Tag: Dental Practice Consulting

Dental Consultant | Medicine for Your Business

The business world often goes hand in hand with stress. Pressures to attract new customers, meet quotas, or increase productivity can make working feel like an unpleasant chore. If you have begun to dread going into the office due to an oppressive atmosphere, chances are strong that you are not alone in your feelings. Turning things around for you and your team may be easier than you think. Consider adding fun back to your business with a daily dose of laughter.

 While the addition of humor to the workplace does not move deadlines or reduce the expectations for performance, it can help create a more enjoyable environment for everyone there. When the office feels fun and engaging, the work feels lighter and more accessible. Scientific studies have shown that laughter relieves tension, boosts the immune system, and relaxes the muscles. Additionally, laughing can increase memory, energy, and creativity and elevate the mood. Every office can benefit from these effects.

There are many ways to inject some humor into your workdays. Try sharing a joke with your team to start the huddle and invite them to bring their own. Post a board in a shared space and challenge everyone to bring a funny image or comic strip to hang. Have a silly shirt day once a week or once a month. Take silly photos or videos of you and your team to share on social media.

Embracing a little more humor with your colleagues and team takes only a small investment of time and can yield large increases in mood, productivity, and worker morale. For more ideas on making your work more engaging, contact our office.

Dental Consultant | Are You Minimizing Your Work?

Words have a powerful effect on perception. Are you selling yourself short when it comes to describing your practice or your services? Patients visit you because they trust you to be open, honest, and experienced in communicating the condition of their oral health in a way they will understand. To accomplish this effectively, you need to be mindful of your word choice.

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“Check Up” or “Comprehensive Examination”

A “check up” sounds menial and unimportant. You might say you take your car in for a “check up” or “tune up.” Oral health care is diminished when it is referred in this way. Use the more professional sounding “comprehensive examination.” This emphasizes the fact that you and your team are doing a lot more than just checking the mouth and teeth. You are looking for signs of decay and oral cancer, providing a thorough cleaning, and offering recommendations for additional treatments. That’s a lot more than a “check up.”

“Just a…”

Don’t use this phrase when leading into a diagnosis. “Just a cavity,” or “just a little inflammation,” minimizes the importance for action. Your patient might heed this as permission to wait on further treatment. The public is often not aware of the importance of their oral health and how oral diseases can spread, worsen, and lead to other painful and costly problems. Be clear with patients when making a diagnosis, but never make it sound unimportant or that it can wait.

“Bleaching” is Not Synonymous with “Whitening”

When describing whitening treatments to patients, it may sound like a natural choice to use the word “bleaching.” Avoid using this term. To some patients, this may imply bleach is used in the whitening process. It also sounds far more painful than “whitening.” Using the term “Bleaching” sounds dangerous, or that it involves the use of harsh chemicals. “Whitening” is an ideal term to use as it also serves as a description for what patients can expect after treatment – a whiter smile.

Word choice matters. Patients are relying on you for information about their health. Be clear, be concise, and be honest with your patients. The public’s perception of dental professionals is not always positive. Clear communication is one way to bridge the gap between your team and your patients. Show your value to your patients by choosing strong words to describe your services, and avoid minimizing the importance of your work. Contact our office to schedule a consultation today.

Dental Practice Consultant | 3 Ways to Buy Time: Boost Your Practice’s Productivity with Time-Saving Measures

Time is your most precious resource. On certain days, managing your time is not just difficult, it is downright impossible. Ask yourself about the strategies you are currently using to organize your day. What other tools could you be leveraging to save your practice’s most precious commodity? Here are 3 methods you can implement to maximize your time.

1. Re-evaluate Your Management Tactics

You can buy time without spending a dime. Employ a new way of keeping track of practice productivity. You can have your team record their tasks for the day in a quick email. Each staff member can quantitatively list their duties, allowing for simple reference later. This cuts down on micromanaging your staff by way of asking, “What did you do today?” Managerial work is difficult to implement after a full day of back-to-back appointments.

You can cut back on daily meetings because you will have a clear picture of what each team member is contributing. Having a list of completed tasks at the end of the day allows for everyone at your practice to be keenly aware of who is to be held accountable for each task.

2. Utilize Apps to Maximize Efficiency

“Lost time is never found again.” Ben Franklin knew this more than 200 years ago, so how can you apply this knowledge to running your practice? There are numerous tools available for your phone that can be a valuable resource for keeping track of your practice. You can benefit from the use of efficiency apps. In today’s world, there is no need to manage all aspects of your business manually.

Take advantage of scheduling apps and software. You can schedule emails to remind patients to book their next visit to your office without having to send it in real time. This can be an indispensable tool for patient retention, by keeping you in consistent contact with your patients. Apps such as these will help you save time, and keep track of your practice’s performance.

3. Consider Express Check-In

It is not always your team that is responsible for lost time slipping through your fingers. One late patient can set the whole day off-schedule. Make it easy for your patients to register. Provide compliant forms online for patients to fill out before coming into the office. Saving time at the front desk will help your entire practice run on schedule. Never allow for your practice to earn a reputation of running behind schedule, instead work with your patients to create a smoother, faster registration. Your patients will not want to fill out redundant forms. Rework any documents or forms where possible to prevent your patients from filling out information such as their name and address multiple times.

Successful business leaders are experts at time management. Put methods in place that allow for concrete, quantitative results to measure productivity. Utilize technology to make your life easier and allow your patients to work with you to save time. Don’t get caught watching the sand fall through the timer, take action and rethink your time management strategies.

Dental Consultant | Combat Burnout to Increase Production

Have you ever felt tired, stressed, and overwhelmed to the point where it impacts your production numbers? Burnout can happen to all dentists and their teams. Yes, this includes you. Before burnout starts to significantly impact your practice, you need to know how to recognize it and how to manage it.

Identify Signs of Burnout
If you start to feel unfocused, tired, or bored, you may be experiencing burnout. Does your team lack the enthusiasm they once possessed? When you start to notice these clues and behaviors, take action immediately. You and your team have invested countless hours in building a fulfilling career in dentistry. Don’t allow a temporary period of burnout to cause you to question your work. Instead, it’s time to reinvigorate your attitude.

Identify the Problem Areas
When production numbers begin to slip, look at where your numbers are starting to drag. When a department’s numbers begin to sink, your team members can start to feel low, impacting the office’s overall morale. Identifying the problem area allows you and your team to find and implement a solution before dissatisfaction spreads.

Identify New Areas to Explore
If you are experiencing burnout, the time may be right to learn a new skill. Sign up for a CE course or workshop on a subject that is new or intriguing. By expanding your skills, you can increase the number of services you provide, which can turn sagging appointment numbers around. Could your team benefit from additional courses? You may want to try selecting a course the entire team can participate in together. Not only will you all be learning new applicable skills, but you will be improving your relationships with each other which will lead to improved morale.

Burnout will happen to even the best dental team. When you start to notice the signs of burnout, don’t wait for things to improve on their own. Be proactive and identify the areas you or the team could improve. Whether it is improving the number of hygiene appointments, or taking a new CE course, take action immediately to combat signs of burnout. Contact our team today.

Dental Practice Consultant | Are You Prepared for the Future of Dentistry?

What will the dental profession will look like in 10 years? Are you and your team prepared to face the future with a successful action plan?

As a dentist, you are used to thinking about the big picture. This is true when you are caring for your patients, as they turn to you for your expertise to establish a lifetime of optimal oral health. But do you employ the same forward-thinking strategies to ensure the long-term health of your business?

Dentistry is changing. New technology is constantly being developed leading to entirely new procedures, which in turn creates a new market of patients who could benefit from your services. Furthermore, the business landscape of the profession is evolving. What used to be a field dominated by independently owned practices has become increasingly more corporate-based. Ask yourself where your practice fits into the landscape of differing business models in dentistry.

If one thing is for certain in dentistry, it is that the future will continue to bring change. Did you ever think you would be ordering supplies from your smartphone or connecting with potential new patients on Facebook? The future will likely bring innovations bridging the education and communication gap between dentist and patient.

Like today, the key to success will lie in your ability to build trusting, loyal relationships. It is essential that your marketing messages hone in on the unique qualities that make your practice and your team stand out from the crowd. A re-branding strategy can help freshen your practice’s appeal to your community and attract your ideal new patient.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The future will bring changes to the dental profession, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise nor should it be a cause for concern. Face the future with optimism and an action plan.

Dental Consultant | 3 Ways to Improve Efficiency

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Do you feel like your business could be functioning better? Are projects and meetings taking longer than necessary to get done?  Do days seem to drag on without any solutions in sight?

The best way to fix this problem is to focus on improving efficiency. There are many things a practice can do to become more efficient in all aspects. Here are three changes you can implement in your practice. 

  1. Encourage face-to-face conversations

Most of the time employees might think sending an email or Google chat would be more efficient than getting up and walking to their coworker’s desk. However, speaking to someone face-to-face allows you to come up with solutions faster. A question can be answered faster with a 2-minute conversation rather than sending dozens of emails back and forth to each other.

  • Decrease Disruptions

It can take a few minutes to start up a task again after someone interrupts you.  To limit distractions it is important to block out a few hours of work everyday so employees can focus on their tasks. To do this, schedule meetings all in one day instead of scattered throughout the week.  To stop the clutter of email notifications, use tools and apps to stay interruption free.

  • Use project management software to collaborate

Many businesses use email to keep up to date with projects. This can cause a disconnect and emails can be lost or unread. Management software tools help every one involved keep track of progress and it is a better way to communicate all in one place.

There are simple solutions your practice can adopt to run more smoothly.  Face-to-face meetings can easily speed up the problem solving process. To limit interruptions that may cause your work to slow down, block off work time on your schedule. Finally, project management software can keep every one up to speed on the progress of any project.

Need more tips? Contact our team for a consultation today.

Dental Consultant | Schedule Blocking: Finding More Time in Your Schedule

Time is a limited resource.  Schedule blocking is a way to plan your day visually by designating blocks of time for specific tasks.  This strategy is particularly helpful for arranging your schedule to fit a variety of tasks–both inside and outside the office. 

Redirect Your Focus

As an office manager or business owner, finding more time in your schedule will allow you to focus on the business.  You’ll be able to have a better handle on the health of the business, including growth goals, finances, your team’s efficacy, and patient experience, to name a few.  Being successful takes deliberate actions, it doesn’t happen passively.

Time Budgeting

Utilizing schedule blocking allows you to delegate your time and energy for specific tasks.  By setting aside a set block of time for different tasks you’ll optimize productivity and can your team a good idea of when you’ll be available.

Stay Organized

Organization is easy! It’s easiest to practice schedule blocking using an online calendar.  Time block schedules minimize the need of keeping track of important notes and tasks on paper or needing to commit them to memory.

Many find using a color coding system to differentiate tasks helps them stay organized and keeps their schedule easy to read at a glance.

Sounds Great! How do I start?

Take a few minutes now to jot down your goals for the next few days.  As you prepare to put them in your calendar, review some of these tips to help you get started with blocking your schedule:

  1. Set Goals and Due Dates

With your list of goals for the next few days, take some time and set deadlines for each task.  When you have a written set of goals with due dates, you hold yourself accountable to getting them done.  It’s a lot harder to push something off that you have a written, visual deadline for than something you’re only mentally keeping track of.

  • Make Every Minute Count

Schedule your whole day and include everything–from morning emails to closing procedures. When you schedule your entire day it helps you get more done and leaves you with more free time.  By accounting for all the tasks–big and small–you’ll find you have less stress throughout the day knowing you haven’t forgotten anything. 

  • Prioritize

When reviewing your schedule for the day, prioritize the most important tasks to be done.  Schedule blocking helps you prioritize tasks based on what’s most important. And by color coding, it’s easy to stay organized and arrange your schedule based on levels of importance.

  • Maximize Your Schedule

Set realistic time goals for your daily tasks. If you know a task usually takes one hour, you can allocate an hour by blocking your schedule without worrying about where you’ll find the time for the task. Time blocking prevent overbooking yourself and affords you the appropriate amount of time to finish your tasks each day. Time blocking also reduces the amount of time you spend planning for a task and offers you more time to execute the task.

We hope these tips help you take control of your day instead of allowing your day to take control of you!

If you need help with schedule optimization in your practice or other practice consultation services, please contact us to learn more and to get started today!

Aberdeen Dental Consultant | Organization = Efficiency

Organization is a vital part of what keeps your practice growing and thriving! Every aspect of the patient’s visit, from the moment they step foot in the office until the moment they leave, must run smoothly in order to insure the patient’s satisfaction and encourage a return visit.  It all starts with the organization your office.

Tips for Optimizing Office Organization:

  1. Clear the Clutter.  Keep the receptionist area near the entrance and free of clutter. Patients need to be able to complete and return paperwork as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to for the office to run smoothly.  Having a clutter-free lobby and front desk helps ensure the patient a comfortable experience.  Be in the habit of cleaning these areas regularly to boost productivity and reduce stress. 
  1. Don’t overcrowd.  Make sure your patients are comfortable in your waiting area, and don’t overschedule patients. You don’t want to have an unexpected surge of aggravated patients sitting in a cramped lobby.  Each patient should feel like they are being treated like an individual, not made to feel like they are lost in a crowd.  Also keep extra room available to accommodate a sudden patient overflow.
  1. Smooth and seamless.  Organize your office to ‘flow’ in one direction. From the time a patient enters the office throughout the entirety of their visit, they should remain moving forward in the same direction, never doubling back where they’ve already been at any point.  Ensure exam rooms are easily accessible from the waiting area, patients should move seamlessly from one station to another.
  1. Clear Digital Clutter.  Make sure you have a system in place to help organize and filter your emails and digital files, in addition to a system for paper documents. Learn to prioritize different types of emails so you can easily and distinctly separate what’s important and needs an immediate response, from what’s less important or junk.

These are a few ways that organizing your office can insure a more enjoyable experience for your team as well as your valued patients, leaving them eager for a return visit.

If you’re ready for a practice consultation or other helpful tips, contact us for more information.

Dental Coach Near Me | Boost Your Case Acceptance by Connecting with Patients

For many dentists, treatment acceptance can be a difficult topic. Nobody enjoys feeling pushy about a service they provide or a product that they offer, and the same concept holds true in dentistry. However, did you know that you can improve your case acceptance rate by simply reworking the way you talk to your patients? Learn how to have two-sided patient communication in our latest blog.

Help Them Understand the Benefits

When approached with an important decision from an outside source, people tend to be on the defensive — especially when it comes to something as intimate as healthcare. That’s why you should rethink the way that you handle case acceptance.

  • Your patient needs to understand their situation, whether it is a cosmetic issue, a preventative measure, or an urgent oral health concern.
  • Patients need to be able to follow your reasoning for why the service is necessary and how exactly it can change their oral health for the better.

Once they have a true understanding of the ‘problem’ and the ‘solution,’ they will feel more compelled to accept the treatment they need.

Stop Speaking and Listen

During your patient appointments, don’t simply run through the checklist of explaining their treatment. Patients want to feel that they’ve been listened to, not talked at. 

Ask what their goals, needs, and concerns with regards to their oral health, confidence, and quality-of-life. Then, let them speak. Giving them the chance to voice their own opinion shows you care about them and how they feel, both before and after their treatment.

Educate and Elevate

Patient education is important. While there is a fine line between explaining and over-explaining, you should do your best to educate your patients about their oral health.  Avoid judgment and being too graphic, but provide a thorough explanation of their current dental and oral health. 

If they are curious about tiny cracks in their teeth, explain craze lines. If they want to know why their gums bleed when they floss, explain periodontal health and how to prevent it. When patients feel that you are invested in not only their wellbeing but their education, too, they feel more confident in the care you’re providing.

You can increase patient acceptance by having a two-way conversation with patients and including them in their oral health.  These conversations will ensure patients understand their problem and are given a solution, are allowed to discuss their own concerns and goals, and are educated on treatment and services.  Patients will feel that your suggestions are being given with their best interest in mind — that you care about your patients as individuals, not just as a mouth to fix or a goal to meet.

Schedule a consultation with our team today to discuss more techniques on how you can boost treatment acceptance and improve your practice.

Dental Consultant Near Me | Shimmer & Shine

Perhaps in the past, you’ve gotten by in business by your good looks, excellent personality and stellar reputation. In 2018, it seems like everyone and their mother is now a dental consultant. Things have changed drastically even in the past 5 years. The good news is that many dentists are now embracing the services you have to offer. They’ve come to accept that achieving clinical excellence and business excellence is more than a full-time job. They’ve realized with the right consultant, they can have a more cohesive and communicative team. 

Have you considered marketing, but fear the sticker shock that comes with a custom-branded website? Perhaps you’ve considered having a strong social media presence, but just don’t fully understand how that’s going to work to bring in new business for you. Whether you’re starting a new business or looking to catapult your existing brand to a new level, we can help. 

Since starting our dental marketing company in 2009, we’ve decided assisting dental consultants with their brand, unique selling proposition and marketing materials is the best marketing we can provide. Why not help our fellow consultants achieve new levels of success and impress their pants off in the process? This only leads to both of our long-term success. 

If you’ve considered growing your business, but feel a bit unsure of where you should start, contact our team. Our team will do all we can to make your marketing shimmer, shine and stand out! You’re not in this alone.