Articles
Trust builders: Strengthening patient confidence in you
In the world of dentistry, trust is the basis on which successful patient-practitioner relationships are built. Without trust, dental professionals risk encountering obstacles such as reduced treatment acceptance, limited word-of-mouth referrals and diminished team morale. Therefore, nurturing trust with patients is not only crucial but also indispensable for the sustained success of any dental practice...
Your role in creating a thriving team
As a dental practice management consultant, I frequently hear the same complaint from practice owners and managers: "There are no good people out there". It's an understandable frustration - we know it's tough out there for many professions and industries. But, what if this pervasive issue isn't entirely about the people you're hiring? What if the other half of the equation lies with the leadership?..
Unearth the hidden treasures in your dental practice: The parable of acres of diamonds
In the heart of Africa, there lived a farmer who dreamt of becoming an overnight millionaire. Tales of fellow farmers striking it rich by discovering diamond mines had ignited a spark of hope within him. With visions of wealth and success, he sold his cherished farm, filled with fertile soil and endless potential, to embark on a quest for diamonds...
How to love your problems, so you can solve them gracefully
Our working days are made up of situations that both run according to plan and are quite satisfying and those that are unplanned challenges that can be quite unsatisfying.
We feel satisfied when all the patients arrive for their appointments, each dentist runs to schedule and when all team members are delivering their best performances...
Drilling down to the root cause: How to identify and solve the real problems in your dental practice
As a dental practice management consultant, I often come across practice owners who are constantly battling symptoms rather than addressing the root cause of their problems...
Transform your dental practice with the power of a compelling purpose
Identifying the purpose of your dental practice is claimed to be highly important. And, in principle, I agree. The purpose of an organisation can help to align team members and other stakeholders to work brilliantly together. Team members can experience higher levels of motivation...
The power of words: Choosing truth over meaning for personal growth and progress
I have a friend who recently shared her frustration when someone routinely turned up late to meetings. My friend stated, "This means that this person doesn't respect me"...
I immediately thought of something I hear Charles say: "Be precise with your words, because their meaning has an impact".
What is your level of job satisfaction?
In my last article, I asked the question, What is the level of your customer service? I detailed the four levels of customer service that I have identified, being...
Unacceptable. Patients complain to the practice, online and/or to friends and family about how terrible the customer is;
Basic. Patients are not so upset that they complain, but they are unlikely to return to your practice;
Anticipated. Patients are satisfied...
Where is your level of customer service?
When it comes to customer service, dental practices have always been way ahead of medical (in my opinion). How often do you enter a medical practice and either:
Stand in a queue and wait to be served;
Be the first in line but the two or three receptionists behind the desk take their time to acknowledge you; or
Find everyone too busy to address you so you take a seat, only to then notice...
How to generate a remarkable ROI by investing in your team
When it comes to business, there are costs and then there are costs.
Many "costs" are just that: a "cost" to the business without any direct financial return. Examples would be repairing items that are broken through simple carelessness, utilities, rent and equipment maintenance. These are all necessary for the operation of your dental practice, but they do not directly generate any money...
Are dental practice managers overwhelmed?
The role of practice manager in Australian dental practices is not one that can be easily nailed down. In some practices, the practice manager is also the full-time receptionist and has a handful of additional duties, such as team management and accounts payable. In other practices, the practice manager is a full-time role and their rostered duties do not spill over into other roles...
Get your house in order
What do you think of when I say, "get your house in order"?
It may mean getting your financial affairs in order. Or it may mean finding some solutions to some ongoing problems you might have.
Another meaning to "get your house in order" is to improve or correct the way you do things. And this is a meaning that I find powerful...
If your staff don’t highly value your services, then treatment plans won’t be sold
Your team deals with the issue of the price of dentistry daily. You develop systems to manage this aspect of treating patients, such as payment plans, issuing verbal and written quotations and structuring a portion of your discussions with patients around the topic...
Are you seeing your team’s performance accurately, or do you have blinders on?
have recently surrendered on an issue and it feels oh, so good!
A dental receptionist I've been working with for many years, let's call her Robyn, was tracking her Incomplete Treatment follow-up in a way that she found worked well for her. However, it was not the system I had encouraged her to use, as it meant entering information...
An important step in getting the right people on your bus
Have you ever been in a situation that has become so progressively worse that you lose hope that it will ever improve?
In his famous book, Good to Great, Jim Collins used the metaphor of a bus and its passengers to emphasise the importance of getting the right team members working in your business....
Enough is enough!
Have you ever been in a situation that has become so progressively worse that you lose hope that it will ever improve?
Upon reflection, you can see how it got out of control. There were numerous times that you could have changed course. You hadn't realised that it would get this bad so you didn't take action.
Are you guilty of killing your own practice in this way?
Have you been flossing every day, as I suggested six months ago?"
"You should have come and had this tooth treated sooner. Now the decay has reached the nerve."
"I can see a fair bit of evidence that you have neglected your teeth over the years."
Shame, shame, shame...
A 6-step recruitment process to help ensure your next hire is a great decision!
Finding and hiring great people is a challenge that every dental practice faces. Some face it every few months and some, every few years. But, everyone is looking for that next perfect hire routinely over the life of their practice.
Hire slow and fire fast is sound advice that, in reality, is often reversed. An easy trap to fall into is to hire quickly to fill a gap in your team...
Overcoming COVID-necessary barriers for a better patient experience
Prior to COVID, creating a welcoming experience for patients when they enter your practice was one of our higher priorities. When the pandemic hit, this objective was pushed to the side in place of new health and safety measures. We imagined this would be a temporary shift in focus...
Critical factors in determining what to pay your staff
Determining the right remuneration for your existing and new staff can be challenging. Many practice owners develop an assumption over the years of what is a fair and equitable pay rate but rarely take a closer look to see whether the amount they currently offer is appropriate...
Could this be the key to improving your performance and the performance of your team?
You have an image - an identity - of who you "know" you are. This is your self-identity. And you are a slave to it.
If you perceive yourself to be competent in a task, you will tackle it with confidence and an expectation that you will succeed...
You will enjoy big rewards for the extra-oral treatment of patients
The dental restrictions of the pandemic response have resulted in many patients either unable or unwilling to attend for their usual treatment. Dental practices have responded by reaching out to their patients to help guide them through this (hopefully) short-term interruption to their oral care...
Avoiding the dramas of absent team members: A crucial dental practice success factor
Ask any dental team member about what triggers an instant stress-response and they will say one of two things: missing lab work or a team member calling in sick...
Creating a culture of continuous improvement will deliver enormous benefits to your practice
Creating a powerful culture within your team of continual improvement has numerous benefits for your dental practice. These include:
Improved customer service;
Better patient management;
Higher treatment acceptance rates;
Reduced staff turnover;
Reduced operating costs;..
Really useful team training solutions when times are tough
When times are tough, dental practices often reduce spending to the basic essentials, such as wages, rent, consumables and laboratory costs. Any plans for team training are the first to be struck off the list, as "optional costs or expenses"...
Bake me a pie!
I asked a friend to bake me a pie.
She went away and returned, proud of the delicious beef pie she had made.
"No, no, no! I meant a pie for dessert!"
She went away and this time returned with a lemon pie.
"No, no, no! I wanted an apple pie! Here is a list of ingredients to use!"...
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?" Could this one sentence become the powerful philosophy of your practice?
Effective practice philosophies are those that: clarify what the practice wants to achieve; direct the behaviours of all team members; and set the standards of service to be delivered to patients...
Could your practice go from GOOD to GREAT?
If I asked you whether your practice could be one of the great practices in the world, what would your response be?
"That standard is too high."
"Not with my current team/premises/situation."
"One of the greatest according to whom?"
What if told you that despite your current perceptions, your practice CAN become GREAT!..
How to deal with passive aggressive team members... and how to find out if you’re one of them!
We all have, or will at some stage be in, a relationship with someone who displays passive aggressive tendencies. They could be a family member, friend or work colleague. Despite our own best intentions, often it is we who act in a passive aggressive manner...
Take the mystery out of your service
When gaps start to appear in your appointment book, where does your mind turn to look for answers?
Your marketing strategy? Team adherence to customer service protocols? Slow time of the year? Growing competition in your area?..
Are you thinking yourself into a stressful life?
Iwas conducting some online research a while ago and came across an interesting analogy. So interesting, in fact, that to this day, I use it frequently to reduce my stress.
I am interested in how our minds shape our reality and was looking into different techniques that are used to shift sub-conscious beliefs. It is a challenging area, as these beliefs are often not ones ...
High numbers of new patients are NOT the answer!
If the question is "How can I build a sustainably strong dental practice?", I assure you that high numbers of new patients are NOT the answer.
In my role of dental consultant and coach, I see many practices striving for higher and higher numbers of new patients...
How curious! Your team members know things about you that you don’t even know!
One of our main motivators as human beings is the intrinsic desire to keep getting better. That is, to develop MASTERY in what we do.
We have all felt that giddy feeling of accomplishment when we finally feel competent in something that we used to find uncomfortably...
Helping your associate dentist to reach your practice goals
The structures of dental practices have seen substantial changes over the past decade with the introduction of corporate, health fund and multi-practice ownership. However, the structure that employee dentists need in order to be efficient, productive and happy has remained the same...
Micro-managers anonymous: A group you don’t want to join!
My name is Julie and I am a recovering micro-manager! Who else is willing to put their hands up and admit they like everything to be done their way?
Now, keep your hands up if you see no reason to change this behaviour...
Don't spend another cent on paid advertising or marketing until you have read this article!
How much are you currently spending on marketing activities for your practice? Add up all the costs involved in activities like: Website construction and maintenance; Local newspaper adverts and advertorials;..
Why doesn’t my team want to embrace the changes that i think are obviously good?
I was recently involved in the hiring of an additional dentist for one of my magnificent clients. And not all team members were happy!
Over my years of owning my own practice...
Leadership lessons from our sporting heroes
Leadership is a crucial skill for managers and practice owners to learn. Strong leadership unifies a team and inspires top performance to achieve a worthy goal.
There are plenty of examples of...
How to improve your case acceptance rate to increase your turnover and reduce your need for new patients
I see enormous time, money and energy being expended on marketing campaigns to attract new patients to practices in the name of business growth...
The secret weapon in highly effective team training
Team training is a wonderful way to consistently improve as a practice. Attending seminars and workshops provides learning opportunities to develop new skills and helps to align your team's understanding around the purpose of your practice...
Making sense of "failed to attend": Techniques for getting patients to show
Failed appointments (FTAs) come with the territory of managing a dental practice. They cause disruption to the practice through both the financial loss imposed and the ordeal of having potentially unpleasant conversations with patients who may routinely miss their appointments....
How to make a 10% performance improvement generate 30% profit improvement!
There are two fundamental ways for businesses to increase profits - Reduce costs or increase sales!
Reducing costs can be implemented quickly, so will have immediate effect. However, there will be a limit to how much cost-cutting you can perform before it starts to have a negative impact on the service you provide...
Achieving top performance from a new staff member
It takes great effort, time and money to introduce a new staff member to your practice. Consider advertising for the position, assessment of resumes, interviews, orientation, training, getting other staff to support the newcomer, assessment of performance, adjusting behaviours to the practice standard...
How to hire great staff
A lot of time and money can be spent in putting together a great team of employees. So when one decides to leave, it can be a troubling time to search for the replacement. Your practice will either be the beneficiary of a newcomer's qualities, or the victim of his or her shortcomings. Becoming an effective...
Keeping great staff
One of the fundamental elements to your practice success is your team. How to attract a great team and how to tap into the greatness of existing members of your team, are areas that I will be covering in coming articles. This article covers an area that I get asked about a lot: "How do I get my best people to stay?"..
The system is the solution: The wonderful difference that great systems can produce in your practice
Asuccessful business is one that can deliver a desired product or service to its market with consistency and measurability, with an acceptable profit. The path to achieving this consistency and measurability is the design and implementation of systems...
So you’re thinking of buying a dental practice...
Buying a business is an ambition that many people dream of, fewer people actually do and in which even fewer people thrive.
The positives to owning your own dental practice are many and powerful:
You control your own destiny;..
How to transform your staff meetings into dynamic business building sessions
Staff meetings often conjure up feelings of dread, both for the employees and employer. Staff can see them as a waste of time, or worse, a battleground against those who choose this forum as a way of airing grievances...
Why discounting your dental services makes it hard to build your dream practice
Discounting your dental services as a way of marketing your practice is an option many business owners choose. To stand out amongst the ever-growing pool of competition, you need a point of difference...
Achieving patient engagement through the 6 elements of influence
Achieving patient engagement is one of the fundamental elements of succeeding in your dental practice. If you do not engage your dental patients, you will struggle to build the relationships that are required to effectively manage and treat your patients and also struggle to build the foundations that will...