunity just pass us by. And just if we focus only on those eighteen months patients, you know, we're doing a huge disservice truly to our Tiffanie (17:20) Absolutely. Pamela (17:21) patients. And I I think it's really wise to keep that going. you know, whether that like you like we said an email campaign or a texting campaign and just put it on a system so you know whatever that is tackle it by you know x amount of patients per day per week however you're gonna do it just systemize systematize it so that you are continuing to hit those patients reach out Tiffanie (17:49) Yep, I have a practice I talked to about this last week and she was like, Well, do we do this every month? And I'm like, actually, you're gonna do it twice a month. And you're gonna have one that's 18 to 24, and then you're gonna have one that's 24 plus, and they're gonna go twice a month because every day someone new falls into one of those categories. And so no matter what, you're hitting them multiple times in the foreseeable future, and eventually they're either gonna call back and say, Hey, we moved out of state. Or they're gonna call back and say, Thank you so much for sending fifteen emails. You finally got my attention and I'm scheduling this appointment. Pamela (18:23) Yeah, and and that's a really good point, Tiff. Like being conscientious and really aware of when you are deciding to delete a patient, right? Tiffanie (18:36) Yeah. Pamela (18:36) I think there needs to be some actual communication and that you've talked to that patient and they say, Yes, I have moved, and you don't know what happened. They could have said they were gonna move and they didn't, you know. So and then we just delete them out of our system, and I I don't think that's right thing. I think we need to be really aware and have have a system built in. If you have talked to the patient and they told you that they have moved, then okay, I get that. But we don't just go deleting patients willy-nilly. Tiffanie (19:10) I totally agree. I totally agree. And even I have doctors that are like, well, I just purchased this practice, right? So like I need new patients. And I'm like, my gosh, phenomenal. Everyone who's ever been in that practice is a new patient to you. You've already paid for them. So let's get as much as we can out of that before paying for more new patients. Pamela (19:30) Absolutely. And I have several practices like that right now that have just purchased in the last two years. And I remind them of that constantly because they, you Tiffanie (19:39) Yep. Pamela (19:39) know, and and right we hear this all the time in dentistry. I need more new patients. I need you have a gold mine sitting there. And so Tiffanie (19:48) Yeah. Pamela (19:48) go go mining. Go get them. They're Tiffanie (19:50) Yes. Pamela (19:51) yours. Tiffanie (19:52) Yes. I agree. I agree. And when they say the team says, I don't have time, great, let's strategize and let's find the time. And like you said, Pam, like so many things can be automated right now. And I think everyone prefers the automation at this point. It's not I think in twenty eighteen to like twenty twenty two we were really still fighting that automation piece. But now it's twenty twenty six at the time of recording this and we are we are ready for it. Just allow to use it. Yeah. Pamela (20:19) I I agree a hundred percent. Like we can do more in the dental let's not stay back in those ages. Let's move forward to, you know, with Tiffanie (20:27) Yes. Pamela (20:28) the times. And I it just makes life easier anyway because people are oriented that way now. So Tiffanie (20:31) Yeah. I agree. Pamela (20:34) yeah, so I think great point. Love it. Tiffanie (20:36) Always impressed me how dentistry can be so forward thinking and have so much tech in the back office, right? We've got C B C T scans that were never there when I was physically in office. We've got all these scanners, we we're making crowns in office, they're making dentures, they're painting dentures and doing this in office and blowing my mind. But we still have paper charts in some offices. Like I can't I can't understand, my brain can't understand the difference, the stark difference in the back office versus front office, like forward thinking and and movement there, the advances. Pamela (21:13) Yeah. I I could not agree more and you know Sometimes we have people that are just sort of stuck in doing that Tiffanie (21:20) Okay. Pamela (21:21) and that that's okay. But embrace it because I I'm gonna tell you it will make your job so much easier to embrace that Tiffanie (21:28) I do. Pamela (21:29) technology. And I think the front office is more difficult to move to that direction. You know, when I go in an office and I see them handing the patient a paper chart, I'm like, okay, well, and and that is applicable in a lot of areas. Okay, in some places, I get that, but And you know, digital is the way of the future. We need to catch up. And once you make that switch, you will go, my gosh, this is amazing. It's so awesome. Tiffanie (21:59) I agree. I totally agree with you. Yeah, I love it. Well, I think those are two incredible systems that really truly help build a profitable schedule and help prep for if you're gonna have a September, have a September, but also it helps prep you for even the busy period. It just keeps it consistent. And when you can build that consistency into anything in life, it becomes less chaotic, especially when you can build the consistency back into your schedule, whether it's hygiene. or doctor side, these patients have to come in somewhere and they will all be caught within a recare system andor a reactivation system. So Pam, this was incredible. I I knew it was going to be amazing. I knew it was going to be very easy. Thank you for your time today and everyone, all of all of our listeners here today, if you're interested in these, obviously reach out. If you don't have them in place or you're like, gosh, maybe you guys have something that's a little bit different. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We're always happy to share as much information as we possibly can. You can also go to hello, nope, to TheDentalATeam.com No, hello. You can go to TheDentalATeam.com and you can always schedule a call with us to chat about any of these pieces. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, leave us a five-star review so that we know that you loved and enjoyed this. Pam, thank you so much for your time today. I know we had to reschedule this as well. Thank you for being flexible with my schedule. you are an incredible consultant and you are so valued on our team. And I cannot wait for all of the listeners to hear this. So Pam, thank you. Pamela (23:34) Thank you, Tiff, it was a pleasure. Tiffanie (23:37) Of course, of course. All right, listeners. if you are driving, go sit down somewhere, listen back to this, take some notes, reach out to us, hello at the dunalytime.com, and as always, have an amazing day. We'll catch you next time.
#1184
August 6 · 19 min
#1,186: The Best and Smartest Way To Fill Holes in Your Schedule
Kiera shares three approaches that will help you consistently and quickly fill your schedule on a daily basis: maximizing your current patients, creating the perfect handoff, and building consistent marketing. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we're gonna talk about what to do when you've got like holes in the schedule. I wanted to have a tactical one. I just came from a practice that is like an amazing same-day converter. but I want to just like talk about like it's very, very stressful when you're looking at your schedule and you just see holes, like holes everywhere. And so, what can we do to fill those holes? How can we make sure you have a very productive practice? and it's not always a marketing problem. It's not necessarily that we need more patience. Let's just figure out how we can do like what are some simple things to help you fill those holes to have a very pro productive, predictable schedule. And like really, there's going to be holes. So let's make sure that team members and doctors have a really good solution. That way we can make sure that we take care of it. So I want to talk to you about like if you're not busy enough, how we fix it, where we can get that growth with predictability, and like three things that are gonna help you consistently fill your schedule on a regular basis. So Dental A Team, we've worked with hundreds of practices across the nation, you guys. This is something that we see. This is something that's common. We consult them in person. We consult them virtually. And it's just something of like filling a schedule is always top of mind. It's always how do we how do we make sure it's consistently up to goal? and I think it's just a discipline. It's not something that is always talked about. It's a, it's how do we make sure, like what are the, what are the core tools to get my system? And I think that that's just a way for you guys to to be able to be consistent and you don't need to worry about as many new patients. Like it's still a thing and I'm not here to just click it away. But this is like, let's just look for opportunities that are already sitting inside your practice that are easy. Again, they're already in the toolbox. Let's just pull these tools out for you. So what are three big areas that you can focus on quickly to help you? So I would just came from an office. It was awesome. I swear this office, like they've got holes and they just make it rain every day. It's like, all right, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna convert? And I will say being really, really good at same day conversion is going to be a great thing. So it's maximizing the patients you already have. So instead of going after new patients, like what are the ones we already have? So what this looks like, we like are gonna look at our unscheduled treatment plans. We're gonna look for patients that are overdue and hygiene, and we're going to make sure that we're reactivating and recare and then making sure we're reappointing all patients. So number one, like a good morning huddle can fix a lot of this. So I love people to prep the day and let's all talk in huddle. To see who has outstanding treatment. And if we are consistently doing this, of every patient who has unscheduled treatment and we schedule them in office, like the fastest, easiest way is like not going and hunting and looking at lists, but it's doing the things in office that day. Also, every morning huddle, which patients need cleanings. You can fill your schedule so quickly with a great morning huddle and with people coming prepped and prepared. So front office team members take notes. Their clinical team should be giving you a wealth of knowledge. And then as patients are coming in, we are going to be scheduling. Any treatment that we can get scheduled and any patients due for cleanings, whether we have an opening or not today, it's good hygiene, good practice for us to get those patient schedules in office. It's so much easier to schedule them when they're in office rather than chasing and hunting them. So, number one, when they're coming in and do it through morning huddle. Number two is we need to have a set process where we're calling unscheduled treatment and recare every single day. I'm not joking, every single day. Let's make sure we have good processes. I had an office. We just worked on it for three months. Everybody, we had a huge list of this. It hadn't been worked in years, and we're like, we're gonna get a process and a system in play. So we listed it all out. We divided the list amongst team members and we went to town. And then every single week we reported how many pay like how many dollars we were able to schedule and how many patients we scheduled. I want to say in three months they scheduled about $500,000 of unscheduled treatment. To me, that is a great use of time in three months. It's an incredible way. Every single week they were doing it. We found out who the best person was at it. What their verbiage was, but we've got to be calling every single day. So you've got to be able to have it. There's so much out there. Unscheduled treatment, usually, like the practice I was in, and they had a bunch of holes. They're like, here, we have so many holes. I went and ran the unscheduled treatment report. They had $1.7 million worth of unscheduled treatment. And in the last six months, they've added an additional 700,000. Now, could that be duplicated treatment plans? Absolutely. But do I also believe that there's a decent amount of treatment sitting in that schedule? You better believe it is. So, with that said, I want you to know that these items can be taken care of. You can get them done. They can be great for you. Get that process. I recommend at a minimum. Let's start with five calls a day on unscheduled treatment, unscheduled recare. Let's just have that. It's kind of like brushing our teeth. Okay. We brush morning and night. We call unscheduled treatment. We call unscheduled recare every single day. All the time. That's just part of what we do. It's part of our process. We do confirmation calls. We do unscheduled treatment and recare calls. We also schedule every single patient that comes in for their treatment. We also schedule every patient due for recare. Another thing that you can do is you can ask when you are scheduling for recare, who else do you have that we can schedule? I cannot tell you how many people we've scheduled from family members. Me and my husband, we don't go to the same dentist. Guess what? We're about to start going to the same dentist. They ask us who we can schedule? We got scheduled together. It's very easy, it's very convenient. Just ask. It's a great way for you to fill those holes. So You are usually sitting on tons of production opportunities that we already have. We just need to dig in our gold mine and actually be consistent with that. The fastest way to grow is usually already just sitting there. So unscheduled treatment, unscheduled recare. Let's talk about morning huddle. Let's make sure we're making those five hygiene calls a day. Like, I'd love you to do more than that. I'd love you to just fill your schedule and always have it full. But making outbound calls on a consistent basis, minimum five up to Tiffany, you sever team call, 50 calls a day. I'm not joking. So Know that five is really, really, really low. And make sure it's a call and a text. Don't just go the the easy way and do a text, a phone call and a text. You get double whammy and call at times when people are gonna be around. So I usually like to make calls around eight, noon, or around four. It's usually when people are gonna be the most around that we were maximizing our time. So we can run the unscheduled treatment list. I always run it every single month. Divide the list up amongst every person. If we have an opening in the schedule where we've got downtime, everyone's expected for every 15 minutes of downtime we've got, we are going to be making. Five calls. You can do it for 30 minutes, but everyone give the script, have everybody do it. It's there. So that's one tip to fill your schedule very easily and keep it full. The next one is gonna be like, let's boost our case acceptance. I kid you not. Like we don't need to go after more patients. A lot of times we just need to improve that case acceptance. So getting really good. I work a lot with offices when we do our consulting on just improving case acceptance. It's one of the fastest, easiest ways to grow a practice is just to get more patients to say yes. If you're a great clinician and we're diagnosing, we should get patients to say yes. I have an office that I've been working with for several years. And truly, what we do for the bulk of our time is we work on their treatment plans and we just improve it and we improve it. We grow them usually a million to two million every single year, just by working on case acceptance, not pushing more new patients, not doing a lot of systems. It is truly just working on case acceptance. So when we have patients that are like, let me think about it. We're not getting treatment plans scheduled. We also have low treatment plans. So it's a closing cases, but also diagnosing enough that's going to be there. If you want to produce your like the goal should be you're diagnosing at least three times what you want to produce. Then we need to be closing those cases. So what we need to do on this is it's strong handoffs. So I usually recommend NDTR. You've heard me talk about it million times. We'll link those if you haven't heard it. Welcome. It's next visit, date, time, recare. So we gotta tell every patient what the next visit is, be clear and concise, what the date is to return, how much time, like one week, two weeks, three weeks. Do not say ASAP. I had an office I've been working with for years, like, I tell them ASAP, and I was like, excuse me? No, ASAP is very different for everyone. We're gonna say when you're scheduling my schedule align, or one week, two weeks, non negotiable. How much time is needed for that appointment and also recare. I've also had teams tell me, like, Kiera, we already know. I know you know, but the patient needs to hear it. It's gonna help you get higher case acceptance. So everybody says that we involve the patient, we don't just talk to each other. The patient's involved in that. So strong handoff, NDTR. Make sure they all have it. Then after that, what we're gonna do is we're gonna have really strong case acceptance and we're gonna track on a treatment tracker. I have an office that does an amazing job with this. They track every single treatment plan. They come through what is it? They have multiple doctors. How is each doctor doing? What's their case acceptance? How many dollars are we diagnosing? And we review it weekly, if not monthly, across the board. That way, doctors are constantly improving their case acceptance. We're constantly improving our handoff. Hygiene is constantly teeing up treatment. Let's get better and stronger to where we get this high case acceptance. You do that alone. Your diagnosis, your handoffs, and your closes are going to improve. What we track and measure improves. You probably have so much treatment that's not being diagnosed. So hygiene and doctors work on what would doctor do? Let's tee up treatment. Hygiene should be able to. tee up treatment, 90% exactly what a doctor is going to diagnose. Doctors should be able to come in, give a perfect handoff. We then take that up to the front office. And then front office is really, really strong at being able to schedule first. Then let's talk about objections. Let's work through it to get them scheduled. I love a strong treatment coordinator who just closes like, let me think about it. Let's work through that. What are the reasons? I have an entire thing on root causes and objections and how to work through objections. So if you guys want to know a couple of objections, I love these. I love to work with treatment planning. and these are just things of what are their objections? So we gotta go into this case acceptance, 80% psychology. Everybody says yes to me. There's always a solution. We're gonna find it together. Assume that they wanna do this. All right. So, like, yes, they want to do dentistry. We present the treatment plan, we edify the doctor, we schedule first. People think I'm crazy to schedule first. Schedule first, it puts it in. We are doing treatment. How you pay for it, that's your decision. But on this, we're going to make sure that we're scheduling first. And I'm not going to say when do you want to get scheduled? I'm going to say let's get you scheduled. I've got Monday or Wednesday. Which do you prefer? Then after that, we're going to then present the trim plan. So it's going to be $76, it's going to be $7,600. Insurance is estimated for this amount. This will be your total out of pocket when I see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? I want you to be rock solid confident moving forward. Now, fun fact, today I was in an office. there's only one gal up front. The other one wasn't there. And I got thrown right back into the saddle. I was answering phones, I was scheduling, I was treatment planning. I was like, whew, gotta see if I still got it or if this is just something I podcast about. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to know Kiera Dent still has it. I'm still very good at treatment planning. Closed every single treatment plan I presented today, had all of them signed, it did same-day treatment today in office, doing this exact formula. Went in, presented it exactly like I tell you here. Every single patient signed, even if they have questions or objections, we then tie it back. Amazing. Let's talk about it. Tell me what's going on. Tell me more. I want to understand. Tie to their driver. Is it cosmetic, function, cost, or longevity? You go past the no two times. Let's look at it. We don't plant like objections that they didn't talk about. Don't talk about money if they don't bring it up. Don't talk about time if they don't bring it up. Don't talk about pain if they don't bring it up. Wait for them to ask those questions. Don't sit there and plant it. If they don't say it, don't bring it up. if it's a spouse objection, I'm like, what questions do you think they'll have? I want you to be sure you're fully prepared to answer all their questions. At work, absolutely, let's get you scheduled. I, Kiera, would hate to forget about you. So, like, if something comes up, no problem. Just give me a jingle, I'll take care of it. but this way I don't let you slip through the cracks. I would hate to forget about you. They will schedule. Everyone wants to be important. Money, let's talk about it, will never be cheaper, more predictable than it is today. Time, like they should already know that through that perfect handoff. It's gonna take 90 minutes, it's gonna take two hours. Like, We can figure that out. Pain, like this is what most patients experience. Like, don't make it worse than it is. Don't make it better than it is. Like be honest with them so they trust you. If it's overwhelming, let's make sure we've got a clear next visit. Let's don't give them five options. There's so many ways that you can overcome objections. It's not hard, but you do need to track it. You do need to measure it. We do need to get better at our case acceptance. It is one of the fastest, easiest ways to grow your practice without needing to go and get more new patients. You just increase your diagnosis and your case acceptance and your handoffs. Having a nice case acceptance protocol where we practice it, we rep it, we repeat it. I love it. I've been able to get about 15 treatment coordinators across multi-offices, really, really strong. Then we go to the next level. So, like people who weren't able to present like $1,000. Now they're presenting $15,000 cases with confidence. What's the next level? What are we struggling with? What are the areas that we're not able to close? Let's work on that. What's the objection you're hearing? Kiera, people are maxed out on insurance. Okay, let's work through that. What are they saying? Let's role play through it. Let's figure it out. But having treatment coordinators and doctors realize that case acceptance is an art. You need to just keep constantly refining and improving. And if you don't have it in your calendar to work on your case acceptance at least once a month, you're missing a ton of opportunity. That's with your treatment coordinator, your hygienist, and your doctors. Let's work through it. Let's look at all the ones that are going to be like let's look at everybody who didn't say yes this month. Why didn't they say yes? Let's role play through it. Let's hear what we said. How did we present it? How could we present this better? What like case acceptance is usually won or lost within one word. It's usually one or two words that you said. Like listen to it, record yourself. Listen back to the exams. Share those exams. Share how we presented it. Front office, record yourself. Let's listen to it. You listening to it back is going to teach you so much more than what you think you said. What people think they say versus what they actually say. People are like, Kiera, I didn't say that. And I'm like, No, actually, I was like standing here and you did say that. Or they're like, I hear all the time. so do you want to get that scheduled today? Why did you just ask that? Let's get you scheduled today. Let's schedule you. Then it's like, well, you know, you want morning or afternoon. Why don't we say, like, doctor dentist does their fillings at 8 a.m. or 3 p.m.? Which works best for you? They're a doctor. I never go to the dermatologist and they're like, Kiera, when does it work best for you to come? No. They're the dermatologist, they're the oral surgeon, they're this. They tell me when I can schedule. It's not the other way around. Let's start doing that. Let's start helping patients see that they're so lucky to come here. Now that doesn't mean we can't be accommodating, but it does mean that we don't walk ourselves into traps accidentally. So improving your case acceptance, having a solid case acceptance protocol, you focus on that. You're gonna grow your practice faster than anything else. So review it, have it set, review this every single month, non-negotiable, and you will grow. Then the step three that you can do, it does come into marketing. Okay, okay, okay. but having consistent marketing, not random marketing. So marketing is predictable, so it's not like panicking, like, we don't have patience, let's market. Marketing is one of those things where you've just got to be it's like branding. You're out there constantly. So we're out there and we have getting reviews. Reviews is the fastest, easiest marketing that doesn't cost you a penny. Like you can get 12 or $149, I think is what it is. Just tell them Dental A Team sent you. I think it's about that. They'll send out reviews for you. Like, sure, that's $149. But if it gets you reviews and patients, very inexpective. The best marketing is Google reviews by far. You can have that in your office. You can have things where people are talking about it. You can talk to patients. You can ask patients for it. Like you have to have a way to be collecting reviews. It's the fastest, easiest way to grow. Be involved in your community, have referral system where people they refer patients to your practice and it's a consistent referral. And then track your marketing performance. Do that. What I find is most people do not stay consistent on that. Everything I told you comes from consistency. It's consistency on scheduling. It's consistency on morning huddle. It's consistency on calling on scheduled treatment. Then it's gonna be on case acceptance, reviewing it, diagnosing handoffs, like just practicing that and then having consistent marketing where we look at this. You stay consistent on those three things, your practice will grow. Period. It will. But we all get crazy and we're like, we're so busy. We're so busy that we're running ourselves into open schedules. I also have a rule. My team knows you do not leave the practice with holes in the schedule. Period. That's you have an ownership. If you're over my schedule, you do not leave without that schedule being full. Period. People can do it. And guess what? If that's the standard and expectation, they get really good. Because we all don't want to stay late. But you are calling. You're sending out those outbound calls. Our case acceptance need to be this. Own the case acceptance. Have the doctor schedule to go. That is your baby. You take care of this. We review it. Have people own these areas. But really own it. This is going to help you tremendously. So growth's not always about just getting more in people. There is so much growth and opportunity in your practice right now. Every single office I go into always has unscheduled treatment. They always have unscheduled recare. Always, always, always. Let's go for it. Let's start asking. Who else can we schedule? There are so many easy ways. Let's diagnose, let's check our case acceptance. Let's watch our marketing numbers. Do this. Be consistent. You just need to do a better job with the opportunities you already have there. It doesn't have to be crazy. It doesn't have to be hard. It's there. and so I just want you guys to know that it's very doable. Now, if you need help with this or your team's not bought into it, if you're like, my gosh, my schedule's light, or we have this and I hear you on the podcast, but I can't get my team bought in. Reach out. We are the literally the dentist and team experts. We do this for a living. We are really, really, really freaking good at it. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Let's make it to where we have a consistent, predictable schedule. Let's get these systems in place. I worked with an office for three months. 500,000 collected. We worked with another office, millions added to their practice every single year, consistently, just by doing reps with our team. It's not always about reinventing the will. Sometimes it's just being consistent with the will you already have. So let's make like, let's make magic with what we already have. Let's take care of those patients we already have. Let's dig into those. I promise you it's way easier than you think it is. Let's just be consistent and let's pull the right levers that are actually gonna grow your practice with ease. Reach out. I'd love to help you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1185
August 5 · 26 min
#1,185: These 3 Things Will Turn Your Practice into a Money-Making Machine
How do you manage money more effectively? How can you stop being surprised by taxes? How do you turn your cashflow into something predictable? Kiera answers these questions and more, with three monthly habits you can build to create profitability. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today's topic is one of my favorite. It's money, taxes, and making a money-making machine. Yeah. Yay. Let's talk money and taxes. Because honestly, this is what everybody hates. And I'm not a CPA. I'm not a financial advisor. I'm none of those things. I'm just a girl who loves to help practices be more profitable. Help dentists like make and keep the money that they deserve, but doing it in an ethical way as a smart business owner. Because honestly, do you know how many people come to me and they're Kiera, I just want to become the CEO of my business because I don't get it, I don't know how. And I love Helping people become competent running their businesses through systems, team, vision, you name it. I love to do it with you. So what I found is like a lot of times doctors don't have a production problem. They have a money management problem because you don't freaking know how to do it. You learned how to drop that box. You learned how to make that. This one was funny, guys. Like, why in dental school did they tell you you're doing an I L F filling? Like, come on. Like I remember seeing that and I was like, wow, dentistry. Or like I love when there's new people and they're like, Yeah, doc, we need a B O. And I'm like, All right, or we could do like an OB, like it's fine, whatever. Or like I remember someone was like, What's a do? A DO I was like, my gosh, that's hilarious. So there's so many things like you've learned all that, but you didn't learn how to like manage your money and talk about it. So I have seen so many practices where they're a multi-million dollar office, but guess what? They're strapped for cash, they're not able to do these things. And the goal is not to like just produce more, it's to build a practice that creates consistent wealth for you. Now, team members listening, I want you to know you want your doctor. To be insanely wealthy. Like you do. You want the practice to be wealthy because you want it to be cash flowing positive. Because if it is, you're happy. It's more stable, it's more confident. And I'm not saying like, I want your doctor to be wealthy. I want them to do well. You do too. Because guess what? If they're doing great, that means you're doing great. So I want you guys to walk like, how do we manage money money monthly? How do we stop getting surprised by taxes? And this is Kiera's tactical way of doing it. Talk to your CPAs. I'm not able to be that person, but I'm gonna give you some quick tips that work really well. And then make sure your CPA validates and does it that's best for you. And then also, like, how can we turn this into predictable cash flow? Like that's what you're looking for. So let's do it. And to me, this is where I just see so many. We work with hundreds of offices across the nation. We're Dental A Team, we're experts in dental consulting. We work with dentists and teams. We either are virtual or in person, we're obsessed with making your life better. We call it the yes success model, where it's focused on you, your vision, your team, getting that organized, business fundamentals, earnings and profitability. And then system structure and scalability. Like, how do we take it and turn it into that? That's what you're looking for. You want to make more money, you want to have less time that's spent in the office, you want to have more efficiencies. Like, let's do that together. That's what we're about. And really, today I get jazzed about this because so many offices are like, Kiera, I don't know where my money went. Guess what? I was that way too. Like, truly, it's so obnoxious. Because I know you are producing it. You need to just make it. Like, and how scary. I think about poor dentists. Like, You go out, you do your fillings, you don't know if you're gonna get paid for it. You hope and pray that someone's collecting that money, but you will literally have no idea. Then the next thing is you get slapped with taxes, and you're like, my gosh, I have no money. Let's get you money. Like you went to dental school, you have so much debt on you, like you deserve to be a profitable business owner. So, like I said, just three things. Sorry about that. I'm just gonna yank this. Three things that you can do that are monthly habits to create profitability. You good with that? Let's get profitability. cash flow and financial confidence. Here we go. So number one, dun dun dun dun, it's super sexy and not. All you gotta do, you gotta review your numbers every single month. Not when you're nervous, but as a consistent thing. You can join me. I've talked about it so many times. I call it the MMs. It's morning money meditation. That's it. Just do it. Like roll over. I turn on the call map or I'm into Joe Dispenser right now. there was another one I was listening to for a hot minute. I think it was called I don't even remember. Was called. I can't even tell you guys. I don't remember. It was like this activations, I think is what it was called. That one was a fun one. It was like manifesting like multiple millions, like whatever you want do. but I meditate, I get my mind right, and then I look at my bank account. So join me on it. But I feel like a lot of times people just they don't know it, they don't get it, they just hope their CPA does it. my financial advisor will get it. I don't need to look at this. I'm just gonna do dentistry. Like, no, pull your head out of the sand. You are a business owner, you've got to look at it. So We review our numbers before there's a problem, not when something fills off. So things to be looking at on a constant basis. What is our collection and production ratio? And I'm talking production in net, not gross. We got to be able to make sure, like, I don't care. I know Delta Dental's terrible. Guess what? That's all you can collect. So stop feeding your ego. Let's feed the family. Let's look at real numbers. What is that percentage? It needs to be at 98%. Half of you have a money issue, not because you have a money issue, it's because your team's not collecting. Teams, collect the money. We did the work. Collect the money, fight with insurance, fight, fight, fight, get that money. Like you've got to. So we need to know what those two numbers are and you need to be at 98% collections. Okay. That's number one on your money. Number two is what's your overhead? Should be at 50% or less, 20% doctor pay. You gotta do this. What are we spending in those categories? So I like to look at our payroll percentage. I like to look at our supplies, labs. those are like the main big ticket items within that 50%. Doctor should pay should be sitting between 20 and 30%. All right, let's look at that. Then beyond that, there's also probably money sitting in your AR. We should never have more than one month's worth of AR sitting there. So if you're producing $200,000, your total AR should never be more than $200,000. That's just the way the game works. So those are things we're gonna look at. All right. You gotta look at did we hit our goals, production, collection? What's our overhead? Did we overspend? Why? What improved and what did it? So we're gonna look at our PL. So I look at. All of our team, all of our clients, they're on add it to analytics. So you usually have an online analytic. We build a KPI scorecard for all of our clients. Every client has it. So we're looking at what's our goal? What's our production? Is it red or green for that week or that month? Is it red or green for the collections? What's our collection percentage this month? What's our collection percentage year today? Because some months are gonna be low, some months are gonna be high. That's normal business. But we got to make sure we're collecting enough for our BAM, our bare ace minimum. And if not, we need to have savings for that. All right, so we have all that. Then we also have an overhead calculator. I love the overhead calculator. I'm obsessed with it. We finally nailed this overhead calculator. Like it is, it's dreamy. Because what we do, I like to see this. It's a rolling month. So for those of you watching, great. I'm gonna share a screen. For those of you who are listening to the podcast, I'll explain it. Don't worry. So on here we have a scorecard. So this is one of my favorites. It's the overhead one. So what we do is we have our goals. So we set in our goals. Like payrolls 30%, supplies are 5%, labs 7%, facility and equipment 8%, advertising 2%, less you're in growth mode, office supplies less than 1%, insurance half a percentage, professional services. We put in there your consulting fee. You're welcome. I want you to see that you can pay for consulting and be profitable. Bank charges and fees, I hope and pray they're less than 3%. They should be lower. And if not, you can get with Moolah. Phone internet utilities, less than 5% or 0.5, excuse me. And then other is usually 1%. All that totals up to 60%. That means our doctor pay is probably gonna be sitting in at 20% or 30%. How can we trim this? A lot of people can produce more and have less payroll. We can outsource different things. Could we get our supplies lower? Can we order things differently? Labs, like let's look at that facility and equipment. Can we get that lower? Can we reduce our rent? Advertising, office supplies, could we get that down to a half a percentage? Professional services, like what if we got it to 1%? Or one of the fastest, easiest ways is we boost our production. And it's gonna actually offset it and get it to a 50% overhead. Then what's amazing is we have our year to date. So what is it? What's our collection amount? We always want watch that. Year to date, and then we do a difference. So what's amazing is as you scroll through, we do January, February, March, April, we have our total overhead. What's our doctor W2? What's our doctor distribution, doctor salary? I want to see what percentage it is. This really quickly shows you what's my overhead, what's my doctorate, and then what's my EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. What's our total expenses, not including debt services? What's that? We want that to be sitting at 80% or less. And it gives us a dollar amount. So we're able to see it month over month and then year to date where we sit. What's the net profit? So in this practice, because they're at 60%, their net profit can only be at 10% unless our doctor pays lower. I don't really care how you do it because distributions are distributions. So if you want to take the profit, you want to leave it in the business, you got to make sure that the practice is paying for your life. Then we have all of our debt services. This is usually where people get stuck on cash. You're stuck on cash. Because you have your profit, but then your profit doesn't pay for your debt services. And then after your debt services, those debt services a lot of times are not tax deductible. So then you're getting whipped on the other side with your taxes. It's really just this like yin and yang back and forth. Then we look at it. Now, taxes, we put it at 37%. Talks to your CPA. That's the highest tax bracket. You might not be there based on what your profitability is. But we have all this. So this way everything's dialed in. Every single month we're looking it over. I'm obsessed with this because I love it. I made my CPA make one of these. What's our difference? How is this? What's our year to date? We go over this every single freaking month. Give the PL. Let's fill this in. Let's teach you how to do it this way. The more intimate you are with the numbers. I know people are like, I don't want to fill this in. Can you do it for me? No. I'll teach you one time, but then you're gonna fill this in. Why? Because if you look at this every month, think you're gonna get better? Yes, because what you track and measure improves. Okay. So that's what we're looking at. When we talk about our numbers, when we talk about these different things. This is how you review your numbers monthly. I kid you not. Now, my gym trainer, I'm gonna talk about her a lot. You guys, I went on a really incredible gym training. All right. I decided when I turned 40, which I'm still like anybody who's got some good tips for like I'm halfway to 80. Do you guys realize that? Like, shoot, that's a moment, okay? Like, that's a moment that I'm still processing. Anyway, I decided I was going to be fit and 40. And I was like, I'm gonna be the best shape of my life. So my trainer and I have been working out with her for about two years. We set a goal. I hired this incredible photographer. His name is Kai York. He's out of Spain. Go check him out. His photography is absolutely incredible. And I was like, I'm gonna do this incredible fitness journey. And I'll tell you, she was like, Kiera, you've been working out for two years with me. She said, if you want to get to what you want, you've got to start tracking your metrics. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Food, food, food. Daddy daddy da. I'm so busy, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then I was like, fine. So she made me do this like intake form again. And the intake form said, How committed are you? And I remember writing, I'm 100% committed. How committed are you? So I went back to the coach. He guys, I'm a little sassy. My coach and I have come to like this really good place with each other. we have a very great relationship, and I'm super thankful for her. And what was crazy is I went all in. I am on 80 days of tracking my macros 100%. I usually hit it right on track every single time. I'm not perfect, but I am consistent. I weigh in every single day that I'm home. So we weigh in, measure, do all the measurements every single day consistently. We were like three months into this journey. And I was a girl who was anorexic as a girl who was like never gonna get on a scale. I was like, I don't track it. And she said, Kiera, like we worked a lot on this of anorexia things. And if it ever got to a spot where I felt like it was trickling back. It was a no-go. But she helped me see that like I'm just using this information to be able to make changes in my life. I was using this information to see, okay, if I ate certain things, how does that impact my weight? I wasn't going after a certain number on the scale. Our ultimate goal, because my my vision is that when I'm 90, I can freaking run faster than my grandkids or people younger than me. I want to be this like freaking ripped 90-year-old lady with cotton candy pink hair. Like that's that's really the vision. I don't want to be frail. I don't want to be feeble. Yes, I'll sit there and like crochet and knit. I'm still gonna do like some like granny things. I wanna do that. That like feels exciting for me. But I want to be like so strong. So it wasn't about a number on the scale, it wasn't about a body fat percentage. It was truly I want to be in the best shape of my life that's physically strong. Like I wanna be strong. I want to be strong, like not skinny. Like I used to be going after being super skinny. now it's a how can I have like the strongest and take care of my body? The whole reason I bring this up is because when I track and measure, I got the results I wanted. The first time in my life, I've said, I want a six-pack, I want a six pack, but she's like, Kiera, you've got to track and you gotta measure and you've got to look at it. We use it as data and we make decisions based on that. I bring that up because I feel like your metrics and your numbers, looking at them monthly, looking at them daily, looking at them weekly are the same thing. We don't get obsessive. Like for me, I could have gotten very obsessive and gotten right back into habits of anorexia. That's not the path. The path is to be my strongest, most fit self for you. Your path is we're gonna be the most profitable fit practice that you can have. We gotta track it, we gotta measure it, and we gotta look at it constantly. But that way we make decisions based on it. So I want you looking at this. This is how you're going to be able to be financially free. This is how you're gonna have money. You're gonna be able to be like into that predictable money-making machine for you that's profitable. You're gonna have profitability, you're gonna have cash flow, and you're gonna have financial confidence. You've got to track and measure, otherwise it will never improve. And I'm just saying, like. So we have a KPI scorecard that's gonna track your collections, your production, your payroll, your overhead, your profitability, our AR. Then we're gonna have like if one of those is off, then we can dig deeper. But if you look at those at a high level, just like I'm tracking my metrics, I promise you you will improve. What gets measured, like improves. So let's do it. Let's do it together. and I believe your story tells, like your numbers will tell a story long before your bank account does. And it's a way for you to track and measure, it's a way for you to validate. so Put it on your calendar, have a nice little financial date with yourself. also have this in leadership. Our leadership team looks at our KPIs every single week. Every week, non-negotiable. That's what we do. And some people are like, well, I don't want my team to know numbers. Yeah, it freaks me out sometimes. But guess what? This is part of the game of business. And if I can't trust my leadership team to know my numbers, they might not be the right leadership team for me. Leadership team members, your doctors need to have profit. They've got to pay taxes on that. They got to be able to take care of themselves. And guess what? They work hard. Let them have big dreams and visions. Just like you have big dreams and visions. Let's make sure we make both come true. Kate, now number two. I'm off my rant. I hope you guys loved it because I loved it. Number two is we got to do whatever your CPA tells you. I'm not a CPA. I can't really like get into that lane. And I'm not trying to get into that lane. I'm just saying for me, taxes were my biggest enemy. At the end of the year, I had a huge tax bill that I had not been saving for. And I know my was like, but Kiera, it's great. You get all this money. And I'm like, yay, but I don't have that money. I spent it. Like, I don't know, people spend their paychecks. It's just like mystery. And I don't like living in this like, can I spend the money? Can I not spend the money? That never feels good to me. So what I decided to do with my CPA is we put it together and every single month I was like, this is a freaking equation, guys. Whatever my profit is, I need to just save that much money. Like that's it. Why do we like wait up for a quarter or wait up for six months or wait till the end of the year? And then I'm like, shoot, you want me to pay how much? Like, where's that money? To me, I'm very proactive. I hate being reactive. So I had my CPA work with me. You can talk to your CPA. They can do this for you. Say, I don't like the quarterlies. I like to save it. For me, I personally put mine over an ally, A-L-L-Y. I know their interest rates are not as good as they used to be, dang it. But I'm still making money on that. And then I've got the money set aside. So when they ask me for my quarterly, they ask me for my end of year. I'm not freaking out about this money, but non-negotiable for cure dent before the end of the month, every single month, that money moves. Non-negoti, I don't care what it is. I move away a distribution. So I have put money, it's profit first model. I do money for taxes. I do money for our BAM for our company to make sure we have that. And then I do our profit moves every single month, non-negotiable. I don't care if it's a good month. I don't care if it's a bad month. But what that does is it forces me to make sure our collections are in place. Do this. You guys are totally able to do this. Okay. So what happens is every single month, my CPA tells me, Kiera, this is where you were. This is your profit. This is how much money you need to put away for taxes. Is it technically retroactive? Yes. So in June, I'll be moving money for May. Okay. So some months you're going to have a really high month. Then you get September. That's really fun. You still got to find the money because guess what? It doesn't change. You have to go find that money. I move that money out of my bank account into a third party account. So it sits over an ally. It does accrue interest over there, but it sits there. I don't touch it. It only is paid for taxes and I have them labeled into buckets. So it's my taxes, what's my company? Bam. And it moves. This is a disciplined skill. You do not need to have this hard. For me, I also realized it was taxes, it was tithing or charitable contributions. And then like 401k. So when I used to do a SEP IRA, that was a fun throw because I had to pay that money too. Then I also have end of year bonuses. I hate doing this in December. Like I hated December. I used to dread December. I'd cry every December. Let's stop that. Whatever money you're paying out, if you know you're paying bonuses at the end of the year, let's figure out what it is divided by 12. Let's set that money aside every single month. That way you have it available. I will tell you this will reduce your financial stress faster than anything else. So let's just do it. And for me, taxes, it's just an operating expense. For me, like that's just part of doing business. I don't, it's not, it's not like money lost. It's just a line item. Like I just need to put it in the bank account. What I also love is because I save every single month. So I kid you not, this is what Care does. I'm happy to put you on my like, I don't really have a text thread, but pretend I do. If you want to be a part of it, great. By the end of the month, every month before the calendar flips to the next month, my money has moved. Non-negotiable, it will move. So I do have a doctor where we like text at the end of the month to make sure we're both moving money. and so what I do is I move it. What happens is at the end of the year, typically we're making expenses or doing corporate expenses, things like that, capital expenses, excuse me. And when that happens, from there, what we're able to do is we're then able to determine what our tax bill is going to be at the end of the year. Every year that I have done this, where I save every month, I do 37%, like or whatever your tax bracket is, talk to your CPA. At the end of the year, every year, I'm eight years strong on this. So I feel like it's a pretty good track record to be sharing information. Every single year, I've saved more money than I actually need to pay for taxes. How many of you have done that? Like, that's it, because I put it on my goalboard. I said, That's it. I'm gonna become a freaking tax expert. I read tax books, I like talked to my CPA. I was like, I am sick of crying in December. We're gonna resolve this forever. Now every single year I have more money than what I used to have. And I say that that's my tax refund. It's been a very long time since as a business owner actually get a tax refund, but that's the way I'm able to have a tax refund. And then I use that money for whatever because it's free. Like I don't have to be worried. I can spend it. And what we do is we make sure the business has enough to pay for my partial life. We have enough to save for taxes. And then whatever's left over to me, that's your like, it's your tax refund. Enjoy that, baby. Like have a good time. I also always have money for quarterlies. I have money set aside for that. So I've never stressed out. So when the CPA says carry you owe X amount, I'm like, yep, here we go. Off it goes. And I accrued interest on So I feel even happier because I've been accruing interest on that money and I've been saving it. So tax planning is cash flow planning because most of the time I've noticed that business owners get stuck on their taxes. It's cash flow and it's very stressful. So I genuinely believe like your IRS bill should never be your largest surprise. Like, guys, you can do this. So I set up a meeting with my financial my CPA and my financial advisors. I meet with them every single month. And then I do usually mid year. So it's coming up right now. I'll be meeting with my CPA. Where am I at? What have I paid? What do I still need to have? Where are we projected? Am I high? Am I low? What do we have that at? Every single month they tell me how much I need to save for taxes. Your CPA works for you. Make them work for you. So reserve it. Now, if we're behind, because a few years I've been behind. But guess what? If I'm doing that meeting in June or July, I have six months to make up that cash. Or if you guys have like some of you are paying back taxes and it just breaks my heart and I'm sorry. So what we do is we just pay a little extra every single month and we just set that. So whatever they tell me, tack on 10% of my debt, we're gonna pay that down, we're gonna pay that back. There's ways that you can do this, and I'm happy to work through any of it. This is what we talk about in our mastermind. Like, pick my brain because I got so sick of crying. Like I said, I'm not a CPA. Your CPAs tell you all that. I'll just tell you I'm a I'm an entrepreneur over here and a true business owner. It's had to figure out how to make money not be stressful and actually have a cash flow. All right. Number three is how do we make this like predictable cash flow for you? So I think for you, next is going to be like this is all dentistry. So how do we convert like production into profit? So being a good dentist. So we're gonna have strong case acceptance. Make sure patients are saying yes to your dentistry, collections percentage at 98%. Make sure overhead's where it needs to be. Let's make sure our schedule is scheduled efficiently. Let's make sure that we've got consistent patient and team retention. two practices honestly can collect the exact same amount. One's gonna have profit and wealth, the other one's gonna have stress and overhead. Like the difference is our systems and are we staying consistent? What's our morning huddle? Like I was just in a practice, they're doing so well. And I was like, hey, we're not talking a huddle about how we win. Like let's let's add that in. So they're prepping. I promise you their production's gonna go up every single time I'm in office, their production spikes. It's just that's a little Dental A Team magic because people get excited, their production goes up. But you've got to have those. Like you've got to have consistent systems. We've got to have consistent case acceptance, consistent schedules, consistent collections. Like those things have to be there. We have to control our overhead and see it. Consistency is not sexy, but it's how you get results. I hope you heard that. Consistency is not sexy, but it's how you get results. It's not perfection. I did not say you have be perfect. You guys, when I'm doing my cut, I was in the best shape of my life. I'm still so proud of myself. I wasn't perfect. You better believe I still ate Reese's Easter eggs, guys. I freaking love those. You want to make me happy? Ship me those. Please. Like, I love them. they have to be the big eggs, not the little ones. The peanut butter to chocolate ratio is very different. And I peel off all the chocolate. I just want the peanut butter. Like, I'm there for it. I still ate those. I wasn't perfect. At the end, I was perfect. I was literally just eating chicken, rice, and almonds. Like, ugh, chicken for breakfast. Yeah, that was the next level moment. but I was perfect for two weeks. But I was consistent. I wasn't perfect. You don't have to be perfect. You do need to be consistent. So having those systems, and I want you guys to just look to see in your practice where is one money, like where is it leaking in your practice? Is it in our case acceptance? Is it in our scheduling? Is it in our collections? Is it in us not looking at our overhead? And let's fix it this quarter. Let's set that as a quarterly rock. Let's get it fixed. So, as a quick review, I've ranted on this. I hope you guys loved it. But like truly, I want this to be like money and taxes. And how do you get out of the rut? And how do you stop crying? How do you actually have cash flow, not cash slow? Like, let's get the cash flow, guys. you gotta review your numbers monthly. I'd recommend it's actually weekly, but start with monthly. You gotta plan for taxes every single month. And then we gotta build systems that turn it production into profit. Like just focus on those ones that are gonna put money on your books. You've got to be able to have this financial confidence. Like it's not a hope, a wish, a prayer. It's by being consistent. It's about being stable. I know that I'm gonna always have money for taxes. Always. Like that's just a discipline. That's a standard, and I will not go below that. I will not ever go below. Like that's just my standard. We gotta cut, we gotta figure it out. And I love it because it forces me to innovate, forces me to squeeze the juice. Like I will pay myself. I'm not gonna sit here and not like you people just need to live below their means. Like, save 10%. I've always paid 10% to charitable contributions. I'll tell you if you don't do that, I'm not saying you gotta do charitable contributions, but they have shown that people that do save and don't live on everything that they spend. Actually, you're able to be like the most successful people. That was a great study. I didn't even know it. And I heard it and I was like, wow. But I think it's because it forces us to see that you don't have to live on every single penny that comes through. You're actually able to live below your means, set these as standards, make them and be disciplined. And if you're not great at this, reach out. I love to help people with this. Like you don't have to have this be unpredictable anymore. We can get it to where it's cash flow confident. And I want you to be confident. So reach out. I do believe that financial success is not good luck. It is just having systems and consistency. That's all it is. So reach out. I'd love to help you understand your numbers. I'd love to help you improve this. I'd love to have you have a practice that really does create genuine true wealth for you. I've got doctors that are asking me for a private mastermind where it's like, how do we wealth generate beyond? So first step is to stabilize, next step is to have structure, next step is to scale. So reach out. I'd love to help you. I'd love to help you guys create real wealth. Your practices should be assets, not liabilities. So let's get it to where it's cash flowing positive. again, it can really truly be yours. I went from crying all the time to feeling confident as a business owner and I love to share that with people. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
#1184
August 4 · 26 min
#1,184: How to Increase Your Bottom Line (Without Increasing Your Patient Base)
So many offices out there think growth has to come from new patients. Tiff and Kristy share specific areas in your practice where you can increase what you're pulling in. This includes fee analyses, unscheduled patients, a finely tuned schedule, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. We love podcasting. We love giving out so much great information. And more than anything, we really love sharing our journeys with you guys, us consultants here on the team. We get to be in office with you, a lot of you. we get to be on the road, we get to go to CE courses, we take a ton of CE courses. The gal who's podcasting with me today is a CE maniac. she's always just looking things up and And learning and growing. So we get to learn and grow. We get to boots on the ground, test things out, and then we get to deliver those ideas and those thoughts here to everyone on this platform. So thank you for being a valued listener. We hope that you enjoy today's content and please, please, please share with a friend something that we're very passionate about is reaching as many people as we possibly can on this platform and others. So whether you are a current client, a future client, or a forever podcast listener alone. We just ask that you share this information, you pass it along to a friend, so that they can get some great nuggets as well. And Kristy, I have Kristy here with me today. And like I said, Kristy, you are just like a learning magnet. I love it because you just have this broad spectrum, this range of things that you love consuming, and you bring so much knowledge to the Dental A Team consulting team. So, Kristy. Thank you for being here with us today. I am excited for today's topic. and before we dive in, how are you? How has your podcasting been? You listen to, you consume a lot. And then you you're DAT- Kristy (01:37) Yeah. Tiffanie (01:38) someone that consumes but also utilizes what you consume, which I think is a special skill. So how are you? How's your world? How's your learning? What's new for you? DAT- Kristy (01:47) Yeah, it's going good, Tiff. it's beginning of the week, so it's always fun to dive in and hear the things. I think lately it's really been around insurance and getting payments on time. They're doing some sneaky stuff with payments, so keeping clients apprised to that and making sure the revenue's coming in. But beyond that, like you're right. I I do like to to listen and stay up on things so that we can share with our not just our clients, but even like you said, future clients or people listening to the podcast. Tiffanie (02:22) Yeah, I agree. I know you're gonna say insurance. That has been a bug this year. Insurance DAT- Kristy (02:27) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (02:27) the insurance bug is what we will call it. and DAT- Kristy (02:30) Yeah. Tiffanie (02:30) I love it because I know I can I can pick your brain for so many things and you do stay up on so many forums and you're always reading. but then on the opposite end of that spectrum, like I know I I know you will what does Kiera call you? A truffle, a truffle hunter, right? Like you're gonna find those truffles in the forest. within the insurance and the billing world, but also you love leadership, like growth and development and this the non-dental leadership podcast of the world and books and we're always talking about that stuff. So I think it's really cool and very valuable for everybody and and gives you just a ton of credibility as we speak to a lot of the things we're gonna talk about. DAT- Kristy (03:15) thank you, Teff. Tiffanie (03:16) Of course. and yes, it is early in the week starting my Starting my Monday podcasting is really fun. And starting my Monday podcasting with Kristy brings it down. It's only 10 a.m. and I feel like it has been a whirlwind this morning. So knowing DAT- Kristy (03:31) Yeah. Tiffanie (03:31) that I'm here, I'm like, okay, actually we're gonna breathe. So I hope all of our listeners feel that. Kristy brings a sense of calm to every every space that you enter. so thank you for doing that for me today. I need it. DAT- Kristy (03:44) Absolutely, my pleasure. Tiffanie (03:46) So, Kristy, this is something I think you're really great at. I do go through and and this was the first podcast on our list, and I was like, Yeah, this is Kristy's podcast. If we do no more DAT- Kristy (03:56) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (03:56) today, it's at least this one. And we really wanted to speak to the podcasting world here and and dental listeners about how to find growth within a practice without physically growing the practice. And this is something that has come up a lot. And I think Kristy. I've at least had a lot of I've been experiencing this. I've had a lot of practices that are like tapped out on space, right? Like physical space. And after 2020, right? The year of 2020, March to December, this massive boom, right? We had this tank of like, what are we gonna do? And then we just had this massive boom and this influx. And so I think what I saw happen is a ton of practices remodeled or they did expansions, they added as much as they physically could. And they're kind of tapped out. I know I have you know some that are like if I build anymore, I don't have parking where my patients gonna park. And so DAT- Kristy (04:50) That's seven. Tiffanie (04:51) they're finding themselves in this space or they're finding themselves in this space where maybe they don't have the finances right now to physically build or the capability and it doesn't make sense to. So we push growth. We're always saying, you know, seven to ten percent, ten percent is our goal, at seven percent is a minimum, a bare minimum to keep up with inflation. And my Clients, you know, a lot of my practices are looking at me like, okay, Tiff, like that's crazy. So I wanted to chat today through some ideas that we utilize and Kristy that you bring to the table specifically to increase that like dollar per hour, that bottom line, that production collection space without physically increasing maybe even our patient base. Cause Kristy also have got a ton of practices. that are struggling for new patients. We're like scraping the bottom of the braille all trying to find new patients. So yeah, that's where we're at. We're just like, how do you grow without pouring water on a plant and growing it, you know? DAT- Kristy (05:52) Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Tip, I love this subject because so many offices think that it all has to come from new patients, you know? And sometimes new patients can be expensive if we're looking for outside marketing, right? And we have so much to tap into within our practices already. And first and foremost, I always like to say when's the last time you did a fee evaluation? a lot of people after COVID. really didn't tap into this. And I speak to doctors almost every day who think they were at the 80th percentile. And when we look at it, they're down in the 40th or 50th percentile, you know? And I also say tip with that, a lot of docs are hesitant to to look at this because they're like, I'm so high PPO. And I always say, hey, if you don't raise your fees, they're never going to raise theirs either. So Tiffanie (06:47) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (06:48) Taking a look at that first and foremost is huge. Tiffanie (06:51) I totally agree with that. It's something that's overlooked. I love what you said about the PPO space because so many doctors are like, what difference does it make? I'm tied to these fee schedules or nobody ever sees my UCR. Well, they do. The insurance companies see it. And I actually have a practice, I don't remember who I was podcasting with, but we spoke about them a couple weeks ago that they do their fee analysis and updates in during the summer. It's their slow time and so DAT- Kristy (07:16) Mm. Tiffanie (07:18) they do it during the summer. when there's space and there's time because January, you know, that's an influx of just DAT- Kristy (07:24) Basically. Tiffanie (07:25) yeah, is it crazy. And so they move that task to the summer, which I think is really smart. And we actually just went through and did a fee analysis and found that they're they have a couple of insurances that are paying in network almost to their UCR fees. And their UCR fees are not low, right? They're getting like a thousand to eleven hundred dollars for a crown. So when we requested a fee increase, right, they're like, hey, we're already paying 90% or 95% of your UCR, so we're denying it right now. And to your point, Kristy, they need to change their UCR because their insurances are following those UCR fees, right? DAT- Kristy (08:06) Yeah. Tiffanie (08:07) And so many practices overlook that and just go with the flow, and they just like muscle memory, they just keep. you just keep doing it, right? You're like Dory, just keep swimming and you just don't think about what's behind you. And increasing DAT- Kristy (08:20) Yeah. Tiffanie (08:21) those UCRs makes a massive difference, especially when you're a PPO dentist in the area that's at that 50th percentile. You need to be way higher. And if no one's seeing those UCR fees, great. Then guess what? You don't have to have that conversation with your with your patients. that their fees are increasing because you increased fees. Like no now your insurances see those fee increases and then you can request fee increases from them for your fee schedules. DAT- Kristy (08:49) Yeah, exactly. I think it's a it's a huge missed opportunity if if you haven't looked at them in a while. And and I like to say look at once a year. I mean, it it really is worth it and it fluctuates. And don't forget your products if you're selling products. Like make Tiffanie (09:05) Yes. DAT- Kristy (09:05) sure you're updating those and looking at invoices. Make sure you're you're charging the correct, you know, a lot of offices don't add on for like toothbrushes and that sort of stuff, you could actually be going in the hole if you haven't looked at it in a while. So Tiffanie (09:20) Absolutely. I have had so many practices that were that look back, you know, they haven't done it in three, four years and they look at it and they're like, my gosh, I'm literally losing money on fluoride. Like, we haven't updated our fees, so my fluoride costs more than what I'm charging my patients. And I'm like, Yeah, and that's an easy DAT- Kristy (09:37) Crazy. Tiffanie (09:38) one. And even like to your point the oral bee and crest and all of them, they increase inflation, right, is everywhere. So if your goodie bags are, you know, costing a certain amount Add that in too. Take that into consideration because you've got to pay for those somehow, and we forget that those freebies are coming out of our overhead somewhere. We've got to make DAT- Kristy (09:59) Yeah, agree with you, Tiff. you know, the other area that I like is looking at your unscheduled patients. I mean, Tiffanie (10:07) Right. DAT- Kristy (10:08) so many of my practices have a whole practice within a practice and and we get busy and we think we we don't have time to call on those. And I like to say it's a proactive and a reactive approach and making sure we're touching it every single day is huge. Tiffanie (10:25) Yeah. Yeah, and to your point, that's a like a reactivation campaign. This is not just it's also including, but it's not just patients who were due last month that didn't come in. Those are very top of mind. We're hitting those. 90% of our our our practices are hitting those recare due. Recare coming up, recare six months past due, one year past due. This is patients who haven't been seen in 18, 24, 36 months because To your point, there's a practice practice within a practice. I have practices, I know we both do. The physical practice has been around for 30 plus years. You may have been the newest dentist, the newest owner. So maybe you've only been there for two, three, five years, and you're thinking active patient count, but you've got 30 years of this physical space being there of patients who per perhaps haven't seen a dentist or been touched by your recare efforts. DAT- Kristy (11:21) Yeah, absolutely. And I love those ones because you already have a relationship with them. So Tiffanie (11:25) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (11:26) you even if you've physically inactivated them, you can run an inactivated campaign and and systematically touch these people to remind them, Hey, I'm still here. We'd love to see ya, you know. Tiffanie (11:39) Yeah. Yeah. I have a lot of clients that do that reactivation campaign and they're like, okay, but what if they've moved? What if they decided not to come? He's like, great, then you get to clean up your system as well and remind those patients, no matter where they live, they need to see a dentist. So if our goal is to ensure that our patients are healthy, you're still handling that because you're still reminding them to find a dentist and To me, those are new patients, right? And you said earlier, like a lot of a lot of practices will put all their eggs in a basket of a new patient. And I think that comes from the early 2000s of everything was new patients. There were so many consulting companies and I just everything we heard in dentistry was new patients. You heard nothing else, new patients in production. And that's evolved a ton because I think people got tired of being new patient mills, right? Where it was like, We see so many patients, but we're not worried about what's happening to them after they leave that first appointment. And that has dramatically shifted. And that's where this comes into play. So even if you haven't physically, maybe you've been there for a year or three years, you haven't met that patient yet, that's okay. That patient DAT- Kristy (12:49) Sure. Tiffanie (12:50) has a relationship with the practice, with the building, it's memory, it's driving up to the place that you've gone. three, four, five times for your dental care. That's my dentist, right? That's my dental practice. So then you have that opportunity now to build the relationship one-on-one with that person as they enter. DAT- Kristy (13:10) Yeah, agree with you, Tiff. it it's look at the number because I bet you would be surprised at how many patients you have sitting out there. And if truly you are at a capacity, you guys can go through those and look at them strategically. If they have outstanding treatment, those patients potentially could be could be coming back in not just hygiene, but in the doctor's chair too. So Tiffanie (13:32) Yes. Yes. DAT- Kristy (13:34) yeah, there's a gold mine sitting out there most of the time, and it just takes tapping Tiffanie (13:36) Yeah. Yeah. DAT- Kristy (13:38) into it. Tiffanie (13:39) I have a practice that had nineteen thousand patients had touched this physical building at one point or another. Nineteen thousand people in this small town. And I was like, Yeah, stop paying for new patients. Just just physically hit those patients with emails. You just automated emails that go out once a month and you're gonna get you're gonna get patients back because I've seen it and you're gonna get patients that call and say, Hey, actually I moved out of town. Great. clean up our system. So I love those. DAT- Kristy (14:06) Yeah. You know, Tiff, even to that point, how many offices look at how many new patients they get, but take it one step further and see, okay, we had thirty new patients this month, but only twenty rescheduled for another appointment. So making Tiffanie (14:21) Right. Mm-hmm. DAT- Kristy (14:22) sure when we have them or having those conversations to keep them and capture them as they're coming in as well. Tiffanie (14:29) Yeah, I have I had that conversation last week with a client and they asked the great question of okay, is that that they scheduled for their treatment or they scheduled their six month recare? And I said, Great question because I love definitions and both DAT- Kristy (14:41) Yeah. Tiffanie (14:43) because so many patients, Kristy, so many people are like, yeah, sure, we'll schedule. And then they cancel in two weeks DAT- Kristy (14:49) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (14:50) or six months right before their visit, right? And you never see them again. So if they had treatment diagnosed and didn't schedule that, but they scheduled their six month visit. That's a little fishy to me. So I said both. And that DAT- Kristy (15:01) Yeah. Tiffanie (15:02) leads into that case acceptance space too. We're only watching we're only watching case acceptance of an overall and we're not differentiating to are the new patients accepting versus just maybe recare's accepting that we've already had this relationship because then you're seeing what's that relationship we're building with the new patients? Are they sticking or are they canceling? DAT- Kristy (15:23) Yeah, 100%, Tiff. I think there's a couple other areas too that come to mind for me when it comes to the growth. And it goes back to what you were saying in the case acceptance realm. Like what I found lately is people really have to have some strategic resources for patients to accept treatment, you know? Tiffanie (15:43) Mm. DAT- Kristy (15:44) So from the realm of finances, making sure we have ways that patients can say yes. Tiffanie (15:50) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (15:50) You know, and really measuring when they don't, what what stood Tiffanie (15:54) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (15:55) in the way. Tiffanie (15:56) Yeah, I love that. And that seems to be I think in for my client base, what I've seen is scheduling hurdles and finances, making sure DAT- Kristy (16:05) Yep. Tiffanie (16:06) that there's an easy way to say yes to the price. and making sure that blocked scheduling or whatever it is that you choose to use for your scheduling that it that it works. I've got a lot of patient or a lot of clients that their patient appointments, like they're just throwing things on the schedule to try to fill it. Like especially the ones that are struggling to fill a schedule, they're just grabbing whatever they can. And DAT- Kristy (16:31) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (16:33) without utilizing a blocked scheduling method and filling it in that way, we do a really big disservice because I think Kristy, what I've seen at least, is sometimes those patients that are in, those appointments that are in that should be an hour, are now taking an hour and a half, two hours because there's other stuff mixed in. And so then we are making our days longer and like, okay, if we're scheduling that, now I need two hours in the future. You probably didn't. You probably just didn't schedule correctly around it. And so you're actually losing a ton of time throughout your day to be more productive. And to your point, Kristy, that's the growth. If we can condense our schedule and do things more effectively and more efficiently, we can add more production onto the schedule. DAT- Kristy (17:20) Agree with you. again, too, in this day and age, a lot of people don't like taking a lot of time off work. So consider Tiffanie (17:27) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (17:27) doing more on your patient while they're there. Give them give them the choice, you know, let them decide. Are you the type of patient that likes to do what more in one treatment, you know, or do you Tiffanie (17:39) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (17:39) want to come more frequently? Tiffanie (17:41) Yeah, and that goes into your being able to say yes to the treatment. I think that's a that's a space as well because if you come at me with like two, three, four appointments, I might be like overwhelmed by the idea and not want to start anything because I can't finish it. And if DAT- Kristy (17:57) Yeah. Tiffanie (17:58) my schedule is too difficult to envision being able to finish all of these appointments in a timely manner, I might just back away and say, you know what, I'm not ready to start anything because I can't figure out how to do it all. DAT- Kristy (18:09) Yep, agree with you, Tiff. And lastly, I think I hear a lot of doctors say, All my patients are so healthy. All my patients Tiffanie (18:16) Yes. DAT- Kristy (18:17) are so healthy. And I I truly think that that's a huge missed opportunity too. It's a great time to take a step back and just say, Hey, what are your long-term goals for your teeth? And maybe now that you've repaired damage in my mouth or gotten rid of infection, this is a perfect time to talk about the cosmetic things that a lot of doctors Tiffanie (18:37) Wonderful thing. DAT- Kristy (18:37) love doing, right? Tiffanie (18:39) Yep, I had that conversation with two or three doctors just last week that I do we hear that constantly, right? Well, I need new patients because my patients are healthy. That's fantastic because what if you could do really fun work on healthy patients? There's ortho, right? And ortho, I love when when practitioners look at ortho as a way to prevent future issues, right? So if you're misaligned, especially the lower anterior. Always right. There's always something there. So it's perio, it's chip teeth in the future, it's losing teeth. Like, how can we help how can ortho become a preventative measurement? And then to your point, cosmetics, whitening. My fiance just asked me the other night. Like he hasn't talked to his dentist at all about it, but he's got two, he's got an implant with a crown and he's got a crown. And they're discoloring. They're they're years old. They're probably like six years old at this point, right? And so they're discoloring. And he's like, What do I even do? Right? Thank goodness. I'm here and I I'm like, well, let me give you your options. You can do four, DAT- Kristy (19:46) Yeah. Tiffanie (19:46) six, eight. Let me tell you what I would do. Let me tell you who I would like all of these things. But he isn't talking to them about it. He's talking to me about it. So how many patients do we have that don't even have someone to talk to about it? They're just sitting there wondering. Could this be better and afraid to say something because it's an embarrassing or confusing or an unknown? Like so many things hold us back. DAT- Kristy (20:13) Yeah, it's crazy. A lot of my clients have heard this story, but the same thing happened with my mother-in-law. Like literally Tiffanie (20:19) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (20:20) when I was in practice, you know, family would come, but she went somewhere with her friends and she saw somebody with a beautiful smile. And next thing you know, she's going to their dentist. Yeah, she came back. Tiffanie (20:30) Yeah. DAT- Kristy (20:32) But my doctors were like, What the heck? And I'm like, But you never asked or showed the possibilities, you know. So don't Tiffanie (20:36) Yeah. Yeah. DAT- Kristy (20:39) forget about your healthy patients. Like, take that step back. And this is a perfect time to discover is there anything you don't like about your smile, you know. Tiffanie (20:47) Yeah. I love that you gave that a story because my fiance literally asked me, Who would I need to go to? Is that something that insert his dentist name can do? And I was like, Wow, this is wild. This is wild. And DAT- Kristy (21:03) Yeah. Tiffanie (21:04) so I've had so many people, I'm in Phoenix, right? We're both in Phoenix, right? So Scottsdale DAT- Kristy (21:08) Yeah. Tiffanie (21:09) is right around the corner, right? Just DAT- Kristy (21:11) Mm-hmm. Tiffanie (21:11) a little a little twenty-five to forty-five minute drive, depending on where you are in the valley. Everyone thinks you have to go to Scottsdale for cosmetic treatment, right? I DAT- Kristy (21:21) Yeah. Tiffanie (21:22) can't get whitening, I can't get veneers. If I'm going to get veneers, right? We have people and legitimately there are a lot of dentists there, a lot of dentists everywhere who do great work. Scottsdale and LA. People fly in from other states to get dentistry done in Scottsdale and LA because they think that's where they have to go. His people don't know. He's worked with he's been a patient at this practice since he had the emergency situation with his front teeth. DAT- Kristy (21:51) Well. Tiffanie (21:52) And he's like, should I go to him? And I'm like, I can't speak to his work, but I can say he he does them. You know, DAT- Kristy (21:58) Yeah. Tiffanie (21:59) so it's like you just don't know what you don't know. And so if we're not having those conversations, I think that's a massive space of growth. And if you're not someone who loves to do that, fine. What do you love to do? You know, how many missing teeth are there? Do you like bridges? Do you like implants? Do you like how many missing teeth are within your recare? How many missing teeth are coming down the pipeline of patients that are in your database? DAT- Kristy (22:25) One hundred percent. And or even maybe you've added new services to your service mix that even your existing patients don't know you're doing. Tiffanie (22:33) Yeah, yeah. I agree. And it doesn't have to be Botox, fillers, threads. Like you don't have to be DAT- Kristy (22:37) Right. Yeah. Tiffanie (22:40) like, okay, well, I've tapped out my crowns and my fillings. Like I've gotta offer these other things. If you want to offer it, great, do it. But if it's not like a desire that you have to be this aesthetic dentist in that capacity, don't do it. You don't have to do all on force. Find something that you love. that you can add to your service mix or something that's within your service mix to Kristy's point that your patients just don't even know that's there. DAT- Kristy (23:09) Yeah. And lastly to wrap it, Tiff, I think so many people don't realize tapping into their own patients to earn that growth, like through social media and that sort of reviews, referrals, you know what I mean? Like give your patients a reason to refer and and even talk about you. Like bring that presence around so your existing patients can share why they love you and others will follow them. Tiffanie (23:38) Yeah. Yeah. Don't be the dentist that your patients are like, I don't know if they're accepting new patients or not. Let me call and find out. Like, no, just let them call and find out. So I agree. DAT- Kristy (23:46) Yeah. Tiffanie (23:47) I agree. I think fee schedule increases. So if you haven't done them recently within the last year, do it. I do love the idea of moving that to the summer or whatever your slow period is. If you're a pediatric dentist, don't do it in the summer. and then looking at service mixes, so what can you do more of? And looking at your schedule and making sure that you're utilizing as much time as you possibly can and that this that the schedule makes sense. I love that. DAT- Kristy (24:14) Agree with you and don't forget that reactivation. Tiffanie (24:17) Activation, that was the other one. Yeah. Don't forget those 19,000 patients that are sitting in your database somewhere. So, yes, I love DAT- Kristy (24:21) Yeah. Tiffanie (24:23) that. Kristy, these were phenomenal ideas. Thank you so much. thank you for DAT- Kristy (24:27) Absolutely. Tiffanie (24:28) making it easy. Thank you for helping so many clients. And for our listeners, if you need some Kristy wisdom, you need some Dental A Team help, please reach out. We're always here. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or TheDentalATeam.com website. You can sign up for a quick free consultation as well to see if what ideas we have. It doesn't mean you're signing up. It just means hey, tell me, tell me what are some ideas that you guys have. And we have a ton of free resources on that website as well. Drop us a five star review as always and let us know how we can best help you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Thanks guys.
#1183
July 30 · 20 min
#1,183 Is Your Practice Struggling with Collections and AR?
Re-releasing a Dental A-Team podcast favorite! Tiff is on the pod to chat with Kiera about an office she just visited which needed some attention on its collections and accounts receivable. To give an idea of where this practice sits at, its collections are at 80% and case acceptance is at 56%. Tiff shares three points she touched on with this office: Three tactics to put into place to raise collections Establish tracking methods Spun complaints in a positive direction Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time. on the Dental A Team podcast. speaker-0 (00:32) and you guys don't worry. We say we travel in the Dental A Team, and this time you might actually hear proof of it because I have the one and only Tiffanie Trader back on the podcast. She is getting ready to fly home, just finish up with an office, and we definitely got her to podcast while she's at the airport. So Tiff, where are you at today? How is this podcasting going? speaker-1 (00:54) podcasting is gonna be fantastic because it is because I put it out there into the universe and I am I'm actually in DC, which is funny because it's funny because I thought I I thought I booked a different airport and I thought I booked an airport I had been to and then on the way here I was like, Yeah, I've surely never actually even been to DC and anyways it's been fun. This is how my life is. speaker-0 (01:18) So funny travel story about Tiffanie and airports. We always giggle about this. Tiff, do you want to tell about the one time like this is like real life consulting one one for you guys? Do you remember the time that you maybe missed your alarm? You set like twenty five of them, but that's fine. Like I've seen your phone and there are seriously like, Wake up, no, like really wake up. No, like you've got to get out of bed. Like that's all your alarms that you have. But like what happened that time? Because it was a really funny travel experience. speaker-1 (01:42) Here's the thing, Kiera. I just want to point out that I am in Virginia right now. It's speaker-0 (01:47) Yeah. speaker-1 (01:48) the only state that I have ever, ever, ever had any travel mishaps of any sort have been either coming to or leaving Virginia. I have Virginia stuck speaker-0 (01:59) Is your speaker-1 (02:00) here. I've gotten stuck here on a layover. Like Virginia just doesn't want me to leave, I think. So I slept through my alarm leaving New York, coming to Virginia. because my flight was at six thirty in the morning, which is if you know me at all is not speaker-0 (02:16) It's okay. It's all right. We all make decisions that we shouldn't have done. And I'll be honest, sometimes when we're like booking the travel, we're like, yeah, that seems like a really good idea until we actually have to live the travel we booked for ourselves and we're like, That was a really bad idea. So speaker-1 (02:30) It was a poor choice. speaker-0 (02:32) You're up late. I remember you were texting me late at night that night and I'm like, Tiff, your freaking flight leaves so early tomorrow and you're like, I'll be fine speaker-1 (02:40) Yes, but I was fine because I actually figured out that it was quicker to drive to where I needed to be than to fly anyway. So speaker-0 (02:49) Only after she missed her flight. So it was you know a win. speaker-1 (02:52) Because I had to pivot. I had to be at an office that afternoon and I was like, shoot, how do I do this? So pivot or die is like what we live and breathe by. so I mapped it and I went and I got a car and the car rental guy was like, my gosh, this is absurd. so I drove a car from New York to Virginia and it was by far my favorite road trip of working experience because it was beautiful. I got this in so many I went through It was like fall time, but I got snow, I got fall leaves changing. I have like every possible season. speaker-0 (03:27) It's one of favorite stories that I definitely feel like needed to be recorded for all of our posterity to hear and all of you listeners. So this might be mine and Tiff's like journal time over here. But this is liter speaker-1 (03:36) I think I've I think I've now flown out as of today. I will have flown in and out of every airport in Virginia. speaker-0 (03:45) Well, I'm glad that you're able to get the last one knocked off your list today. but you guys, that's literally the day in life of a consultant. I think it's it's fun to point out the fact that like in offices when things don't go as planned, like literally pivot. I know Tip and I have many times, I mean the time that I almost got deported out of Canada, hashtag I was literally a one hour drive across the border, but no, I flew back down to New Jersey and then back trying to get across the border. And it would have been way better had I just driven. So I think also it's like looking at it. I mean, had we mapped it, now when people are booking travel, we're always thinking like, Could you drive there faster than flying? 'Cause there's always alternatives. So I love it. Welcome to Virginia. I'm glad you're coming home. Glad your office was there. Let's kinda like speaker-1 (04:29) office was in New Orleans. It's fine. speaker-0 (04:34) Everything's fine, guys. Everything's fine. We are totally competent in dental offices and we're about like seventy-five, eighty percent competent traveling. We have that like twenty percent lack that we definitely are not great at. speaker-1 (04:44) It just needed to hit Virginia as a state this year, so I got it in. speaker-0 (04:48) Good job, Tiff. So actually let's like deep dive on your practice you just came from. this is not the topic we were going to go on, but I just realized like we're talking about you leaving an office. Kinda walk us through some of the things you just implemented in that practice that you were in, just so people can kind of get an experience of what it's like having a consultant in their practice. speaker-1 (05:05) Yeah, I think that's fun. Yep. So this was and I love a bit or die. speaker-0 (05:10) Don't worry, we had a totally different topic, but like why not why not just keep with this consulting travel theme? speaker-1 (05:16) I like it. So yes. this is my second time in the practice. This was Ashley actually saw this practice probably like a year ago, I suppose. so she saw them first and Ashley's no longer with us, wildfires, crying, lots of tears. speaker-0 (05:29) Decided to get married and move away and become a practice manager. It's fine. That office got real lucky. I shout out to them. speaker-1 (05:37) Yeah. So anyways, this is their third visit. So it's really cool to see the progression and the growth that they've experienced, but then also like the holdups that they've had. So it's like, yes, we've been consulting them for a little over a year now. but there's still so much to be done. So this week what we did yesterday and today was we focused really heavily on collections and AR because they're just struggling a little bit in that area and they're having a hard time dialing it into where it's coming from. So it was really fun because we saw the issue and then what I did was I kind of worked my way backwards, right? Because I think in any practice you can find something that's wrong and then I can tackle that person. Right. So I can go straight for the billing representative and the office manager and be like, why aren't you collecting? Where's your money? But it's not just them. that are the the only cause of that, right? So the only effect of the cause. So we backtracked, we looked at everything, we realized, hey, patients aren't always getting signed treatment plans. Like patients aren't even they're not always getting told what they're going to owe in the first place. So then when they're coming in, it's a little bit more difficult to collect because I noticed we have a crown you know, a crown was in last week and they paid a hundred dollars. And so if you know anything about Crowns in dental insurance, typically a hundred dollars is not going to be the copay required. So I thought, okay, why is this patient only paid a hundred dollars? Well, probably because this patient was not prepared to pay the six hundred dollars that he had owed when he came in. So we kind of backtracked. So we figured out, okay, our collections percentage is low. It's about 86% for last month, and overall for the year they're hovering in the mid 80s. I like to see ninety eight percent for my practices or higher. I usually tell my Medicaid practices, Medicaid slash PPO providers, ninety-three to ninety-five percent just because Medicaid takes so long. So ninety-eight percent is what we're looking for here in this practice. So eighty six percent was like, my gosh, how are how are we paying the bills? So we back chopped and we started implementing they did NDTR for us like a boss. We've done that twice to the guys don't know the N D T speaker-0 (08:00) And you're new, that's a perfect handoff. So next visit, date, time, recare. And I will say it's magic sauce when people do it. So good to know this office was which is great. It's good. Like Tip, I love that you're breaking this down. And I think offices should do this. Like when you find a gaping hole, don't go after it. Look at all the pieces that factor in to find out where is the true breakdown. So we already know that the handoff and the doctor exam is spot on. We are crushing that. Our handoffs are good. Our doctor exams are great. So that's not the cause of the collections being low. Like good job Tiff of checking that box to ensure and I hope people are able to see that that that's what you're doing in this. Like you're assessing to find out where the breakdown is at. speaker-1 (08:38) And I think that's right. And as you're saying that, it made me think of like treatment planning, right? So doctors, you go in the operatory and if you just looked at a tooth and you saw this this piece of decay, right? No x-ray, nothing else. You just look at the tooth, you're like, okay, there's decay there. We need to get it out. Let's do a filling. Okay. So you do a filling, you get in there, because you haven't looked at the x-ray yet, you get in there and you're like, holy cow, that's not the only problem. So I think of it as like You go in, you look at the tooth, but you also look at the x-rays and all the other evidence that you have. You look at you know, intra-oral photos, you look at structure, all of these items to assess what the patient needs on that tooth. So if you look at the x-ray, maybe the x-ray shows like all of this patient's pain is actually stemming from a huge abscess at the root of the tooth. Had we not looked at the x-ray, we might have just tried to fill it, right? So I kind of think of that of something like that when I go into practices. So I do see, okay, there's an issue so we're we're bleeding money right so there's an issue but what's the root cause of it so I think that's great what you said Kiera because it made me think of that like it's really we go in and we dig for the root cause so overhead is high collections are low so what's the root cause so handoffs are working great the diagnosis is there the treatments there the schedule's pretty full right they're producing 120 grand with two doctors and two hygienists that's not bad per month so we really diagnosed. So we ramped up treatment planning with the front office, ramped up treatment planning, which should ramp up over the counter collections, and then we tackled cancellations, which I think cancellations across the board, across the country, and all of my practices have been really high lately. I think it's just a product of the mentality that we're living in right now, and a product of what we've become. So that aside, we just set some new goals. So Over the counter collections and collections in general, they I set them another goal. So their goal now is 98% by the end of the year. Okay, and remember they're at about 86% now. Case acceptance, they're doing dollar for dollar. So case acceptance, dollar for dollar is set at 75% is their goal. They're hovering at about 56% right now. And then I want to see cancellations at less than 10% every day. So they'll do that by week and they're tracking all of those items. It is actually really fun to hammer in the collections because the front office ladies are like, I don't know what I don't know why she keeps saying collections, collections, why are you saying collections is an issue? We collect the money. We collect all the money over-the-counter. We we don't let patients leave without paying. And so I said, Okay, totally fine. So, what we did was we set, we created a new tracker, right? So I created a tracker for them for over-the-counter collections. If they do not collect in full from a patient, they've got to put it on the tracker. So it's just in their Google spreadsheets, something the office manager can check in on, but it's going to hold them accountable. So number one, I saw that you know we had a few patients we weren't collecting over-the-counter 100% from. So there should be some names on there. Number two, they're not going to want to fill out the tracker and they're not going to want anyone to see your name on there. So hopefully it will ramp up that over-the-counter collections. But then also they had a good point. If they feel like they're collecting over the counter correctly, maybe it's on the back end where it's like our claims, you know, our treatment plans are are not accounting for downgrades, and maybe our claims are coming in, EOVs are being paid, and we're left with balances, it will show. So I took the problem, diagnosed what needed to happen, implemented three items and three different goals that should help. And then allowed them the grace and the space to say, okay, fantastic. We're gonna push real hard on these items to ensure that your over the counter collections is happening exactly how you're saying that it is, just because I want you guys to kill it. And the proof will be in the end. Right. So if I see that over the counter collections is better and now our overhead is decreasing our collections is higher, then I know we tackle the problem. If it's not and it stays where it is, and we start saying, okay, it's actually left over after insurance, we actually tackled that problem as well because we've we have our insurance, the team who's doing the insurance verifications are gonna start they're putting down grades in now. so that should be resolved as well. But it was kind of fun to see where it's like sometimes we think we're doing something and we can say, like, I always do this thing, which always and never are never accurate, right? So like always well whenever I think like I always do it I'm like okay so I don't always do it so I need to like back off and take a look at the area where I probably could improve. So as soon as I hear something that I'm like okay I totally get it. It's like a it's a defensive space and we do feel like we're killing it in that area and it's great if we are you might be so we're gonna put this into place to see that to show it. So let's prove that you are doing the things and it's not you on the opposite side of the spectrum. We're putting attention on it and so no matter what, whether you were doing it before and you're doing it y now you're doing it even more or you're doing it the same as before or you weren't ever doing it, it's going to improve no matter what, because we're putting attention on it. speaker-0 (14:01) I love it. speaker-1 (14:03) That's what we did in this caucus. speaker-0 (14:05) So I think there's like a c quite a few pieces I wanna highlight from it is number one, I love that you talked about how you see an issue, but that issue is usually a symptom of a bigger problem. And so it was collections are low. And so you found three other areas to fix. I also love that you put tracking into place. And I also love that you took what people said of I'm always collecting and spun it into a really positive way. Cause some people be like, Okay, well, I get that you say you're always doing this, but the reality is we're not collecting. You didn't make them wrong. You said, Hey I hear you. Let's actually track this and prove that you guys are really doing it. So like I'm on your team versus I'm making you wrong. And so I hope a lot of people listened and heard that. And I think that that's one of the beauties of coming in person. Because over the phone, I can't we can't move and navigate as easily as we can in person. In person we're able to see, okay, here's this broken piece. Let's go fix, let's look at the whole way up the chain to see where is the broken link. Because down below we know something further up is broken. But then we can get the in entire team working on it. So you see quick, fast changes in a practice that are usually sustainable. So Tiff, I thought you did so many awesome things in it. And I know you tackled so many more pieces. Like that's just a quick, I mean, we're talking 15 minute synopsis right here where you're like, hey, I was there for a day and a half, but let me give you a quick 15 minutes. But I hope people took that. And so I'm like digesting this in for an office of how do you take this and make this applicable to you is number one, when you find a problem, look to see like what are all the pieces up ahead of that problem that got there. To get to collections, what has to happen before collections? Insurance verification, inputting information, sending claims, getting the checks back from insurance. Are they getting lost in the mail? Do we have EFTs set up? How are we posting it? What about downgrades? What about our write-offs? Then you also looked at like, okay, what creates that copay amount for the patient portion? That's treatment plans. Are we giving every patient a treatment plan and having it signed and putting that copay amount or the amount that they owe in the appointment box so that way everybody knows and we just collect that? Then let's go back even further and say, first and foremost, how's our case acceptance? Like, are we even having good handoffs to get the treatment that's diagnosed, to get the case acceptance, to get the schedule, to be able to then send it out. So that's why we love what we do. Like I just broke all that down. I'm like, that is what we freaking do, and we love it. We love it so much. But I hope you guys take it and diagnose that. And if you have a hard time seeing up that chain, Tiff and I are really good at seeing like, okay, here's the billing system, here's the case acceptance system, here is our new patient acceptance. system like here are all these systems that could be impacting your collections. Let's look to see where it's at. Let's come up with some tracking. Let's give your team goals and then let's see magic happen. So if you guys are needing help with that, always email us Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. But gosh Tip like way to way to kill it at that practice. I love I love hearing your recaps after a practice. speaker-1 (16:52) Thank you. Yeah. And you're right. We did a ton more, especially on the collection side. but yeah, I love it. And I love the diagnosis piece and really seeing like the light bulbs go off and doctors and teams too. So and I think you're right. I think it it can be done over the phone. It just takes a lot longer. And and I think we do miss pieces because it's a biased opinion. I'm I'm relying on the team or the doctor to provide me the information. I'm not seeing it firsthand. So It is much more effective when we're able to get in practice and probably I'd say the f first one in office is like, okay, this is a good starting point. Second and third in office are really where we really I mean, we dig deep on those suckers because we know we know the practice at that point. So totally. I love it. I love it. speaker-0 (17:38) So fun. Well, Tiff, as always, I love you headed to offices. I love you representing our company. And it's fun to see. So I hope you guys like take this into yourself. Put on the Tiffanie Kiera consultant hat. Look at your practice. See if you can uncover those spots and where it might be broken further up the chain. And if you can't see it or you also want to pick our brains, email us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thank you all. Thank you, Tiffanie. Thank you all for listening. And we'll catch you next time Kiera Dent (18:04) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine. to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene or associate onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

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