How to make your dental office a great place to work

Have you ever terminated an employee and they were shocked? If so, the situation was not handled correctly. If someone is not up to scratch, it should have been pointed out to them earlier. You need to decide if it is an issue of a poor fit for the position, inability to do the job, a lack of training or a refusal to do it. This last one also includes the general area of bad attitude overall. Most people who are genuinely trying to do their best should be given more chances and more training or a reassignment to a new role, and this usually can solve the problem. The ones that should get fired are generally those who understand what they are doing wrong or what they are not doing that they are supposed to be doing and just don’t care. At some point before they are fired, they should have heard something along these lines: Do you want to work here? If so, you do realize that you are (not) doing this and that is unacceptable. In fact, you are so out of line that I really am justified in terminating you right now. (You probably aren’t, but they should at least get the message that this was a close call.) And finish with saying that if this happens again, that you will have no choice but to let them go. A month later when they do the same thing and you bring them in and say good-bye, they may not be happy but they should not be surprised. If they are not willing to comply, they need to go, for the sake of the entire office. As one of my mentors once said, “they make their own bed so they have to sleep in it”. Don’t feel bad terminating people like this who misbehave, disrupt the office or don’t do their job. The other staff will see what has happened and be thankful that you got rid of the problem. All for now, Dr Dave 

A Mailman, or Mailwoman for that matter, is shown how to do their work, and basically goes about their work for the next 25 years doing exactly the same thing every day. It reminds me of a dentist I know who have been practicing 30 years, but he does not have 30 years experience. He has one year of experience repeated 30 times. Kind of like a mailman. If you had cancer, who would you like to treat you? Someone 90 years old who still believes in leeches and bloodletting? Or someone who learned one way to treat cancer 30 years ago and still works that way because ‘I have had some good results with this”. Or would you want someone state of the art? Maybe they check your genes and see where the weakness is and correct that. Or create a specific protein that activates your own immune system to fight the cancer. Or use the newest methods that optimize the doses of chemo and radiation for maximum results with minimal side effects. Well, what do you think our patients are looking for? They want the best, up to date clinical methods. And most dentists are doing pretty well in this area. And guess what, there are also state of the art ways to manage your practice. And in this case, the only one you hurt by not being up to date is yourself. If you are not highly automated, with systems to save time and minimize unnecessary staff procedures you are leaving a lot of money on the table. Do yourself a favor and get as up to date on your management skills as you are with your clinical skills. All for now. Dr Dave 

Last week I received a frantic email from a dentist asking for help. It was from a dentist who said he needed help finding a decent treatment coordinator who can do dental case presentations and also advice on what to do about high staff turnover. So I set aside time to speak to him later that week. Well, he never called. No email to cancel or re-schedule and no apology.  But that’s okay. I know what the problem is. Can you guess? This is all the information I have but I am sure that I know his problem. This is a person who either does not care about his patients and staff, or at least creates the impression that he does not care about them. It could be a great person with poor communication skills but more likely it is someone who thinks his agenda is more important than anyone else’s. (Did not call when scheduled) This is probably the reason that people don’t like to work for him. (High turnover) And patients are not accepting his treatment plans. (Needs someone else to ‘sell’ his services.) Let’s face it, the dentist’s role and work is arguably the most important in the office. But that does not mean the world revolves around the dentist. Because every job in the office is important. As dentists we need to make sure that everyone feels a part of a team, and that their role is valuable. And patients need to feel like we heard THEIR ideas of what should be done. If they don’t feel listened to, no treatment coordinator can come in later and sell them something. And no one respects someone that does not do what they say they are going to do. As the dental office leader, dentists need to be careful what they agree to or promise and to come through 100% of the time when they do make a commitment. Start to listen to your staff and patients. Be receptive to them and they will respond well to you. Did you guess correctly? It is a good sign if you did. Because lots of courses and having great technical skills will not overcome the damage to your practice that a bad attitude will do. All for now, Dr Dave

Yes, Craig is making his expertise available to everyone in a convenient (view from home), affordable (only $199) and interactive (live on Zoom with questions from the audience) format. Make no mistake, dentistry is competitive. As one of my friends told me, his wife switched dentists because something happened in the office that she did not like and why stay with him when there is a dentist on every corner? One of the key mistakes dentists make that hurt their practice is focusing on doing great dentistry and not knowing how your staff is treating your patients when you are not looking. Often, they drive patients away thinking that they are doing their job and following the office “policy” instead of helping the patient get what they want. Learn how to keep every patient you get because each one is like gold.

The last time I spoke at a live seminar, I was discussing how I could squeeze in a molar endo for a patient in acute distress with minimal disruption to my schedule. Of course, one of the staff members in the crowd said they would never try that as they would get too far behind, blah, blah, blah. She thought the entire concept was ridiculous. What I was explaining was how I actually did it, without getting too far behind. Yet she had already decided that this was impossible. As the old saying goes, “if someone else has done it, it might be possible”. She lost sight of the fact that her team was there to learn some new things and how to get better. They were not there to tell me how they do it. They were supposedly there to hear how I did things. Is squeezing in an endo easy? No. Is it possible? Yes. Can you do it without changes to how you currently operate? Probably not. So, is it worth it? What are some of the advantages of trying this? Perhaps $1000 or more added to your daily billings. An extremely grateful patient who becomes an ambassador for how well you looked after them and bonds to you and your practice for life. They bring their whole family and refer their friends when they are impressed. More money is available for office improvements and staff pay increases. You kept the emergency patient in your practice because if you could not help them today, they usually keep looking for someone who will and you lose the patient. All for now, Dr Dave PS For all the reasons above, if it was humanly impossible to solve their problem, I would freeze them up and then stay late and treat them. That is the next best thing. 

Dentists have hidden behind masks for years, so that is nothing new to our profession. What is new, however, is that between procedures, or for discussing treatment options, the mask used to come off. Now, the masks stay on for most practitioners from the time they enter the office until they leave. The problem this creates is a lack of personal connection with our patients. It is much harder to connect with someone behind a face shield, mask, eye protection, surgical cap and full body gown. To patients it must look like we are cleaning up a nuclear spill. One easy way to help this situation is to wear a button on the front of your gown with your photo on it. This seems a little trivial, but it reminds your patients that there is a real person behind all that PPE. This is a low-cost tip that can help your patients relate to you. Since patient trust and bonding is the key to our success as dentists, anything that can improve that is definitely worth doing. All for now, Dr Dave 

Song writers Joseph Davis Kirkland, Mathew Tyer Musto & Jurek Reunamaki wrote a song titled “One Sided Love” . The first line in the song speaks to poor patient service that so many of us are guilty of “you’re too busy talking over me to hear what I’m saying”. The chorus has another applicable line “And you don’t even notice, do you?” Here is my word of advice; wait till the person speaking completely finishes their sentence, then respond to what was actually said; not what you anticipated. True but not funny I heard an example of this just now, which is why I am creating this module. We’ve just had a record-breaking snowstorm here in Chestermere where I live and work. Here is the conversation between the patient and our Treatment Coordinator (TC). TC: Wow that was some kind of snowfall last night Patient: Sure was, it has really kept me busy TC: Oh (pause) how so Patient: I have been busy digging (TC speaks over patient) TC: Yes, it’s impossible to get out of the driveways Patient: No what we do is dig out (TC speaks over patient) TC: Cars they are stuck everywhere Patient: No, we are digging out Fire hydrants TC: Oh Patient: They are hard to find too, we have to (TC speaks over patient) TC: Look on every corner or do you have a map? Patient: I was going to say use a metal detector TC: (sounding uninterested) Oh, I guess we should be booking your next appointment You can only guess how long it took to book the appointment. What should have been a few minutes was dragged out (forever). TC: When would you like to book the appointment? Patient: I prefer after (TC speaks over patient) TC: Afternoons Patient: I was thinking after 2:00 on Thurs (TC speaks over patient) TC: How would next Tuesday be? Patient: Anything on Thursday TC: You bet how about 10:00 AM Patient: Nothing around (TC speaks over patient) TC: Oh yeah you like afternoons Patient: Yes after 2 (TC speaks over patient) TC: How does 1:00 sound Patient: Sound like before 2:00 is that all you have TC: How about 2:30 Patient: Thanks Every statement the patient said after this was reduced to one word. I am guessing he felt like I did: no point. It did get interesting when they were saying goodbye. During the (long) conversation the TC mentioned that she would not be here at the booked appointment. When the conversation was coming going to an end, the TC said. Thanks, I will see you on the 22nd. The patient replied I thought you were not going to be here. Oh, I will not, the TC laughed. This patient was booking a Three-Thousand-dollar Implant. Unfortunately, this is not a made-up story, but the sad truth. This exchange caused me to listen actively listen. TC and patient exchange at the end of each appointment was more than doubled, simply by us being too busy talking to hear. I could not help but think of all the productive things we could be doing rather than doubling our exiting times. Time to train the team on listening skills!! And by the way that patient, I will call him this afternoon to confirm his appointment. In our conversation I will let him know I am listening and that we will listen. This and so much more is addressed in our Customer Excellence seminars. Join us online on February XXXX. 

We can’t predict the future, but life spans are increasing. Since the 1940’s, life expectancy has increased by almost 7 years to 84. And that’s the average. If you are healthy, you’ll blow by that. And biotechnology and medicine are exploding with new ways to keep us healthy even longer. That’s the good news. The bad news is, if you retire at 60, you are going to need money for a long time. Governments are broke and all the promises they have made about supporting everyone are going to have to collapse at some point, leaving you on your own. And dentists don’t have cushy indexed pension plans like government workers do. We are on our own. So, if you are the altruistic dentist who says I don’t care about money, I just want to help my patients, hopefully someone else is thinking that way about you if you run out. Because if you are 90 and you’re broke, you’re kind of stuck. No one is hiring you. Not even MacDonald’s. This sounds harsh, I know. But life is harsh if you can’t afford to support yourself. If your practice is not generating enough to enable you to retire comfortably for 40 years, it’s something to think about. Sorry to present a downer today, but I believe to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. All for now, Dr Dave 

My last post seemed to create a bit of confusion. If you didn’t get to read “Dentist or CEO?”, you can see it here: Some people thought that I was implying that just being a great dentist is not important. Not so at all. In fact I still practice 2 days a week and during my time in the office it is extremely important to me to be the best dentist in the city. In fact, in spite of the recession, I just had my best month ever in terms of dental productivity. I only work 2 days a week now, and this month I hit $100,000 in production not including any hygiene. This bests anything I ever produced while working even full time (although that is quite a while ago). But my point is being a great, productive dentist is VERY important. My first two home study programs are devoted entirely to all the things I try to do to make patients happy, do great dentistry and be very productive. The reason I had such a great month is because I did a lot of major cases; full arch crown and bridge, etc. But the reason I did a lot of major cases this month is: A) I can do them B) I present the options available to patients very well. If you want to learn how to do these things very well to boost YOUR dental productivity, you need my Home Study Program, Dental Productivity Secrets. You can get it here; In this program you will learn all the secrets I use daily to help me become a better dentist. I also use them to help my 11 associates also become better dentists. If you can’t pay off what I charge for it in one week I’ll give you your money back. But the point I was trying to make in my CEO or Dentist blog is that dentists are ALSO CEO’s if they own a practice. Those skills are just as important, and probably more important to your take home pay. That’s why I have a totally separate program on Dental Management. I call it A Dream Practice for Dentists; The Practice of the Future, because I believe my type of practice is the practice of the future. The lessons in this one are totally different from being a great dentist; they are all about being a great owner/leader/manager/businessperson. But the dentist who is profitable, loves his/her work, has lots of time off and loves their life, invariably is good at both. How convenient that I have a discounted package deal where you can get both: Let’s face it, if you have a practice you are in the game, so why not try to win? Is someone offered you a program to improve in whatever game you like to play with a 100% refund if it didn’t work, you’d probably give it a try. That is what I am offering; 100% refund if you are not happy with the programs no questions asked. I have only had two people ever ask for a refund, and one of the two phoned me a month later looking for free advice! So take a risk, even if it is no risk and give it a try. All the best, Dr. Dave PS Today is the cutoff for the Dental Cruise at the rates I quoted. I still have one spot left. Info on the cruise is here: