I am often asked by dentists, “What can I do to make my dental practice more profitable and stress-free?” So, here are my top 7 answers for all of you to take action on ASAP.
Being Too Nice With Your Team – Honestly, this is the number one thing that I did poorly in the first few years of practice ownership. I am still WAY too nice, but I have discovered a couple of secrets to protect me from myself. One is to have someone that is not as “nice” as I am manage my team. I honestly am not suggesting someone less nice as much as someone that has the time to deal with anything that comes up. Then, I can do my job, which is PRODUCING dentistry for my patients. My manager is not “mean” as much as she is direct and she can address things immediately, similar to what I do with my children…NOT that I would insinuate that team members are like children! 
My manager says if she has to “babysit” you, you don’t work here. So, do the right thing for your practice and get rid of the bad apples before they spoil the bunch! The second thing that can help with issues is to take a day. My rule is that when someone asks me for something, a raise, or something else, I take a day to think it over. Before instituting my rule, I would make a split-second decision that I then had to live with indefinitely. This way, I get to avoid being hijacked by requests on THEIR time schedule and instead take over control on MY time.
Keeping All of Your Patients – OK, if you have been in practice for a week or longer, you have encountered patients that just are not respectful of what we do or how we care for them. If you have not had this happen, please have yourself admitted to the nearest psych ward, because you are NOT running on all cylinders! We are really pretty tolerant in my practice – to a certain point. If someone is initially not respectful, we give them a little bit of slack, because we are willing to give anyone a second chance. After all, A LOT of people come into our practice scared half out of their minds and they are NOT themselves. Once they have gotten a chance to know us and how fabulous we are, if they are STILL that way, we give them a gentle reminder that we are ONLY here to help them. If they apologize and are genuinely remorseful of how they have been, then they can stay. If they are combative and rude or anything of the sort, we kick them to the proverbial curb. Next, please! There is a great lesson here if you choose to see it – have enough patients in your practice so that you have a few extras and you can afford to get rid of a few. If not, you will drive your team crazy and possibly lose some good ones because you accidently put the jerk patients ahead of your loyal employees.
Lack of Action – This could possibly be the number one, most important thing you will EVER do for yourself in your practice. Look, practicing dentistry is NOT easy. I am as tired as you are at the end of the day. I also have a large family so when I get home, I go into Mommy mode and forget about the practice for a while – yeah, sure I do! If you can forget about it, you are a lot better than me. So, back to action…The number one determining factor of success is ACTION. Look, how many great ideas have you had that you just never got around to getting done? Me too. But, I have done many, many of them. The dentist with the most implemented ideas wins – end of story! If you have thought about training to place implants and have just never gotten around to it, you lose. Thought about adding Invisalign or Ortho to your practice, haven’t done it? You lose again. Get the point? Can’t seem to find the time? Sorry, you lose again. Anything that you think about and don’t act on NOW, you are losing out on those patients. Think about it and stop making excuses and just DO it (sorry, Nike).
Personal Overhead Too High – I recently had lunch with one of the best marketers of all time. We were discussing ways that dentists can make their practices wildly successful. This was my favorite answer that he gave. Our expenses at home dictate what we do with our practice. Think about it. How many times have you felt pressure to work harder at the practice solely to pay the bills at home? What if you could eliminate those bills at home? What could you do with your practice? Of course we can’t totally eliminate the bills at home, but our personal overhead can get a LOT lower, trust me! The person that spends less and keeps more wins – every time.
Mastery – This might seem like an easy one. This is the hardest one of all. Mastery of dentistry is something that takes a long time, maybe even an entire career to achieve. What is mastery? Luckily for all of us that own practices, it is two distinct things. Clinical mastery and practice management mastery are both included here. If you are not actively working to gain both, you will likely be a very unhappy camper. They are both essential for financial success. Likely, clinical mastery could be easier than practice management. It depends what is easier for you. Both CAN be learned and it takes a different amount of time and effort for each individual. Take the short cut, find a mentor or coach. You owe it to yourself and your patients. Otherwise, you risk a long career of frustration and set-backs.
Not Knowing How to Promote and Market your Practice – If any business had all of the customers that it could feasibly handle, could they fail? Possibly, but I doubt it. What if GM had continued to sell more cars than their competitors? Well, likely they still might have failed due to gross mismanagement, but most businesses, including dental practices would be fine if they simply had plenty of customers or patients. Marketing and promoting a dental practice takes time, skill and lots of effort, but it can be learned. It may be the one thing that you do that will give you the most possible security in your retirement. Trust me, you will either pay someone else to market your practice or you can have the person that knows your practice the best do it – that should be you, by the way.
Lack of Time – Seriously!! (I love Grey’s Anatomy!) Let’s get real about this one, once and for all. We know that we are all equal as far as time in each day. The difference is about efficiency and priorities. Do you spend a lot of time each day doing unproductive tasks that you could delegate, automate or eliminate? How are you consciously doing this? How about “unwinding” with the TV? I don’t actually watch TV for more than 2 hours. Two hours each WEEK, at the very, very most. The average person spends 35 hours a week – enough for most dentists to see their entire week’s schedule of patients. I don’t play much golf, which is some sort of blasphemy coming from a dentist (and with my husband, AKA, the golf “addict”) – even though I have a fairly low handicap. I would rather spend my time working on my practice. I know, I need therapy, but I really do love it. Notice, I said “ON” my practice. The number of hours that I spend working ON my practice is entirely different than the number of hours I spend working “IN” my practice. Once I decided to spend concentrated time every week working ON the practice, everything changed. More on this topic in the very near future…
Dr. Steffany Mohan
CEO/Dentist
While she is a caring advocate of all her patients, her primary expertise lies in growing practices to unprecedented levels of financial viability. She brings extensive knowledge and experience in marketing to her both her practice and her partners. Dr. Mohan sold her first dental practice after doubling it in size and revenue in six years. She then created a start up in a small midwestern city, taking that practice to more than $2 million annual revenue in less than three years.
The systems that Dr. Mohan and Brooke Bobert used to accomplish these successes are replicated in the GKG Method. Their use of new and innovative methods continue to bring in more than 100 new patients monthly during these tough economic conditions. Dr. Mohan’s and Brooke Bobert’s passion is sharing their success. The foundation of The Practice Doctor is helping dentists to experience the same success Dr. Mohan has enjoyed in her own practices.
Brooke Bobert
Partner/VP, Operations
Brooke Bobert is a practice management expert with more than ten years experience in team training, practice operations, and patient management. Brooke’s primary expertise lies in the operational efficiency of dental practices. She has worked with multiple practices, assisting them with financially viable organizational and management techniques. She is a master at building relationships with patients, managing team members and external vendors.
Her ability to train clinical assistants, front office assistants, financial coordinators, scheduling coordinators and office managers while implementing solid growth systems has benefited not only her current practice but many others throughout the past decade. Her primary objective is always efficiency and profitability. Brooke’s focus in The Practice Doctor is the creation of systems that work in any practice situation, from start up to multimillion dollar operations.
Author: Dr. Steffany Mohan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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