LOVE THE PROCESS OF GROWING YOUR PRACTICE – OCTOBER 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

Near the end of August, Smile Potential reengaged with a young dental client who had worked with us previously, but who had gone through a near complete turnover of his team. This doctor is very driven to achieve success and he has a clear understanding of the potential for his practice. The nature of our early coaching conversations was to repeatedly assure the doctor that he would be successful, and we frequently addressed his questions of “When will I get there?” and “How will I know when I’ve gotten there?” He seemed focused on a “number”.

As we have seen in coaching over 140 practices during the last 15 years, the best results occur, not when you focus on the dollar outcome, but rather on the details of doing the right things, delivering better care, showing more compassion, executing benefit-oriented dialogue, and adhering to systems that assure success. Around the same time that we resumed coaching this client, Coco Gauff was in the process of achieving a stunning victory in the US Open Tennis Championship. At the young age of 19, Coco had been considered a potential champion and an heir to Serena Williams ever since she turned professional five years prior. This victory was the culmination of her ascension to the pinnacle of her sport.

Immediately after Coco won her final match in impressive fashion, she was seen quietly closing her eyes and kneeling to pray at the bench where she had her equipment and belongings. In the post-match interview, she was asked about her spirituality, and she responded that “I don’t pray for results. I ask for the strength to give it my all and for the safety of me and my opponent. Whatever happens, happens.”

A similar approach should be adopted by our young coaching client. Instead of concerning himself with the outcome, he would be better served by focusing on the steps to achieve that success. The first step in developing success is creating a vision that can serve as the “treatment plan” for the practice. Next, it is surrounding himself with a team that he can inspire to want to help the practice succeed through a culture of appreciation. The foundation for success is doing whatever is necessary to deliver the highest standard of care and doing everything possible to create the best possible patient experience through exceptional customer service. Through coaching, it is learning to adopt verbal skills that are consistently patient-centric, benefit-oriented, and create significantly higher acceptance of more comprehensive care. As the doctor and the team focus on the true benefits of the care to the patients, the patients, in turn, will develop an appreciation of practice’s compassionate care, and their dedication to excellence. This will lead to greater treatment acceptance and increased patient referrals.

For Coco Gauff, it was not thinking about becoming a tennis champion as a young girl that propelled her to victory. It was the thousands of hours hitting balls, constant coaching to improve technique, intensive training to develop stamina and fitness to endure the physical demands of the sport, and work with psychologists to develop the mindset necessary to be a champion.

For our coaching clients, it has never been about us predicting a particular production goal, yet our clients have unanimously increased revenue by a minimum of $250,000 in the first year, and many by much more. Some of our clients are producing $1 million more EACH year since we began coaching them. The return on investment (ROI) of coaching can be phenomenal, as seen in the chart below:

We understand the hesitancy that many doctors may have about coaching. It may seem expensive. It may point out things that can be done better, which is a threat to some egos. It may take a little extra work and attention, in the short run. It requires some change in mindset and approach; and change is difficult. But every   doctor who has gone through the process of coaching with Smile Potential can relate that their practices grew, their patients were more satisfied, the dentistry became more fulfilling, their teams became more empowered and they, consequently, profited greatly.

If you would like to find out more about how

Smile Potential Coaching can help you and your practice

become the champions you have the potential to be,

send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com

or call us at 516-599-0214.

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WEBINAR: WHERE HAVE ALL OF THE GREAT DENTAL EMPLOYEES GONE? HOW DO I GET THEM BACK, AND RETAIN THEM?

By Mercedes LoRusso,

CLICK HERE TO JOIN WEBINAR

MEETING ID: 863 8014 3023

PASSCODE: 951481

The biggest challenge that many practices have faced this year is retaining the members of their teams, and finding replacements, when necessary. Our Zoom program the evening of Wednesday, October 4th (7:00 pm ET) will give you the answers to both challenges. We are very fortunate to introduce a true expert in this area, Paula Fontana, the COO of MAEVA Dental Advisors.

Paula has over 25 years of experience in leading recruiting and HR functions in a wide range of industries including Dental. She held roles as both the Head of Talent Acquisition and the Director of Learning and Development for 3 global organizations. In addition, she built a staffing company and hired hundreds of people in her recruiting career. More recently, she has spearheaded dental recruiting through MAEVA Dental Advisors. She is a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be extremely helpful and actionable for all of you in your practices. During this program she will be happy to offer personalized advice to our doctors on the call that will be a benefit to everyone listening.t Lin

Team attraction, onboarding and retention are three of the most critical challenges we face now in dentistry and Paula Fontana is a brilliant voice to offer advice and suggestions to all of you in these areas. If you would like to participate in this Zoom meeting please use the link below to join.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening, October 4th at 7:00 pm (ET) for this incredibly relevant program.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN WEBINAR

MEETING ID: 863 8014 3023

PASSCODE: 951481

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SMILE POTENTIAL DENTAL PRACTICE GROWTH COACHING

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BUILDING BLOCKS FOR DENTAL SUCCESS – SEPTEMBER 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

I never imagined how wonderful it would be to become the grandparent of a boy. After having 3 daughters, my little grandson, Bennett, who is now 2 1/2, has opened me up to a whole new world of joy and appreciation. I love my three daughters very much. As they grew up, I enjoyed their enthusiasm, their emotional ebbs and flows, their curiosity, their interest in sports and I LOVED being on the receiving end of the special love they displayed with their “daddy”. But…they did not play with cars and trucks, and they did not play with Legos, which can be very symbolic “building blocks” for dental success.

I’ve also seen Bennett play with Legos. We could lose him for hours if we took him to a Lego store, and we look forward to taking him to Legoland next summer. We hear him refer to Legos as “building blocks”. And with this in mind, I recently viewed a video of another “little” person, who was a giant among motivational speakers.

Dr Sean Stephenson was born with severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta and was not expected to survive more than 24 hours, but he became a well-respected clinical therapist and motivational speaker, using his 3-foot stature to impact millions of people about capitalizing on their “possibilities”. The book he wrote, “Get off Your ‘But’” is about abandoning excuses and limiting beliefs, and about taking charge of your life. In that book, and in numerous videos, Dr Stephenson describes Legos to demonstrate the “building blocks” of communication. The foundation of influence is the “Story”. Stories create connection. You build on the “Story” with “Experiences”, which create relatability, and your “Points”, which are the anticipated take-aways from the communication.

Story, Experiences and Points. These can also be the building blocks for successful treatment acceptance. Patients do not respond favorably to being told they need crowns or implants. They resent being told what they need to do. Our recommendations for gaining treatment acceptance are also based on 3 “building blocks”, Problem, Consequence and Benefits. The “Problem” is the “story” of what is wrong…decay, fracture, tooth loss, infection. The “Consequences” are the “experiences” that could occur from not treating the problem…pain or infection. The “Benefits” are the “points” of why the patient should choose to have the treatment performed.

We teach these principles in a treatment acceptance technique called “Triple Hear”. It is a technique in which the information for the patient is repeated three times, first from the hygienist to the patient, then from the hygienist to the doctor in front of the patient, and finally from the doctor to the patient, using the same words and terminology to reinforce the message. The information presented is that they have a problem (decay or fracture), that the consequences of the problem could be worse (pain and infection), and the benefits of treating the problem (strength, longevity, health, comfort) make the patient want the recommended treatment.

The most sure-fire way of growing a practice is not in the attraction of new patients, but in the development of skills to help more of your patients want and accept more comprehensive care. It begins with a “calibrated diagnostic criteria”, which we teach, and which is the foundation of thorough universal recognition of the clinical problems. It requires the establishment of appropriate “protective” treatment recommendations. The success rests with developing the skills in using these “building blocks” of communication with your patients.

If you would like to find out more about how Smile Potential Coaching

can help you and your practice “get off your ‘buts’”, lessen your limiting beliefs, and help patients “race” towards more comprehensive dentistry,

send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com or call us at 516-599-0214.

CLICK HERE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW SMILE POTENTIAL CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR PRACTICE

Dr. Katz recorded a webinar for Dental Intelligence on “Calibrating Diagnostic Criteria and Increasing Treatment Acceptance”. This topic is the “Blueprint for Practice Growth”. We are happy to provide the link so that you can view a recording of that webinar.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING OF “CALIBRATING DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA AND INCREASING TREATMENT ACCEPTANCE: A BLUEPRINT FOR PRACTICE GROWTH”

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WHAT CHIK-FIL-A CAN TEACH DENTISTS – AUGUST 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

As I drive around the tri-state area visiting with the practices we are coaching, I am always amazed at the length of the drive-thru lines I see repeatedly at Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurants. I’ve wondered what could possibly make these people want to wait so long for a fried chicken sandwich. The phenomenon is confirmed by industry studies that show that consumers wait in line the longest at Chick-fil-A, typically 9 minutes, when compared to all of the other chains. Chick-fil-A has the slowest drive-thrus in the country. The reason customers line up is that Chick-fil-A has done an incredible job of differentiating itself form all of the other places where you can get a fried chicken sandwich. In every presentation that we deliver to dentists around the country, we emphasize the importance of differentiating your practice from other practices in your area. Your goal should be to have patients say things like “that is the most thorough exam I’ve ever had”, ”the team is the nicest and most friendly I’ve ever met in a professional office”, “the doctor was the best listening doctor that I have ever had”.

One of the reasons the drive-thru experience is so positive at Chick-fil-A is that they add extra employees outside “working the line” to keep waiting customers engaged and to increase efficiency. Think about this in relation to your dental practices. One of the worst things that most practices do is leaving patients sitting alone in treatment rooms. This causes them to lose their patience and it creates extra anxiety. Do not leave patients alone in treatment rooms.

Despite Chick-fil-A’s poor showing in the speed study, they consistently score the highest in the area of customer satisfaction (95%), 10 percentage points above their nearest competitor, which takes into account staff friendliness and satisfying customer expectations. We should always expect good customer service, but Chick-fil-A does the common in an uncommon way.

I recently went to a Chick-fil-A to see how they could impress me. I noticed the cleanliness of the facility and an abundance of smiling employees who all made eye contact and said “hello”. Do all of the members of your dental team pay attention to the small detail of saying “hello” to every visitor to your office with a smile on their face, or do they get caught up in their busyness and ignore the patient?

When I said. “Thank you” (and I tried it several times), each time my comment was met with the team member saying, “my pleasure”, which implied that “it’s my pleasure to serve you”. When your patients say “Thank you” to members of your team, do they answer by saying “no problem” or “uh-huh”? Teaching them the preferred response is just one simple way of making improved service a competitive differentiator.

Dental team members do not get burned out because of the work they do. Providing dental care enables our employees to work in a way that defies boredom. Dental team members get burned out because they forget WHY they do the work they do. Do we strive to inspire our dental team members about having a sense of purpose? Do we emphasize that our care makes a difference in the lives of our patients, and our teams? Chick-fil-A has created a very strong sense of purpose that they emphasize throughout the employment of their teams. Do you emphasize a strong sense of purpose to your dental team members? It is a fact in the business world that purpose-driven companies continually outperform companies that lack purpose.

The manager of the Chick-fil-A that I visited was very gracious in taking some time to speak with me. He described how Chick-fil-A is committed to excellence, but the core values promote excellence as more than achieving financial success. The company shows that they value relationships even more than results. Chick-fil-A is committed to creating a workplace culture where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. I can greatly appreciate this philosophy. The legacy of my own practice, over time, became much more than the great dental care that we provided. I take great pride in the fact that the team members from my practice developed personal relationships with one another that have lasted many years since we all worked together.

Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy, proudly promoted that his organization was not in the chicken business, but that they were in the people business. One of the best ways that he showed this was that he encouraged his employees to give back to the community through participation in community projects. This reinforced the commitment to purpose. I can vouch for the positive effect that this has on a dental team. The dental team in my practice took great common pride in reaching out to help infirmed patients and in the philanthropic dentistry that we provided for numerous patients each year. This unselfishness also boosted the image of our practice in our community.

Chick-fil-A devotes a tremendous amount of time in training their employees on the front end so that they do not need to correct problems on the back end. When we would onboard a new team member in our practice, we would have them only observe an existing team member in their role for their first two weeks. For the second two weeks, the most senior team member in their role would be working over their shoulder to guide them through their paces. At the end of the four weeks of onboarding the new team member could function as if they were a long-standing employee. This system also promoted comraderie. It’s a way of demonstrating that members of our team were not valued for what they did, but for who they were and how they helped one another.

One of the most highly respected periodontists in the country is Dr. Michael Sonick, in Fairfield County, Connecticut. I feel fortunate to have had outstanding training with him in placing implants 20 years ago. His training programs are still among the best in the country. Recently, he published a wonderful book, entitled “Treating People, Not Patients”. The book provides an invaluable look into the principles that have allowed him to create a state-of-the-art patient centric practice. His insights empower you to grow your practice by changing how you view the people you serve and your role as a professional. This approach strongly proclaims that you and your team care about patients and team as valued individuals. This approach to creating a great culture starts with an inspiring leader. Will each of you take on the challenge to lead a culture that is both team centric and patient-centric?

Once upon a time, on a large mountainside, there was an eagle’s nest with four large eagle’s eggs in it. Once day an earthquake rocked the mountain, causing one of the eggs to roll out of the nest. The eagle’s egg rolled down the mountain and settled among hundreds of chicken eggs lying in a chicken farm at the bottom of the mountain. Eventually the eagle’s egg hatched among all of the chicken eggs. The eagle was raised among the chickens. Although the eagle loved his home and his family, he felt frustrated and out of place. One day the eagle looked up into the sky and noticed a group of eagles flying above. The eagle cried out, “I wish I could fly”. All of the chickens laughed and told him that “he had been born as a chicken and chickens do not fly”. The eagle continued to dream that he could fly, but he was repeatedly told it could not be done. After a period of time, the eagle stopped dreaming and continued to live his life as a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the Eagle died.

The moral of this story is that you become what you believe you are. If you dream to fly like an eagle, you should believe in your dream, not the words of the chickens. To live your dream and develop your dream practice, it requires that you come out of comfort zones and strive to differentiate yourself and your practice from others. You must trust your core beliefs and develop a sense of purpose that inspires you to believe in yourself and your team. When you take charge like this it will enable you to achieve the practice potential that has always existed for you and your team.

If you would like to find out more about how

Smile Potential Coaching

can help your practice soar,

send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com

or call us at 516-599-0214.

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WHO’S GUIDING YOUR LAPS – JULY 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

Volume 138 – – – – – July 2023

Many practices are reporting mid-year results ranging from slight growth to moderately decreased production and collections. With raging increases in the cost of supplies, team compensation and regulatory compliance, unless your practice is demonstrating significant growth, you may be offsetting your production and busyness. We are dedicated to helping you improve your standard of care, and helping patients appreciate the value of improved and more comprehensive care, to generate improved efficiency and profitability.

Recently we spent some time speaking to a prospective client. We engaged in several phone calls and an in-person meeting. The doctor reported modest improvements in the practice from the suggestions we made, yet the doctor was still overwhelmed with busyness and struggling to see any significant improvement in profitability. Their leaning was to “try to go it alone” in making changes that could increase success. The key factor is that a busy doctor is busy working “in the practice”, and does not have the time, energy, or sincere interest in working “on the practice”. Over and over, we have seen this scenario play out in resumed stagnation.

In 2008 Michael Phelps was the defending gold medal winner in the 100-meter butterfly. After having won the gold in 2004 in Athens, he accepted the challenge that there were numerous talented swimmers who would compete against him in the next Olympics.

Complacency is the enemy of a true champion.

It is also the reason that reasonably successful dental practices stagnate.

Though he was the best in the world, Phelps committed himself to new and improved training methods and strategies. Those in swimming circles said his continued training became more intense than ever. Leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps was surpassed by an up-and-coming Serbian swimmer, Milorad Cavic, who even set a new world record in the Olympic semi-final. In the final, Cavic had set a blistering pace and was leading the race as they approached the finish. It seemed almost certain that Cavic would win, and Phelps’ dream of achieving eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games would be shattered. However, in a thrilling finish, Phelps managed to make a seemingly impossible comeback and advanced timing technology confirmed that he touched the wall .01 seconds ahead of Cavic, securing the gold medal.

His victory showcased how the attention to detail of every aspect of his performance contributed to his continued dominance. Numerous coaches contributed to improved nutrition, advanced training and therapy, greater efficiency in his practice sessions, attention to the psychology of a winning attitude and the understanding that “staying the course” is never a good strategy for success.

The same is true in your dental practices. Most practices enjoyed upticks after Covid, and many have benefitted from continued busyness. But recently, team retention has been challenging, and new hires have diluted previously efficient and profitable systems. The busyness and understaffing has made it impossible to truly train new hires on the systems of YOUR practice. Coaching can make a huge difference. Just as with Michael Phelps, prior success does not guarantee future success. The incorporation of coaches who understand the many intricacies of success for a practice can cumulatively make a big difference in GREATLY surpassing the trend-line for YOUR practice. Smile Potential’s multi-coach approach to holding the hands of every member of your team through the “tweaking” of systems and practices is guaranteed to guide your practice to its best year ever. See the chart below to see how Smile Potential has impacted on an assortment of practices in the NY metro area, and beyond. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you to discuss how Smile Potential can improve your swim in the pool of dentistry and help you achieve significantly improved personal and practice bests. We’ll even put a gold medal around your neck to celebrate your success when we’ve helped you get to the finish line.

If you would like to find out more about how Smile Potential Coaching can help you continue to grow your practice, and become more productive and profitable, send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com or call us at 516-599-0214.

CLICK ON THE CAMERA PHOTO BELOW

TO HAVE A COMPLIMENTARY ANALYTICS REVIEW

OF YOUR PRACTICE AND A FOLLOWUP ZOOM MEETING.

This spring enabled us to return to some activities for the first time since COVID. We recently conducted several Mastermind Dinners and some live CE events. It has been wonderful to have spoken in succession at the Greater New York, Chicago Mid-winter and Connecticut State Dental Meetings with full-day presentations. If you have a dental study group, a dental organization, or a group of referring doctors that you would like to help with growing their practices and helping them increase treatment acceptance, let us know and we will include you and your group on our calendar for the Fall.

If you would like to find out more about how Smile Potential Coaching can help you improve your systems of scheduling,

value creation and treatment acceptance, send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com or call us at 516-599-0214.

CLICK HERE TO FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SMILE POTENTIAL COACHING

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FACTS NOT FEELINGS – JUNE 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

Smile Potential E-Newsletter
coaching@smilepotential.com
(516) 599-0214

Recently, I returned a phone call to a doctor who attended one of our full-day programs. When I asked how things were going in his office, he said, “I think we’re doing pretty good”. I asked him what made him think that and his response was, “I don’t know, it’s just a gut feeling.” Feelings are not facts and should not be the basis for how we manage our practices.

I am a passionate golfer. I used to be a good golfer, but time has decreased the distance of my drives, and multiple orthopedic surgeries have affected the repetitiveness of my swing. There is a part of me that continues to plan for that “next great round” when I will again break 80, or that I can carry the water and a deep bunker onto a tiny green with my second shot, but that is the teasing that goes on from occasionally giving in to my legend in my own mind.  The facts are that my scores are now usually 10 strokes higher, my driving distances are 15 yards shorter, and my multiple shoulder surgeries now cause me to pull most shots to the left.  These facts mean that I need to change my strategy and course management to regain success on the golf course.

There are some strong parallels to what goes on in our dental practices. “I think we have very good treatment acceptance” (but metrics show 32% treatment acceptance and over $1 million in unscheduled treatment). “It seems that we do a good job in reappointing our patients” (but analytics show that only 56% are reappointed in hygiene, and patient attrition is high). “I know my hygienists do a good job in caring for our patients” (but 96% of hygiene visits are prophies despite 75-80% of the patients having periodontal disease). We are accustomed to “going with our gut”, but numbers don’t lie. When we manage our practices based on assumptions, damaging trends can become deep-rooted problems with unwanted consequences.

Over the years, many of us learn to accept, enjoy, understand, and trust our feelings. It helps to understand that sometimes our emotions may not be telling us the truth. Upon occasion, every now and then, some people get a feeling that isn’t real. They may think that it is real, and they may truly believe that it is real, but it’s just a feeling. It is wise to remember that, as important as emotions are, feelings are not facts.

“What’s worth being done is worth being measured”. Smart metrics, actionable data, do not only measure our results, but more importantly, they measure the effectiveness of our systems. Using metrics to guide decisions helps us make the most of our systems. Baseball managers make late inning pitching decisions based on incredible predictive data of how pitchers and hitters will fare against one another. We should be making smarter decisions based on how improvements in systems will yield better results.

How does one determine which metrics are relevant to achieving goals? Your vision should determine your strategies. When I created the vision that my own practice would be a cosmetics-driven comprehensive-care practice, I chose a marketing strategy that would focus on direct patient referrals (the power of “raving fans”), physician referrals (more motivated, less concerned with money) and American Express card-holding women (greater discretionary funds and more luxury-focused). This led us to create an incredible patient-centric experience that our patients couldn’t wait to describe to their friends. We routinely took blood pressures and performed diabetes screening to emphasize the oral-systemic connection. We introduced pampering spa amenities, even shined our patients’ shoes, and featured an elaborate coffee and refreshment bar which made our reception room a friendly gathering place for morning commuters on their way to the Long Island railroad train station, a block away.  We featured incredibly beautiful poster-size photos of exquisite smile make-overs throughout our facility. We lived and breathed our vision until it became a self-prophesy.

It doesn’t happen all at once. I like to say that “I strive for perfection and accept excellence”. It is important to select interim focus points and celebrate incremental shifts. It is important to look at trends and patterns. Focusing our cosmetic dentistry treatment presentations on how it might change our patients’ lives raised our acceptance success. This led us to focus even more on emotional discussions of “life impact” of having treatment done, and our success rose even more. When a golf pro showed me that by “opening up” my front foot, I could lessen my tendency to draw my shots to the left, I opened it up even more and my shots became straighter.

Using Dental Intelligence, we track the actionable data for most of our coaching clients’ practices. We track new patient flow and patient attrition. One of the problems we commonly see is practices having full schedules and not being able to accommodate new patients in an appropriate time period. New patients must be onboarded within 3-7 days of their initial contact with the practice, but when schedules are full, it can often take weeks, or even months. We must get these patients in sooner. Knowing the average number of new patients gained per month gives a practice the ability to “block schedule” new patient appointments in the doctor’s schedule, holding them until two days before. Violating these blocks prevents us from accommodating new patients. We similarly need to block “new patient” appointments in the hygiene schedule so that there are spots to schedule these patients subsequent to their comprehensive exams with the doctor.

We see attrition in practices when there is too much emphasis on patient acquisition, and not enough on patient retention. Most offices FEEL their patients are being appropriately reappointed out of hygiene for their next appointments. Remember, numbers and FACTS don’t lie. Most practices are well below what they think. When reappointment is at 70% it creates the opportunity to lose as many as 30% of the patients within 6 months (without lots of administrative re-appointment phone time), and that number compounds to 50% attrition after a year. Systems must be put in place to guaranty that hygiene reappointment is no less than 93-95%.

When we use Dental Intelligence to track unscheduled patients, broken appointments, and cancellations it gives us a clear message that the doctors and team are not creating enough value in their services. We routinely see practices with hundreds of thousands of dollars, some even exceed $1-million, of unscheduled treatment. These situations are all signs that treatment is not being explained in a benefit-oriented way and we are not creating enough value for the patients to prioritize keeping appointments and having treatment rendered. The greatest expenses to a practice after team compensation are open appointment time and unscheduled treatment. The creation of value and gaining higher treatment acceptance are the two areas that Smile Potential can have the greatest impact on a practice. That’s not a FEELING. It is a FACT.

USE THE LINK BELOW TO HAVE A COMPLIMENTARY ANALYTICS REVIEW OF YOUR PRACTICE AND A FOLLOWUP ZOOM MEETING.

This spring enabled us to return to some activities for the first time since COVID. We recently conducted several Mastermind Dinners and some live CE events. It has been wonderful to have spoken in succession at the Greater New York, Chicago Mid-winter and Connecticut State Dental Meetings with full-day presentations. If you have a dental study group, a dental organization, or a group of referring doctors that you would like to help with growing their practices and helping them increase treatment acceptance, let us know and we will include you and your group on our calendar for the Fall.

If you would like to find out more about how Smile Potential Coaching can help you improve your systems of scheduling,

value creation and treatment acceptance, send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com or call us at 516-599-0214.

CLICK HERE TO FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SMILE POTENTIAL COACHING

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STOP DOING DENTISTRY…START CREATING EXPERIENCES & CHANGING – MAY 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

Recently, I was asked to speak at the “Leadership Symposium” of a regional DSO. I was thoroughly impressed by the concept of the meeting, and I did see a very well-planned initiative to educate and build teamwork. This group is head and shoulders above most of the other similar groups in our region. The four hours driving home from the event gave me abundant time to process what I had seen and heard.

The leadership of this group is strong, and I love the fact that it is led by a dentist who appreciates the importance of care. There were excellent presentations on clinical topics such as advanced endo diagnosis, virtual orthodontic care, and pediatric hygiene. My presentation was on improved treatment acceptance.

My take-away from the meeting was there was too much talk about doing dentistry to correct dental problems and generating production, and not nearly enough emphasis on delivering care (and caring) for the benefit of patients. During a workshop on teamwork, there was conversation about what motivated the members of the team to want to work hard. The responses were “The office is conveniently located”, “I have hours that work for me”, “I like the people I work with”, “I like that the company has good benefits”, “I like to work hard and I don’t like to be idle.” What was missing for me was that no one said they work hard because they feel appreciated or because they feel they make a difference in the lives of their patients. To me, that means they need to stop doing dentistry, and start to focus on creating memorable experiences for patients and themselves and, in turn, changing lives. They have to stop doing procedures, and begin to focus on why they are performing them…how will they create benefits.

Providing a memorable patient and team experience requires incredible attention to detail. It is constantly evaluating how every experience can be improved for every patient. One of the common problems with improvement initiatives is that the management team responsible focuses on actions and doing, but doesn’t give enough focus to the mindset of the rest of the organization. The focus tends to be about performance instead of culture. When change is made this way, it often breeds resentment. When attention is given to culture and personality, there is far greater engagement because the sense of purpose is internalized. When leadership tries to motivate the team, the team often sees it as being manipulative. When the team, instead, BECOMES motivated, they become more invested in success. Zig Ziglar says, “You get the best effort from others, not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by lighting a fire within.”

I saw the reaction to this in my presentation on treatment acceptance when I highlighted the team aspect of success in this area. When team is empowered and doctors lead by example, the team becomes willing to nurture the success through teamwork. When I spoke about the need for coordinated communication between doctors and hygienists, and doctors and treatment coordinators, there was a resounding joint sigh that the doctors should be a part of the conversation. If the doctors and management want better treatment acceptance, they would be best served by participating in the process TOGETHER. Organizations often think they are involving their employees in change initiatives but, actually, they are just telling them about the changes planned. A culture of continuous improvement requires your employees to be properly involved in the thought of the change.

This is the reason why our Smile Potential approach to practice growth works so well.  It is coordinated between all departments and all of the members of the team. It is dependent on the creation of total clarity of expectations and gaining commitment to systems prior to action.  It focuses on simultaneous development for a common purpose. It is fueled by positivity, opportunity and appreciation, instead of blaming and pointing fingers. It is about everyone on the team adopting the philosophy that “It is never not my job”.

Kaizen is the Japanese word for a strategy where team members in every role work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements to delivery of care. In our offices it should be based on promotion of teamwork, trusting individuals’ personal discipline and work ethic, constantly trying to improve morale, and a willingness to accept suggestions for improvement. For the organization I met with recently, this would mean giving credibility to the teams’ suggestions that doctors participate in their “team approach” to improving treatment acceptance. It would include an emphasis on the doctors and management giving effusive praise for the effort to improve consistency and overall quality of care delivery. This comes from putting a stop to doing dentistry and, instead, focusing on becoming transformational by delivering patients the benefits of care and giving the team the fulfillment of helping to improve the lives of their patients. It’s about stopping the delivery of dentistry and the embrace of delivering experiences that benefit everyone.

If you would like to find out more about how Smile Potential Coaching can help you create better experiences for patients, team, and doctors,

send us an email at coaching@smilepotential.com or call us at 516-599-0214.

SAVE THE DATE – SPECIAL MARKETING WEBINAR

During COVID, Kelly and I conducted many webinars for your benefit. More recently we have limited our programs to when we feel we can really help you make a major impact on your practices. This is one of those times. We have scheduled an evening webinar on Wednesday, May 31st with Mr Abe Kasbo. Abe is a highly respected marketing expert who consults with many of the largest dental companies and hundreds of dentists around the country. His take on promoting your offices is very actionable. Successfully driving patients to your practices is not about self-centered spraying and praying, or saturating Social Media, but rather, it is about delivering a message that resonates with prospective patients to let them know that they should absolutely reach out to YOUR office because YOU provide THEM with something THEY WANT in a way THAT IS BETTER than what they could get elsewhere. It is about being innovative by thinking outside the box in creating a more compelling message. If you truly want your practices to grow by attracting more new patients, “It’s Time Get Real With Dental Marketing” and tune into this program on Wednesday, May 31st at 7:00 pm.

You may register below.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

CLICK HERE TO FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SMILE POTENTIAL COACHING

  Filed under: Blog
  Comments: Comments Off on STOP DOING DENTISTRY…START CREATING EXPERIENCES & CHANGING – MAY 2023


TIME TO GET REAL ABOUT DENTAL MARKETING – MAY 2023

By Mercedes LoRusso,

Smile Potential E-Newsletter
coaching@smilepotential.com
(516) 599-0214

During COVID, Kelly and I conducted many webinars for your benefit. More recently we have limited our programs to when we feel we can really help you make a major impact on your practices. This is one of those times. We have scheduled an evening webinar on Wednesday, May 31st with Mr Abe Kasbo. Abe is a highly respected marketing expert who consults with many of the largest dental companies and hundreds of dentists around the country. His take on promoting your offices is very actionable. Successfully driving patients to your practices is not about self-centered spraying and praying, or saturating Social Media, but rather, it is about delivering a message that resonates with prospective patients to let them know that they should absolutely reach out to YOUR office because YOU provide THEM with something THEY WANT in a way THAT IS BETTER than what they could get elsewhere. It is about being innovative by thinking outside the box in creating a more compelling message. If you truly want your practices to grow by attracting more new patients, “It’s Time Get Real With Dental Marketing” and tune into this program on Wednesday, May 31st at 7:00 pm.

You may register below.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

CLICK HERE TO FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SMILE POTENTIAL COACHING

  Filed under: Blog
  Comments: Comments Off on TIME TO GET REAL ABOUT DENTAL MARKETING – MAY 2023