Dental A Team w/ Kiera Dent and Dr. Mark Costes

Part two of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. As a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself is to get systems in place so you are not dependent on core people. This second part of Kiera's conversation with Howard is about determining your weaknesses as a practice, building systems to fix those weaknesses, and letting your practice hum regardless of who's sitting in the seats. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and quick heads up, today's episode is a special repost from a podcast I joined as a guest. It is a great conversation for practice owners who want to progress without carrying everything. I cannot wait for you to hear it. Let's dive right in.   speaker-0 (00:16) And you know, I was doing a million dollars in the eighties, a million dollar practice, and I went to two and and I I thought I actually think I had a higher treatment plan acceptance rate than my buddies on just measuring the same day. My clothes is always like, you don't want to come back. I mean, we could you know, I'm when I'm doing the hygiene check, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna leave. The hygienist gonna Denise Missy, they'll numb me up.   speaker-1 (00:21) They're like eight million now there, Howard.   speaker-0 (00:44) And and then and then move her to room eight and we'll we'll we'll knock this out in 30 minutes because you don't want to drive all way from work and then kid and school. You just pulled your kid out of school, now you want to do it twice. It I just always s insisted on just the same day because if we do this because from my perspective, if we do this filling a day, it's two fifty. If you walk out that door, half of you never come back until it hurts, and then it's a twenty five hundred dollar root connected crown.   speaker-1 (00:50) Amen.   speaker-0 (01:12) It's only one tenth the price to do the filling. I got a room. The hygienist can numb you up. And then I always hit the hygienist on the show and said, You should have numbed her up before I got here and I could be doing it right now. And she laughed and she said, but that's illegal. I said, I'm not a lawyer. I'm a dentist. Let's get this done. But just by really leaning on same day. And I really think that was a huge part of our success.   speaker-1 (01:37) Well, and Howard, I think what you said is like going back to the COVID crank, I think so many business businesses right now have lost that like customer service and let's make it easy. Like, as you said, one of our core values in Dental A Team is ease. And I'm always like, How can you make it easy for everybody? Because that's what people want. Like you said, like no one wants to take time off for the dentist. I'm switching dentists right now and they're like, So you're gonna come in for a hour appointment and then we'll bring you back in like three months for your hygienist. And I told my assistant, I was like, just call them back. I was like, tell them no, no, no, like   Make it easy. I don't want to come back. And so I think when offices take on the mentality, I have grown practices 10, 20, $30,000 a month just by same day treatment. Like just get it done. Let's train our team. Like, let's be quick. Let's have that quick turnaround time. Now, of course, doctors, you've got to be like Howard can get that done and he can rock it out and he's great. If you're a dentist that is not quite that quick, like we do not want to scale back all your patients. So maybe you do like add, add on an extra filling that's already in the quad that you're getting numb.   Like, where can we do it? Can we add that fluoride in today? Can we add in this thing? Can we take the scan today? Because you're right, no patient wants to take time off of work to come to the dentist. So like let's just rock it out, make them a raving fan because we went above and beyond to make them happy.   speaker-0 (02:49) And and and it also is a good variance counterbalance to no shows and cancellations. You know, she said yes, and then your next patient didn't show up as opposed to reschedule this one a week from now and then then this doesn't show up. But hey, I want to ask you, I'm gonna hold your feet to the fire on this. True. Would you rather build a dental office on rock star employees or rock star systems?   speaker-1 (03:16) ⁓ this one is I think the this it's ⁓ it's interesting because I think that there's space for both. However, Rockstar employees can walk out that door and then you are left. And I say that this to me is where as a business owner, you're shackled and you're always going to feel scared. You're gonna feel scared to hold accountability, you're gonna feel scared to ask people to do their job because you're so afraid of them leaving. Whereas if you have systems, I'm not here to say be a jerk, like that's not what we're here for, but it becomes so much easier to just   plug and play. And then also for team members, they tend to stay longer because they understand they've got clear systems. And people get really weird on systems, Howard. And I think they feel like systems are so hard. And it's like, I'd rather just bring someone in who knows what they're doing. And I'm like, but make that repeatable. So if they're out and I make my rock stars go on vacation for a week. I'm like, absolutely. And people are like, no, no, no. I don't want them to leave. And I'm like, you need them to leave because you need to see where it breaks down and you need to build systems. But I will say as a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself   is to get systems in place where you are not dependent on those core people. Like I want great team members that love my patience and do what they have, but I want it to be a repeatable process that every time, no matter if I've got Susie, Sarah, Jenny, Mike, John, anybody, we're giving the exact same experience. Like I look at Chick-fil-A and it's the same amazing experience. Every time I walk in there, they say the same thing and none of us are annoyed by that. And teams are super happy and thriving. I interviewed a guy who's a big wig in Chick-fil-A and I was   Fascinated by the culture. I was like, tell me more about this. And he's like, we have systems. We have buddy systems. We have it built on systems. That is the core to great success. And it's the core to like less stress in your business. Like obsessively, I am so obsessed about simple systems. I've been called the Dr. Seuss of systems. Make it so simple that anyone can do it. And then hire amazing talent that treats your patients with the great culture that you want.   speaker-0 (05:08) Yeah, and if the systems are so good, they don't even have to have dental experience. I mean, I the best receptionist I had was the the teller at Chase Bank next to me and I absolutely said her, I said, You are so dang good. You're always happy, always you remember my name. I said, What do I have to do to get you to work for me? And she she told me and she's been here for you know, over a decade. just the same things.   speaker-1 (05:36) Howard, I want to highlight, I hope dentists listen to you. ⁓ there are not a lot of dentists that are scrap like you. And that's something I love about you. And this is just like a little, it's not intentional, like boost your ego, but like please take it. Like it's a good boost. You are so scrap, right? It's like, let's just get that done. Like again, like let's do same-day treatment. My best employee in the company was my next door neighbor. I knocked on her door. She like took care of my plants when I traveled. She's like, those things are gonna die. I was like, the fact that someone as a neighbor just watered my plants to be nice to me.   She's been amazing. She's been with me five years, best incredible EA I've ever had. You ask the bank teller. We look for great talent. You build on systems. And I just hope the dentists realize like, just saying yes and GSDing, like, let's just get it done. That is something that I think so many people have like lost that art. And truly, that's what impresses me with your podcast, with who you are. And I just hope that people here, you don't have to go for perfect. You don't have to find this perfect person. You just gotta be scrappy and gritty.   And your practice will grow and you'll have great team members with you. Like it's not actually hard. And I think we make it hard, but just hearing your examples, I hope people listen as a dentist, this is what makes successful dentists in dental offices and great team culture as well. That is the core vote values that he's got. And it is why he's so successful. And I hope dentists can learn from that.   speaker-0 (06:53) Well, thank you. And I got did I ever tell you a story about the third hygienist they hired? I I already had my two full time hygienists, everything was great. And ⁓ this ⁓ young girl walked in, just graduated straight out of hygiene school, and I could hear someone giggling up front and they said I was busy, you know, she wanted to talk to me and then she just took it upon herself just to just to walk through the office and I I er and anyway, long story short, I finally got done. I broke, I met her.   speaker-1 (06:57) Tell me, I'm ready.   speaker-0 (07:20) And had no opening for hygiene, and she was so into the office, and she's asking all the right. I can just feel her energy, she's like sucking out my soul. And I and the first thought I said is she's from Alwatukee, she lives in Alwatuki. Do you want to compete against this girl for the next 40 years? Or you know you want her on your team, you don't have room for her on their team, but she ain't gonna end up across the street. I hired her and told everybody we'll just have to figure it out because this is a rock star personality.   I mean, you know, she just walking through like she owned the place and probably probably one of the top two or three, her and Jan, probably the best employees I ever had. I mean, unbelievable. ⁓ how do you get the dentist to stop being the limit to his own growth? I mean, it's it seems like I don't know about dental school curriculums, and it seems like shooting yourself in the foot has got to be the first and the last course they teach you there. How do you get the dentist to quit being the ceiling to their own practice?   speaker-1 (08:21) Think it's a I actually want to just like shout out a lot of the dentists. I feel that the new generation of dentists coming through actually are very prone and open to understanding business and recognizing there's so many books out there that talk about like CEOs and owners of businesses are the bottleneck to their success. And so I just want to say, like, I think a lot are starting to recognize that, but I think that there's still a lot that don't. And I I usually help people say, like,   When the pain is bad enough is usually when people change. Or you can recognize that you need to get yourself out of the weeds. You need to become the CEO of your business. You need to be working at the highest level of your ⁓ license. And everybody in your practice needs to be doing the same. And if you're not, like I do a delegation exercise. I just did it with our doctors on Tuesday. I was like, write down everything that you're working on right now, everything on your to-do list, everything there. And then I want you to go back through it and I want you to literally look at that and like only things that you can do. And like, please don't like   Boost your ego, but what are the things that only you could do? And I had a group of 50 doctors the other night and they were like, really, it's like vision, culture, and profitability. Like everything else can be someone else can do. And so when doctors recognize like that is your sweet spot and no one else is doing that, you need to have other people in there. Like you're welcome to hold it all yourself. But there's also another path where you can elevate people around you. You do great dentistry and you own the visionary and the CEO seat. Be obsessive in there.   But I think so many of them want to just do everything. I'm like, that's great, but you're gonna run right into burnout really quickly. So it's a helping them realize, go look at your to-do list. Honestly, of that, who can you delegate this to? Who can do it better than you? And who's gonna be somebody that's gonna light up and be excited about it and get yourself continually moving towards that CEO seat? I think so many dentists don't realize that they are a CEO of a multi-million dollar business. And I think, like, look at Jeff Bezos, look at some of these really prominent people.   That are great CEOs. What are they doing all day long? They are not answering emails. They're not responding to these things. Like they're not doing any of that. They've got teams around them that are incredible at that. How can you get yourself closer to that? Because that is where the practice flourishes. But if you're sitting there doing every single thing, you're stopping it constantly. It's truly a bottleneck. ⁓ and I think that's when people are ready for it, when people actually recognize that, there's there's two types of dentists. There's the one who calls when they're absolutely burnout, exhausted, and they can't see like past like one foot in front of them.   There's the other dentist that realizes I don't want to be that. I've seen too many dentists like that. And I want you to coach me into how to become like not there. And I say, like, life's so much easier. I have a dentist hired us two months before he started his practice. As a brand new practice owner, this year he should be clearing 2.5 million. And I'm like, why? Because he recognized, get out of the way, have these other people do it, train my team. I'm going to bottleneck this. I don't want to be burnt out. I want to be present for my kids.   Teach me how to be the CEO of my practice and empower my team. And so I'm like, again, it's choose your hard. Which path do you want to live? It's all in Wonderland. There's both, there's paths. It's just what path do you want to go on? And also what mentors and what people be the CEO of your practice. Do not be the operator that's doing it all.   speaker-0 (11:35) You know, I always call a great idea is I always call them a giraffe. I'll never forget when I took my kids ⁓ to a ⁓ Serengeti and the guide was so funny, he would he would all of a sudden he'd stop. Well he stopped for a reason. He's giving us a guide and and it was one of these long tour to trucks where you'd stand up in the middle and you look out, and after about five minutes, we just said, What? What? And he's like, It's right in front of you and we're just like, Well, we're looking all around, my boy, everybody's gonna find it.   And he says, Are you kidding me? Look at that tree. Look at to the left of that tree. And it was a giraffe standing right next to the tree. Totally camouflage. And that that's what I mean when I say, you know, they can't see the giraffe. And here's a missing giraffe for 40 years. Remember the great Jennifer D. St. George? She's still out there. I love her to death. And she had this lecture on schedule. It's called Rocks, Sand and Water. She goes, You gotta schedule your rocks first. Do all your rocks. And then she'd fill up a glass with rocks.   And then she say, Then you can do your sand. And she'd pour like a half glass of sand on top of the rocks and you still didn't have a full. And then she'd say, and then the water, then she'd take like a full bottle water and pour it in the sand and and it was still full. And I already know when you talked about block scheduling, I already know that at least fifty to a hundred and fifty percent of the dentists said, ⁓ I don't care if I do a root canal in the morning or night. I they they don't understand block scheduling.   They don't understand rock, standing water. They haven't for 40 years. Jennifer lectured for 40 years and and I still don't think anybody saw the giraffe. Can you just slow down and talk about you just made the example about how all you did was change the scheduling and you got the it up. So show that giraffe. What what does that giraffe look like?   speaker-1 (13:23) Well, thank you, Howard, because I do love giraffes. I do have freckles and have I've definitely been like and have a very long neck and I'm very tall. So I do love giraffes in and of itself. So thank you. Like let's just talk about it. ⁓ but I I agree. It's so I don't know. I think as a team member, you just get obsessed with making puzzles. And like for me, I'm like, how can I maximize and squeeze more juice out of your lemon tree? Like, let's just do it. It's gonna be a great time. ⁓ and so what I love to do is.   Like, let's just go through and build you a perfect day. And I love to build my rocks. And I used to do like high production. And then I learned it was even more fun if I put a dollar amount on those high production blocks. Because as a team member, like, hi, Kiera, I'm Kiera. I sit up front. I am now looking for puzzle pieces that are coming through my puzzle. And instead of just filling your day with a bunch of water, aka no production, I'm actually able to like fill you full.   Make sure I've got you up to production and then I move on to my next day. And then as I have my little water that comes through, I just fill in the gaps. And you, doctor, are so happy. And I did this with an office and the doctor was like used to making five, seven thousand dollars a day max. We got him to a twelve thousand dollar day and he walked out the door at four o'clock. And normally he was there till 536. And he's like, Here, how'd you do it? And I was like, Because we actually put in blocks, we actually scheduled it of what's the most efficient way to use your time.   And it's playing seduco in a schedule is how you really do it. It's like perfect. Where is the doctor? And then where does doctor need to be for hygiene exams? What does my hygienist need to be producing? How much period do I have? How many new patients do I have? Let's block those so I can get those people in on our schedule. Make sure my hygienists are up to goal every single day. So, like, what are they supposed to be producing? Usually three times their pay is typical. And then on the doctor side, doctors, what do we want to be producing for the year? What do we need to be producing per day? Let's build in those dollar amounts.   That is going to make you feel so easy to get through to get to exams where you're not running behind. And now let's figure this out. And when we go through, and I look to see how much procedures cost, how much like on average, how many new patients we need, how many SRPs we need, how many perio maintenance we need. And then you take those pieces, those are your rocks, and I'm gonna go build a schedule to where it actually flows really, really well. And then from there, I'm gonna duplicate that over every single week.   And what's crazy about it is when you do this, people realize they're gonna be walking out with $10 to $12,000 days, getting out on time. We're doing the easy stuff in the afternoon, the harder stuff in the morning or whatever you like to work. I don't care. And when people see how much they can produce with minimal effort, no extra patience and no extra time, like usually that's how it builds. You're able to, like you said, see the draft, but it's crazy because you're a happier dentist, you're not running behind all day long, and you're actually profitable. We hold those blocks, I usually say for 24 hours as team members.   And me as a treatment coordinator, I am scanning my canvas, I'm scanning my own scheduled treatment to find something of that dollar amount or that rock to fill in my blocks. And I'm not gonna put multiples in there. We're gonna make sure if you only have one root canal system, we're not putting two next to each other. If you have one implant system, I'm not doing two back to back. Like you just have it to where the day flows and 85% of your days will be great. And the other like, you know, 15% are like, shoot, we couldn't get anybody in it. We just fill it with whatever we can, get you up to that, put emergencies in there.   But that's how you do it. And it's so, it's so satisfying. I've got an office that they lost two doctors. So I've only got two doctors. We are producing as much as they were on four doctors with better blocks, better scheduling. And it's just incredible to see how much more efficient you can be with your time without more patience, more effort. And it's very, very fun and fulfilling. And when people follow it, they're shocked at how much their practice grows without any, like hardly any extra effort.   speaker-0 (17:07) Tell me, tell me this. Why do my DSO buddies, who have hundreds of office locations, tell me that that when someone calls their office, they can convert 70 to 80% of the people on the phone to getting their butt physically measured in the chair? And that in private practice, it routinely shows up at about 42%. How can Heartland   close seventy to eighty percent of the callers as measured by you called on the phone and now your butt is sitting in a chair in private practice forty two percent. What do you think explains that the most?   speaker-1 (17:44) I think Howard, it's they're obsessive about numbers. I have an office that works for Aspen and I've just watched like they are obsessive about KPIs and tracking and measuring. And I feel like in private practice, we don't track and measure nearly as much as they do. Like they've got metrics, they've got numbers, they're looking at it. And so what they do in Heartland and corporate, they're smart businesses. They look to see where is our leaky hole and how are we going to fix it. So I know what they're doing is they're watching their call conversions.   They're talking to their offices and they're setting this of like your goal is 75%. And this is the training and the verbiage. And we're going to track this and we're going to measure it because what we track and measure improves. And I like tell me a private practice out there that's like, we know our call percentage rate. None of them could probably tell us, but you ask a DSO and you better believe they're going to know all their metrics. And that's where I love like so many offices are obsessed about systems and what system do I put into place and how do I grow my practice? And I'm like,   Number one, let's figure out where you want to go and what's your vision. I call that why. And then E is earnings and profitability. Like based on those two things, based on where you want to go and what the profitability and our our numbers are, then you determine the systems. And then we look at those metrics of the profitability and our KPIs and the metrics, and you put systems into place for that. So these DSOs are so good at tracking and measuring. And like I've got a practice doing 29 million. And what we do is we have a scorecard. They know.   We just hit the most important things that are going to drive the needle forward and we watch those numbers like a hawk and that's all we coach and focus on. You coach and focus on those items, your practice will grow. But I promise you it's because they're tracking, measuring, and training to that and having metrics of what they need to hit. They're not better than us. They're just better at measuring and then improving those numbers.   speaker-0 (19:24) Well, they they say that just by weighing yourself at the same time every day will start bringing your weight down just because you're focusing on it. Totally. And things like that. ⁓ I want you to do the same thing to treatment plan. Why do you think most patients are saying no? And what's the draft that one of my homies could listen to right now that could help him increase his treatment plan acceptance rate?   speaker-1 (19:46) I think the no is just surface level. And what you gotta hear is what they're not saying. And I also would say a lot of people, they're like, it's about money. And I'm like, again, you're looking for reasons and you're gonna continue to find that. So for me, my mantra, and this is a great thing for the homies out there, my mantra is everybody says yes to me and everybody loves me. Like, no joke, I say that every time I'm going into a treatment plan. Why am I sitting here thinking about my gosh, they can't afford it or they can't do this? You're creating more of that.   Rather than going in with a confidence, they're buying your confidence. Like hands down, I can I can close a fifty thousand dollar case same day. Let's swipe a credit card, like let's buy a boat. But it's confidence. And I'm walking in there of like, we're doing this, we're doing it now. My job is just to figure out how you're paying for it. And so when we look at that case acceptance, I've coached an office and we've added, I've got five locations. All I do is train their treatment coordinators. I just rep them. We are constantly going through reps. We add   One to two million annually amongst those five offices just by focusing on it. And I'm like, it's 80% psychology. What are you thinking about? You walk in there, everybody loves me, everybody says yes to me, and let's make this happen. And I do it in a way where I love them. I give them like a warm virtual hug, like I'm not actually hugging. I want them to feel so comfortable, so confident. But then I also say, like, watch out. How are you using words? Words are free, Howard. Like, I'm not going to lead with, do you want to get this done? No, I'm going to assume they want to get this done.   Hey Howard, let's get that treatment done. So I'm gonna schedule you. Doctor is really busy. So I'm gonna do Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. ⁓ Kiera, I want to talk about fees. Howard, absolutely, I'm gonna talk about fees. Let's just make sure we get this time locked in. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which do you prefer? We schedule you on Wednesday. You're already halfway there for me. I've got you scheduled. Perfect. So treatment's gonna be this amount. This is what the total will be. This is what our insurance estimates are, this is what our total will be when I see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? Howard then asked me. I'm not gonna say I'm like, so do you want to talk about money? Do you want to get scheduled?   Like, why? Why am I bringing this up? Like, let them come up with it. Give them the time. Have the things. Don't bombard them, but be so confident. If I've got a great dentist that I know has great dentistry, they diagnose my job is to close and let's have that type of attitude. Walk in their doctors, don't be like, I don't know if they want to do this. Like, what if they can't afford? No, be the freaking clinician that's like amazing and like they all love you. They say yes to you. Diagnose them. Stop scrimping on them. Like morally, that is your job is to tell me what's going on.   Your job is to diagnose for me and then I get to make the decision from there. But truly it's eighty percent psychology. What are you thinking about? What's your mantra? And then twenty percent is skill, but get that confidence because they're buying your confidence, they're not buying dentistry.   speaker-0 (22:18) Then I want you to pontificate on ⁓ this. ⁓ I watch this in my own eyes. ⁓ every American I know that's as old as me, ⁓ or by the time they die, has bought one new car in their lifetime. Am I right? You know any do you know anybody that lived to be 80 that never bought a new car? Yeah, yeah. And right now the average new car is 50,000.   speaker-1 (22:41) They all do it.   speaker-0 (22:45) And I would say ninety-five percent of all the dentists go to retirement and they never sold one case for the price of a new car, which would be fifty thousand dollars a day. And then I watched Clear Choice, my favorite DSO, because they rolled out a hundred locations, and the only thing they sell is fifty thousand dollar two arcs all on fours, twenty-five thousand dollars an arch. They rolled into Phoenix and all the world surgeons and paradox, like, I don't know, I don't know if I like this.   And they start doing all these infomercials. Remember, remember, orthodontists have always been ahead of general dentists in advertising. All the orthodontists were advertising before 10% of the flipping general dentists were. And when the general dentists finally got to like two or three percent, the orthodontists were at five. And now all my two million dollar dental orthodontist offices on up are spending eight percent on marketing. Here's clear choice.   You go through the channels, they got all these 30 minute infomercials and and all this stuff like that. No, I never I never had heard of an all on four until I heard it on a clear choice deal. And then all my paces were coming in saying, Do you do all on four? I'm like, what are you even talking about? Then then they tell me, and then because I I would have called it a you know, four implant. You know, I didn't think of four, say whatever. And and then the next thing you knew.   Every oral surgeon and peridonist in the valley of Arizona was doing more cases because they were selling it to so many people that our pace that we were benefiting from it. So I just want to hold your feet to fire. How come ClearChoice with a hundred locations? Don't tell me it's demographics. They're in the hundred biggest cities in America. And and in each one of those cities, 95% of the dentists will retire without selling a single $50,000 case. And ClearChoice is doing it in their backyard.   Every single day of the week. Explain that to me.   speaker-1 (24:42) gosh. I I don't disagree with you. And I think there's I I ⁓ to me it's kind of like the four minute mile, right? Like so many people did not think that they could do it. And then once the four minute mile broke, it was like, my gosh, now all these people can do it. I still cannot run a four minute mile mark. Like I'm still working on that, Howard. So I get it. There's like limitations still. But I think a lot of dentists I watch, a lot of them get weird. Like they get uncomfortable. They feel like, well, do they really need it? Should I really offer this? Like   They get into this weird space in their head rather than just like, why don't I just offer it? Like I have a dentist who literally presents $250,000 treatment plans consistently. And they do all like full cosmetic. I have another doctor. It's 75 per arch, 75k per arch, and they're closing them consistently. And I think there's a space of like, why are we not doing this? And like you said, clear choice is doing it in their backyard. I think there's a   My background's marriage and family therapy as well. So I studied that when I was in college. And so I love the psychology of it. And I think so many people are truly afraid of rejection. And so they're like, I'm just not going to offer it. And they like justify it in their brain of why, like, I don't need to do that. Like other people can do that. Like, I want to make sure I'm taking care of my patients. And they live in this world that's their own reality. And I think that we all create our own reality. And clear choice is like, no, there are patients out there that do this. My client that does 250,000 consistently.   My other client who does 150,000 consistently, that's just their level of comfort, right? And so, how can dentists get to a higher level of comfort? I think one, be confident in your clinical skills. If you know you're the best dentist out there and you can do this, like for me, I feel like that's my moral obligation to make sure that patients are getting the best dentistry because they don't know if Howard or John or Sarah or Tom is a better dentist than you. So if you aren't confident that you are a dang good dentist,   Your job is to make sure that those patients know that. The second thing is get more confident presenting larger cases. and I tell all the offices I coach on these large cases, like please drop the mindset of a large case. I think we psych ourselves out by being like, ⁓ it's like a $30,000. Like, no, it's just a case. There's no big, there's no small. It's just a case. And I'm going to present what this patient needs and I'm going to present it to them. And I'm going to believe that they want this and I'm doing the best thing. And then we get to decide from there. And our job is to make this to where it's easy. We follow up.   There are so many people that want to do this, but I think people hold themselves back and they live in lies that they choose to tell themselves, but they believe are truth. But they're only the truth to you because there's other people doing it just like the four-minute mile, and you can too. So I think it's a matter of why not? And so when dentists are nervous about this, the way I usually am able to break it is like going from a $5,000 treatment plan to a $50,000 treatment might feel a little scary.   And so I'm like, perfect. Let's just diagnose one more thing or let's present one treatment that we normally wouldn't. And let's start to like build that confidence for you. And whether they choose to say yes or no, you just got to work on your presenting, like presenting skills. It's not like they're not saying yes or no to you. It's just how are we presenting it? How are we using the words? Are we assuming the yes? Are we assuming that they want to do it? There's so many ways that you can present treatment better. Like it's an art, it's not a skill. But I think people choose like Howard, they   They just want to live in this world and they believe that that's the world. And so I'm like, until you choose to get uncomfortable, it's like we've got a little thermometer in our world and in our world. Like if I say that I am comfortable at 75 degrees, if the temperature goes up to 78, I'm like, this is out of control. Get it back to 75. If it drops down to 70, I'm like, it feels uncomfortable. So how can we take it to where I can get comfortable getting out of my 75 degrees and move me to the next level of whatever that is, to where that becomes my new norm. And then I move myself up to the new norm.   There are people doing 35, 75, 150,000. And I don't say that for you to like belittle yourself, but to see that's possible. Other people are doing it. Believe in yourself. If you're the best dentist, be confident in that. And then truly, please, for the love of everything, I am a patient. No hygienist offers me fluoride Howard. No dentist offers me emphasizaline. I would say yes to both of you, but you are selfish. And I'm saying this with like love and respect. You are selfish by not giving me the chance to say yes or no to you.   And I would say give more people the opportunity to say yes to you, offer it, get better at it, check to see why they're saying no to you, refine that and keep offering. I love my offices that set it a 35% case acceptance because I know that they're presenting 50, 2000, like they're sending 10,000, 15,000, $50,000 cases consistently because they know that the more things that they say yes to with great dentistry and great confidence, the more people will say yes to them. But like get out of your own way.   nudge it up a little bit more, get uncomfortable, but truly do great dentistry, offer to patients and stop like holding back and assuming that they don't want to do it because more patients want to than you believe that they do.   speaker-0 (29:37) And you know, a lot of dentists don't like the blood and guts. They don't want to place implants. They don't want to play certain modes. I get it. But you know what? I know a handful of dentists, at ⁓ five at least. I think the sixth one might have retired, but one of the reasons they're probably so big, they didn't they didn't like blood and guts either. But they would always tell ladies, they go, Well, I'll tell you what, before you go back to your twenty fifth wedding ⁓ school high school anniversary or or whatever, I mean tell you what, you always remember   For 50 grand, the price of a new car, what we do here is we take everything out, every filling and crown comes out, we put it all back in in the most beautiful portion. You'll leave with a Hollywood movie star smile. I know it's a lot of money, it's 50 grand, but you gotta think about that. And he and they both tell me they say, Well, you know, if you say that 10 times a month, yes, someone always always says it. And they go, Really? I'd have a movie star smile, and I'd say,   Absolut flipping Lutley, man. We take all that old crap out and veneers, inlays, onlays. I mean, when you're done, you'll look like a movie star. And and and I got a a a couple that is in not so rich areas of town like Tempe and Chandler Mesa. And they say that they have to say that about 10 times ⁓ to get one or two to do it. And in North Scottsdale Paradise Valley, ⁓ boulder area, ⁓ they they they say it's about a one in three close rate. If they just say it right like,   Be because when when someone gets a new car, what do they do? They drive around, they show it to everybody, you know, they just they they just love it. So I we're over an hour and we try to keep it under hour. So I wanna ask you one question. But first you said your background's a marriage advice and I just wanna tell you the best marriage advice you can have. Just like you're saying, it's all in your attitude. You don't you know, you start every day. When you wake up, the first thing you do is you tell your wife, I love you. Not you again. And ⁓   speaker-1 (31:35) I agree.   speaker-0 (31:35) If you if if you just drop the U again and it's so last question. What are ⁓ the one or two KPIs that ⁓ you think every dentist should be reviewing every single week? And what should they stop tracking? That's my final question.   speaker-1 (31:49) Hmm, this is a great one. ⁓ KPIs for dentists to be tracking specifically. ⁓ I really feel like the things that are gonna move you forward on a weekly basis are we've talked a lot about them. Your case acceptance is gonna drive you fast, like forward the best. Like track that, look at that, review it, get really good with that. And then I also really like to look at my hygiene. How is my hygiene doing? What's my what are they producing?   And then if you wanna add a third, like look at your schedule maximization and optimization. Like those are gonna be like really big, like heavy hitters for you constantly. And then I'm gonna throw in one on a monthly basis because I'm really big on I prefer weekly, but I get most aren't obsessive with me. I call it like my mind and my money. So every morning I meditate and I look at my money. So that's like my mantra of how I do it. But if you wanna do it at least monthly, you've gotta be looking at your overhead and your PNL and like what you're producing, what you're collecting, and what you're spending. ⁓   Just if you look at it alone, you're gonna get better. So it's like weighing ourselves. Now things for them to stop tracking. Gosh, there's like to me, I actually feel like really I don't want to say everything, like keep tracking, but I actually think people over track on a lot of things that don't move the needle forward. Like we want to track on, I don't know, I just see people like, well, we're gonna track on this and this and this. And like it's just like it feels like it's such a smorgasborg of items. But I'm like, what really is gonna move your practice forward?   Production collections, new patients, case acceptance, our scheduling optimization or overhead. Like those things and like sure you can look at like dollar amount per patient if you want, like so our marketing ROI. But like that's like really the core. And the more you can simplify it down, the easier it is for you. Cause like you can get lost in data, like buried in it, and actually not be able to execute on what really is gonna move you forward. And I'm like, I've got offices and I'm just a broken record. I say profit and production, profit and production, and that ties to collections. If you focus on that, your practice will grow.   So those would be the things that I'd end with.   speaker-0 (33:42) Garrett, you are a gift to dentistry. Thank you so much for all that you do for dentistry and thank you so much for coming back on the show. You gotta promise you'll come back again before the dirt nap. Gonna come back on again.   speaker-1 (33:52) I will.   I will. Don't take a dirt nap anytime soon, Howard. The world needs you and I'm grateful to be a part of it. So thank you.   speaker-0 (34:00) ⁓ thanks for all you do. It was an honor to podcast you.   speaker-1 (34:03) Likewise, thank you so much.   The Dental A Team (34:05) And that wraps up today's guest interview. If you liked this style of episode, let us know and we'll be sure to share more of them. For more resources, events, next steps, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Part one of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. They discuss how many details a dentist should know about their business, what about the COVID-19 pandemic still haunts practices, the AI of dentistry and the human care of patients, hidden gaps draining profitability, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my most   episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   The Dental A Team (00:17) It's just a huge honor for me today to bring back Kiera Dent. How are you doing, Kiera? my gosh, Howard. It's so great to be back. I remember my very first podcast with you. I was actually at an office in Alabama and I went like hid in this room because I was starstruck podcasting with you. So to be able to be back on the show with you ⁓ several years later is just fun. I love what you guys are doing. I love Dentaltown. I love your posts. so it's really fun to be back. So thank you. ⁓ the honor is all mine. Just remember Kiera likes Shakira.   And Dent is just her nickname. The full name is Dental Queen Goddess. So thank you. And ⁓ she is the founder and CEO of the Dental A Team, committed to elevating dentists and their teams to their highest level through customized in-office and virtual consulting and training. Her vast experience ranges from the front office to assistant, regional manager, and dental practice owner, giving her a perspective few consultants can claim.   She and her team work with hundreds of dental practices nationwide and confidently say we don't just understand you, we are you. Among her many accomplishments, Ciara has grown a practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in just nine months with a doctor straight out of dental school. She's coached hundreds of practices, authored numerous articles, and designed a customizable operations manual manual that serves as a roadmap for systems and team success.   Her Dental A Team podcast has amassed nearly 2 million downloads, making it one of the most impactful resources in all of dentistry. Kiera lives every day by her core values. Do the right thing, ownership, passion for excellence, ease, grit, innovator, die, and fun. Her motto says it all. There is always a solution. And my gosh, I just want to tell you the truth. And the reason I was so excited to bring you on. It seems like dentistry has turned into two groups of dentists.   There's all the old farts like me who, you know, we had, you know, we had great practices, great lives, great careers. And then you got these younger dentists that look at us and say, ⁓ man, you graduated in the good old days. You know, you didn't have five hundred thousand dollars of student loans, you didn't have DSOs, Delta hasn't given us a raise in four generations, and and and they're mad at the ADA. I think they're even mad at their mom. I I they're I think so and they're not happy. Do you have any good news?   For these dental graduates with $500,000 of student loans, or did they make the wrong decision and should have become a plumber? I mean, you know, plumbing is always a backup plan if dentistry doesn't work. So I think you're like at least in that realm. Like, you know, there's always options. But I love dentistry and I actually, ⁓ I think we're actually in the best time of dentistry. And I know that yes, there's the good old days. Then Howard, those were great days for you. But I think like, how many options do people have now? We have AI, we have these innovations, and I mean.   Your my example of a student straight out of dental school, we actually had one million. So I actually called her 2.5 because we had $2.5 million. So from student debt to practice loan debt to buying another location, all within a couple of months of us starting the practice. And so I called her 2.5 every time I walked past her. I was like, get that back straight, girl. Like we got 2.5 mil of debt on us. but to be able to grow our practice in nine months was   Absolutely incredible. And I think that that's where dentistry is amazing. There is no cap, there is no ceiling, and you have a way to truly impact and change people's lives. And I'm like, you have DSOs as options. Like there were not the times where you were getting the multiples that you get today. You also have like there are so many avenues that dentistry can afford you. but I think it's a it's a matter of what you choose to focus on, is what you're going to find more of. If you want to sit here and say, ⁓ my gosh, it's awful. We have 500,000 of debt. And I'm like, Yeah, but guess what? My husband had   Not quite the same, but we had several hundreds, thousands of dollars of debt. And he's a pharmacist. And so I understand what it's like to come out of school and have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt on us. But guess what? He's making, you know, hundred, hundred and fifty. If we're lucky on a good day, we're capped out. It took us forever to pay back our student loans. But as dentistry, you have untapped and uncapped potential. And so for me, you get to change people's lives, you get to give them confidence, you get to help them have better health, and you're able to make people smile like.   I can't think of a better opportunity to be a part of. And I'm not just Pollyanna over here. I coach hundreds and thousands of offices. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the in between. But I'll tell you, depending upon how you choose to view this, you can either find the good or the bad. And I'd recommend like, let's find the great because it's a gold line of opportunity if you want to see it. What what do you say to dentists who say, Mm-mm, you know, I I really don't want to complain really a bit. I mean, on paper my   My practice looks perfect. I got two hygienists. I do a million dollars. I do all this, but just internally it just feels chaotic and stressful. So it looks like on paper he's doing everything right. But she says, I still feel like chaos and stress. What's what's that about? I think like welcome to being a business owner. I think that there's two sides of success. In the word success, there's literally the word suck. Like there are parts of success that are going to suck. Like that's just how it is, guys.   And so that chaos and internal turmoil, I think I there I have lots of offices where you don't have to be that way. And I think going from like operator doing all the pieces, being stressed out into like a CEO of a business. ⁓ I think sometimes dentists are such gunners doers, they're so hands-on that they have this internal chaos. But there there are paths again that don't have to be that way. But I also think this is part of the game of business that we signed up for. And I think when you get to the level like Howard.   You've seen, I've seen over our career, we've got the gunners and the doers and the like zero to two year business owners. Like it's freaking chaos. It's psycho. Like you're learning these things just like you're back in dental school. But as you mature, you start to realize that the chaos is just part of the game. And the more you're able to learn to weather it, to see it, and to not do all the pieces, elevate your team, get great people, do like hire it out. You can hire, I mean, a practice is doing a million and you got great profitability and overhead.   You can hire a lot of great people to take away a lot of your problems. And so like, let's get some of those things done. And then you actually become happier and you make more money. So that you don't have to sit in that chaos. I think that there's a part of it that will always suck. but there's also a part that can really be the successful part too, that's fulfillment and enjoyment. But you got to make the steps and take the steps to do it rather than just sit and complain about it.   Love it, love it, love it. ⁓ what do you what do you say about the ⁓ the dentist who got out of school, goes and works for a major DSO, say say he's working for Rick Workman, Heartland, and he works there two years, and you know, he you know, he's working for a guy that owns eighteen, nineteen hundred dental offices, but he can't tell you the code for a profit. Can't he'll say, like, you know, are they paying my pay right? Really? You can't check at you. I mean, it it's like   It's like they'll listen to a forty hour lecture on the difference between two different composites, but they did I mean th they worked through two years, they don't know insurance codes, they can't check out a patient, they don't know the software. I mean, I had one guy tell me, ⁓ the only thing you could tell me about the practice manager software is the brand name. He couldn't tell me and then he's asking me, you know, it what which one you know, but anyway, do you think do you think a dentist doesn't need to know all the business details?   Or do you think that's a blind spot and you can't delegate anything till you can do it and master it? I think that there's two types of owners. And I think that there's some that are really great at hiring people that they are great at hiring people, knowing it, listening to podcasts, hiring coaches, training the team, and like having somebody spot check for you. Then there's others that like they've got to know the ins and outs. But I think that like Howard, there's   To me, there's also a middle ground where I think that you can go sit with your biller for one day and just like say, like, walk me through your process. So you have a general idea and an understanding of what they do. Go watch to see how they schedule. ⁓ I think when it comes to billing, I do think the dentists have a very big blind spot. And to me, that is like as a business owner, not to know how your money comes to you. To me, that feels like a pretty big blind spot of like even just understanding that knowledge. And so   If I were to say, I don't think you need to know the ins and outs. I love like I recognize this. I was a business owner of it. I own practices. I worked with hundreds of dentists at Midwestern University's Dental College. Like, I hear what you guys are taught. Plus, I'm a team member on the other side. And so I created a billing course and an office manager course because I just want a dentist to know like, what should I be able to expect? And I think like if you want to just have a general overview so you don't get blindsided, you you can have it. I think you can quickly within like a week.   Know the bulk of like everything you need to know in a practice very simply, very easily. So that way you can delegate. That way you can have it. You're not gonna be perfect. but I think just having a general awareness. And then I love to give doctors just a quick checklist, like once a month, go spot check, go grab an EOB. Even if you don't know what the heck that EOB is, go ask your front office for it, check it. And just the more you learn that language, just like the language of business, I think it doesn't need to be an overnight sensation.   But I do think the more you're aware of it, I don't think you have to do every single role though to be a successful practice owner. And I mean, shoot, if Heartland can do it, I think it's a good example. But I think who are you? And are you a hands-on tactical person? Are you somebody who's really good at hiring people, t trusting other people, getting the checklist and spot checking? I think you can do it either way. But my recommendation is like just like one week, go like sit in every seat of your practice and get a general awareness and educate yourself on the things that you don't know. I'm really big on money, understanding at least how insurance works. And then also how do we like   present cases, what are kind of the flow that way those big zones that really impact your financials, you can you can be aware of. So those courses, those online CE courses, your website is The Dental A Team. The Dental A Team. Now I think the A Team, you need that guy with the Mohawk and all the bling. I mean that's who I am in my like spare time. This hair is just a facade. Like, you know, I hang out as Mr T. Mr T. Mr T, Mr T, yeah.   That's why I was thinking the A Team, but is that on your on your website, the th those courses? Yeah, they are. So we have an online library, it's all C E. We've got downloadable checklists, we've got operations manual. You got it. That's exactly right. And Howard, in real time, I'll have our marketing team actually put together a code. If you guys put in Dentaltown, since you're listening, we'll make sure that you guys get a coupon code for that as well. Well, since it's my compass podcast IRS that you just put Fabio.   you want Fabio? Okay. well in that case. So ⁓ so is I also see you have a ⁓ Summit twenty twenty six is live on Friday, April twenty fourth. Grab your ticket. Where's where's that show gonna be? Is it Reno where you are? You know, that's actually virtual, Howard, and it's one of our like favorite comebacks constantly. And the reason I do it virtual, people have been asking me for years, like, why don't you do it in person, Kiera? And what I found is   Because it's so like again as a team member, I really struggle to get my team ramped up, amped up, and have it be financially affordable. So what I found is if we can have it virtual in your practice with your full team, you guys are able to get this boost and surge of energy and have a good time. So it's for leadership teams, it's for doctors. ⁓ we've been doing it for six years strong and we tend to have hundreds of offices. You get your whole office there, you have a good time.   But yeah, it's virtual and it's C E and it's a great time. ⁓ I attend a lot of Tony Robbins, a lot of Brendan Bouchard, Rachel Hollis. So we've learned how to do people have told me the online experience is so fun. ⁓ we just get continual people coming back year after year after year. So yeah, come join us. It'd be a great time. I love Tony Robbins because ⁓ you know, my boys they wrestled year round from age five to fifteen.   Yeah. Made our garage. I got two real wrestling mats from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania delivered by an AJ Miller. So I never ever parked in my garage ever. And we would we were listening to that Tony Robbins 30 day, 30 day personal power. Yep. And then I and then I bought my first laptop when I went to MBA school. And so I took notes on it. And then when I was done, I I ⁓ closed down Saturday and I went to a studio Saturday, Sunday, and I ranted out my notes.   And I said, this has got to be 30 hours because I mean it's still Tony Robbins 30 day personal power. And that was the 30-day dental MBA. ⁓ and it worked out to be about thirty hours. But I'm telling you, the pandemic changed everything. That was when ⁓ online CE at Dentaltown just went through the roof and it hasn't come back and dental meetings haven't come back. Cause why do I need to fly to Chicago to listen to you if I got a Zoom call or   or streaming video or this event. I mean, I mean, just think of the plane ticket, the hotel, the sitting and attending. If you're in Phoenix, you know, just to get to New York is a five hour flight. I mean, why I I gotta fly five hours each way when I could see you on YouTube or a podcast or or whatever. But I wanna but I want to go back to that pandemic because that pandemic, I really think the reason you can really do this so successfully today is because of that pandemic. That's why we realize   I don't have to be in the flesh to learn knowledge. And and like I I I feel fine talking to you. I me too. The only thing I regret is teaching my mother how to do that. I got her FaceTime and all that kind of stuff. And because she calls to tell me about ever every one of her exciting things is junk mail she has. She's eighty seven and she believes every piece of junk mail. I love it. She's always free freaking out on her junk mail. But but I want to talk about the pan the dark side of the pandemic.   And that is a lot of people think about 20% of the hygienists left to practice. Before, you know, when I got out of school, your labor was supposed to be twenty percent, your overhead was supposed to be fifty percent. And by the time it was it didn't even take 10 or 20 years, and and due to insurance, I think not keeping up, ⁓ overhead went to basically two thirds. It went to about sixty-five percent and labor went to about twenty five, sometimes twenty-seven percent.   I'm hearing thirty percent labor all the time. And I mean I mean I'm talking about serious dudes who know the business of dentistry. And I don't I don't want to get my buddy Rick Kirstram out of me. He owns a hundred comfort dentals and he said he can't he said he's got the mean and lean where labor is twenty. He says he's got mean and leans with labor at twenty-eight, twenty-eight and a half. So so the the pandemic is ⁓ it that was five years ago. Why do you think it   seriously impacted labor cost of the pandemic. I do, Howard. And I think I think we kind of have this perfect storm, right? Like I think we've got multiple waves coming at us that have impacted. I think the pandemic pushed out those that were like, you know, I'm done. Like, like I'm good. I'm at the end of my career. I don't really want to do that. ⁓ a lot of hygienists are female and I think a lot of them realize they did not need two incomes anymore. And so it's like, you know, I want to be with my kids. I want to be home.   And then hygiene schools don't pump out a lot of hygienists and it's usually like a two year span. So yes, I have actually seen like hygiene is it really did, and then it clicked up. So the cost of hygienist has gone up astronomically. I mean, I think the highest I've seen of a hygienist being paid was 85 an hour. And to me, I was like, at that point, that was up in ⁓ it was up in Washington, up by Bellevue, Mount Vernon, that area. And I literally saw the the posting for 85 plus a a bonus, and I was like,   Screw that at that point. Like in all respect to hygienists, I'm gonna hire a dentist for that cost. Like I truly will. And that's not being disrespectful. It's just like a dentist is a more multifaceted. I understand they are not great hygienists, but if I have to and I'm gonna be putting this number up, like we've got to get to a space where it does work. So yes, I do. However, there are more hygienists coming onto the market. I still know that this is one of the hardest things, but ⁓ I have a practice that's out in Maui, rough life, huh, Howard? I get to fly to Maui to go do work, like.   You know, shout out to that office. ⁓ but what we found is we were able to find a way to get the hygienist to be paid exponentially higher by doing assisted hygiene. And so I think I'm seeing people innovate. I think I'm watching them create. I think I'm seeing people do some more outsourced costs in the front office. And so they're able to then offset the costs of the clinical team. ⁓ I think that people are just getting innovative and creative. And what I want to highlight is while this feels annoying, this is also business. And if we don't innovate and if we don't continue to evolve,   We actually decay and decline as an as an organization and as an industry. And so I know it's annoying and I absolutely empathize. And you're right. Like for me on our payroll, we're at 30%. Like I've had that as our metric for our clients for the last five years because payroll costs have gone up. But I'm like, but just because they've gone up, like let's look at several other industries. I mean, we're not here to like love on or hate on McDonald's, but I'm like, they have kiosks. They figured it out.   I checked in at a hotel in downtown San Francisco. There was no person there when I checked in. It was literally a person on Zoom just like this. I clicked in, they said hello to me. They took my information, but they didn't have to have a physical body in the office. And I think with AI and technology, dentistry is going to evolve, but I think the art and the care of patients does not need to evolve. And so, like, let's put our dollars where that matters and let's be able to look and innovate in other ways that keep our costs low. ⁓ I still think dentistry, I mean, why is there a one percent default rate on loans? Like,   Banks are still lending. We had the first down year of DSOs last year and the first uptick of private practice last year. And so when I look at these things, like it is still a great business to be in, even though labor costs, like, guys, again, it's just another flavor of business. So like let's figure out how to innovate. Let's figure out how to do it. And like, yes, I'm gonna pay for great people. I see team members as assets, not liabilities. And I'm gonna cut and chop on other areas that I can, but I'm also gonna be smart with my labor costs and make sure each person hitting their KPIs, they've got numbers that they're driving.   We are running this as an efficient business while like loving and taking care of our patients at the same time. I'm glad you mentioned bank loans because it's less than one percent default rate. Yes. All the defaults have the same thing in common. They all had their license taken away. Right. Always. And and if it's for drugs or alcohol, they now treat that as a medical disease. And the dentists still say, Screw you, I'm not gonna quit doing biking. And then they run south of the border. And that's why whenever you find a dentist down there that looks like me.   They're running for free Vicada. They they they said I'm not peeing any. So unless you, you know, do something just horrible. I mean, and you know, you have you have to get your it licensed in your way. But I w I wanna tell you about you know, there's just so many other things that you can focus on besides labor, like increasing their productivity. ⁓ I know dental offices. you can get a full if you pay a dentist in the Philippines five dollars an hour.   You get the best dentists in the Philippines. And I and there's dental offices that with Zoom and things like that are doing all their insurance and their claims and all that stuff. I mean, ⁓ so the with with with ⁓ with the internet, I mean you can literally have someone ⁓ be at the front desk ⁓ on a on a kiosk that's actually a dentist from the Philippines from five dollars an hour who when he's not busy can be calling your insurance companies all that. I I want to ask you another thing that's really hot on Dentaltown.   today. Everybody keeps talking about these dental insurance EFTs versus virtual credit cards. but basically everybody's reporting that major dental companies like even Delta are gonna stop sending paper checks and you gotta do it all electronic. And I guess that that electronic could be free, but it could be you know it could be another three and a half or three percent credit card fee on all your claims. Or what or what are your thoughts on all that? I'm hard on that   I have and I'm a hard no on the credit cards. Like, why? Why are you doing that? EFTs are so fast. Like there's absolutely no reason to be paying this. Explain to my home. A lot of them don't even know what a EFT. Mo I I bet 80% of the the dentists listen don't even know what we're talking about. Will you explain it? Will you explain it like I just graduated from dental school eight minutes ago? Of course. Well, I think that this is also where going back a little bit where you said, like, do dentists need to know the business? To me.   You don't even have to know that much, but I want to just challenge you that if you're getting a three, three and a half percent cut on your payments for quote unquote ease, that's a real big hit. And I would just challenge you to think about like for what and why. And so coming in, there's different ways the insurances are going to pay you. So they're gonna pay you via paper check, they're gonna pay you via EFT, which is a electronic fund transfer, or they've got this new thing where they're gonna pay you via credit card. And like honestly, to me, the credit card is so scammy.   And I've talked to so many people and like educate me, like, why would anybody do this? Like, I cannot comprehend. Like, I'm already taking a cut on insurance as is. Like, thank you for my marketing fee to be an insurance. Like, that's how I view that that write-off. Like, I know you hate it, but you're also gonna, you're either gonna have to do that, or you're gonna have to pay for marketing to bring in fee for service patients. So, like, again, let's just think about that. But I'm like, so I've already got a cut there, but I'm then gonna take another hit in addition to that for a credit card ease.   So as we're talking about that electronic fund transfers, they deposit straight into your bank account. The reason that some offices don't care for electronic fund transfers is because like trying to match it up is a like it kind of dumps and chunks into your bank account. So all you need to do is help your team members. Like there's ways that you can have it where it automatically emails your team when that comes through. So then they can go online and they can find out what the EFT was, so then they can balance and like enter it in.   I do think dentistry software is so dated because what happens is when we get paid from the insurance company, we get either like it's called an EOB, it's an explanation of benefits, and it's like batch checks. So when they dump this money to you, Delta's gonna give me like 20 grand. But like, who do I allocate that 20 grand to of all these patients? So that's I think where some people have like, well, electronic funds are so annoying and this and that. But I'm like, they're very quick, they're very fast, they're a lot safer than paper checks. Paper checks people do get embezzled on.   That I literally see no reason. Like, I don't care if you get it like one day sooner with a credit card, you are paying a huge hefty fee on that unnecessarily when electronic fund transfers are pretty much just as fast. Like maybe a like smidgey of a delay. But to me, that's a that's a very worthwhile smidgey of a delay. Because you're getting your payments so much faster. And as long as you're staying on top of it, you should still be able to maintain a 98% collections rate, even if you do checks or if you do electronic fund transfers. It just is so.   So dumb. I've yet to see a reason. But to me, I'm like insurances are so smart because it's just another way for them to take a chip out of what they're paying you and to have it come back to them. So again, think of the motive as to why they're offering. These people are not dumb. Those insurance companies, if you've ever gone to a business who's the biggest building in the entire city, it's your insurance companies. They're not dumb businesses. And I think we need to be smarter business owners that out think that. They always but Delta always says, we're   Yeah, so is Rolex Watch. Rolex Watch is a non profit. And and some of the CEOs of some of the anyway, we won't go there. But ⁓ yeah, ⁓ so what other ⁓ besides you know, when when someone tells me about their overhead, I tell them, look, I can't call the government and have my tax rate lowered. I can't call the nuclear power plant SRP or APS and tell them to lower my electric bill. I mean, something I i if the hygienists can   Wants a dollar an hour and if I say no, I'll give you 75 cents and she can go get a dollar across the street. I mean the market sets many, many prices. So the only way to fight that back is to ⁓ increase your productivity. You know, I mean if if if you have a dollar in labor and they do a dollar in dentistry, your overhead is a hundred percent. But if your dollar in overhead can do two dollars in dentistry, now it's down to fifty percent. So how so ⁓ are there other   ⁓ hidden gaps that are quietly draining profitability, or has it just come down to production? Or is it both I like I'm so glad you brought this up because I think like it's so easy to sit here and say, like, dentistry's not profitable. But I'm like, go find me another business that has a one percent fell rate that usually can run twenty to thirty percent profit margins if you run a business right. And this is not just Kiera sitting here fluff. This is like I got real clients running at these margins consistently. They've got large practices, small practices.   And so when I look at this and I'm like, okay, how do we make this more efficient? A lot of people want to go to the first thing of like, let's cut insurances. And I'm like, yay, pop the confetti, but be real smart. Because again, you're gonna then increase marketing fees, you're gonna lose a lot of your patient base. Like, let's just think through the ramifications. And so there's lots of different ways that we can increase productivity and not have to go for the cut. So I look at three levers that I found that can increase a practice. So one is we can increase our production. We're talking net production, not gross, like please feed your family, not your ego. So that's number one.   Number two is what's your collection percentage? Cause half the time doctors feel like they're broke and they don't have money, but your money's sitting in AR, which is your aging reports or your accounts receivable. We're not collecting the money and we don't have a good billing process. We got to get our collections up to 98%. And then the third thing is like we cut costs. And so looking at that, a lot of people want to go to just cut costs. I'm like, but in dentistry, let's break it down. If I want to add 10 grand more to my practice.   I love to help teams. Most offices are working four days a week. So if we're wanting to add 10 grand to a practice, working four days a week, let's do 10,000 and we're working 16 days a month. That's an extra six twenty-five a day. Well, how can we make six twenty-five in a dental practice? Let's think about our fluoride applications. Let's think about FMXs. Like I'm just talking, this is your lowest hanging fruit for you. Let's talk about could we add one or two fillings? Could we add like same-day dentistry, which is going to make more raving fans for our patients? There is so much ease in there.   Now, to increase our production, we can also look at our case acceptance. Doctors have so much case acceptance. And also, what are we diagnosing? I'm like, doctors, if you want to be producing 100 grand a month, the statistics are you need to be diagnosing three times that amount. And then we need to make sure our treatment coordinators are really good at diagnosing explaining treatment to them. They're not diagnosing, but they're explaining the treatment. They're presenting it in a way. We're not using insurance as our main driver. We're using it as like a coupon. And then we're really good at our follow through and our follow up.   Gotta have a right person, right seat in your treatment coordinator seat that's obsessive with hitting the right goals. And so there's like so many little ways. Like you can in I have added block scheduling, which I know is like a consultant's number one favorite thing to talk about, but like make it really make sense and easy for your team. I've added a million to a practice with no extra days, no extra work. We literally are just being more strategic with how we schedule. And so there's just so many little ways that I want dentists to realize like,   To me, I get really excited. This is where I geek out as a consultant. I geek out and I love to help that is because I'm like, how can I like squeeze more juice from the lemon you're already in? Like, let's just make more lemonade. Let's figure out ways to do it. And then let's make sure our costs are effective. So we teach your teams how to look at the business as a business. We teach each team member about their one KPI that's really going to drive it forward. We help them track. I just did this with an office manager this week and she's so lit up to look at her numbers, to look at her metrics, to see how she can do it.   And when they start to see how they can click it through, it's not you trying to push and drive more money. Like doctors, I tell everybody, every team member, you want your doctor to be so freaking profitable. Because if they're profitable and they're like they're secure, your life is so much better. So like I'm like dentists, we got to get you profitable, we to get the cash flow, we got to get you less stressed because you're gonna be a better dentist and a better business owner. But how are there's so many little easy ways where it's just low-hanging   Typically I'm able to add 10 to 30% of production in usually 90 days to an office, like very consistently with just small little reps, no real extra work. How are we doing our exams? Are we being directive in our treatment planning? Are we using like, okay, next visit I want to see you for this? And when do I want to see you back? And how much time is this going to take? Like, let's break down the barriers of treatment planning. There's so many little simple things that if you just implement, you can be very profitable very easily.   And then look at your P L. If you're not looking at your P and L every single week or month, like just being aware, getting into the language of business, that's also gonna help you too. So yes, cut. ⁓ but I found that it's always a lot easier to make sure our collections match, our production matches, and we use those little low hanging fruits. ⁓ and it's there. Like dentistry is such a magical, like, like it's a great lemon tree. You can make a lot of lemonade out of a dental practice. I want you to tell me if I'm right or wrong or or   I think I think there's two threes to double your price. Number one, if three people call your front desk, one is going to come in because they're smart and they need to they know they need to get their teeth clean. One isn't gonna come in for anything and you can hear them vaping and smoking and drinking beer and eating Cheetos on the call. But one out of three needs a little extra push. And if you train the person answering the phone, they can close that one out of three. And if they do, they doubled your practice. Then when they get in, you still got the now you got three people in chair.   One's gonna do what you say because you're a doctor and they've done their their author search and and you say they got a cavity, they're not gonna argue with you. One's not gonna do anything. In fact, in fact in fact I was like I had about a dozen patients that in the middle of my treatment plan, they asked me if they could just take a cigarette break ⁓ from my presentation and they went outside, had a cigarette, came back. They're gonna do it. But the other one in three needs some some closing skills. And so if you if you can close on the phone   You doubled your practice. You you got two butts in instead of instead of one. And if you fix your treatment plan presentation, you're gonna do two cases at one. And I think it's so funny now because the dentists have never let their hygienist or assistant, let alone receptionist, do any diagnosing treatment plan. But now AI, Pearl, and Overjet diagnosing all the cavities. So you wouldn't let your hygienist while she's in there for an hour.   Diagnose and treatment plan and sell the dentistry, the assistant while they're taking FMX, they they can't point out, yeah, see, that's a cavity, you don't need a filling and a root now. yeah, they couldn't do it because they were humans. But now Pearl and Overjeck can do it all day long and you're good with that. I mean, so so what how do you how do you double the close rate from one out of three to two out of three on the phone? How do you double the treatment plan acceptance rate from one to two out of three? Yeah. Do you do you agree those are possible goals?   Absolutely, Howard. I think again, this is the low hanging fruit that people are like, but that feels so hard. And I'm like, choose your hard. Like, is it harder to spend a little time with a front office and train them how to do this? Is it a little like, or is it harder to be cash flow negative? Like you choose what's your hard to me? Absolutely. Let's go after that. And I agree with you. Like teaching a team to preheat an oven, I call it what would doctor do. And so like, let's train our hygienist.   Like I tell all hygienists, doctor should be the second opinion, not the first opinion. And you got Pearl and you got Overjet. And so just spending a little bit of time with your team. So what we typically do for case acceptance, like let's go hit that one quick and then we'll talk about scheduling. Is I'm really big on let's get the whole team where we're talking the same language. So we recommend, like, what would doctor do? I recommend you run this over the course of six weeks, is typically how long it takes, anywhere from six weeks to maybe three months.   but we're gonna sit there and we're literally going to go through. We're gonna pull up an FMX. We're gonna do it one day over lunch. Hygienists, doctors, and if you want front office and dental assistance, rock on. But really, I want my like people that are seeing the bulk of my patients with doctor and hygiene. We're gonna look there and I want all of our hygienists to start like if we have an FMX up there and the interaurals, what is doctor going to recommend and how is doctor gonna talk about it? We're not just gonna sit here and have a nice little chit-chat. We're each gonna write it down because I wanna make sure every hygienist starts to get very, very comfortable. And the goal that I tell all hygienists is   Your goal should be at the end of this, what would doctor do training over six weeks? And if doctors are really consistent with it, I'm like six weeks of training to be able to double your practice and increase your case acceptance to me is a very good use of my time. So if I can do that, doctors and hygienists, you should be able to have 95% accuracy with your doctors at the end of this. And they do it. So hygienists get really lit up and they get very excited about it because now they're able to preheat the oven. They're able to talk to patients about it, use Pearl, use Overjet.   And then doctors, when they tee it up to you, and I say like hygienist, you've got to be the ones who first like introduce it, talk about it with the doctor as soon as they come in, but be real quick. So we introduce the patient, we compliment the patient on something, we recap the treatment that's discussed and we say something personal. Hygienist, you do that, your doctor exams will be much shorter for you and doctors will love it because it's very quick. If we can get that dialed in, and then doctors, you have a very like confirm the treatment.   then recommend exactly what needs to happen. And then we take that same baton up to the front office and front office, we schedule first. We then present the treatment. We use insurance secondary. I'm never leading with insurance. You do these little items which seem like, ⁓ no, that's like very quick, easy things. You're going to rapidly be able to help those ones. And then I do a two two two follow-up. So if they did not close for me and I'm going to go through it and I'm going to work through and I'm going to track all the people that didn't say yes to me and all the people that did say yes to me.   I'm gonna look for patterns. What are people saying yes? Like those are easy ones. Those are the gimme's. Those are the easy patients that Howard said. I'm looking for the people that say no and what's my pattern in there? And how do I change my verbiage? Because treatment planning is 80% psychology, 20% skill. So like what are you thinking? How are we presenting it? What are the words we're saying? One or two little changes usually will close that. What are the patterns and how can I get that number up higher? And I follow up with them in two days, two weeks, two months to make sure that they don't follow off.   People are like, Kiera, you really make your treatment coordinator do that? And like, yeah, I was your treatment coordinator that closed $50,000 same day. And this is exactly what I did. This is how I've trained co offices across the nation to do it. You just have these simple little things that help them out. And then you flip over to our scheduling. Like, I think scheduling's easy, Howard. I genuinely do. I'm like, half of it is just be nice. Like you got the COVID crank, and so many people are so grumpy and so like.   Annoyed when they pick up the phone, then I'm like, you can already leap your ahead by just being nice and being excited to welcome a patient. Then take like charge of that conversation. So let's take the ownership of that conversation. If someone's Do you take my insurance? I'm going to quickly redirect and say, my gosh, how did you hear about us? I'm going to answer that, but I want to find out how did they hear about us? If it's our Google reviews, if it's a referral, if it's somewhere else, I want to like say, my gosh, you're so lucky to be here.   We love our patients. We love our reviews. I can't wait for you to be a great raving fan too. let's talk about this. I can everything can be overcome. Please do not let being out of network stop people. It's a thousand dollar coupon and we're turning people away over that. No, no, no. We are better than that. And if we are the best dentist, they need to be coming to us. We need to win these patients over, make them feel so loved. Let's get them scheduled. Let's make this a great experience for them. Let's make them feel so excited. I did it with PT called like six offices.   And the office I chose, like so many people were annoyed I was calling. Can I put you on hold? Can I do this? And I was like, no one really wants my business. If you're just nice and you take control of that conversation, you can easily turn and transform your practice. So hopefully that was like not too much. I like I love these things. I love training treatment planning. I love training how to like take control of a phone call. I love helping teams overcome those little simple objections because it's very, very simple things.   that make massive leaps and bounds of change. And it's a great way to double your practice very easily, like you said.   The Dental A Team (36:13) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Continuing education on your mind? What about areas in your practice you want to grow, or strengths and skillsets you want your team to have? Tiff and Kristy discuss the power of continuing education, including why it changes lives (and offices), where to fit it in your schedule, how to add makeup days of production, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiff (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to have you here today. I know there's an intro you guys listen to that says we're excited for you, and what you're listening to today is the consultants, and we're taking over. ⁓ and and we really are excited to be here today. I have the one and only Kristy Treasure with me this morning. And ⁓ Kristy, I had a client this morning.   that they have a client that is a client of yours. And they were like, Who is it? It was, it's, it's treasure, right? Is that her last name? And I was like, that's truly her last name. She truly is a treasure. And they were looking at it. ⁓ your client had recommended you to them. ⁓ and they they were like, is Treasure really her last name? So I felt like I needed to say it tonight. How are you? I know it was it was cute. Yeah. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (00:37) No.   ⁓ that's so cool. Good. Yeah.   Tiff (00:48) It's the middle of the week for us. This is a wild podcasting day for us. but here we are. Kristy, thank you for being here. And you've got a full week of calls this week too. It's first week of the month for us recording this and how's ⁓ how's everything going over there? How are you how are you doing? How are your clients looking? What have you what trends are you seeing on your end?   The Dental A Team (01:09) Yeah.   It's crazy because I'm seeing a lot of clients have things fall out of their schedule in May, yet we had great numbers. I'm like, is May gonna be the new September or like what's happening here? But I I don't know if it's weather related, graduations. I don't know. It's it's weird.   Tiff (01:24) Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah.   I totally agree with you though. ⁓ here like rounding out end of May, like looking at Maine numbers. I've seen the same thing. I've seen a lot of practices that had some stellar production and some stellar collections. And I even have a few practices yesterday that were shocked when they looked at their numbers because they felt like they were so much worse because the schedule kept falling apart. ⁓ yeah, and I said the same thing. I know my o my Ohio office, I said it's cause it's finally not like   The Dental A Team (01:51) Yeah.   Tiff (01:57) like fifty degrees and ninety mile an hour winds, people are trying to get outside. So we're definitely hitting that season. And I think people are maybe prioritizing their personal lives a little bit more than maybe we're used to ⁓ in dentistry and we might be seeing that. I don't know. But I agree. I'm seeing that for sure.   The Dental A Team (02:17) Yeah, and it seems like it's coast to coast. So and the weird thing is is I d even if I say graduations and stuff, that's not new for May, but we'll see. We'll see. Yeah.   Tiff (02:26) I know, I know.   Yeah, yeah, I do agree. I do agree. Well, I'm excited for the summer. I know here in Arizona it's getting warmer, but we've had a pretty tame summer so far and the rest of the country's catching up to us. So I thought today would be a good day to get us some podcasts under our belt and we chatted before this and decided we're gonna chat about CE, you guys, ⁓ continue continuing education and   Honestly, Kristy, continuing education is something I think you really, really love personally, professionally, and for your practices. It's something I see you prioritize a ton. And so actually, this is a perfect podcast subject for us. And I thought let's chat through some of the CE opportunities, but also, Kristy, I know you and I both work with a lot of practices and a lot of dentists who do a ton of CE.   And making sure we add that into their budget is something I think both of us prioritize. So I thought we could chat about that some as well. So first and foremost, Kristy, personally for you, I would love to hear like what does your CE and your life look like and how how have you successfully prioritized it? Cause I think others can see that in themselves as well. And you truly do. I watch you. You're you're constantly learning, you're constantly absorbing something. ⁓ and how do you how do you fit that into your life?   The Dental A Team (03:52) Yeah. Well, I I am much like you in that we like to prioritize things and be efficient at it. And having gone through James Clear book for atomic habits, I think it's actually up there on my shelf, but we talk about this all the time and I like to combine, hey, every morning I have to get ready and so why not listen to a podcast or an audio book ⁓ while I'm getting ready? And so   Tiff (04:00) No.   The Dental A Team (04:20) A lot of times I will do that for sure. But then also, you know, you, me, all of the coaches, we look at lag measures within a practice and lead measures. And in the next few months, I we're talking about summer, but September is going to be here around the corner too. And we start looking forward to the new year. And as part of our process for looking into the new year, part of that planning can be planning for continuing to education.   Tiff (04:38) It is.   Okay.   The Dental A Team (04:50) What are areas within our practice that we want to grow or grow for ourselves and or for practice needs and literally starting to map that out and what it looks like for next year.   Tiff (05:05) Yeah, I completely agree. I completely agree. And I do think this is the time of the year to think about that because also if we haven't budgeted for it yet for this year, now we need to start looking at what would that budget look like for next year. And I know, Kristy, to your point, there are so many doctors that I've worked with that get to June and they're like, Tiff, there's this thing I want to do in October, but it's full, so I'm on a wait list. And I'm like, Well, when did the list start? Can we do that in twenty twenty seven or whatever the next year is?   Can we do it in that year to also budget for that and be like top of top priority on that list instead of on that wait list? So I totally agree. This is the time of year to start that. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (05:44) For sure. I was gonna say too   Tiff with CE, listening to you talk. I think about it almost like we break marketing into internal and external. I think with CE, we can almost break it that way too. There can be some very low cost, no cost, just like the podcast or webinars, or take time out of the practice, even to work on some of your internal systems. And that is continuing education for your team too.   Tiff (05:55) Yeah.   For sure.   The Dental A Team (06:14) So you could break it into two different buckets. And I know today we were talking about budgeting for the external CE, if you will, but I think teams need to think about that too. And there are the priority of mandatory CE, your HIPAA, your OSHA, making sure we're planning those and blocking them in our schedule too.   Tiff (06:31) Mm-hmm.   Yeah, that's a really good point. And to your point, the like webinars and the ⁓ team and staff trainings and all of those like OSHA HIPAA ⁓ team training just in handoffs in general, what you guys do with Dental A Team when we come into your office, all of those pieces are continuing education. I totally agree. And sometimes you do have to shut down the office. I know Kiera and I talk about this a lot actually in our COVID shutdown is when Dental A Team like we we were we   busted at the seams. We had so much ⁓ work to do. It was wild, but it was because it was that forced shutdown. There wasn't an option, right? And so rather than having the force shutdown and the practices that we knew really not doing anything, they decided, hey, Kiera, Tiff, we need you to train our teams virtually while they're while they're sitting here so that we can continue paying them and they can continue to grow. So when we come back, our systems are solid. So we were building out operations manuals. We were doing   ⁓ we were doing CEs, we were doing how-to's, we were doing everything you can think of, training practices and ⁓ teams in that capacity to your point where it's like, yeah, we just shut down and we're just doing an overhaul of these pieces to get it to where we can run again as soon as we get back. And that is a a massive point because it is continuing education and the budgeting portion of that.   still is okay, great, we're gonna shut down for three days. What does that look like? How do we add that three days worth of production into the rest of the month to make up that shutdown?   The Dental A Team (08:09) Absolutely. And sometimes it may be cost effective or more cost effective to bring people into the practice versus going outward. But looking at what you have in budget and what it would cost to do it beforehand. Yeah. Huge.   Tiff (08:18) Absolutely.   Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. I remember one of the first offices that I went in practice to a long time ago, right? We've been doing this for so long now. But one of the first practices I went to, they were like, Whoa, wait, you want me to shut down my afternoon? And I was like, Yes, I do. And they were like, We can't, we can't lose that production. I was I promise you, you're gonna make it up tenfold after the fact because you're all gonna be rowing in the same direction. So no matter what we do during this meeting,   It's gonna be incredible. Your your meeting's gonna be incredible. You're gonna learn great things. The consultants know some amazing things, but you're all rowing in the same direction. And so the production that's gonna come after the meeting in the months, weeks, all of that time frame is tenfold gonna be more than what you might lose, quote unquote, in those couple of hours that you shut down for that training in the afternoon. So I think that's a great that's a great point, Kristy, is bringing people in and you don't have the hotel, you don't have the flights, you don't have all those costs as well.   The Dental A Team (09:19) Yeah. The other thing to that too, Tiff, is if you're going externally, make sure you come up with a plan. How are we gonna come back and implement this? So many times we invest in that CE and we go and then we come back. Maybe we learned about sleep or we learned about, you know, a new service, but then we come back and we never really launch it because we didn't develop a plan for how we were gonna come back and integrate it. We just jumped back into the same old routine.   Tiff (09:28) Yeah.   Yes, which is easy. They talk about like your teeth have that muscle memory. So if you don't wear your retainers, your teeth are gonna go right back to where they're suppos where they're supposed to be, right? Where they grew to. And so your brain is the same. Your brain has that muscle memory and honestly your capacity is the same. So you do you or even having having us in or having another trainer in office, you're like, Yeah, let's do it, let's do it. But to your point, if there's not an actionable, okay, do this, which we leave with, right? We say, Okay, you're gonna do these things, you're gonna do it.   this many times or to this percentage and by this state and so there's an action plan left but if you don't leave with that come back with it or that trainer leaves and you have that your muscle memory and your capacity is gonna flip back to what's easiest and what's easiest is to do what you were doing even if it was hard and not getting the result you wanted it's what you know. So even though it's hard having teeth that are misaligned, your teeth know that space they're gonna go back to it. So you're gonna do the same thing and so will your team.   The Dental A Team (10:45) Yeah. You know, something else that was coming to my mind is so many doctors hear these new things and they it's like we talk about the shiny object, right? Have you ever with some of your doctors or teams, like before they jump in and invest in that, actually pull your patients and see is this a service that they're looking for or would be interested in?   Tiff (10:55) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (11:08) 'Cause sometimes they invest a lot, right? And then they come back and they're really disappointed because it was like, Man, I didn't have the market for that or how do I have to market it to really make it work, you know?   Tiff (11:11) Yeah.   Mm.   Yes, that's huge. And I think that is something originally this topic was given to us as trends in dentistry. And it's like, gosh, trends in dentistry could be so vast, right? And it's like, to your point, it ch it truly just depends on the doctor and the patient base, the demographic that you're in. I've worked with plenty of practices that are in a demographic that doesn't support sleep, but they want to do sleep, right? But they're in ⁓ like a a Medicaid.   you know, area. They they take Medicaid and they do the and yes, I want to offer that service, but to your point, is that something that your patient base is looking for in that area? Yes, I want to give it to them, but the cost might not be worth the value back, the ROI that you're gonna get in return for the CE that you just took.   The Dental A Team (12:10) Yeah, one hundred percent. Or you're gonna have to spend a ton more in marketing to draw from a greater area, right? And so now your investment just got even greater.   Tiff (12:14) Yeah.   Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. And that's the difference I think, Kristy too. I I have a dentist, he loves CE, like loves. I have a bucket, he pours into his CE bucket every single month because he spends a n ton of money on CE every year. And I'm we're like, cool, fine with it. We budgeted for it. But to that point, there's CE that he does that he does because he's interested in it and wants the knowledge. He just likes to learn.   And there's CE that he does that he knows he's gonna actually implement and get a great ROI on in the office. And so he knows those two like demographics, right? He knows those two differences in the CE and he plays to whichever side or team, however you wanna say it, he's playing to to get that to get that done.   The Dental A Team (13:07) Yeah. Going into it eyes wide open, right? That's that's the best. So then the expectation meets your outcome. But yeah.   Tiff (13:10) Yeah.   Yes. Yes.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there's so many things. There's a million things I want to learn that I'm interested in. But it's like, okay, well, the ROI has to be there for the time, for the finances, for the input, the output, all of those pieces have to make sense. So yeah, I love that. I do have practices too when we're talking, you know, quote unquote trends that do have like I I talked to a practice yesterday that has a a trainer that comes in for Sarah.   The Dental A Team (13:30) Yeah.   Tiff (13:43) crowns, right? So we know all of those. We've got the Sarat Crowns, we've got a bunch of trainers that do come in. We've got practices that come, we come in two practices, but then practices that come to us two times a year. So there's those as well. And there's all the sleep apnea, the implants supported. And I'm a huge advocate before I'll go on this tangent before we move forward. I'm a huge advocate for like going back and learning something you've already learned.   So a lot of doctors that I work with are like, yeah, I took that, I took that implant pathways course, you know, 10 years ago. I'm like, awesome. Do you think anything's changed in the last 10 years that maybe hasn't popped up on a forum for you? Right. Like there's so many things that I think if you if you're not going back and getting that exposure again and retaking classes or getting recertified or what have you, I think there's a lot to be lost in there with how quickly dentistry moves and progresses, especially with technology.   I think it's really easy to fall behind in those spaces.   The Dental A Team (14:45) I agree with you a hundred percent, Tiff. Yeah.   Tiff (14:48) Yeah. Yeah. So budgeting for it is easy, right? Well, from our perspective at least. Like from my perspective, it's easy. ⁓ when I think when you're in it, I do this personally. I think when I'm in it, I'm like, yeah, I want all of those things. And then I'm just gonna figure out how to afford them. But what we do is we take a step back and say, Okay, cool. What do you want to do? And and like you said, do the research on what is your patient base, what are they using? And I like to look at what are you referring out the most that you want to keep in house that you would   that you would want to do. If you don't love root canals, don't do root canals. Refer those out. But if you're like I could place implants and I could enjoy that, great. Then maybe we look at an implant course depending on how many you're sending out. So do that due diligence and then start vetting courses. Like what courses have the best reviews? Where how far are they? I make my doctors look at the course cost, which is always easy. We think of that. But then on top of that, what is your travel?   The Dental A Team (15:21) Right.   Tiff (15:48) Right. And I think maybe Kristy that comes from us traveling. It's very easy for us to think that far ahead to be like, okay, well, what about a rental car, a flight, and a flight home and a hotel and food? Like we're doing this every other week. So I think it's easy. But I have them like lump all of that together and then literally build a budget so that they're saving a certain amount of that goes into their not their   Bam per se, right? Because that's how do we keep the practice open. But it's their BAM of well, if we want to make this happen, that's the in access bam that we're saving.   The Dental A Team (16:22) Yeah, I agree with you. And then that way too, we chunk it down, right? If the course is next September, we have this many months to add that to our bucket, so to speak, to pay for it, right? And same thing if they're looking to take team with them, it makes it a a lot more affordable than fo forking it all out at once. And then we also know what we have to hit every month, like you said, to the BAM. We make it a goal with the team and we achieve it together.   Tiff (16:26) Yeah.   Yep.   Yes.   Yeah. Yeah.   Yes, and we move the money. Don't leave it in the account that can be spent. We move the money. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have an office that I had a ⁓ an office manager call me just frantic. And she's like, my gosh, there's this thing coming up. It's this massive thing that doctor decided she wants to send everybody to. And it's in three months. And she's like, I don't know how we're gonna afford it. That's not like great question. So we had to work backwards, you know, and it   The Dental A Team (16:58) Absolutely agree with you a hundred percent.   Tiff (17:23) It was a stretch and it was hard, but I was like, cool, now we know this is something that you guys are interested in and it's gonna happen again next year. So if we're gonna go again next year, now we know the costs and we can pay for this this year, figure out how to pay off that credit card, and then start saving for the next one. And we worked it for the office manager. It was very easy because we had worked something similar for a bonus that they   we're working towards and so she could like relate it. She's like, this is exactly what we did for that the cruise we want to take or whatever it was, the Hawaiian vacation, whatever wherever they were sending them to, I can't remember, that she could relate it and say, ⁓ I can do that. And I'm like, gosh, we make it so difficult, right, to budget these things out. But we do it in our personal lives when we're like, I want to go to Europe. I want to go on a trip. I want to go to California, wherever. We're doing the same thing, but we forget to do that in business.   The Dental A Team (18:15) Yeah.   I love that you talked about the bonus because literally I was gonna say these CE things can be a very rewarding thing to take the team to and use it in that capacity. And to be honest with you, Tiff, I there's been so many times where I've seen doctors go, Well, I'll take my key players. And then they come back and they regret that they didn't bring the whole team because hearing having the whole team go to some of these things.   Tiff (18:33) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (18:41) ⁓ number one, the bonding experience for team can be huge. And number two, we all hear things differently. So we're gonna bring back a different piece of the pie and literally to hit the ground running and really implement some of these things coming back can be hugely beneficial to bring the whole team if you can budget and afford it, right? So with that being said, to add that to the budget and plan for it can be rewarding in more than one way.   Tiff (18:48) Yep.   Yeah.   Absolutely. And I think it shows the investment in the team, Kristy, because as you're talking, I'm thinking of all the excuses I'm gonna hear from doctors, right? Like, well, my team turnover. I don't know if that like what if they leave? And it's like, what if they do leave? But showing if you have the availability and if it's a desire of yours. I'm not saying change your perspective and change your thoughts and ideals. Like I it's neither here nor there to me, but my perspective can be on this.   If I show the investment to this team and I truly believe in them and I want them here, I'm investing in them and I'm having fun with them. I'm integrating them as my team and I'm not sitting here saying I'm the only one who can do this. So I'm gonna go and bring it all to you guys, but you guys can come with me. I think Kristy that helps that bond and it helps that tie to the doctor and the practice and increases the culture value. So you're actually potentially with the right people.   less likely to lose people than more likely to lose people if that makes sense.   The Dental A Team (20:09) Yeah,   one hundred percent. And and I've heard that in my a lifetime in dentistry too. But I will tell you that, you know, it it's CE has been one of the things that's really helped form me. And I'm very grateful for the people that invested in me. And you know, to that point too, Tiff, sometimes we have to look like I did come back and maybe they only stayed a year or two. However, they might have brought more to the bottom line too that wouldn't have been there.   Tiff (20:23) For sure.   The Dental A Team (20:38) So don't always see it as a loss either. And you never know what's going to come back around. You know, even if those people leave, they may be referring patients to you just because you have that knowledge and know the skill set.   Tiff (20:39) Yeah.   Yeah. And building, I think to your point, building ⁓ systems and protocols and settings things into stone thereafter the CE, right? Like there's so much groundwork that's being laid, whether they leave or not. They're doing so much for the future people who are coming in and potentially even referring other employees to your practice, not just patients as well.   The Dental A Team (21:01) Yeah.   Yeah. I'd say, you know, last year, at the end of last year, I had one of my clients that was looking to go to an Invisalign course and she literally was worried about bringing the whole team and stuff. But afterward, she was ready to book another one. And literally at that meeting, you know, we talked about it. Set your goals. And they literally ⁓ set their Invisalign goals and got to Pearl level like within less than a year.   Tiff (21:29) Yeah.   wow.   The Dental A Team (21:42) And so it really did number one, bomb them and the team got rallied and excited and it affected, you know, how they were treating patients and team. So they all benefited.   Tiff (21:54) Yeah. That's awesome.   That's amazing. I love that. I love that. So I think this one kind of I this was more of a conversation and I loved it. And I knew it would be because it was a it's a controversial subject and there's so many different angles to take on it. So thank you for having that with me. I would say C E is important. It's summertime, so it's time to   Make sure you've got your CE this year. If you need it for your license, by the way, start looking if you don't have that yet. And secondary to that, Kristy, I totally agree. It's time to start thinking about next year. So 2026 right now, so whatever year you're listening to this, it doesn't matter. ⁓ next year is still next year. So right now, start thinking about 2027 and budget it. I think Kristy, you're 100% right. Inventory your practice. What are what are things you're referring out that you could keep in that you would want to keep in? I talked to a dentist yesterday that does not want to do root canals.   Don't do them if you don't want to do them. Like you only do the things you want to. So then look for the courses, price it out, price out the whole thing. If you're leaving, price it out. If you're bringing someone in, price it out. Like whatever that is, what is the production you're gonna lose both ways? If you're leaving the office or if somebody's coming in, what's the production loss? ⁓ price it out and then prep for it. So start budgeting that every single month and moving that money. I have a lot of doctors who will prepay for CE at the end of the year.   to get rid of some of that cash so that they're not paying taxes on that chunk of cash. And that's a really easy way to do it. I know we do try to do end of year spending. What better time of year to start prepping for that than mid year? Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:29) Absolutely.   Couldn't agree with you more, Tiff.   Tiff (23:32) Awesome. Okay, well guys, that's a wrap on our CE chat for today. I hope that you find something really, really fun. Leave us a review below. Let us know what you decided to do and if there are any courses that you guys suggest for other practices. We are all about sharing best practices and sharing just a wealth of knowledge from wherever we can gather it. So leave that in the comments as well or reach out to us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And we will be more than happy to take your suggestions and also help you budget if you need help budgeting. So that's a wrap. Kristy, thank you so much. I know this was a slam dunk of a scheduling opportunity here. So I appreciate you being here today with me, and I appreciate you always making podcasting so easy. Yeah, awesome guys. And I hope you go have a wonderful summer, and we'll catch you next time.   The Dental A Team (24:14) Thank you.  

Do you market your practice for its dentistry? For its atmosphere? For the team? Something else? Tiff and Dana talk about why it's so critical to market the right aspect of your practice, and then following through on that aspect. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back again. I've got Miss Dana here with me. We are busting out a few podcasts today and I love this so much. ⁓ I just love podcasting with you, Dana. It's easy, it's fun. We get on tangents sometimes and soap boxes and it's wonderful. And I hope everyone out there, all the listeners, love it as much as we do. Dana, how are you over there? I know we're hot and it's like...   I know, we probably have like 3 % humidity, but we're feeling it. But anyways, how's it going?   DAT-Dana (00:32) It's going good. It's going good. Today is a busy day, I feel like, you know, busy days help the day go by fast and helps me feel super productive. So I'm excited that podcasting with you gets to be a part of this busy day.   The Dental A Team (00:44) thank you. Thank you. I love the word productive that you slid that in there. I have been very well, I think I could be more intentional about it. I say very, but I think I've been slightly intentional about it because I was talking with gosh, my sister or somebody I don't know, but they were like, how come? it was my sister talking about hairdressers, hairdressers. love you, Christie. I love you. But sometimes it's like, my gosh, I come out more exhausted than when I went in. And it's confusing. And I thought to myself, I think   This is just me thinking out loud. told my sister, I think that when you're asked, how are you, our initial, nobody thinks what's the best thing that happened to me today that I can tell this person, right? Because we're like trying to hold back and we're like, I don't want to make you like, I'm having this amazing day. We're buying a house, like, but I don't want it like, I don't know where you're at in your life. So I don't want to overshare and be extra and make you feel bad about anything in your life. So when you ask me that question, I'm going to say, well, I'm busy, like,   life is busy. How are you? Because I want to gauge how you are before I'm excited about my life, which is really sad if you think about it. But I thought to myself, everyone who sits in a hairdresser's chair gets this she's like, what's the news? What's what's new? What's what's going on? What's the drama? And you sit there and you spew all of this busy and anything that's like, exciting because drama is like exciting. It gets you pumped up, right? And they're   DAT-Dana (02:00) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (02:11) their five people they hang out with the most are drama. So then I come in and it's like, my gosh, I'm so exhausted. So my point in that is my intentionality has been to try to be like, I'm I've been super productive lately. Because I'm always going to be busy. It's just life like you've got you've got a whole farm over there of animals and humans. Dana, I don't know if I'm the first person to tell you this.   But you're going to be busy for the next 10 years. You got 10 years left that you're going to be longer, but I'm going to give you 10. That's what I'm going to say today. You're going to be busy. So I've been trying to be like, I've been super productive. So when Erin's like, how was your day? I'm like, it was, it was good and it was productive. I don't know. It just feels better. Your words, words create your world. And I feel like it's so easy to just mute yourself and not celebrate.   DAT-Dana (02:41) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:08) in this kind of world where we're like, I want to engage where you're at first because I don't want to be too much.   DAT-Dana (03:14) Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. And I think a part of it too is like I sit in the turn, I'm like, wow, like she talks to a lot of people, like, how can I wow her? Right? Like, or how can I be different? Right? I know she hears about a lot of people's kids and a lot of people's this and a lot of people's that. So like, where do I come in with like my uniqueness or like something that like, also will make her day a little bit like better because it was more interesting than all the like all the same conversation that she hears. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:20) Yeah. Yes.   Yes.   Yes.   Yeah, and I think it's every profession, you know, hairdressers are just like easy because you're stuck there. And I mean, you and I are stuck there for like three hours because I don't know why I'm a blonde highlight stick so long. And it's fine. Or like when you go get your nails done or coaching calls, you know, I'm like, Hey, how are you? And they're like, good, busy. I'm like, no, like, tell me about like, tell me about you. I want to hear about you. So like, we get the same   kind of response even, and hopefully people aren't walking away saying they're exhausted. Sometimes I think they probably are because I can be a lot, but you just let us know. You let us know what you need. But anyways, I think you made me think of that, the intentionality behind making sure that our words create the world that we live in. And I've been trying, if you guys remember the try, if you didn't see Summit or you weren't at our mastermind, you might not know, which means I haven't been very great at replacing busy.   with productive, but it's on my bucket list. That's my intentionality right now is to be productive. And I think that statement, just, you you say something and then my mind spins, but it really does relate to what we're talking about today because it's part of marketing. think I love marketing and people think it's wild. My fiance thinks I'm crazy. He's like, you're so weird that you love marketing. like, everything is marketing. How I present myself, how...   I hold myself, how tall I sit up, the words that I'm using. I'm constantly marketing to the people around me. I'm marketing to my friends. Was I a waste of your time today? Did I create value? Did I hold space for you? Was I intentional? Did I inspire you in some way? I'm constantly thinking of, gosh, how can I positively impact this person in front of me? And that is marketing. That's who I am to my core.   That's my culture. That's my, my mission. And to me, those are what create the marketing, right? We, we think Dana, marketing company and Google ads and Yelp, Brody has got his detailing business. He's like, is Yelp worth it? And I was like, well, you got to pay for it. Like we can go down to Yelp rabbit hole, but all you think of all these things and Facebook and meta ads and all these things are marketing a hundred percent. But in reality, we're constantly marketing to the people around us. Does you have   Bri, like tell me poke holes in that, Dana. I don't know. That's my mindset and people think I'm crazy for it.   DAT-Dana (05:58) No, I agree with you   100 % in that because I feel like at the end of the day, yes, you can do Google ads and you can do meta ads and you can have the best website and you can have SEO that is tractioning beyond belief, right? But then what are you marketing? And it is you, the experience, your team, yes, the dentistry, right? But they did a survey not that long ago. I wanna say like right post COVID and it was like, hey,   What are you looking for when you choose a dentist when you go back? And I still think that like this 100 % stands today. And that was like honestly and truly the quality of the dentistry that they received was well below on the list than where I anticipated it to be. And it was truly that white glove experience. And so I think that you're 100 % correct that yes, those things are great, but you won't get traction on those things if the experience   The Dental A Team (06:41) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:52) the personality, sometimes even too, just like the appearance of the office. When I walk in, do I feel calm and serene versus it looks like it's chaos here and it kind of gives me more anxiety? All of those things are marketing. And two, all of those things will drastically impact anything that you spend money on for marketing too.   The Dental A Team (07:16) I totally agree. Yes. And gosh, there's so many things. There's so many nuggets in there. I love it. I truly believe I tell, I tell doctors all the time and teams. I'm like, yeah, cool. You did an awesome filling. It was great by perfection. They didn't have to come back for an adjustment. Guess who doesn't know that some people have to come back for an adjustment. The patient that didn't have to come back for an adjustment. Guess who doesn't know that you picked the right shade of A2.   to match the filling so it doesn't look like they have a filling on tooth number two. The patient who has a filling on tooth number two, they can't see it, they don't know. It's like you can't even see tooth number two while you're filling it. You're like cranking your neck and your arms are all wild. Patients don't know what a good filling is. They know what a bad filling is, right? They know when it hurts, they know when their floss gets stuck, they know. But patients who aren't experiencing those things, to them it's everyday.   DAT-Dana (07:50) Now, you can rarely even see tooth number two.   The Dental A Team (08:12) normal life. They're just like, cool, thanks. Awesome. I'm good to go. They don't. He has like, we know we're like, heck yeah. Like I remember, I remember early in my dental days, this is slightly, this is really embarrassing. Actually, my doctor used to laugh so hard. And finally, he was like, Tiff, let me tell you what's supposed to be here. Because we would have our template for our notes, you know, I've never told this story. So so embarrassing now at 42. But when I was, know, 21, I had no idea what   DAT-Dana (08:16) You were a dentist today? Great!   The Dental A Team (08:42) was doing is just like write my notes and I'm like okay so I'd fill it in and then we do a written on I you know do the gutta percha length and I do all the all the different pieces and at the end it said like result I think is what it said like outcome result something right and so I'm like beautiful root canal because it was that was a beautiful root canal I like got a percha hit exactly where it was supposed to there was not   We didn't go past, we didn't perf, we didn't leave a gap. There was no, it was a beautiful root canal. And finally, he was like, while I appreciate the kudos, like, we just need to know like, it was a, like, it was done. Like, so he switched my words, right? But I was just like, ⁓ they don't know, I know, I can look at it and be like, dang, that was, that's a really good implant. That was perfect placement. That is an incredible implant. I can do that. You can do that.   the patient who got the implant is like, cool, I'm done. So I love that you said that because we're we so often market like best crowns in town, same day crowns, they don't patients who have never had a crown don't know that it doesn't get done in a day you you come in and you tell them, all right, it's gonna take two sessions. They're like, well, do I have to do that? Do I so same day crowns like people don't know. So when you're marketing for the dentistry, it's like cool.   DAT-Dana (09:35) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:01) you might get some patience for that. But when you're marketing for the feeling and the experience, and then you deliver on that. And when we remember Dana that we're constantly marketing, this is where that like busy versus productive, like if you're my friend, Dana, you know, on the street and you come up and you're like, hey, how was your day? And I'm like, oh, it was super productive. You're like, awesome, what'd you do? What'd you get done? Right? And I'm like, well, I worked.   And I got a ton of coaching calls done and I felt really inspired at the end because I impacted so many people. Totally different than, ⁓ it was busy because it was, it was busy and it was exhausting and I'm tired at the end of my days. I am exhausted. I've given everything all day, but versus productive, because I was, I was productive. It's a totally different landscape. when we're like,   When we preach that we're going to give an experience, we're going to deliver an experience, and then we forget to deliver that experience when patients come. Like you said, like how does it look? You know, my doctor used to make us walk around from the patient's perspective and see is there trash on the floor? We'd sit in the chair and we'd see are there water spots on the lamp above us? Like what does the window look like? So when we're not aware of those pieces, patients can come in. They're seeing that, especially post-COVID. Like they're looking for the dirt. They're looking for the trash. And if we're not   If we're not delivering that, we're not, stopped marketing. We marketed to get the patient in the door and then we forgot that we're constantly marketing and the patients who are coming in are choosing us again. They can choose to go anywhere and they're choosing us again.   DAT-Dana (11:42) Yeah, I love that you pointed out just like I just want to caveat I know this is kind of taking us back to where we were but I think that it's super important in that you saying hey we saw each other on the street and you were like how are you and you said I'm super busy versus like I'm productive and I had this I think   on the other end, right? The feeling, which I think is what you're creating for patients, the feeling that I had for you is completely different. When you said, I'm super busy, I was like, I'm kind of bummed for her. Like, it doesn't feel like she's got any space for herself or like, that sounds like it was not a great day when she said busy. But when you said productive and impactful, and I got a lot of coaching calls done, that was like, my gosh, Tiff, I'm super happy for your day. Like, it sounds like a really great day, right? So I think that like that is...   The Dental A Team (12:21) Yep.   DAT-Dana (12:23) really and truly what we're trying to say in this podcast. is like the words, the things, images, everything that you create, right? That's what creates that experience or how the patient feels.   And I just thought it was important to kind of highlight that, all of them, when we say like everything is marketing, right? Well, everything that you do creates a feeling inside a patient. And that feeling is either, this is a great place to be. I feel super safe. I feel super relaxed. I feel super confident. I feel like I've got a lot of trust with them. I feel like they care about me, right? Those are the things. And so what we're trying to say is like marketing is, is everything that you do creates a feeling within a patient. And that is when you get raving fans.   That is when you get referrals and you don't even have to ask for them. Yes, asking for them is great, right? But when you look at marketing as the things that you do every day, how can you elevate them? How can you take them just one notch above where they are? How can you always look at it from a patient experience or a patient perspective? That is when you create the feelings that create raving fans.   The Dental A Team (13:29) Totally   agree. Thank you for pointing that out, Dana, because that is exactly what it is. It's a feeling. Brody, I say this all the time, but Brody gets frustrated with me. Not so much anymore. He's 17 and I've been doing it his whole life. So I think he's gotten over it. He's like, that's just my mom. But I always acknowledge the workers at any store, wherever we're at, if you've got a name tag on, I'm going to call you by your name. And when he was little, he'd be like,   You remember like seven to 11, like they're super judgmental people. That human hated me. Everything I did was wrong. But it was like questioning. It wasn't necessarily wrong. Don't take that. It was just questioning. It was just like, gosh, why do have to be so extra? And I'm like, because it wakes them up. It makes them feel seen in a sea of people just checking out and paying. Like, did you find everything you needed today? Yep. Yeah, I did. Otherwise I wouldn't be at checkout.   DAT-Dana (13:58) yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:21) I hate that you asked me that question, right? No, I didn't, but you're not going to go find it now. There's people behind me and I'm not going to ask you for it, right? So I'm like, you know what? Today was great. Joanna, how's your day going over there on the other side of this machine? And she's like, what? It snaps them out and allows them to be seen and valued in a sea of nothingness. And we as humans are constantly walking around like that.   We're driving, you know, we're not acknowledging each other. We barely even see each other when we're merging on the street. We're not paying attention to each other. We're lost in our own worlds. And when they can come to a place that sees them, that values them, that is intentional with their time with this patient, that's what they're gonna come back for. They could have to come back for adjustments on that filling or crown. Their implant could fail. I've had it. I have had implants fail and the guy...   I had to send this patient, I was like, my gosh, this is so bad. He had three implants fail. I remember this was gosh, probably 16 years ago at this point. He had three implants fail and I had to send him to the oral surgeon. And I was like, I am so sorry. Like I am so and he was like, please don't be you guys are wonderful. My family and I have been coming here for years and we would never consider going anywhere else. That's why I tried the implant here first. The impact that   the whole entire team, our practice had made on him and his family. I still have like, just, have his daughter on our, on my Instagram. Like she just had a baby and I was like, my gosh, like Bianca, this is amazing. She's the same age as my sister. Like this, this is what I'm talking about. And that's marketing. And I think Dana marketing is perceived as salesy. Like we were trying to sell somebody on something, but like I'm not, I'm just trying to impact your life.   DAT-Dana (16:11) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (16:11) I want   you to feel so good that you want to spend more time with me. And I want to invite you into my safety bubble where it's okay to be yourself, where it's okay to be excited about the accomplishments that you have because I had a productive day. I'm in a really good space and I loved it. So what's going well in your life? And you're so much quicker to be like, my gosh, that's awesome. Erin and I are buying a house. And you're like, ⁓ because I know you have.   the space for it, you know, that's my tangent. That's my marketing tangent. This is why I love marketing because it's so easy to just make one little switch in a word and completely change the outcome. And to me, that's marketing.   DAT-Dana (16:56) Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I think that like, it's just choosing to do that on an everyday space. think even like listening, we listen in, or we join a lot of marketing calls, right? And they're like, well, what makes you stand out? Right? And then they'll be like, I'm high tech. Okay, well, that's great. Does your patient know what high tech means? Do they know that that means you don't have to gag anymore, that you're super comfortable, that it's pain free, that it's less painful, that like we can relax.   The Dental A Team (17:10) Yes.   DAT-Dana (17:25) you and we can sedate you and we can do all these things. is that because you said high tech and I think to pretty much anybody that walks into a dental office or any medical office it's like they already feel like it's high tech. They're not questioning your tech really when they walk into your office. Those are the things I think that just gives like another layer an example of like truly knowing what sets you apart but knowing how to communicate what sets you apart.   knowing the things that the patient values when you say what sets you apart. Patients like they're just automatically going to assume their dentist has all the tech, right? Dentistry, healthcare, it's a tech place. So they're just going be like, yep, know my dentist has all that tech. But what they don't understand is the things that you have that makes the experience better for them, that makes the pain less for them, that makes recovery easier for them.   all those things. And so that is the marketing piece, taking the time to say those things, taking the time to show them, taking the time to explain, using them and letting them know, because we're using this, you should recover much quicker, right? You shouldn't have to go home and have any bleeding like as soon as you leave here, right? Even fluoride, right? As soon as you leave here, you can now eat those types of things. That's the marketing piece. That's the words. Those are the things that impact the patient.   The Dental A Team (18:39) Totally agree. And on that point, you mentioned the marketing companies and the marketing companies like what sets you apart vetting a great marketing company. And my opinion is like hiring someone on your team, right? Which it's easy for us to see that because we have marketing people. We don't, we have a marketing department. We didn't hire a marketing comp. We have hired marketing companies. Currently we don't have a marketing company working.   behind the scenes, have marketing people on our team. And so it's easy for us to see that and we help plenty of practices that marketing companies, which is, hard marketing companies marketing. It's a hard space because just like we just said, it's really about changing a dial a little bit and seeing what the result is. And then changing the dial a little bit and seeing what the result is. There's no like, this always works because it's different for everyone.   So marketing is difficult in that way, but when you've got your systems and processes in line at the office, you're inspired humans who are looking to impact more humans. It makes the marketing company's job so much easier because they're marketing you and the experience, not your tech, which nobody knows what a CBCC skit is. Like I barely know what it is, right? I can't read it. I've been in dentistry forever. I have no idea what I'm looking at.   Patients don't either, they just don't. And so when you're looking for a marketing company, really looking at it the same as you would hire a team member onto your team, what would you expect of that team member? How do they show up? What's their integrity level? Do they match your core values? Can they show up to live your core values and your vision? And then once you get your marketing manager, does that marketing manager jive with you? Are they relatable? Are they somebody who's listening to you? Would you hire that person?   to be on your team because I do think Dana, that is a huge piece of external marketing that we've never really considered before.   DAT-Dana (20:34) Yeah, I agree with you. think like...   test their response time with you, look at how they respond to you for things, look at how if you ask questions, do they truly answer them? Do they get to the bottom of it? Or do they even admit, hey, I don't know this, but let me figure it out. And then they do figure it out and they get back to you. Like all of those things that you would test in a working interview or you would ask on a phone interview, right? Oftentimes it's just like, hey, we get through your logistics. This is what we do. This is what we can offer you. Hey, say yes or no. And I think that it is okay. Marketing is a big investment. And you know, sometimes we pay   marketing companies as much as we pay team members, right? And so I agree with you, Tiff, in that like they are now a part of your team, whether it's external or internal, they're a part of it. And so do they live and breathe those things? Does the things that you're wanting to accomplish with them inspire them? Are they responding? Are they actively engaged in your account and come up with really great ideas?   The Dental A Team (21:32) I love that. Yeah, drop the mic. Those are what you need to write down if you're driving when you get to the office or when you get home or the hair salon, wherever you're headed to. ⁓ Rewind and write all those things down that Dana just said. That was incredible, Dana. Thank you. Yeah, I loved this. I think we went into this one like, okay, well, let's see where it takes us. And I think it went on a really fun journey. So Dana, thank you for always ⁓ tracking. you just, we are just like the same brain sometimes.   Same brain, but different, you see different aspects. So thank you for today's conversation. think it was really fun. And everyone, go about your marketing company. I think your action items are to take inventory and maybe even have your team take inventory of the experience that your patients are perceiving. So what's the perception that you're putting out to your patients? Is it in line with your vision, mission, core values? Is it in line with what you want it to be? And then check your marketing, your true marketing.   DAT-Dana (22:06) Yeah, thanks.   The Dental A Team (22:30) Are you talking about same day crowns? Are you talking about we can save you time? Because saving me time is a bigger ask than a same day crown, especially if I don't need a crown, by the way. So go check your marketing. Does it make sense? Does it speak to the patient experience? And can you deliver the patient experience that you're speaking to? You guys, this was really fun. I hope you loved it. I know you did. I know you loved it, because these ones are really fun. When we get ramped up, these are the ones that impact the most. So leave us a five star review.   Let us know your biggest takeaways. We'd love to hear it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. you need help, if you want Dana's questions, rewind. We're not going to remember what she said unless we rewind. So go rewind, get all of the things and we will catch you next time. Thanks so much, guys.  

Owners, this one's for you. Especially those who don't want to have to care about the business side of being a practice owner. Kiera's here to prove that staying clinical while still leading the practice is simpler than you think. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera and I am excited to podcast with you guys. Today is such a great day and I hope you're having an amazing day. I love hanging out with you guys. The podcast is such a happy space for me when I get to podcast and have this day. You guys let me go into creative Kiera zone where I get to speak from my heart. I get to speak from honesty. I get to speak from experiences. I get to   laugh with you cry from you meet so many of you in real life and I just feel so honored and excited that This is my real life. And so thank you for being a part of the podcast family. Thank you for Listening and sharing and leaving reviews. I read those reviews. I'm so grateful for you guys and Please share this podcast any episode that you've had you guys can always head on over to our website TheDentalATeam.com click on podcasts and I kid you not you should search any topic and it's all there so   Just wanted you guys, any issue, anything, I try hard to be a great resource for doctors and for teams. And to just remind you that life is so good. I think that the glass is half full and that doesn't mean it's always easy, but I do believe that it's worth it. So today I wanted to kind of dig into like what happens when you buy a dental practice and you are an owner.   but you really just love to do dentistry and not the business side of it. Like done, done, done, done, done. Anybody out there, anybody, please raise your hand in real life. If that's you, if you know somebody that this is the case, be sure to send this podcast to them because I think that this is so real and I think it happens. And I see people in like, Kiera, I wanted to be a dentist because I wanted to just be a dentist. I didn't want to do the business of it. And I'm like, amazing, let's chat about it. So I think that it's, you want to open your own practice because you want to decide how to treat patients and you could do it better than that.   DSO or the other dentist that you were working for but then you get into and you're like, wow, this is a lot harder than I thought. And so what do we do when you don't want to run the business? Like, what do we do then? So because the answer is you don't get to abdicate and it doesn't mean that you get to say, I'm not doing this anymore and someone else can do this. Guess what? You're still an owner. Just like if you have a kid and you're like, I don't want to be a parent anymore. Well, guess what? That's part of it. But that doesn't mean you have to do it all. And   So I just want to help you get some good clarity. We did this in our Dr. Mastermind that we call it Think Tank Tuesday. And people come together on the first Tuesday of the month and it's very fun. And I think that this is just a space for you of ⁓ how can we help you? Because I want you to be thriving and happy in your practice and not dreading. And there's ways that you can do it. Like you can have your cake and eat it too. So let's make a way for that to be real. So ⁓ I think that it's where there's great dentists who feel frustrated, they feel overwhelmed.   They feel stuck because they don't want to deal with the business side and they don't want to take that on. And this is me. I created a consulting company, but I didn't want to know about the numbers. And I was like, numbers are not my jam. And now if you've heard me for any length of time, you know, numbers love me and I love numbers, right? We're going to be really good at making sure that you get obsessed with that. Just like I love being a business owner. And, ⁓ this is something that it's a, do I have to, or do I get to, ⁓ my gym trainer?   I like a lot of her posts and she often posts about, it something where like I have to go to the gym or I get to go to the gym? And it's crazy how just sometimes even that little bit of a mindset shift can help us realize like I have to run a business or I get to run a business. ⁓ Both are real and both are available. But hey, let's break it down because I think that this is something of like, what happens if you only want to be in the operator and like, what are some solutions for that?   And then what happens of your practice if you maybe are not right person, right seat for that. And then three things that help you to be able to stay clinical and also lead the practice because it might be simpler than you think it is. And your job description might actually be a lot easier than maybe what you're piling on yourself because I think sometimes people feel running a business means they have to do it all. I know I fell into that trap. I know I've been guilty of that before. Like, hey, I'm the business owner. I have to do this when guess what? That's not necessarily true. So what happens is   We did this as an exercise for our dentist the other night and I had them write down everything on their to-do list. And then I had them go back through and I said, okay, what things really are things actually only you should do. And it was crazy because I had quite a few of them like talk. Like I tell them our think tank is like, pretend we're in the living room with me and we're just all hanging out. We're sharing our best ideas. Like there's no team members that are allowed to be there. Teams is not cause I don't want you there. I just want your doctors to be able to speak openly and honestly and to be able to get the support from other owners in the room and.   It was crazy because the doctors were like really the only thing like even dentistry, you could have somebody else do. Right. Um, but in this scenario, you're like, but I love to do the dentistry. I don't want to have to do the rest. The only thing really you have to do as an owner, you got to set the vision, know the profitability and drive the culture. Like that really is your role. Now, as I said, those three things, you might be like, yeah, right. Do you see my whole to-do list over here? Like you want me to ship you? Yeah. Send me a picture of it. I'd actually love to see it.   I'll help you out. So please, by all means, be a pen pal for me and I will happily look at your to-do list and help you see it differently. Sometimes you're just in the weeds, but other times what happens is a lot of things on there you don't have to do and maybe you're not the best person. But like I said, of the things I listed off, that's really what an owner needs to do. And if that didn't light you up, guess what? You can actually hire somebody who wants to do that. So, but if it did light you up, then great. You can be a doctor, a dentist, and then those are the three things really you need to do.   Yes, you do need to know the numbers. You are a business owner. You don't just get a pick and choose. I'm like, I don't want to care about the numbers, Kiera. I don't want to look at it. Well, guess what? Tough luck. You did sign up for a business and your job is to make sure it's profitable. We don't want to have our teams go out of jobs. Like you have a responsibility to your patients and to your team. And that is part of it, but it doesn't mean you have to be the manager. You don't have to do the one-on-ones. You don't have to like order the supplies. None of that falls on your list. But I think sometimes we think it does, but you've got to make sure that you have to have like,   very clear priorities, very clear direction, and you are leading and guiding. So what happens with that is as a leader, you've got to set the vision and the direction of where we're going. And if you don't have that, then you're going to have constant interruptions and confusion and like, what are we working on? And Dr. you're annoyed because it's just a firefighting rather than a proactive preventative. So if you can work through this and figure out where we headed, what's the direction? And then next step is accountability and org charts. Who does what?   In our team, we just did this nice little shakeup of all of our team members. And it's wild. I thought it was right here. I was going to show you. So it's not, I usually have a carry. We have our accountability chart and I have like, open it up like a legend, like, okay, I have this task. Is this really a me task or who does it belong to in their job descriptions? And we talked about it because dentists are like, but I'm so afraid of like asking team members to do these things. That's why I don't delegate. And I'm so grateful for our doctors.   having trust and vulnerability in our mastermind. ⁓ And we talked about it and it's like, but as team members, if that's part of my job, let's make sure it's realistic for me. Let's make sure I have a clear job description. And then let's make sure my KPIs report that. So when you get this clear, like, doctors, yes, this is the annoying part. And this is where I love consulting and helping offices. Like let's help you get the vision, like where we had in the next 10 years and get your whole team rowing towards that vision. Then we're gonna make sure we've got correct accountability charts. Like who does what? And sometimes having a consultant come in to say like,   No, no, no. Like this is your job. This is what you get to do. I had some team members trying to push responsibility and I was like, no, no, no. This is what we get to do. and after that, from there, then from there, it becomes easy. Like doctors, this is your job. Now, sometimes I think doctors might have a little bit of an ego and not want to let go. And someone like, can do it better, faster, easier, true, but choose your hard. What is that? What is the piece that you need to do? And like, let's choose our hard.   So as soon as owners set the direction, then what's gonna happen from there is teams are gonna feel so much more fulfilled. They're gonna feel like they gotta know where they're going. They know what their job is. They know how to win. And doctors, you don't have to feel guilty, because then what you do is you just pull open the legend, the accountability chart. Like, okay, I have an issue with all of my emails and like responding to the lab. Who can do that? And can we set it up for that? And then doctors, you can be CC'd on it.   ⁓ but that doesn't mean you have to do it. So you can still be aware of it and know everything going on, but then you can go to dentistry and other people are helping you out. But doctors, got to make sure you don't undercut. that's number one. Number two is we want to make sure that like the team is leading, but make sure that they have the authority to do so. So doctors, if your job is to set the vision. ⁓ and I talk about leadership having two different sides, there's a visionary, then there's the execution piece. And if you want to have somebody who's the execution person for you.   You've got to give them the authority to do so and you got to get out of their way. So if you're like, I really just want to do clinical dentistry. I get it. I got to do the vision and I need to watch my numbers. Then great. You've got to empower and let your office manager do their job. you've got to make sure that they're confident and competent. They've got the skills, the resources, the coach around them to be able to do it because you've got it. Like for you to step back into just clinical into your, to a CEO row, you got to empower your team correctly. So.   When a manager is trying to lead, so many of them are like, but our doctor like is stopping us and they're not responding back to us. Doctors, that's your fastest, easiest way to undercut your office manager and to be stuck in doing everything and running this business. Do you know that your OM should be doing 99 % of everything that you're probably doing and they want to and they're great at it they're amazing at it and they're follow through and that's just what they're like bred to do. they're a great office manager, if they're not, then maybe it's not a right person, right seat. Managers, that's what you should be doing. So if we have that, then we're to want to make sure that great like   So if that's what's happening, doctors, you gotta delegate with clarity and authority so that way there's not this hesitation and it's all coming back to you and it's all falling on you. So hey, get this accountability chart. This is the person who's doing it. Empower them, train them, teach them. It doesn't mean I just hand it over to them. You can like work with your OM every single week and like if there's decisions that they made that you didn't agree with, let's talk about that. If you want them to check things out, like I train a lot of people and before they send anything out, I'm like, send it to me. I wanna prove off on that.   And we're good to go from there. Like that's what's needed, but you got to like get it to where things can start to move off your plate. And I think as owners, sometimes I myself hold onto it for ego. And if I let all these people do it, then what's my need? ⁓ one of the doctors, he was like, the literary realized like, I don't even need to be in the practice and they can do everything without me. No, that can feel scary for some people that can feel like, my gosh, am I still needed? Am I still wanted? And the answer is yes. But what we need is we need you to be the lighthouse.   and then we need you to do great dentistry. But that's really it in ownership. But if you don't love that, then find somebody who can be the lighthouse and you'd be the doer. Some people actually are better COOs, if you will, rather than being clinical dentists. Like they love to do the business side. They love to run all the systems. They love to build it. Then get yourself out of clinical dentistry. But if you're the one who's like, obsess about being a dentist and I wanna just do the clinical, great, you need a strong operator next to you and that's usually your OM. And OMs you need to be able to be.   follow through, say the fastest, easiest way to have a doctor not trust you is to break trust in the sense of I'm gonna get this to you and I don't get it to you. So own your word, own your results and execute consistently. And doctors like, thank you, Kiera, like clap it up, like, yes, yes, yes, like it's true because you wanna make sure that what you delegate and what you ask this team member to do, it reports back to you rather than you needing to chase it, hunt it. Be proactive OMS, be like perfect, here's my end of week, here's all the things that have been done, here's where we sit.   Do know how much your doctor's gonna love you? Like that's what lets them be free to be these amazing clinicians and not have to own it. So you've got to be able to delegate and have the authority, give them the authority, trust them, empower them and have the meetings and whatever you need to where you can feel like you can trust them to do the job well. If they're not doing things right, give them the honest feedback. I've got a new personal assistant while Shelby's out on maternity leave. Shout out to the baby. We're so happy for her.   I had to just tell her like, don't like this. I want you to do it this way. And team members, when your doctor's doing it that way, you've got to have this trust and vulnerability relationship where you can say these things without taking it. I am so grateful for Marisa because I get to tell her like, that's not how I want this. I want it like this. This is how I need it. She's my right hand on so many things. I can tell Britt the same thing. I can even say, Britt, I don't want to say this to you because I know that I'm people pleasing. Me even calling it out, Britt's like, no, I'm no BS Britt. Just tell me straight. Like, what do you need from me? What do you want?   That's usually what people need. when you can have a relationship where you're that fluid with your OM and OMS with your doctors, this is how you're going to be able to grow. And this is how you're going to build the trust to be able to delegate, to abdicate, not abdicate, delegate and release these tasks to other team members. And then OMS, your job is to grow and make sure your team is doing what they're supposed to. They're hitting their KPIs consistently. We're having our meetings. People are falling through. Our patients are getting the great patient experience. OMS, that's your job.   Your job is to make all this vision amazing. Check all the boxes, take care of your doctor. Does not necessarily mean a personal assistant, but it does mean we're checking all the boxes. We're running the team. So our doctor can be an amazing clinician. Give us the vision, go to great dentistry and we take care of the rest. That is how a doctor OM relationship should look. So from there, we want it to be where you guys really truly are able to do that. And if you guys are able to do those two things, so right, what were they? Number one, I want you to be able to have a clear direction and a clear vision.   And then number two is we need to use that accountability chart, delegate and give authority so that way people can do it. And then after that, how do we fix this? what are some quick fixes that we can also do? Is number one in the accountability chart, define your role as the owner. What are the decisions only you can make? What are you gonna own versus what are you gonna delegate? And then set the expectations with the team. I'm obsessed with this because this is going to help and it's ownership as a role.   not a title, okay? So doctors, I'm gonna own this, OM's gonna own this, treatment coordinator's gonna own this, biller's gonna own this, dental assistants are gonna own this. It means own. We hit the results. not like, we innovate, we figure it out. That's what ownership means. It does not just mean I have the title of this. Then after that, we build the leadership structure that's going to support us. So we've got doctor, we got OM, and we've got our leadership team. Depending upon the size of it, it might be two people on your leadership team, it might be three people, it might be four, it might be like 15, whatever it is.   and have clear responsibilities and we have regular meetings. I recommend meetings once a week and then I recommend quarterlys. I'm obsessed with traction. You guys know that we run a Dental A Team's version of it that is very much ⁓ a mix of a few items that I'm obsessed with and I love it. Run our weekly meetings, run our quarterly meetings. Like this is what you need to do to be successful because when you have a strong leadership structure and doctors, this is where you got to do it. Like as an owner, you do the clinical dentistry, you set the vision.   and you go to the leadership meeting, you are part of it, you gotta set the vision, but you typically don't walk out with many to-dos. You don't, that's what your team should be doing. And if you're taking on to-do after to-do after to-do, we're not following that accountability chart. So we've got to have strong leadership. And then what we're gonna do from there is we're gonna have a simple like CEO rhythm. So for me, that's check-ins weekly with my O-N, it's weekly or monthly reviewing the financials, and then like I said, quarterly planning.   Like as a CEO, you've got to watch these things. You got to check the KPIs. You got to work with your OM. Like that's part of business ownership. It's like, you don't need more time. You just need consistency. And realistically, this is your two hours a week of CEO time. So if you get it done, you can do this. I usually recommend during clinical time. So two hours during my clinical time, I focus on the business. I work with my OM. I check the financials. And then we do have a longer quarterly meeting. Most of the time it's anywhere from four to eight hours for a quarterly meeting.   This is how you're going to be able to build control. Consistency builds control. It's a great thing for it. So while you're doing this, do you see how we've just taken all the busy minutiae off of you? You can still be this great clinician. You can still be this amazing dentist. You can still love dentistry and you can still run a successful business, but you don't have to do all the pieces of it. You can really have your cake and eat it too, but you've got to be consistent. You got to be willing to let go. You got to be willing to put in the work to get the accountability and the vision and the meeting set up and   Clear expectations with your OM. Those are the weekly meetings. Like if things aren't going the way you want it, have the conversations, fix the pieces. You and your OM need to be in lockstep, like tight, tight, tight with each other. And if you don't have that relationship, you gotta build it. And you can start having the honest conversations. Read Five Dysfunctions of a Team together, like by Patrick Lanziani. Read things together where you guys are building. Read traction, read rocket fuel, like.   figure out what you two are both supposed to be doing, but you've got to have this lockstep where you trust them implicitly. And if you don't, you need a different OM. And OMs, that's no bash on you. It just means, or you guys have to figure out what broke the trust and how do we get that trust back? This means that you are not like stepping away. You're just stepping up into the role that you're meant to be. So you don't have to do every single thing in the practice, but you do have to lead. And if you don't want to do that,   You can't abdicate this to your OEM. Like you can't, you're the boss. Like you are, whether you want it or not. Or you hire another CEO to run your business for you. But I want you to see that you can be truly the CEO of your practice. You can empower your team and you can be a great clinician. You don't have to do it all. So this is something where truly, this is what we help with. We build leadership teams. We help doctors get into the CEO seat. But I want to say, because there's a client who sent me an email today and they're like, I just feel stuck. Like we've been consulting and   I appreciate these, I really do. I want you to know though, while that is true, you are stuck as a leader, you have to own that. So, and this is a mix, got a couple emails that came in. Doctors have to be willing to have the hard conversations. If you're not willing to tell your team what you need and you're willing to keep taking it on and on and on, that's a choice. But there's also a choice where you have the uncomfortable conversations with your team. You have the uncomfortable conversations with your coach and say, this is what I need from you.   My gym trainer, I love her, but we're going on this two month journey together. And I said, what do I need from you? I need you to text me for accountability check-ins. I need us to have them preset. And I need it to be where you give me at least like one or two food examples per week. So that way I don't have to try and think of those. That's all I need from you to be successful. But me, I have to be willing to say that. I have to be willing to tell my team what I need. I have to be willing to build the org chart. I have to be willing to look at the numbers. I have to be willing to do the work to get from where I am today to where I ultimately want to be.   but it's not that far away. It's actually quite easy. So if you want help with that, you want to chat about it, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. But I want to make sure that you're ready for it because as a coach, my job is to guide you, to lead you, to tell you what you need to do. But ultimately I'm not the one who does it. That's you. So if you're like, yeah, I'm ready for a change. I'm ready to do this. I'm ready to tell what I need. I want to be the CEO of my practice. I don't want to continue on this path, but you have to actually let go. You have to like have the vision. You've got to lead your team.   and you got to execute on it and you got to trust your OEM to do it. And if you don't have an OEM that you can trust, you've got to hire another one. Like black and white, this is what's got to happen. You got to be willing to make those choices. We don't get six packs overnight. We get them from consistently, consistency. We get them from doing the work. We get them from making the hard decisions and being disciplined. That's how we get it. And that's the same thing for your practice. You can be the doctor who's just clinical, but you've got to make sure that you set your practice up for success. So reach out. I'd love to help you. Hello at thedentalanteam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Standing out as a dental practice is easier than you might think — and thank goodness for that! Kiera gives three steps to find what makes you and your practice unique even when you feel like you're as vanilla as can be. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I hope you're having an amazing day. I am so excited to podcast with you. I get so giddy when I know it's podcasting day and I literally can't sleep at night. I get so excited for the next day and I just really want to make sure that what I'm delivering for you and all the different podcasts are exactly what you need because I do believe that my job in this world is to positively impact the world of dentistry and give you quick tactical tips that are going to change your life, change your practice and make you   Remember why you chose dentistry. Dentistry should be fun, you guys. Owning a practice should be fun. And I know that it's not always going to be fun. I've accepted as a business owner, there's highs and lows, and that's just the flavor of business ownership that we sign up for. And so today I wanted to just give some quick tactical tips because I feel like so many of us are trying to figure out how can we stand out as dental practices without it being just about cost. There's so much more because we talk about marketing and you guys know my Achilles heel is marketing. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.   ⁓ But it's really truly how can you be your own brand, your own fragrance, your own style, and yet still attract the patients that you want. And I think it's actually easier than you might think because we help practices all the time stand out for who you want. And what I found is the number one most important thing when you're looking at your practice is be true to who you are. I remember I was reading the book Traction.   by Gina Wickman, guys know, shout out. I'm a big proponent of that book. do a lot of Dental A Team's version of traction. We have traction within Dental A Team. And, I remember at end of the book, they were talking about how, like, know thyself and be free as a visionary. And, ⁓ if that's who you are or you're an integrator, like know thyself and be free. And I think when it comes to your own practice, know thyself and be free and make sure it's what people want. And then make sure you're talking to those people. I think about, have some friends that are.   are very into nature and them getting on the podcast, I'm probably not going to attract the same type of people that I attract. I want people that are driven, growth minded, entrepreneurs, people that are seeking that next level, people that want to have fun in life. That's who Kirita is and that's my style. That's my brand. And I remember when I started Dental A Team, I had some people tell me that, Kirita, there's absolutely no way you're going to be able to impact everybody across the nation and that's not going to work for you as a consultant. And I am so grateful and thankful that I stuck true to my gut.   I struck two to who Kiera Dent is. And while at the same time I can say true to Kiera, I need to also know what the market's asking for. If I'm just here to talk kumbaya with you, I'm probably going to attract a different crowd. But the people who want to be with Kiera, who want to be a part of Dental A Team, it's crazy. At the masterminds, I look at our doctors and our office managers and they are very similar to who I am and who I am on the podcast. So if that resonates with you, come be a part of our community.   you can reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or go to our website, book a call. I'd love to chat with you. And I do still vet a lot of the people coming into our company. And, ⁓ I want to make sure that you're a good match for us. And so I think when I'm looking at what can you do to stand out within your own practice and how can you compete? It's who are you and what makes you different. And if you don't know, go read your reviews, go read the Google reviews, go read to see. And if you read dental, interviews, they always talk about that. They're fun, that they're positive, that they changed my life, that they make dentistry so simple.   That is Kiera Dent to the core. wanted to be the Dr. Seuss of systems. I wanted to make doctors and teams have easy profitability without it being hard. And so when I look at the reviews, that is true core to Kiera. So I want you to say who's true core to you. ⁓ And a good way to do this is to go back to what your core actually is. So go back to what the core values are. Why did you even start the company? When I go back and I look at Kiera Dent, like what were my three core fundamentals? You can ask Tiff this was the beginning of day one. Like it was fun, do the right thing and ease.   from the beginning of time, it's always been what I've said. I said, if we're not having fun, I don't wanna do this. Like truly, it's a hobby for me, it's a good time. And now we've created into an incredible business. Do the right thing always. Like do the right thing for the customer, do the right thing for our team, do the right thing for our clients. Like that is what I want you to do. And I'm not gonna sit here and give you a rules of do the right thing. Like as a core individual, you need to have that to your core. To me, it's a, we over deliver. We always come to the table. Like I want you just to do the right thing. And that needs to be a moral compass for you.   And then ease, I don't need people who make it clunky hard, all the different pieces, I need you to make it easy. And that's been my model since the beginning of time, I wanted everything to be easy, do the right thing and fun. That's Kiera's core, that's who I am. And so for you to go back and it's core values versus aspirational values. And so I really want you to look at what are the core of your company? And is that fulfilling?   I remember there's dental office I opened, me and the doctor, her core was very edgy. would say edgy is probably one of our core values of that company. We were listening to Drake at six in the morning. Like that was our core and we wanted it to be this edgy vibe. were in downtown Denver. That's what we did and it attracted the right type of people. Now my parents, if they walked into that dental practice, there is absolutely no way in their right mind that they would want to stay there. But a lot of people in downtown Denver, we knew our avatar, we knew who we wanted. So we were going to attract that. So I really want you just to think of like,   How can you stand out? How can you make sure that this practice feels like home to you? So step one is go back to your core of why did you even start this business? And let's make sure that that's really incorporated in everything you do. Number two, I want you to really make sure that who you are fundamentally is what you're branding and what you're speaking to. ⁓ And then make sure the third thing is you look to see what do patients really want and what are they valuing? So.   I think so many practices, the reason you get lost in the mix is because you've just got standard marketing across the board. says like, we care about our patients. We have the exact same services listed. We've got generic online presence. There's nothing that identifies or differentiates you. There's a practice in California that I really love. And she said like, we love ⁓ changing the way people feel about going to the dentist. And I have another dentist who their tagline is to be the community, the, like the dentist that the community chooses.   ⁓ And I have another office that's like to change the way people feel about going to the dentist. And another one is to just be your foodie dentist. Those people, you guys, I didn't even pull up my notes. didn't look at it before I got on the podcast. Those are ones that I can just rift, repeat, remember because they stand out to me. They're not just generic marketing. And so for you, what is it that makes you stand out? I've got a doctor and he called it, ⁓ I think it's called Empower Dentistry.   ⁓ and I love that because his whole model is like empowering patients to be confident about their health, to be confident about their decision-making and really spend a lot of time educating his patients. So for you, like, what is that one thing for Kiera? You guys, I'm the Dr. Seuss of dentistry. I have a good time. have a lot of fun. I am not your standard consulting company. We do things very different at Dental A Team. I want people, we get the same type of results, if not better.   But we do it in Kiera Dent's way. We do it in a fun way. We do it in a way that makes team members happy. Our job is to light people up. Life's my passion, dentistry is my platform. That's Kiera Dent. And if that doesn't resonate you, then you're not gonna be listening to the podcast. But if it does resonate with you and you're like, yeah, I wanna have the best life and I wanna have team that's lit up and I wanna do it in an easy way, not a hard way. You guys, I'm not cookie cutter. If you want standard scripts on how we do X, Y, we have them, but that's not gonna be where I'm going to lead from. We're gonna lead from what's your vision and your practice to what did the numbers tell us? Then we're gonna implement systems based on that information.   That's how we operate. Most people are like, Hey, you want systems? Fantastic. Here are your systems. And I'm like, no, why am I coming in and giving teams more work? Like nobody wants that. What we want is what's the vision of the practice? What are the numbers tell us? Let's put systems into place that way. Again, it's all boiling it down to that ease, that simplicity that's going to guarantee results. So what is your clear differentiator? What's your clear identifier? And so when we have it, like, I don't want to be Chick-fil-A McDonald's.   like competing across the board. I want something that's going to make you resonate. I've got holistic dentists and it's like full comprehensive health for their patients is what they want them to have total wellness of health. And you might say like, but Kiera, I'm just like, like, I just do dentistry. I just want to do dentistry and I'm very vanilla. Like there is nothing that stands out about me. I do bread and butter dentistry. It's very simple. Well, I'll say vanilla is very great ice cream that a lot of people like.   How can we make your vanilla ice cream better than the next person's vanilla ice cream? So I just wanna highlight that no matter what you do, there is something that's your special sauce. There is something special and unique about you and your practice that's going to drive and resonate with other people. There's billions of people on the planet. You don't need all of them. You just need your core crew of people that want to come to you as a practice. So I would say, what is it of, how are you going to make sure people stand out to you?   and looking back at your core values, looking back to why, what makes you, you go look at the reviews and make sure does that speak? And if it does, amazing, keep doing more of that. And if it doesn't, let's change that and revamp it a little bit so that way you do feel like it's home. I have had so many offices try to be something they're not, they're like, well, Kiera, everyone says I need to be on social media and I don't like it. Then don't do it. Like you can be at home, you can be there, you can still like.   I am the silent dentist. Like don't like social media. Great. You're going to probably find people that don't like social media. So let's do flyers and mailers and other things that could attract people in. ⁓ Or find a team member that really is great at it so you don't have to do it. For me, you've got to show up a couple of times. That's part of being a business owner and I don't love it, but I'm going to be true to Kiera. You're going to be true to you. Be true to you because the thing is I want you to just feel like you're at home. When I get on the podcast, I get to just be Kiera.   This is Kiera unfiltered. It's funny when people get on our practice assessment calls or like wanting to work with us calls and we're assessing to see, are you a good fit for us and are we a good fit for you? I'm sitting in my studio. Like what you guys see is where I work every single day. The microphone, I don't usually talk to people on a microphone, but I will pull it on over so people can see it. Like I'm just Kiera. This is who you get. I'm real raw. Someone asked me a very personal question on a sales call the other day and I was like, you know what?   I am so grateful that you feel so comfortable to be able to ask me those questions. I'm Kiera. This is who I am. I always want people to feel like I'm just Kiera Dent from the block. Like I'm your next door neighbor. I'm the person who's not here to judge you. I'm here to give you a hand up. I'm not here to slap your hand, tell you you should have known that because you're a dentist. That's what I want people to feel. So I think it's a what's your core. And then also the second piece is what do you want people to feel when they come to your practice? Because that's going to help them laser in with you way more than anything else.   So looking at those core values, how do you want them to feel? For me, it is a no judgment zone in Dental A Team. Our whole team knows this. You like nobody should ever, like I will not hire people that are snooty tooty attitudey. Like I'm just not here for that. That's not our culture. That's not our brand. That's not who we are. Our brand and our style is very much a come as you are, we love you we're gonna take you to your goal, your vision. I'm not here for everybody to get to the DSO world. I want you to live your best life. Your practice should serve you your needs in your life, not the other way around. But I will tell you,   I did not have that refined on day one of opening this company. That has come over time of what do I want dentists to feel? What are people saying? What is it that sets me apart from other people? And I do believe that your practice and how you stand out is not a one and done check it off the box. My core, one and done. And as long as I don't deviate from that, I'm probably gonna be pretty solid. The second thing is who we are and our fundamentals, those have not changed. But how I talk to people, what I want people to feel when they come to our company.   That's morphed and evolved. It's always been a no judgment zone, but I think it's become more and more and I market that more and more and I want people to just feel safe. I want people to feel seen. I want people to feel heard. I realize as business owners, myself included, as I morphed and evolved, gosh, that's something I wanted. You could start to listen in to what your patients say. Why do they choose you? And you might even have people that you trust a lot. I have asked certain people like, why did you choose Dental A Team over somebody else? 95 % of the time it's because we don't judge. We aren't cookie cutter.   and we actually have been there, done that and do it successfully and we bring the team along. Those are typically the reasons people choose our company over someone else. And I always get energy, always. So I care, we love your energy. And I'm like, great. So they like a good time. They want somebody who's fun. That's my core value. So yeah, like we're getting it. But listen to why people are choosing you. Maybe it's the Google reviews. Maybe it's because you are the holistic dentist in your area. Maybe it's because all their friends and family trust you. Listen to that and brand with that.   People will tell you if you will listen why they choose you, why you're the best in their opinion. And if that's your favorite patient, do more of that. That's how you're going to stand out. Again, you're not going for the billing and you're going for your niche community of people that want to come to you. ⁓ I know I've got a pediatric dentist. He's so popular, like one of the top of the top of the top and he's just himself and he shares his real life. Some of you may be like, that's not me. Again.   You've got to do your differentiator based on who you are. If you're not loud and outlandish, don't be that online because they're going to come in and be like, it was a bait and switch. Like, wow, this person's dead in the water when I show up. Or if you're like dead in the water, but you're super outlandish in the practice, they might feel like, wow, that's very different. You need to have it where you guys are synced in. People feel like they can understand. People feel like they're on the same page with you. It feels the same. Like that's what branding is. This is how you differentiate is what our presence is online is who we are in person.   And so I would just say, take an exercise today. Go through and figure out what on earth do we need to do to stand out in our crowd? Number one, what's our core value? What do we stand for? Who's the core? What is the core of who we are? Number two, what do we people to feel? Read our reviews, how do we want them to feel? And then number three, how can I do more of that and has it evolved over time? Those would be like quick, simple three steps, but make sure online presence matches in-person presence. In-person presence matches online presence. Our online presence is fun.   There's dots, there's confetti, there's smiling, laughing people. That's not just pictures. When you're in an office, you're laughing your freaking head off. It's hilarious. We're having a good time because teams don't want to do hard. Teams don't want to have a non-fun. Why do I make the podcast? Yes, for a lot of value for you, but also for you to have your teams experience this before they even work with us. How can you test drive the car without test driving the car? Well, here's a great way to do it. How can people test drive your practice without doing it?   How can they say, my gosh, of all the dentists out there, I wanna work with you. And then I'm gonna say this, and I know this is annoying and I'm sorry, but this is another piece that you're gonna stand out and it's through your Google reviews. You've gotta be kicking it over there. If you need, talk to Swell. Swell.co, I think is their website. Tell them Dental A Team sent you, get the best deal. Zeke and I have known each other for eight years and he has never changed the pricing on the people I refer to him, which thank you, Zeke. Shout out to you. Swell is the best one I've ever met. I know there's a ton of them out there. I have like vetted all of them. Best of the best of the best.   So if you want a great one, like you've got to also be the best. And so I just did this with a team the other day ⁓ and I had all of them go leave reviews. I had all of them practice asking for reviews. And I taught them like, you can be the best dentist, but if you're not the best marketed dentist online, no one's gonna find you. And imagine me with my picket fence out there, like picketing, like save the teeth. If you're the best dentist in the best dental office, you have a moral obligation to save those teeth. People only have 28.   Some might have 32, but most of us only have 28. And we only have one shot at that. And I believe that people deserve the best of the best. So you also have an obligation to get those reviews up, to ask your patients to leave your reviews, but that's gonna tell you how you stand out. Please also make sure you have fun. Do things that light you up. Marketing is like, my gosh, it's my least favorite thing to do. But I realized, Kiera being Kiera and just showcasing that is marketing.   And I can have a truckload of fun with you guys on here. I can have a great time on the podcast. I can share all my wildest things. I can talk to you about whatever I want to talk to you about. And you can get to know Kiera, real Kiera. You can get to know Kiera Dent from the block. And that's where I realized like, this is fun for me. Now me going and making dumb social reels. Sorry, all you that love it. I'm not trying to diss on you at all. That's not a diss. I just absolutely loathe it. Like I would rather sit here and talk to you and give you like tactical tips than I would like making up a funny meme.   I'm a freaking hilarious human, but I don't like staged humor and I don't have a great marketer next to me and it just feels hard. That's not something that I'm like, yay, marketing day. Now if I had a marketer who lived next door to me and they're like, hey, I got seven ideas for you, let's roll. I would freaking love it. But make sure it's something that you jive and enjoy. And if you don't love it and then people are gonna feel it. Now, that doesn't mean it's uncomfortable. You gotta get out of your comfort zone. But if you absolutely loathe something, you guys like, I...   You have a marketer who did this and I felt like an idiot. I'm not good at remembering how to say things and being on script. Like I feel so dumb and so uncomfortable that I'd rather sit there and have you rift with me, like ask me questions like top, top dental softwares, top AI softwares, top practices, how they perform. What are the top five things that the most elite leaders do? I would rather do that. It's the same thing. I can still create reels, but they're conversations and topics that I know you guys want to hear. And I know you're going to have a good time hearing.   and I know I can give you amazing value without you ever working with me. That's Kiera Dent's MO. So what's your MO? What drives you? And if you need a minute, go take like two hours at a Starbucks, figure out what your core values are. What do you want people to feel when they come to your practice? And then look to see what is the core? What are the things that light you up? Again, maybe that you're not perfect at. I love to give tactical practical. And like I said, that morphed over time. What do I people to feel has morphed over time. So maybe do a revamp. See how can we stand out a little bit stronger?   and then ride it guys. Trust it, own it, embrace it, because the more confident you are in it, people are buying your confidence, they're not buying you. The reason people come to Dental A Team is because when I got on the podcast, you guys, I've been there, I've done it, I've seen it all, like you probably can't tell me something. I would love somebody to challenge me, bring me something I haven't ever heard before. But I have so much confidence that no matter which practice you are, where you're at, I know ways to turn your life around and your practice around and do it very quickly and easily.   I'm that confident. That's what you're buying. You're buying my 10 years of being on the freaking road going into 500 plus offices. That's why people sign up with Dental 18 plus they love our energy. Yeah, I'm a good time. So let's do it fun and let's share all that experience. Why are people signing up with you? What is the confidence you have? Are you the best at doing those fillings? Are you the best at doing those crowns? Highlight that, get excited about it. People are buying your confidence and the more confident you can be through your reviews, through your online presence, the more they're going to spy you. It's not their dentistry they're buying.   It's the confidence in you and your team. And if you can remember that, you will stand out of a crowd all day long. So I feel like I usually can do a quick wrap for you and like, here's the five things for you to take. Today, it's not, it's a rift. It's a, here are the ways that I see people stand out. Here are the ways that I've been able to stand out. Here's the ways that we've been able to change things for you. But I really feel like standing out is not about doing more. It's about doing the right thing that lights you up consistently. Getting on the podcast, do you know how many episodes I've recorded?   Do know how many times I pushed play over here and said, all right, let's go? Consistency can out deliver flash in the pan. I have been doing this for seven years now. Seven years we've been talking together. Seven years we've been hanging out. Almost 10 years I've been traveling to offices. That's consistency guys. And doing consistency, doing the right things consistently. It's not about doing more.   I didn't ratchet up our podcast amount, doing the same amount since the beginning of time, and that's still a lot. ⁓ But I think for you to stay consistent, speak your truth, people will come to you, I promise you. Don't think it's about doing more. Don't think it's about that. Just being aligned so where people can feel your true authenticity and your genuine love, people will buy that all day long. We're in a world inundated with noise and starving for wisdom.   Be that different voice, whatever yours is. And if we can help you in any way, if I can be your cheerleader, if our team can like help you see the goodness in you, because sometimes it's hard to see the goodness in you. We do this with offices, we help them out. I've got a doctor right now in California and we're helping her see like how she's fantastic to drive more patients to her practice. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Be proud of yourself. There are people that need you specifically. Not everybody wants you, not everybody wants Dental A Team, but the people who really do that resonate.   They're going to find me and my voice. why I ask you guys to share because you're listening. Please share with other people just like you because odds are if you like me, your friends are going to like me and we're going to be able to help them change the world of dentistry. Same thing. If your patients like you, odds are they've got friends and family that are going to love you as well. Ask them. Don't be afraid to get the reviews from them. And for all of you, I'm asking you today, if you love the podcast, leave us a Google review. Go leave me a review share because I need more people like you listening to this podcast.   I am on a mission to impact every single dental practice out there and to positively impact them and to change the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And I can't do that alone. I need you to share. So share and ask your patients to do the same, but it's very hard for you to ask somebody when you haven't done it yourself. So if you've never left a Google review or it's been a while, go leave Dental A Team at Google review. We'll put it in the show notes. It's very easy for you. ⁓ and the second thing I would ask is share us with somebody, share the podcast with somebody today, share this episode with somebody shared in a Facebook group.   because you're gonna get more confidence and have your team do the same thing. You can have them listen to this episode, share with people, leave a review. I had an office, 10 people left me a review that day because they were having a hard time and feeling disingenuous asking for reviews. Get people comfortable, get people confident and they'll do it more often, same thing with you. And I'm a very easy person. Leave me a great review. You love the podcast, you're clearly giving your time to me. So leave a review, say how much you love it and then feel confident asking somebody and ask somebody today because more people need your dentistry.   More people need you to change their lives. It's your moral obligation to show up, do the right thing, have fun and do it with ease. Did you like those core values? That was a nice wrap for all of you. Thanks for listening. I adore you. I'm here to serve you on any level I can. Reach out, join us at an event, come to our mastermind, whatever it is, do something today. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast.  

Do you find yourself with a to-do list rather than a fully functioning leadership team? This episode is all about the Dental A-Team's bread and butter: scaling leaders. Kiera shares how to transition out of micromanaging in a way that you and your team can get behind, whether you're working with people who've worked in your practice for years, or starting fresh. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I hope you're having a great day today. I hope that you just love what you get to do. I hope that you realize, gosh, you're so lucky to be working in a day and age like today. I know we can sit here and we can talk about all the problems. We can talk about how this patient did this and this team member did this and my gosh, this happened and Kiera, the cashflow this and you wouldn't even understand. I haven't taken a vacation for four years. I hear you.   And I just want to remind you that good and bad coexist. We can see the good just as much as we can see the bad. And the greatest way to combat anger and fear is to look at gratitude. We can also talk about what were all the great things that happened. You have all these amazing patients today. You had a team who freaking loves you and fills your schedule for you. You showed up today and patients were just magically there. You were able to walk in and you're cash flowing positive. I hope that that's your day. And if it's not, let's talk because cash flow.   ⁓ it's my biggest pet peeve and I Dennis to always be freaking wealthy because when you are successful financially, your team is happier, your patients are happier because we're not stressed out all the time. So that's my big rant. Let's chat. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm obsessed with making your life easier. We're obsessed with positively impacting you in the greatest way possible. And I love helping dentists get the happiness, fulfillment, success that they're seeking and doing it for you and teams. So   That's what I'm here for. Welcome, welcome, welcome. If you love our podcast, please like, subscribe, share this, leave us a review. That's how we're able to help more practices just like you get to the success. We're all here. Like the world of success. Imagine it's like this boardroom. It's, it's infinity. Everybody's welcome and everybody should have that. And that's what I'm here for. There is more money in this world than we can ever count on. And all of us are entitled to it. All of us have access to it. And I want everybody to rise to the top and help each other get there. And that's what we're about. So   With that, I wanna just help you. I think this is a great one. I think leadership is such this like, tricky topic. Like, my gosh, I don't even know what leadership is. And so today I wanted to kind of break down like, stop managing people and start managing leaders. And this is like leadership 101 for you. So just gonna kind of walk you through. If you're still managing every single detail.   of your practice, you don't have a leadership team, you have a to-do list. And that's a bold statement. And that's even a statement for myself. And sometimes you might have a leadership team and you just need to let go. Also speaking to myself, but hey, if that applies to you, please email me. I love a good pen Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Please tell me I'm not alone out there, but truly, are you managing every detail? Are you managing your leadership team? So I just want to walk you through some three simple little steps of how to stop managing tasks.   and leading through an empowered team. was talking to our COO and she said, know, Kiera, you've got to be able to work through your team. Meaning you don't do it all yourself as a leader. You work through that team. And I think as CEOs, as owners of practices, we often don't work through our team. actually just do it all. And that creates a burnout that creates stress. It does not create a self-sufficient leadership run team. And that's what Dental A Team's obsessed about doing is let's build these self-sufficient leadership teams. And this is a blueprint to stop micromanaging   and start scaling leaders. Are you on board? I hope you are. This is something I freaking love because for me it's hard. Like it's a real life thing. Like I feel like I micromanage a lot. I feel like I don't scale leaders. I feel like I get in their way. I feel like I've grown a lot. I feel like I've also had to be the person. So it's kind of built in his habits. And so I think it's a space where like we oftentimes think do I need to hire a new leader? And I think sometimes, yes. Like when I look at office managers,   We can grow them. Dental A Team is really, really great at actually developing office managers and helping you know what it is. So before you go and hire someone brand new, I would definitely recommend growing them, seeing if they've got the skillset. And if not, then let's go hire this person. But I think when you're, when you go from this micromanaging to do list to bringing on leaders, it's going to be a let's identify and develop internal leaders for you because a lot of times they're just sitting right in front of you.   I was just at an event the other day and one of our team members was there and like not even on my radar of leadership. And I was like, wow, that person has been sitting right in front of me. So I think sometimes we think the grass is greener rather than just really like we got a freaking green pasture right in front of us. Let's just develop them. So you can test people out. And the way you start to look for leaders on your team is who naturally takes the initiative, who does this just on their own? And can I help grow them?   and help them like earn trust with me. And then can I do one-on-one coaching? So for me, I like plant little projects like, hey, you take this on and I'm watching to see does this person take the initiative? Do they follow through? Do they have the traits that I'm looking for in a leader? Do they have my trust? And if they don't, that's great. They're a great team member. But if not, like I can do one-on-one with them. Also the way you develop, like if you identify about this person, they're not quite to leadership. You can do one-on-one coaching with them. You can literally hire a Dental A Team to help coach and train your leaders.   We do this all the time. Give leadership books, have a book club with them, have clear responsibilities, what's their job description. And then we promote based on ownership mindset, not tenure. And that to me is something so hard. And I just wanna talk about it like, how do we do this? Because a lot of people feel like I've been here for a long time. And I will tell you the best and easiest way to do this is to actually put out the job description for who you're hiring and send it to your team and see who wants to apply for it. Because then the tenure people might look at that and like,   And someone told me that, like, yep, open that job description and close it right back up because surely don't want to do all that. They're a seasoned team member, but they don't want to take it on. So that's your easiest way to be able to promote for that ownership mindset and leadership of who actually wants it rather than just who's been there for a long time that quote unquote feels like they deserve it. Just because people have been there for a long time does not mean that they're a great leader. And I hope you hear that. And this is how you micromanage because a lot of times people put leaders into place with massive air quotes that aren't leaders.   They're just bodies with a title and you're still having to do everything. Right? People write, see, it should not cost you more time or more money. They should actually give that back to you. So if that's not the case for you, you don't have leaders, you have doers and you need leaders. So I think when you, um, there's been plenty of practices that I've worked with where we've taken team members on the team, given them some leadership guidance. So we teach them how to have one-on-ones. We teach them how to have hard conversations. We teach them how to look at the books. We helped them learn.   how to actually like be a leader of your practice. And people are like, you turned my office manager around. Like they're now an office manager. And a lot of times it's not that they weren't great. They just didn't even know. If I would have had a coach and a mentor as an office manager, I would have been 10 X the manager that I was. And that's coming from Kiera Dan. I think I'm pretty dang good. And I take a lot of initiative, but I just didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know how to run a business. I hadn't looked at this before. I didn't have the experience with it. I just got thrown in because, hey, I'm Kiera. I know I can figure this out.   but a lot of times it's very costly. So give them the coach, give them leadership books, give them a mentor, give them a job description and KPIs and see them rock. So I would definitely look at that. And so if you're managing everything or you feel like you're doing a lot, is there a team member on your team today that shows leadership potential? And could you start mentoring, testing them out, seeing how they do to see if they're your person before we go higher? Number two, step two is going to be we wanna make sure leadership roles are   very clearly defined with authority and accountability. So something I see that happens often when people put leaders into places, they don't give them authority and the doctor actually undercuts them. And I know I've done this to my team. So team, if you're listening, I'm very sorry because I know I've done this to you and you've got to have clarity and autonomy for leadership to work. So what it means is we've got to have scorecards and KPIs with decision-making rights. So who actually can make decisions on this? And if you're the only person that's doing it, you've got to put into place   what your decision making is and who I like panic saying this. Literally I'm like looking down stressed out right now to say this. You have to accept that people aren't going to do it the way you would do it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. I like things a certain way. I'm very aware of that. I'm like, even my husband, told me he's like, Kiera, it's been so nice. Like we had some friends coming over and usually I'm very particular about like what we're doing for dinner and how we're doing it.   I've been so busy, he's like, I just initiated and I'm so tired. I'm like, that's great. Thank you. Like, and I think when we realize like, what are the decisions really truly you have to make? I've got a doctor who loves picking out the prizes for her prize box. She's pediatric. And yet that's something that you could delegate, you could elevate and you could get some time back. I'm not here to say you can't do the things you love, but I am here to say like, you've got to give autonomy, you've got to give clarity. Otherwise you're always going to sit here.   So if you can't give that up and you're so obsessive about every single detail so much even as the prize box, the leadership might not be your jam and you might need to just be a manager and hire somebody who's a great CEO to run your business. And I'm not saying that vindictively or that you're not good enough. It's just truly like, what's your skillset for it? So you've got to have clear roles with authority and accountability. So KPIs, decision-making rights. You've got to have what the lead owns and what they don't. So this way you're not crossing in. We have an accountability chart and I swear it's like,   call it our holy grail of the company. I have to look at them like, okay, who is making these decisions? It's not Kiera who is doing this and setting them up for success, letting them fail, letting them make the decisions. Sure, if it's going to like make us go bankrupt. So I say if it's a financial, a legal, those are like the main two things that I really have decision-making rights over that I'm gonna trump all day long. The rest need to be having autonomy with it. And then also our theme this year is outcomes over activity. So.   Make sure that we have meetings where we're reporting on the outcomes, not the activity. So what's our KPA scorecard show us? I don't care that you got 200 things done today. High five. I'm super proud of you. Did we hit goal? Did we make overhead and are we profitable as a business? Like, and did our team love our day? And did we have a great patient experience? Like, I'm so happy that you did the billing, but like that falls under the outcome of profitability and overhead. Like those are just parts of the business that we've got to do. And so   Really when our OMS and our doctors and our people see their role clearly, like even in our organization, when we rolled out the accountability chart and we have it set, we've got specific KPIs and we started tracking on measures, the team starts to move. There's fewer daily interruptions. Things can move forward and I'm not having to make as many decisions anymore and the leadership team is able to make them smoother, faster, easier. Now, I'm not perfect at this. I have a lot of pieces in here. There might be better leaders out there.   But I will tell you growing leaders on your team, developing them and helping doctors and teams work, then only team a second to none. Like this is what we do. Me as a CEO of a consulting company, yeah, it's been tricky. Cause I'm like, I don't have the freaking playbook. I know how to do your practice. I know how to do your life, but doing our business has been hard. But I will say as you're building this, and if you're listening today, you've got to have a scorecard for each leadership role that has their job description, their KPI and their decision-making authority of what they can or can't do.   that clarity is going to create confidence in your team. This is something easy to build. I mean, we've got AI, we've got Dental A Team, we can help you guys with all of this. Those are pieces that you're going to do. And then after that, you're going to do step three, which is coaching the leaders, not the team. And this, ugh, like I sit back in my chair, like I feel stressed out to say these things to you. I think this one actually is pretty tricky for somebody who's founder led, who's been very involved with all the team. You move into a space where,   You just now work with your leaders, not the rest of the team. And ⁓ I think this is where leadership can feel lonely. I think this is where you can feel like, but I don't know all my team members and you don't anymore. And as you grow and evolve, you actually need to move on because what happens is if you still lead the rest of the team, you actually bypass your leaders and you undercut them.   you've got to route feedback and issues through them. And that's like a hard redirect because you're so used to being the person who answers it. So pull out your little accountability legend, look at it and be like, okay, thank you for asking me that question. This is the person who needs to do it. We play popcorn in our team of, all right, we have a question for this, who does this? And we have them answer until they know who to go to. And it's just a redirecting and a reworking for everybody. And just say like, hey, I know we've like shaken our team like a snow globe. Everything's kind of falling into place and I wanna make sure people have clarity.   because clarity creates confidence. So then we have our leaders. And then you actually have, I do weekly leadership meetings and we do monthly. And I realized like, that's my time to coach my leaders. So can I give them books? Can I do book clubs? Can I help them? And then you have one-on-ones either weekly or monthly to really develop them as leaders, to track in on their KPIs, to look at their issues, to resolve issues for them. And you literally train them how you want them to treat their team.   So hey, what I'm doing with you, I'm meeting with you weekly, I'm reviewing your KPIs, we're looking at our quarterly objectives, making sure that's moving. And then any issues you've got with proposed solutions, let's work through those. You develop your leaders who then can go develop their teams. And I will tell you that I've got several doctors who have built incredible leadership teams, and it is done through this and they coach the leaders. And some of them have even said like, I don't even know half my team anymore. And what I tell those doctors and I tell myself is,   you still get to surprise and delight in areas that doesn't undercut your leader. You can still be the fun boss. You can still do highlight shout outs to your team members. I still write shout outs to our team of where I've seen them do different things, but the dynamics do change. And I think you have to realize if you don't want to be the micromanager, the office manager, if you will, you do need to develop leaders and you need to let them be leaders and you need to give them that power, that autonomy, that growth. And if you can do that,   you are going to be able to grow. So this is where we do really truly going from having a to-do list to having a leadership team. So quick recap of steps would be identify your internal leaders and start developing them into it. Then we define the roles very clearly with KPIs, job descriptions and decision-making authority. And then we coach them on how we want them to lead the rest. And that coaching piece...   I think yourself, make sure that your coach is a great leader too. This is what I love in our consulting is we do coach doctors and teams. We help doctors show up as great leaders and like, how are you undercutting your team and vice versa? Hey team, how are you undercutting your doctor? How are you not showing up for them? This is what they need from you. And I think having that mediator often can really, really help you out. But I think like coach the leaders, coach yourself, make sure you've got it. What books do you have? What things can you give them? What resources, what courses, like giving them a consultant that can help them.   that's been there, done that, done it successfully. How do we have these uncomfortable conversations? How do we get our core values? How do we shift culture? Those pieces, you've got to lead them to be able to do it. Leadership is a journey, not a destination. And so when you scale, you do stop having touch points and management of every person, but you start managing the right few. Leadership should be managing of five people. So if your team's five people, rock on, keep managing. If you're bigger than that, you need to start building a leadership team.   Even at five people, definitely recommend still having an office manager who helps you because you're busy drilling and filling. You don't have time to do all these little touch points that they should. So I think for you, if you're feeling like you're still carrying the weight of your whole team, even if you've got a leadership team and you need them to start to level up, to deliver for you, it's time for you to lead leaders and to develop leaders and to make sure you got right people, right seats. Sometimes you might have a leadership team, but you're still doing everything. You don't have a leadership team. You've got doers.   And so how do we actually have a leadership team and what things do you need to change to allow leaders to be there? And what things does your team need to do to truly let you and like trust the outcomes and the processes that they're going to deliver for you? It's a two-way street. So teams listening and doctors listening, your doctors got to trust you to deliver and consistently deliver. Doctors, got to trust this team to deliver and consistently deliver. Both you want the same thing. And so really coming together, having those conversations and reading five dysfunctions of a team, getting into those uncomfortable spaces.   is going to help you. So if you need help on leadership or building this infrastructure, I don't know how to get there or gosh, I'm like there, but I still need my leaders to have growth. I need growth. We coach doctors and teams. And this is why, because both sides of the coin are important. Both sides are necessary and both sides need different things. Visitors, you got to look online. You got to forecast. You got to grow your leaders. Leaders, OMS, team leads. You got to hit those KPIs, those metrics. You got to get your team and your department to row in that direction.   These things are not, I think innate, they're trained and they're learned. And so reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is things, share this with someone who's going through this. I know every single one of you today has a doctor struggling with leadership or a team member struggling with leadership. Share this with them. This is how we help grow each other. This is how we help positively impact the world. Give this to a colleague, share it in a post. You guys read those Facebook posts. They constantly are complaining about this. Please share this.   Say like, hey, this is a really good tactical way of how to develop leaders, how to stop micromanaging, how to truly grow into that. And I would love to help anybody. We do complimentary practice assessments. We'll review your practice, give you tactical, tangible advice, whether you work with us or don't. So reach out. I'd love to just like give you a roadmap of where you are and you leave that meeting. Every single time I do that meeting, people leave with clarity, with confidence of where they need to go. So reach out. I'd love to help you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Today's topic is something the Dental A-Team hears about a lot: Our practice is awesome, but we struggle to find new patients. Kiera talks about why this is such a common issue, and gives tips on what you can do to address it. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so freaking pumped about today's podcast and I hope you are too. Today's gonna be a fun day. It's about something that I absolutely love and hate. For those of you that have been listening to the podcast for a while, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm so happy you're here. My job and our company's motto is to possibly impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And we do that through this podcast. We put it on for free for you. Tactical practical advice for you every single week for doctors and teams because honestly trying to get   both on the same page is really tricky. being a team member myself, being a business owner myself, working with hundreds of offices across the nation, our team works with hundreds of offices, our consulting team is like truly second to none. I do believe that we have the most experienced expert team that you could ever ask for. And they truly guide doctors and teams to fulfillment, to success, and they do it with ease. And of course we pop the confetti and have a ton of fun. So today I wanted to just dive in.   And talk about like, why are great practices still struggling to attract patients? I think that this comes up on many coaching calls in lots of different areas. And it's something of like, but the practice is amazing. Why are they not getting the patients? And I think something that I pulled from some business courses I've taken is it does not matter how great your business is. It matters how well your business is marketed. And so I think for us to just look at this and say, all right, how do we market better? And what are the things? So I have found that it is   not because like you are clinically sound or you're not clinically sound. It's really about like being easy to choose and how are we able to be easy to choose as a practice versus being hard. And there's some simple things today that I wanted to go through because like you can have great dentistry, a solid team, great intentions, but if growth is feeling harder than it should, or we're not attracting these patients, let's talk about some ways to do this. And yes, there are PPO, there's fee for service, there are different things that happen for both of those. But literally what I found is   we've got to like look through what a patient's experiencing before they even come into your practice. So I feel like the growth and systems conversation is like not just about marketing conversations. A lot of times we're like, here, I want the magic bullet. I want you to like give me these items and we can just get all these new patients. And I want to too. And I'm here to say that marketing has a place. ⁓ But I also want you to realize like what are your patients choosing you for? And so looking through your reviews, you can actually throw it into AI and say like,   What are the top like five things that come from these reviews that we're receiving as to why patients are choosing us? And there was a great quote from Top Tips for Effective Clinical Communication in the British Dental Journal, yes, PMC 2023. And they said, effective communication is central to every element of clinical practice from first contact with reception to the point the patient leaves the building. And when I read that quote, I loved that quote because I feel like so often we don't think about   all these mini touch points. And I know we've talked about it before, but it's like, let's work through, like maybe we don't need more new patients. Maybe we just need a better path from attention to appointment. Yes, I love that. From attention, like grabbing their attention to them setting the appointments. And so where can we look for like common misdiagnosis within the practice? What does this look like? And so usually people are like, we need more marketing, we need more patients. And that's not wrong. I was on a coaching call with a practice and we were talking about like,   A great ratio for everybody to have is we need the patient base to be 200 patients per hygienist per day in one week. So for example, if I've got 10 columns of available hygiene in a week, I need 200 patients. Yes, I did easy math for you. What is that answer? 200 patients times 10, bingo, 2000 patients would be an active patient base. Usually seen within the last 12 to 18 months is how many we need to see. So we were looking and this practice was running 14 columns of hygiene in a week. Well, that's 2,800 patients.   They only have 1900 active patients. So what would most practices say? We need more new patients. Let's run into marketing. But like, are there other things that we can do instead of just needing marketing? Like could we maybe, are there patients already sitting within our practice that we need to have? Maybe we do need to have more new patients. Yes, the ideal is 30 new patients per month per doctor. But is that always the case? Are they maybe hiding in the crevices of your practice that we could pull forward?   So me and this office manager had a call, talked about it. looked, we went back to their recall. She was like, here, I got six patients on there. And I was like, well, that's inconvenient. So what things could we do? And so what can we really look for of what about our, are we looking at our re care and our reactivation? Are we reappointing all of these patients? Like before we even go and jump into marketing, which I'm not here to say don't market, but what about all the patients sitting in our database right now? One, can we reactivate them? The answer is yes.   Two, with all the patients coming through, are we asking every single patient, who else can we schedule for you? We absolutely love you. How else can we like, who else can we schedule? Who else do you know that we could schedule for you? So when I look at this, like where is the true diagnosis and do we actually need more? Or is it that like, no, we just need to be better with this. The practice is also asking me like, Kiera, is it the economy? Like we're not getting all these new patients we used to. And I want to say that like generally speaking dentistry is pretty economy bulletproof. Like most patients come in,   Things have it. Now, fee for service, you're gonna struggle more because patients might only like to do one cleaning versus two cleanings, but your insurance driven practices, great news for you. You've already got your patients there. And I'm not here to say that insurance is bad. I actually think insurance is one of the best marketing pieces to drive patients to your practice. And then it's a thousand dollar coupon, like a thousand dollars to get a patient. I know you're like, but Carrie, we take all the cuts and the fees. I don't disagree with you, but how much does it cost to bring on a new patient? Look at that cost.   to benefit and if I can like go beyond their max and my team is really good with that, $1,000 for an insurance max. I understand that not always that's the case, but is that worth it? I say typically yes. So when we look at this, why like, do we really need more marketing? Do we really need more patients? I want you to look for like, let's make sure our systems are tight and taut before we go after and hit the marketing because that just means we got to make sure our bucket, like the walls aren't empty.   We don't have a hole in our bucket, but we actually are filling that bucket with these patients. So that step one is I want you to look there. Me and this office manager, did we find? We found over 800 patients in their database right now. That's how many patients they need. We don't need to go after new patients. We just need to use the patients we already have in our practice because then our practice is full. Now, if we want to grow, then maybe yes, but even that look to see who is in our database version. People don't want this. It's not sexy. It's not fun. It's like, no, but I just want marketing. I want them to be dropped into my lap. I hear you.   but let's make sure that we have that. Now, if we've elected that we do need to go for marketing and we've already tightened up and we have all these pieces, we've got our re-care, we've got our reactivation, we're calling patients, we're making sure that they're reappointed, we're looking and we're running this report consistently, we're asking every single time we schedule patients, who else can I schedule for you? We are actively asking for referrals and reviews. If that's already done, and that's a big if, then we go and look into marketing. So what I want you to look at for you is like,   Do we need to have different messaging on there? How is our, like when we do market, I want you to look at like, what's my website, what's Google, what's our phone experience and is that matching the first impression of us? What about our clarity? Like, are we really crystal clear on who we're trying to market to? Do we have that dialed in? Our dentistry should speak for itself and so tightening up our first impression, tightening up like what our practice is saying to patients and making sure that patients really truly feel like   this office is so different than any other practice, that's going to make sure like that impression online needs to match our patient experience and vice versa. Our patient experience needs to match our online presence. Sometimes offices are so good, but their online presence looks like they are like dated 50 years ago. So making sure that your practice matches, because if a patient's confused, they might not be converting for you. And so let's just look to make sure does our online presence   and our phone calls match our clinical excellence in the practice and does our clinical excellence in the practice match our phone calls and our outside experience? And I hope you guys can see like those two have to be the same. When you pop on Dental A Team, like you listen to me on the podcast, when you join our team, it's freaking fun. We have fun in person masterminds. We have fun in person visits. Teams love when we come. It's got to match what you hear on the podcast. And if it doesn't, people are like, Kiera, I love your energy. And I'm like, I know I have to hire consultants to have my same level of energy. They're not exactly clones of me.   But otherwise it feels like a mismatch and you're like, wow, that person's like really low and cure is really high. You join Dental A Team because you love our energy. You love our style. You love what we present and preach on the podcast. That's why you join. Now, if you didn't experience that, that that's going to be a mismatch. Same thing with you and your practice. Is that a mismatch? Can you tighten that up? So then when it's that we go back to the leaking, we already talked about leaking. So when I look at this, we want to make sure that like we are matching online. And then I talked about our acquisition, our retention, our reactivation, our   reappointment rates. But then in addition to that, there might be more that we could diagnose on there of our experience is amazing. Everything's matching. We might need to go into marketing, but like, let's talk about some other areas where you might have new patients just coming through, through this, which can tie to your marketing. So we've decided our online matches, we're going to go for marketing. We need to get more new patients and or it's already our new patients there. Let's look at how many missed calls we have. People think all the time, like we're just so busy. We're so busy.   missing those calls can actually be impacting your practice with those new patients. Then how do we follow up with them? So if we miss calls, like some people are like, it's fine. We just have a text. Well, that person's hunting right now for a practice. What's that patient experience? And remember, it's these great practices who are failing to attract new patients. Is it because we're missing calls? Is it because we're not doing well with that new patient? Do we not make them fall in love with us when we do get them on the phone? That patient should hang up and be like,   Gosh, Jason or whomever their spouse significant other best friend. I am so freaking pumped to go to that dental practice. If they are not saying that when they hang up with your office, there is something that could be lost there. What about what happens with all these patients that are not like coming through? Do we have a process in place to make sure they get back on the books? What about are we having like a set process in our practice where we're consistently asking for reviews and referrals all the time?   And then also like, do we have this poor handoff from like when a patient calls us and says, this is what I need. And then they take them to the back office and it's not even remotely what they have. Do we have that in there? And so when we look at this, I think it's part of we've got to be tracking and auditing. How many missed calls do we have? How long does it take us to get a missed call to schedule? What about for new patient scheduling? When do we get our new patients in? What about who's overall the followup of this?   And then also, how are we asking for reviews in our practice? If those things, in addition to re-care, reappointment, reactivation, I just listed off eight things. I've got them on my fingers if you're watching the video. Eight things, if we are not doing that, don't talk to me about trying to get new patients and like, ⁓ we can't attract them. You were attracting them, we're just not handling them correctly. We're not taking care of them because this practice is not converting what you're already paying for. And I think if we can't be good stewards over what we're already paying for,   Why are we asking for more? To me, I'm like, tighten the bows. Like that's way easier, but that's discipline and discipline does equal freedom. So for practices, it might be worthwhile before we even jump on the horn and say, we need more new patients. I'm just going to list it off for you. Missed call numbers. We're going to go through our like from missed to scheduling. What about who's over all the followups of all these? What about our review process? What about our re-care? What about our reactivation? What about our reappointment?   If those aren't tight, you have the patience in your practice, you're just not using them and handling them with care. And so make sure that you're not like, I hate wasting money and I think that this is one of the greatest opportunities to waste money. So when we think about it, like here's top funnel, right? We talked about, we gotta make sure our leak is not leaking, okay? Bucket has all the holes filled. Then we gotta make sure what are we saying online versus what they're experiencing and what they're experiencing is that showcased online. Tighten all that up.   And then when we look at this, I'm like, okay, we are solid on this. But what really, really is going to speak and help and what's going to create massive growth for your practice is when the patient journey feels clear, consistent, easy from the first click to the first visit. So when we think about this, we talked about this a little while ago, like what does this new customer want? What does this new patient want? We want to pay attention to like how quickly are we responding to people? What happens when they show up to our practice? Are we so like   excited. Is it genuinely? ⁓ Someone told me a quote for the Ritz-Carlton and it said, ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen. And I have not stopped thinking about their mission statement because I think about it if like, do you have high level professionals serving high level professionals? Or do we have high level professionals serving friends and family of the community? Or do we have like everyday community team members serving and loving everyday team, like community families?   Whatever it is, making sure that this patient feels like the journey is so consistent with what we're putting online, what we're saying we are. So how do we have this? And so really making sure that there is this whole process, like patients love you from the first day that they call you. Patients are excited to work with you. Patients are just giddy. Patients, when they leave the practice, are giddy to refer you, to leave a review for you, to leave a referral. And I think people forget...   that this could actually be a very easy process. So ways that teams can do this is like, let's actually run through a new patient calling, call the practice and like, let's hear how they answer. And don't be afraid to give honest feedback. This is what we're here for. We are here to give honest feedback. And so what was that experience like? Did I feel like you were so excited that you're my best friend that you can't wait to welcome me into the practice? Or if you're more of a holistic practice that it's a Zen, it's a calming, it's a we've got you and we're gonna take great care of you. How do people feel when they call your practice? That's number one.   Number two, let's go online. What do our reviews say? What does our website look like? And does that match when you come into the practice? And if it doesn't, what small little changes, notice they're small, not giant ones. What small changes need to happen? Do we need to update our Google presence? Do we need to update our website? What do we need to do from there? Okay, so we go through that. Then we walk through the practice as a new patient. So come in the door, act like a new patient or act like a regular patient. Let's do role play both of them. How is a new patient greeted? Are they just given an iPad and told to sit there?   Is it like, me have a concierge style with them. What about new patients? Are we saying, hey, it's so great to see you, Kiera. How's your family? Gosh, like let me make sure I get your next cleaning scheduled for you. I know that you absolutely love to like zip out the door you're busy. And who else can I schedule for you? Let me make your life simple while we're waiting. I'll grab you a cup of coffee while you wait. Are we doing that? Did you just hear how many little opportunities I asked? The new patients coming in, the patient there, like how to get more patients just by loving them and being a friend to them. Then what is it like when we take them to the back office?   How is our new patient experience? them in the hygiene chair. How do we explain our pieces? And then what's our wrap up at the end? How do doctors wrap up the exams? How do we take that patient to the front office? How do we hand them off to the front office team to make sure that they're having this amazing experience? Front office team, how are you wrapping up? Are we asking for reviews at that point in time? Do we maybe have a little postcard that we can give them of like, we're trying to help more patients like you. Best way to do it is to leave us a five star review. I love working with you, Kiera. You absolutely make my day. Every time you come into the practice,   I would love it if you'd leave me five star review. Just so you know, my hygienist at the office that I absolutely loved asked me that. I went right home, I had the little postcard, set it on my counter, did the review that night, because it was so simple. That review, also it sat there. My husband doesn't go to that practice. And I was like, I love my hygienist, Jayce. You should probably schedule, like we should get you scheduled for that. Little subtle things. And I'm already patient. I'm the cheapest, easiest marketing to go after. And my patient experience was amazing when I went in there.   Now, when I got annoyed with them, it was because I wouldn't get the same hygienist. I didn't have the same doctor. People didn't know my name. They were late. I left. I ended up leaving the practice. So those little things that we don't think matter are what are deterring. So not only do you role play through what's going great in your practice, but maybe that's also question mark, why would people leave our practice? Asking that question can also be a great audit of why, and are we following up on missed phone calls?   Are we calling people back? Are we scheduling them for unscheduled treatment plans? Are we running this report every single month? Like, do you see how there's an entire ecosystem around these patients? And so when I asked the question at the beginning of why great practices still struggle to attract patients, I think the better question on that is, are we actually doing the little pieces that drive us forward consistently? Are we hoping and praying for miracles of new patients to just rain from the sky?   It's like, I can have rain come every single day from the sky, but if I'm not collecting it in buckets, purifying that, making sure I have a system for that, as much rain that comes down is never going to be enough for you. And so when I look at this, I think it's a space of how can we make sure that our marketing dollars are being well taken care of? Every patient in our practice feels like they are a VIP and that they want to send more patients to us. Those simple, small things are actually how great practices can freaking thrive.   These are how my best of the best do it. When I look at my highest ones, the ones who have repeat customers constantly, they're tight. Their reappointments are there. Their missed calls, they track that, they monitor that. That's a KPI for them. They check to see how long before we get back to missed calls. They are reducing that missed call number. Their reappointment percentages are high from hygienists. They're running the reports. They do not have many patients sitting in their re-care and reactivation campaigns. They are running those on a regular basis, getting patients back into the practice. They also are making sure that they're auditing how's our patient experience.   What's our online presence saying versus what's our inside presence saying? How is our experience? Why would they be leaving us? Let's tighten this up. Let's tighten this up. Let's make sure every encounter is great. We are constantly asking for reviews and referrals. And if that feels daunting to you, then great news. You just heard an amazing opportunity to grow your practice with minimal effort. This is how you're able to do it. You don't need to be fancy, flashy, showy, none of that. All you need to do is have consistency and intentionality. And so I think it's one of those things of growth comes   from being clear, being consistent, and actually having a great experience every time they come, because patients stay for that. So when it's not easy, when you feel like this, a lot of times it's just like doctors are like, I'm busy in the back, Kiera. I'm doing dentistry. I'm drilling and filling. Like, how am supposed to have time for this? And office managers are like, you don't even talk to me. I'm trying to get all the billing out there. I don't disagree. And I feel like these are the cobwebs within the practice that make a practice great or have a practice crumble.   And I think so often people think they need more new patients or they need all these different things when actually all they need is to tighten up and refine and optimize what they already have and have somebody help them with that. So I would love to help you guys. I'd love to find out like where is this breakdown? Where can we tackle it and help hold you guys accountable to it so you actually see the fruits of your labors. So you're actually able to do that. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com if you want some help with this. And today I really want you each to go through an audit. Auditor missed calls.   audit our website, audit where we are like, how long does it take us to call missed calls back? How are we reappointing? How many patients are in our unscheduled lists? How are we following up on them? Do we have a process for that? What's our experience? Are we asking for reviews? And I want you to pick one thing from today's podcast, not all of it, because that can feel daunting, but one thing where we can tighten, sharpen, and refine and optimize to where we don't have these gaps in our practice. Yes, marketing has its place.   But like I said, all the rain can come to you, but if you're not collecting it, refining it and optimizing it, doesn't matter how much rain falls, you're always gonna want more. Just like you're always going to want more new patients. These are little, simple, easy ways to grow your practice. If you're struggling with it, reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Sometimes you don't need a different strategy, you just need to be held accountable. Sometimes it's not going crazy. Like literally this could be a whole marketing podcast, but instead I'm telling you little simple things you can do in your practice today to grow.   You don't need to do it. So I want to remind you that patients don't choose practices that are best in theory. They choose practice that feels easiest to trust. And sometimes I get annoyed because I do watch practices and there are some practices that I don't think should be the highest top practice. And yet they are because they are the easiest to trust. are the easiest. They are the best marketed. They are the ones that just make the process simple. You can think about a competitor you might have.   And question mark, why would patients go there versus you when you might be a better clinician, a better overall experience? I'm not here to say that dentists are not great. I know we're all striving. I also know that some dentists are better than others. And so how can we make sure that the best dentists, those of you listening are winning? I want to make sure that you're winning. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, this is your practice. This is your opportunity. This is your moral obligation to serve patients at the highest level possible. And I just implore you and invite you.   to take one step today, make your practice just a little bit better, a little bit brighter. And if we can help in any way, we're here for you. You have it, it's all yours. And I just remind you that we are so lucky to live in the time we do, to do what we get to do every single day. And if I can help you in any way, reach out. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Tiff and Nikki continue the topic of your practice's vision by discussing how to turn it into something your entire team believes in. They discuss believing in your own vision first, communicating it to your team, establishing consistency and repetition so everyone remembers it, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I'm so excited to be here with you guys today. You know I say that every single time because I truly love what we do. I love what Dental A Team stands for and I love the podcast. and set out a long time ago to really, really, really just provide so much amazing, incredible information for the dental world and beyond. We have listeners on here who are not a part of the dental world. We serve all kinds of business owners and ⁓ healthcare providers and all kinds of people. So it's just really cool. And I want you guys to know how special you are.   And today I have with me a super special guest, someone you guys have not heard from before. I get the amazing privilege of bringing Ms. Nikki Mack onto the stage with us here today in our little podcast universe. Nikki, welcome. How are you today?   Nikki Mack (00:31) Okay.   I'm so good, I'm so excited to finally get to be a part of it. I'm on the other side now, long time listener, first time participator. ⁓   The Dental A Team (00:53) Yeah.   I love that you have been a long time listener. So thank you for that. And for those of you who have not yet met Nikki, you probably were not at our in-person event in February, which means you should get your tail over there next time so that you can meet all of us in person. And very specifically, Miss Nikki Mack here. She has joined our team. She is new to Dental A Team is what we like to say, but she has been in consulting in the DSO world in the   you know, general practitioner role, the family practice role, like all over the place. She's been, she has so much experience. She's been all over the block. We'll call her Nikki from the block from now on. I've got your nickname, Nikki. Yeah, there you go. Carol come up with a new one. But Nikki's, Nikki has been with our team for a few months now. We are just so, so happy to have you, Nikki, a wealth of knowledge. Your clients are already seeing massive results. They are.   Nikki Mack (01:36) love it.   The Dental A Team (01:49) loving you and you connect so easily. So everyone just give Nikki a huge shout out and come meet her at our next in-person event in September here in Phoenix. So Nikki, welcome and gosh tell me I'll do an icebreaker for you for the world here. I know, I didn't prep you for this. Yep, unscripted, that happens. That's how my brain works. So let's talk   Nikki Mack (02:03) Yeah.   Ooh, okay, unscripted. Love it.   The Dental A Team (02:16) Let's talk dental, we won't get too crazy. Tell us your favorite position within the dental world. It doesn't have to be within the practice, it can be outside. What's your favorite position you've ever held?   Nikki Mack (02:28) that I've ever held. ⁓ This is probably gonna come as a surprise or not. ⁓ Marketing, like doing the like B2B marketing and stuff. ⁓ I just, I love being able to get out and connect with lots of practices and being able to represent my team. You know, when I go out like on behalf of a doctor, it's super exciting. Cause like I love the office I'm in. I love the team I work with and the doctor I work for and getting to be the person that   The Dental A Team (02:35) I'll ask them.   Nikki Mack (02:56) like shares our office with the world. ⁓ It's just, it's so fun. So, and you get to meet new people, yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:01) That's really cool.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you thrive meeting new people so I could see that for sure. That's awesome. What kind of practice did you do B2B marketing for?   Nikki Mack (03:06) Hahaha.   So that was my time with ⁓ pediatrics and orthodontics. Yep, the most. So yeah, fun events and things like that.   The Dental A Team (03:16) Awesome. I figured. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah,   yeah, we have a lot of pediatric practices and a few ortho actually. So I know the team will be picking your brain because marketing for pediatrics is a massive space to ⁓ unfold, we shall say. Awesome. Very cool.   Nikki Mack (03:33) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:36) Well, today, you guys, we really wanted to chat with you some about your vision and communicating your vision. So we walked you through quite a few times. And if you haven't heard them go back through and listen. If you haven't worked with your consultant yet to get your vision out, go call your consultant. We've worked through kind of how to get your vision, how to get there. And I think you guys might remember, I think it was Dana and I, or Christie and I, really chatting about how like your vision, your mission, your reason for being here isn't necessarily.   what is scripted on your wall that says bringing great smiles to our community. Like, yeah, we're bringing great smiles to our community, but what does that great smile mean? How are we actually impacting the people? And today we wanted to chat. I wanted to pick Nikki's brain here on how to communicate that across to your team. So your team actually believes it. And I think more than anything, Nikki, it's really how do dentists and how do you coach your doctors on   expressing their vision in a way that the team not only believes it, because I think there's a difference in like believing it, I can believe that that's your vision, like cool, yep, that's your vision. And me as a team member living it and breathing it, it's a massive difference. So believing it and standing behind it. And with your experience, the things that you've done and the coaching you do now,   How do you help doctors to really, practice owners to really take that vision and create it to be something that a team can move forward with?   Nikki Mack (05:07) Well, and I think a big part of it really stems from that leadership piece and having a team that values you and believes in you as a leader. And then the vision just supports that. But you kind of hit on it. You have to believe it too. If I'm the doctor or the practice owner and I'm unclear on my vision, how can I expect my team to understand it or follow it? Now you'll always have those employees that just value you and will lead wherever you go. Right. doc, we're going to be, I want it. But   The Dental A Team (05:35) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (05:36) Some need to know why we're going there. They'll do what you need, but why are we doing it? So my first step with a team or a doctor is usually what really is your vision? Not what you think your vision is. Let's talk about what is your vision and how do we use that to get ourselves where we want to be? How do we use that to support our goals?   The Dental A Team (05:56) I love that I actually are making me think of something that I heard the other day on is on a Mel Robbins was actually her book, the left them theory. So some of you guys may have heard this or read it. And she talks about, I'm going to botch the first name, but one of the Toyota brothers has the theory of five wise and ask it was forced like she is in context. I'm sure he is in context of when you're bothered by something or you have like a miscommunication or an upset in life, asking yourself like, why does this bother me but   As you're speaking, Nikki, I'm actually thinking it's so hard to dig to your root. why I think is for me, my quote unquote, why are my vision is it feels like it's my purpose. And I think we spend our entire lives seeking our purpose. And we're like, why am I, we've read the purpose driven, you know, books and all these things. And we're constantly looking for it, but realistically it's getting under the surface layers of your thoughts.   because there's so much wrapped around what you think it should be, how you think it should be perceived, how you think it should be ⁓ communicated to anyone. And so I wonder even like that five why theory is, you know, why do I want to change smiles in my community? Well, because, okay, why is that important to me? Well, because and really taking it so deep. I feel like when you feel that emotional tug, and then you speak from that emotion,   that's your why. And the people around you, I mean, I guess if they're the right people, right, if they're the wrong people on the right bus, they're probably not going to feel the emotional tug to it as well, you know, right alongside with you. But when you do finally get to that emotional tug why, I feel like people can't help but be like, yeah, let's do that. Like that sounds freaking amazing. And it might not be specifically my why, but I want to support you in it because I'm so excited.   by your excitement for what you're about to step into the world to do.   Nikki Mack (07:57) Yep, I think excitement is the key word there. You have to be excited about your why and your team has to as well. It's some of the doctors I still think about, you all these years later that I worked for, it's their why and how excited they were to fulfill that purpose, right? And we get to, you know, change the face of dentistry, right? All these people that hate going to the dentist and then they get to come to our office and now they have a different outlook. Like those whys that drive you.   they inspire your team. And that's that kind of key to leadership. You have to understand that piece and be super clear because that's what drives your team, I think, at their core too. Especially to your point, when it's the right people, you're aligned and you guys are just rowing that boat forward, right?   The Dental A Team (08:39) Yeah.   Yeah, and then allows   them the space your team to search for their own. So I know when Kiera got really clear on her why and the vision for this company, it was like, I can live that. And then I saw, this is how mine actually like follow suit or attaches to Kiera's and the company's why how I serve a purpose in this company based on what I want to do in the world.   how I want to show up and how I want to impact the world, I can see how my purpose is served within the company, why as well.   Nikki Mack (09:22) Exactly. Yep. And that I think too, when you're working at a team, because if you're a doctor or a practice owner and you're growing or you're just leveling up, it's challenging sometimes. And it's that drive and that why that helps keep both you and your team motivated to push towards that end result. That's why we see a patient through lunch. That's why we start a same day for someone who really needs it. It's why we do those things. And that makes it to where   the goal makes sense. It's not just spinning our wheels. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (09:52) Yeah.   Yeah,   and ⁓ working through lunch makes me think of, ⁓ you know, one, we've all done that, right, the freaking root canal that has to go through lunch every single time. But when you're attached to how we're here to serve and show up for our patients, working through lunch is a lot less daunting. I know there are some days that I'm like, heck yeah, let's do it. Let's go. Let's go. Let's help this person. And there are other days that I was like, ⁓ another lunch hour. Like, what the heck, but like, I still got lunch. I just took lunch after.   Nikki Mack (09:58) Hahaha   Ha   The Dental A Team (10:22) lunch or before lunch, like we still worked it out, but there were some days that it was like inspiring to help this person. And then there were other days that it was like, I kind of forgot our reason and our purpose. And it was more like it was being forced on me. And those were different seasons of practice and different seasons of, of life there within. But I agree. That's my point there. And I think once you have that, then you're literally, you're speaking it. And, and I think   Nikki Mack (10:45) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:51) Something that we often miss is the repetition that's needed in life for everything. needs to be repeated. We have to build systems. People, I think, think life can be so mundane and it's like routines suck. Like you shouldn't have like all of your life shouldn't be a routine. Like no, actually consistency is human nature. We want to be consistent. We want the routines. And when we're not repeating things, they get lost and they get forgotten.   Nikki Mack (10:57) Yes.   The Dental A Team (11:20) And I think Nikki, something I've noticed in coaching is that we'll key in on it. Doctors are like, heck yeah, let's do it. And then six months later, they're just in the mundane and they're like, I'm working through lunch again, this sucks. So how do you help your doctors and your teams to stay in their why in that vision?   Nikki Mack (11:41) Well, and it's funny you mentioned how you do get to that point where you're like, why are we doing this? You have to revisit it. So I think the same way that we talk about doctors and practice owners being clear with themselves before they hit the team, you also have to revisit it as a team. So one of the things I've suggested in my coaching before is like about quarterly or at least twice a year in our team meetings, we're readdressing that why and our mission, our values.   so that the team is clear. Because the day-to-day in a dental office is a whirlwind, right? And talk about routine and repetition. Sometimes it can be a grind, and that's a good thing, but you have to be able to circle back. And ⁓ what is that expression, slow down to speed up? We have to take a step back, and what is that vision? Why are we doing this? And is what we're doing aligning with our values, right? Working through lunch to help a patient, amazing. Love it, always wanna do it.   The Dental A Team (12:16) Yeah.   Yeah.   Nikki Mack (12:40) working through lunch just as a routine, because we're not scheduling well, that probably doesn't align with our vision and we need to kind of revisit it. So it's okay to evaluate our systems and our processes and how does this align with our vision and does it get us where we want to go? So I usually recommend absolutely quarterly is like my dream as your consultant, but at least a couple of times a year, how does this fit? Where are we at? Because you're going to have team change too, right? People are going to change positions. We might grow and get new team members.   And so we have to make sure that everybody's kind of on that same page and approaching it from the same place, I think is what keeps us ⁓ consistent and in that, you know, good mindset, that good position.   The Dental A Team (13:22) Yeah, and something you said sparked a thought. said, is this an alignment? like working through lunch to help somebody is an alignment. Working through lunch just because it's a routine, it may not be an alignment. And I think you keyed in on something really special there of really looking at what are we doing that is serving ROI and what are we doing that is pulling us away from ROI or just.   opposing our why because it's so easy in dentistry to get so like keyed in on just what's not working. So like let's just complain bucket and we're always working through lunch. Well, why does it suck? It sucks because it's not in alignment with what we said we wanted to do. That's why it sucks. If we said we are an office that works through lunch every single time, great.   we can be upset about it, but that we are in alignment with, this is what I'm choosing to do. But when that's not an alignment, that's where we get those upsets and that like rubbing raw situation. so Nikki, even like going through as often as you can, love the quarterly, love, I mean, do you guys want to talk about it every week? Please talk about it all the time. And Nikki is, yeah, it's like, bring those examples. What did we do this week? What did we do this quarter?   Nikki Mack (14:31) We're in.   The Dental A Team (14:41) that served our why, how did we help people? And when you start from there, you're inspired again. So we wanna talk about communicating your vision to your team so they believe it. Like what is your vision and how are we serving it? And how is that serving us as humans and serving our community I think is huge.   Nikki Mack (15:02) Yeah, 100%. It's how I think it establishes for you that baseline. You know, like we said, because we can always bring it back to our vision is what we're doing in alignment, is what we're doing supporting it, is what we're doing helping move it forward. And it's a way to not only grow, but hold ourselves accountable to, you know, the choices and decisions we're making, the systems we use, how do we reevaluate those and make sure that they make sense for the practice, the patients, you know, the team.   It's that mission, it's that values that we talk about that are gonna steer that ship, I think, yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:37) I think so too. And you keyed in again on like something massive is really how we choose to consult, how our company consults. Because what you just said is really looking at the systems, the protocols, the procedures, the things that we are doing every day, are they serving us and our mission and our vision and where we are going? And the reason Dental A Team doesn't pop into your team and into your practice with this massive cookbook that says A to Z, this is how you should do things.   is because you are an individual practice with an individual mission that's serving a different purpose than the guy down the street. And if we gave you and the guy down the street the same recipe book, it's not guaranteed to work. Are some things going to stick and some things going to work? Absolutely, 100 % hands down. Do we do the same systems and similar systems with each practice? 100 % hands down. But the autonomy in it is how does this system   serve you and what you said there Nikki is how are they how how are the systems and things that we're doing every day how are they pushing us forward it's exactly how we consult and you keying in on that is huge because your teams your practices Nikki are getting something really special from you because I know you lead with their why I've watched you do it I get to watch it on recap so I've watched your recap from your in-office visit you just had in Vegas it's   It just looked freaking incredible. And I know you know him as a human. You know his why. And everything that you did with that team served that and taught them to go back and see, OK, is this working to progress towards what our goals are for our vision and our practice goals, or is it detracting us?   Nikki Mack (17:27) Yeah, it's honestly, it's one of the things I love the best about being a part of Dental A Team is that we truly understand that every practice is different. And a lot of people say that because we know it, right? But I've worked in the dental sphere in a few different like worlds and specialties and, you know, like ownership profiles and everyone is so different. And that's not even counting demographics, right? You know, where we are, are we urban or we rural? Is it saturated? Is it not?   The Dental A Team (17:51) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (17:56) And I think that's why there's just no blanket answer that fixes things. And Dental A Team does such a good job of getting to that why. And why do you want to get to a place? And here's how I can help you get there that stays true to you and your practice and your identity. For me, that's kind of the most fun part is if we know where we're going, then perfect. I've got some tools to put in your toolbox and help get us there, but it's got to feel like you. I can't do it for you or tell you how to be perfect.   I'm here to help you get there and make it work. And I think that's why teams get on board. We're not asking them to just do a cookie cutter situation. The doctor's involved, the team's involved, and it feels like you. It feels authentic. It's something that you can present. Circling back to my marketing thing, right? It's something your team can be proud of and sharing that with the world, whether it's the patients in their chair or the oral surgeon down the street or whatever that looks like.   The Dental A Team (18:43) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (18:54) That's why it's so important. It truly shapes every decision that you make in your practice. And I love getting to kind of help that discovery and then finding out those next steps. That's so important and empowering. I love it.   The Dental A Team (19:09) Yeah, I completely agree. You circle back to the marketing and I, I love that kind of marketing too. I really do. I love the beat. I love marketing. You can listen to a couple podcasts ago. ⁓ I love the marketing, but this is why because to me, the marketing is that relationship build and that like speaking of the vision because when you believe in a practice, you believe in what we're doing. You want people   to know, you want to talk about it, you want to invite them to the practice, you want to invite them to invite their friends and family members to the practice and leave great reviews and you want to do all of these things and when you think about it, if you're bought into it, you're like, yes, I want to serve this mission too in this vision, you're showing up different every day because now I'm showing up as the person, okay, wait, back up, like I said when we first started, right?   I said, know, I told you, before we got on here, told you, Kiera, prior to knowing me in person, personally, she stalked me on Facebook and she saw, wow, she's super fun. She's always on Facebook Live. She's doing Beachbody coaching. And I did, and I loved it. I loved it because I loved the energy and I loved the people. And obviously it like forced me to work out. Kiera thought she was hiring this like,   heck yeah, let's go cheerleader who is just 100 % on all the time. But what she didn't realize is I'm secretly like, not even secretly, I'm a very, I'm a Taurus through and through, like I'm the bull sleeping in the pasture as often as I can. So I'm super efficient so that I can have a ton of time to just do nothing if I want to do nothing. So what happens is here, right, I become Tiffanie that's podcasting.   I become Tiffanie who's showing up as your consultant. I become Tiffanie who's on stage. Just like we all show up a little bit differently in the space of life that we're living in. And it's putting on a show, but not with that negative connotation that that sounds like. Like, no, I'm here because I want to change lives. But when it's just, know, Tiff on the couch, like I am a much calmer, chiller person, not as much energy as being exerted. And it makes me   It makes me think of this because even at the dental practice when I was in office, when I showed up as a check-in, I was the check-in person and I was the first person you saw. I was like, hey, how's it going? Let's chat about your kids. Let's do this. Let's do that. And it invigorated me. It gave me energy in life to be able to do those things because I believed in what we were doing. And the moments that that vision got lost, that we weren't talking about it, or that life got stressful, the practice was stressful, the bills were stressful, the   ⁓ refinancings were they were stressful. Those are the times that I didn't know how to show up like that life was hard. I was getting depressed and I was like, what the heck and it all ties back to that significance piece of having a purpose and when I know the why of the of the person that I'm dedicating my life work to, it gives me a sense of purpose, if that makes sense.   Nikki Mack (22:19) Nope, total sense, because it helps you show up. We talk a lot in dental about being on stage, right? You know, kind of turning that game face on, but it's so true because we are dealing with all kinds of things behind the scenes, right? Like you said, it could be crazy schedules, a clearing house, you know, gets hacked and nobody can get paid for months. And there's always some chaos, but the patients don't know that. And each patient that comes in, this is their first interaction with you.   The Dental A Team (22:25) Yes.   Mm.   Nikki Mack (22:46) And sometimes it can be so hard as a team member to just keep turning it on and showing up at 100. And it sounds crazy. I know someone is listening to this, like, I know she's not about to say what she's about to say, but I am because in those tough moments, knowing why you're doing it, it's like a power reserve. And it's how you're able to kind of like take that deep breath. Okay.   And we turn our game face on and we go back to it, know, my God, Mrs. Smith, we haven't seen you in so long. We're so excited you're here. How was your vacation? It's whatever that looks like as showing up as a team member. That's where that well comes from. That's that reserve. And it sounds crazy, but we've seen it. And successful practices, their doctors are clear about their vision and their team has bought in and they support it. It's their vision too, right?   It means a lot. It's a lot of people overlook it. I do think it's one of those like, I'll get to it. But first I have to get, you know, this implant scheduling down, but it's just as important as those pieces. Cause it's going to help your practice run successfully, even through the rough times, the tougher times. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:47) Yeah. Yeah.   I totally agree. I love it. Thank you. So I think this is titled how to communicate your why or your vision to your team. And I think Nikki, the how is one figure out what your vision is, what is what is the reason that you're here, and then just do it and do it frequently. Don't be afraid, especially when you dig into that like more personal emotional why. Even if even if this popped in my head.   I have so many doctors that they're like, well, my why is like to provide generational wealth for my family. Cool. Why? Dig one more past that because the the providing for people who you're not sure can provide for themselves. That is inspiring. Right. So a team might not get on board with like, I want to create a life where my kids never have to work. Like, okay, no, that's weird. But why?   So really attached to that personal. I wanted to say that because I do have a lot of doctors that are like, I'm trying to create generational wealth as you should. I think that's phenomenal. Let's go a little bit deeper and figure out why is that important to you? Maybe you didn't grow up with parents who seem to care. Maybe you had to work really hard and you your team's going to get behind those pieces. So dig one further. Do that five why. What's one deeper and then communicate with your team. It's incredibly vulnerable.   Nikki Mack (25:05) Great.   The Dental A Team (25:24) And it can be very scary, especially when you're like, I wanna create healthy smiles in the neighborhood, in the community. Like going from that to like, I wanna help save people from poverty, drastic, very vulnerable. But Nikki, I think just do it, right? Just Nike, just do it.   Nikki Mack (25:36) Right.   Yeah, just do it.   And honestly, I would challenge doctors and practice owners to find out your team's why. Why are they showing up for you every day, right? It may not be exactly the same as yours, but I guarantee you it aligns, right? And it feeds into it. And that might help even shape your why as well. Like everyone's is gonna contribute to that greater cause basically. Yeah, just do it.   The Dental A Team (25:53) Yeah.   Yeah.   I agree. Simon Sinek   says just do it. Simon Sinek says to ask the ask your best friend or best friends. So like the three people closest to you. Why do they? Why do they have you in their life? And when they say something like, well, I don't know, like, you're fine. Like, no, but like, why me dig deeper? Do that five why thing again? Like, okay, but like, why me? And eventually, it's going to turn from   what you do for them. You always answer the phone when I need you. Like it's gonna turn to you make me feel like I'm important. You make me feel. So it's gonna turn from the things that you do for people, you continue digging, to that friend is gonna say, you know what, I don't know. It's just when I'm around you, I'm really happy and inspired and I want to do more in life. And he says that helps key you in on what you bring to the world.   so that you can see what your purpose is. So I think if you do that similar thing, Nikki, with the team, like why do you choose to work here, right? And get them to dig to that deeper space, it does start to bubble up and you start to see the impact that you're already making on the world and does that align? Does that feel good? Does that feel like inspiring to you? Because that's probably your why and your vision.   Nikki Mack (27:26) Yeah, I love that. That's so great. Even in a personal life, I agree. I'm gonna take that home.   The Dental A Team (27:32) Simon Sinek, I tell you that guy, he's got some good stuff, always. Awesome. Well, Nikki, this was super fun. Thank you so much for being here. First podcast down the hatch, you did it. We're here. Good, good, you did awesome. Thank you. And listeners, you know this is her first, go leave her a five star review.   Nikki Mack (27:35) Always a gem, always a gem. Yeah.   It was so fun. Check. Yeah. Loved it. It was a good time.   The Dental A Team (27:55) But really, let us know what you think. Let us know how this went for you. ⁓ Action items, go dig for your vision, go dig for your why. Ask your team, I love that. Ask your team why they choose to work with you. Ask your friends why they're your friend. And then communicate often. You guys, if you're just communicating this, do it every week for the first quarter and then move on to the next quarter. And if you feel like, gosh, we lost it in between, do it more frequently. This is something that you just need to talk about all the time.   Go do the things. Nikki, thank you so much. ⁓ And podcast listeners, you know, go leave us a five-star review. Let us know how you are going to apply these things to your life. And then reach out to us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, for any and everything. We're here to help. Thank you, and we'll catch you next time. Bye.

Is your practice going out of network to make more money? Fantastic, but make sure you listen to this episode first. Kiera talks about all the numbers you absolutely need to know before you make the decision, and other, smaller considerations you could make instead. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners this is Kiera and today I am excited to chat with you about a pretty popular topic that people are always wanting to ask questions about they want to get to know like Kiera, I just want to go out of network. And I say, great, let's talk about it. Let's have a really good conversation about what going out of network actually means what it looks like for you and your practice and how we're able to support you on that.   So if you're new to the Dental A Team, welcome, I'm Kiera Dent. I love all things dentistry. My last name really is Dent and I believe that our job is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. I think that we are so lucky and so blessed to be able to work in dentistry, to be able to serve and help so many patients. And so I hope that you just know that you're doing a great work out there, that you are changing lives, that you are benefiting so many people. And I am so glad that you've chosen to spend your time with Dental A Team.   If you love our podcast, please, like, please go leave us a review. Like, subscribe, share. It helps us out so much. You have no idea. Just like you want patients to leave you great reviews after you see them. Leaving us a great review for the podcast actually helps us reach more practices and that's our ultimate goal. And I do read them and I'm so grateful for your amazing reviews. So let's talk about going out of network. Going out of network, everybody wants to do it because they want to make money, right? Like I am getting these terrible reimbursement rates and so that's why I'm going to do it.   But what I want you to realize is when you go out of network, you actually become a marketing company. Okay, I hope you heard that. When you go out of network, you become a marketing company. And what that looks like is you now have to work to retain these patients. So when I help practices go out of network, like that's totally fine. You're allowed to do it, but let's make sure we look at the numbers. Let's make sure we do the math. How much is it going to cost for us to market to these new patients? How is it going to be for us to retain these new patients? How are we going to be able to actually get these patients to stay with us long-term?   Now we don't have the insurance clause that's keeping patients here. Also, if you don't know, insurance companies do often send letters to your patients telling them, hey, if you just go down to this other dentist, they're actually an in-network provider. I kid you not, you think that it's dirty, they're allowed to play dirty. So just so you know, when you do this, you start facing this huge uphill battle and I've had practices almost go belly up after going out of network. That's not to say that going out of network's wrong.   but I even have practices that are fee for service right now and they're like we just cannot drive new patients because trying to compete with people in network is so hard and I think about it like Let's just run the fees and I know you sit here and you dream about this grand day of like but Kiera if I was out of network I could get paid so much for a crown and I'm like, yes But then you're only doing like two crowns instead of 20 crowns So there is a volume game, which is not a wrong game to play But I just want you to like realize that you really have to drive your marketing. You have to be   top notch, you have to look to see how you're gonna drive patients to your practice. You have to beg, you will have an uptick in your spend on marketing when you go out of network as well. So it's not all flour, sunshine and gravy. And so sometimes I just look at like, what's the biggest pain point and could we maybe drop one or two insurance companies instead of dropping all of them. If you have more patients than you know what to do with and I'm talking you are booked out seven, eight, nine months to get your patients back in. It might be worth considering, could we drop one or two plans?   Or could we expand and add in more providers before we drop insurances? So look at our lowest paying reimbursables and see what if we just drop those and offer them our membership plan so they become these fee for service patients. But with the membership plan, they are more tethered to the practice, right? Because they're paying for this, they're going to be coming in two times a year. You have two opportunities to see them. I will tell you as a fee for service patient myself, I do not usually go in two times a year. And it's because I'm like, I gotta pay like 300 bucks. But when they have a membership plan,   They don't think like that. They're like, put my cleaning is free. Just like they think of with insurance. So when you're going out of network, really starting to think about all these possibilities of like, all right, what are we going to need to change to be able to drop? So when I have people looking at this, I think about number one, what is the cost to benefit ratio? And if we lost all these patients, let's pretend none of them come, let's go for our worst case scenario, would we be able to sustain? Do I have enough patients to be able to sustain that? And am I willing to do that? Some practices,   Totally, they're good to go. They're like, yes, Kiera, I'm just fine. I can absolutely 1000 % handle this. Other people are like, no, I can't. If I lost all those patients, we would not be able to sustain. So that's the first step before we go out of network. The second step is let's make sure we're prepared to go out of network and handle all those phone calls. And how are we going to save and maintain and retain these patients? Can we get them on membership plans? Third, what are you gonna do about the insurance companies that are calling your patients constantly?   When you out of network, you move into a marketing company. You are constantly striving to keep these patients with you, retain these patients, make sure that they're always there. They're no longer just coming to quote unquote automatically. And so I think about it like, let's run the opportunity cost for when we're going out of network to see, is this something I really want to do? do you want to do this? And I think so many people are like, okay, I'm going to just do this.   we're going to run, we're going to do, and then like, let's maybe do a little bit of prep work. And so there is out of network, like collection verbiage, there is an out of network plan. ⁓ There is all of this. And I just think like, when we go through it, you want to make sure that you are fully prepared financially, mentally, emotionally, as a team, we are locked and loaded and we are good to go. And so if you've looked at those numbers and you're set,   I really want you to think about how you're going to be a marketing company. And so when we look at this, thinking about how can I retain all these people? How can I make sure before I go and drop, like truly before you go and drop insurance, how can I make sure all these patients are going to continue to come back to us? Is it something that we can do of like, can I put into place and start reaching out membership plans? Can we work on our patient experience? Can we make sure like, what's gonna set us apart from the insurance company down the street?   I have a doctor and they are amazing and they are fee for service and they've been fee for service for years. I'm talking like they are so lucky. They've got the Taj Mahal of a practice. It's gorgeous. They've got state of the art technology. Their fees are really not that much higher, but they have like, could you not multiple practices? There's probably 10 around them that are all insurance driven and they're like, but our dentistry should speak for itself. And I'm like, I don't disagree with you, but when times get tighter, things get harder.   People are gonna look at this. guys, I have even, Kiera Dent, who knows dentistry, I have switched. I have a doctor who's fee for service. This is embarrassing. Me as a patient, I'm going to tell you. I have a dentist fee for service. I know they do great dentistry, but they're fee for service. My husband, he's got a great dentist who's got a great hygienist. They're in network with my husband's insurance. I was like, well, I'll just go to them for my cleanings. And if I ever have work that needs to get done, I'll go to the fee for service practice.   Even myself, because I'm just like, well, is it really worth the cost? Like, it's just a cleaning. Like I could just go to the other dentist and you might be like, no cure. But you got to think about the patient. I know you think your dentistry is amazing, but to that patient, a cleaning is a cleaning is a cleaning. Unless they love your hygienist or they love you, they love your front office. They love something about your practice so much that they're willing to pay almost like I pay $300 out of pocket versus insurance. pay $30 a month.   and I get to go have a great cleaning by this amazing hygienist. I also can look at my x-rays, but I think about it, this is where I say you've got to be a marketing company. What's going to make this person continually come to you and choose you every single year when the insurance companies are hitting them, the economy's hitting them, the price is hitting them, and they don't know if your filling is better than the dentist down the street that is closer to them, is in network with them, and they don't need to drive to you. How do you set yourself apart?   So ways that fee for service practice, like I'm telling you, I got the Taj Mahal. They're amazing. They're great. But even then they struggle. And so I think before we decide we wanna drop out of network, I really want you to just make sure, am I committed to being a marketing company? I'm doing the reels. I'm doing the social media. I'm putting like a freaking banner outside. I am asking for reviews and referrals. I'm making sure that we concier all of our patients. We're doing follows with them. Our doctors are giving them a call afterwards. Like I'm talking next level.   So I go to a fee for service chiropractor. She's amazing. She does a nerve and I have actually some like weird nerve things going on. And so I really love her. She's fee for service. But when I have like something that comes up in my life and I message her, it is an above and beyond over the top on her of like, absolutely care. I take care of yourself. I'm going to reappoint you. I'll reschedule you. It is a white glove service when I work with her. And so I'm willing to pay a premium. I also am able to get in on the weekends. If I need something from her, I message her and she's like, yep.   I, she can do house visits for me, but I think you have to realize like when people are paying out of pocket full price, just doing great dentistry is not enough for them. They are expecting great customer service, great experiences. Why should I be paying my money? And sometimes that's not even enough. And you can say, we've got say to the art this, we've got say to the art that. So what this practice we had to do for fever service, they get a tour every single time we walk them through, we have towels for them. We walk them to the front. They have a dedicated treatment coordinator.   There's somebody who's dedicated for phones. We have a dedicated concierge who sits in the front office who brings things for you. That's the welcoming and greeting who sits there and chit chats, who knows every single patient by name. That is the level of concierge service and marketing for these fee for service practices. If you've got competition around you. If you don't, podcast doesn't apply to you. But I think when most people are thinking about going out of network, they're just like, I'm going to go like screw it. Delta Dental, Aetna, I'm so sick of your freaking fees. I'm going to now be paid what I'm worth.   I don't disagree with you. You are worth that. But I also want to make sure that you're fully prepared to be that high level concierge doctor that has to do so much more to retain these patients. I have another doctor who went out of network, literally almost went bankrupt. ⁓ The practice is struggling. They don't have enough patients. They are constantly trying to recruit new patients. They're looking at it and they're looking to rejoin in network because everything is falling apart. Family's falling apart. Life has fallen apart. Profitability has fallen apart.   because they just did not realize how much effort it is to try to bring in new patients on your own. So one way you could look before you even go into it is look at your new patients and see how many new patients are we attracting just by reviews and referrals alone before I go out of network. And if I'm not bringing in a lot of people by reviews and referrals right now as the best dentist, they love me. I've got like this healthy cult following with them. If I don't have that, I might wanna work on that to see what are the patients who are fee for service   Why are they coming here? Ask them, ask people like, you can survey your patient base. Like what would you guys love? Like if you had to pay a little bit more for dentistry, what would it be? Are you more, because they don't know the difference of a great dentist and a not so great dentist. And I think that that's what people don't realize is our dentistry, as much as I wish that it was a differentiator for patients, it's not. They don't know if that filling in that crown is better than the dentist down the street who's in network. They have no idea.   What they're looking at is cost and even a great experience, they still might come down to cost. And I'm not here to say that it's all cost because I believe that people are willing to pay for great experiences. You look at why does Chick-fil-A do better than McDonald's? We look at why is Target oftentimes better than Walmart, but is it really? And who are you? And I don't think all patients come for cost. I think there is a lot of space in today's world to stand out of knowing their name, driving it, but we also have to be careful because   We are facing real people are like, how's the economy and is it impacting dentists? And I'm like, those who are doing regular dentistry, no, it's not. They're great. But those who are outside of that, so we're talking all on X cases, cosmetic cases, fee for service patients. If they don't have a loyal patient base right now, people are considering costs. They are considering what are we going to do? And I know that that's why you are also probably considering fee for service. What about fee for service? What about this? What about that?   those pieces I think are very much needing to be highlighted and addressed of, all right, if the economy is pushing dollars, what can we do to offset that? If I'm needing to increase our fees to offset dollars within our practice for profit margins, what else can we do for this? And I really think for you to look at when you're going out of network to say, is this something I'm willing to do? Is this something our practice is fully equipped with?   Are we getting enough reviews and referrals just by being a great practice today to go out of it? And am I willing to like up my ante, not just being a great dentist, because you dropped that network guys, they're going to like fly away to a practice that does accept them. And like I said, your insurance company is going to try to convince them because they get a lot more money when it goes through an in-network provider than an out-of-network provider. And they're going to, they hustle them. And so for you to just accept that you will be a marketer, you will be constantly looking for patients.   you'll be constantly trying to fill your books and is it something you want to do? And is that an additional piece you want to add to your already big to-do list or is it not? And you might be hearing like, Kiera's pro insurance. I'm not, we have a lot of offices that are out of network, but I will say my out of network ones, every single call, it is always a, do I get more new patients? How do we get patients? Unless you're in a really busy area, I have a few where like them cutting insurance was the best thing they could have done because they just were inundated with patients.   and it was like kind of pruning a tree and they needed to prune. So them dropping insurances strategically, they were okay if they lost every single patient, they would still be able to take care of their entire team. All the people, they even had like a dental office across the street moving. They're like, that's fine, take our patients. Like we are good with that. But I will say, if you are not prepared to do that, I might just add a pause for you before you go out of network. So thinking about going out of network, run your numbers to see, can we survive when we lost all the patients?   Number two, I want you to think about are we prepared to be a marketing company and what do we need to do to make sure people stay? Number three, look at our reviews and see how many of them and our referrals and our new patients, how many are coming from reviews and referrals of people referring us and would they continue to do so? Please like check your ego, pretend you are not this person. Will they continue to do so if you go out of network? Four, what can we proactively do to make patients want to stay here? Can we start adding some of these concierge pieces or is it like, hey, when we go out of network, we add these concierge pieces.   Can we get people more on membership plans? So when we go out of network, it doesn't hurt us as much because they're tethered to our practice already. I would be prepping and preparing you and this is what we do with our offices before they do it. Some offices still choose to go out of network and I say that's fine. But again, every choice has a consequence, whether positive or negative that you need to be aware of to make the best decisions. And I believe better insights, better knowledge result in better decisions. So if you need help going out of network, you're like, my gosh, these are things that I need help with.   please reach out before you do it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is how we're able to help you. This is how we're able to just make sure that you've thought through all the pieces and then whatever path is best for you, we're able to guide you through it. And if you've already decided to go out and now we're kind like, shoot, I don't have all these things in place. Great. This is what we do. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is what we specialize in. This is what we're experts in and you can choose. It's like, it's a choose your own adventure.   Just make sure you know what the ending looks like for either opportunity so you choose the best decision for you, your practice, and your patients. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team

So many practice leaders and owners feel it, but so few say it — the weight of ownership can sometimes be too much. Kiera talks about how common stress among dentists is, what those stressors can look like, and how to start lessening that weight today. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and I hope you're having a great day. I hope that you are excited about life. I hope that you just remember like, we are so lucky. We get to be in dentistry. We get to hang out on the podcast together. I get to go with you on whatever road you're going on today, whatever life you're doing, whatever you're doing. I am so grateful that you're choosing to take me along with you. And today I just wanted to talk about something that I feel is really near and dear to me. It's near and dear to a lot of our dentists.   We ran a really fun webinar last year and I'm excited to do it again. And it was probably our best webinar we've ever run. I had probably the best turnout we've ever had. But I think it was because we hit the strongest topic and we're actually gonna be discussing this at summit this year, at our webinars this year. So if this hits home, I would invite you to join us ⁓ at any of them because you don't have to do this alone. And what it is is the hidden weight of ownership.   And I think it's like what every practice leader and owner feels, but they rarely say. And I just feel that people, I don't know, we have a mastermind and there's a girl in our mastermind, we're in person. And I remember I was asking for people like, hey, how was the mastermind for you? What were your takeaways? And every single time I asked that question, the mastermind, someone always raises their hand and they always say, it feels so good to be amongst peers and colleagues.   and to realize that I'm not alone. And I'm like, if we all know each other is going through this, but we don't say it, I think we live in our head a lot. And when you're in your head, you're dead. And so I think a lot of times like ownership is heavy. And for myself, it's heavy. And for all of you listening, it's heavy. And I think what we don't see is it's like, we carry payroll. We worry about cashflow. We feel like we're responsible for team culture and morale. We read the book. I mean, I've been on it. I've told you guys, read Extreme Ownership by Jacka Willings.   Everything in your practice is a direct reflection of you and you are responsible for it. So then you're like, great, patient complaints, like this is my fault. Can't tell you how many doctors I've had get bad reviews while I've been in office or we've been working with them or with our consultants and the doctor literally cannot let it go for weeks, months. Like it just eats at them. And I don't blame you. You feel like everyone else clocks out and you still have to carry this home. They all get to go home. They get to have their paycheck. I don't, I get to sit in this amazing space that I built for myself that I absolutely just want to like.   let go. And I think it's one of those things of like, you're a great dentist. It's just the weight of feeling like you're responsible for all of it. And I know I feel this too. And so today I just wanted to invite you of like, Hey, let's talk about some tactical places of how to make ownership feel a little bit lighter that could make it to where you're not alone. You don't have to be alone. And there's actually some tactical pieces for you and welcome to the Dental A Team, the space where you don't need to be alone, running a practice that's successful should be easy. And that's what we're on a mission to do and to positively influence you.   to help you realize that things are better than you think they are, but to give you a tangible path, not just theories and ideas, but a tangible path to go from where you are today to where you want to go. And I'm Kiera Dent and I'm obsessed with dentistry. I'm obsessed with helping people have their dream freaking lives. I realized after a long time, and this might sound so cheesy to you, but the purpose of my life is to truly like be a creator. And what it is, is it's to create and like help people's dreams come true. And I know that sounds so silly, but I look at all of my goals. They're always for other people like.   sending my mom on her dream trip, buying my dad his dream car, getting Jason his dream car, helping my team members get their dream lives, like helping this team member buy a house, helping this dentist get their like dream house in Florida. Like that freaking lights me up. And so the bigger the dream, the bigger the opportunity. And I think for you, if you're listening today, I hope you just feel like I'm giving you a giant hug of understanding, of knowing, of letting you know that you're not doing this alone. And so I just want you to know that this today is not a pep talk. This is like,   A lot of leaders like it's only them that feels this way. But guess what? It's super common. And I want you to know that you were trained to be a dentist, you aren't trained to be an owner. And so today, I wasn't trained to be an owner either. And guess what? We've all had to freaking learn it. And so I'm here to tell you, here to help you out of the way. ⁓ And I think that this is a great quote. Leaders increasingly need to serve a wide array of follower and organizational needs without depleting their own energy or risking burnout. And that came from a qualitative investigation of leader vitality in 2023 of PMC.   And I just think about this and like the ADA also said in their health policy in 2024, they said 82 % of dentists feel major stress in their career. And I just thought like, shoot, this is something we need to talk about. Like you're carrying like this array. Like I think about my shoulders and like almost like football player with shoulder pads and I'm like, my shoulders aren't big enough to carry all this. And yeah, I'm expected to carry payroll, expected to carry this, expected to carry that, that I think it almost like literally by default weighs this down. so,   Let's talk about what makes it feel heavier and how to actually lighten that load. So I think it's one of those spaces of like, we talked about you're responsible for everyone's paycheck. You feel like every team problem, it was a reflection of you. Like turnover when somebody turns over, I don't know about you guys. like used to stew on this for days on end. Like I felt like I was a problem. Like, hi, Taylor Swift. Like, hi, I'm the problem. It's me. My team hates me. ⁓ We feel like success feels like it's impossible. I feel like everybody else has it.   I feel like cashflow, feel like team stress, feel like decision fatigue. Like Jason sometimes at the end of a day, he's like, Kiera, what do want for dinner? And I'm like, one more decision. Like, I don't freaking care. I don't care. I don't care what I eat. Maybe some of you do, but it's just like, I am so sick of this. And when they stack, that's where it can just feel very, very heavy. And so I think what I've learned and what I've seen other people do is like, let's actually like name the weight rather than letting it sit there and separating the emotional stress from operational problems. So   A lot of times what I'll do is I grab my journal and I'm like, what feels heavy right now? Like, what is it? And just list it. And like, I'm allowed to do a huge laundry list. And I look to see like, is this current? mean, shoot, if you guys could see behind this camera, I've got six giant papers and it's like, here's all my stressors. This, this, this, this, like it's there. But when we're in our head, we're dead, remember that? So getting it out of our head, putting it on paper and actually naming it and saying like, okay, I just have a lot of categories. And sometimes I look like,   My name's in a lot of boxes on our org chart, even today, 10 years later. Why? That's a care thing. That's not a team thing. That's me. And so then I also look to say, what are the top one or two stressors today? And is it a current thing or is it a future thing? Like I look at my list here and it's like this, this, this, this. Some of those are problems that I'm like not focusing on that I'm waiting on right now. Like they're the weight on me, but they're four or five months down the line. Some of them are urgent and pressing. And so what is it?   And I think helping you rise like you're not weak, you might just be carrying too many categories of weight at the same time. So then what we do is getting it out of your head. Let's make sure that we, we actually name it. We figure out what it is. Is it current today or is it future? And then what on there? Like, I just have a whole list. Then after that, I want you to make sure that you're not accidentally making your weight heavier than is intentional because when it stays like very personal,   or vague or just in my head, this is where it can actually get heavier. So like trying to be everything to everybody. No one else is owning outcomes, unclear roles, lack of KPI visibility, like avoiding hard conversations that would honestly make your life a lot better. Assuming people will just figure it out, like if they just cared, they would figure it out. Like this isn't how it is. That's not what it is. And so when we have it in there and it's just there and it's vague and it's personal, looking at your list and saying, is this something that I'm taking personally? Is this really about me?   Is it vague and could I define it better? And if not, like, let me clear those up because then what we can do is we can look to see, is this a you? Is this a you problem in leadership? Is this something where we need to rise our team up? Or is this something that like we can honestly delegate and get it off of us? So when we look at that, accountability is going to reduce stress and we've got to have clarity and follow through so that we were not having like a ton of guesswork. So what it looks like is like, then I look at my list and I'm like, okay, is this personal and personal attack on me?   Do I need to fix that personally? Is it begging? Could I clear this up? And then from there, what really needs to happen today? And is it truly a Kiera slash owner issue or is this something I can delegate and give clear ownership and clarity on and move it off of my plate? So it feels very heavy when you don't know like who owns this, how is winning happening and is it reassured? Like I love a KPI scorecard. That's why we put KPI scorecards in place. This is why we have like who owns this metric. We have job descriptions. We have job duties for people.   Like helping you just see like, okay, if I have an issue with payroll, who's the person on my team that's responsible for that? All these things that are keeping you late at night. I've got to order, I've got to pick this out, I've got to do this. Okay, great, is that really a you thing or is this even be part of someone's job description or do you just need to let go of it? If I'm looking at stress on cashflow, okay, great. Like, is it a spending problem? Is it a production problem or is it a collections problem? What really is it and who owns that and can I give accountability to someone? And I think so often we just sit here. Like for me, I sit and swirl.   I'm like, okay, all these things are going on, all these things, and they call it the crazy eight. So then I like flip around and I'm like, my gosh, everything's falling. So getting it on paper, figuring out what really is the crux and then picking the top one or two items that are gonna move it for you, that starts to lighten the load. So it's what one or two things really need to happen today. And we move out of hero mode into leadership mode. We have our numbers tell us the truth. Like I can sit here and freak out all day. And sometimes I'm like, my gosh, we're behind on this, we're behind on this.   But when I look at the PNL and I have the numbers and I look at our cashflow report, is it really that or is it just my like psychoticness honestly, of ruminating on it when it's really not that bad. So what are the numbers tell us? Numbers are always gonna tell the truth. And then we've got to give ownership to our team and we don't take it back on. I feel like anytime I delegate, it never comes back to me. And then we have these check-ins rather than building resentment. I realize a lot of times,   I'm holding resentment because I don't talk to my team. I don't fill them in. I'm not telling them what's going on. Build like one-on-ones every single week if you need to. So you got more regular touch points when they aren't these heavy daunting. And then like, just recognize that sometimes it's freaking hard. Like right now, Dental A Team is going through a growth stretch phase right now. Like, I'm living this right now, which is why I can speak to this very authentically. And what I found is it's just sometimes hard. That doesn't mean it's failure, but I found.   When does my load get lighter? One, when I prioritize what really needs to happen today rather than what needs to happen in four months. Two, delegate out things that really are not my responsibility and I can pass other people, but have a check-in cadence. So can I check in on a KPI scorecard? Can I check it on these other areas so it doesn't get lost? And I'm not talking about everything. It could just be one thing. Like literally we weren't hiring very well. We made a KPI scorecard. I know how many resumes have been done. I know how many interviews have been done. I know how many people are on our bank. It's so great for me.   Now it doesn't sit in my head of like, where's high? Like literally, I wish you guys could see, I hope you can see it. Like, I hope this becomes a real like rubbing my head. All right. Where's your hiring app? What needs to get done for this? I just tell me is someone coming like for the love of everything holy? Where are we out on production? Where are we at on unscheduled treatment? Where are we at? Make it into a KPI. Have people report every single week. Then you can look at the numbers and see really where is the problem.   Is it a diagnosis? Is it a case closing problem? Is it a new patient problem? We then can figure it out. And what this does is it then is a, is it a people problem, a process problem or a priority problem? Like I love this. And so for you guys, like look at it. Is it a people problem, a process problem or a priority problem? And then figure out which one of those are you going to address. And this is great for me. Like this is truly, hey, Kiera, take this on. Is it people, process or priority problem? Half the time I will say it's a priority problem. We want all these nonsense things to be fixed today.   when really they're not truly the burning urgent piece. And if you fix the root problem, the bulk of your issues would go away. Now, who else can help me carry this load? I used to make laundry lists and now I make laundry lists and see how many of these can I delegate out and make sure they're reported back to me rather than me doing it. And then I look at my numbers and I really live by the numbers. And then the last piece is maybe what conversation have I been avoiding that would actually lighten this immediately.   I'm really gonna sit on that for a minute because I think this one actually is the hardest one for me. Maybe for you, it's the people, like it's the people problem, process problem or priority. Like I don't prioritize. Maybe it's that I refuse to delegate problem. Maybe it's I don't look at the numbers problem or maybe it's I avoid conversation. So who are you? Are you on the priority issue? Are you on the delegation issue? Are you on the numbers issue or are you on the avoiding conversation? Every single one of us has a, I say like,   aren't like sins, but I feel like it's like, what's my flavor of choice? Who am I? And I think even identifying who you are for me, it's the conversations I avoid. And I've had to accept like, someone said this the other day to me, they said, nothing's worth your piece, Kiera. And I thought about that. And I thought, all right, conversations need to be had. And they're not confrontation. They're just conversations. So when we look at this, and we can say like, do I not prioritize correctly? Do I not delegate?   Do I not look at my numbers and metrics to make these things less stressful? Or what conversations am I having? This is how you start to lighten your load because you stop caring everything. You start identifying it and you start leading your team. This isn't an overnight sensation, but I think so often the days feel long and the months are fast. We overestimate what we can get done in a day and underestimate what we can get done in a year. I hope you heard that. We overestimate what we can get done in a day and underestimate what we can get done in a year.   So half the time this feels heavy because you're carrying cash pressure, team pressure, decision pressure, priority pressure, emotional pressure, but we let it all sit there. And the goal is not to feel nothing. The goal is to stop carrying everything alone. And the goal is to stop doing this based on emotions, but rather live in facts. Like let's get the emotion out. Let's live in facts. Because I really want you to recognize that having this, again, a recap is...   We sit here and we have it like where it sits there quietly and everything is there and we feel responsible. Then we sit there and we make everything personal and about us and it's unclear and it's vague. And then what we do is we actually move out of that mode into leadership mode and we start to lead. We start to guide, we use our numbers. And I think for you when you're having this, this is real life. Every owner feels this. You're not special sitting over there licking your wounds. I do this all the time. I'm like, no one else. Like I am so, it's my ego. Zip it ego.   Let's get into leadership mode. My ego wants to sit there and be like, oh, woe is me. I have all these issues. Yeah, guess what? I freaking signed up for this when I decided to be a business owner. That doesn't mean it makes it easier. And it doesn't mean you need to go about it alone. And it doesn't mean that you are alone because every owner, every person feels this. It's just a matter of what are we going to do? So action items are number one, you've got to get it out of your head and you got to prioritize. Number two, I got to figure out who I'm going to delegate this to. Number three, I'm going to make sure I've got KPIs and scorecards to fix these metrics of all these problems.   Truly everything can be solved by a number and four, I'm gonna start to have the conversations that I need to have. You just take those four bullet points on and you put that on a sticky note and you live by that, your life will look different in 30 days, guaranteed. But how often do we go into denial? We go into doom scrolling. We go into like, whoa, well, their problems aren't as bad as mine, so I'm doing pretty good. We go into like, tomorrow's a great day. I had a great, huge case. Everything's good again. No.   It's just gonna hit you, it's gonna boomerang back to you. So let's stop the boomerang, let's stop the fatigue, let's stop the crazy eight and let's actually commit to doing one thing, one thing. And if you're so in it, I'm in it. I mean, today I actually had a great call. I called a mentor, I called a coach and I said like, hey, I need help. We set it all up and I was like, where are my blind spots? What can I do and what perspective do you see?   And I think that's the beauty of having a coach, having a mentor, having somebody who's not in it with you. So you don't have to solve it all alone. I actually realized that ownership is pretty easy. The mental stamina to get through it is why we need coaches and support groups around us. That's why we joined masterminds. That's why we have a peer group. That's why we have other people. This is why you've got a coach that's there for you at your beck and call in dental 18. You've got a CEO founder that can literally speak to your exact problems and help you out.   You have a peer group of brilliant people at the mastermind. They're like, it was amazing. Someone told me, said, Kiera, what I realized is amazing. They've been a client with me for gosh, six years. And he said, Kiera, I didn't realize how many incredible practices that you have around you that now we get access to. You guys, I attract and collect great people. And if you're listening to the podcast, I guarantee you, you're probably one of them and I'd love you to be a part of it. Don't do this alone. Why don't you grow your practice 10X this year? Why don't you your profitability at least five to 10 % this year? Do it with people.   that get it, that understand it, that are willing to drive you through it. You do not need to do this. can email today, hello at the Dental A Team. You can go and click on and book a call. But I think it's a matter of when pain hurts, execute. Because tomorrow it might get better, but that doesn't mean it got resolved. It was just a bandage. It was just a happy day. this, like the root is we gotta fix this and we gotta fix it forever. So I want you just to realize that sometimes when you feel this like hidden weight of ownership,   What it usually is signaling is that you need stronger leadership, you need stronger structure, and sometimes you don't know how to get there on your own, but I guarantee you that that's gonna get you out of it. So I want you to just realize this is for you. This is why we talk about it. This is people don't talk about it. And I want you to truly have the help, have the resources. So if we can help in any way, fantastic. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and just do yourself a favor. I think this is the greatest gift you can give yourself as an owner, as a leader.   ⁓ is to not sit here and stress constantly, to not sit here and carry under the heavy weight of ownership that is unnecessary. We can lighten the load today. It can be removed. And I think having a fairy godmother consultant is one of the greatest things that we could ever offer you. reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Summit 2026 was all about scaling leadership and growing profit in your dental practice, and Kiera and Tiff are here to revisit the highlights. They discuss understanding where your time goes, what it looks like when you need a priority realignment, controlling reasons versus the results, implementing the yes model, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a really exciting day. I got the one and only Spiffy Tiffy on the podcast with me and we're here to do a really exciting podcast. Tiff, how you doing over there today? Excited?   Tiff (00:12) Hi, I'm so excited. We have not podcasted in far too long. Like our schedule's just, it's hard. It's weird because we never see each other. So it's super weird. I know.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:19) I know, but we did just see each other in person, was   honestly the reason we're podcasting today. But did you miss a little bit? I mean, I had thought during that time where we were testing all the sound forever that we should just bust it out and podcast right then and there. Like, let's just do it.   Tiff (00:38) my gosh. Well, last   year at that same time, we busted it out and we did a podcast on the mountains. So it would have been effective, but instead we had a dance party and karaoke.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:43) I know. I know.   We did. And what we're referring to is if you missed summit 2026 with the Dental A Team, you missed out. Tiff and I got together in person, which was a blast. Like I said, Tiff and I used to hang out all the time and Tiff, think like the future life of you and me, that sounds funny. I think that's almost a TV show. I think we need to just like schedule in where we hang out more, not for work. Like I'm coming to Arizona soon. You came out to Reno. We got to just hang out. So, but yeah, we just, were together in person for summit 2026 and   This year's theme and topic was scaling leadership and growing profit in your dental practice. And I think, we just had a good time. what we were alluding to was, ⁓ luckily, I don't think people know, but the day before summit, Tiff and I sat there for what? Eight, nine hours trying to get the cameras and the audio. I have done this. That was summit number six. So Sexy Six is what we did. Tiff, we've done them six together. Like that's a pretty incredible, incredible run.   Tiff (01:37) Yes.   That's wild.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (01:48) but Tiff and I literally sat there. If you saw the reel on Insta, Tiff and I were sitting there doing karaoke. We were dancing. We were doing a talent show like cartwheels, backwards somersaults, handstands, headstands, things that I don't think either of us had done since we were probably like 15. But you know, Tiff, we didn't get to experience that part of life together. So we had to bust that out together. Right.   Tiff (02:08) True. That's fair, that's fair. That was a good assessment,   Kiera Good assessment.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (02:13) Well, it was a really fun time. And I think Tiff, it just reminded me of why I doing this with you. ⁓ I think when we get in person, there's just magic. And so when we put together the summit, I think something people don't really realize is Tiff and I, we don't practice. Like we've got our decks and we've reviewed it, but a lot of the magic just happens because we love helping people. love changing lives. I love watching Tiff in real time do half of my like crazy experiments. Like it's been since the beginning of time that I'm like, all right, Tiff.   I'm not going to tell you in real time, you're going to do this. And I think that that's what makes Summit so special is it's, it's you and me, Tiff, doing it in real time. And the consultants are on the chat, like she definitely carried us quite a bit this year, but we kind of, for those of you who might've missed or those of you who did join, Tiffanie kind of wanted to just do a little highlight reel of some of the key takeaways from Summit that we were able to have. And Tiff, think like probably my favorite part is always the beginning part. ⁓   Tiff (02:54) I'm tired.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (03:09) I mean, it's probably because it's the beginning part. And we talked a lot about how like your business can't outgrow your leadership. And we talked so much about this leadership and Tiff, I know leadership is such a passion for you. within that leadership realm, we talked so much about how like you as a person are the most important piece. And I think a lot of people forget that. And I think that that sometimes like driving home piece of summit that I love to highlight. I know you love to highlight, let's kind of rift on that beginning part, the you part, the leadership part, all of that in that yes success formula that we've.   We talked heavily about at summit this year.   Tiff (03:40) Yeah, and I think, Carrie, you said something there. You said, I love leadership. And immediately, I thought, I do love leadership, but I love leadership because leadership focuses so heavily on the actual person, who they are, how they show up, and how they create the culture that everybody wants to be a part of. So when you say, I love leadership, and then you let it in too, and then them. That's why I love leadership, and that's why I love working with leaders and CEOs. So a CEO dentist and then.   the leaders of the practice, but really those leaders come down to people who are inspired by growth, who are ready to take on the next level and who want to give something back to the world. And for me, inspiring those people, like double, triple, quadruple is the impact that we get to make. So that's why it's so cool to me. And so doing things like Summit where we do, like we do open up with who you are because you are the focus that   is required in order for anything else to work. so, yeah, leadership is a passion because people are a passion and I think both of us feel that way.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (04:47) Absolutely. Like we've said so many times, like life and people are our passion. Dentistry just happens to be the platform where we get to connect with all of you. And Tiff, as you said, that it really made me start thinking about like, what do you spend your time on? And I loved the little, this year we did an hourglass and Tiff, was fun for you to build the hourglass, right? Like where do we actually spend our time? I think it's something where so often as we're running and we're living our lives, we don't take the pause moment to see like,   I can say my family and my health and my business are the most important thing, but when I look at my calendar, when I look at these items, where is it really? And I actually loved the image of an hourglass because ⁓ maybe it was the birthday this year, Tiff, but like there was a moment this year where I was like, I could be halfway done with my life. And so in the hourglass, I feel like it's our time and it's, is it slipping away into the things that we value most? Is it slipping away into the things that we care about the most?   Is it slipping away to where I am, my 90 year old granny with cotton candy pink hair, who's freaking ripped Tiff. There's like another version of her that's come to the forefront. Like I gotta be ripped and like able to move. I can't just be like dead. Like that's been a new element added into this vision at the Villa. ⁓ But like, what is she gonna remember about this time of her life? And what would she wish that she prioritized more? And I think so often we can get stuck in this like the day, the urgent, the chaos. And I love that and Tiff,   This is a fun thing. had you go and build your little sand piece and build your hourglass. What were some of your thoughts like when you did that and doing it in real time and having offices do it in real time with us?   Tiff (06:22) Yeah, I think ⁓ first an hourglass always makes me think of ⁓ Aladdin. I think of Jasmine, right? And so when I think of the hourglass, I think of, yes, like, where am I spending my time and how much time is slipping by? But then I also think of the other side of that, where we're oftentimes consumed by our time. And so I think of Jasmine, like, and I hope everyone here knows the reference that I'm going for here, because I don't have a picture of it.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (06:28) Mm.   Mm.   Yeah, she's like trying to crawl out of that   stand. It's like suffocating her.   Tiff (06:50) Yeah, she's like in the sand   and it's suffocating her, right? So it's like falling on top of her. And that was what I went into that project with that day because I see an hourglass that's just my millennial mind thinks of Jasmine suffocating by the sand. And so for me, I went into it of like, what is suffocating me? Meaning what is taking my time that I'm not intentionally maybe devoting the time to? But I'm like,   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (07:02) .   Tiff (07:17) just letting it, like you said, slip by. And so I went into it with that kind of mind frame and it was really cool. We did it last year too and last year's was a little bit different and last year I forgot to put work on there. This year I did not. It was a fun exercise.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (07:29) It's okay, Tim. It was, I think you had to   block it out. Last year's work was crazy. I think it was like an immediate, like, I need to cut this out of my world, which is fair. And based on the year we lived, I don't blame you. So it felt good that it didn't monopolize. It wasn't home. Like, it's got to just go. We got to, and I don't blame you. It was year for us, for sure.   Tiff (07:40) I agree. It was like an omen.   Yeah,   yeah. But it made it, honestly, it made it intentional. Because no matter what it looks like, no matter how you do this exercise, it brings something to the surface. So last year, it brought that to the surface for me, where I was like, wow, that's wild. Like, why did that happen? Because I didn't intentionally leave it off. I didn't intentionally put it on there. So I don't ever go into it to try to do it right. I go into it to just try to do it.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (08:15) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Tiff (08:15) And especially with your boss standing next to you, like, was like, well, shoot,   cares like you got something to tell me, then tell me. But it was, it brought something to light. And this year felt much calmer doing it. It felt much more ⁓ intentional, I guess, is like the best word I can align. think aligned is my word this year. And so it did feel more aligned and like, there was more intentionality put behind things. And the point of that is wherever you are today is where you are. And being able to see.   where you want to spend time and what your priorities are, is your time spent in alignment with what you say your priorities are? And I love that you always explain, it doesn't mean that it's gonna be equal parts, right? Work, like I work more hours during the day, four and a half days a week, than I do like awake with my family, right? But the...   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (09:11) Mm-hmm.   Tiff (09:12) intentionality behind it of how it's not like to me when I go into that it's not the actual physical hours that I'm spending in those things it's the emotional time I guess the emotional you you know your your what is it that you call it then ROI on your time right are your emotions emotional easy there you go are we thank you I was like is it really that easy emotional ROI that's fine guys so I'm here for it thank you yeah   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (09:23) Mm-hmm.   the emotional ROI, like the ROE, return on emotion. Yeah, I got you girl. Mm-hmm. No, it's ROE, return on emotion, right? You're welcome,   I got you. Yeah, I...   Tiff (09:41) Yeah, so anyways,   that's what it's spun for me. it really highlights a lot, I think, for business owners and for leaders to really see if I'm showing up short, if I'm showing up, you know, chaotic, if I'm showing up calm and like, why, where are my priorities lining and how can I realign?   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (10:00) And Tiff, I love that you said that. And I love like we do, we do a different variation of it. This is something I really like because I feel we don't take that pause moment. Like to me, it's like the, the small space between like taking a breath and releasing a breath. Like there's that small pause. I feel like that small pause is where so much intentionality can happen. so Tiff, thanks for always being my guinea pig. Like it makes it feel like more fun for me because I, I know that Tiff, come into it so real and people that attend summit. So if you don't know about summit Tiff and I do it.   completely virtual. And the reason we've done it virtual, people have asked for years, like, why don't you guys do it in person? And what we found is we want doctors and teams to come together in your office space. Like what is the easiest fastest way for us to rally to impact you? We don't care if your husband or your kids or your wife or your spouse or whomever it is, is with you in that space. Like how fun is it? Like we see families with their kiddos. We see people in their homes. We see   We see you guys living your real lives. And so that's why we've done it virtual. We've done it virtual for six years and it's four hours. It's three and a half hours of CE and it's incredible. It's always the last Friday of April. So you guys can mark your calendars for 2027. I cannot believe that. It'll be the seventh year. I had to remember, I had to remember it's, sorry, it's the second to last Friday. It will be April 23rd next year. But...   Tiff (11:09) I said that earlier.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (11:17) We always do it the same weekend and we purposely do it where it's not the very beginning of the year. It's not the end of the year. It's that like special pause and like, let's look to see. And the whole point this year that we really try to bring in with you, cause like we focus there because I think people want like, what are the systems? What are the tactics? What's the profit? How do I do all these pieces? And we're like, if you pause and look and make sure that where you're putting your ladder and wanting to hang your shingle, is that really where you want your life to be? Because we can be a few degrees off as we're flying our life plane and we can end up in.   Bermuda or we can end up in Antarctica and I've been to both and they're very radically different locations and so it's are you actually headed where you want to go and this year I really brought up ⁓ a Topic that I'm obsessed with and it's like you are the billion dollar asset and if you don't see yourself as a billion dollar asset I think we're looking at our lives wrong and like you are the one who ultimately controls your success and happiness You are the one who has success and failure and you control that in your office   You are the one who controls where you spend your time. No one's forcing you to do anything. Like we are so blessed to live in the country we live in, the places that we live that we get to make these choices. You control the reasons or the results. And I love that line. You control the reasons or the results. You can't have both. And to really just help people see like, I having reasons for my lack of success or my abundance of success? Or am I actually having the results of what I say I truly want? And if I'm saying I want that,   but my actions aren't showing that either I need to change my plan and figure out what I actually want or I need to change my plan to get what I actually want. And so ⁓ one of my favorite lines from all of summit was you must prioritize you first or you will always fail. There is no other way to success. Stop all the excuses, start owning the outcomes. And I think for all of us today listening whether this is a summit recap for you or you're getting the highlight sizzle reel for you.   I hope that today you recognize that you've got to prioritize you first. And it's so easy Tiff, because I feel like I had this epiphany probably before I even met you, I think. I was like, life is so fascinating to me because there's so many things that scream and grab my attention that I feel are so important. But when I take that pause, that breath, half of that doesn't actually matter. And I'm just in the momentum and the slurry and I need to be intentional with how I build my life.   I don't know, maybe I'm going off on a tangent. I know this is something you and I love and I hope for doctors and teams listening today. I hope you can take that pause. I hope you can see that you are the billion dollar asset. I hope you can see like Tiff said, like, are we being suffocated by our time or are we watching our time slip into the areas that we hope it is? Where are we spending our time? We had a bunch of categories of time, but really like stop the excuses or owning the outcomes of what you want because you are ultimately the one who controls all of the success or failure in your life.   Tiff (14:04) Yeah, I agree.   And I think the reason that it's so imperatively important is because then we talk about earnings and then we talk about systems, right? We have our whole model and I can't, you can't talk about earnings, you can, but they're not gonna hit home as much if you don't have like you in alignment or at least reality. I think if you can spread at least reality and just be.   clear on who you are, how you're showing up and how you want to show up, then the earnings come, then those pieces come. So the profitability and all of those pieces that we talk about in our next little highlight reel here, they fall after that because again, like you are the reason that any of this exists. And if you're not in alignment with that, none of the other things are going to happen.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (14:53) 100 % and tiff, it's wild. Do you remember how many times we tried like an alliteration, a little like, what is deadly teams methodology? Remember the SPF one? Like I think that was one of like the funniest ones that like we had some ones and it just landed and locked one day when it was the yes model. Like it's the yes success model and it's you earning systems. And when I first put it together, I thought it was cute and it's crazy because subconsciously we put it in the exact order it needs to go in.   Tiff (15:02) You do?   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (15:20) for to truly be able to say yes to your dream life. Like you've got to focus on you. Then you focus on the earnings and then the systems will be what those two tell us. And it's like to me, the yes, excess are like your three numbers on a combination lock. And I feel like so many people try to be like earnings, Y like you. So it's E Y S like, okay, well that's well eyes like ish like that could be your combination, but you're never going to feel fulfilled. You're not going to be able to say yes. You're going to say eyes or I can be like, well let's do systems and then earnings and then yes.   or like you, well that says say, so are you gonna say, say your life away? Or are gonna say yes to the life you actually want? And it's been fascinating, because I think the more we coach on it, the more we teach it, it was something that came out of, I just thought it was a cute acronym, but the undertone of the subconscious of knowing that you've gotta be prioritized first, then you've gotta do your earnings, and then you gotta do your systems. And so if you're like, let's build systems, and I'm like, well, if you're not profitable, the whole thing's gonna crash down and burn. If you don't take care of you,   the whole thing's gonna crash down and burn. Like it literally is a sequence and an order. like the pinnacle peak of everything that we talk about, everything leads up to a saying like success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. And I think to everything we talked about at the beginning of this podcast, coming into here, like I think that's my like hill to die on is if we are successful in our marriages, but we're not fulfilled. we're successful in our businesses, but we're not fulfilled. If we're successful like...   That fulfillment piece is joy. That's the happiness. Like that is the juice. That's the squeeze of what we're all working for. But I think we prioritize the success, the money, the earnings, the status, the elite. Like you can have it all, but just make sure you're fulfilled and you're taking care of you. And it's really the life you want to live, not the one you think you should live or the one that you just happen to fall into or the one that the patterns got us into. But you actually own your life rather than just manage it.   Tiff (17:10) I agree. I have been a firm believer that if I'm not taken care of or if I'm not happy, down to the choices that I make in my personal life when it comes to Brodie and his happiness, I have always said, if mom's happy, Brodie's happy. If I'm taken care of, and that's the CEO of our family, if I'm taken care of and I'm a priority, I'm then teaching everyone else to do the same and all those other pieces come into place and for the practice.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (17:30) Mm-hmm.   Tiff (17:39) Every doctor comes in and says, need systems. And we do cover systems. We've a ton of systems in Summit. We cover all of them. But we also are a firm believer, a company that believes that those systems have to be in alignment with your culture, with who you are and what your goals are. So we have systems for everything. But we're going to tailor it and customize it to fit you and your circumstances. And if we're not super clear on who you are, what your goals are, your culture,   We're gonna hit that home real hard first and then figure out your systems, because you have systems and they're working to an extent. We just gotta clean them up a little bit and they're probably a little misaligned with who you are, who you want to be.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (18:23) Exactly. And Tiff, I love that. Like the CEO of the family, the CEO of this, like, and really like, yes, take care of you. Have that. That way you've got a full bucket to come from. So yes, we did go through after that the earnings portions. We talked about overhead, profitability, cashflow, like what are those items? We have a cost spending spreadsheet and you better believe we had an entire stack that people at the end of some were able to access. And it had so many spreadsheets, our overhead calculator,   like what is profitability? What is like true profit? What is cashflow? How do we find those small money links leaks in our practice? So like talking about different ways, like where are the small gaps in your bucket? Where if you just shore those up, there's so like, it is the lowest hanging fruit that are just the aha moments that people are not thinking about. And I love doing it because it's like, ⁓ like that's such a great idea. That was so easy that I didn't even think about. And of course I get like all jazzed on life doing the earnings section because like I   love numbers and numbers of me. Like I live to teach people how to be profitable and how to understand numbers and learning that business acumen knowledge. I feel like it's been another language that if you've watched me even over the years, like both of us growing and evolving and I was the girl who sat in a class that truly was like everyone else has business figured out, but not me. And I think so many dentists and so many owners can relate to that phrase of like, why not a drill a tooth, like PNL, KPI, like what the heck are those?   And to be able to break it down, think one of my favorite, favorite compliments of Dental A Team is like, we are the Dr. Seuss of systems. We make things so simple for people. And I've like hung onto that because if we can make numbers so simple for you, like think Dr. Seuss style, how much easier is it for you to go in and to be confident looking at your numbers, to be a competent CEO that uses those numbers rather than emotion.   to really get to the life and the dream you want. So tip, those are like some of my highlights. Those are some of the fun things. And then of course, you're like rolled right into systems, but I didn't know if there was anything on the earnings section before I roll into like systems, because the sexy systems are always a good time, but anything on earnings you wanted to add to that.   Tiff (20:25) Yeah.   I just wanted to let everybody know like the after summit, the number of text messages and emails and just like messages I know that we all receive, but that I personally received from my own clients that I work one-on-one with it or their attending summit that were like, I know we've heard this before because you guys talk about it all the time, but something hit different today and I'm so excited. Like I had   a call with ⁓ a client actually that morning and he was trying to go through it and he was just confused and he just doing, was like overworking it and overthinking it. And I was able to be like, cool. And then he, he watched it, you know, he, learned it and I made sure he had all the tools he needed in that moment. And he's like, my gosh, I was overcomplicating it. Like the way you do it is so much more simple than I was making it. And that's like, you said that Dr. Seuss, right? But even like that's a system.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (21:15) Nyeh.   Tiff (21:24) So we talk about systems and we're gonna talk about systems, but that in itself is a system really learning how to read your numbers, figure it out and simplify what you're looking at because it doesn't take a doctorate to look at those things. And sometimes we think it does. So we apply our doctorate to it and we overcomplicate it. So I just wanted to make sure everyone knew like the amount of information or the amount of people that are like.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (21:25) Thank   Tiff (21:51) Thank you so much because this was so helpful. And for whatever reason today, I heard it differently. That's why we repeat things too is like how many times have we gone to a convention or listen to the same podcast and we're like, gosh, today I heard it with different ears and I got something else out of it. And that's why we have repeatable systems and why we have those kinds of conversations. Cause something different will come out every time.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (21:53) Yeah.   100 % Tiff. And as you said that, think there's like, there's a quote, I might be tootin' my own horn. I think I actually made this one up. so if I did great, and if I took it from someone, I'm really sorry, and it's actually yours. But it was like, sometimes the greatest form of learning is remembering what we already know. And I think so many times we come to these conferences, we go to these things, it's like, I've already heard that. And it's like, but you haven't, because you are at a different location of where your business is, of where you are, to where it's gonna land differently. And so I agree with you, Tiff.   Systems were fun and we went through like some of our favorites of like case exceptions and block scheduling. But I think what I really loved was we actually like then broke down into like, what is it like to be a CEO dentist and the delegation ladder and like helping people. And then like at the top of the delegation ladder, how we like split leadership into an executive side and an operational management side and helping Dr. C. And we actually did this in our like internal private mastermind group that we work with our clients and so many of the doctors, love that. Like kudos to Tiff. She was one who has the brains behind this topic.   of let's talk about delegation. And when doctors look at their like list of things that they've got going on, when they listed everything off and then they went back and like looked to say, what really can only you do? It was two things. It was vision culture and you might throw profitability on there, like pending upon how your team is, but that's it. And like, tip, I freaking love that epiphany for doctors. I love that epiphany for OMS because when you got like the two halves of a whole like doctors, we need your vision. need that execution. need that culture. And OMS are like, and then give me the to-dos and like, let me GSD over here and to help like,   both of you in the same room, see how this applies to both of you and where your sweet spots are. To me, that was one of my absolute highlights. And then like a leadership evolution where how you evolve through that were truly some of my faves. But Tiff, maybe you had something else, because I know you love that part too.   Tiff (23:56) I agree.   I do. I think it was interesting the way that we laid it all out because we did do systems. We did implementable systems. We always do that you can walk away with. We talked about our 12 systems. We will always deliver those. But the reality of, I think, the biggest part of the systems is what you just said, that delegation ladder, because we have all of these systems. But you're not the only one who can do them, by the way. And you're not the only one.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (24:24) you   Tiff (24:26) You're not the one who has to do them. so learning systems is one thing, but then learning how to foster the systems and like delegate them out and hold someone accountable to doing the system is a fully different kind of system. Like that's why when people come to us and they're like, girl, I just need systems. I'm like, everything is a system. You're just not seeing it from that lens and you're trying to do too much. So what part of the system or what   part of the experience for that patient, do you not have to do 100 % of? If they can do 80 % of it, you can do 20, if they can do 90, you can do 10. Like they make songs about this and we apply it to like romantic relationships, but every interaction we have, every relationship that we have, they work the same. It's a give and a take. And if you're taking more than you're giving and there's never like this back and forth or this equality in the middle,   you're doing them a disservice because they can't grow and you're doing yourself a disservice because you're limiting your own growth. And so when you can see that within the system, see the part that each person plays for those systems and divvy out those responsibilities, that's where the growth is.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (25:41) Exactly. And I think it was just fun because like what Tiff and I do is we talk about like the yes model and then like, how do you actually implement it? And like getting into the nitty gritties of how do you do this? And like Tiff said, like splitting it and how do we actually elevate each other and help each other be our best? And then we talk about winning teams and we pulled in Patrick Lanziani's five dysfunctions of teams and then like the extraordinary success formula and then case studies of like the good leadership and the bad leadership and like things we've seen from consulting like   literally hundreds and thousands of offices. And to me, it's really fun because we like put a pretty bow on it and we wrap it all up and we have this entire awesome stack of like all the spreadsheets and all the pieces. But I think for me, it's a like, all the content every single year is revamped. It's it's built upon it's different ways to present it to you. But what I always hope is like, realizing that the people around you are on the boat to success. And are you going to sit on your own isolated   little island over there, like crying your eyes out because you're lonely. Or are you going to get on the boat to success with like-minded people like you that are going to grow you, that are going to push you, that are going to be a group? like, yeah, there was a surprise. We invited people to our in-person mastermind. And if you're interested in any of these things of like the tech stack or coming into those different pieces or joining us in our masterminds, like please reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and hey, maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe I'll share a spreadsheet or two. ⁓   Tiff (26:39) You   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (27:07) But more than that, I hope that you decide that you're the billion dollar asset. Let me be around people like this. If you didn't attend summit, put it on your calendar next year. Be sure that you're on that. And then if you're like, gosh, like everything you talked about you and like putting myself first and like helping a vision and relaying that to my team, because what Tiff and I are obsessed about and why we built this company was we got so tired of doctors trying to relate to teams and teams trying to relate to doctors. That's why it's literally called Dental A team. It's dentists and teams and both sides of that coin, bringing that together and helping all of you.   Realize like how we succeed in our own individual roles, how we succeed together, helping doctors take your own incredible life and translate that into a vision your team can rally. What your numbers tell you, what your systems tell you, all of that. And that's something that I really freaking love. And Tiff, summer was just magical. It was a magical time this year. And that's kind of my rap, but I guarantee you got a rap then. I hope people just loved it. I hope they choose to be on the boat to success and not be left on their own Island. You don't have to be alone.   You don't have to be alone in your problems, but it's time to like own it, stop the excuses and either have reasons or have results. You can't have both. That's my wrap Tiff. What's your wrap? Anything you want to add to that?   Tiff (28:14) Yeah, the community piece, just wrapped it. That last piece that you just talked about is the piece that we get the biggest feedback on, if I'm honest with you. Yeah, we are incredible. I'm going to be honest with you. We are a really cool freaking company and we produce some amazing results. I have heard from so many people, from so many other companies that they say, you guys are different because you're actual   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (28:27) We are.   Tiff (28:40) consultants and you're not just trainers, like individual trainers. So I know without a shadow of a doubt that we do it differently. So I can toot that horn all day long because I know that we are really good at what we do. What is incredible to add on top of that, like the sprinkles that are on top of that is that we allow our clients to be this tight knit community. So not only are we working with you one-on-one and producing results for your practice, we're individualizing   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (28:49) Yep.   Tiff (29:09) all of the things that we do for you, but we're allowing you to share that then with other people. Like everyone loves it. Like I've never sat in a room where I felt so welcome and so heard and so seen and so normalized. Like it's not, hey doctor, hey doctor, hey doctor. It's like first name basis. It's you're just a human just like I am. And we can sit here together and we can collaborate. And I think that even on a virtual platform is incredible that we've been able to create that and foster that.   but even more the in-person events and our in-person visits that we go to practices, all of those pieces. And that's my wrap. Like the community is massive.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (29:50) It is. What do we talk about? We talked about like you are the culmination of the top five people that you hang and spend time with. And I've thought like, is it time for me to elevate my friend group and my peer group? That's why I joined Tony Robbins Lions. Like I needed people that were smarter than me. I didn't want to be the smartest one in the room. I want people I could give back to. And I think Tiff, you and I have taken our passion, our love for people, our passion, our love for life.   the things that we've learned throughout life and we're able to turn it into this really fun thing to help dentists freaking succeed and thrive and not just survive. And so this year I thought it was really fun to help doctors and team members elevate their leadership, elevate their profitability. So if you missed it, I'm not gonna lie to you, you freaking missed out. Tiff and I have a good time. We laugh hysterically. It's all live. It's real time. Some of the things we say shock both of us, but hey, it's here for it.   It's engaging with people, even though it's virtual, like we see all your faces. We've done Tony Robbins, like I, we make this thing a whole production. It is lit. So come join us next year. And if you missed out this year and you want to get like, find out more, you want to come join us in September in our in-person mastermind or February, you want to elevate your peer group. You're sick of being stuck. You're sick of being where you've been. You're ready for the next level. Or if you're like, I just want to optimize or like, Hey, I'm drowning. It doesn't matter. That boat is going. Let's get you on it. Come join us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com book a call.   I will happily love to see you. team would love to see you. Tiff, I love you. I love working with you. I love creating magic with you. I love creating summit with you. And I'm just so thankful for your sparkle, for your love, because I feed off of that. And I think you and I together, like you said, we built a really freaking cool company and we're like kick a in the industry. We know what we're doing. We're experts at what we do. And we do it for dentists and we do it for teams and we make your life incredible. so Tiff, thanks for just like many, many years ago, believing in a vision and making it into what it is today.   Tiff (31:40) Thank you. Thank you for believing in me that I could do this with you. I love you. I love this company. I love what we create and gosh, I love all of our listeners like our clients. I love you and our future clients and those of you who will always be a listener. We're here for you. We're here for all of you guys and we truly do love what we do and when you're ready for that next layer, we're here to freaking layer it on.   Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (32:02) I love it. Well, for all of you listening, take action. Don't stay on your isolated island. You don't have to. It's a choice. Join the boat to success. Come join us. We'd love you. Take some action from today. You're the billion-dollar asset. Think about your cash flow, your overhead, your profitability, the systems, delegation ladder. ⁓ What's your winning team? Are you guys winning? Are you thriving? What's that extraordinary leadership formula? Take action. Do something. And just make sure you're living the life you want. We get one life to live. And think about that hourglass.   Is your time slipping away from you? you actively building the life you want? I hope you're choosing the ladder. And with that, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Spiffy Tiffy and Dynamite Dana wax poetic about a topic coming up quite a bit in offices these days: teamwork and morale, and how to make it the best possible. Together, they touch on the following:   Who's responsible How to own your morale Suggestions for jumpstarting positivity   Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review   Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   The Dental A Team (00:32) and you guys, I'm so excited for Consultant Takeover. Guys, that was me attempting to sing into this microphone for you, and I hope you loved it. Today, Consultant Takeover, grab your pens, grab your notebooks, bringing in the heat today. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.   Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Tiffanie and you are here on the Dental A team consultant takeover where the traveling Dental A Team consultants take over the mic and share tips and tricks from hundreds of offices nationwide. And today I have with me, Dynamite Dana.   Dana, you have been on a roll. have been podcasting for, ⁓ my gosh, almost an hour now, honestly. And your tips and tricks have just been mind blowing. Your verbiage was awesome on the last one. I freaking loved it. So now I set you up to like have to wing it to bring it here on this one. You're welcome. I just, as I was speaking, Thank you so much for podcasting with me today. ⁓ we all know Kiera does a million solos. I've done a few, I think we've all done a few solos, but it's just so much more fun when we have   at least two people on here to kind of chit chat with. I feel like we're on video, we're talking, we're like two pals just chatting and we're gonna just be two pals chatting about the normal everyday conversation of teamwork and morale. Because that's what brunch talk is, right? I was kidding, I'm just kidding. That is not brunch talk. But that is today, teamwork and morale. I think...   I think everything we talked about today has been super relevant, but I really, really think teamwork and morale has been coming up a ton for practices. think. I think employment is different today than it ever has been in our history. And I think teamwork and morale is at the center of that. Morale means more to team members today than it ever has before. We're in the day and age of if it doesn't feel good, we're not doing it. And I can't.   disagree with that on a lot of levels. And so I struggle with some of practices too. They're like, I don't understand. I'm like, I don't get it either, but I feel the same. If it doesn't feel good, do I really want to do it? And those are the choices that we're all making every single day. And so I think there's a lot to be said for teamwork and morale. And Dana, have you seen it in practices recently too? Yeah. I mean, I have very few practices where this hasn't come up. And I think,    One thing I always like to point out when it comes to this is this is something that takes a ton of work that takes a ton of constant focus. Oftentimes you think, okay, I'm just going to do this office event, or we're going to go out one time, and we're going to bond this one time, and we're going to put in a little bit of effort this month, and then it falls off, or we think that's enough, and teams cycle with this, right? We tend to see   Morale stay really high. And then, know, 90 days later we see it dip again. And so it is catching it before it dips. Right. And to do that, we have to just make it a constant focus. Yeah, I totally agree. I love that. Now question for you. I have my opinions, but I want to know your opinion as well. Teamwork and morale often lies on, ⁓ it ends up in the hands of your leadership or your doctors, your owners, but do you, who do you feel like is responsible for teamwork and morale in a, in a business or a practice?   I think everyone. think ⁓ team, right, is in teamwork and it takes all team members being willing to work together, being willing to face challenges, being willing to grow, being willing to step up and look for opportunities to push other team members to increase that morale, even if it is recognizing when somebody helps you out and saying thank you. I think it can come from anybody. I think team members look to leadership to set the tone.   But I think team members own a piece of it just as much as leadership does. Yeah, I totally agree with you. And that's what I was thinking too. As we're going on this topic, we start out as like, can we do to set the morale? But then I'm thinking, well, we talked about ownership just on a podcast we just recorded. And I think that that is huge here too, being able to own what we bring and what effects, positive or negative, we have on the teamwork and the morale of the practice.   I know I get into my cycles, everything in life is cyclical and we'll always end up back in the same places, right? Unless we make a change and that's the definition of insanity. And I think that's why people go crazy. They're like, well, I can't stay in the same place anymore. Like, well, there's like small changes you can make, don't have to make a whole life change, but there are small things. And so I know I go through these phases and I'll get to the point where I'm like, what the heck? Like with travel, right? I'll go wild and I'm like, shoot, I can't do this anymore. Like, no, that's.   probably not what it is. Like what is my ownership in this, right? I think, well, what is the LA team doing? How are we, how are they making it exciting? Or Kiera will say, let's add in like more fun events. Like Kiera, that's not always it. Sometimes it's just that like we have to take, I have to take a look at what I've been doing. How have I been contributing? How have I been helping the other consultants to feel amazing at what they're doing? How have I been investing and pouring myself into our company and what   We're putting out because that's ultimately how I'm going to feel best about my position and whatever I'm doing. And I know I feel better. I think everybody does. I feel better when I give somebody else compliments and I feel better when I say, thank you, Nicole, to the cash register lady at the store. And she's like, my gosh, thank you for knowing my name. Like you have a name tag. Like I talk about those things a lot, but it really does make it helps build me up so that I think I bring a different, I think I bring a different vibe and a different morale.   to the team when I can identify why I'm stuck in a space and make that change for myself compared to coming and showing up and expecting the rest of you guys to change me, right? If I come in a bad mood, I expect you guys to bring it up and you to put in the teamwork and the morale to make me feel better. It doesn't usually, doesn't usually work that way, right? But when I can show up and know I'm in a funk and how am I going to change that by being   better for you guys, it often will change it for me.   Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. In 2021, my goal was   I would always, and I started it just with like my friends and then I expanded it to pretty much everyone. And my goal was if I thought something nice, if I looked at my friend's earrings and I thought, they're so pretty, I was to say it. So that was my goal for 2021 when I thought those things that I actually had to force myself to say them. And I went into it being like, I want people to hear these good things, right? I want them to hear the things that I think.   truly, truly what I got from it was far more immeasurable. Like giving that joy and giving that gave so much back tenfold probably than the person hearing it. And so ⁓ I think about that when it comes to morale, that if I can leave my, ⁓ you know, negative things outside and I can show up and I can be positive, or if I feel disconnected that I'm the one that reaches out or   It is truly, truly will make a difference and team members will really have a big impact on that. Yeah, I love that. That's brilliant. And you do give the best compliments. I know you always show up with that. You really truly do stick by that. If you think something, you'll say it about that thing, which I love. It makes everybody feel good. So I think that's brilliant.   We all have our piece to play in teamwork. love that you said that like team is literally you're part of the team and it's in the word teamwork. So I love that. And then morale is, think morale is a combination of the work that we all put in. And you said at the beginning leadership sets the tone. think number one person who sets the tone is your doctor owner. So who's the like big Kahuna who's everybody looking to. And then it goes down from there, um, down your leadership ladder. I know if.   An office manager is responsible for morale and our doctors like, man, I don't really feel like being here. I don't really, I don't love dentistry. I don't want to, I don't want to be here every day. I hate my hours. I wish I could do more surgery. Your office manager, pep rallying, running around, trying to make everybody happy is not going to fix the situation. Regardless, they're still looking towards you doctors. So just make sure that you guys and even associate doctors, think not.   Owners, think you have a huge piece to play in the morale as well. I know I've heard, ⁓ you know, his day is done. So he just gets up and leave. doesn't check with anybody. But then my owner doctor checks to see if dental assistants need anything like show up. That's the biggest piece teamwork and morale is just showing up. Be your best selves, ⁓ give more out than you expect to get back and understand the part and the piece that you play in setting the morale. If the morale is off your teamwork.   will fail, right? If your morale is off, people don't want to help each other. Your teamwork is like one, I'm out for myself one for one, right? If your morale is high and people understand how fun it can be to work for you, work out your practice or your business, then your teamwork is going to go up. They're more likely to say, Hey, how can I help? Hey, Dana, you seem down today. Like what can, what can I do? Do you just need to chat? Are you good? Whereas if morale is low.   I'm low too, so I might not even notice that Dana's down today. I might not even, I might not be in a space to pay attention because I'm just looking at myself. What do you think, Dana? Yeah, I love that so much because I feel like, again, they're going to look to leadership to set the tone. And so if leadership comes in with that positive, if leadership is looking in ways and oftentimes,   I hear when I hear offices say, I don't have team members that take initiative. We lack initiative. I always want to say, then let's take a look at your morale, your culture, because that's probably right where that's coming from. Yeah, I totally agree. I do hear that a lot. I don't have team members. I just need to find team members who are willing to take initiative and do what's hard. I had, I use myself as an example all the time because I really like to evaluate myself, number one, but I really like to look at like who I was and who I've become. And I think   My coworkers and my, doctor that I know sometimes listen to this, but I know I do have my office manager from years ago. She listens to our podcasts often. And I hope, I hope she listens at the right time is because she played just a huge piece in helping to mold the person that I am, regardless of how well or how well we did not get to get, get along. but I remember when I was in my early, in my early twenties, I.   I hated this. hate even saying it sometimes, but it's like so funny and so embarrassing at the same time. So we had like a refrigerator with water bottles in it. Right. But then we, my doctor loved these Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. Okay. He wanted the practice to smell like a bakery. And I'm like, I, we are a dental practice. We are not a bakery. So this is ridiculous. Number one in my mind. Right. I was just like, this is psycho. That's not off the sugar.   He's like, he's like, get the only sugar free ones. So I'm like all day telling people like, no, they're like, getting cavities drumming up business. I'm like, no, they're sugar free, but like they still will cause cavities. It was such a thing. It was a debacle. It's fine. But in my early twenties, I was like, I'm not that like, that's not part of my job to make the cookies and to do the water bottles. Like I have worked here.   long enough, I've worked here for five, six years, however long, and I was like, I'm not doing these stupid things anymore. This is no longer me. This is that person over there. And I remember my office manager at the time was like, if you're not willing to do the tedious tasks, then how do you expect someone else who's quote unquote underneath you to want to do it too? She would go in and clean the bathroom. She would go in and change the toilet paper. She would make sure that the   ⁓ front lobby was clean, she would go and like she'd have a magic erase marker on the walls because there's scuff marks and so much so that what it did was it made the rest of us like, ⁓ you're not, let me do that. Like we would jump up and go do it because she was that kind of a leader. So I think being the leader, one thing I've learned in my tenure within, you know, adult life, we'll say,   is that if you're not willing to be the leader that's willing to do the small tedious tasks that are quote unquote beneath you or that you don't want to do, you can't expect anyone else to do it either. So that sets the tone and the morale 100%. And if you're waiting for people to see the scuff and get up and do it, you already saw it. Why not just do it? Right? And I think that that's a huge piece in my personal life at least. ⁓   of morale that I learned was you're gonna get better results if you're willing to be the leader. That's the difference between a leader and a manager is really leading to the result that you want rather than sitting around and waiting for someone to take the initiative of something that you already saw wasn't being done. Yeah, and the time and the thought that you put into every time you walk by that Scalfmark, my team members haven't taken initiative and done that.   Nobody has noticed that or done that, right? The amount of time and energy that you've put into even thinking about that scuff is a fraction of what it would have taken you just to clean it up. Amen. I love that. And we all know that I am not about wasting time nor energy. So do the thing. Just do the thing. I know we talk about say the thing that's making it hard to say, do the thing that you don't want to do. Do the hard things so that other people will learn how to do it too.   I think teamwork and morale, I know you guys probably walked into this thinking we were going to have all of these tips and tricks of like, do this, do that, do this, buy this, do this event. And you can do all of those things, but I think at the bottom of it all, and the end of the day is just edifying one another, being good people, doing the things that you don't want to do so that other people learn how to do it and really owning your stuff. So gosh, Dana, tell me if there's other action items you see, but I think I'm taking your.   I'm stealing your own, stuff. use this on another podcast and I loved that. And I think it's so relevant. Own your stuff. If you're not in a space of good teamwork or morale, figure out why and change that. How can you break the mold of who you are? Show who you're showing up or how you're showing up today. How can you break that mold, break that chain of insanity, that cyclical phase? So own your stuff. How can you break the mold and then.   just do the hard things, do the things that make you a better leader and set that tone for your practice. Yeah, I love it. Sometimes I think it has to take these huge moving mountain things, right? And it truly is, truly, truly is placing the sands in that anthill or whatever analogy you want. It's those little things. It's the thank yous. It's the, that was fantastic. It's the, my gosh, our   you know, front office is the best at what they do. It's those little things that push teams to grow together, to work together. It's just the small things. Yeah, I love it. So make yourself a goal like what Dana had. I loved that 2021. If you saw something, you said it. I love that. Make it a goal for the practice. think that's brilliant. If you see somebody doing something well, make sure that you say it out loud. We tend to keep those things inside or I think we're too busy. Just do it. So.   I love it. Thanks, Dana. Thanks for being here with me today. That was a fun one to do with you. I loved it. Thanks. You're welcome. Alrighty guys. That wraps up the Dental A Team podcast consultant takeover. Let us know what you think. We love hearing from our listeners. Truly, truly love it. Drop us a five star review or email us over at Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Thanks so much for listening. We'll catch you next time   Kiera Dent (16:48) Dental A Team listeners, I hope you loved revisiting this episode as much as I did. I hope that you found the nuggets, the pearls. You can see why we re-released this one because I truly want you to take away the best of the best of the best of the best. This episode truly hopefully sparked some new excitement, gave you some new ideas. I know sometimes when I go back and I look back on things that I've learned in the past, I'm able to re-implement because like that famous quote says, no man steps into the same river twice because neither he is the same man.   nor is the river the same. You are not the same as you were before, nor is your practice the same as it was before. Different things, different ideas, same principles. And I really want to highlight and hopefully you took today that sometimes all we need to do is simplify and put into place or to refine things that we've already been doing really, really well. If you love this episode, don't keep it to yourself, share it with a colleague or leave us a review and help more practices find the Dental A Team podcast. As always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Do you often feel like your homebase emotionally is a little … chaotic? Kiera reminds listeners that having a "calm" practice doesn't necessarily mean having a slow practice; rather, it's an intentional place, and it's worth existing in. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is such a great day. It's podcast day and I'm so excited to be here with all of you. I hope that you're excited for today. And again, I hope that you just remember that we are truly so blessed and so lucky to be living in the world of dentistry. I love being in dentistry. I love helping people have smiles. I love that like smiles are contagious, that good dentistry is contagious, that great teams are contagious. And today, today's podcast is   ⁓ calm is contagious and so is chaos. And, I think a calm practice model is really something that's going to help high performing offices feel easier. And I was actually talking to one of my business coaches the other day and he said, Kiera, I just want you to know that chaos is contagious. And so is calm. ⁓ our company is going through some really evolutionary changes. I'm very excited about them, but at the same time, I've made the joke that sometimes I feel like an orange juice being squoze. And the other day told my husband, was like, no, no.   that's too much juice that comes out of one squeeze, I actually feel like an olive. Like you are pressing everything out of me to get one teeny tiny drop of olive juice ⁓ or olive oil. And I just feel like sometimes practice owners, might feel this way. Office managers, you might feel this way where ⁓ sometimes that chaos is very, very contagious. And sometimes I think we accidentally live there. That might be our emotional home that we live in. It might be the place that we naturally go back to. And so just thinking that maybe there is another path.   maybe you coming in with a space in the center of calm and seeing how your team and your patients respond to that rather than coming in with this chaos. I did the trend, the AI trend where you ask chat GPT to make you a character based on what it knows about you. And it was fascinating for me because the character I got was me in a business suit. was holding papers. had traction in the background. had, it was kind of this like a tornado flurry behind me and I was holding a barbell weight because I do like to work out.   and I was in a black and white, so black skirt, white shirt, like holding this barbell weight in my hand and there's a tornado coming down behind me with like papers kind of flying and it was like, you're in this building phase of a little bit of chaos and this tornado. And then I decided to ask it like, well, based on where you know our company is going and where you know I'm going, build me a picture that looks like that. And it was fascinating because there was me in a cream suit, no black and white.   I was sitting there actually barefoot. So I'm in like a very professional suit. My arms were folded. I was very much at like peace and calm and ease. was at, there was like a sun. So it was like Hawaii slash Greece. Like I love to travel, but it was behind me. So was like no longer chasing or striving. was there. Family was incorporated rather than like being there. Working was part of my like Zen. And that's the image that I hold. And I think that that analogy and that story hopefully just shows that both are real.   I'm the same person and I'm living in a world of chaos or I'm living in a world of calm. And even my body feels better when I think about me being calm. And I think that there's times of chaos and there's times of calm. And I was actually chatting with my therapist the other day and we were talking about this like chaos versus calm, this force versus flow, this like drive and hit results versus like, you know, have flow. And she said, Kiera, it's kind of like being in a kayak. And she said, you know, a lot of people are trying to like force.   So you get in the kayak and you're rowing upstream and you're like working really, really, really, really hard to get somewhere, but you're going against everything. And it really is chaotic and you get exhausted and you get burnout. And I think so many practices feel this way. And she's like, versus Kiera, think what you think of calm or flow is like, you just get in the kayak, put your hands in the air and let go of the paddle and you just float wherever you're going to go. And she said, that's actually not flow, that's apathy. She said, flow or this calm is when you're actually in the kayak and you're looking ahead.   and you see rapids or you see a rock and you like put the paddle in to steer around it. And then when it's calm, you actually enjoy that calm rather than having your focus so far down that you're afraid of the rapids that you forget to enjoy the moment you're in today. And hopefully with some of those analogies I've given and some of those examples, you can see yourself in a practice of both of these are contagious. You can be the Kiera and the tornado where it's like, I got the barbell and I'm doing it all, but I'm exhausted and there's a smile, but it's a fleeting smile.   or there can be this calm and centered. And so today, just helping you realize that like a calm practice is not a slower one. It's a very intentional, right? Like me having two businesses, a lot of business owners, when you look at them, a lot of our multimillion, I'm talking my five, 10, 15, 20, $30 million practices, it's very different who that owner is compared to my like startup one, two, $3 million. And what I've noticed, and even some of the five, 10, 15, I'm not saying just when you hit a certain dollar amount, you become this.   But what I do see is these owners are very intentional with their time. One that runs a $30 million organization, works out, doesn't have any apps on their phone, ⁓ has another side business. They're running all these practices. But when you meet this person, you don't feel that anxiousness. You feel this like very much like they're willing to just sit down and have coffee with you and chat with you about your life.   It's very fascinating. And so I also hope that you realize like calm is not a indicator that you're a slower practice. It's an indicator that you're intentional and chaos is not an indicator of growth. think sometimes even for myself, it's like, but if we're having chaos, it's like what I'm darting through traffic, am I really making progress or does it just feel good to have an adrenaline rush? And so chaos is not a sign of growth. Most of the time chaos means that there's missing structure. Now there's going to be times, right? There will be times of rapids. There will be times of   boulders coming down the river, but we don't have to stay there and we don't have to live there. And so I just wanted to kind of go through today a couple of quick tips that I see of these calm, like flourishing, thriving, imagine me sitting there, cream colored suit, very calm. Like literally that's the image that I have in my mind of who I want to be and the practice I want to have and the business I want to create. Because to me, that's more sustainable. That's more fun for my team. It's more fun for me.   And so just going through that. if you guys don't know who we are, I'm Kiera Dent Dental A Team. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry. Our philosophy of Dental A Team is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible and to literally break through the myth that to have a successful practice, you have to be stressed. You have to have chaos. I do believe running a successful practice should be easy and it can be easy with the right team that's empowered. I believe you can have it all. And so ⁓ really truly, I wanna just help you see that like,   You are not always just going to be calm and you're not always going to be chaotic. There's going to be that. But what is your baseline center that you go back to? I think is more of what it is. And for someone like Kiera, who chat GPT says there's a tornado around. I actually just got back from a trip and my team said, Kiera, you feel so calm. And I do think that there's intentionality behind it. I want to show up differently. And I think there's a few best practices that I'm happy to share. So I think calm comes from predictability, not personality. ⁓ I'm a very vibrant human and yet there's calm that comes from predictability. So   Like when we look at this, it's consistent scheduling patterns. It's hitting our daily targets. It's making sure we know our profit margins. It's making sure that our whole team is following structure and processes. And so when we go through a practice assessment with new offices, we talk about, you have a vision and a 10 year target together? And does your team actually know where we're headed? Then do we use KPIs and data to make decisions? Are we profitable? And do we have our systems documented and in place? And do we have right people, right seats?   And then based on those answers, it usually determines if we're stressed out or not. And usually that stress level influences the rest of those other items within a circle. And the more stressed the doctor is, usually the lower those numbers are. And so when we look at it of how do we have like what a good day looks like in our practice, how do we have our systems being documented and followed by all? How do we ensure that we have the correct processes and flow and scheduling and all of that? It does not happen overnight, but it is being very intentional. And I will say a crazy schedule.   creates KZ dental practices, not scheduling and driving patients to where we want them to schedule rather than saying, where do you want to schedule? All these little, little minute decisions that we make throughout our day, how we communicate, they actually create more or less chaos. Having said structured meetings, I will tell you the practice that is multi-millions, 10, 15, 20, 30. I'm not joking. Every single department, every single practice meets every single week for meetings. It's structured. There's agendas. There's accountability. And my company,   Mondays are meeting days. have our leadership meeting. We have our marketing and client success meeting. We have our consultant meeting. Like we are very, very, very intentional. I meet with my executive assistants and we go through everything. Everything is mapped out. There are agendas. There's follow through. There's follow up. We have tracking systems for it. We review our numbers. We have a scorecard. And this is what we teach practices to do. And I think when you have that predictability as an owner, usually your stress comes from people not doing the jobs that you think that they should be doing.   or cashflow. Typically, those are like one of the two areas that you're stressed out. Sometimes there's other things, but usually it's one of those two levers of a practice. ⁓ And then like you just feel the weight of it all on yourself. So then you run around crazy creating this tornado and then you are stressed out. And so for this of how do we actually build this structure for our team? And so I feel like if you are driving, sometimes you can actually be driving and hitting huge numbers and huge success, but you feel like you're exhausted at the end of the day. And I feel like where's the and can we have   great success in production and happiness where we're leaving the end of the day. The answer is yes, but it's intentional, it's designed and it's slowly chipping away. Just like with like a lot of compliance things, we're not going to be compliant overnight. You're not going to be this calm practice overnight, but I would look at your practice and I would do a little autopsy of it, of where is the bulk of your stress coming from? I can't tell you how often I do this. It's usually when I'm very stressed. I try to do it at least once every three to six months of what's causing me the most amount of stress and where can we fix systems? Where can I delegate and elevate?   And then how can I actually be more intentional and show up better? I've learned that having meetings right at 8 a.m. stresses me out to no end, especially on Monday mornings. So we've moved those to where I have them at 10, 30 or 11 so I can come in prepared and I'm not showing up frantic. So whatever your rhythm is, whatever your model is, I really do believe take an audit of your practice and let's see where we could be 1 % more intentional. And don't worry, you can have a whole running list, but we've got to prioritize the top one or two things. That's what we as consultants are really good at doing is practices usually have like.   I wanna do everything and that's the chaos like throw up. And we're like, perfect, let's like dig through and sort through and like, let's work with this and this. These two items are gonna reduce your stress dramatically right away. So I would recommend like, look to see where you feel the most unpredictable, the most stressed and let's identify that and let's either elevate and delegate or create systems and processes or fix it to figure out what it is. Maybe you're not looking at the numbers consistently. Maybe you're scheduling a psychotic. Maybe we're not closing enough cases.   there is usually one or two massive pain points. And if we just fix those one or two, you're actually gonna move from that chaos to calm very quickly. And what you'll see is a result of actually exponential growth. So the next ⁓ piece that I've noticed with these calm versus chaotic practices is calm practices remove the decision fatigue. So you're not sitting there making decision after decision after decision, right? We have a set process of how we schedule. We have a set process of how we hire. We have a set process of how we...   set up a room for filling our crown. We have a set process for how we run our leadership meetings. We have a set process for how we terminate people. That is like, I feel as a business owner, and Jason and I talk about it a lot, it's like death by a thousand cuts. And I'm like, I don't want to answer another freaking question. If I see another Slack message, like I'm out and it's just because you're just pecked to death with decision after decision after decision. But to me, that's an indicator of we lack systems and we lack accountability to those systems. So what we can do is like,   doctors where you may be the bottleneck, like what's one or two things where you're like, I am pecked to death on these questions. Great. Who really should own that? And how can we delegate and elevate to that person where we're not being apathy, we're not in the kayak or we're just throwing the paddle in the water and saying, take me where you want me. It's, very intentional with this. So there's less decisions that need to be made. I will tell you, this is a, this is a snowball approach and it feels like you will never get there. And you slowly start adding pieces one by one, by one, by one, by one.   and that snowball starts to compact and it feels like it's so fluffy and it's not getting together. And then we start to roll it and it gets a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger, meaning less and less and less is sitting on your shoulders. A lot of times through this, you can actually go through those matrix where it says like, what are you good at? you, and you love doing what are you good at, but you hate doing, what do you want to be good at? But you're actually not good at it. And what do you like not good at and hate doing? You can actually start to categorize your, ⁓ your tasks within those that oftentimes helps you figure out where to delegate.   where to elevate. I think doctors and OMS who do this together, you might be able to find these gaps. So we remove that decision fatigue because owner doctors, you're not the only one who has this office managers. You're also having it to where you're just like, we have a team member, Kaylee, and she like taught elementary school for quite some time. And she'd be like, my lid is flipped. And it's like, there's just too much on us that creates that chaos. And either what we do is then we stay in that chaos or we become apathetic and we just stop caring. And that's where it leads to burnout. And so how can we have like,   Systemization, and like I said, it's not an overnight sensation. Dental A Team has so many systems, we've got so many processes, we've got onboarding, we've got terminating, we've got documents, we've got resources, we have people to help out, we've got tons of set processes and systems for you. And I think once you have that, you can then start to have ownership. We can have defined decisions. And then we also have documented standards. You start to build what's called a knowledge base. There's a great book called Come Up for Air that really talks about how to systematize this.   And it's not rigidity, it's just relief. Like the team now knows like, okay, when one plus one, like it's two and we do this. If it's red and green, we do this. They're not having to sit there and be like, hey doctor, what do you want me do for this? Hey, what do you want me to do for this? Like even for myself, like people are like, well, what do you want for birthday gifts? And I finally called Britt last night and I said, Britt, we just need a process for this. Like it's getting too large and too big. And I'm realizing these are decisions I don't need to be making constantly, but they just run in the back of the white noise. And I think,   once you commit to, I'm gonna be calm and profitable, you start to realize these things that are just pecking you to death and we start to make changes for it. And so I just want you to know that like very sophisticated practice owners actually make less and less decisions. I will also say that it's an identity loss and an identity shift that a lot of these owners feel because you're so used to being the go-to girl or guy that everything's coming through and you're like, I don't want that anymore. So then when people stop needing you, it becomes weird. And you actually sometimes,   Myself, I'm only speaking for Kiera. You might not be this way and I hope you're not You might actually go create chaos to feel important. So also look at yourself and sometimes we've been in this chaos I don't know like Psychoticness I've been there I've lived there to where that feels comfortable for me and when I'm calm and things are not broken Sometimes I wonder like what's going on and I go and create chaos So I think also know thyself and watch yourself to see like what is a decision that I'm making constantly that I could have someone else make   I think having a really good org chart or accountability chart has really streamlined it for us. had a great fractional COO come into our company. She organized it really well for us. And it was like, so I literally pulled out the legend. I'm like, okay, this decision should go to this person. And it's a reworking and I'm not going to lie to you. I felt like we were a snow globe that was shaken up and it lasted for about three months of just pure hell and chaos. But then it started to shift down and it was like, perfect. Britt makes these decisions. Shelbi makes these decisions. Tiff makes these decisions. Paul, Jenna.   down the line, Doug, Tyler, all of our team, these are the decisions are capable of making. And then when something comes up, people are like, Hey, who is this? And we all talk about like, based on the job duties, based on the job descriptions, this should go under this person. And then how can we give them the autonomy and the guidance to where I'm not answering every single decision, but we've got enough guidance around it to where I'm not having to answer every single one of these questions. So I'd say right now is a quick call to action on that is   figure out what decisions are coming past your desk every single day that you're like, this is not sustainable. And then let's create a delegation elevation and a system in a process to make it to where these decisions are not coming by you. And then point three that I want to make is calm is a leadership signal, not just a feeling. And so when I look at it, you can actually see how doctors operate. So a very chaotic practice is doctors rush, team fails, that patients fail it, mistakes increase. Calm leaders,   pause instead of react, they address issues early and they protect recovery times. Like there's literally CEO time built into their schedule. And what it looks like is when we have this of ⁓ running frantic and everybody's feeling it and we're making very like in the minute decisions. I started like figuring it out where we have an agenda and we actually, it's our parking lot. And that has saved me so much of those like on the fly decision-making. It's like, nope, put it there. If it's not something that has to be answered life or death today.   We actually have it to where I respond to my questions usually once a week with our team. like, you can even just feel like, as I say that, I went from this like, my gosh, it's like bombarding me constantly to I have a set day, I have a set time, my team knows when I'm gonna respond to them. They can get back. Now you might be like, well, Kiera, patients are calling. 95 % of the patient issues, like there's some that need to have emergent issues. And I still have a folder that is must do today. Usually there are two items in that folder every single day that are absolute must do today.   And half of those actually aren't even like must do's today. So for you to have a like, this is when I have, like, this is when we answer questions. These are my meetings. People just park their issues that they need from me. I've had doctors where they're just being bombarded by team members. Team members, you're not doing it wrong. Doctors just are like trying to do a filling, trying to go and do this exam, try to stay on time, try to sell treatment, try to make sure everything's running. And then you guys are coming in like, Hey, did you get this Invisalign case? Hey, did you get this crown? Hey, hey, hey.   And if you guys have read the book, the one minute manager, it's like a monkey being put on your back or my friend described it as a magnet. We're like, you're just like dumping them or as like an office manager, she's like sticky notes compiling over you to where we've actually done it for offices, whatever your path is. If it's like we have a Google doc, everybody just dumps it there. We review it once a week. Fantastic. Or I've had some doctors where they have like a list outside their office where people just go and write it they put the due date on it. So that way it can be again, a consolidated time. You review this during your CEO time, but like you can even just feel that it's like,   It's a calming, it's a how do we operate? I'm not gonna run in this like frantic frazzled and you just let people know it's not fair for the team. It's not fair for patients and it's not fair for you to be making all these decisions haphazardly. And so I think just like when we actually look at this, doctors take their CEO times. I call it deep work time for myself. It's blocked in my schedule. It's taken me about a month to get my schedule there. I like it in the mornings. I don't like meetings in the mornings like.   I have a very, very, very structured of when I like to do it. They also figured out me when I used to do podcast recording, like it just was not working and serving. So I think even if you are a seasoned practice owner and you've done this before, look to see where can this be refined? Where can we make it towards it? More of your operating style, but literally stop skipping our CEO time every single week. I've seen practices that don't like that's all like doctors just own their power time, their CEO time, office managers and front office team members own that. We do it for about a month. Nothing else changes.   team starts to notice, things start to get done more effectively, tone starts softening, communication improves and culture actually elevates. And so if you do nothing else other than just like hold your CEO time to where you make decisions rather than being frantic and on the fly, you're going to actually have a lot more calm. So as we look through this, like I said, calm is contagious and so is chaos. And I think which...   It's almost like, you know how they say, you've got like an angel and a devil sitting on either side of you, or there's like a Indian, Native American story where it's like, which wolf am I feeding in the inside? Which one am I feeding? Am I feeding the calm side of me or the chaos side of me more every day? And our decisions are actually serving the calm side or the chaos side. And like I said, it does not mean less growth. It does not mean less anything other than more stability, more ease, more true flow.   And so for you, just look at it like, how can we increase our predictability? How can we reduce unnecessary decisions? And how can we lead with regulated energy and structure? So that way everyone's on the same page. I think like calm is not the absence of pressure. It is the presence of structure. And when I heard that, I thought like, gosh, that's so solid because pressure is still going to come. And I my husband and I, were walking the other day and   Some things happened in the company and I just said like, Jace, this is just like another stroke or color or flavor of business. Like that's all it is. This is part of it. Like it's not gonna go away. These things, it's not like we'll have a marathon and we'll get to the end line and like all of our problems will suddenly be dissolved. It's just, how are we able to contain that? How do we navigate through that? How do we respond to that? And are we more on the calm side or the chaos side? And I will say this is a habit. It is not something that most people are born innately with.   I will say it's discipline and it's dedication and it's following through. But really I think it's who do you want to be as a leader? What do you want to show up for me? I just realized like I'm not showing up as the best wife. I'm not showing up as the best sibling. My siblings would call me and I just like they would wait weeks on ends before I'd respond to them. And I'm like, that's just not who Kiera wants to be anymore. ⁓ Kiera wants to be the sister, the mother, the wife that can come in and show up in a way where my family gets the best of me, not just work. I wanted to come in where work was getting the best of me and I wasn't being   like barky on all of my decision making and being annoyed. Team members would say like, here we used to brace asking you for things like you're always polished, you're always professional. But like we know there's this air of annoyance. And for me, my team deserves better. I deserve better. My family deserves better. And I think there is a different and a better way to live if you choose it. So I think like if your practice is feeling just maybe heavy, ⁓ it's not a failure. It's just a signal. And oftentimes I think when you decide to commit to this,   It unlocks a lot of like refinement in the practice and unlocks a lot of systems that we could do. It unlocks leadership opportunities that doesn't have to just sit on your shoulders anymore. And so I think this is some of our favorite work in Dental A Team because it helps us like practices are able to feel this release immediately. We're able to quickly like navigate and streamline. So if that's feeling like you or you're like, gosh, Kiera, you're speaking directly to me, which I know a lot of you feel, reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or go to our website and click the book of call. It can just be like, let's talk through this and let's give you some tangible tactical ideas.   to help take you from where you are to where you wanna go. Whether you work with us or don't, you will leave that call with tactical resources. You see a map of like, where am I today versus where I wanna go, like I was explaining. And it's actually one of the most fulfilling things for me is to be able to do that for practices to where you can actually see that. So reach out, I'd love to do it. It's no pressure, totally complimentary and just giving you kind of a baseline of where you are. Or if you're like, my gosh, like I need the help, reach out. This is literally what we specialize in. This is what we're experts in and it's what we're obsessed with doing.   So reach out because this is the time for you to choose to have growth and calm, not one or the other. And I believe that the best practices have that. So you guys, is your chance. This is the time. Reach out if there's any way we can support you. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Ever feel like money is disappearing from your practice? Tiff and Dana share where practices tend to find that missing money, as well as how to trim down those expenses. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I always want to say on that opening, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and I have to really think about it. Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back here. Dana and I have been on a podcasting frenzy we love these days and then we're like out of breath and I also love that because it feels like productive and anaerobic. So I'll take it. I've got Dana here with us today. Dana, thank you so much for riffing with me today, for being here, for blocking out your morning, for podcasting and just   All awesome, awesome. Thank you for being an awesome part of this team. We were literally just talking about how my brain just is like ping pong, ping pong, and then I won't finish a statement. That was it. That was me proving to you that that really happens real life. So, and don't cut that podcast team, whatever. Dana, how are you today?   DAT-Dana (00:38) you   doing really good. am honestly and truly, I feel like today we've rift a lot and we've come up with some really great, I think, content ideas for doctors and teams. And so, so far, I'm super proud of us today.   The Dental A Team (01:01) I agree. I agree. think the marketing one, if you guys haven't listened to the marketing matters, I believe that's what they're calling it. But there's a marketing one that Dana and I just did. I actually, I think that was one of our best podcasts. That was so good. So good. And KPIs again, I know we talk about KPIs a lot, but we really went on a very good tangent of inspiration versus motivation for those KPIs. So I agree. I think it's been fun. And I love talking profit now.   Dana, I think you and I have grown to love profit. Not that we didn't love profit before, but I think we've grown to really, really see some high value in the profit side and just love finding it and talking about it more than we ever did before. So I want to talk about profit today. And we talked about it a lot. It's a huge piece of Dental A Team's Magic Sauce is really, really working systems and   logistics and business and leadership to turn into profit because at the end of the day, that's the only way the business is going to survive. And Dana, when we talk about profit, think teams tend to be like, okay. And I think doctors think teams hate it, that they don't want to hear about it, that they don't want to know that it's like, yeah, that's going in your pocket. But the reality is most teams want to know that their business is profitable because most teams   want a place to work, if nothing else. They want a profitable company because it guarantees that they get to stay where they're at. And if you guys have, you know, we talked about that inspiring why earlier, and if you've got a really inspiring place, you've got a place that people want to work, they want you to be profitable so that they can keep working there.   DAT-Dana (02:44) I agree with you. And doctors, if you feel like your team doesn't care about profit, then it's because they don't understand what profit means to them. And so I think that instead of so often, doctors just shy away from it. And I think instead of shying away from it, make sure that they know what that profit means to them. Because Tiff and I can say, hey, we know and hands down, you're right, Tiff, like people are going to pick job security, right? They're going to want to be in an office that has job security. Do they know that that's profit? Probably not.   The Dental A Team (03:09) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (03:13) Right? And so somebody says something about that or like that. Do they want to grow in their position? Yep, they probably do. Do they know that that comes from profit? Maybe not. And so I think sometimes it's just like, hey, my team. Well, if your team doesn't want to talk about profit or you think they don't care, it's probably just because they don't understand that profit drastically impacts their lives too.   The Dental A Team (03:35) Totally agree. That was massive, massive. And that's the space of really understanding the intentionality behind what you're doing. So if you intend for the team to understand profit, then they will. You'll say the words and they'll understand it. profit turns into not only job security, but it also turns into being able to invest in more tech, more, I don't know, chairs. Oh my gosh, do know how many times as a front office team member I was like, can I just get a new chair? My back hurts so bad.   And they were like, well, let's look at the budget. I'm like, cool, what do I have to do to get a new chair? But those things all come from that profit because we can't spend what we don't have. And so teams really understanding what that turns into and also like how can we impact the community? We've got kids sports teams coming in saying, can you ⁓ sponsor our team? Can you do night guards? Can you do this? Like we wanna be able to say yes to all of those things and that comes from the profit.   Now you know our stance on profit, but Dina, what about disappearing profit? I've had actually, I've had this come up a couple of times. I've had a couple of emails from doctors that they're like, I can't find the money from 2025. I don't know where it went. I should have had X amount of dollars, 400, $600,000 and it's gone. I'm like, okay, well let's look for it. And Dina...   Love those and I hate them because I'm like, well, what do we do for a year? Where what were we doing here? Okay, so I have you know, I have my ideas on where it goes and and we dig and we find it we usually find it but Dana Where do you see the biggest question marks on when doctors say where's the profit? Like where the biggest question marks? Where do you start digging and where are you usually finding it?   DAT-Dana (05:01) Yeah, it usually leads to a rabbit hole, but...   Yeah, typically I am digging first and foremost into just like expenses, right? Like where did expenses fluctuate? Did we spend more than we needed to or did we spend in arbitrary areas just because we weren't keeping track of it? So honestly and truly, do you know what your BAM is and can you assess very easily or quickly like months where it is?   well below well above right so that you can kind of watch those flexes. just worked with an office on this not that long ago and I'm like hey from January to March expenses swung by $100,000 right like what happened let's dig in here because those giant fluctuations to me are a red flag of like hey we're not watching something or something got overcharged double charged things like that so I think the first place to tackle is just like knowing those things like knowing what   the profit should be, knowing what the expenses should be and are you, do you have a cadence where you are looking, reviewing? Because I think what happens is we hire a CPA, we get into QuickBooks, everything auto syncs into QuickBooks and we just kind of like set it and forget it.   And I think that like we don't know that sometimes hey things can swing that Gigantically if we're not looking at those things and we're not looking at those prior to making decisions, right? We're not looking those before we're like, hey, yeah, you can have a raise or hey Yeah, I want that cvct writer. Yep. Let's it's time to mill same-day crowns and we didn't look at that now We're in a big swing of expenses   The Dental A Team (06:51) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:52) So I do feel like making sure that all of that is to say, making sure that you know what your numbers are when it comes to expenses every month where they should sit roughly and honestly and truly what you're spending all your money on.   The Dental A Team (07:06) Yeah, I have practices Dana that have Amazon Prime. I think everybody has Amazon Prime. My sister and I canceled Amazon Prime actually, and we just have Amazon, which is wild. And every time you try to purchase something, they try to sign you up for Amazon Prime. But it's kind of like, it honestly reminds me of all of the financial stuff you've done with all of the companies we don't have to name. But ⁓ it reminds me of those because you really second guess the purchase.   And then you're like, okay, well, let me let it sit in the cart for a minute. And then you go back in, you're like, why did I even have this here? Or I'll throw stuff in the safe for later because I'm like, well, it's not on sale right now. And I'm not gonna get it today. So do I really need it? So I'll put it in the safe for later. But I have practices that are so Amazon Prime ready that they're like, we need paper. I'll just order it real quick.   we need pens. you like those pens better? You like the Sharpie pens? I'll order those on Amazon real quick and we'll have them here tomorrow. Right? So they're just constantly processing these Amazon orders. And then what happens, I have a practice that was like Amazon galore. I'm like, where is all of this money? Like what is happening here? And then what happens is you've got some demo supplies, some front office supplies. It's impossible to like see the difference because of how you're placing the orders. It's just this constant running battle or Walmart. I'll have   practices that are like, we have a list. So I just sent Joanna to Walmart and I'm like, okay, but why aren't these on orders? And we say, we watch the dental supply budget and ordering really closely. And we'll say order two times a month. Once is phenomenal, two times a month max order your dental supplies.   but then we forget those front office supplies and they're sneaky or the paper towels or the toilet paper or just those like paper supplies, they're sneaky. And I have seen that happen where the practice literally had to be like, okay, we're revoking Amazon and you're gonna send in a list just like you do for dental office supplies. And we will both order the same as we do for dental office supplies.   DAT-Dana (09:08) Yeah, you're so funny that I have an office where it was like, okay, well, you hit your you hit your dental supplies, you hit your office supply budgets. But like, what is this? ⁓ that's Amazon. And I'm like, Okay, but what did we order from Amazon? Like, how much of that was dental supplies, office supplies, like stuff for the team? Like, where do we need to that? then I know that's just Amazon. I'm like, No, but that's money spent. And it's spent in one of these categories. And it should be part of your budget for those guys. Like   If you need an Amazon budget, right? If that has to be a thing, fine, we can set one up, but understand that that's coming out of all these other buckets.   The Dental A Team (09:40) Crap.   Correct,   yes. Or if your Amazon is your personal Amazon too, and it's getting run through the same and whatever. Yes, I agree. I agree. I have a couple of practices too that I have like a small equipment budget because they'll add that into their supplies. And it's like their supplies are 18 % one month. And I'm like, what the heck? I'm like, you can't just, if you need hand pieces.   We need a budget for handpieces. You can't just order Cabotron tips because we need Cabotron tips. We've got to look at it and we've got to budget that in and make sure that we have the cash for it. So I totally agree. Another one, think, are subscriptions. So the Amazon Prime is a subscription, so make sure that that's in there as well. But we get hit with a lot of subscriptions. I remember this is like an update.   me mostly, but I remember magazine subscriptions, right? And it was like, what the heck? We would pay monthly for magazine subscriptions and then you found out like they're gonna send them to you anyway, so cancel the subscriptions and they're gonna send you the magazines no matter what and I don't think anybody's reading magazines. So those kind of subscriptions, gosh, a lot of people will have like a Uber Eats subscription for the practice or a DoorDash subscription for the practice. Are those necessary subscriptions?   And what are we paying out of convenience that's getting used sometimes that doesn't need to be there? So I think subscriptions and then allocating supply orders correctly.   DAT-Dana (11:05) Yeah, and I even think office tech subscriptions too, like how, you know, patient communication and then like review requests and then, and sometimes like we can bundle those and get a better dealer. Sometimes it's like, hey, well, this does this, but this also does part of that. And like, we're just overlapping a lot of those things. And so can we condense them into one thing? So I think even just looking at like your office tech, because oftentimes like those are a big chunk of budgets and I'm like, Hey, but are you utilizing that? Like, yes, you've got this, you've got this   The Dental A Team (11:09) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (11:33) review subscription, is great. But like if we're asking in person and we don't feel like, I just think sometimes we have these things just because they sound fantastic, but we're only using a very, like a small fraction of it. And there's oftentimes a workaround on that small fraction that like, again, we can just reduce because we don't necessarily, we aren't using it consistently or it overlaps with something else that we have.   The Dental A Team (11:46) I agree with that.   Totally agree. That makes me think of like some of the analytics companies, you know, high cost that also have patient communications, right? So, but then we've got a patient communication platform, like maybe Weave or something. We're like, well, but like Weave doesn't connect with this piece well, or it doesn't pull this report, right? So we have this one that's pulling the reports, Weave that I can do text messages and emails from. So I don't use it over here, but I don't use that over here. And we're paying thousands of dollars between two.   two models, well, is there a third model that maybe encompasses both or can we, what can we shift around? So I totally agree. That happens a lot actually. Or people will have the dental intel or the Adit. love Adit. So they'll have Adit and they're like, okay, well I get my reports and I can pull all my data. Should I sign up with whatever company for text messaging? And I'm like, well, what Adit does that.   DAT-Dana (12:34) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (12:56) Right, like most of the analytic companies these days, it wasn't that way. When I was in practice, it wasn't that way. So it's been pretty recent within the last, I would say three to five years that the analytics companies started piecing all of those things together or vice versa. The communication systems are now doing analytics too. So I think they don't know, but it's a huge space of savings, especially because those analytics, they're expensive.   DAT-Dana (13:19) Yeah, I agree with you. And, and all those platforms are great. It's just which one works best for you. And which one will you get the most bang out of for what you're paying in that monthly subscription? Because yes, they all do the same thing, but yet also a variety of other things. And so like which package best fits your office. And I think just even annually assessing that and annually looking at your tech bundles and like, are we utilizing it? Is it a better platform? Because they're all fantastic platforms. It's just what you're going to use within your practice.   The Dental A Team (13:25) cracks.   Totally agree. It's like the cable subscriptions, right? We used to get hit with those with the wifi and the cable and the phone and these bundles. And the next thing you know, you're $30 more and you didn't even realize that it had changed. I totally agree with you. Yeah. So subscriptions, supply costs, something that I find. And I think a lot of people tackle this one first. They'll look at like employee costs. So what's my staff cost? And totally yes. Watch for overtime. I also like to caveat.   Overtime typically means that there's a systems failure because we should be able to get the work that we need done and the amount of time that we have. And so, Dana, I often see overtime as understaffed or incorrectly staffed. maybe our job descriptions aren't clear. Maybe there's someone that's doing everything. Everybody else is leaving at 4 p.m.   when the patients are gone and then that person's there till six cleaning things up. So over time, definitely, I definitely watch that and I look at staff costs, but it honestly is one of the last places that I look because we need the people there to produce what we're producing. And then, ⁓ Dana, taxes, taxes. You guys, I have a practice that I love so much. I have got a two or three practices this year that is like, my gosh, where'd the money go? And I'm like, well, you...   had $600,000 of taxes last year that you paid for 2024, and then you also paid your 2025 taxes. So you made up for what you were lacking the year before. But remember that auto email that I've got going out, or remember how many times we talked about, did you put the savings aside for your taxes? If you put the savings aside for your taxes and you paid out of that savings, it is still going to show up on your P &L. That does not mean that that money is gone. It just means that it was used over here.   and you should still be saving for your taxes. But Dana, I think that is one of the biggest spaces that doctors or business owners in general, because I've seen even, we've worked with non dental offices that they quote unquote lose their money because they had to pay taxes.   DAT-Dana (15:55) Yeah, and I will say too, an even something that I think I noticed in a trend in that is like taxes on their personal distribution, right? Because it's like, ⁓ I pay payroll taxes and and like they know they have to pay business taxes, right? But depending on how they structure paying themselves, we kind of forget that we   The Dental A Team (16:05) ⁓ yes, yes.   DAT-Dana (16:15) to pay taxes on our own personal distributions or how we pay ourselves because, for team and all those, they're just like auto deductions and auto things that come out on our P &L and we see our pay, right? We see our pay come out, but what we don't see come out and we sometimes forget is that we are taxed on the money that we pay ourselves. So doctors, that's just like also I see that.   The Dental A Team (16:16) Yes. Yep.   Yep.   DAT-Dana (16:38) having a lot, but it's like, oh, well, I was prepared for taxes, but we forgot. Like, yes, we were prepared for the business taxes, but we weren't really prepared for the taxes on our personal income that came from the practice.   The Dental A Team (16:50) Yes, or vice versa. Karen and I were literally just talking about this on Friday, we went for a walk after summit and she was like, gosh, like CPAs, like just need CPAs to like get it all. And I'm like, well, I think CPAs are either like thinking of the business or they're thinking of your personal taxes. And it kind of, does suck, but you can't rely on one person or one entity to do it all for you. You know, you've got, we've got multiple people looking at it and you've got to be responsible to your money. So a lot of CPAs are like,   you know, yes, you've got your personal taken care of. And then you get hit with $400,000 of business taxes. Or they're like, awesome, we've got your business taxes taken care of. And here's your $200,000 of your personal taxes. And that's like, no matter what, something's going to come up short. So just know, this is what I need to save for. I'm going to save 40 % on the side. And if I don't have to pay 40%, cool. I've got savings for next year, or go spend it. I don't care what you do with it, but you've   you've prepped and you've saved for those taxes because that is the biggest space. Legitimately, I have an office that was missing X amount of dollars. And when we looked at the tax payments, it was X amount of dollars. It literally equaled out. It's like there was your profit because you weren't prepped for those 2025 taxes. Now it's 2026. You know, we're we're backlogging. So, yep.   DAT-Dana (18:06) Yeah. And I think we   hire like we bring on CPAs, we bring on financial advisors, we bring on all these things, but the end of the day, like they don't know you as a human. And so it's your responsibility to to like share like what kind of human you are with them. And so like if they're setting up that you take individual distributions, and you know that like, if money gets tight, you're not going to sit that aside, and you're not going to put it in a savings account for taxes, like, say that I think that sometimes like   The Dental A Team (18:31) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (18:32) Yes, they're going to give you advice based on like what our best practices or what they feel like will set you up for the most tax savings or the most tax success. But you know you as a person too. And if you know that you're not a great saver, maybe a personal distribution really and honestly and truly isn't the best thing for you, even if that's what they advise. So I think also to like know yourself, be able to communicate those things and make sure that the advice that they're giving you or the directions that they're giving you is something that you will truly do too.   The Dental A Team (18:50) Totally.   Yeah, I totally agree with you. Totally. we can't see. Maybe they can. But that's not their job to check and see did you move that money. I know a financial advisor that gets asked a lot that they're like, well, shouldn't my savings be those? He's like, I don't know. I don't know what you're doing with your savings. I advise you on what you should do. I'm not the one that's moving the money. I'm not your money manager.   And so we do the same thing. We advise you on what you should be doing, but I'm not in your accounts nor do I want to be in your accounts seeing what you're actually doing. I'm trusting that you're taking the advice and you're moving forward. And when I ask, did you do the thing and you say yes, I'm trusting that you did it. So huge caveat, I love that. And then honestly, last but not least, and this is why I do not tackle employee cost first is collections.   Oh my gosh, I have so many practices that are like, Tiff, where's my cashflow? And we look at it and I'm like, well, where are your KPIs? Because your collections right now is less than 90%. Like where, where's that? And your month's fluctuating is going to, can create cashflow like month by month stretches, like a little skimping here or overflow here. But on average, you should be at 90 % or higher collections. And Dana?   I think collections is a very overlooked space when it comes to the P &L because we're thinking they don't think about the collections. They just think about, okay, this is my P &L and it's like it's a separate entity. At that point, they get the P &L and it's totally separate from the practice. Like that doesn't, the practice doesn't matter anymore. This is the P &L, but they have to be smashed together.   DAT-Dana (20:20) Yeah.   Yeah, they do. I think too, like collections, feel like doctors always tend to just like look at production because it's the one thing they can control, right? It's it's the thing that they can really control, tackle, push for. And so I feel like that's a number that they look at heavily. And then I think collections, right? Yes, which doctors understand that collections is the money in the bank, right? I think we understand that concept, but we don't necessarily look at the health.   The Dental A Team (20:44) Yeah. Yep.   DAT-Dana (21:02) of the collections within the practice. And you're absolutely right that like, can we cut all over time? Can we look at team and say, look, no more over time, right? But if the overtime is what they were using to get the collections to 98%, right? Versus 87 % without it, right? Then maybe that's not the thing that we've got to tackle. We've got to look at that collections network.   The Dental A Team (21:18) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   DAT-Dana (21:26) Or we can say, like, yeah, we can cut our supply budget and you can take a supply budget from 6 % to 5%. But is that gonna move the needle as much as taking your collections from 85 to 98?   The Dental A Team (21:33) Pressure.   Correct. I love that. with that, go look at your collections. That was massive, Dana. Thank you. I love when I can get you on a soapbox and you're like, just go do the thing. And that was beautiful. Thank you. So disappearing profit, is a thing. Not having cash flow, it is a thing. Is it normal? Normal? Like, yeah, we see it. Is it what you should have? No, no. You should know your numbers forwards and backwards. If you're at summit.   You know that if you were not at Summit, you should be at our virtual events. They're freaking awesome. Our in-person events are amazing. We literally go through line item, PNLs at most of our in-person events for this reason, because there's always just something hidden. There's just like when you comb through your personal bank account and you're like, my gosh, or when you use Apple credit card to pay for everything. And then you're like, my gosh, now I got to pay my credit card off. And how did I spend $2,000 this month? Because it was easy.   It's easy to say yes to Amazon Prime and just order it right now instead of waiting and saving. So go through, comb through. You should do this quarterly. Make sure that at least yearly, I would do it quarterly. Make sure that things make sense. There's nothing that's been hidden in there. There's nothing that's orders are duplicated. There's not subscriptions that you shouldn't have and that your collections, you should be looking at that constantly. And you should be looking at that with your KPI.   reports, your scorecards with your consultant. If you're a client of ours and you don't know what I'm talking about, get on your consultant because you should. Especially Dana and I's clients. If you're out there, we love you and you just let us know. I think.   Action items, pull your P &L. It's where out of Q1, you've got a whole quarter to look at, you've got a quarter and then some at this point to look at, and we're coming up on the end of Q2, so it comes up really quickly. Go look at it, look to see, are there things that you can bundle? Or do you have a bunch of subscriptions that, you know, you've got multiple different companies overlapping that you can use one or two rather than five? Are you using the scanner that you're paying the monthly subscription for? Are you using all the things that you're paying for?   Is there anything that you can reduce and what is your collections at? If you can say yes, you've done both of those things and your collections is where it should be. Now we're going to take a look at, is your schedule full? There's so many layers. Like we're going to take a look now at production, team, like really how big is your team and do you have enough production to support the team that you have? So Dana, anything you'd like to add?   DAT-Dana (24:10) this, I think just like you said, know those numbers inside and out, look at these things regularly, evaluate expenses on a quarterly basis, ⁓ and take a look at those subscriptions because they can hit us hard as well as those taxes.   The Dental A Team (24:26) They're sneaky. Both of those are sneaky. Awesome. Thank you, Dana. All right, everyone, go leave us a five star review. You know, we love to see those. We love to know that this content was awesome for you. Let us know any tricks or tips that you have as well or things that are working well for you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. When you're ready, if you are not yet a client and you're ready to find that disappearing profit, reach out. You guys, we are like hounds when it comes to this stuff and really freaking good at our jobs. So the systems behind the numbers and the systems behind the money,   We will help you figure out what's working, what's not working and get you in the best shape of your life. Dana, thank you so much for today and everyone, we will catch you next time.

Consulting across hundreds of offices means the Dental A-Team has seen a thing or two when it comes to scaling strategies, and in this episode, Kiera shares the secret to what type of quantity works best for you. Specifically, she connects why practice success should start with what you want as an individual. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today's topic is a freaking fun topic. ⁓ I think it's something people ask all the time, should I have like one mega practice or like three littles? And so today the topic is going to be, should I run a $3 million office or three $1 million offices? So it's kind of this like different ways to scale and to grow and in Dental A Team, if you've been a listener, welcome. I'm so happy to hang out with you. If you're new, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent.   And our job is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And really it's to just talk about these things, about what you're dealing with. Cause a lot of times it's like, do I just expand my practice and have this mega Montropolis or do I have multiple littles? And I think just talking pros and cons of what we've seen as a consulting company, of working with hundreds of offices that have this. And I think there's, there isn't a better, it's more of what is your preference. And so I just wanted to go like,   what this is gonna look like, different ways to talk about it. And Dental A Team, we love to do this. We love to talk about scaling strategies that are going to match your leadership style, your lifestyle and your financial goals. And that's what we're about. And in consulting, we'd call it the yes model. So we focus on you as a person and what you individually want, earnings and profitability. Like what does this look like? How do we make sure that you're profitable and successful financially? And then implement systems and team development based on what we're finding in that. So you can say yes to more in your life. So I really wanna talk about like,   We're gonna just help you hopefully tickle your brain, tickle your fancy on what is the best way to do it. Do I do that one powerhouse or do I have multiple streamlined ones? So I think here what happens is when I see practices like this and I have consulted mega-montropolis, I have consulted multiple littles. And I think that there's different things. Like I found that like to the three million mark, it's usually sometimes easier under one umbrella if you've got the space.   Now when we're pushing the five to seven to 10, I've got one practice that's producing 14 million in one location. And what I find is like, these are just big offices. So you got a lot of team, you got a lot of patients, you got to have a tight culture, you got to have team depth, you got to have high leadership presence. And it just like, there's just more players involved, but at the same time, it's all under one roof. Whereas when I've got multiple little offices, we got to have systems, we got to have   decentralized leadership and you got to have trust in your people because you're not able to oversee everything. Like I can't have one manager sitting in the office overseeing everything. I've got to have a regional that's popping into all the offices people reporting up. again, there's like no one or right. It's more like what's your preference? Do you like depth or duplication? So I think people who like depth have a larger practice. Those who like to duplicate and think in systems and processes multi offices are usually for it.   I've got an office, are in, gosh, they're in Texas and he's freaking checklist manifest. So he's built an app, he's built these things. That man is built for duplication. I have another doctor who is very, ⁓ loves to be involved, wants to grow and develop a team. He is more for depth. So two different practices, two different styles. They're both producing about the same. I got five locations doing 5 million and I've got one location doing 5 million. So it's just more what is it? And I think for you, like, are you hands on?   or use strategic oversight. The one who's got five locations, they're strategic oversight all day long. Like they don't love to be a clinician. They like to go and like systematize. They love the operations. They think like that. The one who's got hands-on is the 5,000,001 location and very much hands-on, wants to mentor all the doctors, wants to mentor the team, wants to be a part of things, loves being a part of it. And I think their personality is once more like...   It's interesting, my meetings, my meetings with the one with five locations, it was very much like, Kiera, what are the systems? What are the processes? What do need to be doing? How do I fix this versus my one who's five million is like, Kiera, I want to build a leadership team. I want to develop these people. I want to help them get to their next levels. And there's no right or wrong. So I hope as you listen to this, you're just able to see yourself of, you more this depth or you more this duplication? Are you more systems processes? That's usually a multi-location versus depth build a monstrosity.   And the one that I've got that's producing 14 million, that doctor is more of a depth. And the reason why that they ended up building more practices is because they wanted their impact to reach further. But I would say if they could, they would actually build and they are building. This practice is basically building a mini dental hospital. So it's going to have, think right now they're at 20 ops in the $14 million practice. And I think they're looking to build a 50 op practice. So by default, this person was adept, but then out of necessity to serve more.   and to give back more, they made multiple. So I just think it's a space of what do you like to do? Do you want to mentor single large offices? Or do you wanna have like three doctors under one roof? Or do you wanna have three doctors that you gotta travel to and mentor them virtually? Neither one's right or wrong. I think it's know thyself and be true. And that's gonna help you just figure out where you wanna go. So that's gonna be like step one. Step two is systems. You've gotta have systems. And especially if you're going into the multi.   system, system, systems, because if you grow without systems, you're gonna have burnout. Ask me how I know, oh, because I did this. And it freaking is annihilating and it's hard and it's awful. So when you have one large office, you've got to have advanced scheduling, you've got to have clinical efficiency, and you've got to have strong communication loops. It is massive. And like the biggest thing we have in these large practices, our team members feeling like they're not in the loop, they don't know what's going on. I mean, we have so many assistants, we've got our lead assistant in the $5 million practice.   and we're working on having a second because they've got like 14 dental assistants in this practice. Whereas multi locations, you have to like build like centralized billing, centralized reporting, leadership infrastructure, everything's reporting up to it. You've got to have office managers that you can trust with minimal oversight. And so I think for you, it would be as you're listening to this, like, who am I? Do I enjoy like, like I kid you not these 5 million for like stressing, I'm like pushing my   my piece, my temples here, because I'm like, gosh, the 5 million and the 14 million, I do think that there's some easy when it's all under one roof because you can talk to people, you can see them, but you also have just a lot of bodies moving. So our scheduling, we've every person in these practices works four days a week. So you now have a scheduling nightmare of how do get everybody on the same page for meetings, for this, for that, for trainings. So we have to be very strategic in our scheduling and   You've got to think about how we do checkouts and how we do the flow because now we've got eight hygienists checking in. So I've got eight profies coming in. I've got three doctors working. So I've got 15 people possibly checking out at one time. That's a lot of people versus my 1 million. I usually have five operatories. I've got two hygienists. I've got three patients checking in, checking out usually at the same time. So there's just this like   There's ease because everybody's under one roof, but it's hard because there's so many and it's like just duplicated. So you've got to be really, really strong. Things can slip through the cracks. Our treatment planning has got to be strong. Like, and it happens in all of them, but I really think it's a what do you look at and how do I set up the systems and structure of and both of them require it. Both of them just have different types of systemization and what's required for both of them. So when I see like doctors expand before they have like billing that set up.   When you're in one location, I do think you can have more gaps because people can quickly fill in and you can catch them versus when you're in multi locations. I feel like those gaps hit so much harder and faster and it's harder to pick them up because like, shoot, we don't have billing. This practice is drowning. This one's not, and we're running amongst four locations. So I do think sometimes the multi locations tend to have a bit more exhaustion, but if you're built for the systemization, it's okay. But if you're not built for that and you don't live in that,   it is easier oftentimes to maintain under one roof. So I think like, look at you of like, what systems would I need to upgrade for either path? Whether I'm 15 checkout patients versus three checkout patients, but at four different or five different locations at one time. Same amount of people, right? I've got 15 in the 5 million and I got 15 technically checking out in the five practices, three of each location at a time, three times five is 15. So it's the same. It's just, I think the flow,   and also being able to oversee. I think in a large practice, having the patient experience is usually easier to maintain and sustain because you've got, it's all centralized there. In the smaller practices, sometimes that patient experience is harder to have, but I don't have to be perfect and like choreographed in the smaller practices. I think some things can slip and slide. So it really, again, is just, do I like a large operation or do I like smaller ones that I'm overseeing? Now, the step three would be what kind of a lifestyle do you wanna have?   So we are big in Dental A Team that your business should work for you and not the other way around. So business should serve your life. And so one office, single location, oftentimes deeper daily involvement, but I have seen these owners be able to scale back easier. Multi-practices, more flexibility, but I think there's a lot more team oversight and travel. So the offices that I work with that have eight locations, that owner doctor was like running.   full steam until about three years ago. Eight locations, they're going between all of them, they're mentoring all the doctors, like until they were able to build up the leadership infrastructure versus sitting at a $14 million, they were able to scale back to only working two or three days. And then they would pop in maybe for an admin. So I think for you, like if you want more time off, one location typically is able to provide that sooner, easier, faster. But with that said, if you lose a doctor and they're not partners,   you are jumping in and you're covering. That can be the exact same for multi locations as well. You lose a doctor, you gotta go freaking pinch it over there, cover for that, scale it back, whatever you've gotta do. So sometimes having them under one location, you're able to have these doctors cover for each other because they're all working in one location versus usually the five, $1 million practices or the three $1 million, usually I've only got one provider in each. If I lose a provider, someone's gotta go jump in and cover. So.   I see it work in all different ways. I see sometimes the multi-offices are great, but I will say the multi-offices, you are needing to go to them. Now, sometimes there's not options to expand, but I wanna just like caveat that because like I said, I got a practice who's got 20 ops and they have found a location, they're moving and they're gonna build 50. So I wanna challenge you before you say that there's not space for that, that you look like this, you like you look at it to see,   Is this just a limiting belief or is this a real limit? What is that? You've got to be able to figure that out. You've got to be able to see what that is for you because there are options. Like I've got doctors who expand in weird spaces. I've got doctors who will like they're in a strip mall and they have their one location. They're able to buy another location, but the middle spot isn't available today. So they buy two and I've got to like have patients go in two different doors. Like there's ways to do it and expand in quote unquote one location.   But then other people want to serve other neighborhoods in different parts and they don't want to just be this Montropolis. And so they're like, hey, we're going to build it out in multi locations. I have seen, and I think through this podcast, one location tends to have air quotes, headaches, just because it's more controllable under one roof. When you start to get the multiples, you got to drive between them. You've got to have it. But again, multi locations have space to expand, have other pieces. But I do think typically when I have multi offices, they tend to have them as partners.   where in a large office, you still might have to have partners, but oftentimes it's not as required because you're able to fill the gap sooner. So I think just like looking at that, I would look at my leadership style. I would look at my systems and I'd look at my lifestyle and say, what do I want? I have a doctor that had three locations. One of them was not profitable and we ended up selling them. They just have two locations and they're so freaking happy. I think sometimes as people grow in scale, feel like, like I have another office and he's got,   15 operatories and he's got space to expand out and add eight more in. ⁓ I think as you scale and you're under one roof, both of them like scaling back and scaling at the right time I think is one of the biggest things. Like I put my hands like up and down if you can't see the video because I think there's an expansion and a contraction that needs to happen in both. ⁓ Sometimes expanding and having a market not work out and you've got multiple locations, contracting back to be profitable is not wrong.   Same thing with a large practice sometimes expanding for operatories Let's make sure we've got the patient base before we expand it all the way out and then we might need to contract in and like let's just do like two chairs versus doing all eight chairs So there's ways I think that both can expand and contract I think it's just your lifestyle your leadership style what you want your life to look like and I just think that Really giving yourself the grace that there is no right answer. There's just a right answer for you. And so how can you do this? And so   I think like, I love consulting on this. Like my hands get all excited and I like, it's almost like getting the pixel dust and the pixie dust out and ⁓ granting little wishes and maybe talking through some of the complications and the problems and what we want. And I found them, people have multi-locations. They always feel the guilt of their primary location that they're not able to get to. That is something I see constantly in the multi, in the large ones. It's just like, I think the weight of such a big organization on them.   ⁓ I think I tend to see less struggles with practices that are under one roof if they have the space to expand it. I tend to see more struggles with multi offices than I do with one, but that does not mean that that's always permanent. ⁓ I think just in the multis, it's harder to staff to scale, but then I've got practices that are doing like 29 plus million and they've got five locations because they're able to serve bigger populations and have more people and they're not just dependent on one market, one area.   So I think for you, there are lots of fun things. And this is what I get excited about being a consultant for is like, let's talk through this. Let's have someone on your team that has done this, that has grown multiples, that have worked with multi locations, that have worked with one large practice, pros and cons of it. I mean, my $5 million practice, we're now having to expand their systems because their systems have outgrown based on the size of practice they were in. So I think with the biggest takeaway that I hope you're taking from today is they almost have the exact same.   problems, issues, pros and cons. They just are packaged differently. And so for you to recognize what package do I want to buy? Do I want the red or do I want the blue? Do I want the silver or do I want the gold? ⁓ Whichever one it is, it's more personal preference versus it being one's going to be better than not. Now, of course, there are other things like patient base factor and how many dentists are around that area and can we drive this many patients there? ⁓ So I really think it's just up to you. And this is something that I love to like, let's have   Let's talk about it. If you've got a friend thinking about this, like just reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or book a call. I love to chat with new doctors that I haven't gotten to talk with personally about this. And we do a free assessment call. Like we, I will literally work through this with you on an assessment call, whether you work with us or don't like let's just chat shop and like let's, let's explore because there is no right answer. It's just what's the right answer for you. So whether this is you or a friend on this, send them on over, let's chat because this is what we like to do is to help you have   Customize growth strategies that fit you and your practice so you can make the best call for you in the future. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, I love this stuff. I love the impact we're able to do. I love the community outreach we're able to have. And I think for each of you recognizing that like this is your path, this is your opportunity, but growth does not mean success. Having a large practice or multi-offices is not necessary. It is what do you want your life to look like first? Who do you wanna be in this?   And that's ultimately what's going to determine all of these decisions. And if you can remember that, you'll be set up for success. Just know I'm giving you a huge hug. I'm rooting you on, and I can't wait to chat with you. So reach out. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Kiera walks listeners through a list of questions that should be answered before officially stepping away from your job. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is gonna be a fun day. Like, are you ready about it? Let's talk about when you wanna quit. All team members, all bosses, every single one of us has that. And yet we're so freaking scared to say that out loud. And I just want you to know that like, it's okay to say you wanna quit. It's okay to say you don't wanna do it. And I want to just give you some tactical pieces to navigate through these tricky times. And also like, what do we do when we wanna quit? And to know, are we really ready to be done?   or is it a season that we can change? So you guys at the Dental A Team, I'm obsessed. Our job is to love on you to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. I love doing dentistry. My last name's freaking Dent. I love working with clients. We work with clients one-on-one. We fly to practices. We work with you virtually. And we also have in-person masterminds where doctors and leadership teams come together to truly like be inspired. We call it life and dentistry on purpose. I'm super excited and I hope you can be a part of that. So let's talk about like, all right.   When do I want to quit? And like, let's kind of matrix it down. So when I'm looking at when I want to quit, I break it down to like, what things do I still enjoy doing? Do you still like doing dentistry? Do still like like helping team members? Do you still have patients? It's okay. You can have the list of like, what things do I still love and what things do I absolutely hate? And I just think it's like, most of the time, when I talk to doctors and like, I want to sell my freaking practice care, I want to just give up and quit or office manager like, I'm just sick of this.   When I asked them like, okay, let's talk about what you really don't like. Most of the time for owner doctors, it's usually cashflow and it's usually people management. Well, guess what? Great news. Doctor, you weren't meant to be the people manager. High five. Congratulations. Like, let's get you out of that seat. You're not the right person for that seat. So you're exhausted because you're trying to be the dentist. You're trying to be like the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, all within the practice. And that's freaking exhausting. And it's not what you were even like meant to be. Dentists, a lot of you are introverts. How do I know this? Cause you work in a like teeny tiny little mouth all day long.   And you're like, gosh, I'm not gonna go like wow and dazzle these people. And I know you're more extroverted but introverted, but like you have to have a piece of that because you work in like such small, small, small mouths all day long and work on smudge, small tiny teeth that like trying to be this expansive human and be on social media and be this person, it's exhausting. And so I just want you to show like, okay, what can we do and how do we figure out what this is going to be? And I just think like, this is our role. This is how we look at it. And for everybody to figure out like,   What happens when I feel this way? So number one is I want you to think of what do I really, really love doing and do I still love doing that? Then number two, what things are like exhausting and draining? Now, it might get thrilling. You might say, hmm, I don't enjoy anything. Well, great. Today's not the day for you to be answering this question then. I want you to be honest because I look at it and sometimes I'm like, hey, well, I still really love getting on the podcast. Some days I look at my day and I'm like, ⁓ I'm terrified for it.   Other days though, most of the time, I was like 90 % of the time, I genuinely get so lit up and so excited to podcast and meet new people and give you guys great tips and tactical pieces and like, cool, let's go to the next thousands of episodes and how can I help you guys and like come up with topics you haven't heard of or change it with the landscape? I genuinely still love that. I still love coaching clients. love like, brush my shoulders off. Like I love to help a client like go from where they are to where they didn't believe was possible and to help them get there with ease and help their team and help them and like,   Like when I get off calls and I get text messages from team members saying like, here, you just totally changed your mind or we always love them and get on your calls because you bring so much positivity or doctors like, gosh, that was like such a good call, like you were looking so far down the line, things we didn't even think about. Like I still light up on that. I still love going into offices and just like brush my shoulders off, like killer visit that you didn't even know was possible. I still love to do mastermind events. I love to bring doctors together. It freaking scares me. I usually cry every single time. It's like so many emotions that like   come into me and out of me all in one moment. Like, I don't know why I do them, but I love it. I love hearing how we're changing people's lives. love when people are like, my gosh, I didn't even know this. Or like, we share resources together and people get to meet. Like, I'm so excited. We're about to run one. And like, I am giddy to see all these people that I love so much in one room and get to share like best friends with each other. I still love that. I still love figuring out new content and new ways to help dentists like thrive. I still love that. Things I don't love doing. ⁓   I hate running meetings. Like I hate them. I do. So what do I do instead of sitting here complaining and saying, I want to quit. Is there another option? And, um, I had a business coach tell me, said, Kiera, instead of thinking like, which door do I need to go through? Why don't I look at all the doors that are available for me? And that to me was such a freeing thing. Like, okay, so we could quit. You can like, let's just put that as an option. We can also sell the practice, like another option.   Then the third thing is like, well, if managing people stressing me out, I can hire a fractional COO. Didn't even know that was a thing. So if you've got like multiple practices and you're like, can't find a regional, they're expensive. I'm talking like 180 to 250. I'm not joking. That's like literally how much they cost and they're working part time. It's really fun, but they're smart and they know how to run businesses and drive things. You can hire a regional manager. You can hire, if you're like, I'm so tired of doing dentistry, you can hire an associate like.   Could I have this? they're like, yeah, but Kiera, I still have to manage. Not wrong. What if my manager became a partner in the practice? So they're tethered in and they're like part of the practice. You can do this. Like, what if it's like, I just feel like I can't ever take vacations. Well, great. Let's like figure out how many vacations you want. Let's figure out the numbers of what we need to produce when you're there. Or we change up our overhead. Like, great. These are all solutions. ⁓ Kiera, I'm just so tired of managing teams. Well, let's see how many team members you're managing and do we need to add leadership members and train them to be leaders?   We've got books, we've got training, we've got courses that we can send them to, to help them be great leaders. Like, I think so often we just feel like it's a, I'm sick of it I'm going to quit or I'm going to sell my practice. And then I think about it. This is how I play the game. I've actually talked to a decent amount of brokers working with clients over the years. And I think something that gets lost is what do we do afterwards? What's your plan after? And is that something that's going to be fulfilling for you or not? You're like, I'm   for me, I'm like, I know exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take two years off. I'm not gonna talk to a single soul. It's gonna last me two months, guarantee you. I'm gonna go out and work out every single day. Well, great, I could do that now, I? I'm going to travel and see my family more. Okay, great, like talk me through. What is it really gonna look like? Could we do that now? And I think we oftentimes limit our opportunities in the moment of what we're doing and we like exasperate our opportunities thinking of what it would be like versus   Could I not have this life that I'm dreaming up today? And could I actually delegate or pay? Like I think about this, a lot of dentists, make pretty good money. A lot of our clients are usually making 200 on my low end a year, up to like 10 to 12 million a year plus. Okay? So when I look at this, I remember I had an office, they were netting, I think 1.2 million. And they're like, it's just not worth it for me to do this anymore. And I said, really? You're taking home 1.2 post-tax.   You're only working four days a week. You're off every single day at three. 1.2 is not worth it. You're gonna have freaking problems. Like you will, that's part of it. You signed up for a business. It's not gonna all go away. You're still gonna have issues. Things are gonna break. But you're also making 1.2. You could go be an associate and make 200,000, no issue and have none of these problems. Is that what you wanna do? There is no right or wrong answer. But I really think it's like, let's look at this and let's see how can we actually make this better? How can we like?   Could I fix any of these things? For me, when I look at it, I'm like, all right, I'm sick of running meetings. We're hiring a full-time COO. I can't wait. It's gonna cost me my arm, my leg, and my throat. Like, awesome. But it's gonna give me so much of my time back and they're gonna help grow us so much. someone told me something so great the other day. They said hiring right people, right seat should not cost you any more money. It's wrong people, wrong seat that cost you money.   The right person, right seat, you should look back. I remember we did this, we hired a treatment coordinator and I was like, my gosh, we can't afford her. Like I remember this day and I was like begging the doctor, we are partners. And I was like, give me three months with this person. Like I think we can like navigate three months and if she's not paying for herself, we'll cut bait. And I remember I interviewed this girl, her name was Kristen. And I said, Kristen, you got three months to prove yourself. Otherwise I have to fire you. Like, I can't keep you going. Like I've gotten the doctor to like say yes to it. Within her first month, this girl was paying for herself. And that's how right people, right seat should be.   You should be in 90 days, be like, what have we ever done without them? They're paying for themselves, they're driving our practice forward. Wrong people, wrong seat, or what cost you money? So when I look at this and I'm like, okay, so like I'm gonna give up my arm, my leg, and my soul. It's gonna be great to hire this person, but my stress goes down. Am I willing to take that much of a pay decrease? Yeah, I am. Because what it's gonna equate to is I'm gonna have more of this, this, and this while still being able to do all the things in the business I love.   And this is Kiera coming to you where I've definitely had that moment, like catch me on the wrong day, Dental A Team's yours for a buck. And I say that out of jest, not because I actually mean it, but I say that in hopes that you can empathize and you can relate and you can see that I'm a true business owner just like you. That I have hard days, I have great days, I have days where I'm like, ⁓ I built this, I coach on this. You want to talk about imposter syndrome? Well, hi, I'm Kiera.   I think we so often just feel like, don't know, we feel like this isn't what it was supposed to look like. And I'm like, you're right, because you didn't know. And if you would have known, you wouldn't taken the risk. But there's so much good in beauty, if I can see it. So action items are tactical when you want to quit. Number one, make the list of things that you still love doing. Push yourself. Number two, have every single door that possibly could be open still open. And then let's figure out what's the other side of the equation for that. If I sell.   What is my life going to look like? If I quit, what's my life going to look like? If I hire a COO or an office manager or a regional manager, what can my life look like? There's recruiters that hire these people. What about an associate doctor that could take the load off? I'm going to take a pay cut, but like I would have the freedom that I want. What if I scaled back and only work two days a week and I have the rest of it? Like, I don't think that practice owners realize that you have so many more cards in your deck than you give yourself credit for.   And I think for you to maybe step back, even office managers, like, guess what? You're living a great life over there. You got a lot of freedoms. So when I look at this, I just feel like it's okay. And then I think next to have like detach our feelings from leadership standard. Being a big CEO is a shift. You're not going to feel inspired every day. You're not going to feel patient every day. You're not going to feel energized every day. Leadership's not a mood. It's a standard.   And I want you to remember your team does not need a perfect leader. They need a steady one. Showing up calmly on hard days will build more trust than showing up energized on an easy one. And so I think when you look at this, I think it's recognizing that the fabric of business ownership is not going to be the highs and it's not going to be the lows. It's the everything in between. And if you can figure out what still energizes you, how you can make that life today, and then realizing if all that's gone,   it might be time for you to quit and that's also okay. But I'd encourage you to explore and sometimes having a coach that can see outside like I got like 200 more crayons in the box compared to your 10. Like let's color. Let's see what other things could we do before you give up and maybe guess what it is. But why not give it a try of something different before we try that route? And that's just what I'd encourage you because a lot of people do sell and a lot of people give up and they quit and then they regret it and they wish. I know one friend out of about 50   that does not regret it. But if I've got 49 others that do, maybe that's telling us to maybe be a little more cautious, recognize that this is day in, day out, and also find the joy, find the beauty, find the fun within so we can show up in the best way possible. This is what we live to do. We live to help CEOs become CEOs and own office managers become great office managers and to get your team and your practice working for you, not you working for your practice. Did you hear that? It should work for you, not you working for it.   So let's work together. Let's figure it out. Let's paint with more crayons in the crayon box. Let's see how we can help you out with this. So reach out because honestly, ownership will feel heavier than you ever expected. It's not a problem. It's nothing wrong with you. You're not broken. It's just a signal for you to look for different opportunities. This is what we're obsessed with. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or click on our website and go book a call. It's complimentary. We'll just give you a good roadmap. So at least you have like direction of where to go. So reach out. I'd love to help you. And as always just know I'm giving you a giant hug.   I'm rooting for you and I'd love to do it with you in real life at the mastermind. I'd love to do it with you in your office with our team, or I'd love to just have you closer to my inner circle. You're doing better than you think you are. I'm giving you a giant hug. I'm cheering you on and I'd love to connect with you. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Did you know there's actually a right and wrong time to implement key practice indicators (or KPIs) in your office? Tiff and Dana reveal what should be firmly in place in a practice before you start assigning metrics for success. They touch on KPIs position by position, staying human amid the numbers, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be here with you today. You guys know that I love podcasting. You guys know that I love spending this time with you. And I love getting to spend the time with my consultant team as well. So I have Dana here with us today. Dana, how are you?   DAT-Dana (00:16) doing pretty good. I'm excited to be here. It's not that often that I get get dedicated podcast time with Tiff, so super excited.   The Dental A Team (00:22) I know,   I know it's because I schedule us long and we bust out a ton and then we don't see each other for a month on podcasting at least. So I agree, I agree. Well, Dina, it's springtime here. We like to call it springtime, which I think that Arizona just doesn't know when spring starts and ends because it goes straight into summer. So realistically, these drop in May, recording in April. I don't know when spring is, but it's hot. We've had a little bit of a cool down.   You've had a ton of sports and it's a beautiful time of year. How's everything down in your neck of the woods of Arizona going?   DAT-Dana (01:00) It's good. It is. It's beautiful. Now is the time where like you just love being in Arizona. I feel like, we don't really get a spring. It's kind of like a mismatch of random weather, like week by week. But now is the time where I truly love being in Arizona and get to be outside a ton. And, you know, if we could just get this wind to go away that's been hanging around down here for a couple of weeks, it would be perfect, really.   The Dental A Team (01:05) Yeah.   Yeah.   Yeah, my sister and I were talking about the wind yesterday. It really has been very strong, very strong. Yeah, especially where you are. You guys get whipped real bad with some wind. Yeah. Well, I'm excited that we're here today, that we're inside. It's supposed to warm up again. I think cool down. Who knows? It's going to rain. Maybe you might get rain. I probably won't. It's going to be great. It's going to be great.   DAT-Dana (01:35) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (01:48) I   wanted to chat today, something that keeps coming up for me on client calls, especially for new clients that come in. know that Nikki and Pam and Trish, you and I are pretty tapped out. So we're not getting a ton of new clients, but I know Nikki, Pam and Trish bring ⁓ oftentimes to our co-labs, really doctors looking for how to speak numbers and how to speak KPIs. We get it a lot. get people asking, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. That is our email address and we have people that   that pop in all the time on really how do we get our team to love doing KPIs and love watching them and kind of a leadership team standpoint, how do we do that? So I thought it would be interesting to chat a little bit today on the flip side of KPIs. And Dana, think we have an interesting perspective. Number one, we say this all the time that we, anything that we train, we try to duplicate in our own company. We try to create that space here. So we do a leadership.   a ton in our company. We train on leadership a ton. That's kind of like our year two process for clients coming in. We work a ton on systems year two, ⁓ or if systems aren't done yet, might be year three, but we really hone in on leadership a ton once practices get kind of the baseline groundwork done. So with that said, would say Dana, number one, I'd want to look at how far are we in our practice? Like, are we to the point now that we've   that KPIs, they matter or that they make sense, right? Because you've probably seen it and I've definitely implemented too early KPIs with Teams too. So finding that perfect timing and then obviously there's other aspects to it. But Dana, how do you feel about that? And what are you seeing with your clients you've worked with for many years, many of your clients? So when do you kind of see that KPI leadership standpoint roll in?   DAT-Dana (03:40) Yeah, I agree with you, Tim. do think it is like practices when you are building systems to like to add KPIs on top of that when it's like we don't even really know what we're doing to kind of get to these points. ⁓ I do feel like that's a little bit too early to kind of roll out KPIs. I think like when you have your systems in place, when you have job descriptions in place and when you really   feel like you have a team that kind of knows what they're doing and knows where the business is headed, I think that is the time to really start to implement KPIs.   The Dental A Team (04:11) I agree. And I think what that really boils down to and what you just described is the basics for so mission, vision, core values, job descriptions, and then looking at like the basic KPIs, even new practice KPIs, but getting a team to like love doing their own KPIs per position is that next step. So those practice KPIs, like you're saying, Dana, those are the ones that are going to tell us if the systems that we're doing are   benefiting the practice. Are they creating the results that we want? So production collections, new patients, maybe marketing RLI, but really narrowing it down and simplifying it so that they can start to see those to-dos, those things that they're doing every single day that are in line with their job description, they're adding value to those KPIs and then kind of taking a step back and layering it. I know when I look at KPIs and I look at our KPIs in our company, I really try to look at, what is like   What do they mean? How do they apply to my position and to your position or marketing's position? Does it make sense for that KPI to be attached to that person or that department? And then ultimately, what's the impact that it's making on the overall results, right? What is the company going for? And Dana, how do you help reverse engineer that? Because I watched you do that with a lot of practices. Dana's like,   Amazing. She's so good at pulling out meaningful, impactful KPIs per position. And I think your hygiene experience helps you to see those spaces because those back office ones are really the hardest. So how do you help practices reverse engineer that? How can they take a look at that today just from maybe from like an overarching big standpoint? And then we'll narrow in.   DAT-Dana (05:59) Yeah, sure. So I think it really comes down to just like you said, Tiff, making it meaningful, making them see that the things that they are doing every single day, we spent times building the system, we created these systems. So let us have an easy tool for you to know that if the input that you are giving every single day is getting you a certain result. And so I think that I love that you use the word meaningful because I feel like that we get asked all the time, like, how do I have   motivate my team to care about numbers? How do I, you have to make them meaningful for them, meaningful for their position, meaningful for their impact that they are putting into the practice and into patients. And so I think that that is, I think that's kind of where the magic happens. It's like, you've got these overarching goals. So then breaking them down into, let's say, quarterly goals. And then what can each team member do daily, weekly, monthly to help impact or move those quarterly pieces. So I think it is chunking it down, but, to the point where   team members feel like they actually, like the things that they're doing impact them. And I think when you can make those connections, we can say, hey, you've got to keep the schedule full. Well, what does full mean? Right? What do, what does full mean that like I am winning that day or I am hitting that goal or I am like being super impactful. And sometimes too, it's just relating it to.   Yes, these are numbers, but at end of the day, typically numbers equal patients, right? Typically numbers equal impact into the community. Typically, like it means how much we're improving the overall oral health of the patients that leave the practice. And sometimes when you can tie that like, yes, you filling the schedule equals that or yes, you hitting your period goal equals comprehensive care.   When you can link those things with team members, that's how you motivate them. That's how you make these numbers meaningful to just say, hey, I need you to hit 95 % of schedule to goal, right? Well, yeah, that's a number, but what does it mean for that person? What is the impact it does for the practice when they hit it? And like taking time too to celebrate it when we see it.   The Dental A Team (08:02) Yeah. And something that that changes for us, Dana, that dentistry has always in my opinion been like a just do it because we said to do it, right? You build the same way we've built since 1995 because that's how we do it. Right. And we've not, we're super innovative when it comes to photos and CBCT scans and tech and all of these cool things that the back office is using. So doctors and dental assistants are like, heck yeah, this is so cool. Dentistry moves so fast. But then the rest of the team is like,   Does it? Like I'm still doing, I'm still scanning papers. Yeah. Like what the heck? It's not, it doesn't innovate in the other areas. I think now with AI, we're seeing a lot of innovation and I think a lot of front office team members are probably like, Whoa, I'm not okay with this because that's never been dentistry from the front office standpoint. So my point in that is when we have a KPI and when you were speaking, I'm thinking like make five calls a day, make 10 calls a day. Why?   DAT-Dana (08:34) Still confirming.   The Dental A Team (09:02) Why am I making 10 calls a day? Because my ultimate goal is that the schedule is full to 95%. So then tracking a KPI of how many calls am I making? So what's the impact that I'm making towards that goal? And then I think, Dana, what you made me think of is really being able to take a step back and saying, is that thing that I'm doing impacting the goal? Because I don't want to just make 10 calls because you told me to make 10 calls. I want to make 10 calls because it's   positively impacting my overarching goal of 95 % scheduleful and that's positively impacting the impact we're having on the community. And so when it rolls up that way and it doesn't feel like they just like do this because I told you to do it, I don't think we work that way anymore. I think in the 90s, 2000s, we did. When I first got into the workforce, I was like, just tell me what to do. I'll just do whatever you, just give me a list, I'll check it off.   But I think as we evolved as humans, as dentistry is evolving, and now as there's more innovation coming to all aspects of dentistry, we're in a space now where we really have to know, why am I doing this thing? What is it for? Because I don't want to work for nothing as in money. I don't want to work for nothing. I don't want to do this if it's not helpful. I want to change it and do something different. And I think, Dana, in my opinion,   you know, the practices that I'm seeing in the forums that I'm seeing, I think there's a big wave of that mindset that really wants to know the impact.   DAT-Dana (10:28) I agree with you. think that like technology is great, but I think some a side effect of technology is it's made us a little bit skeptical, right? So we ask more questions than we have before. think that we do, we want to know why we want to know like all those background pieces. And I think too, like, I will say, I think it's still a side effect from COVID is like we value time. And so I don't, feel like as a society, we don't want to be wasting time. We want to try to get our time back. And so   The Dental A Team (10:36) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (10:56) If I have to spend time making five calls and it's not making an impact or I don't have that link on like why I'm making them and then it's pushing to the goal of my 95 % and that is incorporated into the practice goal, right? I want to know those answers because I don't want to waste time making calls just because you said I agree with you.   The Dental A Team (11:14) Yeah, and we want to feel valuable. So we want to feel like we're valuable in our position. And we want to feel like the things that we're doing are daily, whatever, monthly, weekly, all of those things that we're doing are valuable. Because I also think to your point, Dana, COVID taught us too that like, this is going to sound maybe so controversial. We are not like we don't have to stay stuck anymore. It opened up a whole new world.   I think for a lot of people who felt like they fell into dentistry and that like, this is just their path. This is where they need to be. This is the position they'll always hold. There's nowhere to go. You know, it changed a lot has changed in the last six years that we're still trying to understand. And on that, one of my least favorite questions is how do I motivate my team? And you don't motivate your team. inspire your team.   DAT-Dana (12:05) Thank   The Dental A Team (12:09) by being who you are, your culture, your mission, your vision, like what are we serving? What are we doing here? Inspires people. Motivation is very short. So yeah, like I always say, Dana, I can motivate you. I could probably convince you and motivate you to go for a mile run with me. Does that mean you're gonna be a runner? No. You're gonna do a mile with me because I motivated you to, I motivated my sister to go for a hike with me yesterday, right? Is she gonna go hiking again today? No. Would I? Absolutely.   Cause I'm inspired by how I feel when I'm on the mountain. So that like difference really, it gets me that, that question of motivate and it always Dana, I hate the word always, but I swear to you every time, I don't know if this is just me. They're like, if I give my team these KPIs and I ask them to measure these things and do them, I need to pay them more. And I'm like, they're like, how else do I motivate them? If I get, if I dangle this carrot at the end.   maybe they'll do these things. And I'm like, well, is that not their, like, is their job not this piece? Are you not already paying them for this? We're just not tracking it. So they could be doing 50 things that don't matter, that aren't making an impact. And we may be able to measure and replace them with things that do matter. I'm not necessarily asking for extra work aside from the tracking that takes 30 seconds, but that motivation space.   Like I want to sub box all day, but Dana, are you seeing that too? And how do you feel about that question?   DAT-Dana (13:40) Yeah, absolutely. guess I probably get asked that question at least once a week, right? And I do agree with you. It is, well, what can I do to motivate them as far as bonus, as far as activity, as far as, and like those things are essentially great, right? If there's a space for it. But I don't think that those are tools that are ever really needed to me. If you are feeling that way.   The Dental A Team (13:45) Yep.   DAT-Dana (14:02) Your goals themselves aren't inspiring. Your vision itself isn't inspiring because those should be the inspiring pieces that spur the motivation to do the daily work. And so if you are asking someone in your life that question, if you are asking yourself that question, if you are flat out asking the team, what can I do to motivate you to get there? The there is not inspiring them. And it's probably not inspiring you, which is why you're digging for the next layer or this bonus or this   push of some way because those foundational pieces aren't truly inspiring the team or you yourself.   The Dental A Team (14:39) I was thinking that same thing. If you're not inspired by the work that you're doing, you're not inspired by your vision or why your team's not going to be inspired either. And we've honestly lived that, Dana. We've lived that in this company where we were like, it just doesn't hit and it didn't hit Kiera. And we could tell and Kiera was like robotic because we were trying to hit a goal. So we all became robotic trying to hit a goal and it didn't hit right.   we failed and we had to take like 15 steps backwards and say, why did we fail? Where did we misstep? And it was because our why what we were really going for wasn't inspiring enough. it was like, honestly, even this year's vision is narrowed down to one of the best that we've had in years because it's narrowed down to the impact on a personal basis. And that's what consultants love.   dental team members love, right? Our favorite stories are the patients who came in after traumatic experience or cosmetic work or whitening, or they had a crown that they were afraid to get or fillings that those are first fillings and they're 42 and they're not scared anymore and they're coming in and they're so happy. Their whole demeanor changes because we've been able to change how they view dentistry. That's what we're here for. And when people dig for that, why? And I hear the, I hear the, ⁓   I want to, what is it, delivering smiles, delivering smiles to Maricopa County. Like, are you, is that why you're here? You want to deliver smiles? No, you want to change lives by giving them a different perspective on dentistry. You want to teach them something about dentistry that they never knew existed. You want to make them feel confident because they have a healthy place to go. They have somewhere that they know they're loved, taken care of, seen and heard, and they're getting quality dental care. Like, that's what you're here for.   DAT-Dana (16:29) Yeah, and in the end, are   you creating smiles for Maricopa County? Yes, you are, but like that's not why you show up every day. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (16:34) Yes!   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   And when people can key in on that, I literally see that light bulb moment of like, wow, that's exciting. Like I want to go do that crown. Yeah, you do. You do. Because it's more you're not delivering smiles to everyone. Right? It's an impossible feat. Like you're not going to create a new smile for everyone who walks through the door. You're not. Some people don't care about their teeth. And that's okay. Like how they look right aesthetics. Some people   don't need you to aesthetically change their teeth. Some people are coming in with straight teeth, white teeth, already veneered teeth, and you're not doing anything. But what you are doing is you're creating an experience and you're creating a space that they can come feel seen, valued, and heard and leave knowing that they were well cared for and they're a happier human when they leave your practice.   DAT-Dana (17:28) Yeah, I love   that. Because when they can, maybe eventually they will care, right? And you'll be the person that they come to when they do. Or maybe eventually the cosmetic work they already had will need redone and you've created that space that they can say it. And so I agree with you. It doesn't happen every single time, but we're looking for the times that it does and we're making those times incredibly meaningful.   The Dental A Team (17:33) Yeah.   tracks.   Yes, and when we can carry ourselves in a way that no matter what we are looking for, how can we positively impact this patient's experience? How can we make them a better person out to the world when they leave my practice? Like I want to inspire them. I want to make them happy. They leave feeling energized. They carry that on to the next person, right? So when we can make that's our focus that we're positively impacting the person who's standing in front of us, then we're showing up every single time. And our KPIs are like,   Hey, did you make 10 calls to make sure that people get back into this practice for their re-care so that they're well cared for and they don't feel like they have to find another practice that they start all over again? Absolutely, I made 10 calls. And when you get the question of, do I have to call? Can I just text? I don't care what you do, measure it. And if whatever you're doing works, we'll keep doing that. So if you're doing text messages and they're not working, try sprinkling in some calls.   see if the calls work too or double them up. I always say that because I think Dana, we get so rigid on what the system needs to be that we're like, no, Tiff and Dana, they said you need to do 10 calls a day. If that's your only takeaway from today, oh my gosh, right? They go, they're like, 10 calls a day, that's your KPI. And the team, maybe it's, you know, a 23 year old who is like, I don't want to get on, I don't want to get on the phone, I'm 41, I don't want to get on the phone. So like, I want to know that if I'm doing these 10 calls a day,   They are what is going to work. And if they're not, because we're in an age of tech and maybe voice small drops work better or text messages are working better, I want to do that. But it's going to be based on your community and not the person making the outreach. Because here in Phoenix, we got a lot of snowbirds. We got a lot of retirement communities. We've got a lot of people who, heck, like I don't want to, I don't want to do anything with my phone by the time I'm done with the day.   So I think measuring it and making sure those pieces add up to that value that you're trying to perceive to your patients.   DAT-Dana (19:56) Yeah. And I think sometimes there's a misconception with team members in this TIF that like the number tells them something about them, right? And sometimes it can, but for the most part, what it tells us is if our system works or doesn't work. And so I think team members too, just being embracing and open to the fact that this is not necessarily, if you don't hit 95 % scheduled to goal, that doesn't mean you as a human aren't succeeding. It means that there's something in our system or something in our consistency that isn't getting us   The Dental A Team (20:04) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (20:25) there and so I think you can have open and honest conversations with team members too and say like this isn't a value for you as a human. This is a value for the effort, the work and the systems that we've put into place because you're right Tim, if I can get one person scheduled with 40 text messages or one person scheduled with three calls, my gosh, give me the three calls.   Right? So it is being able to evaluate and assess those things too. And I think so many times when we go to roll out KPIs offices get a lot of resistance because it's like, I don't want you to put like a number on me, right? Or I don't want it to feel like it is me, the person that is letting the office down or we're not getting the goals. I think think of it as a tool to evaluate our systems. Yes, our people too, but honestly and truly typically it's a systems problem and not a person.   The Dental A Team (21:15) I 100 % agree. And I think that's where we start measuring the results instead of micromanaging the people. Yeah, I love that. You made me think too, Dana, that if you're not able to get to 10 calls a day or whatever your KPI is, if you can't get to them and you see the consistency is that you're falling behind, you're not able to do it, then take a step back and evaluate your time spent. Like what are the blockers that are coming up? Does this belong to that job description? So is it in the right lane?   Does it impact that person's goals that impact the companies? then like take those steps back. There have been so many times that I'm like, gosh, I just haven't been able to get to this. But next week, let me rearrange my schedule. I'm going to try a couple of things out to get it different so that I can try to get these done. And if it's consistently not happening, there's a blocker. There's something else going on. And it's not just that they're busy. I had this conversation a couple of weeks ago with someone. I'm like, there's no time. They're like, I see time. I'm like, okay, you know what? There is time.   There's no space left. So how do we get rid of some of the other clutter and rearrange to declutter my brain so that I still have output left for this piece of my job? And those conversations are really important. And your leaders, your one up above you should be able to help you unblock those. So Dana, I love this conversation. Thank you for having it. I think motivate versus inspire.   is really, really special. And when they're meaningful, impactful results, it makes a huge difference. So Dana, I would say action items for today. Number one, is your vision, your mission, your core values, are those things inspiring to you as a practice owner? And are they inspiring to your team? Do they fully know the definitions of them? And are we ready to make an impact on that community? Number two, assign some KPIs. If you've got that solid, you've got job description solid, you're working on some systems maybe, but   lot of systems are super clean and clear, then start doing individual KPIs. And Dana, I would say if they're not ready for individual KPIs, take that big, the umbrella, do your production, collections, new patients, and let them see how they're impacting every day. Dana, anything you want to add before we wrap for today?   DAT-Dana (23:31) No, I think you hit it out. This was a good one too.   The Dental A Team (23:33) Awesome.   I agree. Thank you. Thank you for riffing with me and busting this out Dana and you guys go leave us a five star review. We love to hear from you. We love to know how this impacted you and maybe how it impacted your why I always love that piece Dana and I live for a phenomenal why Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you need help with KPIs for individual positions, please reach out. Sometimes they get a little tricky with like dental assistance. Hygiene is kind of easy, but you get kind of bored with the flora, the perio. Just reach out.   We've got a million of them and Dana will help with all your hygiene and Britt. So anyways, that's a wrap guys. Thank you so much. We'll catch you next time.  

Did you know: Positive employees are 31% more productive and show higher sales and creativity? That's why Kiera is talking all about positivity! She shares tips for how to encourage those higher cortisol levels among team members and patients. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I hope you're having a great day. I hope that you realize that we are so lucky to live in the profession that we do that honestly dentistry is just this life-changing profession and I'm really grateful to be here. I'm grateful you're a part of our podcast family. As you guys know, the Dental A Team podcast was created to positively impact and inspire you in the greatest way possible. Our mission is to be in the hands of every single dental practice owner and office manager out there. So please do us a favor.   leave us a review, share this with somebody today. It really helps us stay at the top and to truly impact, inspire in the greatest way possible. If you're to the podcast, welcome, I'm Kiera Dent. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry. And you can always go to our website, TheDentalATeam.com and you can click our podcast and you can search if you need help with billing, associate scheduling, leadership mindset, you name it, it's all tagged there for you. So it can be a great resource for you of lots of inspiration, lots of motivation.   and it's something I'm very proud of that we've created. I'm proud and grateful for all of you being here. So today I think is very, very on cue for what we do and it's positive mindsets and how it really is, I think, ⁓ an advantage that most people underestimate. having that positive mindset really can set you apart from other people. It can help you ⁓ just really have a team that's positive.   And I think that it's a currency. Positivity and negativity are both available. And it's just which one are we going to have? Which one's gonna run our practice? And so ⁓ there really is research that talks about positivity and how high performing owners use it as a strategic advantage that we're gonna dig into today. So I just am excited to go into this. I really like have been giddy about this because I think it's just an advantage that most people don't realize. And I think it's something that is a trained habit, but also something that really is very doable. And I think...   Shoot, if I could eat a bowl of checks every morning and I would get this huge strategic advantage in my practice, would I do it? Probably yes. If I could just have a more positive outlook on life, literally I'm talking like a one or 2 % better and I can have a strategic impact on my practice, why not try it? So looking at this, positive employees, here's some research for you guys, positivity drives performance. So they say positive employees are 31 % more productive and show higher sales and creativity.   So if we look at this, and that's from Sean Anchor, it was a Harvard research on positive psychology performance. I was looking at this when I was prepping for this podcast and I thought like, okay, so if we know that positive team members are 31 % more productive, okay, great. And then next to it is teams operating in a positive environment have stronger engagement and lower burnout. So we don't want to have team turnover. So right there, and the brain literally performs better when it is not operating from stress.   Okay, well, fascinating. Like if I look at this and I think about, okay, a Harvard researcher did this, like, why not? So it's, it's a, it's a matter of it. And Sean Acker was like, ⁓ author of the, gosh, of the happiness advantage. And like, I mean, they say this, it's really truly something that's going to make your life that much better. And so.   I read a lot of books on positivity, a lot of books on how to be more positive, a lot of things of what can we do to enhance this? And I think it's like, it's crazy that when we look at this like 31 % more productive and the happiness and the joy felt while striving toward potential, which required training the brain to find opportunities. So when it talked about on happiness and success, it says when we are happy, when our mindset and mood are positive, we are smarter, more motivated and thus more successful.   happiness is the center and success revolves around it. Happiness is not the belief that we don't need to change, it's realization that we can. It's hard to find happiness after success if the goalposts of success keep changing. Note that. So if we're constantly moving it, it's very hard to find that happiness and the greatest competitive advantage in the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain. Fascinating. So I was thinking about this and I was like, all right, so if we know this,   What can we do to add that? So number one, we know it's going to drive it. So you think about this, like we can even change our morning huddles to what were wins from yesterday. We start to look and find the positivity, the wins, the happiness within our world. And we start to share that every day. My team, they've been pushing me. I've had a few people say, like, can we change it? Morning huddles. And I'm a hard no, because Monday's a motivation. We all get connected as a team. Tuesday's tip Tuesday, where we all share some of the best things.   We are not a together team, so we have no water cooler talk. We're not sitting in the break room like, my gosh, I love this lip gloss, or have you tried this recipe? We don't get that. So tip Tuesday is when we do that. Wednesday's core value shout out, and we shout out team members who are emulating a core value and doing really, really well at it. Thursday's thankful Thursday, we say what we're thankful for in our life, and Friday's fun Friday. And what I found is, and then after that, we go through that, we do it, and then we talk about client wins and wins as a company. Every single day, my team knows this.   I do this intentionally because I know that focusing on the good, we create more good. Focusing on the bad, we're gonna create more bad. So then what we go from there is emotional states are contagious, whether you realize it or not. So if you're always grumpy, you're always down in the dumps, it's contagious. If you're always positive, you're always looking for the glass half full, that's contagious too. And I think when we, I've seen a lot of teams that are one or the other and the positive teams,   help each other out, they work harder together, they hit goals easier. There is this rallying versus a dragging. And so when we look at it, ⁓ there's actually some emotional studies by a Yale professor where it was like, your mood is an operational infrastructure. And when we looked at that, thought about like calm leadership lowers cortisol levels across groups and improves collaboration. If we know this, how can we as leaders have an emotional state that's contagious? And I think some of the pieces that you have are   going to the gym, reading, like I have a calendar, it's actually being held under the mic. was like, where is it? It's right here. It says, today is the day and every day is a positive quote. And it sits here on my desk every single day because I want to infuse myself with good things. I was noticing that I was very negative and it's because I was always talking about what are the problems? Like as CEOs, we're always looking down the line as OMS is like, we've got an issue with this, we've got an issue with this. Like what's going well?   What are the good things in our company? What things can we really focus on and say like, this is great. Because the more we have that, the more we talk about wins. So honestly, our morning huddle is where I focus on the wins and the positivity of the company. We do it at the same thing in our company. have it Mondays, we start out with our personal wins and our professional wins every single Monday. Cause I want people thinking of how great their personal life is and how great their professional life is. So what else can we do?   ⁓ I read a lot of the positivity books. I listen to a lot of great podcasts. I do meditations that get my mind in the right space. So I can show up as a leader that has an emotional state that's very contagious. It's very fluid and it's very there for people. So I think when offices start to realize that you are the emotional currency in your practice, when you are contagious, if you've got team members, gosh, like it's so hard when I got...   I don't know, just an E or on the team. I'm like, all right, we gotta change this because it's dragging the whole ship down. And for me, I know we'll be higher performing. I know we're gonna get our goals with more ease if we have that positivity. So I think like, perfect. How can we look to see, how can we bring that energy up? And even for my lower energy people, I tell them like, people are like, Kiera, that's just not my natural state. And I'm like, great, well, we're on stage. So it becomes your natural state.   I don't care who you are at home. I do care how you are on stage and that's the stage of our dental office. When you're patient facing, when you're interacting with team members, we have a culture of positivity. We have a culture of teamwork. We have a culture of fun. And I expect that. And then the next piece is going to be something, ⁓ I got a really cool one that I'm excited about where gratitude is one of the highest ROI leaderships. ⁓ It's very scientifically backed.   where gratitude does improve your psychological well-being. It increases optimism, it strengthens relationships, and it reduces stress. And that was pulled from another Harvard Health and UC Davis study. And there was a great human that I got really excited about. I shared it with our mastermind team. And I'll share just a little bit about it. There's a guy named John O'Leary. And if you guys haven't watched his documentary, he's got a movie out.   burned his entire body and like lost his hands and just had some really incredible people that helped him out throughout his life. one of his quotes he said is, and I mean, this is a man who has whole body's burned. doesn't even have his hands anymore. Like I just, can't even imagine what that mental game would be. He said the number one joy indicator, the one thing that will predict whether someone feels joy in their life or not is the practice of gratitude. And   we did an exercise with our mastermind group and I just think about it of like, okay, so if gratitude is one of my highest ROI leadership habits, how can I start incorporating that more? Could it be that every day I list 10 things I'm grateful for and not just like health, time, like I am grateful for my incredible body that serves me every day. I am grateful for a loving spouse that makes like me truly feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world. I'm grateful for   by parents both being alive. I'm grateful for my team that shows up for me every single day. Doing that, writing 10 of those, three of those every day. Do you think that's gonna change your outlook? It truly is true. ⁓ What we focus on, we achieve. What we focus on, we create more of. And so this is where it's a space of if you start focusing on the gratitude, you're going to grow more of it. More positivity will show up in your world.   And ways that you can like infuse this into your team is like text a team member at the end of the day or tell them in the practice. had a doctor literally have an alarm on their phone and they had like eight little pebbles in their pocket and they like take one out and figure out the name of it. I'm not joking. And they would just tell that one team member every single day, something specific that they were grateful for them for. How do you that's going to change your perspective of your team? Office managers, doctors, it's going to make it like team morale is going to go up. They're going to feel seen and noticed. Loyalty is going to get deeper.   and efforts are going to get increased. Like the number one thing I wanted as a dental assistant was for my doctor to tell me I did a great job that day. That's it. I just want the gold star. Wouldn't be told that was awesome. I will also say as a leader, I write a Friday five every Friday. I've been doing this. I think since 2021, I haven't ran it every week. I've had a few helpers throughout a couple of time. Um, but I refer in the bulk of these and I will also say me focusing on team members, great strengths, rather than me focusing on the things that they're doing wrong.   also makes me appreciate my team a lot more. So it's also a gift for myself to highlight them. So I think for you to look at that. And then the last piece is honestly, when teams feel this positivity, they're going to feel safe speaking up. They're going to tell you problems earlier. They're going to have ownership of like, I messed up on that. like creativity, innovation, team morale is all going to rise. And Google's multi-year project Aristotle,   found psychological safety was the number one predictor of team success. I'm gonna say that again. So Google's multi-year project Aristotle found psychological safety was the number one predictor of team success. like positive is not about being like this endless cheerleader. It's about creating an environment where people can perform without fear. And I've thought about this a lot of like...   My husband works at the hospital and it's a no fault hospital. So that way people who make mistakes, like things are going to happen. They're going to make errors. But instead of them attacking the person, they hear what happened. So people speak up and they're not afraid of losing their jobs and they fix the problem and the protocol. And so it's not like who messes up. It's what broke in the system and let's fix that. Blame's no longer there. Solutions are increasing and leaders are going to emerge because people are not afraid. And that's going to truly like   enhance your practice. So when we look at this, research literally is telling us that positivity is actually going to make you 31 % more productive. So that's amazing. We also figured out that like, when we looked through this and the points that I brought up where we know it's gonna increase our performance, we also know that like our emotional state and where we're showing up is going to be contagious. Gratitude is the number, is one of the highest ROI leadership traits.   And psychological safety is the foundation of high performing teams. So what could we do? We can open up our meetings with wins or gratitude like we do in our team. We can recognize progress daily, like have a thermometer, tell people thank you. We can make sure that we as leaders are emotionally regulated. We can make sure that it's a psychologically safe place where people are not blamed. It's more the issue of the problem, not the person. And then we also like look for catching people doing right. Have a shout out jar in your practice where people literally highlight.   great teamwork or that's what we do with core value shout out, highlight people doing good things, you produce more of that. And I will say that this is something that is not built on just like fluff and puff. It's not built overnight. I told everybody when I was doing Friday five and I've got clients that do it now with me, it's a slow burn, but it's something that I think is so worth it. ⁓ So when we look at this, just a couple of like fun research that I had.   ⁓ Just to kind of wrap today's podcast, it says having a positive outlook doesn't mean you never feel negative emotions such as sadness or anger says Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson, a psychologist and expert on emotional wellness at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. All emotions, whether positive or negative, are adaptive in the right circumstances. The key seems to be finding a balance between the two, she says. Positive emotions expand our awareness and open us up to new ideas so we can grow and add to our toolkit for survival.   People need negative emotions to move through difficult situations or respond to them appropriately in the short term. Negative emotions can get us into trouble though if they're based on too much rumination about the past or excessive worry about the future and they're not really related to what's happening in the here and now. People who are emotionally well experts say have fewer negative emotions and are able to bounce back from difficulties faster. The quality is called resilience. Another sign of emotional wellness is being able to hold onto positive emotions longer and appreciate the good times.   Developing a sense of meaning and purpose in life and focusing on what's important to you also contributes to emotional wellness. Research has found a link between an upbeat mental state and improved health, including lower blood pressure, reduced risk for heart disease, healthier weight, better blood sugar levels, and longer life. But many studies can't determine whether positive emotions lead to better health, if being healthy causes positive emotions, or if other factors are involved. So when I look at this, yes, Dental A Team's mission is to positively impact the world in the greatest way possible.   you have research and data to show that this makes it you're going to have a healthier life. Like they say, is it the chicken or the egg? Is it because I'm positive I go like workout and I have that or is like, no, this is actually creating better health for it. Who knows? But regardless, seeing the glass is half full, training myself to look for the good, living in the good moments more than worrying about the bad moments. That's trained behavior and it's something all of us are capable of doing. And so if you need help, I am obsessed with   Like I got a text the other day and they just said, Kiera, like you truly bring so much positivity to you when you coach us, you help us see the good at what we're doing. And my thought is if we can do that for your team, we can do that for doctors. Gosh, like your practice, your life, personally and professionally, your team are all going to flourish and benefit from that. Like do yourself the gift and the service of having a bit more positivity. And I believe that your, your net worth is due to your network. And so who are the people you surround yourself with?   Are they positive influences or are you guys like all going out after work and talking maybe not as positively? And again, you gotta have a negative emotions. there's a point. It's just which one am I feeding more and which one do I focus on more? And who am I surrounding myself with? And I will tell you our Dr. Mastermind group, I mentioned John O'Leary and we talked about him and our mastermind, ⁓ but being surrounded by like-minded people, people that want to be better, people that want to give back, people that have great teams, people that help share.   It's a give take community. You got to give and you got to take from this community. And it's not a one size fits all. I think for everybody to just realize that they're all here to contribute, they're all here to take, and they're all like-minded. Surrounding yourself with that really can be the fastest, easiest way to create more positivity. And then it influences in. And I hate being like, let me teach you doctors how to be this way. But then you have to like go and rally your team. That's why we work with doctors and teams. So if that's beneficial for you, if that's helpful for you.   Reach out, you guys, life's too short. You deserve to have a happy, positive life. You deserve to have a happy, positive team. And 31%, you guys, that is so great. So let us help you out. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or click on book a link or book a call on our website, TheDentalATeam.com And truly, thank you for sharing this. Thank you for being a part of our journey. Thank you for being a part of my life. I'm so insanely grateful. ⁓ Your success truly is the highlight of my life, the highlight of our team's life.   We love seeing you have the best life you can ever have. So let us help you on that journey. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

This one is for the billion-dollar assets of each practice: the doctor! Kiera is a pragmatic cheerleader, encouraging doctors to realize the asset they are. She touches on self evaluation, burnout, and building a practice that doesn't require constant sacrifice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. today I just want to give you a perspective shift that I hope you take, that I hope you run with. And I hope that you see the beauty in just thinking about it differently. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm the host of the Dental Dental A Team podcast. I love all things dentistry and I love positively influencing and infusing and impacting your life for the better. ⁓ We fly physically to your practices or we coach your team, you and your team virtually.   We also have in-person doctor masterminds where our entire community gets together. We share, we laugh, we have a good time and it's for doctor and leadership. I don't believe that running a successful practice should be hard. So come aboard, join us. You can always head on over to our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on book a call. We do a free complimentary assessment of your whole practice, leave you with tactical, tangible tips and advice. So reach out, there's no reason to do this alone. And if you have an expert, that's your podcast buddy.   Let's do this together. There's no reason to make your life hard. I'd love to connect with you even just to say hello. So today I'm going to just give you guys this like really fun thing of dentists. are truly the greatest asset of your practice and you need to start protecting that. Woo. I said it. now be careful. There's a fine line of egotistical and humble, but I want you just to realize that doctors like you are the greatest asset. If we don't have you producing, we don't have your vision. We don't have a business. Let that sink in for just a second.   Like you're not a provider. You're not just a provider. You're our like entire ecosystem. And so taking care of you, I have on here, I'm not joking. It literally is right here on my computer. says I'm a Foxy Fit billionaire babe. And I also say my body is a billion dollar asset. Treat it like such. I have a thing that says I identify as a Ferrari. ⁓ Things to remind me that I really need to take care of me because I'm the greatest freaking asset. And again, it's not coming from a place of egotistical. It's just facts.   And so I want you to just realize that we've got to take care of you. And so I wanted to just give you three quick tactical tips today on how we can take care of the most valuable driver of the practice, which is you. So I want you to start thinking of yourself as that billion dollar babe or billion dollar boy, like whatever you want it to be. But like, if I really have a billion dollar asset, be as in boy or babe, I need to start treating myself like that. Like you're probably producing 500 million.   two million, four million, 20 million annually. Your diagnosis influences millions of people and lives over your career. And yet you run yourself like you're replaceable and you just run yourself into the ground and you just think that you're this machine. And I just want you to realize that like that's not sustainable. Like you need to start realizing I'm a billion dollar asset. And when like this means we don't skip lunches, we don't skip workouts, we don't like overwork ourselves, we don't.   squeeze emergencies in on every single day. Like you did that when you were growing the practice and I get it. But like, you guys production on the top might not be great for the body on the bottom. We might have decision fatigue. We might have case acceptance failing. Like everything's spinning around breaking because you yourself is breaking down. We've got to start treating ourselves like a high value asset. Going to the gym, eating food regularly, taking care of our relationships, being, showing up for other people, having a quiet mental time. This is a spot of like,   Okay, does my schedule protect my performance or does it drain it? If you can't even go to the bathroom in the middle of day, you might need to change some things up. And I know a lot of dentists do this. I did this as a dental assistant. We just run crazy because we're like, we need to serve all these patients, which is great. But the next piece is like burnout is not part of your job. So exhaustion impacts your leadership. Tired doctors avoid hard conversations. Diagnosis gets more conservative the more tired you are and more burnout.   team feels tension grows starts to plateau. And so when we look at this, like not only is it a personal issue, it's also a business liability. And I have seen plenty of doctors go through to where they actually stopped diagnosing as strongly. And it's not that they're doing anything wrong. They just were running themselves ragged. were draining themselves. Like burnout should not be part of the job. You didn't sign up for this, go into all this debt, go to school for all these different things just to have it be where you're not, like you're not able to take care of you. And then   Like we got to look at this and say, like, your business should work for you and not the other way around. So how can I build a practice that does not require constant sacrifice? So my growth should create freedom, not heavier days. If everything depends on you, the practice is not scalable yet. We need to scale it down and get pieces, people and processes in place before we do that. And taking care of ourselves. I'm not kidding. Like going to the doctor regularly.   having date nights with our spouse, working out at least three times a week, ⁓ making sure that we're standing up and moving our bodies, making sure that we have mental health time for ourselves, going to meeting with a therapist if we need to, having meditation time in the mornings, going for walks, getting outside, having, like I said, date nights where you're not exhausted, making dinner. That's life. It should not be, I mean, I do this too, so I'm equally guilty and I'm not here to preach, I'm not here to...   be above, I'm here to be with you and to say that like, okay, I want you to map out your perfect life. I want you to say like, hey, what did I imagine my life looking like by building this practice? And it can change and it can morph. So it doesn't need to be like at the beginning. For me right now, I want it to be like Mondays are meeting days. I work out three to four times a week. I'm off work every single day at four o'clock. I go for a run or a hike or a walk with my husband every single day outside.   I do yoga every single day for at least 10 minutes. try to have like Fridays are my CEO time where I just have like white noise time. But this has been an evolution of Kiera. This is Kiera was running herself so ragged that there was nothing left. I didn't want to be with my husband. had no time. Like literally I'd walk up from work because you know, I'm downstairs, just walk up the stairs, don't have a long commute. And I'd be like, I'm just so exhausted. I have nothing in me to make dinner. I have nothing in me to like talk to you.   I wanna just sit on the couch and veg and have TV time. That's not living. That's not why I built this business. Like here I am making all these dentists have their fulfilled lives and teams. And yet I'm drowning and feeling like I have no time for vacations. I have no time to be with my family. I have nothing that makes me feel like me. And what I found is you switched that. I meditate every morning. I do yoga 10 minutes before. I used to be like, okay, let me hurry and like work on the business beforehand. Like I felt like I was getting so much done. And now it's like, no.   I don't start until 730, eight o'clock. I don't look at Slack. Slack's no longer on my phone. Emails are no longer on my phone. ⁓ If clients text me, that's great. I'm going to respond to you at eight o'clock when I'm in the office. Of course, if it's an emergency, we will absolutely take care of it. But generally speaking, I need to take care of Kiera. I need to take care of my life. I want to show up for my husband. I want to show up for my family. I want to show up for me. And when I started realizing like, if my body was a Ferrari, I'd put the best fuel in it. So let me fuel myself in the best way.   I would wax and shine. So let me go work out and like, I go sit in the hot tub sometimes in the middle of the day. Why not? You can take mental breaks at the practice too. You don't always have to be working. Have good food. You can hire people that can help you with this. Personal assistants are great. Like everything does not need to sit on your shoulders. I have a gym trainer. I have a personal assistant. I have an executive assistant. I am about to hire a house manager. I do have a house cleaner. I have a lot of people that support me and help me.   And I realized because I need to take care of me. So for you, I want you to look to see how can you treat yourself more like a billion dollar asset? Everything I listed off to you is 10 years in the making. It did not happen overnight. What's one thing today that you could do to treat your body and your mental psyche as the billion dollar asset that it is for your practice? How can we implement just a little bit? Because you're not just working in a multi-million dollar practice. You're a leading one and you're producing it.   and I need you to operate accordingly. NBA like players, they're not on the court every single day. Football players, they've got seasons. All of us have seasons. In dentistry, we don't get seasons. We've got patients that come every six months, which is great. So we got to make those seasons throughout the week, throughout the day, throughout the month to make sure we're taking care of you. So I want you to just think about like, how can I look at my practice? How can I make sure my practice is working for me and not me working for my practice? It's really crazy. I actually...   This is going to be a little TMI guys. Welcome to Kiera's life. I hope you're ready for it. I actually put like chalkboard in my husband and my bathroom and I have markers in there and hand sanitizer. Don't worry. I want to make sure it's always clean. ⁓ but it's first like write little love notes to each other. And on there I said, I said, we work to live. We don't live to work. ⁓ our, and like, that's what it should be.   We work is such a vehicle for us. It creates so much identity for us, but also it can create a lot of stress for us. And so I really hope today is one where you can think about it. I am the greatest asset of my practice ⁓ and I need to start protecting it. So what's one small shift? Can I go to the gym? If I'm already doing a lot of things, how can I up it for myself even more? For me, my latest is like, I shut the door at four o'clock and I'm done and I go for a walk right after work. That's more self care for myself.   ⁓ At night I go to bed listening to a really like calming meditation that makes me think on such a higher level and I love it. I absolutely love it What what can you do as a billion dollar asset for yourself? Because the more you take care of yourself the more you put the oxygen mask on yourself first the more you realize that like I said at the beginning it's a We start operating like a high-value asset. We stop treating burnout like it's part of the job   And we build a practice that does not require constant sacrifice. You start to thrive. You start to blossom. You start to grow. You start to realize that you are important. And like you are a member on the team. A great litmus test that I often ask myself is, if I worked for someone like I do today, would I keep working here? And if the answer is no, I ask myself why? And then I commit to within 30 days, I make a change to make that better. So for you, I just want you to   protect you as an asset, stabilize your business and realize you're playing for the long game, not the short game. Because the best practices are not built on sacrifice, they're built on sustainability. Truly, I'm so excited for you. If we can help you, think sometimes having a coach give you permission to take care of yourself, to take the vacation, to help you see it's not gonna break down and we've got the infrastructure built around you, can be so freeing. So reach out because you were not meant to be a machine, you were meant to be a human being.   and I hope that that resonates with you. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, click on our website, TheDentalATeam.com click on the link, book a call. I'd love to help you, I'd love to give you any tips because life is made for you and not to you. It's all happening for you and not to you. So this is your chance, this is your one life, and I hope that you're living the absolute best version of it. And if we can help in any way, we're here for you. You are the greatest billion dollar asset of your practice. Treat yourself as such.   And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team

What are the most common reasons a dental practice reaches out to the Dental A-Team? In this episode, Tiff and Kristy discuss those woes of an office (systems, lack of team alignment, metrics, etc.) that lead doctors to ask for help, and how consultants can turn the sometimes-dreaded details and numbers into a story that everyone in the practice can rally behind. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. We are back here today with, we used to have this consultant takeover and I kinda like that. We are taking over the podcast, but we take over the podcast often, so I think we did away with that title. But I'm bringing it back today. Kristy, I like consultant takeover. How are you over there and how do you feel about consultant takeover?   The Dental A Team (00:19) Absolutely. I'm doing good today. It's a Tuesday, so it's a weird day for us to be podcasting, but I'm just grateful for the time and to be able to help our listeners give some tips. It's always a fun time when we can get together and podcast.   The Dental A Team (00:34) I agree. I agree. It is a weird day and I kind of at the same time love it because I feel like I've had some consulting already today. So my brain is fresh on the consulting mindset. Not that I ever leave the consulting mindset. You can ask my son anytime we go anywhere. I'm like, okay, if they would have just said it this way or if they would have just reminded us this way, like I'm always consulting, but I agree. And Tuesday is an odd day for this.   ⁓ Listeners, I hope that you have listened to a few podcasts. I think this is actually a really great follow-up. It's a separate podcast, so it's not like a two-part series, but I really do think that this is a wonderful follow-up to a podcast that Kristy and I have previously recorded about the top four KPIs. And today we really, really wanna talk about the story behind the results. And first I want to...   consider the reasoning behind tracking metrics. Why are we tracking metrics? And I think that will lead to the story. And I guess even before that, really I wanna talk about the woes of an office, the pieces that lead us to consulting, the pieces that lead doctors to say, please help me, I'm not sure what's going on anymore, or to say more likely,   please give us systems, train my team on the systems. And we say, cool, you have systems, let's figure out what's working and what's not working. So Kristy, I think first let's highlight some of the reasons that we recommend tracking metrics because that will allow you doctors here listening, you team members here listening to really see where you fit into the puzzle and why this is valuable information for you as well.   Kristy, I think some of the reasons that I can think off the top of my head or some of the things that come to us are lack of accountability, right? Our team doesn't understand what they're supposed to be doing or they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing. I think payroll, I hear payroll is high. I hear cashflow, I don't have any cash. I don't know where my money's going. My money's not working for me.   The Dental A Team (02:34) Thank   The Dental A Team (02:53) What else? What else do you hear, Kristy? What are some reasons that you recommend?   The Dental A Team (02:59) Yeah. Well, first of all, I think it helps team understand their role and their part in the bigger piece of the office. You know, it's not we we do win together, but each of us, if we have things that we can champion and feel a part of something, ⁓ I think I see better results overall with teams and   The Dental A Team (02:59) KPI tracking.   The Dental A Team (03:28) When teams have clarity and they have understanding of a metric to know if it's a healthy metric or not, they feel empowered to ⁓ go to the next level too. Otherwise, truly it's when we see them, they say, my team's just clocking in and going through the motions. It's because they don't really know their part and what they're responsible for and truly if they're on target or not.   The Dental A Team (03:53) Mm hmm. I agree.   I agree. Yeah. So doctors coming and saying, again, like our team's not in alignment, our team's not doing what they're supposed to be doing. Yeah, I agree. And then we've got some team members will come and they'll say, I'm not fulfilled in my position. I want growth. I want to make more money. I want to understand more about what the practice needs to be successful. I have a lot of my office managers that just want to understand.   We have a lot of doctors who come to us and say, want to learn how to run my business. I want to have a personal life and not just a practice. I want to get home earlier. If you guys are falling into any of those spaces or insert your own reasoning, this information is for you. doctors and team members alike, I want you all to understand if you're here today and you're like, go numbers, heck yeah, I love numbers, phenomenal, welcome, we're here for you.   And if you're here today like Tiff, Kristy, I don't wanna talk about numbers, they make me uncomfortable. We're in a healthcare field. We're here to help people not to talk about money. Welcome, we're here for you. And I am here to dispel that mindset. I'm here to make sure that you understand the importance behind the numbers and the importance behind your practice staying in business. My opinion is, and maybe it's crazy,   My opinion is if you're not paying attention to your success and your failures, you don't know where you're going, where you've been, or what the gap is in between, where are you going to be in one, two, five, 10, 20 years? And if you're not still here because you didn't pay attention and because you didn't have goals, because you didn't know where you were going, you didn't know how to successfully run and grow a business,   how many patients that you're here to help, me and Sirthat, are left behind in the dust with maybe somewhere to go. I've known a lot of patients who have come to my dental practice I worked at for years that say, you know, I haven't been to the dentist in 10 years. Why? What held you back? Well, my dentist, you know, he retired or he moved. They switched ownership and I just didn't know what to do. I never found another dentist. ⁓   Break my heart. Like gosh, we preach that we're here to help people, but we're afraid to look at the success on helping those people and we're afraid to make sure that we're here for a long time. And in order to ensure that we're here for a long time, financially, the practice has to be secure. There's no ifs, ands, or buts around it. The practice has to be financially secure. You have to continuously be growing.   and you have to be in a growth mindset. Or just cut through the crap and call the BS and say, I don't really care what happens. If you care, you also have to care about your numbers. And that may be an opinion that you don't love today. I challenge you to come back in a week and re-listen. Tell me if you still feel that way. Great, let's have a conversation.   But I truly believe with everything that I have, if we're actually here to help people, we are gonna do everything we can to ensure that I'm here for a long time to help as many people as I can because I believe in what gifts I have to give to this world. And if you believe that, today's conversation is gonna be incredible for you. So, Kristy, today we wanna talk about how the results tell the story. And I think everything I just said is the story, right? The way they're thriving.   We're surviving, we're thriving, or we're dying, right? I wanna be in that middle, that thriving. I really wanna thrive. I've survived for a long time. I personally, professionally have survived for a long time. And I think everyone gets to the point where it's like survival is enough, survival is fine, but thriving is really freaking exciting and it's so cool. And I'm ready to thrive. Tell me how you help practices see their results.   and the story there within. Because like I said in a couple podcasts, but more recently the one we just did together, you love results. You love tracking metrics and you love helping practices see their successes. And you really do a great job of pouring into them on a, gosh, like a leadership personal just love space. You pour into them.   and you do that within their results and you see those stories. So I want you to really walk through some of those stories that you see within the results and how do you help practices to be able to read and see those stories themselves.   The Dental A Team (08:44) Mm-hmm.   Yeah. Well, I think we're in a unique situation because we're in healthcare, right? And we are already our compassionate, caring people. I was just in office and I was saying this to one of my teams. I don't think I've ever been in a practice that didn't have someone with those characteristics. And if I was, they weren't there the next time I came back for sure. ⁓ And so with that, you know, to your point earlier, Tiff, I think that   we need to get over the fact that we are a for-profit business. Because again, along those lines, I've never seen an employee that said, don't need a paycheck or that I don't need a raise. I'm okay with what I'm making. So with that being said, I challenge how you look at it from the onset. But with that, think truly because we're compassionate and caring and we get to do what we do and help people,   The Dental A Team (09:37) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (09:55) The money just follows when you're doing the right thing. So I truly like to take a step back and ask my teams, how do you define a healthy patient? Let's start there. How do you define a healthy patient? And again, we're never gonna do 100 % of the treatment on all the people that we see or that we recommend treatment on. But if there's people walking out the door that don't get treatment done,   There's opportunity. There's opportunity to grow and to, again, gamify it, get your patients healthy, and the money follows, if that makes sense. So to me, it all pivots around getting centered on what's our intention, what's our why for doing what we're doing, and then we build around it.   The Dental A Team (10:35) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Mm-hmm. I agree. Thank you for that. And I love that you said that like the intentionality I love intentionality and I think when you do know your why and when you do know what you're going for it's much easier to see When the story is right for you I within your results and I totally agree with that. I think when we set our goals They give us a journey to take they give us the path   Right, so we know our why, we know our reasons and we say, okay, great, these are our goals. This is a production goal, this is our collections goal. In order to meet those, we need this as our benchmark for our case diagnosis and treatment acceptance. This is how many new patients we're gonna need to see in the practice in order to obtain that much diagnosis. All of these pieces lead into one another and the results there within tell us if the systems that we're utilizing   The Dental A Team (11:15) Thank you.   The Dental A Team (11:42) are getting us to those results. So we know in order to stay in business, we need X amount of dollars. In order to continue to grow and stay in business, we also need this on top of that. So we know what our bare minimum is, we know what our profit margins are, we know what it means to thrive in dentistry and business. Now we have to say, okay, how do we hit that? What are the ⁓ systems that are gonna hit these goals with us?   And those stories, I think, I'm pivot for us just a stitch. 99.9 % of the practices that come to the Dental A Team, come to the Dental A Team, and they say, I need to be systematized. We need systems. We need systems. And I love it, because I'm like, awesome, slam dunk, I get to win, because guess what, you have systems. We get to sift through and say what systems are working for you.   The Dental A Team (12:16) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (12:39) and what systems need to be tweaked and revamped, or maybe just thrown out and something new made, or maybe it's an old system that doesn't need to be used. Those results within those metrics are that story. So if we're not able to hit our case acceptance, or we're not diagnosing enough, and our doctor's like, I don't know, I'm getting enough new patients, just, I'm not diagnosing enough, I don't have enough time in the room, our team is saying, gosh, my doctor's so rushed, and.   The Dental A Team (12:54) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (13:09) takes him forever to get into my exam, and then when he's in the exam, he's like so quick, and he's not even present, and he's not diagnosing, but I saw all of this stuff. That's a story, right? So my results was off. So my results not hitting the target. We're not getting the diagnosis that we need, and we're probably not getting the case acceptance on the limited diagnosis that we have. So we say why. We don't say go, go, go, go, go, do more, do better. We say why.   is this happening? And if we work backwards from that and we unravel and layer the story, we start to see the systems that need to be improved in order to get a different result. That's where the story really lies, is that it is in the results. The result is the story and we say, cool, that's what we got. Now, how can we do something different to get a different result? And I think without   The Dental A Team (13:56) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:07) unraveling that story, we're literally living the definition of insanity. We're just saying, okay, better luck next time. Next month we're gonna do better. We got more new patients. We got more diagnosis. Our case acceptance is still mediocre, but we're gonna get there. High five, guys. Next month we're gonna do better. Unraveling it and finding the story within the metric is the key.   Kristy, I know you've done this a million times too. When the practice comes in, I say, well, great, I can give you a cookbook. I can give you an A to Z of what I think a dental office should look like. I can scratch start you a dental office, 100%. I can scratch start you a dental office. But you might not need that because you've been successful enough to find the Dental A Team. If you guys are here listening, my dental practices that I work with all the time, you've heard me say this, you know what I'm about to say.   The Dental A Team (14:41) you   The Dental A Team (15:02) I say it all the time, the practices that the Dental A Team attracts are successful practices. We do not attract practices that aren't ready to get to that next level, that aren't already doing incredible things. We attract the practices that know there's more out there, that know there's a missing piece, that there's a blind spot within their view, that they just need that extra set of eyes, they need that expertise that says, my gosh,   Cool, tweak this. I think of implants, Kristy, and torquing implants because I can come in and I can give you a full torque and I can say, it's in now. It's totally in, it's in, right? But it might be too in. It might be way too in. Or we can take a step back and really look at how minor.   The Dental A Team (15:38) Yeah.   I'm   The Dental A Team (15:56) the torque needs to be and those little small incremental torques to get the implant where it needs to be is how we place an implant. We don't just go full blown, drill it in, 10 minutes you're out. We're taking our time and we're finding it. And I think, Kristy, when I think about results tell the story, it's more of like a, for me, it's just that unraveling. It's asking more questions. It's being in the why, being in the like,   open-minded, curious. Yeah, you say that all the time. Being curious and saying, happened here to create this result? There's nothing, I'm not mad. actually am completely indifferent. I'm completely indifferent and I'm just curious. Cool, that's what happened. How do we get something different?   The Dental A Team (16:24) I you.   Yep. I'm with you Tiff. I like to really simplify it because like you said, the numbers tell a story and if the story isn't what we want it to read, then we dig in. And I like to simplify it and think of two different things. It's either process or people. And when I say people, I don't mean that ugly. I mean, you mentioned the recipe. Did I myself decide I'm going to change a cup of sugar for a cup of salt?   and then say their recipe doesn't work. So whenever the metric isn't where we want it, let's pull out that system and revisit it. Because nine times out of 10, what I hear my clients say is, my gosh, why did we ever stop doing that? ⁓ Earlier when we were talking and we were talking like case acceptance and whatnot, literally ⁓ what popped in my head was James Clear and forming a habit because it's usually one step, right?   The Dental A Team (17:27) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (17:40) One easy tool, like if you're talking case acceptance, is do we take four pictures every patient, every time? Just by doing that, you're going to find things that maybe you didn't find before. And when we pull out the recipe of cases except as where we want it, and we're like, yeah, why did we stop taking those pictures? Right? So again, people in process, we don't have to be hard. It can be very, very simple.   The Dental A Team (18:06) Yeah,   Brittany here on our team, No BS Brit, you guys know her, our HR guru. She likes to say choose your heart. It's one of my favorite things. She said that one day like, I don't know, six years ago, I don't even know. I was so long ago and it changed my life. I was like, ⁓ my gosh, yes, choose your heart. And it works for anything. Is it more difficult to track these metrics right now and see the results?   The Dental A Team (18:11) Thank you.   The Dental A Team (18:34) Or is it more difficult to, in the long run, continue running the definition of insanity and wondering why things aren't working? Right? So yeah, you're gonna have to implement change. You're gonna have to implement something that feels hard right now. But it's going to create ease for the long term, right? So for me, I think, do I want hard for a short amount of time that creates ease for a long amount of time? Or do I want   The Dental A Team (18:41) Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (19:02) to choose the easiest route right now knowing that this is gonna cause heart again later.   The Dental A Team (19:08) for agree with you, Tip 100%. And you know what? Something that keeps popping in my mind, again, because there's this, I swear, taboo around the numbers, we're missing the opportunity to celebrate when things go well, just because we're so reluctant to look at the numbers. And I think that's huge in our day. And again, especially in dentistry, we're in the field of looking for things that are wrong in the mouth.   The Dental A Team (19:26) I love that.   The Dental A Team (19:36) And so to be able to have those metrics and when we're succeeding, to be able to celebrate as a team and go, wow, look at the difference we're making. Like, I hope that you guys choose, because it is a choice to look at those numbers differently and really celebrate. Because like you said, Tiff, most of our clients coming in really do have a lot of things going well. It's just how do I get to that next level or how do I get to that next benchmark that I'm trying to get to?   The Dental A Team (20:05) I agree.   I love that. think that's like a drop the mic. yourself space to also celebrate because you are, keeping yourself from celebrating, you're keeping your team from celebrating and humanity wants to feel accomplished. We wanna feel like we're working towards something, right? My fiance has this theory that a man without a purpose is desolate, is no man at all, right? A man without a purpose has nowhere to go and eventually will just   fade out into nothing, right? And I can't disagree with that because when we don't know what we're working for, when we have nothing we're working for, why would I be inspired to work? What's making me do this if I have no goal? Like there's just, it's just human nature to need a goal. And when we can see that, we can build the path to get there.   So I love that you said that and I love just giving purpose to life in the best ways we possibly can.   The Dental A Team (21:09) Yeah. And I think to your point, Tiff, that is why I like to start with that North Star of why are we doing what we're doing, because then tying it to the goal really does create more purpose and meaning for us when we're doing it and when we achieve it, right?   The Dental A Team (21:26) Yeah, yeah, and I think also, I totally agree, and I think also on top of that, taking it outside of even the patient's health, because yeah, sure, okay, we have a dental office because we want patients to be healthy, cool. Is that why you have a dental office? Because you want patients to be healthy? Probably not, like cool, I want everyone to be healthy. Like, no you don't, you wanna help people. You wanna show people the path to being better, to living longer, to having happier lives. You wanna give people a path.   to smile more often. How inspiring is that? Their health aside, like I'm gonna call it frank. You don't care really about their dental health. You care about them as a human and how they show up in the world. You wanna give them a path to being a better person. That's what your why is. ⁓ Tell me that is not more inspiring than helping people live healthier lives. Right, like cool. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (22:21) Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I agree   with you, Tiff, because truly when we get down to it, we always talk about the patient motivators, right? And sometimes that motivation is cosmetic because they want confidence to smile. And that is a different kind of health. That's an emotional health, right? It's so different. But yeah, you're spot on. You nailed it.   The Dental A Team (22:40) Absolutely.   And what's your emotional ROI? If you're not emotionally healthy, are you going to the doctor to figure out what's wrong with your hormones and why you're just not right? No, you might not have any decay in your mouth. That's cool. Awesome. Cool. But if I can help inspire you to live your best life through your smile, whether it's cosmetic, whether it's knowing that your gums are healthy, whether it's just saying, hey, you have a freaking awesome smile, and you walk out those doors more confidently,   I've done my due diligence, I have done my service. So what is it that's actually driving you to want your patients to be quote unquote healthier? Like yeah, you're providing that service, but that's a service. Why did you choose to provide that service?   The Dental A Team (23:26) Yeah.   It's funny that you said that tip because my mind went to, ⁓ always shy away from the money part of it, and that's what patients are buying, right? And so I hope you choose to look at that differently too, because people will spend infinite amount of money to get exactly what you're talking about, right?   The Dental A Team (23:38) Yeah.   Girl, I just heard somebody   say they paid $2,500 for hair extensions. Hair extensions, yeah. If for my male dentists out there, my doctor's listening that may not be women who are up to par with what a hair extension is, go look that up. $2,500 to have longer hair. Yeah, yeah, go treatment plan that crown. Yeah, go treatment plan that crown, because you know what? They're spending it on hair.   The Dental A Team (23:52) ⁓ gosh, yeah.   Most of them are your crowns.   The Dental A Team (24:15) and eyelashes and Botox and filler and the list goes on. So you are a piece of that confidence too and you need to hold yourself to that standard. So go measure your results. That was a fun one. Thank you for letting me get on a little pedestal tangent, whatever you wanna call it. I enjoyed it. Kristy, thank you for helping us lead that path. And gosh, action items. Like go, we...   Go listen to the podcast with the top four KPIs if you haven't listened to it yet. If you're already tracking KPIs, like, yeah, Tiff, I got this. Kristy, what else do I track? Then reach out to us, but start looking for those pieces and start looking for those stories if you're already tracking. What's that next layer? That next layer might be just unraveling some of the stories there within instead of tacking on more just yet. So take a look at them, find your stories.   Reach out to us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We will help unravel stories for you all day long. And we will also help suggest any new KPIs if you're at a point where you're like, cool, what's my next level of KPIs? We're here for it. Drop us a five star review below, especially if you loved our tangent. We love hearing that. We are emotional beings at the end of the day. And when you're ready to really look in and dive in and see what are some gaps that I might have in my practice, please head over to our website, TheDentalATeam.com.   take our free assessment, meet with our team. We're here to help you whether you say yes, I want consulting and I want to have Kristy in my office or Nikki in my office or Pam in my office, whomever it may be, Trish, whoever, whether you're ready to say yes to that or not, at least let us help you see some of those gaps where you can move forward with or without us. So, TheDentalATeam.com, go check us out and thanks guys, we'll catch you next time. Thank you, Kristy, for being here with me today.   The Dental A Team (26:09) My pleasure.

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Kiera is joined by Brad from Kleer to talk about the perks of membership plans over dental insurance, why a membership plan can create consistent revenue for your practice during uncertain times, and how to even start putting together such a plan. Kleer, by the way, helps roll out membership plans effectively and successfully to uninsured patients Kiera and Brad also touch on why patients may be hesitant to sign up for a membership plan and dental practice resistance, and how to overcome each. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   speaker-0 (00:32) And you guys, I am so excited to welcome back one of my dear friends, someone that I just respect. I respect their company a ton. And right now, I think it's super relevant for everybody out there because we all know dental insurance is not the greatest. It's shifting. It's changing. It's unpredictable times. So I'm so jazzed to be bringing on Brad. He's with Kleer. Brad, how are you today? How are you, Kiera? I'm doing really well, thanks. So. ⁓   speaker-1 (00:53) Good night, how are   speaker-0 (00:57) Brad, I said real quickly, Kleer. didn't give any thing behind it. People who have listened to the podcast have definitely heard me talk before about Kleer for membership programs. So just for those who don't know, let's just have you kind of share what Kleer is, how they can connect with you. And then we're going to dive into it. always like, I hate at the end where it was like, and by the way, if you want to hang out with Brad, so I'm just going to give you guys Brad's info, what Kleer is about, and we're going to dive into how to like really make a predictable income.   in unpredictable times. get ready, but Brad, how can people connect with you? What is Kleer all about? Let's just give our listeners a little bit of background on you guys.   speaker-1 (01:33) Yeah, so Kleer got started in 2018. And so this is now our fourth year in dentistry and having our software available. And basically what we do is we work with dentists and office managers to help implement and stand up and easily manage their own membership plans, something that's scalable that ⁓ can be successful for their practices.   Like, should I go for membership plans as well? ⁓ Or do you feel like most of the airplanes kind of knows that?   speaker-0 (02:05) Like let's just at least I mean if you haven't heard of membership plans guys now is the time to get on board with membership plans because I just did a podcast the other day where we were talking about how tis the season for dropping insurance plans like it is becoming rampant people are realizing with inflation what insurance plans are reimbursing that it's really not sustainable and so a lot of people are shifting dropping insurance plans and I think membership plans are the number one way to go which is why I wanted Kleer to get on the podcast today to talk to you guys about it   as a great solution to a problem that if you're not experiencing it, you will be experiencing it. I don't think it's a matter of if, it's a matter of when your practice will experience it. So yeah, dive into membership plans just so people understand if you haven't heard of a membership plan yet.   speaker-1 (02:50) Yeah, so membership plans are basically like an alternate coverage options for your primarily uninsured patients. Because like real quick background research is a lot of our data shows us that uninsured patients, they come in less frequently, and they accept a lot less treatment compared to their insured counterparts. So what can we do to provide some type of coverage option that doesn't have the red tape and restrictions that insurance traditional insurance has?   And this is where with membership plans, these practices can create their own care plans and offer them directly to the patients at a monthly or annual subscription. So like what's included with the membership plan, we see that pricing is anywhere typically between like say $260 a year all the way up to like $380 a year. It can go higher or lower, but what the patient's paying for when they're paying for that 260 to 380,   they are getting access to their hygiene and preventative care. And in addition to that, they'll get say a 10, 20 % discount off other procedures. So like I said, the practices have full autonomy. There's no more third party that's really meddling with that relationship and dictating the fees and the treatment protocol. Practices are in full control. They offer a dressing to the patient. So it's a really good patient retention tool.   Patients appreciate the benefits that they're now receiving directly from the practice. And we actually see that the membership plan patients are more profitable than the other patients that still remain without coverage. And like over the past two years, like Carrie, you know that a lot of practices have been implementing membership plans, but the pandemic has really acted as like a catalyst during that time because   a lot of practices and practice owners who are very cognizant of their patients want some type of coverage option, some type of alternate that they can offer to their patients, whether they're going through financial hardships, they refer load, whatever it is. ⁓ But yeah, that's essentially what membership plans 101, if you will. That's what they are. We help practices automate processes with our platform.   and make sure that it's easy to manage and implement and be successful.   speaker-0 (05:14) Which I love and Brad, it's funny because for those of you who heard my and Brad's podcast, gosh, it's probably been over a year now. Um, but we talked about me as a fee for service patient and we literally did, like, I was a case study because I wasn't going to sign up for my six month cleaning. Um, because like I work with hundreds of dentists for me to get a cleaning. It's pretty simple to do. I'm on the road often. I really do. Like offices are super nice to me. I can get a cleaning at any practice I go to.   But Brad, we like it was a case study where I signed up for the membership program at my dental practice and I literally scheduled my six month cleaning because it was quote unquote free. And so I am a literally a walking in testament that membership plans do work even for somebody who's been in the dental field. And I think I'm pretty savvy when it comes to what people are doing. But just, mean, they got me and it made sense. And something I feel people don't realize is one, a lot of offices right now   I've been seeing and Brad, I'm curious from your guys's research, which is why I love Kleer. guys research things so much. So you're very data driven from the research rather than just feelings. And I've been seeing from a lot of our practices that the topics are, how can we drop insurance plans? And I'm always like, the first question I ask is, okay, perfect. Do you have a membership plan in place? Because as soon as you drop this insurance, I don't think practices realize that patient becomes a free agent. They are no longer tied to you.   They're going to go somewhere with insurance or if you can get them on a membership plan, they're no longer a free agent patient. They're now tied to you in some way. But guys, like if I'm a fee for service patient, I am literally a free agent walking around and I can go to whatever practice I want to go to. I'm going to choose an office based on location, their responsiveness to me, their cleanliness, if I like their dentist or not, how their billing is, but I'm not tied to that practice. And so without these membership plans, I think a lot of practices don't realize   that you can drop insurance plans and get patients to stay and retain and even become higher paying patients than they were before by implementing a membership plan. So that's what I've seen. I'm sure you guys have data on it. Anything that you guys have found Brad in conjunction with that or things you guys have seen on your side.   speaker-1 (07:28) Yeah, it's pretty funny. And I touched on how the pandemic has acted as this catalyst. But now the dust has kind of settled after two years. People are understanding how to adapt and how to behave when it comes to COVID-19. But what's really interesting is there's all different types of reasons why practices are implementing these membership plans. Because every practice is different and their priorities are different. So one that you mentioned that's a huge one right now is that they want   membership plans in place when they're planning on dropping one, a couple, or several PPO's because they want to leverage the membership plan as a patient retention tool. But we're seeing other reasons too. It's like, I mean, you said so yourself, you were a case study. We're seeing that more and more. Like you heard it throughout the past like six months, the great resignation. It's been, they've been talking about it since like September, October of 2021, but   We're seeing that there are more people that are starting small businesses. There are more people that are retiring from their jobs earlier than anticipated. And there's more gig economy workers out there now that we're seeing these larger tech companies like Uber, ⁓ Lyft, whatnot, all these gig economy jobs are in place. And we're slowly seeing that the amount of uninsured when it comes to dental benefits in the marketplace or in the United States.   it's growing more and more, what almost feels like day after day. ⁓ So you definitely want to make sure that like when it comes to your retirees, a lot of them have primarily had some type of dental coverage their whole lives and they'll be looking for it as soon as they retire and lose it. So you want something in place for them, for yourself, someone that's a younger business owner, perhaps a millennial, ⁓ those are the types of people that are used to monthly subscriptions.   So you want something in place for them, like who doesn't want coverage? So millennials fit the bill. And then lastly, like you said, a lot of practices are starting to really overcome that fear of dropping insurances because we know it's kind of been this necessary evil, if you will, but a lot of practices, they've wanted to do it. They've been a bit hesitant, but now you're seeing a lot of them are.   starting to do that and they're being pretty methodical with their approach. I guess long story short with dropping the PPOs, you definitely just want to make sure no matter what you're going to lose patients, but what can we do to mitigate that number? And that's where a lot of practices have them in place.   speaker-0 (10:09) Right, I think it's something that is not hard to set up. You guys make it very easy to do it. You manage it. Because I think so many practices get scared of that, like, ugh, how am going to manage this? And that's honestly why I love you guys as a company. I think you guys have amazing values. guys, I've helped with your team so they know dental. They're super innovative. You guys are very, cognitive of learning the dental lingo, understanding the ledgers and how to make it make sense and set it up in a simple, easy way.   But Brad, there's something else that membership plans are starting to get a lot of accolades for, and that is creating consistent revenue in inconsistent times, which honestly I've watched a lot of my offices, like they go up and down and they're riding these waves of, ⁓ like in January, was cancellation after cancellation after cancellation because of the Omnicron variant. I was guilty of that. got it too. Like it was just, it was crazy. so people had like,   January's it just tanked when in traditional times that wasn't the case. I know September historically is called suck timber It's not a great month. It tends to just be harder But yeah, I know membership plans are really getting like I said these accolades for creating more consistent revenue And that's something I know you guys have been working on So can you kind of touch and explain how a membership plan can create this consistent revenue? When to me I'm like Brad, it's like 200 bucks a month like not even a month like a year   How can I create some consistent revenue when I'm used to producing five, 12, $20,000 a day? How can this actually create some consistent revenue for me?   speaker-1 (11:41) Yeah, well, there's all types of businesses, whether it is health care or not, deal with ebbs and flows, or they deal with some type of seasonality. So if you just think of ourselves as consumers, I have about probably six different subscriptions, maybe more. And a lot of those business executives know exactly what they're doing. They understand that.   You know what? It's better to just have this recurring revenue, whether they're charging me month over month or year over year. They know that I am a loyal consumer to their brand and we'll just use like Netflix as an example. That's why so many different businesses, if you go out there and you're on the Internet or you're just walking from store to store as a shopper, like everywhere now is offering some type of membership loyalty program, rewards program, you name it. It's almost harder to find a business that's not doing it.   And basically like why not dentistry? And right now that's what the membership plans are doing. You're getting all of these patients to subscribe to practice where month over month, year over year, you know that you have this predictable revenue stream coming into your practices doors and into your bank account. So no matter what, like God forbid there's another ⁓ variant that shuts things down, I doubt it happens, but.   I think the real thing right now is you're starting to see, it's very topical, it's inflation. A lot of people are dealing with financial hardships. You're seeing that all these borrowing rates and interest rates are going to increase. So like, what can the practices do to offer something that seems very empathetic to your patients? You know they don't have coverage. Let's create these care plans and offer it to them. And at the same time,   If you see that some of your patients are starting to scale back or push out patient visits because they might be having a tough month financially, this is where no matter what, with having a bunch, whether it's dozens, whether it's hundreds, thousands, whatever, of patients on your membership plan is a better business model for your practice.   speaker-0 (13:52) Mm-hmm. think it's a something that I didn't realize until I created a membership if you will I used to do when we first started the consulting company. I was a one Visit and I would bill you after I traveled to your practice and I would send you to the penny the travel and I was almost going broke like complete transparency because it was such like I was always delayed on my revenue coming through and   I had a lot of smarter people than myself say, Kiera, you really should switch out to where they just pay monthly, like figure out what your costs are, have them pay monthly. It's easier for the client. They're not getting hit with these huge costs right away. And it's going to be much easier for them. And I will say as a business, it became so much easier for me, like good months, bad months, high months, low months. It's a more consistent revenue stream. And so I think for practices, I had an office and they're a really like adorable office. It's a husband and wife.   duo there, Volt Dentist, and the husband was all pro a membership fee. He was like, this is gonna be great. We're gonna be able to, it's going to be awesome for our patients. It's gonna create consistent revenue for us. And the wife was adamant. This is so much work, probably because she knew she was going to have to set it up. Husband's like, this will be great. Wife's like, I don't wanna do this. They ended up setting it up. And it was crazy because last year she told me, she's like, Kiera, it's crazy how much money is actually coming off of these membership plans month over month over month.   and we're able to have more retention of our patients. So that's ⁓ a testimonial of a practice that saw the benefits of it. A lot of practices will set these up in separate bank accounts. So it also can become, if you're not needing that cash, a lot of offices were using it to rebuild their stashes of ⁓ emergency funds and rainy day funds and practice growth funds because the membership fees were doing that. So again, I mean,   What? How much is Netflix, Brad? You've got that subscription. Do you even know how much your subscription is?   speaker-1 (15:49) I think like $12.99 or something.   speaker-0 (15:51) Right, I don't even know and that's what I think so cool is because it's 200 to 350 375 They're very low monthly fees that people forget about them It's really not that much and they're still coming to the dentist So I think that that's a very smart logical plan and truth be told like for me as a small business owner for Millennials, I know my sisters my brothers. They don't want to go spend two three hundred dollars to go to the dentist But if it was only fifteen dollars a month   they get their two quote unquote free cleanings, which are actually free on a membership plan. It's not dependent on a insurance plan. Why would they not do it? So it's really, I think, taking the, like there's no reason not to do it. It's just, it makes logical sense. And I think you guys are eliminating a lot of the objections through this that's going to retain patients coming to your practice every six months on a much more consistent basis. So I'm all for, I think offices should do it.   ⁓ But Brad, I know people are always hesitant. So what are some of the objections you guys get as to why, like, patients don't want to sign up for it or why offices might not want to implement this? Because I hear like, it's just too much work. But honestly, you guys make it very easy. So like, that's eliminated. But what are some of the objections you guys hear so we can help the listeners realize like, this is a true awesome, like, it's not a necessary evil. It's a necessary goodness.   Like there's no evil to it. feels so good. What are some of the objections you hear the concerns offices have that we can mitigate for them?   speaker-1 (17:18) really good question. on the patient, I'll answer the patient question first, just because it was the first one that you brought up. But believe it or not, the biggest pushback that we see from patients has nothing to do with like their actual experience once they sign up for the membership plan. A lot of it are patients giving the office feedback that they're looking for the catch because they think that the offer is too good to be true. So that is like always, not always.   but we hear it consistently from some of our practices. They're like, our patients see it as such a good deal that they feel like that they're gonna get the short end of the sticks somehow. But I think like everything that we're looking at in our economy, it's just like, it's all value driven and it's all consumer experience. So like best user experience possible. And if we're just like comparing a membership plan to traditional insurance or a traditional discount plan,   whatever it may be, there are restrictions, there's maximums, there's waiting periods, a lot of red tape for these patients. And that is what the membership plans are essentially removing. mean, who knows what their patients need more than the actual practitioners and the actual front office teams within these dental practices? No one. mean, they know what's best for their patients. And that's the beauty about the membership plan.   the patient, they need four crowns, whatever it may be, they can say, hey, is this possible? The doctor can say, of course, like there's no waiting periods. We can get this as soon as you are ready to get this done. So that's really where that seamless process for the patient and that better experience for the patient comes into play. And they perceive more value in your practice as well. So that is the patient question is it's too good to be true.   But we do, our success team and support team do help practices overcome that objection. But on the dentist side or on the office manager side, there's some resistance with maybe some high-end or fee-for-service practices that look at the membership plan and say, like, I don't want to cannibalize my cash-paying patients. Like, they're supposed to be paying me 100 % out of pocket. They're supposed to be my most profitable patients.   et cetera, et cetera, why would I want to give them a discount through the membership plan? And there's several reasons why. I mean, the biggest glaring ⁓ solution for that is that we see that the membership plan patients are generating twice as much revenue. So that's hygiene revenue, treatment acceptance revenue, and then overall production. They're generating twice as much, and that's extremely consistent across all of our customers. So that is first and foremost,   ⁓ Another reason why is because you definitely want to build the patient loyalty like what you mentioned earlier that you were a free agent, you definitely want to make sure that you're retaining those patients. And like if you go and check out, say like, I hate to mention names, like names here, but if you go to Delta Dental's website, and you see their homepage, they're actually proactively marketing to individuals, small business owners, retirees. So the last thing you want   are those fee for service patients to go and look for individual insurance plans where you're probably getting the worst reimbursement possible.   speaker-0 (20:49) That was a politically nice way to say that.   speaker-1 (20:56) And then the last thing is a lot of the practices, like I get it. Like you think that the members that these uninsured patients are coming in consistently, but honestly our data and what we've seen from our prospects, like it just is very consistent where the average uninsured patient really does come in once every two years and they accept 50 to 75 % less treatment than insured counterparts. And on top of that,   a lot of practices, they'll just give out like these arbitrary discounts to cash paying patients, 5%, 10%, 15%, we've seen up to 20%. So based upon the data we've been collecting, the fee that they collect ultimately from the average uninsured patient is lower than the membership plan patients. you know, I understand it seems very counterintuitive of, you know, this patient might pay me a hundred percent out of pocket.   And if I give them the membership plan, I'm giving them a 10 % discount, I'm losing that money. But you kind of just have to trust the process and a lot of the data that we've been putting out there is it's extremely consistent and it shows that you will ultimately double your revenue and your patients will have the best experience possible and see more value in your practice with the membership.   speaker-0 (22:15) Well, and I love Brad one of reasons I love our podcast is one. just like you I like your company but the second one is I feel like I really get to be a walking testimonial for membership plans like in my practice that I ran that we were doing 365 a month like it was insanity in a five-up practice Guys, I like close the bulk of my cases with membership plans because there was no waiting period There was no deductible there was there was nothing I really could just give these patients an amazing discount and like you said Brad   A lot of patients or practices are terrified to give these discounts, but myself, I'm literally a walking advertisement of what it's like to be in a practice and offer a membership plan. But then on the patient side, remember, so the practice that I was going to, I didn't love their membership model. was like, you could join like silver gold or platinum or whatever. And I thought I'm not going to have much work done. Honestly, if I need work done, I work with hundreds of dentists. Well, it turns out I had a filling chip and it was driving me nuts and it was   Just bothering me and I wasn't going on the road for a week. So I thought, well, I'll just like go to the practice. So they were upgrading me to a higher membership fee, but I literally didn't pay out of pocket for the filling. I upgraded my membership to get a discount on my treatment. like just that mindset, I'm a fee for service patient. I'm a, and again, I hope offices are really gathering fee for service. Patients are not loyal to you. Yes, they like you, but just think of them as free agents. They can go anywhere at any time.   If you are too far away or they don't like your front desk or the way it was scheduled, they didn't like there's nothing that tethers them to you at all. So with this membership plan, they're going to come in for two cleanings. So two opportunities for exams, better patient care, most likely you'll probably diagnose something on them. You give them a discount for me seeing that filling at what 350 I think was the filling. Maybe it was 500. I just was like,   shocked. been a long time since I paid for dentistry. Thank you to everyone who's given me free dentistry my whole life. Like, whoa! ⁓ But the fact that I got a 10 % discount on my filling, even though that's $35 on 350, I did the filling same day. Whereas if there's no decay, just smooth it, I don't really need this filling fixed, I could probably get by. But because I had a discount, because I had a loyalty program, if you will, I did the treatment. So   Kiera Dent, who I think is one of the strongest dental advocates out there, knows their ploy, knows what they're doing, knows the membership plans, knows all these things. I talked to Brad, I know Claire, I've worked with you guys for so long, and even myself, with that small discount, I did more treatment, I didn't go on the road, it was convenient, and I was tethered to my practice. So I really feel that offices, again, like I said earlier, this isn't an if, it's a when, and I think for us in our consulting company,   We have a checkbox of making sure our practices have membership programs in their practices. That like, I don't care if you're fee for service. I don't care if you're a DSO. I don't care if you are corporate. I don't care if you are a solo practice because membership fees, I am such a believer in them. I'm a believer that it's better for the patient. I don't believe that dental insurance serves the patient. I think it serves somebody else. Whereas membership fees, really do believe in membership plans serve the patient. There's no deductible. There's no waiting period. Like,   It's so cheap to get those fillings or those cleanings done. We had unlimited x-rays. thought that that just sounded better. And honestly, nobody ever took advantage of us. And then we did like, you could do 10 or 20 % off of treatment. So it really, to me, I like, I people to dump their insurance plans on their own, like canceling when it was open enrollment in November, because the membership plan just makes sense if you explain it to patients. So Brad, I just love that you guys do.   this. I love that Kleer is such an easy path for getting a membership plan because I think sometimes it can feel daunting of how do I do this? How do I track it? How do I make sure I'm compliant for my state? You guys also have like brochures and flyers and so much information for the patients that I feel you guys are a plug and play solution for membership plans that for practices who want to get started, which all of you like to me, if you're a Dental A Team listener, it's not an option. Like just do it. Just sign up for a membership.   Plan program. So Brad, how does it work? So let's say I'm in office, I've listened to the podcast and I've said, okay, you've convinced me, I'm gonna take my fee for service practice and I'm gonna turn it into a membership. I feel like you're stabbing me in the heart, but I don't want my patients being free agents. I heard Kiera, I'm gonna try this. How do people even start? What is the process to start a membership program?   speaker-1 (26:50) Yeah, so I mean, the first thing that they can do is they can visit our website that just Kleer it's Kleer.com ⁓ or they can shoot me an email. It's just Brad@Kleer.com And the first step is just sitting through a demo that typically takes about like 30 minutes. And that's just where someone walks you through all the intricacies of the software, our success team, all the processes that we have in place to make sure they're successful.   And then as soon as they've seen the demonstration and they want to move forward, there's really just two calls. The first is our onboarding, what we call the fee consultation. That's where we help design the plan. So we configure the plans. We set the pricing, ⁓ set the fee schedule, all that good stuff. And then the next call is really the training call. And then they're ready to launch. So it's funny. We talked to a lot of prospects and they think that it's going to be a burden.   to get this going, I mean, that's essentially why you're outsourcing it. A lot of teams, we understand they might be struggling with turnover, but at least with Kleer, this is providing some type of consistency, some type of rock, regardless of new employees or losing employees. ⁓ But as soon as they're up and running, ⁓ it's honestly just, it depends on the team's availability. ⁓ And then we can get them going, we'll launch your plans.   We have some move within a week ⁓ of after the demo. And then once they're launched, patients can sign up and they're ready to go. It's that easy.   speaker-0 (28:27) That's awesome because I will just put it out there. I was an office manager. I was a front office. I listened to a lot of content and I heard a lot of great ideas and there is a difference between like knowledge and execution and execution will trump knowledge every single day of the week. So you can sit here and hear this, but getting it executed, implemented and utilized I think is the biggest piece. So I'll just pose a question. Like we've talked about this quite a bit on the podcast and I'm going to say choose your heart.   or choose your own adventure here, but I think choose your heart is a smarter one. Is it harder for you to constantly call insurances and get an insurance breakdown? Like just tell me how much time that actually takes versus calling Kleer and having a 30 minute demo and having it signed up and getting your patients to transfer away from insurance plans. To me, like if I could give up and never have to call another insurance verification program ever again in my life, I would switch to a membership plan immediately because on membership plans,   You don't have breakdowns. You don't have to go and figure out what the insurance is estimated to pay. You don't have to fight claims. You literally sign them up. They pay you monthly or in full and you give them a discount. And it is that simple. So I would just say, I love Kleer. think you guys, there are cheaper membership programs out there. However, I think you guys have the best customer success and the best patient experience as far as the portal goes and making it easy.   that I like, yeah, you guys can go find a cheaper membership program. I'm not going to beat around the bush. I hear it from a lot of clients like, but Claire was so expensive. And I'm like, you're right. But the patient experience is top notch. And that's what your patients are going to complain about. If it's not top notch and it's not easy for them, they're going to drop the membership program because it's not easy. Like think of the apps that you just give up because they're just dumb and junky and you can't handle it. Like I'm ready to dump TD Ameritrade as my investing company. I'm so sick of their freaking app.   Like if you ask me one more time to transfer and have to give you all my information, like I'm quitting Vanguard is like leaps and bounds better. So just thinking of the two differences. So Brad, I am just grateful for you guys. And I truly am like petitioning you guys, like get your dang memberships in play. Insurance droppings happening. Inflation is going up. You've got to find a way to retain these patients. And I think membership plans are the solution plus residual income in uncertain times. So Brad, super jazz guys reach out Brad again. How do they get in touch if they want to talk to you?   speaker-1 (30:46) If they want to reach out to me, just shoot me an email. It's Brad@Kleer.com and I will get back to you ASAP.   Kiera Dent (30:55) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine.   to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene or associate onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be   re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Do you ever feel like you have a laundry list of reasons why you can't ever take a break from your practice? Kiera is here to say, if that's how you're feeling, it's time to step away. In this episode, listeners get to take a breather. Kiera talks about the two parts of success (the "suck" part and the success part), and what you can do to hit a mental restart. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and I hope today is such a great day for you. I hope that you're loving your life. I hope that you are enjoying it. And if you're not, today's podcast might be for you. Today is about when leadership gets heavy, how CEOs navigate the seasons you can't step away from. And this actually was a little bit of a self-medication for myself because when I ⁓ was actually getting ready to podcast the last time, I had a little bit of a breakdown.   And I just realized I was going at a pace that I wasn't able to sustain. And I felt very trapped. I felt like what happens as a CEO when you literally feel like you can't step away? Like you're in it. You bought the practice, you're in debt. I was actually just reading a book. It was a total fantasy book. And it was ⁓ about this little veterinarian who opened his practice to kind of prove a point to his parents, but also because he loved his craft and loved his work. And then he starts dating this girl and   she's on the other coast and long story short, they're like flying back and forth coast to coast. And he doesn't have money because he's got the practice. He's got the debt. He's got a team ⁓ and he wants to see his girlfriend. And so he's picking up ER shifts and moonlighting and so much so that he literally like drags his body into oblivion and gets so sick. And what was really crazy in the book is I feel like as I was reading it, I told Jason, I was like, this is my doctor's, this is me.   So many of us feel this way, right? You've got the debt, you've got this, you have a laundry list of reasons why you feel like you can't step away. And I will say like, if that's you, then it's time for you to step away. And I think in ownership, there are seasons where it's hard. And so today I kind of wanted to address like, what do you do and what are some tactical things when you're in this boat? And if you're in that boat today, hi, I'm Kiera. I'd love to be friends. Reach out, just even as a friend, if it's a pen pal, if you want to talk, if you want me give you tactical advice on your practice, reach out, I will happily help you.   If you're not in that boat, hi, I'm Kiera and I'm either preparing you or speaking to your future you because all of us will go through that. And I don't think it's a one and done. It's an ever flowing. It's an ebbing and flowing. And so there are seasons and ownership where it's freaking hard and it doesn't mean you're failing. It doesn't mean your practice is broken. It just means that we're growing and it's stretching our leadership. I remember thinking, I've talked about this on the podcast before. It's like throwback OG status or talk about like penguins, molting or snakes like sloughing off their skin.   And what happens is we actually grow bigger than what we're capable of. We grow bigger than what our skin is. grow, like our practice outgrows the leadership style that we are. There's a book called like, what got you here won't get you to where you want to go. And it's the same principle of like, we have to grow. And if you go back to being a child, growing pains don't feel good. I don't know if you guys remember like your legs hurt and your body hurts and like.   you, my little nephews and nieces, they wake up in the middle of the night with like leg aches because they're growing. Like it's painful. And I think we forget. And then as adults, we don't realize that like you get to go through it again. When you go through growth of leadership or your practice grows and you got to evolve into the next version of yourself to sustain that. And that's not comfortable either. you guys know, some of you been listening for a while. You know, I went to Antarctica, slight flex. ⁓ and it was amazing. It was honestly one of the most life-changing trips I've ever been on.   it was a place where I felt like I was navigating the most beautiful, serene scenery where no one's there and knowing that I could die. Like people die there. Like the Antarctic has nothing. It's freezing cold there. ⁓ I thought it would be covered in snow and it wasn't felt kind of like Utah-esque in the winter. ⁓ but like it was, I mean, that water is cold and you can see penguins like swimming through the water. It's so clean. It's so crisp. Nothing has touched that part of the world. It's very, very incredible. but I remember when I was there,   I was watching penguins and they were actually in molting season and they told us all like, don't get close to the penguins, just let them be. And they were like, they're in so much pain. And what these penguins were having to do is they sat there and like, you literally could see the like anger, sadness, pain in these little penguins. And they were sitting there. Cause what they have to do is they have to molt off all their feathers because their feathers are not the ones that they have on. They're not waterproof. And so they would actually drown when going into the water. So they have to molt all of those off.   get their like slippery ones and then they can go into the water and they just sit there and you see feathers flying everywhere. But I think like that image of a penguin is how I think a lot of CEOs feel and how a lot of office managers feel when we're going through this and we're being stretched and it's just annoying and you feel like, ⁓ I wanted this practice. I wanted this business, but I didn't want this. Well, I just want to remind you that success has two parts to it. There's suck and there's the success part. You can't have both sides of the coin without it. The word literally says it. And I think we sometimes forget, I think   For myself, I sometimes feel like I've already been through this. I should have to go through it again. But there's a call to a higher level. There's a call for us to be stronger leaders. And so what do you freaking do when it's hard and you feel like you can't escape? So I think that people believe that as you grow and evolve and get bigger and bigger, it gets easier. And I don't believe it actually does. Traction had a very strong quote at the end of it. And I'm not going to quote it exactly. I'll paraphrase it. But the book Traction by Gina Wickman, you guys know I'm obsessed with that model. I'm obsessed with running on EOS. I love helping practices.   be Dental A Team's version of it. We don't do true EOS. We do Dental A Team's version because I like to mix two things that I think actually work better for dental practices. But what I found is he said at the end, like a lot of people think getting bigger practices and bigger businesses actually equate to more profit and less headache and it doesn't. I remember him talking about like a $10 million practice versus $100 million practice. They both made the same amount of money, but there were way more headaches in the $100 million versus the $10 million. And   That has resonated with me for years. Now, if you're trying to sell to a DSO where you're trying to get multiples, of course you need to get it to a larger number. But if you're trying to do it for the long haul, sometimes having it smaller is actually easier. But again, this is your vision, your dream. For me, could I say small make my life easier? Theoretically, but my goal is to impact every single dental practice in this world to possibly reach you, influence you, work with you if it feels right. But my goal is to have the largest impact in dentistry I possibly can.   That's not going to be me playing small and I recognize that, but that also means that I can't sit here and complain because that's the choice I made. I can be frustrated and I can be annoyed and I can feel those feels, but I'm not allowed to sit here and have that. At least that's my opinion. So because I believe that it gets bigger and I'm called to swim in deeper water. And I also believe that I get stronger by carrying it. And you start to realize like, this is just part of business. And I'm sure it's how parents feel when you got one baby and it's so scary and then you get two and then you get three and then you get four. And it's like, yep, this is just how babies are. It's the same thing with business ownership. So   I think that when we feel pressure, it's often a sign of expansion, not failure. And so just a couple of things of tips and ideas of what to do. Number one, I will say, just go on a vacation if you can. I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it's the right thing to do. It feels very counterproductive. Myself, I was very much in the throes of it. Like I said, Dental A Team is going through such a fun ⁓ evolution. Like it is fun for me to sit as a visionary and to see where our team and our company are going and just to be freaking lit up.   with the clients we're serving and the team that we're building and like all of this is moving in motion. And then when I come into the weeds, I'm like, wow, this is really fun. This is a lot. And I think that it can get very heavy sometimes. And I was sitting in therapy and I was like, I just don't know what to do. And she's like, Kirit, it's just a season where it's hard and we accept it we just get through every day of whatever we can. We know this isn't forever. You've got a good perspective on that. And she's like, and if you can take a vacation. So I took a week off to Iceland.   And ⁓ it was great. was freezing cold. The Northern Lights were truly one of the most incredible things I've ever seen in my entire life. Like truly top five. And I have traveled to a lot of really cool places in my life. I've seen a lot of really amazing things. Seeing the Northern Lights dance across the sky when it's freezing cold and you are able to visibly see with your naked eye green and pink. I didn't have a strong to see some of the other colors, but I was able to see a very light pink and also bright vibrant green.   To see that whimsically like dance across the sky is amazing. So going on vacation can be such a relief, but you have to actually truly check out. So when I go on vacations and this has been Kiera's style, so take it if it's beneficial for you or not. And I think every team member should also do the same thing. ⁓ I delete Slack, I delete email, and I actually don't buy service international. Now you might have family, you might have friends that you got to, let them know.   But if there's a way I completely check out I become a very much princess passenger My husband has all the maps on his phone. He does all the things The only thing I have on my phone is I have Kindle and I have quite a few books that I tend to read Depending upon how stressed I've been I often try to curate a trip for me a lot of just like I need to bring it down So we actually stayed at a retreat in a lodge. It was very cold. So it was very cozy I watched a lot of trash TV like love is blind Lincoln lawyer, you name it like I had a decent amount of that   And it is truly just to bring my cortisol levels down, to bring that adrenaline down and to re-regulate my nervous system and to just chill. We went to a Blue Lagoon Retreat Spa. It was so lovely. I take as many naps as I want. Like it is a genuine disconnect. No team members, no clients, nothing. And I don't turn my phone back on. I have my team. They have a whole thing prepared for me. So when I get back, it's like, here are all the updates, here are all the things.   but they know unless it's like literally an emergency, which we've already gone through. Like if there's something, here's all the contact people for X, Y, Z. Like there truly shouldn't be anything that you need to contact me for. And if there is great, we're gonna fix it when I get back. I'm gone for a week. But I think you just being able to disconnect to check out, it's one of the greatest gifts. I had a client that I recommended they do this and they did, and they said, Kiera, we'll never like be the same. It was the best thing we ever did for ourselves because you genuinely go from high pressure,   down to like calm. And I've had it where I've gone other times and I like just say like, I'll just like check in on a few things. Well, when you're checking in, you're still like, there's this umbilical cord almost where you're still tethered to your practice and you can't ever fully like calm. So I will say like that is just one like off the wall tip for you if you can do it. And for me, I try to schedule a week trip at least once a quarter where I'm completely just disconnected. I don't always get that at least two per year.   ⁓ But I think it's also very important for me to do it. I also try to take like Fridays as just CEO mental days where I am disconnected, not there. Sometimes I need to do CEO laundry where I just got to catch up on a bunch of things. But if I can disconnect, not be in Slack, I show up as a better leader. And I think that these are subtle ways to get through the hard. ⁓ I also think when we look at hard, we often think of it as wrong. And so it's like, what's broken, what's wrong, how do I do this? And like growth is pressure. So more patience, more complexity, more team.   more leadership, more revenue, more decisions, like more, a bigger practice, more responsibility. Like it's just what it is, more opportunities, more legalities. Like it just is. And so pressure means that their practice is stretching into the next version. And so I just want you to know, I have coached and our team has coached hundreds of offices that have been going through this. Like this is what we go through. when you see it,   The practice isn't no, I tell people a lot of times I'm on the other side of the river. I've actually gone from where you are to where you want to be. And we know how to navigate as a guide across that river and do it in the least painful way, but it's still like, it's going to be painful. I've got a doctor and they're a startup and they're like, this sucks and it's hard. And like nothing feels right. And I'm on the verge of bankruptcy. And I'm like, guess what? You are a business owner. This is real life, but they're profitable. And even $500 a profit or a thousand dollars of profit doesn't feel great. Most off most businesses are not profitable for like three to four years when they first start out. And yet.   you are being profitable. So I also think like, don't see it as hard, see it as growth and also celebrate the freaking wins as you get them. I believe what we focus on we get and we attract more of. If I'm constantly saying like, they say race car drivers, like they're not looking at the next turn because they're gonna wreck. It's like they've got to look down the line and if you don't, you will literally wreck and hit it. And so I think for us, like if I'm constantly saying, I'm gonna go bankrupt or this is so hard or my team is terrible, you create more of it. literally.   turn your brain on to say, need more of this and I'm gonna look for it, I'm going to find it. Versus the other one of like, my team is doing great, we've got these good things, like there's momentum, I've got great patients, our cases are closing. And you're not lying to yourself, but we're celebrating those little wins and we're stringing more of those together. You're going to create more of that. And I think it can be so easy. As a consultant, I am literally wired to look for everything wrong. And I have to find it and figure out like, what's wrong is always available and so is what's right.   Both are gonna give me different outcomes and both are gonna give me different experiences. Which one do you choose to do more of? So I think like when you look at it, when I'm looking at this, is this a breakdown or is it a gross signal? What's going so well versus what's going so wrong? Maybe incorporating a gratitude journal, maybe having some like quiet times. It's not just like problem after problem after problem, maybe setting up meetings so like our problems get pinned to only once a week so you can handle it easier. That would be that.   Another tip when things like feel like you can't step away is like laser in on what you can actually focus on. I, it's funny, I'm looking around and if you're watching the video, you can see I have currently six, I used to have seven of those giant sticky pads sitting in my office on the other side of this camera. I have one of like our leadership structure. I've got one of an entire plan. I've got one of a future vision. I've got one of a CEO mantra. I've got one of Dental A Team's visions, my goals. And then I've got my like,   legit priorities and I've got four of them and I have them listed in order. And I think when things feel so chaotic, sometimes like bringing that leadership focus and scope in is like everything feels urgent and you try to fix it all. And honestly, if you've read the book, Essentialism, it has all the arrows and like you literally are spinning freaking top versus like what is number one priority? And I need to do that because if I try to do everything, this is how CEOs burnout. ⁓ And instead, like we need to train ourselves that there's bubbling pots constantly.   What's the biggest bubbling pot that's gonna move me forward the fastest and that's where I focus. And so it's like, what are the one or two things that protect operational like our practice stability right now and everything else is temporarily perfect. Temporarily perfect. Temporarily imperfect is perfect. And I want you to just have it like for me, there's so many things. If you want me to laundry list it all the way out, great. But I know that like, what are the one or two things right now that I need to go take care of and handle and everything else gets to be temporarily imperfect, which is perfect.   So when I have offices that do this, an example is they're trying to go and it's like, we need to hire an associate. We need to fix our hygiene department. We need to work on our scheduling. We need to fix our guarantees. We need to fix our case acceptance. We need to fix this. It can get exciting and overwhelming. And this is what I love of helping people get like an annual vision and a quarterly vision because it cuts the noise out. So when we focus in and we're like, okay, of all those things, what things need to happen now to get us to where we ultimately want to go? And if you know where your vision is of where you ultimately want to go,   It becomes so much easier for you to then filter through. And to me, that's a great filtering process. And I hope you actually like have this in place. And if not great, we're amazing at it. Reach out. I'd love to help you get there. You've got to have a vision. You got to figure out what's most important this quarter to get us there. You want to hire the associate, want to fix hygiene. You want to do all these things. But guess what? Us trying to do all those things is what causes the chaos, the burnout, the feeling like we're shackled to our companies and we can't leave versus recognizing. And this is like an ego dip, but it's freeing is not all that's going to get fixed today.   And these are the one or two things. My CEO mantra, would you guys like to hear it? Like, let me just help you guys out with this. Because I think it's really, really, really beneficial. My CEO mantra says saying no equals happiness. I started saying no a lot more and I realized like, wow, I am exponentially happier. The second one I have is I have more power than I think own it. I think a lot of times we feel like everybody else has the power and you are just kind of beholden to them. And this is not an ego power trip. It's more like, no.   I can make these decisions. can have some hard conversations. There is more power that I own rather than my team owning it or people are going to quit on me. Those are all what I've said, it might happen, but you have a lot more power than you think you do. ⁓ I said, don't be afraid of losing people. I've had some team changes and I remember I was so afraid, literally terrified. I'm squeezing my hands thinking back. was a ⁓ fractional team player and I was just super, super, super anxious about it.   And I sat on it and it was two days of pure health and then it was over. And I think a lot of times hard decisions of team members or decisions, usually it's like maybe two days of pain with a lot more freedom. So don't forget that. I said, focus on one thing a day, the rest works itself out. So every day I just pick one thing, this is my one thing I'm gonna work on and the rest truly does work itself out. ⁓ I said, I need to have two people in every position that knows it so that way I'm never feeling like trapped.   or beholden and I need to have systems written down. have like, pick your number and focus and cut fat regularly. So assess it, figure out like, where am I off to make sure that I'm keeping myself level headed and then take 10 minutes, like the calm or meditate whenever things are hard. So just a reminder, like I'm allowed to take a 10 minute timeout at any time. I know you feel like you got patience there, but if things feel like they're just bubbling and over you, that's kind of my CEO mantra. Like, hey, Kiera, when things are hard and it's literally like,   It's up here. I just read it to you. can see my eyes up there. I have them. And as other things come up, like I said, like take vacations regularly, showing up as my best self is the best thing I can do for my team. Those are a few other CEO mantras that maybe can help you out. And then I think the last one is like, when we look at it, we kind of like get rid of this emotional, like highs and lows for consistency. like, it's really easy as a CEO to want to like, whoo.   like whiplash and I've done this to my team a lot and when I'm in it, it's like you're trying to figure it out. You're trying to get there and you're trying to just like force the movement. So we got new rules, new priorities, new frustrations and instability is when it like is what teams feel. They don't feel the pressure. And so your job as a CEO and as an OM, as leaders of the practices to make sure that you're driving the stability. Like they know that there's problems. Like you don't need to be fearless. We just need to have predictability and sometimes slowing the innovations or the changes or the evolution.   I called my team out and I was like, Hey guys, we are been in a shaking snow globe. Every role is different. We've got people going out maternally. We've got new people coming in. We're growing. The company is really like a three month old company, even though we're in business for almost 10 years. And that's such a shift. And when I had that aha moment and we're like, cool, no new initiatives roll out. Let's just get everybody really, really, really solid in their new job descriptions. Cause like we had it where poor Shelbi was like being an EA and a marketer and a sales and like   every single position and we've had to untangle that ball of yarn and Britt was doing the same thing and Tip was doing the same thing and I was doing the same thing. So you got to like hire new people and have new people in there. Well, sometimes just recognizing that. So it's like, stop rolling new initiatives. We were trying to change our operating system and change this and change that. And finally we're like, whoa, this is the chaos. Our team needs to feel stable. They need to feel like they can move forward with stability and consistency rather than feeling like.   Holy cow, I don't know how to use anything here. And so I think when we help offices, so I'm thinking of an office right now and we were going through a pretty radical leadership shift change. We didn't do anything else. I've had a coach tell me you make one major like personnel change per quarter, whether it's in or out. If you get more than that, it feels chaotic. And so when you can actually like go through that chaotic quarter and instead of having it, it's like we keep as much as we can the same. So meetings stay the same so people can count on that.   our expectations are the same. So we've got our KPIs, everybody, if you just hit your one number, we're good. And then like communication style. So you as a CEO, I realize that I'm here to show up, like gotta start setting like, these are foundational pieces, these are core pieces, these are things that are true to our company that our team can count on. And then there will be more seasons of growth. But I think like staying focused, production stronger because we cut out the noise. I think essentialism is a really, really, really great book. Or the one thing, another great book.   I think during those times where you feel like leadership is hard and I'm trapped is because you got so much going on, which is not wrong. It's there. Like we're going through a pressure cooker. We're trying to get to the other side. But I think when you can minimize, less is more. Like I said, pick one thing every day and realize the rest works out. This is when stability comes and what teams can trust when pressure's rising. It's also what you can count on as a CEO and an OM. We got to have that stability. And I actually think that's what I love about being a consultant is we're able to provide that stability.   while you're going through the changes and having someone constant. Like I have leaned on my coaches more through these growth periods than I have, gosh, probably in the last like five years and to have them just stabilize me, steady me so that way I can show up as a steady leader. And that's why I love what we do for our coaching is we coach doctors and team members because doctors, need a different type of coaching than teams do. You need to, we get you as a business owner, like being a freaking CEO versus a manager, two different worlds. How do we help you? This is why we have in-person mastermind. So you realize you're not alone.   One of my favorite comments at our last mastermind, we have in-person masterminds that we do and they're amazing. I literally had a client have ruptured eardrums and like begged her auntie to give her a sign up so she could come. I'm like that much love for these is far beyond what I imagined them to be. ⁓ But I remember at one of the masterminds, someone raised their hand and they said, Kiera, it's so great to realize all these other offices here are dealing with the same thing I am. I realized, I thought I was alone. And I think that this is the pressure cooker.   We think we're the only one there. We feel like we can't reach out to anybody. This is you need a community around you too, to reach out to friends. I have a dear friend and I call him and I was like, this frigging sucks and it's hard. And like, I just feel like I can't get through it. As you heard, I talked to my therapist. I have friends that I go to. I have really, really, really trusted mentors who have gone through what I've gone through that can guide me through. I don't just do this alone when it's hard. I have my husband and I also have myself. And I think sometimes the noise I need to center in too much is too crazy.   Therapy is literally there for me to help regulate my emotions and make sure like I stay as a human being very centered. What do need to do for meditations? How do I keep my mind sharp? That's what my therapist job is. So to talk about the business, it's not to give me any business advice. Like that's not her world. Her job is literally to give me mental stamina and sanity to come through. My gym trainer literally make my body freaking strong and like make sure I stay like healthy and eating well as I go through this. My business coach. I have one business coach and she helps with a lot of like the number. Like that's her only lane and that's what I use her for.   I have a traction coach who actually helps us quarterly and he's helping me with our leadership team transitions and evolution because he's been there and he does this in multi-million dollar businesses much larger than ours and can see the foresight. That's it. That's all the noise. It's the only people that get to talk to me during these times. And then I have a financial advisor if I'm needing to make any of those decisions financially. Each person has their lane and like I lean on my business coach probably the hardest of all because I'm like, all right, work through this with me, work this one out with me, help me with my team on this, work with my team on that.   That one's the one I use the absolute most. Like that is the tool that's used the most, but I use the other ones for different pieces. And I think when you look at this, like it can be hard, but I think it's hard when we do it alone versus when we do it. And we realize like, it doesn't have to be this forever. as a couple things, number one, go on a vacation if you can. ⁓ Number two, change it. It's not broken. It's just like, we're growing and it's evolving. Number three, stabilize your practice as much as you can. Four,   make sure that we are reducing the noise and reducing our focus. So that way we're really focused on this one or two. then number five, think is what number I'm on. I think is where I'm at. Number five is the CEO mantra and having it pick one thing, realize that like saying no to more and stabilizing is going to create a lot of happiness. These things like these hard seasons don't define great CEOs. And what I found is CEOs and OMS that are going through it. I'm like, you asked for this, you were bored and now you're annoyed because you're having to mull and you're having to grow and it's annoying.   But like you ultimately wanted this and your soul was craving this. So like, let's also celebrate that. ⁓ I also think like how you lead through this sets the tone for your team. And I think for you as a leader and a CEO, for you to take care of yourself, there's some days it's okay to call a timeout. It's okay to take a 10 minute calm timeout. I've really found love with Taoism. It's not religion. It's more of just mindsets and flow. A lot of people love the calm app, whatever it is for you, but have a space for you to just call timeout, allow your brain to calm down.   For me, I shut off at five o'clock and I go home. I don't care if there's other stuff that goes on. Guess what? It's going to work itself out and it forces me to work during the day rather than at home. I go for a walk as soon as I'm done. I change up my energy. I change up my rhythm. You might be driving home. So that changes it up for you. Have like a start and stop. Do things that inspire you. Make sure I'm working out three times a week and eating really healthy because I know that's going to sustain my energy. think for this is I know we're not looking for easy, but we're trying to have it where we're building for being sustainable. And I think for you like   Realizing that if it's harder now, you're not off track. Maybe there are some ways, and I do think having a coach, guide that can give you quote unquote the shortcuts or help you even like clear the fog and navigate forward is what we're obsessed with doing. ⁓ Most practices will go through these stretches and they go through them multiple times. ⁓ And I think it's like, you don't need less growth. You need stronger structure to support it. And I'm watching offices that have been killing it. And now they're going to the next layer and it's like, that's hard again. So it's going to be.   but I also believe as souls, like happiness equals progress. That's why we crave it. That's why we want to do it. When we're on the other side of what we forget, just like moms keep having babies cause they forget how hard labor was and they're like, yeah, like let's have another one. Same thing with businesses. Yeah, let's grow it again. Let's involve it. because we have this goal and this drive, I believe to serve more, to love more, to experience more, to have more fulfillment. That doesn't mean your practice has to be larger. It can, if that's your dream. It can also be more intentional, but I believe that like,   This is what you were called to do. And if this is something we can help you with, if you still feel stuck, like I said, I've got my core people. And if we can be one of those core people that can be cutting out the noise, driving you, driving your team, helping you get the stability as you go through it, don't do this alone. You don't have to. And you don't, it's like not necessary. And so reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Like I said, we will be able to help you have levels of confidence. And we've done this through every single phase of growth. Like I said, from startups, clear to multi-million, multi-locations. ⁓ And there's different.   different systems, different leadership, different pieces needed for every stage of growth, just like with children. And I think for you to just remember you're doing better than you think you are, give yourself the time out. It's okay to call it sick one day. It's not okay to call it sick every day or to not see patients cause you're overwhelmed. We've got to re-regulate. You do still need to show up as a boss, as a dentist, as a CEO. And you need to be the leader of your practice. And I'd love to help you guys. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or go on to our website, TheDentalATeam.com book a call, no pressure, just clarity, giving you a map, giving you guidance, giving you   I think just resources when it can feel noisy. And I want you to know that leadership is not proven on our easy days. It's truly revealed on the hard days. Who you show up as when it's hard is like really your leadership at a core and it's an evolution. So I want you to give yourself a freaking high five. I want you to look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you love yourself, that you're doing really, really well, that you're really proud of yourself. And then you're going to go make it a great day. And we do one thing as we move through these hard seasons and reach out if we can help you.   ⁓ The future of your practice is being built right now, whether you like it or not. And I want you to remember that and who you are and how you show up is going to make all the difference. And so if we can help you reach out, and as always, I'm so grateful for you. I'm grateful for every one of you listening. And I hope that you know that and I hope that you feel that. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

There are roles in a practice people are meant to have, and there are those that'll suck the soul right out of someone. Tiff and Kristy go into how to match team members to where they'll operate best (and where they want to be), what to do when there aren't any "right" seats available for your right person, how to know the right seat from the get-go, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:01) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am here with you today. My name is Tiffanie. For those of you who don't know me, I never introduce myself. That's kind of weird. I maybe should. I introduce you guys, I never introduce myself. So I know we have some new listeners here, because I know we've some new subscribers. If you are new here with us, thank you so much. We love the support, and we really truly are here to give the world of dentistry as much as we possibly can. So keep listening. Go back through the archives. There's a million podcasts that you can listen to.   There's a ton of free resources on our website as well, TheDentalATeam.com. And gosh, we have webinars, we have all kinds of stuff. We have Summit coming up. I don't know if this is released before or after Summit, so we'll see. If you weren't there, sign up for the next time. If it hasn't happened yet, sign up for this time. Go head to our website, TheDentalATeam.com. There's links all over the place there. Or reach out to us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We'll get you more information. So for those of you who are new here,   I'm Tiffanie. For those of you who have been here for a long time and you're like, who is this chick? I'm Tiffanie. I am a consultant here with the Dental A Team and I have Ms. Kristy here with me today as well. She is a stellar consultant here with us. She has years and years of amazing experience within consulting, office management, billing, treatment coordinating, all the pieces the list goes on, as well as some other fun facts that we won't like dive into today.   ⁓ but she has some other really cool jobs she's held within her lifetime as well. So Kristy, welcome. I appreciate you being here today. How are you?   The Dental A Team (01:31) Good, thank you. It's always a good day when we get to podcast and help our clients out through our podcast tip and hearing the results when they comment and how we've been able to help. So it's always fun to dig in and tackle another topic with you.   The Dental A Team (01:48) I agree. I agree and I thank you for that. can say, gosh, Kiera had this awesome idea. Kiera, our CEO and our founder, she does a lot of the podcasts here. If you're new, you'll hear her a ton. She had this amazing idea. Gosh, I should know how old this podcast is, but I do not. I have been here the whole time and I do not know how old it is. That's okay. Years and years ago, Kiera came to me with a great idea and her famous line is, Tiff, I have a great idea.   The Dental A Team (01:51) Peace.   The Dental A Team (02:15) and I remember her coming to me and she's like, we have to do a podcast. And I was like, oh my God, that sounds amazing. I don't know what that means. I don't know how to do it. I assume you'll figure it out. And she did. we, I just have to say this podcast has turned into something that we never imagined that it would turn into. It has reached so many more people than we ever imagined possible. We did the podcast, we decided we wanted to put it out into the world because we really wanted to expand our reach. truly.   wanted to expand the reach that we had within the community that we had, because we only have our handful of people that we can reach. And we said, there's gotta be more and we wanna give the world of dentistry and businesses alike free information. And we love talking. So this is great. We're just gonna do this. And Kristy, it's just been so cool to watch it morph over the years and become just this incredible tool. And I have to say,   I mean, I'm making this number up. I'm just off the top of my head guessing. If I were to pull the ROI on new clients and even just like new inquiries to Dental A Team, at minimum 90 % come from the podcast and or a referral from a current client. And I just, I wanna say thank you to our community first and foremost and to our team.   whether it's consultants or marketing or admin, like we have an incredible team and our community of people who are clients, past, current, future, community of people who are just listeners. You guys are supporting something that's just reaching so many people. We have Canadian clients. We had someone reach out to us from Australia. Like we've got people listening all over the world and it's just really cool. And Kristy, I wanted to take a moment to recognize that because they just...   One, I think it goes along, it aligns with our topic today. And two, I really want to show massive appreciation and respect for everyone involved in reaching a community that you guys don't even realize you're reaching with. Every subscribe, every listen, every download, it creates more motivation within the podcast world. So we show up more the more you guys share and you guys watch, which means you're promoting   more people to see and hear really valuable information. it's just super cool. And Kristy, today we're talking about, well, we're talking about right seat, right person, which we've talked about before. And more importantly, we're talking about how someone in the wrong seat, right, it can ruin the right person. And I say that this is relatable to that statement because Kiera and I love presenting.   The Dental A Team (04:49) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (05:07) Like it's a huge passion of ours to get in front of people and share our experiences, share our knowledge, share what we've been through so that somebody doesn't have to take that same route and we can say, do this instead. Like we are so passionate about it and putting us in that seat has exponentially grown Dental A Team. Eve, we know Eve, we love her. I actually made her do a podcast with me.   And if no one has seen that podcast, you should go watch it, subscribe, give a five star review, give her all the praise and all the fame. is one of our behind the scenes marketing people. She is behind the scenes. Most marketers are behind the scenes. They do not like to be in front of the scenes. And Kristy, could you imagine if we took Eve, who's a behind the scenes gal, she's got a ton of energy, you guys. She is...   The Dental A Team (05:56) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (06:00) a phenomenal human, I love her, I wanna spend every day with her. But making her do the podcast every day, right? It wouldn't work and it would change who she is. Or putting me, and I told you before we started this podcast, I can do billing, I'm great at billing, I hate billing, and it kills my soul. Every second of time that I'm spending entering.   The Dental A Team (06:00) Thank ⁓   Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (06:26) an insurance payment and calling on an insurance claim. There are people that were built for it and there are people that were not built for it. And it kills my soul every second I have to spend with it because I want to talk to people. I want to engage and I get stifled. So I say all of that to say, make sure we've got right person, right seat, right people, right seat. So Kristy, what are your thoughts on right people, right seat and all of the information I just decided to throw out everybody?   The Dental A Team (06:52) Yeah,   I could totally envision Eve and you guys, Tiff's right. She's the person you want in the car with you on a long drive because you're going to laugh and laugh. But I guarantee you if we had her in the wrong seat, she would not be making us laugh. We'd be crying for sure. Yeah, for sure. 100%.   The Dental A Team (07:13) Yeah, we would. Yeah, with her. We'd be crying with her.   The Dental A Team (07:19) I think so many times, Tiff, I do see this happen and ⁓ it usually starts with leadership holding them back. They're like, no, they're doing such a great job. I can't move them. I can't put them anywhere else. And truly, like, I understand that from a selfish standpoint, but we're holding back the practice too and that person when we do that. So.   I think if you've been in dentistry or leadership long enough, we've all seen that happen. 100%. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (07:50) for sure, yeah.   And then we wonder too, like gosh, if later on, right, the person leaves or we just, it's not just right anymore. And we often wonder what if I had moved sooner or what did I miss? What did I do wrong? And that's the space of right person, right seat. When the right, when the person, you have the right person, right person I think is easy.   I think you know when you have a right person or not. You're like, this person, I want to be around this person. I want them working with my patients. I want them working with the rest of the team. They help us thrive. That's the right person. Okay, the right person isn't just the person who knows how to collect money from the patients, but then like talks crap about the team behind their back. That's not the right person, right? Like, yeah, cool. She's collecting money from our patients or I've even seen him. This one kind of sucks. This one's hard.   The Dental A Team (08:28) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (08:46) I've even seen it, the patients love her. She's phenomenal and my collections is so clean, but she's really mean to all of my team. And she won't actually do the things I ask her to, but my collections is so clean and my patients would maybe leave if she wasn't here. That one's really hard, but you've got to evaluate your right.   The Dental A Team (08:57) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (09:13) person and is your right person right for something or is your right person right for everything? Right?   The Dental A Team (09:20) Right?   Well, and I think that's why we always start with identifying the role and the seat. I always joke with everybody, the right person, right seat. I almost think it should be right seat, right person, right? In that order instead of the other, because again, there's a lot of great people, truly great, phenomenal people, but they may not fit the characteristics of that seat, so to speak. And Tiff, I would say,   The Dental A Team (09:26) Yes.   Mm-hmm.   Yes.   The Dental A Team (09:48) Truly getting down to finding the right person, right seat is number one, identifying the seat. But also, I tie it back to how often are you meeting with your team to find out what their desires are? What do they like doing? What do they not like doing? Where do they see themselves in the next year? Because so many times you can uncover things that you didn't even know. Like, heaven forbid one time I had a client where literally, I mean,   whoever finds this, but they found a clinical team member that liked making re-care calls. mean, who likes making re-care calls? Everybody's like, it. And if you have that person and they like doing it, why don't you find a way to let them do it? Because they're going to have great results.   The Dental A Team (10:23) haha   Yeah, yeah.   Yeah, yeah, I agree. I've   actually had that before too where a clinical team member, dental assistant is like, I love making re-care calls. And I'm like, great, we're gonna put you in the lab with a phone and you're gonna make so many re-care calls and you're gonna love it. And she's like, yes, cause she just wants to have a piece of that administrative puzzle, right? For whatever reason, we all wanted to be a teacher at some point in our childhood and we love highlighters, we love pens and we want all the paper and we want all the post-its sticky notes.   The Dental A Team (10:51) Thank   The Dental A Team (11:04) give them to them, right? Like, yes, I totally agree. And I agree with the right position. So understanding, I think, what you want out of that position is key because then you're gonna be able to understand the type of person. Now, right person means, right person means they fit your standards, they fit your core values, they fit your why, they fit your team, they fit your goals and your aspirations, and they fit the position. So,   I think the easiest one, it might be just because it's kind of how I operate, the easiest one for me to tag is the billing representative because I can take myself and I've done the positions. I can take myself and I can see it. And I want you guys to hear me. I want you to see me. If you're not driving right now, like watch this, like see who I am and how I'm showing up because that person being stuck behind a computer, head down in spreadsheets and line items and   checks, right? Like that type of a person or like, hey, you owe me money. Like that type of a person might be a different personality that outgoing, like I want to give all my energy to other people. Personality is phenomenal at podcasting, just kidding, but really, it's phenomenal at like, I'd treatment coordinating, right? Or dental assisting. I loved dental assistant. It was my favorite position or   when I was a dental assistant and my office manager said, you know what, she knows all of the patients, she builds a relationship initially, she needs to be at check-in. And I thrived at check-in and I was like, heck yeah. And then all of sudden I'm collecting money at check-in and I'm like, hey guys, let's make your office visit easier. And I'm jumping up and doing limiteds and I'm just coordinating everything from the check-in space because they saw that that could elevate the patient's experience immediately. So was I thriving as an assistant and did I do well? For sure.   but the office manager saw that there was a gap in the relationship that I was filling as an assistant. I had to fill that gap and work double time to get patients back to where we wanted them and then ahead on their patient experience. So I was overcoming the gap that we were seeing at the check-in space by just being double. And it was exhausting. And she saw that. She said, you're doing it, but you're working double. So what if we put you here?   and you do that and we lose that gap. So now we close the gap and your assistants are trained to continue that experience. So that was like both are right seat, but they saw an opportunity where wrong person was in that seat. And that person was more suited for insurance verification. She was shy. She didn't wanna talk to people. She was like, what's your last name? And patients are like, ⁓ hi, I was here yesterday.   You know, and she's like, okay, but she's like stressed. It's like, she's a good person and she suits our team and she helps us thrive, but she's scared, intimidated and overwhelmed at check-in. Can we just move her? We want to keep her. Is there a position suited for that personality? Because what happens is that's the right person, wrong seat. And that's what we're talking about today. How the wrong seat can ruin the right person because she had the personality   The Dental A Team (13:58) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:28) and this is just my experience in my office, she had the personality for our team to be successful with her, but we had her in a position that was like, sometimes I just feel like they're like in a bowl, you know, and they put the lid on it, and that's what she, we were just like closing the lid, and she was just getting smaller, and we needed to move her to a space where she could thrive, and also increase our patient experience. So.   The Dental A Team (14:54) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (14:56) Kristy, when you see this with practices, how do you help practices identify, there's not always a move, by the way. There's not always an open position and that's okay too. We have conversations around that. But how do you help offices identify wrong seat? It might even be the right person, but wrong seat. What are some spaces? I know for me, I'm looking at like metrics and are they showing up for work? But how do you help them identify those?   The Dental A Team (15:19) Yeah.   Yeah. Tiff, I always like to go back to the job description and look at those duties first and foremost, look at the duties and see are the duties being taken care of, but then also add in your core values. And those are kind of duties too. We have to live up to those metrics. And if it's not aligning, then take a step back. Were they aligning before and maybe they're not now, right? Meaning maybe we changed them into something that   wrong person. And so we just need to get it realigned, ⁓ truly starting there and then having the conversation. But here's the thing. also think sometimes we're afraid to have those conversations. And again, I always like to say it instead of having it as a hard conversation, seeing it as a caring conversation, because you truly are probably freeing them.   and letting them go be happy if they're not in the right seat. And you're gonna have a lot more respect for each other by having the hard conversation, right? And like you said, identify is there another seat that that person would be suited for. But then, from that, learn from that experience and take a step back to identify how we could have hired this differently so we don't make that same mistake.   The Dental A Team (16:30) Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Yeah, I love those options. I love that. Yeah, I think some pieces, some spaces that you guys can mull on to know, because I know a lot of doctors are like, I don't know, and I feel like sometimes she's on, sometimes she's off, and it's inconsistent. Inconsistency is a clue, okay? Inconsistency is a massive clue.   The Dental A Team (17:04) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (17:07) It could be a clue to overwhelm as well. I think that's where, know, Kristy, like you said, go back to that job description. So are we satisfying and fulfilling the job description? And then are we satisfying and fulfilling more than the job description? And is that because the job description needs to be updated or is it because we need to   is a good question. So overwhelm, inconsistency, underperformance.   And then I would say another space is gonna be, I guess the inconsistency you can apply to a lot of things. So inconsistency in personality, how she or he is showing up. Inconsistency on showing up, are they coming to work, are they late, are they calling out a lot, are they sick a lot, sickness, illness is a symptom of overwhelm. Are they inconsistent in their results? So maybe their results are that,   our hygiene schedule is full to 90 % for the next two weeks. And it's like sometimes it's on, sometimes it's way off and our whole day fell apart and they did nothing about it. But today our whole day fell apart and they did everything about it. So they're inconsistent there. ⁓ Sadness, snippiness, like you're gonna see it in the personality pretty quickly. That's gonna show up pretty easily. And then realistically you guys, I've really.   I guess this is like my woo-woo side, I'll call it. I really think the universe gives us exactly what we've asked for. If we're not hitting our goals and our metrics, our production isn't working, our collections isn't working, all of those spaces, there's a space that something's not working and it could be someone's in the wrong   The Dental A Team (18:47) I was gonna say too, Tiff, if it's somebody like we talked about Eve, we didn't maybe put a pin in it, but that is normally outgoing and they're withdrawn. That could be a sign too. And truly, like I said, embrace it and have a caring conversation because a lot of times we can find a way to overcome it. And if not, at least you can come up with a plan together that feels right.   to get them to the happiness. And you're gonna have a lot more respect for each other on the other side.   The Dental A Team (19:18) I totally agree. Yeah, and I say that too about ⁓ wrong people. And if they're the wrong person for you, you're the wrong person for them too. And that's okay. In any relationship,   that's my plug. It goes far outside of dentistry.   The Dental A Team (19:30) Yeah, it's so true.   The Dental A Team (19:36) I love that. love that. think action items from here so that you can ensure that   not   doing either of these, we're not ruining someone is what we'll call it, we're not putting people in the wrong seat, is I think following Kristy's lead there is really looking at job descriptions. Are they complete and are they usable? Are the people who are using them, using them correctly? So job descriptions, metrics, get your right person right. Do you know what your right person is and what that needs to look like?   and then do a simple evaluation. Are we hitting the metrics that we're supposed to? Does your team know their metrics   their job description? And do they have the skill set and the capabilities to accomplish them?   The Dental A Team (20:22) I with you, Tiff. And I think too, ⁓ I always am on the space of extreme ownership. So if there's anything that I could have done better in my onboarding of that person, I mean, I go literally to if their job is to answer the phone, do we just say one of your jobs is to answer the phone? Or do we say one of your jobs is to answer the phone and this is how you do it? We hear the smile, we hear, because again, if it's not matching their personality, it gives them the opportunity to say it right now.   So.   The Dental A Team (20:52) Totally   agree.   love it. Take these pieces and run with them. Give us a five star review below. Let us know. I think Kristy, you had   incredible ideas today. Thank you so much. I love the job description. It literally starts there. It starts just like Simon's next says, it starts with Y. Your job description is your Y. Your Y and your what. So go get those together. Follow through with your team. Clear as kind. Okay, clear as kind.   The Dental A Team (21:15) Thanks   The Dental A Team (21:17) And remember, if it's not good for you, it's not good for them either. So let's figure out what's good, let's figure out what's working and what's not working, and nail those suckers in. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, leave us a five star review below, hit subscribe, and if you want, download this one so you can listen to it again. I always download them, Kristy, before I get on flights, because I get bored. I'm like, ooh, this is podcasting time, but I don't want to pay for Wi-Fi, so I download a ton of them there. ⁓ And please, like we said earlier, share this with someone you know.   We really wanna make sure we're reaching as many people as we can in the   and business world. So go do amazing things. Thank you so much and we'll catch you next time.

Dear listener, it is possible to scale your practice and keep your sanity! Kiera discusses three overall pieces of advice for those who have expanded/want to expand to multi-practice ownership, including centralizing atmosphere and tactics, establishing leadership infrastructure, and keeping your communication fluid. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today I wanted to dig into multi-practice management and how this can be something so fun. I know several of you have multiple practices. I had multiple offices and I just think that this is a space of like, all right, here we go. How can we make this amazing? And how can we lead, scale and stay sane? I think is a big spot because I think that when we go from one practice to two practices, I know I went.   insane and it was not fun. And so for you, I just wanted to break this down because I really think this is a popular thing. And also if you're sitting on the fence of should I grow, should I not grow, I think it's going to be a fun discussion for us today. And I just wanted to say, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm Kiera Dent and I'm so happy you're here. I love all things dentistry. I love everything that we're about. I love helping you have the best day. I love positively infusing you and your practice with goodness. I love reminding you that you are in the absolute best profession.   And this podcast is made free because you guys share, review, like, and you're able to bring in more and more listeners for us. So I just want to say thank you. And if you haven't done that today, please share this, like this, review this. That's how we're able to stay at the top of the list for more offices to be positively impacted, to grow their practices with ease, and to realize dentistry should be fun again. So with that, I want to talk about like, when we go into multi-practice ownership, it can get really freaking thrilling. So.   I want you to look at like, okay, things that we need to do are as we grow and evolve. Number one, I want you just to ask why are you doing this for ego? Are you doing it for impact? Are you doing it for fun? Are you doing it to be acquired by a DSO? Knowing your why and then putting that up on the mirror so you never miss it is going to help you tremendously. Like genuinely a hundred percent just have that why because then it gets really, really thrilling. And so for you then it's going to be, okay, great. Once we have that,   I look at like, what can we centralize? So when we brought our second practice, it was make everything very, very simple and very easy for us. Meaning I want it to be all of our software is going to be the exact same. So we have the same software, the same colors. So from practice to look like the different locations when doctors go multi offices, it actually is very easy. Also, we had billing. So we had one person who was over the billing of all the practices. What about our reporting? Can we have the same reporting? So different scorecards that are reporting the same thing.   over the location that we have at centralized so we can quickly look and see how is each location doing. And then also making sure like our handbook, our SOPs, our operations manual is the same. So we set up the operatories the same. We do the same thing for hygiene. Everything is the same. So again, think about McDonald's. Could you imagine McDonald's or Chick-fil-A or any fast food restaurant opening multi-locations if the experience isn't the same that actually gets hard. Now there can be some nuances but the core infrastructure should be very, very similar.   Then after that, you also want to make sure that you have the same culture, team culture and patient experience. So again, go back to Chick-fil-A, the employees all have about the same, the culture is the same, we have the same experience every time we go in, no matter where I'm going across the nation or the globe, it's the same experience. And so for you, how can we make sure that we've got same team culture, same patient experience? You want to make sure your leadership team is really, really solid. And then you've got to have like shared tools. So the KPI dashboards, we've got to have low   specific views. So if you're having things that are on a ⁓ software, so like if Open Dental, you've got to have it to where I can access every single practice easily or if it's in the cloud and there are pros and cons between cloud software versus none. I have found that a lot of cloud softwares are awesome for ease of access at home. I will say Dentrix Ascend is my least favorite even though know they're coming back and they're popular. What happens is like I have a practice that switched to curve and they love it.   but there's nothing that can really integrate oftentimes. So you can't get analytic reports. You can't get other things. They're not as open source for you. And so if you ever want something outside of that software, that's usually cheaper, more affordable, helps you. That tends to be an issue with the cloud-based softwares. But when we got multi-practices, it becomes much easier because then we can sink in. We can look at it. We can have centralized billing, centralized, re-care, centralized phone systems, but you can also do this with a server. So when we look at this,   I think it's really great because we have practices and when we standardize how we schedule, we standardize our software, we standardize our billing procedures, the practices actually grow 10X. So I have a location, there's five practices and when we standardize these items, I kid you not, we add about a million per practice per year. So when you go across this, five million growth and you get 10 million growth and you get 15 million growth and you get 20 million and consistently every single year we're typically adding, but it's because things are standardized, things are centralized. We're able to say, right,   All offices, this is how we're now gonna block schedule. All offices, here are your goals. All offices, the billing is processing. All offices, this is how we do new patients. And it really is able to help you. So you've got to centralize what you can across the board and then have it localized at certain levels. But then it means like each office manager does the same thing, but they're making sure team spirit and team culture is the same. Patient experience is the same of what we do as an overarching multi-location area. So that's step one.   Step two is we wanna build a leadership infrastructure. So what this is, is we've gotta make sure that we've got regional managers, office managers, department leads. Sometimes multi-office locations are gonna have a hygienist that's over all hygienists of all practices. Other times it's at the practice level. But regardless across the board, there are set standards and set processes that are going to be there for you. So I really wanna make sure that you have that. And then we also need to clarify like who has ownership of this, who's entering scorecards, who's entering KPIs.   I like it to be that each office manager is responsible for their practice. So that way their office needs to be profitable, hitting the KPIs, the metrics, all the different pieces in the organization total org. Now I understand some practices, like I've got two locations. One's a very expensive location, one's a less expensive location. But across the board, you need to have leaders at both locations, because we're really struggling with these two locations. We have a regional that's bouncing back and forth between the two, but no one owns the accountability of these practices. And as it gets larger and larger and larger,   Guess what? Capacity struggling. So now we're having to put into place office leads in both location, office scorecards in both location, office hygiene departments. So looking at this and you've got to train the leaders how to lead, not just do. So I can't just be like, okay, you do this X, Y, Z. It's gotta be, how do I grow the practice? How do I make sure everybody's engaged? How do I really get people very talented, very excited about this? Like making sure they know how to hire and fire and have the one-on-one conversations. And what do the scorecard numbers mean?   And what are we looking at? And what is a healthy practice? What isn't a healthy practice? Usually my regional is meeting with my office managers weekly to make sure that they're successful. And what I found is when we track and measure all the locations, the practices increase. So typically as we're tracking and measuring, we're then able to grow them, elevate them and make them so much stronger because we're truly leading. So you've got to make sure you've got a strong leadership infrastructure. And if you don't have that, you don't have the pieces, multi-ownership gets really hard. If you're in multi-ownership right now.   You need to start appointing these people, having KPIs that they're reporting on, helping them see like how we run leadership meetings, how we run these meetings that are very successful, what your ownership piece is, what are you responsible for, how are you winning? And I think if you think about it, imagine a DSO, they're going to come in and they're going to take over your practice. Well, you better believe that they're gonna have KPIs scorecards for every location. They're going to have leaders at every location. They're going to have regionals. They're going to train.   So if that's what a DSO is going to do, why not do that yourself of multi-locations and learn from them because they're smart. They have these systems in place. You can do this as well. And then the third step on here just to help you guys is we've got to make sure that we've got like communication that's fluid rather than it just sitting there. weekly leadership calls are non-negotiable. We're talking run them on traction style, whatever your style is.   but we review where we're at, like where are headed as an organization? What are the numbers tell us? And then what needs to get accomplished? What are the blockers? What are the issues? What are the problems? And having that. Now, some offices, depending upon how large they are, some have a regional. So like we're gonna have a board that talks about the whole organization as a whole. Other times I have it where we're talking about each practice and we run individual ones for the practice, or there's maybe a hybrid of both. I recommend the hybrid of both. I think as an organization, we need to make sure we're healthy.   And then each practice is individual time where they're having these weekly meetings. They're also having ⁓ our KPIs by location. And we also are making sure that everybody's aligned. Then in addition to that, I'm very big on quarterly calibration and quarterly meetings of where are we going for the quarter? What are the rocks, if you will, with air quotes? What are the big objectives that we're accomplishing for this department, for this practice at this time? And what needs to get done?   So it can be different. Each location might run a little bit differently. And that's where it's really great because across the board, all of us quarterly know, and then we roll that down to the full teams. So as an org wide, where are headed quarterly? As practices, where are we headed quarterly? And then also making sure quarterly we're doing some type of team bonding or engagement, because as you get larger and larger and larger, the team culture really can drift. And I know we talked about that at the beginning of like centralizing that and localizing. the OMS are responsible for patient experience and team culture.   But at the same time, you've got to make sure that quarterly, like it's an all team alignment. We send out updated handbooks or protocols across the board, but we also get them like excited. So I'm really big on your communication and your metrics need to be solid. So I'm talking weekly L10s. They usually run for an hour, hour and a half at each office. You also should probably be having department meetings every single week as well to make sure the departments are growing. And then quarterly for sure having amazing like   incredible quarterly meetings that are going to really, really help people drive to those quarterly results, the quarterly pieces and make it to where it's just fun and then do something fun. You don't need to run this as a leadership team, but it is a way for you guys to all start leveling up, have fun together. Remember why we all went into this and it's not just like the drudge of quarterlies. It is truly something fun and exciting. And I have a practice in New York. I've got eight locations over there.   And I'm not joking every three to six months, we are meeting with every single practice, setting up goals, setting up pieces, having the full teams bought in and engaged. think I meet like 250 people in about four days. And the goal is to get team alignment, to get buy-in, but we know as an organization what each of the practices need to do, but we're getting team buy-in from them. And I think when you do that, what happens is the KPIs, when we start tracking them, when we get the quarterly buy-in,   the whole organization rises up because a big pitfall that people don't realize is multi offices. You've got so many team members. You've got so many offices. You got so many places that you can actually let KPI slip profitability slip. And what happens usually in multi offices is one practice is actually draining. It's not as profitable and all the other practices are doing well, but yet all the other practices are having to take care of our draining practice. And it's how do get all the offices leveled up?   Do all offices need hygiene? Do all offices need block scheduling? Do offices need to be reporting on what we're doing for the doctors? And I think when you're able to have that and establish that, you're able to have much, much, much easier multi-practice management, how to lead it, scale it, and grow it. So when we look at it, just a quick recap is we've got to centralize across the board. So our softwares are centralized, our billing is centralized, how we do our patient experience, centralized.   Then we need to make sure we've got leaders in place. So regional managers, office managers, having that go through to where we've got that whole infrastructure, they've got their KPIs, they've got their ownership, they know. And then we also are going to make sure that we are going to have tight communication. So we're running those weekly meetings, we're running those quarterly meetings. Everything is running and driving really, really well. And this is just one of those things of like, we're not doing more. As you see, we've got directed people in their seats, having ownership. So we're able to mass scale across the board.   and make sure all the practices are humming in the right direction. Yes, sometimes personable pieces aren't as common, but you don't have to lose that because you can set that as this is part of our culture and we put in every single practice. The OMS do it, the departments do it, we have fun. I have multi-offices that compete with each other, that have fun with each other, but this is something and I really feel like if you were trying to scale, your sanity is going to be number one. When we scaled, I started working   double time and I was already working about 14 hours a day. So I know there's not 28 hours in a day. It's close. And I was literally sleeping about four hours a night and I was trying to manage all the practices, but it was because I didn't do these things. I did not put into place centralized across the board. Like didn't have it. We then hired a biller that did all the billing for it. We then had our office managers and we set up the software that were the same. We then had it to where here are the like protocols of how we set up the rooms.   but it took me so long and I was already in it rather than having this built before I did it. I did not have leaders of both. I was trying to be the leader to both locations and I was running myself ragged and it was exhausting. Like literally burnout to the nth degree, but you're just in it. And so you're like, there's no way to get out of it versus realizing like, no, we can have a regional, we can have managers, we can have scorecards, we can have KPIs. And if you have this really dialed in at location one before you open up,   Great. If you're already in the location for let's get these things into place and make sure that they're all profitable and then make sure we're weekly, monthly, quarterly team meetings, calibrating them and driving for those results using the numbers, using the culture, using the team. But this is where we're headed over the next quarter. And then we track and measure for that. I promise you, if you do this, you will be able to have multi-practices grow with ease. You will keep your sanity.   And then you're tracking and keeping tabs without having to be the doer of all of it. This is what we do. We build scalable systems for practices. We grow leadership for practices. We train you. We coach your multi practices. We train your office managers how to do it. Our consultants have managed hundreds of employees at one time. They've done this. They've done it successfully. So this is the time for you to truly jump in, call, make your life easier. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is something and if you guys want more tips on this,   send this to your regional or send this to a COO or send this to your leadership team. If you're thinking about growing a practice and you want to scale, like let's talk about it. Let's help you and your office manager know what's going to happen or get you and your regional managers or help out. do multiple, multiple, multiple multi-office locations that we consult on. So reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, your sanity is your gift. This is something that you owe yourself, your practice, your patients. And these are three quick, easy ways to be able to scale, sustain and grow.   and keep your sanity. So reach out if we can help you. And as always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Dental A-Team is all about case acceptance. In this episode, Kiera shares how a practice can double its case acceptance in one month (or even one day! She has receipts!). She gives five tactical tips practices can apply today to refine that acceptance and start upping that percentage of "yes." Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a great day. I hope that you're loving it and I hope that you remember just as a quick little motivational thought for you that what's right is just as available as what's wrong. And I think so often we're looking at what's wrong in my life and why isn't this working versus thinking what's going well, what's right in the world, what's what's and I'm not saying to   belittle, miss sunshine and not see all the things that are really going on. But I do think that what we focus on, we attract and we achieve more of. so practices that are high performing practices that really have great cultures, they're looking for what's right in this world. They're looking for the good, the positive, they're building that. But that does not mean that they're not seeing the things that need to be impacted and fixed. And so I just really want you to, to think about that today as we as we tackle a fun topic, and that's about case acceptance. And if you know me, you know that I'm obsessed about case acceptance and   Today we're gonna go through how to double your case acceptance in 30 days or even just one day. And it's really true. I've done this multiple times. We've taken practices from 50 % case acceptance to 100 % in one day. I have some practices, they know who they are, they listen to the podcast, shout out to them, where we coach their treatment coordinators. And we've been doing this for several years and we've added multiple millions to their practices. We're not quite to the billions, no pressure team. I know you guys like a good challenge, ⁓ but genuinely, and it's through helping.   just people have better lives. And I think about case acceptance and people are like, but you know, case acceptance, Kiera, it's about like money or it's this objection. And I just want to say that realistically, most treatment coordinators, what happens is we accidentally plant weeds in our flower gardens, aka objections in our case acceptance, unintentionally. And I can have the exact same patient, exact same scenario, different treatment coordinator, different result. And so what I found, and this is why I love this, this is where I got my start.   You guys know that I'm obsessed with helping patients and teams and dentists just have their best lives possible. And so really just giving you guys some tips on how we can do this, how you can boost your case acceptance. And these are tactical ways. So like take the recipe today, take this in, apply it. But what I want to say is I believe that case acceptance is a journey and it's not an overnight sensation. And these practices I alluded to, again, they are some of my favorite clients to work with. The team is amazing. They show up, they have grit.   and they recognize that it is always a next level to improve. And so that's why we work together because we are like, I've trained them for years and yet they keep coming back and we keep refining and we keep going to the next level and we keep improving because there's always a next level within case acceptance. And I think when you recognize that and you see that you can actually be an even stronger treatment coordinator. you guys know, Dental A Team, we are obsessed with making your life better. We love to work with doctors and teams. We love to   do it virtually or in person with you and to possibly influence and impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So I'm so glad you're here on the podcast with us. If you love our podcast, please be sure to like, subscribe, share this with people, leave us a review. I do personally read those reviews and I'm so thankful for you guys. I'm thankful for this community. I'm thankful for ⁓ the, I think just the lives that have been changed. I love meeting you in real life. I love hearing from you in emails. I love.   this community of people. I just love people in general. And so I hope that you know that I just truly love and adore you and I hope that you feel that and if I was in person, I'd give you a giant hug today and tell you that I know you're doing better than you think you are. And they're simple tips. ⁓ I can speak very confidently to case acceptance. I was speaking to a candidate that I'm interviewing and there was this there was this humble confidence about them where   They didn't have to prove anything to me on the interview. was like, Kiera, I've done this. I've done this many times. It's like, I know how to get the winning championship and it's not hard. And I don't say this egotistically. I will say that I do know how to get case acceptance boosted and our team knows how to do this. And I think this is one of the greatest services you can give your patients is helping them say yes to dentistry that's necessary. And so I hope that you feel that what I'm teaching you today comes from very strong.   Experience is not just theories and ideas, but genuinely been there done that done it successfully and I'm here to share that with you So a couple of things is number one. I'm really big on when we are working with this So first steps first I work hard on making sure that we have the right mindset I say mindsets everything So if you think a patient is gonna say no to you You're gonna make yourself correct if you say a patient is gonna say yes to you You're going to make yourself correct. So whichever one it is and to me. I'm like both of those are free   Thoughts are free, words are free. Let's pick the ones that serve us. And I'm going to choose the one of everybody says yes to me. I even have doctors that text me and they're like, remember Kiera how you say this? And I'm like, I genuinely believe it. It's because I believe in my doctors. I believe in what we're doing. And I believe that patients deserve to have the best dental treatment and new doctors and new teams are the ones who are going to give it to them. So I'm not going to let this patient leave me just like I'm not going to let somebody who's looking for a great consultant.   Leave me, I know we are the best freaking consulting company you could ever have. So if you wanna have the best consultant, call me, call our team, let's work with you because you're going to see results and that's what I'm about. So with your office, same thing, you should have that same level of confidence in your practice. You should be able to say, I want these patients, I'm going to help these patients. Now that doesn't mean I take on their problems, but I do believe that mindset is 80 % of the game of case acceptance. So that's step one is we gotta start with that. Doctors, when you walk into the room, I wanna when you put your foot on that threshold, walking in to do an exam,   You come into doctor 2.0, whomever it is, like patients say yes to you. Your job is to give them a very clear diagnosis and to be able to guide them into correct decisions. Words create worlds. What world am I creating for our patients? What am I doing for our patients? Am I helping them see like this is easy to say yes or am I making it so confusing and hard with multiple options? Doctors, I'm calling you out on this. I know you wanna explain everything. You're freaking brilliant, but sometimes that's called confusion. And that makes a patient not wanna say yes to you.   Complexity is the enemy of execution. I'll say that again. Complexity is the enemy of execution. So if you don't have clarity and you don't drive people with clean, concise routes, you can give them the options, but let's talk about, do they want fixed or removable? You've got to be very clear and you've got to be very confident when you deliver. Patients are buying your confidence. So number one, I want you to 1,000 % change your mindset. I don't care what you got to do, who you've got to be, but you've got to start with a correct mindset. And if you will do that, your case acceptance will automatically just with that one thing,   go up and that's between treatment coordinators, team members and dentists. All of us patients love us. They want to say yes to us and we have a moral obligation to help them. Number two, I'm really big on you guys know we have this where we're going to have doctors having great presentations. So I talk a lot about ⁓ child Dini's principles of persuasion and whether you like those or not, that's fine. Words are free. Options are free. Thoughts are free. Take them if you want them and I'm obsessed with this because if I can get a patient in the mindset of saying yes to me,   I've already teed them up into that confidence space. So I recommend doctors when you lean the patient back, you say, can I lean you back? They will say yes. Can I do an exam? They will say yes. This is helping them prime and we're priming them to get them into the mindset to say yes to you. Really, really, really important. And I know you don't want to do this, but guess what? It's very easy. So we have the mindset already there. Then we get them to be saying yes to us. Be very careful treatment coordinators. This does not always apply to you because the last thing I want you to do is do you want to get treatment scheduled? We are not leading them to answers with no.   We are only leading to answers of yes. So if you're going to use a yes or a no, you've got to make sure it's gonna lead to a yes. I do not want you planting them with nos. You've gotta be very careful with this. Then step three is going to be, we do comprehensive exams and we wrap it with the NDTR. You guys have heard me preach about this. This was made up in a practice, I don't know, 10 years ago. Shout out to ⁓ my Tucson practice. I know you listened to this. It was your office because your office manager didn't wanna use a route slip.   So I made up this acronym that has stuck with us for years and it's become one of the bread and butter of dentistry that I use. And I will tell you, you put this into place, you're going to add multiples to your practice. We call it the NDTR, next visit, date, time, re-care. You get those items, you put it in a nice pretty bow, doctors, you do a comprehensive exam, you make sure you don't have too many of them being crazy. Like get them into pretty much where they're onto one solution. If you are my mom or my grandma or my dad or my brother or my sister, whatever it is.   This is what I would recommend for you. If cost wasn't an option, what would you select? You can ask them, what's the most important thing to you? Cosmetic function, cost or longevity. There are ways you can tee people up and then you can guide conversations into exactly what they want. This takes finesse, this takes practice, but ultimately we're after results, we're after the W, we're after helping the most amount of freaking patients that we can, all right? So for you, if you want the W, to me, case acceptance, the way we win is by helping more patients say yes.   If you're a great doctor, I want patients saying yes to you. If you're not a great doctor, I want you to become a great doctor so more patients can say yes to you. That's where we're at. So we've got to wrap our pretty little treatment plan up with the next visit. It's clear. What is our exact next visit? Kiera, I want to see you back for the crown in the upper right. I want to see you back in two weeks. That's the date. And I need about an hour and a half of that. Please, for the love of everything, this is step whatever. I don't know. I think this is step three for you. But I want you to make sure it's very clear and concise because   Complexity is the enemy of execution. If they're walking up of like, don't even know what treatment I'm coming back for. I don't know what I need to come. A crown is gonna take me all day. I can't do that. Your patient is subconsciously planting objections and why they can't say yes to this. But if you eliminate those, like we're clearing the fog, it's very easy. I just need to see you back in two weeks. I need to see you for an hour and a half and we're gonna take care of that crown for you in the upper right and the fillings. Or we're gonna do implants, whatever it is, I don't care.   or like, hey, we're gonna see you in three visits. We're gonna start with the upper right. We're gonna take care of that. Then we're gonna go and do your SRP. And then we're gonna finalize with all the rest of the fillings. I don't care, but make it so clear and simple for them. They don't need it all. And I know we sometimes go, this is where we go from clinical jargon to patient simplicity. Make it simple. When I go in and I'm trying, I remember I was at the van store and this girl was like, so do you want a bag? And I was like, no. Do you want this? Do you want that? Do you want this? I'm like, just like I'm done.   You guys mean far too many questions. I don't even want to come back and talk to you. Like keep it. I don't even want to buy it. And I think we often forget that our patients, while we're trying to educate and explain, and there is a line of that, this isn't their passion. And I say that with the most amount of like love, like, know, I know you care about this so much, but they don't. What they care about is, are you the right person? And how are you going to get me healthy and confident? Now they might have questions that they need answers to. That's okay. But for the bulk, people want to know.   Where am I at? Why does this need to get done? And what are my steps to get it fixed? I was at the jeweler the other day and like, my gosh, it was like, you have these chips, you've got this, you've got this warranty. And I just, I didn't do anything because it was too much. I don't care about jewelry and chips and this like, is my diamond going to fall out or not? And what do I need to do to prevent that? And then they were like, well, it's this amount. And I was like, okay. But the ring didn't even cost me that much to begin with.   So you've got to make sure that it really makes sense to patients in the simplicity. So confidence, number one, you've got that. Words create worlds, you're gonna walk in there. Number two, we're gonna tee them up with giving the yeses. Number three, we're gonna give a very simple NDTR, give it to the patient, make sure it's clear and concise, what is the very next step. It's very clear, very simple for them to go through. And then we take them up to the front office and every person, if they follow this, we use route slips, we have handoffs, I don't care, you can have a virtual.   hand off, I don't care, you can type it in, but we need next visit date, time, so we're all saying the exact same thing. So this patient knows my goal for every practice is that that patient leaves the operatory, walks to the front office, which they should not do, but the visual is there that they walk up and like, hey, Kiera, Dr. Smith wants to see me back in two weeks for a crown and it needs an hour and a half for that. If it is that clear, and I need to schedule my cleaning with Sarah. Do you think that patient's bought in? The answer is yes.   You've already got them like 90 % of the way. Now all we've got to do is deal with finances. Like that's truly it. And sometimes that's not even the issue, but we need to make sure that we have that. Now, step four is schedule first. Put the emphasis and the priority on the schedule. People are like, so we got to do the crowds. It's going to be this amount. No, why are we talking money first? Dentist diagnosed it. We need to get this treatment done.   Why are we sitting here wondering if money is the issue or not? It's not, let's get the treatment done. Let's assume they want to do treatment. Remember, everybody says yes to Why would they the dentist if they don't want to get treatment done? They are here because they want to get their mouth healthy. They don't come here because they're like, well, I'm not gonna do anything with it. I went to the jeweler because I wanted my ring fixed. They made it so hard, I walked out of there because it was too hard for me. If they would have said, Kiera, perfect, your two choices are, we can either do it on warranty and this is how much it is, or if you don't, this is how much the total is.   If they would have just said it that simply for me, I would have probably fixed my ring. But it was all this nonsense that I walked out. So think about your patients the same way. So schedule first, that is our next step. Hey, perfect, so Dr. Smith wants to see you. He wants to see you back in two weeks. You're like, care of my schedule is so booked. Fine, when your schedule and my schedule align, please stop making objections for things that are simple. I need you to get out of your own way on case acceptance.   You sit there and over explain, give too many options, don't think it's good to give them urgency, cause you're like, well, the two is not gonna break. I hear you. But what you're lacking is they're gonna leave your practice, go to Costco, be thinking about cereal and the kids and dance. This is the time that they're dedicating to themselves to get their dentistry done. Be respectful of their time and make them a raving freaking fan. Make it so easy for them. I think about Disney. Disney makes it so easy for me to spend money with them.   It's a mobile app. I don't have to go stand in lines. I have this, I have that. They make it so easy for me to say yes. And my question to you is, are you making it easy for your patients to say yes to you or are you making it so hard that they don't want to? Are you making them so confused? They're like, I don't even know what just happened. With IVF, do you know how many words they talked to me about that I don't even know? But it was like, Kiera, this is your next step. This is the total of how much you'll pay and here are financing options if you need them. Now, the only reason I use that as an example,   is because IVF is about $50,000 per treatment. Just like you're all on excess cases, that is the appropriate time to talk about financing there because not everybody has 50 grand just sitting there, just like in that. But most people usually are okay with one to two to three to five to 10,000 even. Not all the time, and I'm not saying that, but be careful that then with treatment coordinate, and this is the fifth step, is we need to make sure that when we're presenting treatment, we don't assume that it's money. We don't assume it's all these things. It's not, it's your confidence in how you're saying it.   Schedule first, talk money second. Now when we're talking money, we go into it and they're like, but what's it gonna cost? No problem, I'm go over that. You're gonna be super confident. We're gonna make sure we take care of all that. Dr. Smith's super busy and I wanna make sure I reserve that time for you. I have Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. Control the conversation, make it very simple for them. Make it very, very easy for them. Then after that, what we're gonna do is we present the totals. Here's the total amount. Here's the estimated insurance amount. This'll be your total when I see you on Wednesday.   What questions do you have for me? I want you to be super confident moving forward. I say super confident moving forward. I am guiding them. I am saying what I want them to do. This is all words again are free. Use them. I believe that this patient deserves it the best dentistry and I wanna make it as easy as possible. There was no pressure on it. There was nothing. It is very, very simple. I've told you what you need. We've got you scheduled. Here's the total. What questions do you have? Some people will be like, let's talk about financing.   Absolutely, we've got financing. Do you have savings or do you want to talk about third party financing? I'm not just throwing out my Rolodex because what happens is, and I did this, we were buying bikes. My husband and I were buying bikes back in COVID. And I remember they were like, ⁓ and or you could do this like thing and you won't have any interest. My husband and had the money. We would have paid right then and there, but because they would not stop talking and assume we weren't going to say yes,   They offered financing. And I know a lot of people fight me in the industry on this and like, no, Kiera, you should offer financing. Like that's the way of the world. I am really pro simple equates results. And if I can have simple things, I'm going to get a lot more yeses. So treatment coordination, we're going to have financial options. Make sure you have it. We want to have them immediately. We want to be really, really solid with this. We are going to present all of our treatment there. And then if they are not on a yes, I go past it two times.   If they're still not a yes, I'm gonna follow up with them in two days, two weeks, two months. Follow-up matters. You have got to follow up on this. We need to check in with them. People get busy, they've got questions. Love them. Do this out of love, not obligation. And that might be like my best line for you. Do everything with case acceptance out of love. I told the team the other day, I just imagine when a patient sits with me, I'm giving them a warm hug. And it's like, not an actual one. Please don't get weird. But like, how can I make you...   feel like you are the most important, incredible human being sitting right in front of me and I'm gonna help you get the best dentistry possible and I'm gonna make your day just a little bit better because you happen to be in my world today. That's the direction to come from. Doctors, that's the direction to come from when you're doing your case presentation. Hygienist, this is how we tee it up to our doctors. These are simple little steps and I promise you, if you will do these items, your case acceptance will flourish. If you choose to pick and choose like this as a buffet, it won't grow. It is all of these steps.   consistently every time when we look at the results, we review the results, we see how are we doing and we refine. Case acceptance is about refinement, it's not about perfection. Where am I having that one or two words where I just need to do that, just change it a little bit, what needs to happen? And I promise you, you're going to get it. So if you want help with this or you wanna be like the team where we're adding multiple millions, please, please, please join us. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. But you, your practice and your team.   deserve to have the best case acceptance. You deserve to have patients that love you, that wanna work with you. This is what it's about. They love you. So let them work with you. Make it easy to work with you. Progress over perfection is where it's at. And I am obsessed with this. Just think about it. People are like, well consulting, can cost so much. And I say, if I helped you get one or two more cases closed every single month, we'd pay for ourselves. And you have a fairy godmother on your team.   And you have somebody you can talk to about finances and you have somebody who grows your team and you have somebody who's going to help you with the business side of it. And you're going to have somebody who's way freaking smart in dentistry. And you're going to be able to have access to our entire group. And you're going to be able to come to a mastermind. Like why not? It is that simple. And this is what we do. And this is how we pay for our consulting. Plus give you your life back, plus help you with your patients and make your life incredible. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

This episode is all about the stress of people — managing them, working with them, attending to them, etc. Tiff and Kristy discuss what it means to manage results and lead people, and how sticking to systems of accountability in your practice can take a lot of that stress off your shoulders. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back here today with another amazing podcast. I say that because I just know this is gonna be incredible content. I'll introduce myself again. I realized a podcast ago that I never introduced myself. I'm Tiffanie I am a consultant, a dental consultant here with the Dental A Team. I've been here for a really long time, so I guess I just assume everybody has also been here for a really long time. I think everybody's like my best friend and I sit here.   on this podcast, Kristy with you and with all of the listeners, just talking to my best friend. Like that's just how I roll. So I'll take the moment to say hello, welcome. Thank you to those who have been listening for a long time or a short time or a new today. We love being able to reach new people. Part of our mission is to reach as many people as we possibly can. And it's worded much better than that, but that's the gist of it. And Kiera, know, get, Kiera likes to quiz us.   every now and again and I fail every time you guys. It's just like words in my brain get jumbled. It's okay, it's totally fine. So our mission is here. We are so excited to welcome you. Kristy, I am excited to welcome you here with me today. You have been on a podcast roll with me. We have busted out so many. I really truly appreciate you for that and for so many other reasons. So thank you for being here today, Kristy.   The Dental A Team (01:18) Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.   The Dental A Team (01:21) Yeah, thank you. We have been chatting quite a few things. KPIs, I think this is the month of KPIs and results and it makes sense because Q1 is behind us. We're rolling into Q2 and making sure that we are set for success because my opinion is if we wait until November, but even July, if we're like, gosh, Q3, what are we doing? What are we doing? You're already behind you guys. You got a lot to make up at that point. You might as well just start now.   I love this role that we've been on today. We also always get to hit some personal development pieces, which is fun as well. So today, where this podcast right now, we really want to talk about the human side of things. Kristy, something that I notice, I get the luxury of seeing Dental A Team from all of the different sides. I get to see it from sales side, from marketing side, from development side, like all of education, from consulting.   every space of Dental A Team, I feel like I have a little toe dipped in there, just because I've been here for so long and I've helped in so many different facets to create what we are doing today. And with that, I get to see all of the different reasons that all of our clients are attractive to us and the people who are not yet clients or have just come for, know, tell me what my gap is and let me work on it. All those people, all the doctors, all the teams,   are typically coming and they're saying, I say this all the time, they're saying systems, right? We need systems. Clean up my systems, Kristy. My systems are broken. And they're like, please. And I've watched it. I've watched new to Dental A Team consultants be like, okay, let's start and we'll dig into systems. And I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Do we know that that system's broken? Like, let's take a step back and really figure out what it is, what it is and why you're actually here.   because your systems is the word that you're using to describe your issue, your symptom. And what typically is happening is we have stress. Things aren't working. They're not aligning just right. And we think, well, my systems are broken then. And your systems may not be broken. They may need adjusting or we may need to add some systems. We may need to do away with some old systems, right?   I've got practices that I'm like, think we're just billing this way because we like to, because we've always done it this way. I have to tell you, side tangent for a second, I love this office and when they listen to this, they're gonna know exactly who they are.   I was like, what do you mean you have a black book? What is a black book? Like I don't understand what this is. And they're like, Tiff, like you don't understand how much time we're spending tracking metrics. You're saying we're not tracking. And I'm like, well, I just need them on this Excel sheet. Like where are they at? And they have this old school accounting black book. Like I can't even show you how big it is. It's just like this massive ledger and they have a pencil and these little tiny cells and every day they're writing.   The Dental A Team (04:17) you   The Dental A Team (04:26) production, adjustments, collections, where the collections is coming from. And I was like, wow, Open Dental tells us all of this every day. You just have to print it. You can even keep it. You don't need to, because it's always accessible. But if it makes you feel better, print it daily and keep it. What are we doing? And so I say that because there are some systems that are just like, we've just always done that. My dad owned the practice and this is how he did it. And it was successful and cool.   We can keep doing it or we don't have to. It's up to you. But the stress is actually the underlying issue and it's usually financial stress or misunderstandings, missed expectations. I expected to make more money than I did. I expected to be able to do my expansion and I can't. I expected to have another dentist on board. I expected to be able to find a hygienist. I expected someone else to talk to all the...   team members on my team. It's missed expectations and it's stresses. And Kristy, something I wanted to dive into today was really how, one, I do think systems help those things. So yes, there is a deep dive onto the systems, but really understanding the stress behind a lot of it and the why I think is key. And Kristy, I don't know if you noticed this in your office, just tell me what you see.   I think one of the number one stressors that I see for doctors, for business owners, and for even office managers who have already taken on this role and doctors have delegated this to them, one of the number one stresses that I see is the stress of people. It's dealing with people, right? Whether it's the patients or the team, but really the HR management side of managing people, like dentistry is not hard, right? Work isn't hard, people are hard. And dealing with that,   tends to be the crux of a lot of stress for doctors that they think the systems will fix, which we'll dive into how they can help that. But Kristy, do you agree? Are you seeing that within your practices as well?   The Dental A Team (06:34) Yeah, 100 % across the board, whether it's doctors or leadership, it's definitely the people driven. And you hear the things like, people just don't show up like they used to or, you know, those little sayings are, they don't respect our time. And so yes, 100 % from patients to team members, to be honest with you, but people.   The Dental A Team (06:55) Yeah. I agree.   I agree. I get the like work ethic, like work ethics changed. These Gen Zers or Gen Xers or Gen whatevers. They're different. And I'm like, yeah, they are different. 2020 taught us a lot of things and things are different now. And we can keep standing here saying, you know, we want to be on this box that was old and is breaking or we can move forward onto the new box. I totally agree with that.   The Dental A Team (07:03) Yeah   Thank you.   The Dental A Team (07:25) When I think of stress of people, I agree. I think people can be hard. Managing people can be hard. And I think leading people is a very different statement. And leading people makes management easy, if that makes sense. I believe in managing results and leading people. Systems without accountability.   The Dental A Team (07:50) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (07:54) lead to micromanagement and a lot of stress around your people management.   The Dental A Team (07:59) I agree 100 % Tiffanie, you said that like so spot on. And accountability is one of those things that everybody wants and everybody's gonna also gripe about. But I will also say, I was privileged to go, I think it was one of the HR companies like Cedar, Ben Erickson or one of them had talked about. ⁓   You know, they do this stuff day in and day out. And they said the number one reason somebody will leave you is because you don't have accountability. And the number one thing they'll complain about is accountability. So it really cemented it. I mean, coming from an HR company that deals with people all day, every day, and probably the worst of the people ⁓ saying that really, really taught me that we need that clarity. Every one of us needs that clarity and we all need that accountability.   And so you're spot on. And when we can make it about that clarity, what we're looking for and not so much about the person, it makes the leadership a lot easier. You're like, uh-huh.   The Dental A Team (09:09) Absolutely.   Yes. Yes. And that's, think, what I mean by managing the results. Right? And I even that what you just said right there is like not making it about the person. I just had a call right before we started podcasting. And he was like, gosh, I have, you know, and we've had this. had I had a team member that I was like, my gosh, I think her dryer is broken. Like, she smells like mold. Right. Or we're wearing way too much perfume. that shirt is way too low cut. that's not really appropriate.   The Dental A Team (09:16) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (09:39) Gosh, I had a girl that would wear the wrong color sweater and I'm like, it's black. Like we just, it's black. That's all we got, black and white. That's all you got, right? And this blue, like I know this Navy is really close to black, but it's not black. Those conversations, those are the stressors, right? It's hard. It's like, come on. And my doctors are like, we're all adults. I agree with you, but we're all gonna do whatever we can to get away with whatever we can. And if we're gonna slide in a Navy blue sweater, because it almost looks black.   The Dental A Team (09:45) Hahaha!   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:08) except for next to my black shirt, right? And if I don't say anything, I don't hold the person accountable to our dress code, the next thing I know, she's wearing a light blue sweater. And Marjorie in the back, she decided hot pink was cool today. And I'm like, what is happening you guys? Well, guess what? I didn't hold accountability to the lines. We had a boundary and the boundary was crossed and I didn't use clear as kind and hold the boundary. And it is clear as kind.   It's like, hey, love the sweater. Just keep in mind, remember, it's gotta be black or white. I do love it though, it just doesn't fit within our guidelines. Period. There's no questions. And it's kind. I don't dislike the sweater. It's just not appropriate for the office, right? Love the enthusiasm. Let's use this verbiage with that enthusiastic flair. Let's see if we get a different result.   The Dental A Team (11:07) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (11:07) It's less about, because it's not the person. She's not a bad person for trying to wear a blue sweater. She was in a hurry. She was in a hurry that morning and she grabbed what she could and she thought it would be fine. I remember the day like it was yesterday because she was like, what? It's fine. And I was like, it's not. I get it and I understand. But if I don't say anything, like if I'm going to say something to someone else, I have to say it to you too. And it's my job and I'm just.   I'm upholding the standards. So it's not a big deal. I don't want you to feel attacked like you're fine, we're fine. We're black tomorrow. And if I need to get you a black sweater, tell me, I'll order you a black sweater. Right? It doesn't have, it doesn't, wasn't about her, right? It's not, there's nothing wrong with the person. Right now it's about the result. And when we make it about the person, it is really hard. And when I get doctors that are like, I don't want to hurt her feelings.   The Dental A Team (11:54) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (12:05) Well, you've made it about the person. Now it's about the person. But is there something wrong with her that you have to this conversation? Or is this conversation about something that's completely outside of her? They're like, well, no, right? She's wearing too much perfume. Cool. Love your perfume. Could be an issue for our patients. Please dial it back. It's not about her, right?   The Dental A Team (12:30) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (12:33) And I told my doctor recently, one of my doctors that I had a similar conversation with, I said, I have to take a step back. That same thought process goes through my mind too. It happens to all of us because we're like, I don't want to turn people away. I don't wanna push anybody away. I don't wanna lose anyone. It's our survival mechanisms are in tune with saying, don't push people away. Pad the situation and be nice so that people don't run away. But nice.   I think of it this way, whenever I feel it, I'm like, nope, take a step back, because I have to think and consider if I feel that I have to be nice and not be clear and kind, if I feel that I have to be nice, I am also then saying that this person across from me is not strong enough to take a clear and kind conversation, and I'm.   Like, what's the word I want? Making them smaller by being nice to protect them because they can't handle it and protect themselves. So to me, I have to tell myself that story often because it feels way worse to say the person on the other side of this conversation can't handle this conversation than to say I might hurt her feelings for a moment by telling her that her perfume is too strong. at the end of the day, she's gonna be like, cool, I'm gonna say perfume.   The Dental A Team (13:58) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (14:02) she's gonna be fine, right? Like we make these situations so much bigger than they need to be and we stress on the potential outcomes because the people management is hard. But the lines are there, the boundaries are there, the accountability is there. And when we hire capable, strong people and we believe in the human, the conversation's gonna go fine.   The Dental A Team (14:23) Yeah, Tiff, I love that you said that. it's kind of funny because it's taking me back to even in office and training things. I'm like, guys, almost all of the situations that we don't like, we've created. And I can almost always prove it. And even in this situation, we create bad employees or people not following the rules because we've created that situation, truly.   The Dental A Team (14:47) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:48) be whether it's   The Dental A Team (14:49) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:49) not having a caring conversation or whatever it is. I always, to your point, whenever I have to have these type of conversations, I like to follow the rule of state the behavior, what it's causing, and then state the behavior you wish to see. Because again, then you're not putting the person on the spot and you're talking about...   the subject. So even or item like you were saying instead you'd state the blue shirt as you came in. Do you remember this was our guidelines for what we wear? And so moving forward, can you please wear the black or the white? You know, because then it's easy if they don't follow the rules next time to say, hey, we talked about this. You agreed. What's getting in the way of it? It's not it's not attacking that person, but truly   And in leadership, our team is looking to us for holding people accountable in that way, truly. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:50) I agree.   I agree. Go ahead.   The Dental A Team (15:54) I was going to say also, I just said the team's looking for us as leadership to hold people accountable, but I also just had this conversation in office too. It isn't just leadership to hold people accountable. We hold ourselves accountable first and foremost, and then peer to peer, it's our job to hold each other accountable too, not just the leadership team, guys. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (16:18) Yeah,   I love that so much and I don't know how many times I've preached that and witnessed it and done it. Because I'm like, gosh, if I put myself in leadership shoes, I'm not going to be like, there goes Candace again with the wrong color shirt. I'll be like, Candace, girl, if I have to wear this shirt and I can't be colorful, you better get in line too because you're making me mad. I remember. And I will tell this story till the day I die. And when she listens to this, she's to know exactly what I'm talking about. She's one of my best friends.   The Dental A Team (16:46) I don't know.   The Dental A Team (16:48) I love her dearly, and there was a moment in time we did not love each other so much. And this girl, every time I walked by her TC office, I was like, listen, you're on Facebook again. We got internet taken away from us because of you, and I remember the day I walked by and I like, I swear, if I get something else taken away from because you're doing this, I'm gonna freak out.   The Dental A Team (17:05) you   The Dental A Team (17:13) And she was not happy, but I was just like, girl, how many times do we have, like we're all getting talked to, we're all getting things removed, we're getting new rules implemented, and you're blatantly not doing them. I'm not okay with that, and I'm not okay with the disrespect that you're showing to the rest of the team, including leadership and doctor, because that's disrespectful to me. You're not caring that your actions are having a consequence on me. No, no, I'm not gonna stand for that because I have   higher respect for myself and boundaries for myself than to allow something like that to continue. So I love that you said that and I think there's a when and there's a where and there's a how. And as long as we're coming at it from a space of respect and we're coming at it from a space of results, not attacking the person, that's the difference maker. And your stress will exponentially decrease when you stop micromanaging systems.   The Dental A Team (17:55) Yes.   The Dental A Team (18:12) You manage results and you lead people by accountability. And when there's confusion within the accountability, then go back to the system and make sure that the accountability is clear. Like what is the system supposed to be doing? What does the accountability look like? And stop saying accountability is hard. Accountability is not hard. Backtracking because you never held somebody accountable, that's hard. But the accountability of like, hang on, tell me more about this. How come we didn't get there?   The Dental A Team (18:17) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (18:43) Not, hey, why didn't you make 10 calls yesterday? You were supposed to make 10 calls. That's micromanaging a person. But saying, hey, I see that you weren't able to get to your 10 calls yesterday. Tell me more about that. What was your day like yesterday? Where could we have made sure that you had time? What got in the way of that? Now the person is like, yeah, you're right. I was swamped with X, Y, and Z. And we can diagnose, is that a one-off? Like, okay, that was a really busy day.   Or is that a space of you're carrying too much and some of that needed to be delegated? So Kristy, I think that's a massive difference in accountability of the like, hey, you didn't do, that's managing. Or, hey, I see that you didn't get to, tell me more about that. You know?   The Dental A Team (19:16) Mm-hmm.   Yep. It's   coming from that curiosity and concern, and it already lowers the feelings, I guess, you know what I mean? Yeah. And again, as a leader, using the call scenario, that also gives you the chance to re-cement that, making these calls is really, really important. And so maybe we can carve out extra time to get to those today, you know, and coming up with a solution together. So 100 % Tiff.   The Dental A Team (19:36) Yeah, the reaction. Yeah.   Yes.   The Dental A Team (19:56) on board with you there. think it goes back to creating our heart, right? And having those conversations, which also made me think of, guys, and we see this every day all day when we go on practices too, Tiff, or even on calls. Please, please, when you have to have a one-off conversation, don't address the whole room. Your face.   The Dental A Team (20:02) Mm-hmm.   Please, for   the love of all things, please, please listen to Kristy.   The Dental A Team (20:24) Yeah, right. Because truly the person that needs to hear it, they don't know it's them. I promise you, they don't know it's them. Go have the one-on-one caring conversation, and that's how you can get the buy-in from them and be able to circle back for future conversations.   The Dental A Team (20:41) Yes,   yes, my gosh, I love that you said that. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. If someone is doing something, don't make everyone suffer through the conversation, because 90 % of the people are like, what are we talking about? And then one person's like, my gosh, it's me, I'm so stressed. And you're like, and then they come to you, how can I do better? And you're like, it wasn't you. ⁓ so now I'm stressed for no reason, but I'm also not believing you, because I'm positive that it was me, and now we've ruined someone.   The Dental A Team (21:07) We were winded.   The Dental A Team (21:08) ⁓ And the   person that it was is like, you guys suck. You guys should really stop doing that. I can't believe someone here did that. You're like, my golly. Yeah, that was part of my conversation today. Yes, I love that with my practice. So every day all day I see that generalizations kill a team. If there are multiple people doing it, fine. Reestablish your baselines. Reestablish your boundaries and your handbooks. Sure.   The Dental A Team (21:14) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (21:36) But if someone is causing a scuffle, someone is causing a stress, talk to that person. Just nip it in the bud. Because I guarantee you, blue sweater would not have known I was talking to her. And she's gonna wear that sweater again and I'll be like, bro, we talked about this. She's like, no, we didn't. We did not, because we didn't. But I did, and it never happened again. She didn't love me for it. She had some choice words to some people, but it was fine. And we were fine at the end of the day. We get a little ⁓ upheaved sometimes.   The Dental A Team (21:42) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (22:06) because as much as we want to be seen, it's also really scary to be seen. And so we'll be like, I know I'm in the wrong. Like you get defensive because you already knew you shouldn't have worn the sweater. You already knew it was out of dress code. So when I talk to you about it, you were already prepared to be defensive and defend why it was fine because you knew it was coming. That's okay. I'm okay with that. Cause tomorrow we're both better for it.   The Dental A Team (22:28) Yeah.   I love it, Tiff. I think truly, and again, guys, when you make the conversation around your culture and the easiest way to do it truly is on your mission and core values, tying probably that blue sweater back to your core values would have been a huge way to, again, approach the conversation and let that person know they're not living in community. ⁓ To that being said,   There's many times when we go in practices and I'm asking, I need you to have it truly. So you guys, you're on, if you're a client of mine, you probably know it's coming. You better be prepared. I'm going to ask you what your mission and your core values are because truly I like to say the mission is our boss. That's who we're serving, not our leadership team. That is our boss. And the core values demonstrate how we behave.   So in any of these situations when you're having to have a caring conversation, I'm not gonna say it's a hard, it's a caring conversation, we choose to make it hard. ⁓ Tie it back to your core values, because that's how we behave, and it's gonna make it easier for you to tackle those conversations.   The Dental A Team (23:46) I love that so much and I think that is the perfect spot to wrap because tying back to your mission vision core values is key to business success. So I love that Kristy. Thank you. I would say action items, are those done? Do you have job descriptions done? Do you know what the responsibilities of each individual are? Do they know? And what is the accountability follow up there within it? So if you're stressed out, yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:59) Thank   to one more action. Leadership, is there anybody you need to put on your list to have a conversation with?   The Dental A Team (24:18) Do it.   Ooh, I like that. Good job.   Make them think. I love that. Okay, you heard it right here. You heard it from Kristy. Go do the things. remember, stress is a symptom of something. We're not just stressed. Okay, I just, I just had a stressful day. No, it's a symptom of something. And typically, I've found in my personal experience, at least, that if I'm stressed, it's usually because I've let a boundary slip.   and somebody's crossing over that boundary, and I'm actually kind of upset, hurt with myself. I'm mad at myself for allowing it to happen. So, do a gut check if you're stressed. Why are you stressed? It's just a symptom. It's not a forever and it's not a lifestyle. So, go figure it out. Go figure out your accountabilities. If you need help with it, you guys were here for it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, reach out. TheDentalATeam.com, you can sign up for a free assessment with our team. We will help you see those gaps. We will help you see where you can   thrive and not just survive and not die. We will help you with all of those. So drop us a five star review below. We'd love to hear what you thought. Kristy, this was so much fun. Thank you for busting so many out with me today and thank you for this specific podcast. I had a ton of fun with you.   The Dental A Team (25:37) Yeah, back at you. was fun having a little conversation and hopefully they see it as a challenge.   The Dental A Team (25:41) I love it.   I know, I think they will. You guys got a lot here. Awesome, thank you all and we will catch you next time. Bye bye.

It's time to perform a special audit in your practice! This one is called the Invisible Friction Audit. Kiera guides listeners through how to catch problems that might not be very obvious, but are total gamechangers in terms of practice operations. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is going to be a great topic. I hope you guys are excited about it because it's going to be an audit of your practice. I think that there's oftentimes invisible friction that's happening inside practices and offices oftentimes don't catch it. They don't understand what's going on and they're like, something's happening and it's just this invisible friction. And so how can we actually catch this sooner in your practice? If you guys are new to our podcast, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent, host and founder of the Dental A Team and the Dental A Team Podcast.   I'm obsessed with all things dentistry, including my last name being Dent. Our mission is to possibly impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible and to influence, inspire, and to motivate you to have the best practice, the best life, and the best team that you could ever imagine. I genuinely know and believe that running a successful practice does not need to be hard. I've had hundreds of thousands of clients tell us that, Carrie, you've changed our perspective. You've made this to where...   I feel happy about going to work. You've inspired my team. We've got team members that text us telling us how much they love working with Dental A Team. And that's our mission. That's our passion. That's what we are truly experts in the field for. And today, this is one of those things of like, when you have friction that's invisible, how do you actually fix that? How do you actually make this thing better? How do you make it to where, my gosh, like, like we don't know and how can we catch this? So I wanted to just help you see like, here's the quiet, invisible, almost like.   cobwebs in the back corner that if you are able to figure this out, fix it so it's not there, you're not just walking past it, hopefully your practice will be able to thrive. ⁓ So number one is just like, how long does it take to make decisions to move your practice forward? And delayed decisions, I remember one of my favorite quotes is, a wrong decision is better than like indecision. ⁓ Indecision actually impacts far greater than making a wrong decision and...   I remember I was at this really big financial conference and they were talking about how one of the presidents of the United States, I don't remember which one it was, came in and there was this big thing of who we're going and what different things they were going to do. And it had serious impact. And the president came in and made a decision. like, well, how do you know that's the right decision? He said, I don't. But what I know is us sitting in indecisions costing us more than making a wrong decision. And I've thought about that a lot of, I don't even think half of the decisions we make in a day and day out of a practice.   would impact millions of lives and different pieces. And yet I think we sit on them acting as if they are these big audacious decisions rather than just making a decision. And I think it also builds the decision-making bone in our body where it's like, okay, we just make decisions and we move forward. And I think empowering your team to be able to make those decisions without needing to come through you to make every decision. So for example, like delayed decisions on.   treatment sitting in unscheduled. like, are we calling on those people who's taking responsibility for that? Like, let's just get unscheduled treatment called in on a consistent basis. What about like billing and insurance errors and issues? What about lab cases not being tracked? What about our Invisalign and Ortho cases? What about team members where it's like, let's circle back later, let's circle back later. Like, just make the decision in the meeting and move forward and make sure we count about it.   What about like patients who need multiple touch points to commit and to say yes to treatment? Like, why did CareDent get so good at closing cases? Because I hated the follow-up. So it was always, and like, it's a two, two, two follow-up. But these like delayed decisions or who are we going to hire or what things do we need to have for this or what budget do we have? And I understand that being a business owner is like death by a thousand cuts. Like you just get pummeled with question day in and day out. So it's like.   Let's have set days where we make decisions and like, let's make the decision and move forward. All of us execute on it. Attraction by Gina Wickman is very big on, we come to the table to solve and make decisions and we move forward and we solve them forever. So I think when you have like practices, like this is just invisible friction that you don't realize is there, but it's all these things sit there like looming storm clouds because we're not moving forward. We're not getting them done. We're not actually executing on things. And then we have to,   follow back up and team members need to remember. And I'm just big on interaction they teach a lot about. We have our weekly leadership meetings and we solve the issues. Now, if there's something that's gonna take longer and doesn't need immediate care today, it can actually go on what's called a parking lot or long-term issues. And I think having this in your practice, having this as part of your cadence, if it doesn't need to have your decision today, get it moving, but stop the friction. And what we've seen is like,   When I have practices that start working on this and people have clear owners and we stop the decision fatigue and we stop having a lag in this treatment goes up, schedules get more full, tasks start to get resolved, team members feel like they get answers, doctors don't feel like there's so much sitting on their shoulders. And that's honestly just you moving things forward and having owners of it. So I also think of like when a treatment coordinator owns all of the unscheduled treatment and they own our   monthly goal and they own how many people are supposed to be in there, we increase our scheduling. Like I was your treatment coordinator. So we start getting more people on the books sooner. We start hitting our daily goals sooner. And I've got a cadence of if you don't schedule today, I call you in two days, two weeks, two months. And then I send you a letter. There's no question marks of how I follow up with these people. There's no like, well, call people, Kiera. No, like it's just a set process that we follow. And then we make sure that people are being accountable to that. I think it's just great. Like it's not changing anything. We're not having to bring in more patients. We're not having to change up.   Our marketing, like we just move things along without having the delay. So I think when you guys are sitting in meetings or you're looking at it, like look to see how can we make decisions sooner and solve things forever rather than sitting here and being like, well, we'll get back to that. We'll solve that later. We'll solve that later. Make the decisions, give the clear owners and move things forward. The other one is going to be ⁓ an invisible friction of I think energy and practices have this is crazy. When we walk into offices, we're able to quickly feel   Is this practice thriving or is this practice like truly just like hanging on by a thread or do people not like each other? And I think that emotional piece ⁓ definitely plays. so looking at like, how's our team culture and what things are causing a rift in the culture. So are we making our one-on-ones every single month to find out how team members are truly doing? Are we looking at like, is our schedule consistent to where people know they can get out on time? Or if that's not ⁓ a culture piece, like people just know we're here for two hours afterwards and that's just our culture.   but at least that expectation can be met. What about like where we can add emergency patients? So front office knows, clinical team knows we're not having this like front office, back office divide. What about when we come into a room, is it clear on how we have our procedures set up so that way every person's there we're not having popcorn? What about like doctors like staying on time and if you're not on time, like let's adjust the schedule and then start scheduling more appropriately so that way we're not constantly running into lunch, running behind in the day.   Making sure our patients have all their new patient paperwork Thinking about are we doing Friday five shout outs? Are we doing team? Shout outs where people are looking at each other and like really finding happiness. We're working with each other I think it's just like that energy usually the drains start to happen on energy and culture and it's just that invisible friction when We can't count on our schedule. We can't count on getting lunch. We can't count on getting out on time I remember I worked in a practice and we were quote-unquote off on Fridays   And I was the one who, we had a patient that was scheduled on Fridays, I would be the one who was the assistant to cover. And without fail, every Wednesday or Thursday, the doctor would be like, we'll just add you on Friday. And it used to drive me absolutely crazy. So much so that I went and I interviewed at another office, I got another job, and then Jason got accepted to pharmacy school. And I think about like, why, Kiera why did you get to that space where you were like so dissatisfied? And it was because I could never bank on   when I had time off, I wish that they would have just hired me for four and a half days every Friday I knew. And if like patients didn't schedule, I'd get a Friday off. That would have been better for me to schedule rather than the like hope wish hoping that I have Fridays off. Cause I'm told like, we don't work Fridays unless we schedule a patient. Well, I'm angry with you every single time. Now that you schedule a patient, I don't want to help that patient. Like I do, but I wanted that Friday off. Cause I thought, so how can we give that, ⁓ consistency, the clear expectations clear is kind in these instances.   How do we make sure like, where do we add those ER patients? Where do we have like correct pieces for setting up? What about our hygiene exams? Making sure those are clear. Make sure our patients show up so hygiene's not running behind. Like all these little micro stressors really just eat at your team to where people like myself want to go look for another job. And it's not because they don't enjoy their job. It's just because all these things eat at team members too. And so I think predictability oftentimes like helps people feel safe. I think about   me with Jason, Jason has a great job and it allows me the freedom to go and be a bit more creative and unpredictable in the company. But my team does not need to feel unpredictable. ⁓ I need to create a safe, secure environment. Otherwise team members feel that like, like I said, it's an invisible friction that just causes them to create risks. And so when you have offices that ⁓ really truly keep their numbers strong, like we have strong numbers, we're constant on our cashflow, we're hitting our metrics.   you actually reduce team turnover. And the reason why is because it's not compensation, it's this predictability, like we're solid. And also the business owner is more solid. I remember I did a podcast a long time ago with Dennis Advisors and they said, team members, the best thing you can want for your boss and your dentist is to be a very profitable, like productive practice because the doctor's not concerned about cashflow and there's more stability and continuity within the practice.   ⁓ And so, and also what it does is it helps us prepare our days. We're not like chasing, trying to hit our production goals and always doing add-ins. Like it's more solid. Now we still need to maintain that level of flexibility and adaptability because dentistry is not perfect. I think it's, can we get 80 % where we can bank on, I get lunches, I get out on time. Those are big things that are micro stressors for teams. so creates a calm team and stronger execution. So I think we could even ask our teams through anonymous surveys of what are the things that just cause like   rifts or tension or frustration. And then what are the things that bring you like great joy and satisfaction? I'm really big on when I ask these surveys, I want to hear about pain points, but I also want to hear about good. So that way we don't get rid of the good while trying to fix the pieces. Also, you can ask about it in one-on-ones like, hey, what causes the most amount of stress? What causes the most amount of joy? These things are going to help you then be able to fix those little pieces. And then I think like one of the last things of this invisible friction that I see in practices is   like when standards start to slip without noticing. So like our morning huddles start to get shortened, case presentation is like not as consistent or as thorough. We don't have as strong of financial conversations. We're so busy that we're not answering calls. We don't have training. We're hiring a bunch of new people. We're tolerating like a good enough practice rather than excellent standards. I have found that   I think to me that that's just like a car that's like breaking down. Like we're not fixing, we're not taking in for regular oil maintenance. We're not filling it up with the best gas. We're not fixing when things break to where it didn't happen overnight, but it was a slow shift to where I had this great car that I loved and I enjoyed being to where I look at this car and I don't even know where it is. And so I think it's a, let's not, let's not lose the clinical excellence. Let's not lose our standard of excellence because teams want to be part of excellence. And especially in healthcare, these things really matter. Like we,   We follow our morning huddles. We follow our leadership meetings. We have department trainings and meetings. We make sure that we are solid on our case presentation. We're solid on our phone call answering. We're solid on our scheduling. don't lose the maintenance on our clinical and our practice excellence because that's going to really, really, really create friction where you're going to lose great team members because they want to go work for the best. They want to be at the best practice. You want to be the thriving practice. That's great for culture, great for our clinical excellence and great for our   our leadership within the practice. Like that's what we want to be known for. That's what teams strive to be a part of. And so how can you make more of that? And I think like when we let these little things slip, we're also letting other things slip. And I think about like my new year's resolutions and how often do I just let that slip a little bit or how often do I let some of my like, you know, we'll get to it later. I think keep yourself to a high level of standards of excellence because otherwise you do start to decay as a practice.   ⁓ And I think patients feel that teams feel that and you accidentally start to erode your practice. So when we look at it, we can actually like once a quarter, could SWAT or maybe once a year we SWAT analysis. So our strengths, our weaknesses, our opportunities and our threats. And maybe on our weaknesses, like where have we gotten a little too comfortable in our practice? Where have we maybe let that standard of excellence drop and it's hurting our culture and it's creating this friction. Those would be a few things. And so when we look at this and we think back on where the invisible friction piece is happening,   How are our decisions and are we taking too long on making them? What is draining our team energy and how can we fix that? And then where have our standards slightly started to slip and we wanna catch those. So those would be some great questions to ask at a quarterly meeting. You can ask them at a team meeting. But looking at this to see like, this is going to be that invisible friction. And if we get those things moving and evolving, there could be other pieces, but I find these really hit hard in practices often. And so I think it's where...   like a car, we don't wait for it to be broken and screaming and we can't get to work. We fix it on when the service light turns on or we make sure we get our oil change on a regular basis or we get our tires rotated on a regular basis. We don't wait for the tire to explode or the car to run out of gas or oil. Instead, we do that proactively. And I think when you look at proactive practices and our advanced and elite practices,   They are constantly SWOT analyzing. are constantly looking down the line. We're constantly checking to see where are we slipping and we're keeping it simple. So we're not expanding, but we're keeping it very simple and we're cleaning out where is this friction happening? So we don't lose team members. We don't have a practice that was like once great and now has deteriorated. We're literally looking to like, how can we boost through this and have it? So I think like a lot of times it's not about like pushing harder for growth and that's how we're going to hit the next level.   A lot of times it's more about how can we make success easier to maintain and sustain. And when we look at it that way, we can avoid like get rid of this invisible friction. We can make sure the undertones of the practice are really lively. And I hope that, I hope you feel the vibe and the energy when you walk into your practice. Feel, it like everybody's a unit, everybody's together. Sometimes it's not, sometimes it's hard and every practice goes through this. So just want you to know, like it's not you, it's not paramount to you, but every single practice goes through hard times. Every single practice goes through   changes. I think when we look at these pieces, I just want you to remember it goes through that. I did talk to my team a little while and I said, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge something important. We're in a season of real growth. And I think acknowledging that and calling it out sometimes is very important. And I listed off a lot of pieces of like, hey, I know this might feel chaotic, but this is meaningful expansion and growth like this requires focus, flexibility, and teamwork.   Growth seasons can feel full and sometimes uncomfortable, not because something is wrong, but because we're stretching into the next level of who we're becoming. The direction we're heading is strong, intentional, and incredibly exciting. This phase is part of building something exceptional and magical, something that truly positively impacts the world in the greatest way possible. Thank you for adapting, staying flexible, supporting one another, and continuing to deliver incredible results for our client. I'm deeply confident where we're going, and I'm grateful to be building it with each of you.   And I bring that up because there was some invisible friction in our company. You could feel the energy was off. You could feel people were feeling like question marks. And I think as leaders, sometimes you might not even need to fix it. You just might need to give a clear direction of this is where we're going. This is the season we're in and things are in a good space. Other times it's because we do have decision lag. We do have draining energy. We do have standards that are slipping. So figure out what it is and then commit to, I'm gonna fix this before.   It breaks. I'm gonna pay attention to these warning signals like I do in my car and I'm gonna listen to them in my practice. And if you need help, maybe you aren't even aware that the warning signs are buzzing off and that's what we as consultants are able to do. We either help fix them as they're blowing off or catch them before they even become an issue. So reach out, let's take a look, let's listen to your practice because truly running a successful practice does not need to be hard. It does not need to be something where you're hoping and wishing that you're gonna have greatness. You actually know when it's more predictable. I believe that success   Should not be something where you're like is it gonna happen or not? Like your success is inevitable. Let's make it happen together So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or go to our website TheDentalATeam.com book a call I'd love to chat with you me too in person and as always commit to getting rid of that invisible friction commit to having the best practice It's gonna be great for you and your team and as always. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Morgan Hamon, president of HDA Accounting Group, is on the pod! HDA is a dental-specific accounting group, and knows dentistry inside and out. Kiera and Morgan discuss profit margins, benchmarks, and AR aging, plus why having good financials will help you make smarter decisions. A profitable practice is more helpful for patients, more secure for team members, and less stressed out in times of uncertainty. Don't run your practice blind; get a good CPA. About Morgan:  Morgan is a graduate of the University of Arizona school of business. Following graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy and served for over ten years as a Naval Aviator flying carrier-based F/A-18 Hornets. During that time, he deployed to Persian Gulf and flew combat missions over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch. He also served as a flight instructor and landing signal officer for newly winged Naval Aviators transitioning to the Hornet, training pilots in air-to-air combat and landing on aircraft carriers. After leaving the Navy, Morgan obtained a master's degree in accounting with a concentration in taxation from Metropolitan State University of Denver.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is the co-founder and President of HDA Accounting Group leading a large staff of professional accountants delivering a variety of financial accounting and tax services.   Morgan regularly conducts practice profitability advising for over 500 dentists nationally, helping them analyze their financial data and identifying strategies for profit improvement. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   speaker-0 (00:33) Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys, I am so excited. It's always fun when I'm getting ready to start a podcast and the person on the other side of it is somebody that I have just idolized. I refer to their company all the time and then I'm like, oh my gosh, it's you. And that was what just happened with this guest. Today I'm bringing you guys Morgan Hamon He is the president of the HDA accounting group. So you guys know we have a lot of accounting groups that we work with at the Dental A Team. I'm really pro vetting them.   and finding out one of things I love about HDA is they literally have incredible forms for profitability of a practice. Also, watching all your different overhead and you guys know we're super, super pro. But something really fun about Morgan before we bring him on is that he is a graduate of the University of Arizona School of Business. So after that, he actually was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy and served for over 10 years as a naval aviator flying carrier-based F-18 Hornets. So I'm dying to find out about that.   because he was deployed to the Persian Gulf and flew combat mission over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch. Insanely cool stuff. So not only are you a CPA and sometimes CPAs can be boring people. So the fact that you did this and I say that with love to all my CPAs, I was almost fired from a CPA firm once upon a time because I talk too much. So I'm super jazzed. So Morgan, welcome to the show today. How are you?   speaker-1 (01:51) Thanks, I'm doing well. Appreciate being here.   speaker-0 (01:53) Ha   ha, awesome, okay, so I brought you in. You are with HDA CPA, which is amazing. We have a client in Hawaii right now looking to work with you guys. Several of our clients work with you. you guys, I, Bailey, those are my top two CPAs, Profi, top three that I usually refer. So I'm super jazzed to have you on the podcast. But before we dive into like CPA stuff, which I'm always excited about because I feel as a business owner, that was where I was the most weak. And so I'm excited for you to share some tips and ideas. But tell us about flying.   being, you know, flying hornets, like just kind of give us a quick like one or two stories because I'm dying to hear about that.   speaker-1 (02:30) Sure. Yeah. So I like my family is all CPAs. My dad's a CPA brother, cousins. And I, that wasn't what I wanted to do growing up. You know, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. So I went off to college, Navy paid for it, which is a super deal. And then I, then I owed them some time after that, of course. off the flight school, um, did an operational tour.   and F-18s as a West Coast guy. And that's where we went over to Persian Gulf, over Iraq and all that. And ⁓ after that, I was an instructor pilot on the F-18. So that was definitely my favorite part of my service was teaching the young pilots how to actually use the F-18 as a weapon system and landed on the carrier, which was ⁓ probably obviously my favorite part of naval aviation.   pretty exhilarating. Could be incredibly stressful too, especially at nighttime. And I think there's definitely a few stories where I was just absolutely terrified because the weather was terrible. ⁓ There's nowhere else to land. The ship's rocking around and you literally have to figure it out or you're not gonna see the next day. And it's all gonna be happening in seven minutes. It's very...   So it really, grows you up really fast. And I think, you know, after close to 11 years, my wife and I were ready for, you know, a little more normalcy in our life. moved off to private industry. My wife's ⁓ a nurse. She's been in healthcare for 25 years. ⁓ But in terms like the, like what the Navy did for me and how I apply that to business is you,   learn to assimilate a lot of data, complex data, and hash out what you really need to know so you can execute in a very timely manner. there's a lot of noise. You learn how to disregard that and boil it down to some key action items that'll get you through the mission. And that's how I approach business ownership myself.   And I am definitely not the typical CPA. My value is not that I can no account, like I'm the best accountant in the world, not far from it. But I do know how to run a business and systemize. being a business leader is a completely separate skillset from being a clinician. And I see that, I get it. And the reports...   that you mentioned is those full color dashboard style reports that practice profitability analysis. That is straight from my Navy background. It just serve up what you need to know. Here it is. Here's the checklist, so to speak, so that you can make it happen. that's a bit of my background and where I came from. I co-founded HDA accounting group with my dad, in 2009. So we were the two owners for a long time. And then   for your listeners out there that perhaps use us, they'll know Courtney for sure. She's our tax partner. We made her a partner just over three years ago, which was probably one of the best decisions we ever made. She's wonderful. The clients love her. So there's three owners on one of them. And I spend the bulk of my time meeting new doctors, doing like what we're doing right now, and then spending time with our clients, trying to help them make money, make more money.   speaker-0 (06:10) For sure. That's fun. love that you shared. mean, thinking about trying to fly and land a plane, one that would be hard and then try to put it on a moving target and wish you luck. And if you don't make it, you're dead. And so just the, was like, wow, that's kind of like tax deadline, right? Like you're like so stressed and advanced to get there.   speaker-1 (06:29) It puts stress in perspective. Your hardest day in accounting, death is not on the table.   speaker-0 (06:31) I bet it does.   So   this might not be something you want to talk about so we can always cut this part of the podcast if need be Like were you ever really in combat or did you get a primarily be away from that? So thank you for your service. I'm just always curious. Like how was that?   speaker-1 (06:48) It was limited exposure. So back then when I was there, it was still operation Southern watch. So it was not full blown conflict. However, ⁓ they did not want us there. They would shoot at you. ⁓ they were scared to turn on their radars. So they would not typically engage with missiles, the more deadly type of anti-aircraft threat that we would face. They're too scared to turn them on because we would have ⁓   countermeasures to do with that. they would just, they would shoot like artillery at us. And so you would just, you could like barely see, you knew it was there and it was sort of concerning because you're a couple hundred miles in Tyrak. Like if anything happens, you're not going to receive a warm welcome, know, eject or something. So it was definitely had your attention. I remember that my first mission was at night. I was, you know, I had butterflies.   just because we're like all the almost all the way to Baghdad at night. You're on night vision goggles. It's a big strike package. Like the biggest thing I'd ever done before your aerial refueling over Kuwait, both inbound and outbound a lot going on. And, you know, while we're on this topic before these types of missions, you're in a brief for two to three hours ahead of time. There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of things you really need to know. But when you get in the jet,   you have a knee board card where you write stuff down, you have a strike packet, but you've got a very finite amount of time to put some notes. And that's where you get really good at cutting through the noise and putting down like this, no matter what, I need to know this. And that is how I approach the business. You know, with that report we prepare monthly, but also like when the COVID crisis went down last,   March. I think we all remember it very well. It was very scary and we didn't know what was going to happen. We're getting shut down. We got sent home. The dentist got completely shut down. So I, know, when, when you're stressed, one thing I learned in the Navy was you need to, to, they had a term for it, compartmentalization. You need to put that in a compartment and then   speaker-0 (08:53) Right.   speaker-1 (09:12) get out your compartment that is your training and what you know how to do. And you just got to focus on doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done. And so I started putting out content, I use constant contact to reach out to all our doctors and just giving them updates on the crisis saying, is all noise, concentrate on this, do this. Like PPP is coming on, this rapidly changing massive government program.   At the height of the crisis, I was putting those out maybe every third day. There were times when I was getting 40 to 50 emails an hour from clients. Yeah, everyone's like, what do I do? So I would hear from people, like my friends, they're like, oh, know, the COVID, you're getting like lots of house projects done. I said, no. I'm working 12 hours a   speaker-0 (09:55) I'm sure, because it was terrifying.   speaker-1 (10:11) I never worked harder. but that was, that was how I generated those newsletters was cut, through the noise, do these action items and then standby. so that was, I have a lot of very positive feedback on that. And I owe a lot of that just to my Navy experience, cause that's how we did things.   speaker-0 (10:31) That's such an interesting way Morgan of just kind of how you're combining your worlds. I mean, my undergrad was marriage and family therapy.   And then I now coach a bunch of dentists and I'm like, feel like half the time I'm talking to you about your personal life to help with your business.   speaker-1 (10:45) I'm sure that comes up.   speaker-0 (10:47) So I am curious though you talk about I love that you brought up the the examples and the conversation of That you had to just cut through and see the things that are the most important you have a two or three hour debriefing and you've really got to know your most important things because honestly Truly at that point in my opinion it is life and death and so I would imagine not that we're gonna have the same Comparison with a practice of life and death. Sometimes it can get that way. What do you feel are the most? important metrics or numbers or data   that a practice should be knowing you have all this accounting information, you work with hundreds of dentists. ⁓ Obviously I've got my opinions, but like this is where you're the expert on this. So tell me kind of what are the main key factors that if I could only watch so many items on my practice, what should I really be watching to make sure that I'm a successful practice?   speaker-1 (11:33) So first and foremost, the number that I think not every just practice owner, any business owner, what they need to know, I think at all times is what is their profit margin? And I hear stories from clients, you they're at Starbucks or whatever with their colleagues and they'll use someone else as an account firm and they'll ask their friend, what's your overhead on your practice? And they'll say, I don't know.   And they're horrifying. Like how could you not know what your overhead is? Totally. First and foremost, and just to clarify as a CPA, I think in terms of margin, sometimes dentists think in terms of overhead, we're kind of about the same number, you know, a 40 % margin, 60 % overhead. So you have to know your profit margin. And that's not just being greedy or just trying to count the dollars. If you think about a business, owning a business is difficult.   It's stressful. It's risky. All of our doctors signed a personal guarantee on probably a half million dollar note or thereabouts. If they bought the real estate, it could be a seven figure note. That's very stressful. if you're, and then you have employees, which is if we're going to talk current events and some frustrations, we could definitely talk about some staffing, but you have all these responsibilities and challenges and risks.   If the profit is not there, like why are you doing this? Why own a business if you do not receive the corresponding financial reward that should accompany taking that risk and taking on that workload? like profit margin hands down, you have to know that. Then you also, I think, need to know what's influencing profit margin. And that is the equation for profit margin, okay?   is total revenue, less expenses divided by total revenue. ⁓ So there's two sides of that, like revenue and expenses. So what impacts profit? Well, we can definitely look at the expense side. How much are we spending? Do we have any categories that are maybe, maybe we're overspending. So that's one thing to consider. other thing to consider is the revenue.   Are we collecting enough money? Totally. That can be influenced by your fee schedule. Inflation is real this year. to consider. But I think the bigger challenge specific to our industry, the private dental practices, is collections. If you do the production and that doesn't ultimately result in some timely collection, that is going to erode a profit margin very quickly.   So if profit is low, I I think people are predisposed to ask where my overspending totally what's preventing me from having that. And in my opinion, more often than not, it's because they're not collecting money. And we see that because like most CPA firms are pretty tax oriented. They want to do a tax return, maybe do some tax planning. The bookkeeping is sort of, as long as somebody does it and gives us a P and L we can, we can do, but that's not how we do. ⁓   certainly do tax planning and tax returns, but we have to have up-to-date data all year. And the intent of that is to, you if we have to have this data for taxes, why not use it along the way and make as much money as we can? So where I'm going with this is if you have a CPA who's fairly tax oriented, all of our clients and your clients, they have pass-through entities, whether that's an S-corp or partnership or sole proprietor. So they pay tax on their individual or joint personal tax return. That's done on a cash basis.   because of that, most CPAs, don't care about AR. Right. whatever's in dentrics or open dental, forget it. Like they don't care because it doesn't impact their world. Every month we ask for the total production collection. And I want to see what the AR aging looks like. Not that it has anything to do with, it'll never hit their books. It'll never hit their taxes, but it is on page one of our practice profit analysis because   If we're trying to diagnose a low profit margin, we have to know if the practices collected money and the AR aging is what's going to tell us. So that is it's profit margin. You got to know some expense benchmarks and you have to watch the AR aging. Those are the top three. ⁓   speaker-0 (16:03) Yep.   Mm-hmm. I totally agree and I love that you said that because ironically I just came back from a practice and they had multiple partners in there and I didn't feel like I was super savvy on business at all when I started I think most people who start businesses I didn't know what a KPI was I didn't know what overhead meant I didn't know and then I always was puzzled how I could be making quote-unquote so much money But I would never see any of this money and I think a lot of us get puzzled with that we say like well I'm running this much revenue   But why do I feel like I'm always broke or I don't have any money? I hear it constantly. And so I was just in a practice the other day because my first two years of business, I literally made less than a Starbucks barista and I was flying all the time. I would travel over 300 days a year. And I'm like, I'm fine to be a Starbucks barista. If I'm working half days, I'm home every day. I'm going to yoga every single day. Like I'm totally fine with that salary, but I'm working like 90 to a hundred hours a week. Plus I'm traveling. I'm destroying my body.   Like where is this money going? It doesn't make any sense. And so that's where I really got fascinated with overhead and really learning more about the business. But I was just at a practice, they have five partners and I asked all of them, said, what's your overhead? And none of them could tell me. And then they told me they're only checking their margins and their profitability about once a year. And I said, what? Like that is where I feel. And so was interesting because we were hired to come help their team and to help all these different pieces. And I thought, you know,   That's really interesting because they're having a hard time making decisions and agreeing because they don't have the dashboard of information that they need to have. And that's what I feel your KPIs, your overhead, having really, really good financials of a practice help you make smarter decisions. And that's what I'm about of we can make decisions all day long, but why fly blind? Like for you, like, let's go back to flying planes. You can fly a plane blind. You absolutely could. You're probably not going to get great results with it, but you could do it.   speaker-1 (18:09) be   a short, short duration.   speaker-0 (18:11) Right, which I also think is very equivalent to running a practice blind is it can be a very short duration and so watching those numbers I also think it gives you less stress as an owner It helps you be a better boss because you know, can I give this person a raise? Can we hire another person? Also, are we collecting the money doctors? Like if you're producing you should be collecting money for what you're doing I would hate to go do a job Morgan I'm sure you're the same way go do a job where I do the work, but I don't get paid to do the work that just feels   Insanity to me and so I love that you guys as a CPA firm Make sure that your practices know these numbers It's right in the line with what we do all of our clients have to know their numbers and if they don't know their numbers They're going to learn them very quickly because me as a consultant me as a coach I'm flying blind if I don't know what dials to turn you're constantly turning levers hoping to fix the problem But not ever addressing the problem at core   speaker-1 (19:02) I totally agree. And every time I have a visit with one of our doctors and I don't hold myself out there as a coach. But anytime we go over the practice profitability analysis, sometimes they'll sort of head that direction a little bit. ⁓ And because the answer, sometimes they can see the numbers, but they don't necessarily know how to tie it together. And so I try to have...   break it down into one or two action items. Because it is a dental practice owner, they really have finite time to work on their practice. They have their time as a clinician, time as the business leader, time as, should carve out some time to be the CEO. But there's finite time. So if we're gonna dedicate some of that valuable time to improve profit, I think they need to be given.   one or two key action items, use that valuable time on this, because it'll make a difference. sure. So that's, again, another added benefit of having some data is you can, I think, be more effective in your limited time.   speaker-0 (20:12) Agreed. And I will say that I love this because, I was like two years into being an owner before I even knew I should be looking at these things. Also, as an office manager, I did not know I should be looking at these items and that I could directly impact them as a team member. I didn't realize as a team member, I could be impacting overhead and that I could help with profitability of the practice because I will promise you, team members, a profitable practice does more things for their teams. They're able to help more patients and they're able to be more secure with their employees.   Those offices who are highly profitable were not stressing as much through COVID. Their teams were more secure. The offices who were not profitable, they were in hot water, they were scared, they were closing down doors, they were making very rash decisions. And so I think it just helps you keep, like you said, a more level head. So I think it's a big important step of number one, making sure you have a really good CPA and you can outgrow your CPAs. I talked to a lot of clients and sometimes they outgrow their CPA, maybe their friend, their neighbor.   Like guys, that's who I had. had a neighbor friend who was helping me at the beginning and I outgrew that CPA. They didn't know how to run a multi-level business with lots of different factors that I was bringing in. They'd never had a consulting client. And so making sure you work with a CPA who knows your world ⁓ is one of the biggest things that I would suggest. And it's hard because sometimes we go to church with them or we see them at the little league game. But I'm really big on if my CPA is going to give me my guide for my business.   I think it is my moral responsibility to make sure I have a CPA that I can trust, that gives me the correct information in a timely manner, and that way I can actually steer my business in the correct way versus just guessing all the time. So I don't think it's ever too late to get a really good CPA and to use that. And that's something I love about HDA. You guys have some of the most gorgeous reports. The reason I found out about you guys as a company is because one of my offices came to me with all the reports when I was asking these.   the items of how's your AR, how's your overhead? And they're like, actually, this is what my CPA gives me. And I was like, who is this company? And I literally like, I ripped your name off the top of their report and stuck it in my planner, like my little notebook that I had from the office. And I'm like, I need to look into this company. So that's how I actually found out about you guys. So I will say your reports are stunning. So Morgan, if people want to just even talk to you guys to see if you're a good fit for them, they're wanting to know more about their business, making sure they know how profitable they are.   How's the best way for them to connect with you? What do you guys do for Dennis?   speaker-1 (22:33) So I visit with all the dentists, you know, if they're looking to make a change, I'll do those personally. And they could either email me or on our website, there's like multiple places where they can set an initial consultation. I am a firm believer. So myself, my leadership team, all our calendars are public on our website. So there is no gatekeeper. If somebody has a question and wants to run it by me, for example, you know, once they're a client, they can email me.   very serious about email response, like same day. ⁓ Sometimes you need to talk those. Sometimes an email doesn't do it. So we have these 10 minute, 10, 20 minute appointment blocks that anybody can set anytime something's on their mind. So you can also do that with the initial consultation. Those come to me and I do those. So my email, it's just, it's easy. It's Morgan at Morgan@HDAGroupDental.com   speaker-0 (23:29) I'm   sure you guys got that that's H is in house D is in dental A is in Academy HDA So that way it's really clear of this company's name   speaker-1 (23:37) HDAGroupDental.com. That's also our website. So yeah, they could email me, jump on there, make an appointment. I can visit with them. What we specialize in, and this goes along with the discussion you just had on knowing your business, we're very disciplined in staying in a very narrow niche. Because I get asked all the time, why don't you, are you going to do a veterinarian and these other verticals? And the answer is absolutely not.   We know dental practices inside and out. And when you're looking through the soda straw, so to speak, in a very particular niche, we have deep knowledge just in this one industry. it puts us in a position to really be able to help our clients very quickly and very meaningfully. I can't imagine.   being a CPA in public practice where you just sort of have one of everything. I just can't think of a worse existence. So we're very disciplined and staying in our lane. It is private dental practice owners, those owner operator practices that that's who we support. And we have clients just about every state, know, and so we're real adept at working remote. Cool. And staying in touch and making sure that the clients know we're responsive to what's on their mind.   they need.   speaker-0 (24:57) That's amazing.   really love that. And just to clarify, guys, I did not know accounting world. I still don't feel like I do. So Morgan, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's bookkeeping, which kind of reconciles your books. Then there's your CPA who does like tax filing for you. They also make sure that you're within like you guys have it in the correct categories. And then you have your tax planning, which is a completely different world. And then you can also have a financial advisor as far as investments.   your 401ks, your trusts, your funds, all of that. Is that correct? Like, have I gotten?   speaker-1 (25:27) Yeah,   no, you've got it just right. it's actually a really good thing to discuss. And I talk about it on every time I meet a doctor, the first time I try to explain this very carefully. Because one question I'll get is, all right, it's whether it's our firm or anyone else. The question I will get is, so if HDA, if I decide that's a good fit and I come with you guys, who's my person? Yep.   And the answer is there is not one person you actually get three because one person can't do it all. So it starts just like you said, the bookkeeping, sometimes that gets called accounting too. It's really referring to the same thing. It is tracking all the dollars, doing all the reconciliations, preparing financial statements. But that is done. Every one of our clients gets assigned a staff account.   and we like to have a lot of permanence there as much as we can. So they just get to know the practice inside and out. We know where they're buying everything. ⁓ And so the coding's all very accurate and the clients get to know the staff account, but that's all gonna be transactional related. They're gonna do the reconciliations, prepare the work papers, assemble the practice profit analysis and deliver it. When the client has questions, like you mentioned earlier, why do I feel like I'm working myself to death and the bank balance is flat?   That is not going to be a question for the staff account. That's with me or Lauren Dunn, also a CPA, former auditor, really excellent account, better account than me. She's a fabulous account. So she and I do the practice profitability analysis calls and talk about the financials. Then as you pointed out, when it comes to tax, totally separate skillset. And at our firm, that's led by Courtney, our tax partner, our team of senior tax advisors.   And that they do both the tax returns and the tax planning. So those two are very separate, but they're done by the same folks because it requires that skillset. So the tax planning is absolutely the most challenging thing we do because as you know, revenue and expenses change every month. ⁓ It's a very equipment heavy industry. So somebody finally pulls the trigger on that Sarek machine they've been thinking about in November.   speaker-0 (27:35) Yep.   speaker-1 (27:45) That can change things overnight in a hurry. So we look at everybody's tax situation quarterly. And in quarter one, we don't really know what's going to happen during the year. If I could pick accurately choose every peak and valley. A lot of money. a client's revenue curve, I wouldn't be a CPA. I would day trade.   speaker-0 (28:03) On a-   I would too.   speaker-1 (28:11) But what we can do is just take a look, a reasonable look, how's the practice doing at this point? And what is a reasonable estimate that we could make to keep people on track, avoid those under deposit penalties. So that's quarter one and quarter two. Quarter three, which we're just wrapping up now, and then quarter four, that is where we have much more hard data, where we can do some more accurate forecasting.   to see where we are and then just make sure we're checking the box on all those tax strategies. We don't want to leave any money on the table unnecessarily, but we want to make sure everybody's prepared. So we're having those discussions now. We're letting people know now what we think the 2021 tax liability is going to be like seven months in advance. So there's lots of time to plan. It's never awesome news. Every successful practice.   you're going to have some type of effective tax rate no matter who you are. And if you're making big money, know, those can be big numbers. ⁓ We do what we can to mitigate that as an avoid as much tax as possible. But at end of the day, we still got to do some planning ahead. that's tax planning. And then when it gets into the business coaching and consulting that is outside of our   area of expertise and into yours. If it is financial planning, we don't do the financial planning that goes into a separate ⁓ level of expertise. That's very helpful. Yeah, we're all part of the team of advisors, but the monthly accounting, the profitability advising, and the tax and tax planning, that's our world.   speaker-0 (29:48) Fantastic because I wanted and I'm so grateful you broke this down because I will be honest when I thought I hired a CPA I thought they did everything and I think that's a very common misconception I didn't realize there were four people to this just like I learned with marketing. There's not just a marketer There is a brand or there is this there's this there's like SEO and I thought wow, I just didn't understand So I think it's really important for people to differentiate because I was getting frustrated with my CPA not giving me tax advice But at the end of the day, that's not what they specialize in   So as soon as I figured that out, because I'm like, why am I always feeling like I'm being hit with these huge tax bills? Because my CPA can tell me what my taxes are, and they're really good at preparing that. But as far as tax strategy and planning and figuring it all out, that's not necessarily their world. And so once I finally differentiated that, they all work hand in hand, things got a lot clearer for me as a business owner. So guys, make sure you're looking at that. Do you have somebody who's a really fantastic bookkeeper keeping all your books super clear?   Do have somebody who you can talk to about like, I don't feel like I'm making any money. Are you getting consistent reports every single month? I am a big believer in Morgan. sounds like you're the same way. Every month I feel like you should be getting your financials. Then do you have somebody who's doing your tax strategy? I used to somebody call me in November and tell me what my tax bill was or beginning of December. Like November was generous. It usually was the first week of December and I'd cry my eyes out every single year. Just because I'm like, how did we not prepare for this? We've had, you know, 11 months and now we're on month 12.   speaker-1 (30:57) Absolutely.   speaker-0 (31:15) It was very stressful for me as an entrepreneur and a business owner. So I love that you said you guys do tax planning earlier. I'm a big believer, like you're right, it's gonna fluctuate, but at least kind of having a plan starting mid-year, then touching base right before Q4, because there's a lot of things that can be done and I can make smarter decisions with more time and then moving into financial planning. So that was insanely helpful. I love the reports you guys do. I'm a huge advocate of the reports you guys do. I think they're gorgeous and they're so helpful.   So guys, would definitely recommend, if you like your CPA, rock on, keep them. Like I said, I have about three that we recommend and HDA is one of them. So if you're considering it, I think it's a great time. We're not into Q4 yet. And so it's a great time. Now is a time that you can change, get those things kind of squared away. That way you have really great, great just direction and guidance. So Morgan, it was such a fun conversation with you today. Thank you for podcasting with me. Thanks for your knowledge. love it.   speaker-1 (32:09) I really enjoyed it. We covered a lot of good stuff.   speaker-0 (32:12) We did. So guys, go check them out. And if nothing else, make sure you know your practice profitability. I'd say if you don't know that set that as a 2021 or 2022 goal, because the sooner you have that information, even if it's bad, that's okay. cause then you can start making correct changes. If it's great, fantastic. You can make ⁓ even smarter decisions. So I would just challenge everyone listening. If you're an office manager and you don't know your practice profitability, find out.   That way you can help. really suggest team members should also know office overhead. That way they know how they can help guide it and it's not just one person trying to do it. So Morgan, it was a pleasure guys. Go check him out. HDA accounting group. Check him out. They specialize in dentists. They work in all the states. So Morgan, thank you for your time today. I super appreciate it.   speaker-1 (32:53) It was my pleasure. I really enjoyed being here. Thank you.   Kiera Dent (32:55) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine.   to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene   onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be   re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Tiff and Kristy shine a light on key performance indicators that won't just propel a dental practice to success, but any business. This includes knowing your numbers (stop treating them like the bogeyman!), locking in production, case acceptance, and diagnosis. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be here with you today. You guys know that we love podcasting. I hope we have a ton of newbies here who don't even know who we are. I say that because our reach at Dental A Team is something that we are intentional about and intentful on expanding further than you guys can even imagine. So something that we are very intentional about at Dental A Team is looking at how many lives have we impacted.   and how many lives can we impact. And we know that dentistry is vast, business is vast, so we also know we have some listeners here who aren't even in the dental industry, but just business owners in general. We love that and we wanna welcome all of you. So all of you who are here today that have been listeners for a long time, welcome and thank you so much. All of you who have shared these podcasts with others, thank you so much because you are helping us serve our mission.   And for those of you who are new, know that Dental A Team is mission full and mission forward and we are here to help support you in the best ways possible. So welcome everyone. Today's topic is gonna be super fun. But first, let's welcome Kristy to the show. Kristy, how are you today, my dear? Thank you for being here. It's a Tuesday afternoon for us, so it's a little wild for a podcasting day, but how are you doing over there today?   The Dental A Team (01:17) Doing good. Hey, ⁓ we had a big warm up and now we're kind of on the downside of it. So the weather's perfect and couldn't complain. And I get to spend time with you.   The Dental A Team (01:28) I agree. I know I do love podcast days. So this   one's a long time coming. This one was a long time coming and it's true. We definitely were both in Phoenix. The Phoenix area, I should say. Everybody always says, where are you? And they're like, is that Phoenix? Like, it's all Phoenix. So we are in the Phoenix area and it definitely got warm really, really early, probably two months earlier than normal for the, for the,   temperatures that we were experiencing. So we've definitely felt like, gosh, we hit summer really early, but we're getting a little snippet of springtime right here around the corner. So I agree. I'm very, very excited for this cool down we're experiencing. With that, I think that's actually like a really good thought process to start on. We have our warms, we have our cools, and with quarter one having, you know, it's behind us at this point, really looking forward to see what the other three quarters look like.   Was that a warmup for you? Was it cool down? We have some practices that are onboarding right now, some new practices that are onboarding to Dental A Team that are like, gosh, I've been in a cool down or they're about to onboard because they're in conversations with us and we've had kind of a cool down for that first quarter, meaning maybe we're not tracking quite as well towards our goals as we could be, but I've got a few practices. I talked to one specifically just today that is in a massive warmup and   Kristy, I'm gonna brag for a second. I saw them just a weeks ago in person and we did our in-person visit and we, gosh, it was our first one ever and the team was just phenomenal. They jumped on board. The doctors were just floored at how well the team jumped on board with the goals. They've never talked goals before. I increased them by quite a bit, by like 17%. I said, you guys can do this. I know what you're capable of and you know what, Kristy, as of last   Friday, which there's still two days left in the month technically for them. They were 82 % towards their goal and they were $20,000 ahead of any month yet this year. So, it was just really cool and I brag about that and I talk about that because I want you guys to know the possibilities and one of the things that we did, I told them today, I said the best part about what we do is that we make small tweaks in areas that make massive differences. We're not completely overhauling anything.   we're saying what can we tweak in the best way possible to get a different result than what we're getting. And what we tweaked, one of the biggest pieces that we tweaked was looking at the numbers. They they weren't looking at them. And I remember in January or December, they said, Tiffanie, how are you gonna promise us that we're more profitable? And I said, well, what does more profitable mean? And they were like, well, we're making more profit. I said, well, what profit did you make? They were like, well, don't know.   Okay, well how do we know if we're making more if we don't know what we made? And so really just focusing in and being intentional about looking at the numbers and looking at where we've been and where we can go. It opened their eyes to really even see the possibility because I increased them slightly and it's going to be a massive difference for them and their numbers. And so   I say that, Kristy, I think your warmup and your cool down kind of gave me a little spur of excitement there because we definitely see those seasonalities within dentistry and business ownership too. And something I think that keeps us on track no matter what seasonality we're in is really focusing in and looking at those top KPIs at least. So we can dive and we can go minute and track the smallest things and that's fine too.   But I wanna talk today about really those top four KPIs that every business owner should be looking at. And I can say business owner because realistically, it transfers to any business. I know people who are in, like I've helped chiropractors before, we've helped eye doctors. I've talked with financial advisors about their businesses and marketing companies. they're so, all of it kind of transfers very seamlessly. It's the systems behind it that gets you there that are different for dental.   Kristy, with all of those words that I have said, welcome to the show, sorry for stealing it all. What do you feel like, if I were to say top two KPIs, what would your first two KPIs for any business owner to track really look like? What would they be?   The Dental A Team (05:47) Yeah. Well, I think it has to start with what do we need? What do we need to cover the bills for the month? Because that's our first benchmark, right? Otherwise, all of the numbers are just numbers. We don't really know where we're going. It's funny that you were talking about that TIF because my mind went to, I don't know why in dentistry it's so taboo to talk numbers, but literally, could you imagine if you had to pay your bills for the month and you never opened your bank account?   The Dental A Team (06:16) Yeah, I mean, I've done it and it's really scary. It's stressful. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (06:17) I just, yeah, it's like, is there enough to cover it? Yeah. So   definitely I think the number one benchmark has to know what's our BAM that we have to go for, and then we can start digging into what are our goals to get there.   The Dental A Team (06:36) Yeah, I totally agree. I totally agree. And by bam, she means bare ace minimum, you guys. What does it take to pay those bills and to keep the business thriving? So your bare minimum comes prior to your loans, prior to your owner pay, really prior to savings, right? Prior to profiting. So this is like, if I were to sell today's business, my business today, I was to sell this company to someone else, what are the financial obligations that they would take on?   That's going to be your employee costs, your marketing, your supplies, your rent, all of those pieces, your top line overhead and really figuring that out. And then adding into that, what does it look like to pay my loans, to pay my debt, to pay myself and to profit on top of that? So you get your bare minimum. Yes, I can survive. And then you get your thrive. How do I thrive? How do I pay for the things that and the lifestyle that I want? Now that's my goal.   including some profit to add back into the business later or savings, you know, for those rainy days, for those compressors that go out, all of those fun pieces, making sure we've got that in savings. So I totally agree. Making sure that that benchmark is there and that's going to be your collections, right? But it also transfers right directly back into your production. So those give you your top two KPIs right there where it's your finances. So we're looking at   What do we need to collect? What does my bank account need to have deposited every month in order to thrive? And then within my production, how do I ensure that comes? Now, Kristy, something I see practices do, which I don't necessarily disagree with, I think that it just makes it more difficult than it needs to be, is to track for collections. And so in the huddle, they're like, okay, we need X amount more in collections. The reason that I have opinions on that and is   is because we don't have as much control over the collections as we do over the production. Now, over the counter collections and what our patients owe us, we do. We have control over that, we can get it. And we have some control over insurance to the extent that we're following up, we're submitting and following up correctly, but their timeline to pay us, we have no control over that. So on a Monday, I mean, I've put in myself $80,000 worth of insurance checks on a Monday.   and then gone three weeks like, my gosh, when are we seeing more money? Because it fluctuates so much. So I think having that collections mindset is one piece, but translating that into, okay, great, now we need to know how much production it's going to take in order to collect that amount. ⁓ It seems to translate. Do you feel the same, Kristy? And have you seen that too?   The Dental A Team (09:20) Yeah, 100 % tip, I support that. ⁓ Always we're gaining or we're looking to have that 98 % or higher. That's just kind of a given. But truly the production is where we need to keep our eye to get there. absolutely 100%.   The Dental A Team (09:38) Yeah, and I think when we talk about other businesses, so dental is production and collections, but in any business, it's revenue, right? Revenue generated and still again, collections, right? So the revenue generated, the product sales, so you might be in product sales, know even like chiropractor kind of, those modalities, the medical field is still gonna maintain that production kind of collections thought process, but when you get outside of that,   you might be into a product sold and revenue generated situation, especially if you have credit card sales, because you're going to lose a percentage of that, or if you have payment plans that you offer trickles in maybe by quarter, your payments trickle in by quarter, those types of things are going to make it so that you're looking at both of those. And if you're getting payments,   even if you're like maybe an ortho practice, we have a lot of ortho practices that we work with or that we invite to listen to the podcast, right? You're likely doing some sort of in-house payment plans, which we definitely have a love hate for. So there are options around that, but a lot of ortho practices are still operating off that modality. And so they're trickling in monthly or quarterly payments and insurances are paying monthly or quarterly on those. So.   If we're only looking at the collections, we might find ourselves in a lag of production sometimes, which then generates a lag in collections later. And then we go, my gosh, let's write this wrong and we need to produce more to collect more. And we're constantly in this warm, cool toggle of back and forth seasonality within it. So I think you're right, focusing really in on the stability of both is gonna give them that headway that they need.   The Dental A Team (11:23) 100%. They go hand in hand, right? And so many times we're looking to bridge that gap with just collection. My front desk isn't collecting. And you're like, you're not producing.   The Dental A Team (11:31) Yeah. Yeah, yes.   Yes, I agree. I agree, which I think leads into a couple other really great KPIs. And one of them you made me think of is like the case acceptance, right? So I think case acceptance in it and all of these you guys should see that they kind of flow up into each other. So your case acceptance obviously flows straight into your production, flows into your collections.   And Kristy, what you just said made me think of case acceptance. And I want you to tell the team here, everyone listening, why what you just said was, collect more. My front office needs to collect more. And they're like, well, you're not producing. Why does case acceptance feel the same for me? Why did that make me think of that?   The Dental A Team (12:15) Yeah, because truly clinically, we've got to get our patients bought into the treatment and get them to saying yes to what we're prescribing for them. And that number really matters, the number that we're diagnosing, because again, if we're only diagnosing 50,000 for the month and we need to hit 100,000 for that goal, it doesn't matter how well we collect, we're not going to hit that target.   The Dental A Team (12:41) Absolutely. And we harp on the front office team, right, our treatment coordinators, call, call, call, get the schedule full, get the schedule full. But if they're not bought in, if the patients don't understand, and if the diagnosis isn't there. If we haven't diagnosed enough, so maybe even our treatment case acceptance is mediocre or high, you might have, ⁓ we'll say a low goal, right, a normal.   The Dental A Team (12:54) Yes.   The Dental A Team (13:06) practice goal, $100,000 a month, right? So nothing massive, just kind of your standard single doctor, maybe one to two hygiene goal, $100,000 a month, and you've diagnosed 40,000, and you're like, yeah, but my case acceptance is 72%. Stellar, stellar, you still have room to grow there, right? We've got some percentage to make up there, but also we need much more than $40,000 if we're hit a $100,000 a month benchmark. So I totally agree.   The Dental A Team (13:21) Yeah.   Yeah.   To that point, Tiff, that's why I always say people like to brag on that percentage. And it's true. At 72%, I would brag too. It tells me that the patients you're seeing really trust you because when you do recommend something, they accept it. However, I would much rather see you diagnosing 100,000 and getting 50 % than 72 of 40. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:01) I totally agree. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:04) Got it.   The Dental A Team (14:04) Yeah. And I think that that school of thought for me has been fairly recent within the recent, you know, five to seven years or so. I think when I was in practice and I was just in my day to day, I never thought too far outside of the case acceptance. And I think in dentistry, we really didn't, we harped on case acceptance. And that was like the big number and it was the big target and treatment coordinators were harped on. I mean, we were   battered on call, make more calls, get them to say yes. And it's like, gosh, we really did call everyone we can. And so that mindset I think has shifted in the recent years and it's still just as important. And then we're also looking at the pieces that get us to that point. So like you said, stellar, phenomenal case acceptance and what if you diagnosed more and still maintained that yes model.   that you've proven you can acquire.   The Dental A Team (15:01) Absolutely, Tiff. And I ⁓ also say in the case acceptance, if it's low, go back and look at your service mix. know, sometimes in dentistry, we're so used to looking for the problems that a lot of doctors say, well, I have healthy patients. have healthy patients. When's the last time you took a step back and celebrated that they're healthy and said, holy cow, this is the perfect time to see if you would love something changed about your smile?   And now you've diagnosed something cosmetic in changing their life too in that way.   The Dental A Team (15:35) I totally agree. Yeah. Yeah. I have a few practices. I think this happens often, especially I would say on practices that have been around for a long time and maybe a new doctor comes in or really we just have been doing things the way we've been doing them for a long time. And we dive in and we look at our perio percentage, right? So that's part of our diagnosis is also how much perio are we diagnosing and what's that case acceptance looking like. And we dive into that and oftentimes it's down like   to 10%, you know, and our goal is 30%. I usually say 25 to 30 % is a pretty healthy perio department and 25 to 30 % of perio or of hygiene should cover your production and to get there typically you need 25 to 30 % of that production to be perio is that definition there. So when perio is coming in at 10 % it's like, cool.   That tells me we've got a lot of really great opportunities right here in our own patient base. So what are we doing today that's kind of being nice to patients and appeasing ⁓ fear that we might be holding inside for them rather than being kind and diagnosing and telling them the truth on what their circumstances do look like? Are we appeasing and doing profis that should be?   that's our P's and periomaintenances. Are we doing a third pro fee because we're like, oh, it means something more. Are we doing periomaintenances and charging profies? And then still, we one to three scaling? Like all of these pieces, right? And then I have a couple of associate doctors that I love, associate dentists. I think they're so cool. I think they are some of the most coachable, sincere humans I've ever met. I don't know what it is about the associate space, but they're ready to learn.   The Dental A Team (17:05) Yep.   Great.   The Dental A Team (17:25) And I have a few that I've talked with. Kiera always says to diagnose one more thing. It doesn't mean make something up and find something. It just means if you have the mentality of what's one more thing, you're less likely to hold back on that large amalgam filling that's leaking into the body and saying, hey, yeah, we need to take that sucker out when you do a crown. You're less likely to watch something that you truly know needs to be diagnosed.   and just having that mindset changes the game. And I talked to a doctor today that he's increased his just we're not even done with the month yet. And he's increased his production average by almost $20,000 this month, this month. And I said, what changed? What's different? And he said, well, I've been taking a lot of pictures of those massive shadowy leaking amalgams and just showing my patients that and doing the diagnose one more thing. They're doing it. And I said,   Like you're just, it's so incredible. So it's not to say we hit the number, it's to say we're hitting the standards that we should be hitting with an dental practice, which means I'm treating my patients really freaking well. And that was just so cool to see today. that production leads to collections and that case acceptance and diagnosis leads to your production. And it really tells you some sincere stories within that.   in order to get case acceptance, in order to get diagnosis, unless you really do have, if you're a brand new to the office doctor, you just bought the practice, you got a lot of new patients, okay? I need to say that because a lot of you undervalue how many new patients you have. They're new to you. They maybe have been at that practice forever, but they're new to you and you are a new set of eyes. So take that into consideration.   And then for all of my practices, new patients are a massive piece of that. And Kristy, I think for me at least, tell me if you have a different one that you recommend because I love them all. But I think new patients really are that kind of icing, you know, that cherry on top, the icing on top of the cake piece that really pushes it all together. What do you feel about that?   The Dental A Team (19:44) Yeah, I love that you said that and we're giving them the cherry on top because we're just giving the fifth metric TIF. But with that being said, yes, one of my favorite things to look at is how many new patients you got and how many during that month actually got scheduled for a next appointment. So you're getting them, but sometimes they're leaking out the back door too. So take a look at that. You guys will be surprised. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:00) Yes. Yes, that's cute.   Yeah, I   totally agree. I totally agree. had a doctor yesterday text me and she said, what's our new patient reappointment rate goal supposed to be at and what's our reappointment goal supposed to be at? And I was like, heart eyes that there's two separate questions. It's not just reappointment, it's new patient versus re-care. And that was phenomenal because those two are very different things and we wanna make sure that the patients we're getting in, one are the right patients for our practice.   The Dental A Team (20:25) Good.   The Dental A Team (20:37) And two, we are getting them to schedule back. So I totally agree. I think your top four KPIs, production, collections, case acceptance slash diagnosis, and your new patients and your new patient retention is key. There's a ton, I think, that we could add. Like that just makes me go, okay, well, what about attrition? What about reappointment rate? What about, like, there's so many more that we can add in. But for our newbies that are new to numbers.   Those four KPIs will get you so far for a while. I'd say focus in on those.   The Dental A Team (21:13) Yeah, I was going say we never drop those ones, right? They always stay at the top. So they are the key foundation. And again, it gives you peace of mind that it's not just going off of a feeling. We know when we're succeeding. And if we're not, then we have the power to change it.   The Dental A Team (21:31) Absolutely. think with that, right, Kristy, knowing where your new patients are coming from is also a tangible piece because I want to know that my patients referred to me. Like I want to know that I'm doing well because I'm getting, I'm hitting my numbers. So I know I'm doing well there and my patients respect me and love me and want their friends and family to come to a safe dentist. And they're referring back to our practice. That's the highest compliment you could get.   The Dental A Team (22:00) agree.   It's like full circle, right? You know you've tied it in a bow when they're referring back to you because they love you. Yep.   The Dental A Team (22:00) I agree. Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Yeah, yeah, I love it. Awesome. I hope you guys found this helpful. Your top four KPIs, and we slid some extras in there. I like to do that. Production, collections, case acceptance, and diagnosis. New patients and new patient retention. Those are all gonna be really, really sincerely so helpful for you. If you're already doing those and you're like, okay, cool, girls, what can I add on to that? Awesome, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We are always here to help our team of   Experts will answer all of those emails and just so you know most of those emails come straight to us as well and that we might not be the one who types the answer but the questions come over to us so we can ensure that you get the answer that we would have given you personally. You can also chat with us anytime. Head over to our website, TheDentalATeam.com. There's an option there for a free consultation with our team to really see and evaluate where you're at, where you can go, and what gaps are in between. So whether you're working with us now,   working with us in the future or just a forever listener, we are here for you and we wanna hear from you. So, Kristy, thank you so much for diving into those with me today. I know metrics are your jam. You guys should see her spreadsheet. We have our own spreadsheets. We have two spreadsheets that we use. We have our own in-house spreadsheet. We have our scorecards we use with our practices and Kristy has her own scorecard that she uses with all of her practices. So if you need metrics helps, Kristy, you're the girl.   Just, I think you thrive in numbers and I love it.   The Dental A Team (23:37) Thank you. It's fun because you can gamify it, you know, and I want people to have fun with it. Don't ever think it's a bad thing. If you know you have knowing the game, right, then you can fix it. So thank you.   The Dental A Team (23:50) Yeah,   I agree. You're welcome, thank you. You've taught us all a ton. And you guys, that's a wrap for right now. We've got more podcasts to come, so hit that subscribe button. If you haven't hit it yet, you'll get notified when there's new ones that pop up. I come on with the consultants often, but Kiera does a slew of podcasts on her own and with special guests, so watch out for those. We have a lot of really cool people that hop on our podcasts with us. So Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, subscribe here.   Give us a five star review below. We'd love to know what metrics you're already watching and what metrics you add after today. Thanks guys and we'll talk to you next time.  

Kiera is a guest on The Zero Balance Podcast with John Stamper! She and John discuss the advancement of software over the past few years, and why the current culmination — artificial intelligence — isn't something to be skittish around in your practice.  Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my most   incredible episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   John (00:19) What's going on everybody. Welcome to another episode here on The ZeroBalance podcast brought to you by the team at Quanta Suite. Very excited to keep this thing going. Uh, our last conversations and episodes crazy to think it's 2026 already were at the Dykma conference. And I had the privilege of spending time, not only with the Quanta Suite team, but also a lot of great individuals that came on the podcast and talked about what they were seeing in that case, it was in the DSO space. Uh, I'm very excited today to   be with Kiera Dent from the Dental A team. I've known Kiera for many years. We were actually just talking before we came on here live. ⁓ she is doing a lot along with her team to help dental practices, take things to the next level. she's been in dental for many, many years. And so we're going to have a conversation today, ⁓ kind of around all things AI and automation and love to have her, you know, kind of share with all of you what she's seeing, you know, her and her team are working with dental practices on a daily basis. And obviously, you know, the Qantas suite team is, is creating.   their software in an effort to be able to support practices in the RCM world. But Kiera, it's such great to have you here. How you doing?   Kiera (01:26) Oh my gosh, John, it's great to see you again. And I love chatting about all things dentistry. I love having the last name dent. I love dental. love AI. love, um, it's crazy. Dental A Team hits 10 years old this year, which is like absolutely wild. Uh, 2026, I was getting ready to, know, writing my goals out and I was like, Oh my gosh, I turned 40. My husband turns 40. We've been married for 15 years and Dental A Team hits 10 years this year. So   ⁓ and I bring that up only because like, it's like a trifecta of a cool year for me. ⁓ but I think as you were discussing, like being in dental consulting for 10 years, having worked in front office teams, having worked at a dental college, having owned dental practices, having bought and sold, having consulted like 300 plus offices physically, ⁓ watching the DSO emerge, watching AI come in. I just think it's really like such a fun time for us to be in dentistry and so many great advancements and, yeah.   In Dental A Team, we are obsessed with doctors and teams, like getting them aligned, getting them streamlined, helping dentists be like CEOs and owners of their practices. We love ⁓ Josh, we love what he's building in DCS and now in Qantas. We think that they're doing some really fun, incredible things. And Dental A Team, we're just really big on, I think, streamlining dental practices, helping them say yes to more things. So getting them in their vision, getting financially free and profitable.   and then getting systems and team development to support that. And AI is definitely being a big player. And I think dentistry is, it's so fun because it's been such a, like, I think slow roll on evolution in certain ways. Sometimes I think we are very archaic. My husband's in healthcare and medicine and he's like, wait, that's your guys' software. I'm like, don't judge. I know it's a little dated. He's like, they didn't even have that when I started my career 15 years ago. ⁓ But I think,   to watch dentistry evolve into AI and automations and different things. I think we are in such a special time. So yeah, we work with solo practices. We work with multi practices. We work with emerging DSOs. We work with DSOs. We've got consulting for kind of a broad spectrum and kind of our sweet side, like two to five to $10 million practice. ⁓ We definitely have built a lot of things that can help multi offices, but yeah, we really love those offices that are obsessed about team, about culture and about.   just positively impacting the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So John, super excited to talk about it. I feel like we just have like so much knowledge to bring to the table and just rift and discuss and give your listeners hopefully a fresh, fun, positive perspective on the world of AI dentistry and of course bringing team and doctor perspectives to the table for you today.   John (04:03) Well, thanks for sharing that. you can see, everybody, Kiera comes with a ton of energy, but it is rooted, as she mentioned, in years of experience in this industry. And here's where I wanted to start, Kiera. So I want to go back maybe like five or six years in dentistry when there was a lot of new software platforms that were coming to dentistry, patient engagement, right? It was like this big giant party and a lot of practices were excited. You may remember though, as someone that works directly with the dental practices with as much   excitement as there was there also was a little bit of overwhelm right because it's like where do we start like how do we build these in and it's funny that you talk about your husband because yes in dentistry these are all somewhat kind of new to the industry and so practices are figuring how to use them and I do feel like okay maybe a couple years ago with like firms like yourself that have really helped these practices figure out how to utilize them they got that under their belt and then   here comes AI, right? And here comes this whole new way for these practices to be able to communicate, you know, task orient and all that stuff. So that's kind of the first place I'd like to start is that when you look at the work that you do now with the dental practices and I say the word AI, where is everybody's heads?   Kiera (05:13) Yeah. and agreed. I think, I think that this is just evolution of business. Like if I were to like even simplify it down, I think dentistry has been so much like we drill teeth, we fill teeth, but I'm like, guys, we have evolved. We don't do wooden teeth anymore. we've evolved and now there's laser and there's PRF and there's more advancements to dentistry that we do. Like I have a practice, I call them my PRF powerhouse and they've added PRF to their practices and we've added multi-millions to their office.   But like, yes, financially, that's been amazing, but their patient care has gone up so much, like the amount of results we're seeing. so when people are like, software's AIs, I'm like, hold on. You have evolved in your dentistry and you've seen how much it's evolved and how much better it is. I mean, the way we used to do crowns compared to how we do crowns, we can do same day crowns. We look at how we do ortho. We look at the different like skill sets that we've been able to add in. I feel like AI is the same thing. And I think when we get a little skittish, that's actually where I feel like we're   at more danger of a society. as I don't want to use the word old John, but I'm like, Hey, if you're not going to innovate and like you're going to die. there's innovate or die. We've got to grow and evolve or we're going to be left behind. And I mean, I think we see that with certain practices who elected no, no, John, I'm not going to have online and online. No, they're going to see my sign. They're going to drive by. This is how I'm going to be. Well, if you don't have an online presence today,   you're pretty much not visible anywhere in the world. No, no, no, John, I'm not going to do Google reviews. I don't need to do Google reviews. Well, Google reviews are how people find you. And now it's becoming AEO where AI is actually now searching for offices. I mean, we just did a trip to Iceland and where did I go? Chat GPT. And where's my next place I go? I go to Instagram, TikTok. What are the best places to go? No, John, I don't need to be on social media. We don't need to have that presence. We have our marketing. We send postcards.   Well, if you're not on Instagram, people are going there now. They go check your Google reviews and then go check your online profile. So I think for dentists to maybe recognize that high five, like you actually have evolved over the last several years. You've evolved. You are morphing and as businesses, it is an innovation or it is a die. And so when we talk about AI, AI is going to be awesome. You guys, AI was created. Like I think so much of the reason it took off is because we had 2020, we shut down.   Then we went through 2021 of the great resignation. We could not find people. You want to talk about hygiene shortages? Well, great. Now we're able to bring in people and you're like, but AI is not going to replace hygiene. Correct. But AI is actually helping with perio charting and different pieces that we're able to utilize. It's cutting down our costs that we're able to have on some of the billing and the revenue cycle management that we actually have alleviated funds to be able to pay the higher costs of hygiene that's offsetting. So our businesses can still be profitable. So when I look at it from a business,   I think guys, welcome to 2026, welcome to AI and get excited about it. And rather than being afraid of it, let's start to embrace and you don't have to be the earliest adopter, but I will say similar to like, I'm not going to join the internet. I'm not going to have Google reviews. I'm not going to do Instagram. We have watched that those who wait too long, I'm not going to do online payments. John, that's my favorite. Like we still expect checks. I don't even know how to write a check guys. Like truly I'm like, who accepts checks? ⁓   But things like that are so dated and so cumbersome compared to how the world's evolving that you are niching yourself more and more, more to less and less and less of a patient base. And if that's your exit strategy, rock on, it's a great one. But if you're not on the exit strategy, you definitely need to get on board with AI. And I think like we have a practice in Maryland, she's a pediatric practice and she's like, we call it AI Amy. And well, yes, our team gets annoyed with ⁓ AI Amy. They've trained an AI bot to be able to schedule for these   DC parents that want to make appointments at all hours of the day and they want to talk to someone. AI Amy schedules and guess what? AI Amy schedules about 75 % correctly and the team's annoyed and the doctor's like, you never get to be mad at AI Amy because that was 75 % of patients that we didn't even have to schedule. 25 % were a miss. Perfect. But that was 25 % out of 75, like a hundred percent. We, that's a quarter. We've literally cut down our space. And so I think when it's looking at   scheduling tools, revenue cycle management, ⁓ looking at how we use it for hygiene. Doctors like using Pearl or ⁓ Overjet to help with diagnosis. Case acceptance is going up. And while it's not perfect today, I think getting in the language, getting in the familiarity so you don't accidentally get too dated, AI is going to take off faster than anything else. If you're not on chat GPT, if you're not utilizing it for things, it cuts down man hours and people are like, but I don't want people to lose jobs. And I'm like,   You're not, we're elevating, we're lifting up our practice and we're morphing into where the world and society is going and your practice and your patients will thrive because of it. So that's my take. And I know I kind of went on a soapbox for you, John, but I think doctors need to realize it's not as scary as I think maybe some of them are looking. ⁓ It's something we've always done. It just looks different today.   John (10:22) Well, I'm glad you shared all that because I've been talking with people a lot lately and I feel like in unknown times or times where many of us don't know kind of where things are going to be, it really calls for leadership. And I think that's what's important. I think that's what you shared. think that practices are looking for people like yourself and others that are living this. They've dove into it. They're embracing it. They're learning how to get the maximum out of it. And so I glad you shared that. All right. So that's the first piece, right? That's kind of like the overwhelming the tech.   you mentioned a little bit about revenue cycle management and I wanted to get your thoughts as well on this other thing that dental practices are facing which is patients now come in and are having the same type of expectation of the experience on the business side of the practice, their billing and their payments and all of that, that we have with other businesses that we work with.   And so now a dental practice is getting questions as you know so well, like, okay, like am I gonna be able to pay easy? Are we gonna be able to track all this easy? Because that's how we do it with other businesses. And now all of sudden the dental practices have had to wake up and they have to make sure that that part of their practice is also, you know, automated and where it needs to be. So love to have your thoughts on that part as well.   Kiera (11:37) Yeah, and John, just to piggyback of where you were talking about dentists getting on board, I will just plug, and this is why we built an in-person mastermind, is because I recognize dentists feel like they're on isolated islands. And when you can get around really smart, you are the equivalent, proximity is power. And so getting around dentists that are not afraid of this, being in groups, listening to podcasts like this, if we can serve on that, rock on, I'm happy to do that. I would just encourage you to...   surround yourself with smart people that are getting involved in this and people that push you out of your comfort zone. People that have voices that are maybe not the same of what you normally listen to. Like if you're always listening to Fox News, maybe listen to CNN or if you're listening to CNN, then go to Fox. Like you need to hear opposing opinions on this. And I would just really encourage people to be a part of innovation rather than being destroyed by innovation would be my recommendation. And then going into this patient payment.   John, it makes me laugh because dentistry and I did a podcast, I should go find it. was several years ago and I'm like, why is dentistry on payments? Like we're in the 1800s, like put it on my tab. I'm like, what is going on in dentistry? Like nowhere else do you go and you're like, got my groceries, but could you put that on my tab, John? Yeah. Yeah. But yet in dentistry, we're like, yeah, we'll bill insurance and then we'll charge you for that. What are we doing? And I just think like,   Our revenue cycle management in dentistry is so dated and archaic that I'm like, ladies and gents, it's an amazing way for you to make a lot more money with a lot less effort if you just update a little bit on your revenue cycle management. Like we are so archaic ⁓ and dental insurances are using AI. Like why do you think Pearl and Overjet exist? Well, you better believe that the insurance companies are ripping that too. They're using AI to see their claims.   ⁓ so with payments and patients, do think like patients are expecting us to have online scheduling. They're expecting us to have easy ways to pay. mean, I've even seen some dental offices that take payments in Bitcoin and I'm not here to say you need to go clear to Bitcoin or like some extremes, but I do think that there's this evolution of, I don't want to wait a long time. I don't want to have weird payment things. want to people like John, I think it used to be the society where we worked eight to five.   We left our work at home. didn't have computer or at work. We didn't have computers. Our phone was a landline. It would shut off and we were home. That does not exist anymore. So most of the time I feel like our eight to five is our quiet time at work. And then after hours we're like, ⁓ I need to pay for this and I need to take care of this appointment and I need to schedule the kids for this. And we do that while we're sitting in bed scrolling through Instagram and like, shoot, I need to make that payment.   I feel dental practices, they have such an amazing opportunity if they will update and use more modern, I would say, like it's not even AI guys. We're just talking about getting onto the playing field. If you would do that, I have watched practices that implement these processes, their AR, their collections, their profitability are exponentially more, I would say consistent and constant as much as...   as opposed to being like inconsistent and fluctuating like they were in the past, because patients can pay all the time. Patients can send things forward. And I do think like, yes, dentistry people want that good old home, like girl and dentists that like takes care of them. But I think a lot of times the way you've evolved with technology also helps people see how have you evolved in your dentistry as well. I do not want to go to somebody who's still paper charts. I get concerned about   Are we up to speed on our current things? That's so foreign to me. No one else does that anymore that I think we to be careful that we don't accidentally date our dentistry by not being up to speed on our payments as well.   John (15:27) So you just built the bridge to the next thing I was going to ask you, right? So we talked a little bit about technology and embracing it, the patient experience and what they expect. And then this final thing is the perception of the patient in looking at the practice and the technology that the practice invests in. And again, 10, 15 years ago, when maybe dentistry was not as proactive and patients were just going to the practice. Now practices are, it's more competitive. There's more practices in every city, many across the country.   And so with that becomes this image that you portray to the patient and your business that you are making those investments to stay up to speed to be able to provide those types of services. And so talk about that a little bit. And I think that   for many dental practices, like for many of us that are entrepreneurs, like we've lived in this ROI world, right? If you ever were someone that had to raise cash or capital, you get those questions. And from a dental practice perspective, right? It's like, okay, we're going to make this investment in technology and rightfully so. What's the ROI on this? And I do think, and I loved your thoughts on this, that companies are doing such a better job of being able to paint that picture of, okay, you're going to make this investment. You're going to put this technology in the practice. It's going to make your patient experience better. But here is going to be   the return on investment, you are going to unlock a lot of your AR that's out there, make things easier for your patients. So talk about that a little bit.   Kiera (16:50) Yeah. I'll just get like paint a story of a practice. So there's a practice in Texas and this practice is amazing. Like they truly have a castle of an office. am blown away at how stunning this practice is. They are up to par on all the latest technology. They do a lot of these items in their practice, but what they were doing was the patient came in. So the waiting room was beautiful and they would just walk the patient straight back to the back.   Now this is a practice who's been around multi-generations of dentistry. They do service in other places. They have a state of the art lab they do in-house. Like it is a practice that should be showcased and they were struggling and their revenue was down and we went in person with this office and we consulted their team and we taught them like, we're going to have you guys take them on a patient tour. like, this is a pretty large team. think there's about 35, 40 people and we like made them role play walking through this practice and showcasing.   this ROI items that they've put into it. I you guys are using this, but do your patients actually know that you're doing it? So we do this, we implement it, we track a few things with them. Fast forward two, three months post visit, their reviews exponentially went up, their new patient counts went up, their revenue, they had their highest revenue number they had ever had and their culture of their team was happier. And I was like, I don't think I can sit here and say it's a coincidence. So like the patients love the tour.   Like they love seeing this practice. They love seeing what's going on. And what is as is it just gives confidence. And I say, John, if you and I were to go to ⁓ a surgeon, right? I'm going to want to know that that surgeon is the best freaking surgeon and that I'm going to put my confidence in them because I only have one arm, one hand, one leg, one neck. We'll have one set of teeth too. And so helping patients get the perception of who you are as a dentist and showcasing, I have seen like I've worked in hundreds of practices.   And some of my best offices do not showcase like they're the best and perception is a lot. Now there's some practices who actually are not great dentists and they showcase like they're amazing. And so you've got to make sure that who you are is what you're doing. But the ROI, and I wanted to showcase that practice, they have invested in a lot of this technology. They have invested in advancing their practice and it shows and they're able to show their patients. And we had direct correlation of higher reviews, higher new patients and higher production. And so I think.   Just that example, and this was done just a couple of months ago. We were out there in September and in December they had their highest month. So it wasn't a long-term ROI churn. It was very quick. so I think in general, medicine has evolved. think across the board, we're talking healthcare as a whole has leveled up. They uptick higher. Patients are expecting more. I mean, we go anywhere and technology is higher. You go to the movie theater, you go to the restaurants.   everything has upleveled. And if you and your practice are not up leveling, and I don't think it's hard for dentistry, I'm like, you guys already have a 3d printer or you already have a scanner or you already are taking digital x-rays. Just tell your patients, you do this showcase it around because I think the, the fallacy that you might fall into is like, but patients are just loyal to me. I think I to be careful because there's so much online noise that while a patient might love you,   they're seeing other offices that might accidentally take away your patients and they're doing it. Like it annoys me, John. I have a patient sitting in my chair and like, yeah, I just went to Dr. Thompson down the street from my ortho. I'm like, so we do ortho here, but they didn't know we did it. And so don't accidentally not showcase your work and showcase how great you are and how up to par you are that you're accidentally losing patients that are silent levers of your practice. ⁓ because you didn't showcase how great you were and let your patients know what you actually do.   I think that's the trap and the opportunity if you take it to be able to keep your patients with you and keep them happier with you when there's still noise and chatter because they know they're at the best practice that's investing and elevating and giving them the best patient care they possibly can have.   John (20:52) Yeah, I've been thinking about that a lot lately, just this kind of invisible credibility that comes with what you just talked about, which is when a business, in this case, a dental practice is making the investment in these newer technologies. A lot of times as patients, we don't say it, but we know, like you said, you walk into a practice and you see there's in your own life, you know what it took to remodel your house or to get a new car or whatever the case may be of the things that are important to you. And so I think more and more patients know   and understand what a dental practice or a business has to go through when they up their game. I believe that you get a lot of credibility out of that, right? Versus maybe the one that doesn't do that. Maybe the thought becomes whether it's real or not. Hey, why aren't they doing that? Like are things not good here? Like, do I have something to be concerned about? And in many cases, perception is reality. And again,   It's going to run through to patient care. We all know that. think the last thing I wanted to get your thoughts on, and you talked a little bit about earlier was AI in the sense of case acceptance because you know, you and I both have been in this industry for many years and have watched all the courses that dentists and hygienists and dental assistants have had to take on how to present good treatment and get case acceptance.   and we've watched them struggle for many years, Kiera, and then all of a sudden we have these newer technologies where you can show the patient where the work needs to be done in their mouth. And it's crazy, right? All of a sudden, I'm like, wow, that's me? That's where I have to get work done? the dentist is like, I've been telling you this for like, why didn't you just believe me? And in front of our eyes, this technology is now instilling confidence in the patients. And ultimately, it's a win for everybody.   Kiera (22:36) Yeah, think it's such a beautiful time for dentistry right now because we've been living in shades of gray for so many years. We advanced from like little tiny thumbnail ⁓ x-rays to on the screen x-rays that are still in gray to now having AI that can show patients exactly what's going on. And it's colored and it's showing them and it's giving measurements. And I think like what an amazing opportunity for you.   to use tools at your fingertips where you're not having to try to convince a patient of like, can you kind of see this like little gray box within this like other gray box that they truly cannot see? To now, this is what we're seeing. This is how it is. And to still give the doctors the liberty to be diagnosing. I know some have said that like AI is so aggressive on it. And I'm like, you don't have to diagnose that, but you now have a tool that's going to at least highlight. And I think dentists, you're so busy. You're running from exam to exam to exam. You have something.   that can look for all these things, prep it. You can train your eye. You can tee up all your associates that come in. Your hygiene team can learn collectively and your patient now has visible proof. It's like the, and I know dentists hate being compared to mechanics and I'm very sorry. I think it's just such a good like analogy. I go, you know, right? Like I go to the mechanic and like, here, you need new breaks. And I'm like, but do I really? Cause I've been scammed so many times patients like, do I really need a crown? John? Like, are you sure?   John (23:50) analogy I say because   Kiera (24:02) And we have taken that guesswork of, you sure? To being able to show them with black and white proof to where they're bought into it. They know they're not being scammed by you. They can see it with their own eyes and they're much more likely to accept treatment. I say, like confidence is what people are buying when they're saying yes to dentistry. Confidence is what increases your case acceptance. And this is a layer of confidence for you as the dentist, for your patients to see, for your team to all speak the same language.   care if AI is over diagnosing, don't over diagnose. You are still the doctor. Like this is just a tool in your tool belt. But I think it's something that hands down, I am so pro using it. I'm like, doctors also be so vigilant because insurances are denying claims based on the same software. Like they're using AI as well. So you might as well be in the game with them to see what they're seeing, to learn, to educate AI. So you're a part of it.   They use AI in medicine all the time. They use AI overlays on their x-rays that I'm like, yes, I get that it's not perfect. Yes, I get that it's clunky, but gosh, it's a freaking good tool that I would strongly advise you trying out, getting to know, using and learning. Even if it just helps you. I think about it. If I'm able to get 1 % more on case acceptance, go look at everything you're diagnosing. Usually that's a pretty good uptick, but not even just on your bottom line, but on the amount of patients you're able to help and serve. ⁓ why not?   Like what, what are you holding back on? I would just say, don't be afraid. Like just get in the game because you'll learn it's a lot better for you than it is scary. And there's a lot more good than there is harm.   John (25:39) Yeah, no question. Well, here's how I want to bring us home. You work with a lot of dental companies and I believe that this gap that I've seen for years between like the companies that are bringing the technologies to the dental practices and the practices themselves, it's exciting to kind of watch that gap close, right? Like I'm seeing more and more companies kind of listen and say, hey, what problems are you having? How can we utilize our resources to help you solve these problems? And you know,   We talked a little bit about at the onset, you know, the relationship that you have with Josh and DCS or whatever. And what's exciting is that you have companies that are starting, ⁓ and doing and solving one problem and then taking a lot of that feedback and then creating, you know, in this case, another technology platform and an effort to kind of elevate that problem. I mean, to be able to solve that problem with their solutions. What's that been like, right? Like talk a little bit about when you watch these companies evolve and continue to listen to the dental practice and bring these technologies to help these practices.   practices up their games.   Kiera (26:41) Oh, I think it's amazing. Actually. I am such a pro. Like I'm on a couple of different boards as well. And I think it's something where when I look at it, I'm like, why are these people doing it? And it's because we love dentistry. Like I look at Dental A Team team and what I used to consult versus what we consult now, like there's DSO, there's different needs than what a solo practitioner has. And so Dental A Team evolved and we became something of what are we going to do to serve the DSO thing and still be able to give back.   What is Josh with DCS? Like we heard this, we saw the need and we built something to help on that other avenue. To me, I think like, how awesome is it that you have people that are in the weeds, in the trenches have been here? I mean, I've got a decade of consulting, not to mention my like five years prior to that of assisting and all the other things prior to before that, like five more years. Like there's so much, like you have people that are so embedded in dentistry and they've seen the evolutions.   that they're willing to come forward. They're willing to execute. They're willing to stamp. They're willing to work hard to evolve these products and softwares to give back to you. And I think like people who are deeply rooted in dentistry, building these products, they're the best ones. Like I watched Modento, which I'll just give them. Like they were built by a hygienist and a dentist, and they were able to be one of the best softwares when they first started that I've ever seen. I'm like, I could tell this was built by people that got it. And so watching DCS like,   They get it. They're in the trenches. They've been watching this. They know what they're doing and they're moving it forward. We've been watching offices. We've been working with DSOs. We see what the nuances are and we build and create stuff to serve the dentist. Gosh, I just think it's magic and I think it's beautiful. And I think like, how lucky are we to be in these spaces to have people that have had enough time in the industry to know what the next layer is that you need before you even know. It feels like Henry Ford to me in a little bit like,   They said, if I give the people what they want, they'll want a faster horse. But if I give them what they need, it will be a car. And they don't even know that they need that yet. And I think that that's where we're evolving is being able to anticipate the needs of what offices need prior to them even realizing it's a need. And that to me is like just epic and incredible of a society and a community that really wants to give back and serve and make dentistry the best it can be.   John (28:55) Well, and who would have ever thought that a dental company would take the time to create a podcast like this, the zero bounce podcast, right? As a way to continue to add value and of course, invite amazing guests like yourself. I can tell everybody. I remember, I don't know how many podcast episodes Kiera has done, you know, in the past over many years. I remember the actual weekend that she was building and putting up those black panels behind her. ⁓ and so it's like, you know, you're, you're, you're definitely   listen to someone, you know, when you talk about someone that has rolled up their sleeves and dug in an effort to move dentistry forward, Kiera, you certainly have done that. And, ⁓ I know the DCS and Quanta Team really, really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to show your passion. And I think more importantly, help dental practices bridging a lot of these technologies and how to implement them. So any final thoughts as we wrap.   Kiera (29:47) Yeah, well, huge appreciation, John. And thank you for helping me with the background, because I definitely asked for you and your help and your insights. So appreciate that. I love it. Thank you. But I think, again, it's an evolution. And I would just say AI is going to be awesome. And there's going to be glitches, and there's going to be problems with anything. But I think the more we can embrace and we can innovate, we're either going to innovate or we're going to die. And we're going to be either on the path forward or we're going to be left behind.   John (29:55) So good.   Kiera (30:14) I think, Denissure, we have such a beautiful gift to give people confidence and clarity and smiles and health that no other profession is able to do. So I think it's just a moral charge for each of you to look to see where is maybe one area of AI or advancement that I'm willing to step into this year. So I commit to not getting dated. ⁓ And I think DCS and the Qantas team are a great place to start. think on our side, if there's anything we can do with team, with consulting, with...   like shoot, hate doing this. I don't want to go rally my team. Great. We love to do that. We do the part that no one likes to do just like DCS. They do the part of billing that no one likes to do. ⁓ I think we like do the dirty work of dentistry, but we love it we have a passion for it. So if we can help them serve in any way, TheDentalATeam.com Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. ⁓ huge partners of DCS and have referred many people to them over the years and just excited for what they're doing. So be excited guys. We live in the best times. We live in the most innovative times. And I think it's just.   a really amazing miracle that we get to be a part of dentistry and the changes. And I think everybody needs to realize what you do or don't do is going to have an impact on our future of dentistry. And I think that that's a moral charge each of us should take to be able to preserve the sanctity of our dentistry. That doesn't mean we stop it. That just means that we're able to positively impact. We're able to keep the integrity of our profession. And each of us, think, have a moral charge to do that. And so get on board, be a part of it, be a part of the noise, be a part of having your voice heard.   and I'm truly just excited and honored and happy to help in any way we can.   John (31:45) great way to wrap. And if you're watching this on YouTube, love to have you subscribe to The ZeroBalance podcast. If you are an audio podcast listener and you're listening to on Spotify or Apple as well, subscribe. And each time the Quanta team adds a new episode like this great one with Kiera, it'll come through on your listening device of choice. So Kiera, thanks so much. Best of luck as you continue to do great things. It's a big year for you, like you mentioned, 2026. So I'm excited to stay connected and watch all the great things that you and the Dental A Team are doing. So until next time, we'll see you everybody.   The Dental A Team (32:13) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Kiera and Dana dive into the hygienist's mindset (which tends toward patient care over business numbers) and how a doctor can get a full hygiene team on board with metrics and measurables. They touch on the hygienist drought, growing your practice without stepping on your hygienists' toes, setting expectations everyone can agree on, and more. Dana also touches on a hygiene team she worked with for a couple years that went from struggling to hit its goals to hitting even their daily goals 95% of the time. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a great freaking day over there. I get the one and only Dana, Dynamite Dana over there. I did not say the other nickname. If you've been on the podcast for a while, you might know, but Dana, welcome to the show today. How are you?   DAT-Dana (00:16) doing pretty good. Thanks so much for having me. It's not always that I get dedicated, you know, Kiera time. So I'm excited to be here.   The Dental A Team (00:22) I know when Dana and I get a podcast, like it's not always common, but I mean, you guys might start seeing Dana a bit more. I've got a few plans and tricks up my sleeves for Dana. We've been together for a long time. Dana, like donuts with Dana tip. don't remember what that was like dentistry tips or something. You were on a roll. You used to, I think you still do them actually every single week. Um, but Dana, you were just a diehard dedicated and always without, will not share it.   DAT-Dana (00:39) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (00:49) but Dana always has the best story. So if you don't know Dana and you want like a good giggle in your life, you name it. And also Dana is the best with trivia. We do a company end of year party every year and it's always like trivia based. Dana whoops everybody. Like this woman knows facts and stats like nobody's business. So Dana, today's gonna be a fun day because not only is Dana dynamite this way, but we're gonna do a little bit of an office autopsy about a hygiene department. So if you don't know in Dana's Other Life,   Dana used to work at a prison as a hygienist and Dana that still is a trip to me. Like, did you ever get nervous that they were going to take their shackled hands and like stab you with an instrument? I'm truly curious because that's my fear. Let's just talk about that for one second.   DAT-Dana (01:27) Yeah, I mean, there were   a lot of like protocols in place for protection and for safety. But at the end of the day, you knew where you were. you know, yes, there was always I think just a niggling element of I just need to be careful, pay attention beyond my toes. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (01:44) Like you're working with sharp instruments.   I mean, it's not like you doled them out to take them in there. Like we're not going to have a sharp scaler. You get a doled one. Like you got to be in there. But yeah, cause I remember I worked in an office and they would bring in inmates and they would be like handcuffed top to bottom. And the girl would always be like, so what were you in prison for? And I'm like, why are we, why are we poking the bear? Like, why don't we just keep them calm? And like, I don't even want to know. Like, but she did it every time. I was only up there a couple of times consulting them, but.   DAT-Dana (02:04) Thanks.   The Dental A Team (02:13) Anyway, beyond prison, also is an incredible hygienist. So today we wanted to kind of office autopsy because Dana had a practice that she worked with for several years on hygiene and their number one motive and their number one objective was hygiene. And I think that this is such a, it's very delicate because I think dentists want hygienists to produce and as a practice, we want hygienists to produce. And Dana, as a hygienist, you feel, I'm not gonna put words in your mouth, but the assumption I get from a lot of hygienists is   We want to just do great work and we don't want to always have to be looking at numbers. Maybe that's true or not, but like Dana, I want to hear what's kind of like the mindset of hygienist and then how do doctors approach this? And then we'll dig into the practice that you worked with that like really freaking crushed it. But I think like, this is such a, I don't know. I feel like it's a sliver in a practice. Like no one wants to talk about it. Like let's just not touch it so it doesn't hurt. But then it like blows up and people are like, my freaking hygienist aren't producing and they don't want to like tick them off because no one's there.   So let's talk about it, because is that how hygienists feel and how do you win over hygiene?   DAT-Dana (03:12) Yeah,   I think it's a mindset. I think it's a difference in mindset, right? I think dentists are always looking at the business side of it because oftentimes the dentists are the business owners and hygiene, their mindset is patient care. And so the easiest way I think to get alignment on that is you actually are caring about the same thing. You just don't realize it. And so it is getting alignment in like numbers tell us   how we are doing in patient care truly. So getting a hygiene team to understand that, getting them aligned that.   No numbers aren't everything, but actually numbers tell you exactly the thing that you care about most. ⁓ And so I feel like they look at it from different angles. And if you can get them aligned and actually it is the same thing and numbers tell you hygienist, the thing that you care about most, which is patient care and making sure that every patient leaves your chair happy, healthier than when they walked in. Understanding that the numbers will tell you how well you're doing at that. ⁓   It's definitely a mindset shift, but I think once you can get them aligned with that and then understand that you're truly talking the same thing, it's a game changer.   The Dental A Team (04:25) I love that Dana and as you were saying that it made me think of like when we do a practice assessment with a practice when they're reaching out to work with us or just wanting clarity the first question one of our first questions is like do you have a 10-year vision that you and your team are rallied around and as you were saying that Dana I thought about okay well if our hygiene department has a vision that we're all rallied around so let's say it's patient care well then the next question always that follows is how do we know if we're having excellent patient care and it's something that can't be a feeling   because we've got to be able to track and measure just like I can't say that I'm the best basketball player, but I have no way to prove that and measure it. My husband's in pharmacy and he's always like, if you're the best, then just freaking prove it, like stats and number it. Like, why do you have to it on feelings? Like, ⁓ it's such a hard thing because then we really never as a hygiene department know, like, are we really doing the best patient care? So then we make actual stats of, okay, great, we have this many perio patients. Like, this is our perio percentage. This is our fluoride percentage.   This is how many reviews that we get, this is how many patients are leaving on time. And then like, this is how we know that we're like hitting our daily goal to make sure we're not missing like our FMXs or different things that need to be done on a regular basis. So as you said that, I thought like even a way to get hygiene teams on board is like, what is our vision? Like you said, and then how do we truly measure that? We got to have actual stats with that. It can't just be the warm fuzzies of I think I'm doing well because what's crazy is I can think I'm doing well and then I have to go run a mile.   And I'm like, no, I've been doing my cardio. Like I'm really a great runner. And then it's like, I ran a mile in 15 minutes and people are like, are you even running? Like until I track and measure, there's no way to improve. And so I think it's when people realize like, that's the only reason we're doing it is to see like, hey, if we've got the best patient care, then like, let's prove it, let's document it. So that way we're confident in that as well. So Dana, I'm curious, I'm a dentist. How do I get my hygiene team on board that there's gonna be a consultant that's gonna like make them?   track number, like what do people even say to make a hygienist, which is you like get on board with this idea. And then Dana, we're going to dig into like how you help turn around a hygiene team. So A though, how does this dentist get his hygienist on board or hers?   DAT-Dana (06:29) Yeah,   I think it's an open and honest conversation of just like you said, like, give me give me descriptors of what an amazing hygiene department looks like to you. If you worked in an office and you said you walked in and this was the best hygiene team you've ever worked with you've ever been a part of what does that look like? And oftentimes that will lead to conversations about patient care about those things. And then it is okay, guys, how do we know, right? I   I want you guys to be the best hygiene team. probably sit here and think you are the best hygiene team. How do I know that though? And then you start to attach those metrics and those measurables to say, hey, like, we want to be this. We, we feel like maybe we even are but how do we know for sure? And I think that it's an opening that conversation and as well as like the   Best part of, yes, I worked very solo for many years in the prison, but when I went into private practice or when I got to temp in offices, the best thing that I loved was getting to learn from my other hygienists. And so we're going to get alignment. We're going to learn a lot from each other. Everybody's got their strengths and weaknesses. And so over the next couple of months, I want you to share your tips and tricks. We're going to talk about verbiage. We're going to talk about how to have conversations. But at the end of the day, our goal should be that   when patients walk in no matter which hygienist they see the same thing is done each and every time.   The Dental A Team (07:54) And I love that you say that because it's like, this is how we get them on in. And I think like, doctors, don't know, Dana, a doctor giving you their, I don't know, expectation or sharing with you as a hygienist, does that like turn you off to where you just want to go like look for another job? Because I think dentists are so scared of their hygiene team leaving that they don't even want to like tell them what they're expecting from them. Cause they're just like, it's okay. Like it's better to just.   hang on to them rather than wanting to elevate. Like how do you navigate this like hygiene drought plus the need to grow your practice? Like how do you navigate that? And what does that feel like as a hygienist?   DAT-Dana (08:31) Mm-hmm. I do feel like it can be a scary conversation. It can be an uncomfortable conversation or a conversation where a dentist kind of dread, but ultimately I think hygienists are   usually typically goal oriented, growth oriented, like they want to know what the expectations are, because at the end of the day, they want to hit it. And so they can sit here and say, Hey, I think I'm doing a great job. I feel like I'm working hard, right. But what actually tells them that? And it does come down to the expectations, the goals, the numbers, those pieces, I think   The Dental A Team (08:53) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (09:06) It can be a difficult conversation, but I honestly think that hygiene departments, hygienists themselves, like they want to know what the expectations are because I'll tell you they are typically ⁓ goal driven achievement people. Like they want to hit the things that you want. And so I think again, it's like clarity is the best thing that you can do for them. And if you are frustrated that they're not meeting expectations, they're probably frustrated that they don't even know what the expectations are.   The Dental A Team (09:17) Air quotes typically.   I mean, that's fair. And I love that you say that because you're right, most hygienists do want to know what the goals are. And even if you just casually like put it on the table, they're going to casually look at that and just start to casually think about it. And I think like, Dana, I really want to dig into because I know you had a practice and you had an entire hygiene department and you worked heavily with them and they like all loved you, which I think is not common. Like I think you usually have like   three of the four that are super excited about and you got one that's just kind of off on their own planet, ⁓ which happens a lot. But I think it's like, it's okay to give expectations. I think the piece that I've gathered, and I'm not a hygienist, so please, please chime in. I think hygienists just want to make sure that like, of all the things you want them to do, that you're not hurting patient care. So it's like, I'm okay to scan, I'm okay to probe, I'm okay to take x-rays. Like I really get the vibe that hygienists truly are not upset by that. But it's like, if you want me to scan,   probe, x-ray, plus scale, polish, do a great exam. Can we just be realistic and fair of not making me be the Olympic level athlete hygienist and maybe it's we probe and then we scan on the next visit so we could break it up so it's not having to happen every time. And I think when hygienists and doctors or hygienists and consultants come together and where it's like, OK, what are we ultimately all going for? Let's be realistic with our timing. I don't want them to have to be   A star players because not every hygienist is that. So I'm like, how can we make this tour like my B players can still thrive where my A's can like crush more and my C's feel like they it's not so far away. I think like when if you can build it that way, I feel like hygienists are way more apt and I also feel like don't don't try to get them to do every single thing right at once. Like let's do baby steps to where they like if we're not even doing fluoride, if we're not even tracking our numbers, like we're not going to scan every time. And I know doctors, you want to do that. Gap leap.   but you got to baby scale them up. So Dana, I'm just going to like hand this over to you. Like, what did you do with an office? How did you win them over? How do you scale up hygiene departments? Because I think it's delicate, but I think you're the expert on our team that does this very successfully with a lot of hygiene teams.   DAT-Dana (11:43) Yeah, and I think when it comes to, Dennis, we've got to remove a lot of barriers first, right? That's the first thing. is, barriers are always going to be time. It's always going to be, well, my schedule's not full. It's always going to be, so we really talked about those barriers and yes, we want to make sure that your schedule's full, but when it isn't full, how do you maximize, right, what is in your chair? So we started with fluoride, honestly, which was an easy way, and I think that...   When we talk about goals, it helps to know like, why is this goal the way that it is? Right? Why is a fluoride acceptance goal 90 %? So let's talk about that, right? Think about the patients that sit in your chair. It's very rare that a patient sits in your chair that does that there's not something going on that fluoride would benefit.   Right? So even if they have immaculate teeth and they have very little dentistry done, let's keep it that way. Right? If they've got a lot of dentistry done, let's make sure it lasts as long as it possibly can. If they've got sensitivity, right? So just talking about what are the benefits, who can benefit from it? And honestly and truly statistically, that many patients that sit in your chair can actually benefit from it. So we did start with full ride and we worked on that.   The Dental A Team (12:31) Mm-hmm.   Right.   DAT-Dana (12:58) And then after fluoride, our next layer then was perio. And again, it came down to, well, the goal is 30 % of your patients, right, should be perio patients. Well, why? Right? Why is that the goal? Well, the goal is, right, science and statistics tell us that unless you have a very unique population within your practice, so unless you are in a college town and you pretty much see only patients in their 20s, right, or you're a pediatric practice, 30 % of the population   has that, right? And so that's just like science-based, that's just database. But having those conversations, I think, opens up windows to say, okay, this isn't arbitrary goals. We're not just picking numbers out of the sky. There's reasons that these goals exist. And unless you are truly unique in that situation, that goal applies to you.   The Dental A Team (13:29) Hmm.   ⁓ yeah, go ahead. think that that's like, was just going to chime in real quick on like, I love that you broke down the why. And as you were saying it, I was thinking some team members don't need the why. Most dental assistants don't actually need a why. Most treatment coordinators don't really need a why. They're more like, let's just drive and go. Hygienists on the other hand, like, let's just look at their natural behavior. Very detailed. I mean, they sit there and they scrape that calculus. mean, Dana, the fact that you sit there and like, you want to get every little last piece of it.   If I've got a personality that's that obsessive of that small of details, they're going to want to understand the why. So as you were saying that Dana, I was like, even explaining to dentists, like why do they need to know why the goal is and why it's based with science? And because that's who they are. They're bred with like, we want to know the science. We want to know the background behind it. And I think, I think you even just taking that step with hygienist Dana, like kudos to you for calling that out. They're going to be way more inclined to buy in because like you said, it's feeding their brain and how they're naturally wired.   to be able to like, that makes sense. I can get on board with this and I can make sure I'm following rather than you're just making me look at every patient for fluoride because you want numbers. It's like, no, 90%. I tell everybody with fluoride, like my go-to for hygienists is I'm like, look at my teeth. They're really clean. You can clean me in 30 minutes. And yet how many hygienists in my entire life has offered me fluoride? And the answer is none. And I'm like, the fact that not even one offered it to me, like how dare you hygienists assume that I don't want to be proactive and preventative with my teeth?   Gizzles offer it to me because if I would have known I can't ever go back in time retroactively and do that and I wish that hygienists when I was you know 15 16 17 would have offered this to me to proactively take care of my teeth I did not learn about fluoride until I worked in a dental practice and I'm like rude you just assumed I was like clean and healthy and wouldn't want it versus like why not offer it because even your clean immaculate patients if you tell them this is the most proactive preventative thing you can do for your teeth   for 30 bucks or 45, whatever it is, like, do know how much a filling is? I'm going to say yes to you. So I think Dana, like kudos to you on that. But what else were you gonna say? Cause I know I cut you off on your thought process too.   DAT-Dana (15:55) no, and my next thought process was then we tackled just alignment on all of those things. And so we spent a lot of time building Perio protocol ⁓ and talking about the conversations that go along with it. And even on people who don't qualify right for Perio but are heavy builders because we just kept hearing time, time, we're running behind, we're running behind. And it is just...   navigating conversations with patients because you can have heavy builders and yes is that hygienist we want to remove every last speck of calculus but if a patient presents with too much to get done in an hour we have to have those conversations. Hey since I saw you last there is quite a bit of build up here. I'm gonna do the best that I can to get to get all of it off today but moving forward I think it would be super beneficial if you came more often and I could see you more frequently to ensure that I can get   The Dental A Team (16:36) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (16:51) I can remove all of this every single time. And so it is, then it came down to conversations. And so we built up period of protocol. We talked about what if a patient refuses? We talk about, we still do restorative treatment if a patient refuses period? What are we doing in those instances? Because I wanted them to feel super confident. No matter who sat in their chair, they could navigate whatever they presented.   ⁓ And that they had something to fall back on and I think it was They had a very seasoned hygienist in their practice and I can't tell you how proud of her I was she made massive moves and had Conversations that I think she kind of knew needed to happen But because she had the framework to make them happen because she had a protocol to lean back on That she had something to give her confidence to say like yeah. No, this does   The Dental A Team (17:27) you   DAT-Dana (17:45) need to move in that direction. I mean she just made leaps and bounds. I mean she went from I think about 10 % perio to about 28 % when I was done with the hygiene department.   The Dental A Team (17:56) my gosh,   that's incredible. And Dana, just to give like our listeners a little like glimpse of you worked with this team for about two years, not hitting goal. mean, not hitting perio, not hitting fluoride, not being a producing hygiene team to two years later. Fast forward, just kind of give a glimpse of what this hygiene team looked like when you were wrapping up with that office.   DAT-Dana (18:14) Yeah, we went from pretty much not hitting goal routinely ever to hitting their daily goal about 90, 95 % of the time. So they made leaps and bounds and they had a lot of hard conversations because part of it was, you know, there is doctors play a part in this. And I think doctors oftentimes like will kind of be hands off. These doctors really wanted to be hands on totally fine. And so it was even getting alignment between the hygiene team and the doctors on perio.   on those pieces and so they had a lot of hard conversations they did a lot of calibration they even were calibrating probing depths and probe readings and like they've just put in a ton of work but that work gave them so much movement. ⁓   And I think just so much confidence as a hygiene department that like, we really can learn from each other. We really can teach each other. We really can have these conversations. And I think it also empowered the doctors to understand that like, again, it was a miss of expectations. Their team wanted to do a good job. Their team wanted to meet the protocol. Their team wanted to do what they wanted them to do or the standards that they had for their practice. They just needed to have the conversations, have the alignment and create those   boundaries amongst each other and it was truly amazing to see what they could do once they once they dug in.   The Dental A Team (19:37) ⁓ Dana, this, think is just a, there were so many pieces I heard that I hope office has got the number one I heard was the hygiene team wanted to make their doctors proud. And I think so many doctors think like they don't want to produce or they don't want to do this. And 95 % of all team players, I think you and I would agree to this, coaching as many as we have, there's like a very, very, very small percentage that actually is like not wanting to take care of their doctor. I'm like 98 % of them all want to take care of their doctors. So I think you guys just realizing and hearing that.   The second thing is like Dana, it was two years that she worked with this hygiene team. And what I gathered from all of it was alignment and why, and then giving them the confidence. Because what I found with hygienists is a lot of times the reason that they do bloody profis is not because they don't like they don't want to charge out a bloody profi. Like I feel like the hygienists are like my hands hurt and I just got paid for a profi when I did a full mouth of bribement or whatever it was that they did.   but they're uncomfortable with the conversation. And I don't blame hygienists. You sit there for an hour with this patient and you gotta chat along with them. And it's very uncomfortable to then have to say like, you've been seeing me for 10 years and now I've got to tell you you have perio. Like that's just such a, like I would rather not because I have to see this patient so closely. Or dentists, like not to say you don't have intimate relationships with your patients, but you usually come in for like five minutes for an exam. And then when you are doing treatment with a patient,   Usually their mouths open and they're numb and you can't like, they're not talking to you. And where this is a hygienist, is like therapy session in there, like a hairdresser almost where it's like such an intimate relationship that these hygienists build. And so Dana, think kudos to you to give this hygiene team confidence. And that's what I gathered was like alignment, confidence, and then also getting the doctors to align on expectations. So that way everybody is there. And like also to hear you say that a seasoned hygienist was able to make transformation, I think   I also think kudos to these doctors that saw the need of the hygiene department. They were like, let's laser focus in on this for two years, like two years they worked in. Yes, they expanded a little bit to other departments, but like Dana, mean, I just think about it. If you get your hygiene team from hitting goal, like none to hitting goal 90, 98 % of the time, the amount of revenue, the amount of patients, the amount of diagnosing and co-diagnosing with your doctors that these high Gens are able to do the amount of perio uptick.   Like we're going from $90 pro fees to 250 to $400 scalings. And not to say we're doing it to uptick for revenue. It's just, what the patients need. And we're starting to diagnose it correctly. well, Dana, you like paid for yourself a hundred times over. it's, that is the type of stuff. And now that hygiene team is confident, they're equipped, they're able to care for patients. And I guarantee you, Dana, I'm not a hygienist. So I'm just curious, like.   My hunch is a hygienist who's able to have the confidence, have these conversations actually leaves with more confidence as a hygienist rather than the hygienist who feels like they're taking care of a patient, but deep down knowing that they let the patient down, they just didn't know how to get out of that conversation.   DAT-Dana (22:38) Yeah, I think that that's that's one of the things that was like the beauty of being the person looking at from the outside in and I think it honestly truly I think allow them to like love being hygienist. I don't want to say again, right but even more ⁓ because I do think that as   hygienist and I think they even admitted like, hey, we've known some of these conversations needed to happen or are on the horizon of happening and we just didn't have the tools we didn't have that and we didn't want to say something and then have a doctor come in and disagree, right? Or we didn't want to do the wrong thing unintentionally. so having those guidelines, having the set protocols, the set   The Dental A Team (23:12) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (23:20) pieces in place, I think really gave them confidence and also really truly then they could see what amazing patient care they were giving. And I honestly think it brought them just like closer as a department, a better culture for the practice and truly love being hygiene.   The Dental A Team (23:40) And I think Dana like I just see it even in you I hope you guys were able to see that clip of Dana like the the glowing radiance of excitement of being able to help hygienists love their profession even more to be confident in this I think that that is just magic for all of us to be able to watch that and see and I think for you guys listening one if you need help with your hygiene department I think Dana just showed like We really do very much give confidence to your department and I think doctors it's hard for you because you want to tell the hygienist what you want   But hygienists sometimes need to feel like heard, seen, and understood by someone who's more of a colleague and comrade to them. Like Dana is, she's a hygienist. She understands what those feelings feel like. And so to have a coach and a guide guide your hygiene department, bring the doctors and the hygienists together. But I love that it was like, let's explain why, let's align, let's give verbiage, let's get doctors and hygienists alignment. And then like really have somebody who's holding them accountable, driving these results with them. And the end result is a hygiene department that's flourishing, hitting goals and loving their profession.   And to me, that's gonna retain your hygiene department way more than not having the conversations. That's going to attract hygienists to your practice way more because you've now got raving fan hygienists who are confident that when someone new comes in, they give them the tools and the resources to be these great clinicians. I think Dana just like insane kudos and I hope people also hear that. And if you're interested, reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is what we do and Dana, like I said, Dynamite Dana over there, she just like, I think it's a subtle love.   of growing them of where they need to go and the results are just incredible.   DAT-Dana (25:13) Yeah, they were, they were a great group. They really dug in. And you're right, it does, it does help when they know, you've been there, you face the things you've had to have the conversations. ⁓ It just starts out with trust. And I mean, at the end of the two years, I just remember sitting down and saying, like, thank you so much for trusting me. Thank you so much for putting in the work. Because it's, it, it allowed me right, I'm not clinical really anymore, but it allowed me just the experience of   knowing and being super confident that like amazing patient care was walking out of there ⁓ truly was a highlight for me.   The Dental A Team (25:50) That's amazing. And I think Dana hearing that and the doctors win is that they also can leave at the end of the day, knowing that their hygiene department is delivering the patient care that they wanted, that they were hoping that like the doctor just could not get, I mean, and these are seasoned doctors. It's not like we were starting with a brand new practice. Like they had been working with this hygiene department for years. The hygiene department had gone through other hygiene coaching. And I think Dana just like to be able to give that to the patients, to the hygiene team and the practice, like   Such a gift and I'm really proud of you and I hope people listening realize this is a reality that has happened. Yes, we gave a one off office autopsy, but it happens for multiple other practices the same way. So if you're interested or you're thinking about it or other departments reach out and Dana, thanks for being on the podcast with me. Thank all of you for listening and as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

This episode is all about your vision for your practice, and how you can use it to propel growth and success. Tiff and Dana share how to create a vision that's true to you, how to get your team members bought in, how to set goals according to that vision, and so much more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. You know that the consultant takeover section here, I don't know if that's even still what we call it, but that's what we call it, Dana and I call it, because that's where OG status, know, like Donuts with Dana came on the other day. I was like, oh, I do miss Donuts. Anyways, we're here with you today, you guys. are, gosh, almost done with Q1 by the time this releases. It's wild. It's, you know, and I think we say this every year probably,   I know January every year we're like, this is the longest month of our lives. But then we get to the end of January, we're like, that went so fast. Where did the time go? And then from there, just doesn't stop. It just doesn't stop.   DAT-Dana (00:40) I know, feel like January   is 12 weeks long and then the rest of the year is like two.   The Dental A Team (00:43) Yeah, it's so   true. Yeah, especially February, which I know February is quote unquote a short month. But I'm like, does that two days seriously mean we lost two weeks? Because that's what it feels like. I don't understand it. Time, it's all relative, right? We just make it up anyways. So that's why. That's why, because we just make it up anyways. So Dana, we just recorded a really fun podcast. I actually really, really loved that one on overhead.   DAT-Dana (00:57) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (01:13) listen to that one yet about why not to cut your team members. Go listen to that too. You don't have to listen to it first. You don't have listen to it today. I don't care. Just listen to it sometime. But I think that it really actually coincides really well with this podcast topic that we're talking about today as well. And on a side note to all of you listeners out there, if you ever have podcast topics, things that you want to hear about, please let us know. You guys, we create these. Actually, our marketing company creates these based on like,   what's relevant in the dental industry right now, but you know, Kiera does a ton of podcasts. We do a ton of podcasts. We're always really happy to add things in that you feel you're seeing in your practice, because if you're seeing it, the likelihood is that other people are seeing it as well. And that's why we focus so heavily at the Dental A Team on community, because we really want you guys talking to each other. So that includes this. That's my little plug for Please Send Us Ideas. Thank you. Thank you.   ⁓ But this one, this one's fun too. I think we do, honestly we do a lot of really fun things at the Dental A Team. ⁓ I think, I mentioned it on the last one, but Dana I think for me at least, focusing on the people first actually really, really drives me. It makes me feel like we're in we're in a stale business sometimes, you know? Like it's.   ever-changing, dentistry grows and it changes, but kind of not at the same time. It's kind of also stale, especially when it comes to team members.   DAT-Dana (02:41) And then it makes no teeth, right?   And so it can only expand and grow so much and sure, has it made leaps and bounds? Absolutely. But again, it is still teeth and the business of dentistry.   The Dental A Team (02:48) Yeah.   I agree. So I think adding in that human side of it, the people side, gives us purpose. And I think probably in any business, right, I think Aaron's a financial advisor and if he didn't, he loves the people aspect of it. He really, he became a financial advisor to help people grow their finances, to help people retire successfully and he loves nothing more than being able to help someone see that path.   And I know not all advisors are that way and not all consultants, dental consultants are that way, but I think that purpose driven piece is what separates any business from the other ones. Yeah.   DAT-Dana (03:34) Yeah, and I think   at the of the day, it's people taking care of other people. And so it is a people industry. I think we always think of it as, it's healthcare, right, for sure. But it really is people taking care of people, so.   The Dental A Team (03:46) Yeah, yeah, good point. All right, well that's our philosophical piece. I loved it. And on that same vein though, that same note is really, ⁓ today we want to talk about vision-driven growth. And I think to me, Dana, when I saw this topic, I thought vision-driven growth, Realistically, it's just like, for me, it's having the map. It's kind like a treasure hunt.   DAT-Dana (03:50) Okay.   The Dental A Team (04:12) I feel like and it's having the map with that X on it, then I can say, okay, this is how I'm going to get there. And I think when we think of growth and in dentistry, I think 10 years ago, 15 years ago, growth was seven to 10 % every year. And like getting that new thing, like my growth this year is gonna be I'm gonna get a new Pano machine or I'm gonna add an operatory or I'm going to, it was like very physical.   And I think now, vision-driven growth, I think now what we're noticing and seeing is that we're dreaming more and we're applying that vision-driven growth, meaning this is what I'm gonna do, this is the physical of what needs to happen because I want to see this thing come to fruition. And that vision of, typically it's like an impact-driven vision, right? Like what was I put on this earth to do? What is my purpose and how is my business serving that purpose?   The reason that I like that so much better than just the physical piece of it is because Dana, think as a team member, I remember sitting there and being like, cool, 2.5 sounds great, but it doesn't mean anything to me. Like 2.5, 3 million. I remember when our goal was like, we started at 1.2, and I remember the year that we were like, 3.5. And I was like, this is weird, but like, I don't even know. I literally can't even fathom what $3.5 million looks like.   Right, it literally meant nothing to me. So nothing about my drive or how I showed up changed. I was just like, okay, cool. So now our goal is this and we schedule enough to reach that goal. That sounds great. But I think Dana when it's like, we wanna reach for us, we wanna reach this many practices, we wanna reach this many people. It just makes such a big difference. So I think, I don't know from a team member standpoint,   I don't, I can't get on board with this stale goal.   DAT-Dana (06:16) to know why I'm doing what I'm doing every single day, right? I have to like, as a team member, those are always questions that like, like, why do we want to get there? Why do we need to get there? What does getting there do for us? What does getting there mean we serve? Like, those are the things that I think team members ask. And so I think practices that lead with a vision and look at the vision for the growth, like you get team members bought in, you get team members understanding and wanting to be a part of it, it makes   So many things easier to it makes hard conversations easier, right? Because it doesn't align with the vision It makes growth conversations so much easier and oftentimes think about like, you know I'm always looking at like the physical fitness space, right? Because that's super important to me. And so if I can sit here and say like well, I want to get stronger this year Great, but what what do I mean by that? Why do I want to do that? like do I want to do that because if I know that I want to do that because   I don't know, I want to race my kid down the street and I want to be faster or I want to be able to just like be there for them forever or I want to not have joint pain or whatever it is that like, why do I want to get stronger? I'm so much more intuitive in like the pieces that I do to get there. If I know that like I don't want my joints to hurt, then the exercises that I pick are going to look very, very different than like, if I want to be the fastest mom in the neighborhood.   right? Well, I do to be the fastest mom in the neighborhood looks very different than if I'm just looking at my joints, right? Because I probably am not going to be running a ton if it's my choice that are and why I want to be there. So I think like when you have a vision and when you know why it also helps you map your roadmap out to be much more clear and and have team members that are just much more bought in because they know why we're doing that they know what   The Dental A Team (07:40) Mm-hmm.   Fair.   DAT-Dana (08:07) we're going to get out of doing that. Whether it's we get to now treat a thousand more patients, whether it is we get to bring in another doctor, whether it is we get to bring on new team members that we get to connect with.   The Dental A Team (08:19) Yeah, I totally agree. I love the fitness aspect because it's so easily relatable. think for anyone, whether you're into fitness or not, it's an easy, tangible piece to relate to. ⁓ And I think with that, it's like you set your goal, right? And then you work backwards. Same with your vision driven goal. Like my goal was always when Brody was little, I remember the day that I was like, I will not huff up these stairs anymore. I will not tell my kid we got to play later because I'm tired.   ever again. Like this is not okay. And so, and it wasn't even just the weight loss. wasn't like, it was literally just being physically fit enough that I could keep up with my kid was my goal. And then they grow up and they're 17 and you got to find a new reason. But then you're like, I'm going to be able to walk in 20 years. Like I, know, it changes and it shifts and it morphs. And with that, so does your business.   vision, like it's gonna change, it's gonna grow, it's gonna morph and what you start out as of like I'm gonna be, you're gonna have a really cheesy one. You're gonna be like I'm gonna be the best dentist in my community and people are gonna love coming to my office, right? And then it's gonna be I'm gonna change so many lives in my community that people have the best smile around and they're constantly raving about how their life has improved because their smile has improved.   That's how you're gonna get people at your office. Like that vision, awesome. That is your vision. Now how do we apply to that? How do I get the people to my practice that I need to change the smile, that they're gonna change their lives? Like what kind of avatar does that look like? And that's the now you work backwards because you saw this beautiful vision of the impact that you're gonna make on the people that are coming to your office. I have this, she's not even in my office, but I have this doctor that I've talked to a few times   We've realized that her impact is this space that she's able to give her patients while they're in her chair. She attracts beautiful humans that are just a little afraid to be in this chair. And she just has this aura about her that she sits down and she's with them and she makes them comfortable just by being there and giving them the space.   That's her vision. that's like, if you think about that as like, okay, well, how do I apply that? You work backwards from there, but I think Dana, those are the pieces where when your team comes around and they're like, my gosh, these patients who are afraid to come to the dentist, leave that chair excited and happy to get their treatment done. I have changed someone's perspective and view on dentistry that they are going to be healthier when they leave my practice than when they walk through those doors.   That's massive. My best dental memory is the, I talk about her all the time. And I still, chat with her son on Instagram. He's like a dad and he's like 30 or something now. I'm like, how is this possible? Because he was like seven, but she did a smile makeover. And I remember prior to that appointment, she was so sweet and I loved her, but she was quiet and meek and like.   Mousy hair like literally I can't describe it any other way just like a mousy always wearing brown Kind of like hunched over a little bit just not standing tall in herself recently divorced she had her son who was phenomenal and he loved her so much and I loved her and then she decided to do literally like smile to smile she did 12 units and The day she came back in with like for her her   final check, know, Dana, that changed my perspective of dentistry. This woman came on with highlights in her hair. She was wearing heels, she was wearing colors. And I was like, who are you? She was smiling ear to ear. And I've known her now. I mean, I was, I'm almost 41. I was maybe 20, maybe 21 when this happened. So for 20 years, I've watched this woman be this strong, independent human. And I'm like, I don't   It was her smile. Those are the things Dana that I think you're talking about, that it's like, I can get on board with that. I can get on ⁓ as a team member. I can work my tail off to see something like that come to fruition.   DAT-Dana (12:46) Yeah, yeah, and I think like I have a story similar to that right where it was like I don't do job interviews because they don't like to like a completely new career new person new human new life because they were able to go on job interviews and get you know a position they never ever thought that they would right which then financially changed their means which totally changed their life and I think that I think sometimes because   I think we were talking about earlier, right? Dentistry can get a little bit stale. I think we forget as team members. I think even dentists forget, like we're doing truly incredible things every day. And I know is the filling always going to make a massive difference? No, but there's going to be a patient that comes through your office. There's going to be several patients. And you may never even know.   Impact you you never you may never even see the 20 years later, right? You may not see the new highlights and the new confidence But what you're doing is so so important Even if it is making somebody comfortable enough to come in sit down and have that feeling right because you don't know if that was the difference in them Having the feeling or eventually being a denture list because they were so afraid to get in a chair, right? Which is just we're gonna change someone's difference and they say this all the time when I'm in person with   with teams is like the things that you are doing day in and day out. Well, sometimes they can feel mundane, right? Turning over room after room after room. Well, sometimes that can feel a little bit stale. Like the reason you're doing it and the things that you can change in someone, in yourselves, in your team, like it's...   amazing. And I think we forget that so often because it is just the burn and turn of it. But I think when we can think about that, and we can picture what we want, and then we can take what we want and even bring it down to as finite as I've had a vision with a team that like it's what got us our new patient goal. And as silly as that sounds, it's when you break it down like that. And when you know why, and when you know what you're targeting for, it makes it so simple. It does.   The Dental A Team (14:51) It   does. I totally agree. That vision gives you the growth. I think that vision, ⁓ and like we said, it will morph and it will change. You will probably, on some semblance, the same grounding, the same baseline. And you're going to grow on top of that. And, Dana, I think to your point, it's like, this is what people get on board with. And I had a doctor last week on one of our calls. She said,   We've got a front office team member, one front office team member that's rocking it out in stellar, one front office team member that's like hit or miss and inconsistent. And she's like, the one that's just killing it, she believes in it. She gets it, she's got it. Like treatment is easy to sell. She just gets it. She's with it. The other one, how do I get her to get it? And I said, you don't get her to get it. You get her to understand why you're doing what you do.   And if she can believe in that and she can hop on board with that vision, now she's inspired to do what she should be doing to reach that goal. And Dana, I know you do this too. Like so often we get asked by team or by doctors, how do I motivate my team? Do I give them more money? How do I motivate my team to do this? And I tell people all the time, you, motivation is short-lived, right? And back to the fitness.   I can be motivated to run a 5K. I'm not inspired. Inspiration is being healthy enough that I can always run 5Ks with my kid. That's my inspiration. Brody and I, not consistently, not always. When he was little, we used to run 5Ks together. this year, we decided he's going to be 18 soon. We were like, we're going to do a freaking 5K again, at least one 5K again together this year. That's inspiring.   But motivation is like, I can run a 5K, that's my motivation. So motivation being, okay, you get a $200 bonus if you do this thing. Cool, they're gonna do that thing, get that bonus, and then they're gonna slide right back to where they were before. But the inspiration of knowing this why and this vision is where I think Dana actually goes back to right person, right seat. And if you don't believe in the vision of a company,   Well, you're not going to stay with the company. We can think of it, think, again, we just make dentistry different. Dentistry has to be its own type of business. It's like, can't we just? Business is business. And when we think of tech companies, somebody who doesn't believe in the vision of Elon Musk is not going to work for Tesla on a mass scale, or they're not going to be there for a long time. But if you can be in alignment with his vision of what he's creating in this world,   You're going be inspired to work there. So I think, Dana, that just blows my mind, number one. But I think that's kind of what we're saying. What's that overarching vision of the actual thing that you're doing for the world that people can get on board with?   DAT-Dana (18:00) Yeah, and I think that like you touch on it a little bit Tiff, but it's like doctors sometimes, you know, we'll create visions and I'm like, Okay, well, why did you choose this? Or why did you and sometimes it is well, it sounded good. I thought it would motivate the team if it doesn't inspire you, it will never inspire them. So please, when you're looking at your vision to great to grow up like you have to do this day in and day out to and if you if it doesn't inspire you, if it doesn't motivate you, if it doesn't make you want to get up in the morning and get to that office, it will never do that for   your team. please, when just like a caveat to this is when you're looking to make it mean something, make it mean something, it has to inspire you because you have to be the one that shows up every day and lives it that the team is going to look at and say, like, they're so inspired. So am I, right? That's what motivates teams.   The Dental A Team (18:51) I love that Dana, that was massive. And if you did not hear all of those words, rewind, replay, and listen to that again, because you're spot on. So many visions are created to attract the right patients, attract the right team, to motivate people to come to you. The vision is like an attraction method.   And what is attractive is a vision that inspires you as a human and you living in that authenticity of your vision. That's what attracts people and that's what attracts the right people to you. And that's how you can continue to see that growth and see that growth through. was so good, Dana. You pulled that out beautifully. Nice job. You guys, I mean, we could sit here and motivate you.   All day long, I tell my doctors that all the time. I can motivate you to do anything that I want you to do. I'm telling you that right now. We are really good at that. I can motivate you to do just about anything. I cannot inspire you. This is the inspiration here. We are inspiring you to go find your inspiration. Inspiration comes from within. That is inside of you. It is not something I can gift you. I can motivate you and I can give you some inspiration to go do it.   but that long lived inspired feeling, that's your vision. And vision driven growth is sustainable. Non vision driven growth is insustainable. It won't last, it won't work forever. You're gonna be burnt out, you're gonna be exhausted. And one day you're gonna be calling the dental team saying that you hate dentistry and you need to find your love for dentistry again. This is how you do it, okay?   So Dana, think their biggest takeaway ⁓ action item today is to go revisit your vision and take a look at it and sit with it and think, how does this inspire me to get up and love my job every day like Dana just said to you? And how do I translate this in words that make sense to the team? Dana, what do you, with that action item, what's your number one way   or a number one action item that you give to doctors when you're telling them go do your vision.   DAT-Dana (21:12) It's truly just like, why did you start your practice? Why dentistry? Why do you choose to come and take care of patients every single day? And then what do you, what and how do you intend on serving?   The Dental A Team (21:29) Yeah, I love that. Thank you. Thank you. ⁓ Dentistry is your what? That's your vehicle. Your why is why did you decide to use this vehicle? It doesn't have to be because you love the nearest and you're awesome at them or anything like that. It's because you wanted to make people happy or you wanted to like, what is that emotionally driven? Like Dana said, what's that piece? All right, guys, go do the thing. Don't overcomplicate it. Okay, you're going to change it a million times. You're going to write it right now.   And then in two days later, you're gonna be like, it's not right, it's not sitting right. And in a year, you're be like, no, this isn't right. That's okay, that's what it's like to be human. So go do it. If you need help, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you want prompts, if you need, I don't know, more actionable pieces, always reach out. Leave us a five star review below and you can ask for them there as well. But let us know what your vision is, you guys. We wanna hear them too. And we are here ready to work with you whenever you are ready. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   and can sign up for a free consultation with us on our website, TheDentalATeam.com Dana, thank you so much. We recorded two fun podcasts today, so thanks for spending your Monday morning with me. And you guys go listen to the other ones as well. Again, reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, and we can send you over some suggestions of different podcasts that will relate to whatever it is you're trying to get done in life. Thanks and go be wonderful.  

Kiera is a guest on The Extraction, a podcast by TeamCare, to talk about accountability without the drama. She, along with co-hosts Kyle Bergman and Dr. Sharon Bleiler, discuss the sometimes difficult realities of what it takes to be a good leader versus a great leader.  Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my   episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   The Dental A Team (00:18) everyone and welcome back to The Extraction podcast. Your cohost Kyle here today with my cohost and the co-founder of TeamCare, Dr. Sharon Bleiler. And today we are joined by Kiera Dent, who is the CEO and founder of Dental A Team, a consulting and training company focused on profitability, systems, accountability.   culture and leadership in dental practices. Kiera has worked nearly every role inside of a practice, which is a big part of why her content lands with both owners and teams. So in this episode, we are going to be riffing a little bit about everything and anything that goes into making a practice smarter, scaling from a leadership, bonding. We're going to talk a little bit about AI and efficiency. And so stick around. This is a good one. Kiera.   Welcome to The Extraction. How are you? Amazing guys. Thank you so much for having me. I've been super pumped to get on the podcast. Definitely a big fan over here. Excited to just rift on all things dental. I mean, my last name is Dent. So it's definitely my cup of tea here and excited to be with you guys today. So thanks for the warm welcome. Absolutely. And thank you again for taking the time to join us. I know you're super busy and congrats on all the success you've had building dental.   A team. One of the first questions I love to ask is what brought you to the dental industry? Not necessarily something that people grow up aspiring to be back when we want to be firefighters, astronauts or Olympians, but what brought you into it? Curious. mean, great question. It's funny. I remember in first grade, my teacher, Mrs. Larson had us like right out where we wanted to be. You guys, I have gone all over the map. I went from being like, I wanted to be a hotel cleaner. That was a big dream of mine. I was like, I want to be a hotel.   cleaner mom, like it's gonna be amazing to wanting to be a vet. I don't even really like animals. Like you can judge me harshly right now. And I was like, vet all the way up to I wanted to have, I wanted to break the world record and have 99 kids because I was like, listen, and then I'll just have like, I had already thought in processes at that point in my life. Like if I just like meet with them like one day a year, I could see each of them three times a year to then being like, listen, I just want to like wear scrubs for my life. And so was either like be a nurse and learn the whole body or be a dental assistant and just learn the mouth.   So that's actually what got me into dentistry was the desire to wear scrubs. Also, I became varsity tennis player, not because I love varsity, I just wanted to wear the cute skirt. Like that was really my motive in life. So I clearly am like a mixed bag over here of why I got here. But I actually then got into dental assisting. It was very fun, loved it. And then I went to college and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I settled on wanting to be a marriage and family therapist. And I remember   I was sitting in my interview, I was in Oklahoma and I was interviewing to get my degree and master's get accepted to school. They asked me questions and I was thinking about my patients back at the dental office. And it was a, I call these like the pivotal moments where I sat there and was like, Keara, do you really want to be a marriage and family therapist? The fact that you're sitting in this interview, you've worked hard. mean, passing the GRE is freaking hard. So like even to get there, I was like, do you actually want to be this marriage and family therapist? And it was a moment where I was like,   I think I actually absolutely love dentistry and that's where I'm meant to be and what I love to do. And then you fast forward a little bit further and now we're in consulting and I feel like I've been able to blend my love of the marriage and family therapy, of the love of people and wanting to solve problems, but I get to do it in a space of dentistry that I feel is just magical to change lives. So that's kind of my like roundabout random story of going from hotel cleaner to veterinarian to becoming a dental consultant. And I feel like I really did that like sweet landing of a space that I'm obsessed with of helping people.   And I say, dentistry is my platform, life is my passion, and to be able to bring that to the table is very fun. Kiera, that makes so much sense that you married those two because I watched your video on your website, and I've been a dentist for a while, and you you hit it out of the park. As soon as I watched it, I'm like, yes, it's really hard. Yes, you love it, but yes, you're trying, you always have, I always say like you have one wheel off the wagon and you're always trying to get it back together. that you were in counseling and yeah, you got it.   Thank you. In our research of looking at what you've done, Kiera, I see a lot of similarities in your leadership style along with Dr. Sharon's here. One of my favorite all time quotes from any human is when Dr. Sharon said, you know why I'm a good dentist and a good manager and a good owner, Kyle? It's because I raised four kids. It's because I was a mother.   Because I was a mom first. You talk a lot about accountability without drama. Noble Dentistry, our in-house brand underneath TeamCare, is run equal parts Iron Fist and a lot of empathy. Everyone there, it's an excellent practice. 14 operatories, seven associate doctors, millions of dollars a year. It got there under the leadership of Dr. Sharon and the incredible technology that builds Power's TeamCare.   But Dr. Sharon lives and breathes set every day, accountability without drama, being direct with people, having meaningful conversations. What in your experience does that actually look like in a real office? Yeah, well, mean, Dr. Sharon, I love your story and I love what you've built. I think like powerhouse and that is not an easy feat. with physically my body's been, think, in over 300 dental practices in the course of my career. Our team, think, has physically been in over a thousand. So like...   To say that I've seen a few dental practices in my time is not a lie. And to see people that are able to grow to the magnitude that you've been able to is something that I think there are, there are traits, there are characteristics, there are pieces. And it was interesting because I think like one, you're an insane example and everybody listening, like kudos because you've got a great example. Dr. Sharon, I'm freaking proud of you and I love what you've built and I love what you've created and.   Everybody listening is really lucky to be able to hear your successes and to learn from you. The second thing I want to say is we had an in-person mastermind with our doctors and we bring them all together and it was something I did not want to do. Like literally I was like, I'm not doing masterminds guys, like everybody does masterminds and our doctors like, Kiera, please bring us together. And I'm like, listen, this is not my cup of tea. Like I'm a girl who loves to be on stage, but then I definitely love to just like shut it off and not be on stage anymore.   Events, feel like they just linger longer forever. So I am the girl who puts on an event and then you don't see me at all. Like it's like a goodbye, wave goodbye to the children, send them on their way. And like, I don't want to see you until the next morning. And, but I noticed in there that when you ask about the questions of accountability and iron fist and different things, there was a moment that I hadn't realized until just two weeks ago. And I've even watched myself, we're 10 years into the company now. And I think that there's an evolution of leadership. And I think Dr. Sharon, you'd probably agree to this that.   I think there's the firefighter stage when you first start and you're like bros and gals with your team. And you're really in this like, I want to be best friends. And I actually think it blurs the lines of accountability really hard for these new owners, but they want to keep the team and they want to have good vibes. Like I was talking to a tennis the other day and she's like, I just love my practice. She's three months in Dr. Sharon. So we know she's still in like the honeymoon phase. And she's like, I just love my team and they're so great. And we just like all have the best thing and we hang out all the time. And it's just great vibes.   And I thought, honey, I'm so freaking pumped for you to experience. It's Sharon's laughing. She's like, you get it, you have it, you understand. I think that as you evolve, you start to recognize, and I said this quote the other day to a dentist, said, there will be points in your career that you are loved, there will be points in your career that you are hated, but I hope where you actually land is respected. And I think when you can have the filter of, how can I be a respected team leader? How can I be a respected CEO?   You start to make decisions of accountability that are firm, that are fair, that are consistent. And that is what teams ultimately are looking for. They're not looking for you to be best friends. Surprise, like spoiler, bosses aren't their best friends. Like that's not what we're here to do. Our job is to be that leader, to be that coach, to be that mentor, to be the person who sets the standards, to set the stage. And standards are what we tolerate, not what we say. And so when I look at accountability and I look at teams, I think that there is a progression.   And I think for leaders to realize like you don't just show up out of the box as a great leader. It is a progression and it's an overview of that. But I do think the consistency piece and also making decisions that are in the best interest of the business, not in the best interest for you or for your team, I think becomes a North Star that helps you have stronger accountability. And I will say like, you can't have accountability without consistency. So if you're not solid on the consistency, get someone paired with you.   that consistently drive those results forward for you, because those are gonna be some of the most key critical pieces that I've seen that really separate the successful easy practices versus those that are just scrapping by and trying to get to the next level, but feeling like they can't get out of their rut. And I'm like, you can't because we're not consistent, we're not accountable, and we're not holding the true North Star of what the practice ultimately needs, not what you want to do to be liked.   And I hope that landed with love, not sharpness. No, no. Like that's damn, that's like spot on. That's what Kyle's kind of saying. Kyle has three children. He is an entrepreneur. has multiple businesses and he's a big part of a TeamCare. But we talk all the time. He has three children under two. Three, three, three under three you recommend that Kyle? We're an IVF right now and we have three embryos. And people, I've been asking people like, so do I just go for like the shop approach? Like you just like.   three like one after another like I could have three surrogates at the same time like we have to realize I have like different atmosphere over here or would you like space it out so hearing like 303 would you recommend it? Just curious asking for a friend here. Okay so I have twin boys that are about two and a half years old and a nine month old baby girl and I think it's good to do it all at once because I have a friend who has a seven year old and a four year old and his wife's pregnant and the look on his face that's   It's devastating. I'm praying for David out there. Yeah, just go for it. Go for it, Kiera. Do triplets. Let's go. My first thing was, I was like, listen, guys, I'm a business person over here. Can I do like a three for one deal? Circuits are not cheap, nor should they be like they're donating their body for me. And I'm so grateful. But I was like, can I do a three for one deal? And they were like, well, your rates go down.   like your success rates. And I was like, all right, we'll do like three, but just get, okay, anyway, back to you're an entrepreneur, you're three. I do think Kyle's right, because like I always look at it like my kids, I had four in six years, you want to go to Disney World once. You don't want to go every three years. And you're to go once. But that aside, honestly, I feel exactly as you do. And that's why I kind of said to Kyle about treating everyone there. Absolutely the business is first, very open, very honest. Tell someone immediately when something's not going right, correct it and it's over.   And that's it. it's much, you know, what do they say raising kids? Seven words of praise for everyone. Negative. ⁓ Truth. It's truth in any part of your life. And, you know, I do love your name too. And I want to talk about that a little, like that you wrote Dental A Team, because one of the big things on all my ads say players want to play with A players. And once you drop that level, your whole team goes down. Once there's one person sitting at the front desk or in the back or anywhere who's not pulling their weight, everyone knows it.   So how, when you go into a practice, are you addressing that to the doctor, to the team? Like, where do you go when you're finding these? You're seeing it straight out where sometimes, docs sometimes live in fear of their staff. Yeah. No, ⁓ you're right, Sharon. And I say the best gift I think I can give an owner is to be unshackled from feeling like they have to keep team if they don't want to. I'm not here to, consultants get a bad rep because we go and we're like.   fire everybody and that's not my world. I don't believe in that being a team member myself, being a business owner, the greatest cost to a business is actually turnover. Like it's a huge, like the human capital expense is very large and for good reason. But when I look at that, you're not wrong. Someone was talking to me, they talked about like the NFL, like pick whatever sport analogy you enjoy, but they're like, they don't go pick when they're going through draft season, they're not picking the like BCDs for good costs. They're like, we're going for A because we want to win.   and every person on there is the top 1%. And if they even drop and they're not doing it their best, they get cut. And it's just cutthroat there. But that's how you get winning championship teams. And I think a lot of times in dental practices or in business, that's not as cutthroat, it's not as viewed in the world, like on the spotlight of the TV. I think we do sometimes settle because we're so afraid. And to me, I'm like, gosh, it goes back to marriage and family therapy. Let's go back there. I had a professor and they said in dating, and gosh, you guys are gonna love me or hate me.   I have found that this is true, so I hope it's a love. ⁓ Thanks, Kyle. He said, in dating, there's always someone just as good, if not better out there. And you might hate that because it could be a tender swinder. You could just keep swiping for the rest of your life, always thinking there's someone better out there. So use that with caution. But I do think that it's real. There is always someone better. At some point, you just accept, like, my husband, I freaking love him. I got a great last name from it, so that was a win for me.   I look at this and I just think there are always going to be better people out there. And I think sometimes you do need to elevate a team and you need to upgrade a team. And that is not wrong. And so when I go in and I work with teams, first and foremost, doctors, let's make sure that we got a clear vision. It is wild. If you do not have a clear vision that every single person is going towards. And people think that this is rah rah puff and I'm such a tactical girl, but if they don't know where they're even going, like we don't even know the lighthouse on the thing.   We've all got different rowing and you're just gonna feel like mayhem. People are like, my team is not bought in. And I'm like, cool, what's your vision? If I walked in, could every person tell me today, where are we headed in one year, three years, 10 years? If it is not so crystal clear that every person can do it, that's step one. Because that might even be half of the issue to get our A players up to A players. Like, they don't even know what the scoreboard is. Are we playing basketball, golf, football? Like there's different rules, depending upon where we're headed. And so getting your whole team aligned on that is number one.   Then number two, I love this litmus test and mine is if I had a chance to rehire all these people today, would I rehire them? And that is sometimes the zone that I don't want to go in and face, but I think that that's the core heart where we know and we often don't want to do that. Now, if you're like not into that and you're like going to sit here and justify that I've got another one for you to get even more tactical. Grab your core values and go through it and rank that person. Do not lie to me. Keep this paper hidden. You can burn it afterwards, but be honest with it.   put your core values out there and rate each person. And if they are not striking you at tens across the board, it's time to move on or it's time to elevate up. I think when people recognize, like I got a doctor, she's in Virginia Beach, she can't find a hygienist, but they had a hygienist who was just tearing them all down. They let them go and we're in like hygiene, like starvation right now. Like I understand that is a hard position to want to quit and like get rid of. They cut this person, it's been six months and the team is so much happier. And I think   When you live that and you see it, you stop tolerating. It's like, do not lower your standards for excellence to meet people's need for mediocrity. And I think if you can hold that line and realize that's what you are, you're here to win championships, you're not here to win friends, but by winning championships and being respected, you win friends along the way. It's this crazy piece. A players, you like to play with A players and the worst thing you can do to your A players is tolerate the behavior of your lower people. So I think when I am making a decision as a CEO,   I have to remember my A players are watching me to see what I'm doing. And that's the motivation for me to make the decisions that ultimately are best for the business, not the ones that are easy. Awesome. And you're right. And that's where the respect comes in. You know, if the leader is working from fear, know, no one's good. I think that a lot of times docs ⁓ are, you know, falling over dollars to pick up pennies. Like you pay a little more, you're getting that better person. We pay very well and I don't have a problem hiring at any position.   You know, but I got great people, they're rock stars. They put me to shame, the stuff that they can do from hygiene to anywhere, front desk, they're smart people. But Kiera, what you said actually, really, I'm going to do a screen share right now. You haven't done a screen share in a couple of episodes and I'm going to show, I'm going to show a dashboard on TeamCare that you are to love. And I think this will also be a nice segue into hearing how you're using.   technologies, specifically AI in managing, because it can be certainly a balance. But what I'm going to show you from an A-Team stamp is the leaderboards that we ⁓ intelligently produce these update in real time every day. We're looking at a practice here. I've anonymized the data, but we're looking at the high hygienist productivity so far for March. And we can see how many patients, and by the way, the beautiful thing about this,   is that not only can the practice owners and managers see this, but every single one of these team members, these hygienists can see what their patient per average day is, what their pre-appointment rate is, how much they're presenting for treatment, how many reactivation calls. We can see this for doctors. So Dr. Sharon is so good at going in and saying, hey, this guy, know, lot of production, but his production per exam is actually not as good as some of these other folks. So is there an opportunity to coach him   on his bedside manner or are these, you know, and this is actually noble dentistry. So this is our in-house and part of the reason they're so good is because everyone there, this is a depth chart. Everyone wants to be a starter. Everyone wants to make the pro goal. And so when you're able to show this type of visibility, some practices don't like this because, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. This is not youth soccer, not everyone getting a participation trophy. And so you can see where you stand. ⁓ So this is a   a part of TeamCare that it feels like really aligns with your values and how you lead. 1000 % Kyle. And I love that you brought this up because I am pro EOS traction, Gina Wickman, which this is very much in a line with that. ⁓ coach generally teams version of that. And the bottom line is numbers don't lie and numbers make these conversations easy. And when you look at this, as a team, we can't hide. There is zero hiding in there to see like.   All right, well, ⁓ you know, I just was busy. Everybody's busy. Like, where do we hide in this scenario? And it's either I'm gonna rise up or rise out and both are great options. And I think when you recognize that, because you're right, like even watching Dr. Sharon, if you look at her, if you guys didn't see the video, she's sitting back and there's a calm collected confidence about her that she knows that what she's put into place, these people want to be there. And the leaderboard shows that. And I think when you...   When you obsess about data and numbers, you can sit back like Dr. Sharon and have the confidence because you know that people can't hide. mean, guys, Kiera Dent is a human. Like I love people. I love to make people feel good. But at the end of the day, feelings only go so far and results will sustain. And I think when I look at it, I'm like, am I feeding my family or am I just fishing for a day? Like I've got to take care of.   Like it's one or the other. mean, they're going to make people happy, make my life miserable, or we're going to like look at the numbers and we're all going to win and we're all going to be happy. Like what is it going to be? And I think, I think when again, this is an evolution of maturity of CEOs and owners of businesses, you hit this, I feel like there's a threshold that you hit and it comes and everybody gets it at a different time, but you hit a level where it's like, data is a numbers matter more than people's feelings and us being on a winning team and me recognizing or like, shoot, you can take, I've had people take.   Second, mortgages out on their homes to keep paying people that don't want to be accountable. And I'm like, that is a choice that you're willing to make. There are multiple choices in life to make, but Dr. Sharon Sugarhead and for me, I don't lose money and that's my standard. I also don't tolerate people that don't want to be on my winning team, but I used to not be that way. 2020, I felt like I was Johnny Depp in the middle of the ocean. I was on a freaking burning boat, hoping and praying something else was coming. Like my team was rash. Like we were really struggling. And I think you have to go through that to...   to realize, or you listen to podcasts like this and you don't have to learn through it, use the numbers. You're exactly right. There is no hiding. Use the numbers, use the metrics. Numbers are your best friend. They're the vitals to your practice. And if you want to know if you're sick, you get your vitals. If you want to know if you're practice sick, look at the vitals of the practice and then make decisions accordingly. And it's like every once in a while, it's not often, but if things are going really bad with a group, with FDs or assistants or hygiene or whatever, sometimes you got to say to them, right? Get them all together and be like, you know, everyone's replaceable, even me. And you know, sometimes you just,   It really reminds everyone that you don't have this job forever. You're not working for the government. know, like this is nothing's going to keep you here. I'll tell you what I really, really want to hear about your systems about, think like that's the number one thing. And I think docs are horrible at it. We were just dentists and systems is what makes a real business run. And it's, I think it's the hardest thing to put in place. And Dr. Jaren, thank you for that. And shout out to you guys, the software. I just want to go back to that. didn't like.   if you don't have that, it. It will be game changing in your practice. I feel like it's like AI, right? Like you guys put Pearl overlay or whatever you want over Jet and it helps like diagnose. To me, your guys' software is how you diagnose the problems in your practice without having the emotional baggage that comes along with it. So just like wanted to do a plug there for you guys, because I really am impressed with what you've created. As far as systems, Dr. Sharon, I actually feel systems are easy and I know that that's like going to be contrary.   The reason I think number like systems are easy is because if you have the vision, I call it the yes model in our company. So we focus on you as a dentist. Your business should serve your life and not the other way around. And I'm very pro all of us on here are business owners and we know that I can either work my booty off for my business or I can get my business to work for myself and both are available. It just depends on which route you want to go. And so I'm very pro let's have the business work for you. So that stands for why for you you're number one. And if we don't take care of you first, the whole business will crumble. So like we've got to take care of you.   Second is E, it stands for earnings. So exactly like you talked about the leaderboard, the numbers, the metrics, and then S stands for systems and team development. And I put this together purposely in this order so you can say yes to more in your life, but I use systems third because I think so many people, Dr. Sharon, your point, they wanna go attack the systems, but they're missing the top two. And when I put the top two in place, the systems actually come after. Like what my numbers are telling me, tell me where my systems need to be implemented. No team wants to go through a whole systems overhaul. Like I've done this a lot.   No team's super thrilled. like, hey guys, I heard this great podcast. Let's implement these systems. Why are we implementing the systems and what result am I ultimately trying to get? I am big on outcomes over activity. What's the outcome we're looking for? And then let's put activity into place. And I don't disagree with you. Systems feel so daunting because there's a system upon a system upon a system upon a system. Like it never ends. It's like the Winchester mansion. Like they just go forever and you cannot escape it. And so when I think about it, I think that that's where it feels daunting. But I will say,   that there are core foundational systems that I put into place. And you're exactly right. Like we can't just be like, I've got a great vision and my numbers look good. Well, like the systems have got to be there. And so I don't disagree with you that systems are daunting. And so we actually created like 12 systems because I like cadences. I like it to be easy for people to memorize. Like what do need to focus on in January and February and March? So my practice can always be refining because systems are a refinement and an optimization, not a set like one and done. So I'm big on like operations, right? Like let's look to see where we're broken. Like what are easy core systems we can put into place?   Hygiene, hygiene needs to be producing. 30 % of our practice is a great baseline and they should be producing three times their pay. Everyone's like, what? They're so expensive right now. I get that. It's like, let's get innovative, let's get creative. We maybe can't quite get there, but let's at least set a good baseline and see what we're producing and how we can get there. So then we need to put our hygiene protocols into place. We need to make sure our hygienists are good to go. We need to make sure our hygiene exams are solid. Easy systems that are going to impact numbers. Then I'm gonna move to my front office. How do we schedule? Like doctors, if you're not getting out on time.   That's a fantastic system for us to go attack. If we're not producing enough, like let's go after block schedules, but I don't want you to just block schedule for the sake of block scheduling because you heard it on a podcast. Like what do you need to make? What did the numbers tell you? And then let's make sure we can actually build a productive schedule that will get you to that number. And I think when you put systems into place, that makes sense. Like when I go to Chick-fil-A, they've got like the salad thing up there. Like you put three things in and two things a lot of like, whatever it is, that makes sense because I'm going to make a whole salad at the end. But if they're just like,   Do some lettuce and some, teams need to understand why we're doing systems. And so I'm very core on what are the core systems that a practice needs to have. It usually falls under my hygiene department, making sure my doctors and our procedures are there, front office scheduling, our billing, please for the love of everything, holy collect the money. Like just collect the money. We are not back in the 1800s. You do not need to put it on a tab, collect the money. Like it is here. We need to collect money. Like what are the things that are gonna burn you? And then like our ordering needs a system.   things that are going to help and protect cashflow, things that are gonna help and protect patient experience. But like, I don't disagree with you, Dr. Sharon. I know I said like, I think systems are easy, but I think it just feels like there's so many things that we could do. But I feel like in systemization, less is more, more simple, one page documents rather than 20 page documents. And then we just realized we're refining based on what the numbers tell us, what our main pain point stressors are in the business that ultimately get us to the W on the scoreboard. That's how I'd implement systems. Amen. And if you...   are listening to this right now and you're saying, man, I need all of Kiera's systems. That sounds incredible. Well, lucky for you on April 24th, Kiera and the Dental A Team are holding a virtual summit. And even luckier for you is that you can use code Extraction50 for 50 % off your ticket. It's going to be about four and a half hours, three hours of which will be continuing ed where you can learn about these systems. It's an incredible value. And we will have a link in the show notes where you can join.   So Kiera, thank you so much for that generous code. If you're listening and look what I love about Kiera is Kiera you're spicy. There's people that are like, I don't want to, I don't like the way she talks and I don't believe in her, but there's going to be other people that are like, yes, I need a tiger mom like this in my life to help me move the needle. So I like it. I don't know. Dr. Sharon does it. See you guys are sisters from other misters.   Kyle, thank you for that. And I did realize, was like, golly, Kiera, you're coming in like, you're hot, you're on it. I've already been podcasting this morning, like I'm in the rhythm. Like was so pumped for this podcast. But I think it comes from a space of, I don't know, the analogy I give is I'm sitting on one side of the river and you're on the other side and you're trying to get across this river. And I'm sitting there as a guide knowing that your pain points and the frustrations that are keeping you up at night, that are causing you to cry, that are telling you that you, that are keeping you from your family. Sometimes I believe like,   Yes, I'm a consultant. That's what our title is. But I feel like I really sit in a realm of a coach. And I think about coaches of the best teams. They don't like I go to my gym and my gym trainer. She's not like yesterday. She freaking rocked me. I can't even walk like that's why I'm not standing. My calves hurt so bad. And I'm like, she was like, Kiera run harder. And I was like, I'm trying it's so hard right now. Like, but yet sometimes in practice and in business, and this is where I love what we do. Dental A Team is about fun. It's about ease. And it's about   giving you a hug of wherever you are with no judgment. And at the same time telling you what no one else will tell you because I don't, I'm not big on consultants that are series and fluff. I'm big on like, what's the tactical, what's the practical because I've hired plenty of coaches in my career that give me a lot of great ideas, but I'm like, yeah, but that idea is not getting me through this incredible moment and opportunity I'm living through that's like making me want to lose my hair. so   When you say and like the summit is fun, come and enjoy it. It's a really great time. It's for teens. I don't care. One person in the room, 20 people in room. I don't care. Our job is to positively impact the world of dentistry. And we are actually giving away our entire virtual academy. So all the systems, we've got operations manuals, we've got onboarding things, we've got CE, we've got every single course you could imagine, team training videos, like you name it. like, they told me someone, I was the Dr. Seuss of systems. So like it's there and it's free. Like just come and like say hello and you can win it. But it's.   I really hope that it comes from a space of not a lot of people tell you what needs to happen. A lot of people tell you what you want to hear. And I think as a business owner, I've just gotten tired of that mantra in the industry. And I'm not like, this isn't about any consultant. This is just truly who I am, what I believe. And I'm about results. And I want people to get results. If they're going to spend money, if they're going to spend their time, I want to make sure teams and doctors are getting the results they want. But at the same time, you talk to any team that works with us and they absolutely love us. We get texts every single time, like, we love you guys. We have so much fun when you come in.   because I think we get the seat. We understand the doctor's perspective and we understand the team's perspective. I'm going to talk to a team. I'm not going to be like spicing up. It's like, perfect. Let's talk about block scheduling. Had an office manager the other day. She did not want to be doing any like, my gosh, the doctors are out of town. They're not hitting goals. We were negative 20 last month. They were positive. So we talked to the office manager and I'm like, Hey, it's like, let's talk about this. And she's like, my team's doing so good. And I was like, that's amazing. I'm so proud of that.   let's talk about like what numbers we need to have. Like, did you know that like last month we were negative 20? And she's like, I had no idea. And I was like, okay, great. Like as an office manager, would this help you to be like in your role and to do really well in your role? And she was like, oh my gosh, it helped me so much. So we went through and it's a very gentle, like let's walk you through and how many patients do we have? Like they have 1900 patients that are active and we need 2,800 active patients. And I was like, all right. Well, like, and she's like, Kiera, what do I do?   And so that's when you open the door and it's not coming in with a harsh judgment, just like it's no harsh judgment on any office. It's more a, here's the problem. Like we have 1900 and we need 2800. If you don't want to ask me and you want to go figure that out, phenomenal, go do that. I have no problem. There is zero ego, but typically people want to know how do I get across this river? And you've been there, you've done it you've done it successfully many times over. What are the tips? And what was amazing is we've   She ran some reports, she found some reactivation, she found 800 patients and so she's freaking lit up. She's taken it to the team. They've got simple little steps that are not going to be hard. And she's driving that. We make her look like the million dollar rock star for her doctors, but she was able to reach out and have the help. So Kyle, yes, thank you for calling me on the spice. There's some directness, but I think it comes from a space of you hire a consultant for a reason, you expect results, and I believe that you should get those results. Kiera, as our episode comes to a close, I want to,   serve you some rapid fire questions. The challenge is to answer them in a sentence or less, even one word if you want. Okay. We're going to do four. first one, one He's like, listen, I actually have 10, but Kiera, you talk way too much. So we're dropping it to four. I got you, Kyle. I see you. I actually had 29. was just saying. Okay. So first one, one metric every owner should watch weekly. Oh gosh. Weekly, I would say.   My first one that comes to mind is I think you need to be watching your overhead. And I understand it's not weekly, so that's why I'm like, but I think if you are not in the habit of watching your money and your profit every single week, you get into hot water very quickly. So if you are tracking that, then I would say my next one is I would say your diagnosis. One system every office should fix this quarter. I would say, I think if you your hygiene perio protocols in place, I think that that's going to grow you in your hygiene department. That's going to grow you faster than any other system can.   One piece of technology that you can't live without now that you didn't even know existed a year ago. you talking about me or a dental practice? Either one. All right. Well, dental office, think, well, it's like shameless plug for you guys. Yours for sure. I think that that's an amazing one. The other one I do think like AI for like Pearl or Overjet for your x-rays and diagnosis. I think dental practices need that. For me or like revenue billing. I think those are great ones. For us and our company.   a year ago. mean, you're going to judge me. So I'm a little scared to say it, but like Slack has game changed me on so many different levels. And I think, yeah, so that'd be the one that I'd say. I knew it existed though, but it's a game changer. Okay, cool. But you didn't implement it. So that's awesome. All right. And last one, one mindset shift that instantly makes a leader more effective. I would say spicy Kiera.   I'm juicing my words cautiously, Kyle. ⁓ I think the mindset shift that people need to have is no one's coming to save you and it's time for you to take accountability and get the results you ultimately want rather than blaming, not taking ownership or accountability. And the second you do that, your life will change. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us. Check out Kiera and her rockstar team at TheDentalATeam.com. We'll drop the special link.   for the virtual summit in the show notes. And I think we will be seeing Kiera back on the podcast at some point. It was a pleasure and an honor and we look forward to staying in touch. Kiera, thank you so much. Thank you guys. I appreciate it a ton. Thank you. Nice meeting you.   The Dental A Team (32:47) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Does it seem like there are communication troubles in your practice? Spoiler alert: That usually has to do with accountability. Kiera and Dana riff on why creating an accountability ladder a) isn't as difficult as you think, and b) will save tons of time, energy, and money. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I've got the one and only Dana back with me today. I wanted to podcast with Dana, so I ⁓ maybe selfishly took her for two podcasts today. So Dana, welcome back to the podcast. How are you today?   DAT-Dana (00:12) Doing pretty good, I'm ready for round two.   The Dental A Team (00:15) Good. I do love podcasting because Dana and I were just able to rift and jive and it's fun. I think when you work with people for quite a while and you both have a ton of passion, makes podcasting very easy. So Dana, I wanted to just kick us off today on, I think, accountable teams. I think accountability is a buzzword in practices and people might be like, womp, womp, accountability. But I'm going to say like, no, it's not womp, womp. It's a, if you don't have accountability, your team is freaking chaos. And yet I think   offices don't want to have accountability and then we're going to do a pivot of like what happens if your doctor doesn't want to be accountable. So tune in. I hope you guys are ready. We're going to dive into it because it happens and I don't just think it's teams that aren't accountable. It's also doctors that aren't accountable. Like what do do because if accountability is such a like ick and issue and constant stressor for everybody. Well, like what the heck? Like how do we, how do we fix this and overcome? So Dana, let's dig in. Let's talk about like   I'm gonna just walk us through. It's gonna be a short rift today, but walk me through like, we get new offices. And I found that usually the number one issue they have is communication, which usually leads down to accountability. That's at least what I find. But I think that it's like, well, where do you start and how do you know like, is my team accountable? Is it not like, what do accountable teams look like? What do accountable teams not look like? Walk me down through like what you see in the practices you consult.   DAT-Dana (01:35) Yeah, I agree with you. It typically will come down to communication. And so when I talk to a team about accountability, I always say, there's accountability ladder, right? So we have to hold ourselves accountable first, right? Then we've got leadership team to hold us accountable. And then we've got practice owner typically there at the top. But there's always a caveat to that. And that is it has to be seen from the top down. So yes, we have to hold those lines. We have to follow those ladders as far as the chain of accountability. But   the tone for accountability is set from the top down. So if we don't have an accountable practice owner, we're probably not gonna have accountable leaders, which means we're not gonna have an accountable team. And so that's usually how I kind of open that discussion and that it does really come down to communication and some personal integrity, right? If we say we're gonna do something, do it. And if we notice that somebody isn't, have the conversation. So like you said, it really truly comes down to 100%.   of communication ⁓ and clear expectations.   The Dental A Team (02:39) Yeah. Gosh, Dana, like I love the accountability letter. Thank you. I have not heard that from you. So I think that's a fun, like you're right. It does start as you. And then it goes to your leadership team or your direct manager. And then it goes to the practice owner. And as you said that, just thought like, my husband and I were chatting the other day and something Jason, hi, I don't know why I do the things I do half the time. Jason and I were watching love is blind. So we decided to say like, okay, if we were in the pods, what questions would we ask each other?   And Jason, think Jason is a very, uh, he hears what's not being said. And Jason said, I would ask the question of what things are going to make it really easy to be in a relationship with you and what things are going to make it really hard to be in a relationship with you. And I was like, that's pretty good. Pretty great question. And I told Jason, I said, like, one of the things for me with Jason is a lot of times Jason, feel, um, tries to kind of like form himself into the relationship he is. And so he'll maybe not say everything a hundred percent the way like,   Like we had an issue and he was like, you know, like, and tried to just like almost sugar coat it for the person. And I, I called JSAO. I was like, Jay, why, like, why, why don't you just say like, I'm sorry. And Jason told me, he said like, well, in this scenario I'm embarrassed because I didn't do X, Y, or Z. And, ⁓ gosh, this is coming from years and years and years of coaching. ⁓ so that's the only reason I was able to see it. And thankfully Jason and I have a very open relationship where like he tells me like the hardest thing for me is like, girl, you gotta let go of control. think Dana would agree.   Like I need to just let go and like trust people like that is my zone. So he will call me out of like care. That's like you're controlling, like just let it go. Thank you. ⁓ and for him, I was like, just having that personal integrity, I know will give you confidence cause I've done it as well. So for example, if I'm embarrassed with something, say like, Hey, I missed that and I'm really sorry. Like I dropped the ball, but even in those small little instances of like, I don't know if like Dana, I was supposed to do a podcast and I messed up with her. It's like, Hey Dana, I'm real sorry. I dropped the ball on that podcast.   You can count on me in the future to do X, Y, Z. And in those small little subtle areas, I think that that's where you start to build personal accountability and confidence. And then like you said, Dana, it then is like peer to peer. And I know it gets weird and people are like, I'd rather not tell my team. I'm like, really? Cause let's just play, let's play the game. We either tell our team members and we have direct honest communication where we're able to have that. Or we sit in artificial harmony where everyone's walking on eggshells. Like you choose me, which practice you actually want to live in. And then that's also going to help us start to have that.   And I do think, Dana, like as consultants, it's really fun to be able to open the floor to teach people like, okay, let's start with ourselves. And like, this is how we're going to have personal integrity. Like you literally say what you, if you tell someone you're going to get back to them by Friday, you get back to them by Friday. And we start with these little accountability check-ins. Like if you messed up, you take ownership for that and you say what people can count on you for. Then we go into like this week, everyone's going to hold each other accountable to one thing. So everybody's going to do that together. Like   We all know everyone's got the floor. We go around the room and ask like, Dana, are you good if people hold you accountable? If they see something and she's like, yes, you get every person to say yes, because now we've got buy-in from the team. We have it. Now they all start to hold to their accountable. And Dana, I guess the question is like, does this really work or is this just consultant theory of like a pipe dream that nobody actually ever gets to?   DAT-Dana (05:51) ⁓ I I truly and honestly think it actually works I think that people just have to be willing to dig in they have to be willing to get a little bit uncomfortable and they have to be willing to work on communication so never am I like okay just freely go and have these conversations right we talk about how to communicate we talk about like have you noticed somebody isn't receiving what you said very well right read body language and understand hey this is what I wanted you to hear it looks like maybe that upset you a little bit   The Dental A Team (06:07) You   DAT-Dana (06:21) Can you tell me where I maybe lost it or can I start over? So it really then truly comes down to breaking down communication. And I think that teams that can learn to navigate conflict, that can learn to navigate these hard conversations, I honestly and truly feel like it is doable.   The Dental A Team (06:24) Mm-hmm.   And I agree with you, Dana, because we've watched it and I have teams, your highest producing less stressed practices are the ones that are accountable. And like you said, it starts top down. So, and what I can count on, and it's always crazy because I can tell if I give a doctor action items within our coaching call, if they get them back to me within the week, I know that team's going to be an accountable team. If that doctor misses every coaching call and gives me excuses every time, I know the team's going to be a struggle.   and the doctor's going to blame the team and say, team's not accountable. And Dana and I have the really fun job of saying, well, let's first work on action items with us. Because if you can get to be like, if you tell me you're going give this to me by Friday, I'm going to expect you to get it to me by Friday. Because it's those small micro integrity pieces that I feel people don't think are important. But to me, I feel like it's the floodgate to saying, like, do we actually do what we say we're going to do? Or is it just a free for all? Like, we just talk nonsense and it doesn't matter.   And I think owners and doctors, like if you tell your team you're going to produce, you got to produce. If you tell your team that these are the goals, but you're not willing to show up and do it like that, that's a, that's a huge disconnect. Why should your team be pulling when you're not pulling? you can change the goals. You're allowed to change them. That's totally fine, but you can't say we're going to do this, but then you don't show up or I want everybody here for huddle, but then you're not there on time. ⁓ I think teams watch and they mirror and you've got some people that really want to be great.   but doctors and owners and office managers, like I've walked into some offices and front office are like just sitting there eating food and like not answering phones. And I'm like, whoa, I don't know, Dana, could you imagine our team with me? She's like shakes her head no. And I guess Dana, why? Why is that? Because some teams feel like that's totally acceptable. And for you, you know, like I have never said anything. It's not in our rule book. It's not in our handbook. It's not like, what is the difference?   DAT-Dana (08:20) new.   The Dental A Team (08:33) that you feel that like, think team members are something. So Dana, what is it? Cause like literally watching you're like, absolutely not. Like you would never talk. You're right. I wouldn't. So I'm glad. I'm glad you know that without me saying it, but what is it?   DAT-Dana (08:38) Yeah. ⁓   Yeah.   I think part of it is just ingrained in like our innate culture. And I think too, it's just the way you show up. Like I know that if we are in a team meeting where we need to be paying attention and we need to be on it, like we won't be there eating and you won't be there eating either. ⁓ And so I think that it's just like, we know how you show up. And so   The Dental A Team (09:02) you   DAT-Dana (09:07) we know that that's kind of the innate expectation. doesn't have to be said. It doesn't have to be. It's shown to us every day. And so, you know, I think core values can help with that. I think that like, you know, we read passion, present, result, solutions, and I know that part of present is being truly present, right? So I just think that, again, it's you set the tone for those things as the leader of the company. And I don't   The Dental A Team (09:21) you   Yeah.   DAT-Dana (09:34) Like you said, it doesn't have to be said. think we just know because that's how you show up.   The Dental A Team (09:38) for sure. And Dana like, thank you. Thanks for stroking my ego today. And I know it wasn't like a, we did not rehearse this. I literally was like, Dana, you got a few extra minutes because I'll take you. I think that that's for leaders. And the reason I wanted that is because right here you have a team member and an owner sitting on a podcast. I have never once said, I remember I showed up to work one day, we had our little HQ, it's an employee who's no longer with us. And I remember looking at her, she opened the door for me because it was locked and she had like powder sugar from a donut down her shirt. Her hair was   really wild and she did not have shoes on. And I was like, Hey, so, what's going on today? She's like, I didn't expect you to be here. And I said, well, fantastic. am here. And this is absolutely not how we show up ever. Like, and if I ever walk in here again, this will be the change. Like, great. You need to go home and you need to go clean up and come back and like be in a professional setting. You are the leader of our company. And for me, I want to throw up when I have those conversations, I will have those conversations, but then I was definitely like, it's uncomfortable for me.   However, I also think like my job is to make sure our team has a leader that they can count on. And if it's not driving to the standards and expectations that I want, that's on me. And I think what you tolerate in your team is actually what you tell your, like, it's not what you say. It's what you tolerate are your true standards. And so I think when it comes to accountability, look at yourself first and like, how am I showing up? And then look to see it like, what the heck? I remember Britt, it was Britt, Tiff and Shelbi. And they came to me like, Kiera, I feel like our goals.   are so outlandish, like it's almost laughable. And I was so grateful for that date. And probably remember is like what we had as our vision, it was psychotic. And yet all of us were quote unquote following me, but I was so grateful to have a team that called me out of like, here, these goals are not realistic and they're almost deflating. So like we reset and we build goals that like we all agreed to that were stretch goals, but they were realistic. And I think like, I watched our whole culture change. So I think like owners, it's also okay for you to admit when you're wrong.   but it's not okay in my opinion to be like sloppy and messy about it. Like if you say like I messed up, you've got to hold that consistency longer. You need to be the person. And I don't know. I just think of like doctors come and complain to us all the time. They're like, my team's not hitting this. My team's not doing that. And Dana and I have a very nice bird's eye view straight into your real life. And I'm like, well, you're not either. So let's start with you first. Let's change you first. If you want to have these big audacious goals, cause that's what you need. I need you to freaking go diagnose like   I can't do that for you and I need you to go deliver. I can't change that. I need you to be on time when you say you're gonna be on time. So let's start there and then let's go after your team. But I promise you, you fix you first, your team will be accountable. ⁓ I don't know, Dana, thoughts on that from a team or from an owner? I just feel like it's such an annoying thing, but when you get it and you even start making one or two steps, and again, we're not going for perfection, we're just going for progress over perfection.   So one or two little steps where it's like, are on time for morning huddle. Let's start there. Cause I think it's like wherever you're visibly present for me, I start like huddles. Everybody knows like we are on time and if you're not going to be on time, you slack for it. Like we start on time. I don't mess around with it. We end on time. Like if we're on events, everybody will be there right on time. Like it's just like start there even. And then whatever you say you're going to do follow through on that. it's shocking. You start to promise a lot less. So I don't know. Those would be like my quick, like maybe two areas that are very visibly prominent.   And then if you're already doing those, then like move into meetings that we hold on time, then like be realistic with our goals. And if you're going to set KPIs and goals, well, guess what? They look to you to see, are you going to hit the goals every week or are you going to just let those slip and fall? Because whatever you choose to do, they'll follow and that like leads to office managers and team leads too. Like, I think it's one of the biggest privileges and I don't know, privilege slash.   responsibility is to, if I say I'm going to hit these goals and I'm going to hit these rocks, I deliver every time regardless of anyone else does it because then I know I showed up. And then I'm also going to help my fellow teammate rather than me just being the winner to the end. Like I'm going to carry the team with me. I'm going to show up. I think that builds team camaraderie and accountability. But Dana, those are my thoughts. What are your thoughts as we wrap today?   DAT-Dana (13:43) No, I completely agree with you. think it's just understanding like, start small, right? Just like I know you've used the analogy, I use this all the time going from, you know, I want to work out, so I'm to work out seven days a week for five hours, right? Every single day. So I think that like, yes, I want you to hold yourself accountable. I you said start with morning huddle, then go to your team meetings. we're not moving team meetings. These are super important, right? You coming prepped for them. Yep.   The Dental A Team (13:57) Yeah. Nope.   and I'm gonna be on time. I'm gonna   get done with my patient on time so you can count on me. How much does that like burn? It burns a team so much. I love when they're all sitting there with their notebooks and doctor is like running and blowing through. And I think like, I used to have this opinion of, no, I'm the owner. Like I can do these things. And then I thought you need to check your ego at the door and realize you are no better than anyone else. And you live by the same standards they do when it comes to accountability.   on time, like if you're going to expect your team to be at a meeting, you are at that meeting. You can wrap up a patient guys, you can. I know it's inconvenient. I know you can do things. like, no, we can't. They're in the middle of a crown prep. Well, guess what? It can happen once every quarter. But beyond that, if you're doing it more than that, then that's an issue with you and your time management. It's not a thing that your team needs to continue to tolerate. And you need to accept that, own that, and move forward. Otherwise your team will forever be unaccountable.   And you can sit here and you can hire every single coach and you can have all the things and you can say we did a great job or we didn't. But if you yourself is not willing to change and grow and evolve. And I think like to me, that's the torch that I chose to pick up by being a CEO of a company. And if I'm not willing to do that, then maybe I need to reconsider my position. And I say that with love. I say that with tenacity. And I say that with honesty, because I think that that's what we chose to do when we signed up for this job. Just like Dana, like she knew sign up for consulting like.   You get calls at weird times of the day and like that's just part of the job. Each of us has parts that we love and parts that we don't love. But to me, I know my team watches what I do and I need to be an example to them.   DAT-Dana (15:40) Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's how we show up for those parts, regardless of if we love them or don't.   The Dental A Team (15:45) I agree. And I think that how you show up for the parts you don't love actually says more about your leadership and accountability than how you show up for the things that you do love. So Dana, think, ⁓ I will say as consultants, I think that we helped create this bridge. I also think that we can be a mirror for doctors and doctors you hired us to say the uncomfortable and we're going to. And so I think, realize that when you have a consultant, what they're telling you is said from love and you need to listen and follow otherwise.   The problem, we're not telling you things just for our own egos. We're telling you because you need to move these things forward to get the results you're actually after. And then team members, you said, Dana, I think for everybody, let's see, are we showing up on time? Are we doing the things that we say we're going to do? Even in small little things at home, at work, on our drive, with our family, with our friends, I think every one of us checked that in. If each of us could even level up 1 % better, your whole practice and your patient experience and your accountability of your team will level up. And teens are like, no, I don't want to do it.   I promise you teams, this is so much better than artificial harmony because now you can hold each other accountable, we're accountable and everything just moves like a smooth, like well-oiled machine rather than feeling like clunky and broken and awkward and stress and frustration and chaos. It's your choice. So choose how you want to show up, but I think it starts with you. So Dana, any last thoughts? I appreciate you jumping on today and always appreciate your insights.   DAT-Dana (17:03) No, no last thoughts. think you hit it. You hit it hard right there at the end.   The Dental A Team (17:07) Thanks, Dana. I appreciate you being here and for all of you listening. Thank you for listening. Reach out anytime if we can help you with this. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. As always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast.

Does your P&L team cost feel high? Tiff and Dana provide insight on how to reduce your overhead besides scaling back team members. There could be easy solutions, from cleaning up definitions and job descriptions in your ops manual, to facing the numbers when it comes to debt, and many more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am here with you today ⁓ with Dana. Dana, you know, is one of my favorite humans on earth. We are starting our Monday with you guys. And I know it may not be Monday while you're listening to this, but you know these are pre-recorded, these aren't live. That's not a shock to you. So we record these on Mondays and Fridays. And Dana has been so gracious to share her Monday morning with us. Dana, how are you on this beautiful day?   DAT-Dana (00:27) I'm doing pretty good. I know I'm loving the weather right now. As you know, I'm like a sunshine lizard, right? So I love the sunshine we're getting right now. And I love some extra tip time on a Monday. It's a great start to the week.   The Dental A Team (00:30) beautiful.   I agree, I agree. was like, yesterday I was like, oh gosh, what is tomorrow? know, like, because I had prep the week before, I think we all kind of prep, but then Sunday you're like, wait a second though, what was that again? I've had two days to forget what I'm supposed to be doing tomorrow. And I checked, I'm like, oh yeah, podcasting with Dana is gonna be so great. So we're here today with you and Dana, this one's a really fun topic. I know you and I, notoriously, if anyone goes back into the archives and listens to the other 5,000,   It feels as though it's been 5,000 podcasts on operations manuals that we've done. That's just Dana's fun girl for that. But today is team related but less about training and kind of operations manually kind of things. And I think it's just a really fun version of a team aspect. And I say that because this is coming at it from a business standpoint. I think you guys all know that Dental A Team focuses on profit.   and profitability, but we focus first and foremost on happy people and having a fantastic business that can support your personal life, but then also having a fantastic business that supports an awesome team. And so being team focused and being people focused first, we truly believe that that's what creates a business that's sustainable over a lifetime and gets that profit for you. If we went profit first, not the book, we love the book. If we went profit first and never the people,   I think we would just be doing you a disservice. So today is all about how to get profitable, how to be profitable without sacrificing the team. And Dana, I know you and I, I think our whole company is really, really strong in this belief, but you and I specifically very, very strongly believe that treating the team right and not looking at the team for the cuts in the overhead is, that's how we start. So I'm gonna.   Just pick your brain some today, Dana. First of all, what are you seeing today? It's 2026, recording this. It's close to the beginning of the year. We're about almost done with Q1, honestly. So I'm flying by, but we're getting towards the end of Q1. But with that, we've had some financials. I don't know why, but in my world, financials are hard to come by this year. I love you CPAs, and I'm just hoping that we can get a little bit better towards Q2.   But so far in the financials, what are you starting to see and what did you see out of 2025 with your clients? What kind of trends were you noticing?   DAT-Dana (03:14) Yeah, think ⁓ financials, know expenses going up in different areas, a lot of that expense does come from team members. A lot of my conversations right now are like how do I show my team appreciation? How do I create things for my team when it comes to pay increase raises, things like that. ⁓   and still keep my payroll within where it should be. So a lot of team pieces are part of these financial conversations, I think even pretty heavy in 2026.   The Dental A Team (03:46) Yeah, totally agree with you. I've seen those same things and towards the end of the year too, was like Christmas bonuses. I know you and I worked, we talked about it. So I know, I know at least you and I did. I'm sure the rest of the team did too, but we talked about it towards the beginning of last year, I think on a podcast of making sure that we were getting our clients prepped to give bonuses. So they're saving some little acorns every month over in a bucket for that. So hopefully it didn't hit them, but it still looks ugly on the PNL no matter what, you pull wherever you're pulling that money from. So.   I totally agree. And then I do think wage increases. I mean, if we compare 2018, 2019 to today, drastic difference. And I know, I think in our brains, it doesn't feel like COVID was that long ago. It feels like it was yesterday, but gosh, like 2017, 2018, 2019, those were the years of like dentistry. Dentistry was really doing well for team's sake at least. It was easy to find people. You could pay people whatever you wanted. Like people really worked for their dollar.   And then you flash forward now it's been, gosh, almost seven, eight years since that time period. when we, in dentistry, when it comes, and this is just my opinion, when it comes to pay and team pay, I think that we are all still very much stuck in seven, eight years, nine years ago, like time period. And we forget because COVID, the emphasis on COVID and the emphasis on the   the world as it is today and all of our, gosh, attention is being so distracted by all of that stuff that it's almost like that time just disappeared. We didn't live that time. so team pay wise, we're still stuck back there, but the inflation and the reality is if you compared 2007 to 2017,   You would never pay someone what we were paying in 2007 in 2017. Those, those pays would be so different. But I think we're trying to like transplant that still today of the gold, the golden years, the good old days of what money was back then, forgetting that that much time has elapsed in the middle. And we're just truly not caught up yet in my opinion. So I don't know, Dana, is that just me? Do you feel that that we just like, we lost years. like just forward jumped.   DAT-Dana (06:07) Yeah.   Yeah, I feel like it was kind of like a time warp and I feel like especially in dentistry because I don't think dentistry hurt a ton as far as what we were able to produce. But I think that there was a big time warp when it came to salary increases and things like that. And I'm talking about that a lot on my calls because you know, yes, is it astounding that we're paying people in the dentistry where what we are right now. But again, I always say look at your area, what is fair for your area, what is competitive for your area because these team members bring value.   The Dental A Team (06:13) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:39) that is associated to the salary that we're looking at and while yes it has made a big jump I think sometimes it's just shocking how specific areas too have seen bigger jumps than others ⁓ but I do feel like we kind of got lost in time there for a while.   The Dental A Team (06:55) Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. was having a conversation the other day with someone about dentistry and he is like newly exposed to dentistry and a financial aspect. And I've been in dentistry, you've been in dentistry like it was in high school, right? We've been in dentistry since we were kids and it's kind of just what we know. But watching someone come into dentistry from the outside as an adult, as a professional, as a business person, he's like, this is kind of wild. the way that, and he's like, why don't we just like.   focus on quality people paying value for quality people. He's like, I feel like these practices might be able to hire less people to do the job because you're hiring quality people paying them well to do the job instead of hiring two, three people to do one job. that's another tangent. Goes into overhead for sure because I think that that's the space where   When you're talking about overhead, when we're looking at P &Ls and we see this 33 % to 35 % marker on team cost, and our standards and dental industry standards across the country still say it should be 28 to 30%, but now we're seeing 33 to 35 % California, it's like 42 % sometimes. That makes, I think, business owners and CPAs and professionals go, wait a second.   you're high and you have too many team members or you're too high, you're paying too much. And the reality is for us, like no, there's a missing piece and possibly, I mean, I've scaled back teams before that it's like, gosh, you do have three people doing one job because their jobs are so jumbled. So clearing up definitions and job descriptions go back to our operations manual days. Like clearing those pieces up, I think solves a lot of ⁓   team capacity issues and overpaying, whether you get rid of team members or not, them doing their prospective jobs helps to make them, it's just clearer. We're more effective, there's less overtime, there's more productivity when we're super clear on our position. So that does help, but I've I've cleaned some of that up, but then Dana, when we go in and practices, doctors are like, I'm heavy in my team. Are you?   Or can we look somewhere else? where are other areas that where, like, what are your markers? I know what mine are. Like, what are your markers? You look in and you're like, okay, team is there, but where are these other pieces? What are you looking for when you're trying to reduce overhead without touching the team?   DAT-Dana (09:32) So usually when I'm looking at that first and foremost, wanna make sure, right, production and collections are healthy. That's the first thing that I look at. Is it just with our team we are under producing, under collecting? ⁓ So that's honestly and truly the first piece that I look at. ⁓ And then I'm looking at anything that isn't a fixed cost.   Right anything outside of the team that is something that we can do anything about do we have budgets for CE? Do we have budgets for? Supplies have we negotiated labs so I'm looking at any variable cost in the practice and considering that first because typically when it comes to team like I know I can get them more efficient and I know that likes that's usually what the issue is if I say do you have right people in the right seats? Do you love your team members? Do you have team members that like are really bought in and value the practice and if that answer is yes, then we've just got to find a fish   somewhere else. So those are just the heavy hitters that I look at initially.   The Dental A Team (10:25) I love what you said there. I do the same thing and it just like lights me up to be able to chat with a doctor, look at a schedule and be like, well, for the hours of operation, you're staffed for the number of hygienists, the number of dental assistants you need for a full schedule, the number of operatories you have, the number of providers that you have for front office, that you are adequately staffed.   but your staffing cost is high, that immediately tells me we're not utilizing your schedule correctly, right? Or it's time to drop some insurance companies. Maybe we just need to get your fees higher to accommodate because the reality, Dana, and I think this is exactly what you're saying with right people, right seat, is that no matter whether you're a producing team member or not, meaning hygienist and associate doctor, it's very easy from a business standpoint to be like, yeah, they paid for themselves. My hygienist is at.   three to three point times their rate of pay. My associate is making me money, they're paying for themselves, but then you look at a treatment coordinator or a dental assistant and you're like, well, am I over, how do you see that? This is how you see that. People should be paying for themselves and it should be very clear because it should reflect in your overhead and you should be able to say with the right treatment coordinator, my schedule is freaking stellar. With the right billing coordinator, my collections is 98 to 100%.   all of the time and so the money that I need, my bare minimum and then some that I need coming into my account is accurately reflected on my P &L from QuickBooks. when you say Dana, the other like fixed, the non-fixed costs, right? So I love that and I think Dana, something that I've noticed that a lot of doctors get stuck on is this, the Anophis Mills, which is wild because these things have been around for like,   I don't know, 20 years now, it feels like they've been around for so long, but there's still such an area of they're either really working for you or they're really holding you back still in dentistry, which is crazy to me. But what are you seeing when it comes to that and what are you suggesting doctors do?   DAT-Dana (12:16) Are you?   you   I do feel like that for a lot of practices still just a big source of inefficiency. So I think that it really is like timing things, know what you can side book when it comes to meals, know how long pieces are going to take, know when it is more beneficial to just have the patient come back at a different time. And so I think that's kind of where we struggle, but yet doctors really want to use them because obviously they're paying for them, right? So it's an open expense, but in a lot of offices, it does take time and it is an area where we are   The Dental A Team (12:38) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (13:02) inefficient and we're just inefficient with the scheduling of it not necessarily the utilizing of it.   The Dental A Team (13:08) Absolutely, I completely agree. And I love them because it will reduce lab costs. But I think something actually that I haven't just thought of is, I don't know why I've never thought of this before, something that we don't account for, at least I don't, we account for the debt. So we have, you when we run through your P &Ls and we plug them into our sheet, we've got your true overhead, your top overhead, your pay, your debt services, and then what's remaining is your actual true profit.   But Dana, I'm sitting here thinking, well, we're paying monthly on this debt. we're saying where I was, what I was about to say was that it can and will eventually reduce your lab overhead. But realistically, that debt should be accounted in that percentage for the labs. And I've never thought of that before to like accurately reflect the true cost of labs. But I think that we're always finding another layer, you guys. I think that's like another layer that we could really help our.   our practices to be able to see what are you truly spending in the labs? And I had a conversation last week with a client. It was actually really fun. It's a husband and wife that I chat with. And we're always talking about their finances. It's very important. We've done a ton of work over the last two and a half, almost three years, to reduce their overhead by legitimately almost 20 % at this point. ⁓ But we've got debt.   And he's like, OK, well, we've got to add this. And we've got to this. This is our new BAM. we're like, yeah, we're going through it. And his wife in the background is like, when do we stop just doing more? And she's like, can we pay off some of this debt? And I said, you know, honestly, you've got $11,000 a month going out to debt. If we strategically start paying that down, because they do have profit, so they are saving in buckets. And if we strategically start paying that down,   Now that's 11 grand additional every month that you're pouring into buckets. So just like our personal costs, I think we do really well from the third party perspective seeing treat this like you do your personal banking as long as your personal banking is in line, right? Like you're paying off your debt first, kind of like the Dave Ramsey effect, right? Like why are we not Dave Ramseying our businesses?   but we're doing it in our personal life, but then it's so easy as a dentist to see the new scanner and be like, well, that's better than the one that I have. I'm almost done paying that one off. So tech, it's like girl math, right? Like I paid for the dog grooming $200, it was worth it. On Saturday with cash that I was supposed to deposit months ago, that was out of, like it was already out of my account, right? Like it was already gone. So I was like, oh, it's basically free. We're doing that with, I said my dog grooming was quote unquote free because it was money I hadn't accounted for anymore.   I think we do that with our purchases in dentistry. We're like, well, this scanner's already paid off, or this one's almost paid off. So technically, I'm not really adding. I'm just continuing instead of getting rid of it. And it's like turning in your car when you've just paid it off for a new car because you're used to having a car payment. So that was a long tangent on the lab space. But I think it was all pretty relevant. And I think, Dana, for us, that's a   Valid space to be able to say yes, you've decreased your lab costs with the mill and with the scanner But if we add back that debt payment right now your lab percentage is actually at this   DAT-Dana (16:32) Yep. Yeah. And I think that that's something like when I'm talking to doctors about purchasing these things or looking at these things, those are honest conversations that we have to have. Okay. You're absolutely right. That will save you on your lab. How many crowns do you have to do to see a savings? Right. And, and are you prepared to do that many?   The Dental A Team (16:44) Yes.   DAT-Dana (16:49) right? And how do we fit that many in your schedule? And so I think that those are conversations that yeah, like we have to look at those things because honestly, and truly, if we don't do enough crowns to save on our lab space, right? And then, again, it's like then we're talking about team members and it's like, well, we wait, right? Just just wait a second, because we made this decision. So now we just have to get the team to be efficient to hit a number of crowns that we need to actually make it lower.   The Dental A Team (17:04) That's just thinking that.   DAT-Dana (17:14) lab costs. I think these are conversations that we have routinely with clients. think these aren't always things that dentists in general think about when making those purchases because yeah, they look at the lab savings and they look at the fact that they get to grow what they offer. And these things are exciting. We totally understand that. But I think it is looking at all those pieces and saying also does this make financial sense?   The Dental A Team (17:37) Yeah, I totally agree with you. I was thinking too as you're speaking on like efficiencies and how many crowns will it take. Also, we forget how much time does it take from a human. So as we're being efficient with the schedule, you're also losing an assistant to go mill that crown, to go design it and to mill it. So there's like 30 to 45 minutes unless, I mean, there's a lot of practices you can cut it down and they're getting much quicker. So whatever, we'll say 40 minutes that you've lost someone.   that would otherwise be able to do the next patient. And that doesn't get accounted for in the employee cost where it's just a shift. It's just a shift. And being able to see all of those pieces and those aspects and make those confident decisions is massive. And then how long will it take to pay those things down at the cost, the fee, the rate that you're paying because realistically that, again, is your lab cost.   and you would be paying a lab for sure, but over the long run, is it going to be a big enough savings is a big consideration. And if you already have the mill, start thinking that way. Like, okay, well, what is my true lab cost? then supplies, I mean, everybody knows supplies and we're not in the, I think there was that massive increase, right? COVID with the PPE, like that got wild and we were at like 8%, but I'm starting to see people, like you guys are back down to the five, 6%. So I don't think that that's.   huge space but realistically the lab fees, the same doctor, ⁓ sometimes I'm like ⁓ how did we get GP dentists? How are we at a $15,000 lab bill? He's like well I like their work and I'm like so do I and then we need to find something cheaper.   DAT-Dana (19:22) ⁓ But yet. Here   we are talking about this number every month.   The Dental A Team (19:27) Yes,   yes, and I said that's fine, then we need a drop insurance company. So I think those are the conversations and it's just so easy to jump to say we're over staffed or we're paying too much money or we're doing too much overtime. When I see practices that have overtime, I'm like, okay, why? One, overtime is more expensive than another human. So are we understaffed and we need to divvy some more things out? And two,   Overtime is a huge indicator that we're inefficient somewhere. So it's either our schedule is constantly running behind because we're ineffectively scheduling, or we've got, again, like overlapping duties and just chaos going on when there's confusion in your brain, you're slower. And so when things are clear and clean, you work more effectively, you're more productive, and you move on things faster.   Huge spaces, huge spaces, but going back, I think to straight to the beginning, Dana, I love it. The first thing doctors for you to look at is exactly what Dana said. Production and collections, are you producing enough because you need the staffing for the schedule you should have. If you don't have the staffing and the schedule comes first, you're gonna be in overtime. You've gotta have the staffing. I'm not saying go hire a million people because in five years you want this.   Make sure you've got enough people to run the schedule that you want. Make sure that you're being productive, that it's getting on the schedule and that on the back end it's getting collected. If you're not getting enough new patients for the production, like all of those things go into it and that's why we make you guys fill out scorecards and watch trends and see it all in one space is because all of those things play a massive role and the first place it's gonna show up on your overhead scorecard is your employee cost. It's just.   the truth. That's the first place it's going to pop up and then from there you'll see all of the little ones but it's your biggest expense.   DAT-Dana (21:27) Yeah, and I think that what you said is and I talk about this all the time, like especially when we get a doctor that comes in and really is cash flow that is the reason that they come and it's I can slice and dice your P &L a hundred different ways but at the end of the day most of the things that I can slice and dice are low-hanging fruit and the biggest impact that we can make on those overhead costs and those percentages is to produce and collect more. Hands down, bottom line.   The Dental A Team (21:51) Yep.   Yeah. Which either means more efficient schedule and getting more people on the schedule or raising your fees and dropping insurance companies. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. All right, guys. If you don't know how to read your P &L, by all means, reach out. We have all kinds of, you know, videos and podcasts and all kinds of other things that we can share with you. And we are always happy.   DAT-Dana (22:01) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (22:19) to help you in the best ways possible. So first and foremost, action item, go read your P &L, go figure it out, go see where your expenses are at, be really familiar with your bank accounts, with your P &Ls, with your debt services, treat it as though it's your personal money, because realistically, you guys, it is. You're a business owner, it is your personal money, so treat it as though it matters. And go look at that, look at your production, and by that we mean is your schedule efficient and actually productive?   Do you have 90 to 95 % of the time at the end of the day, you're hitting goal and you're like, that was awesome. Or are you 90 to 95 % of the time, like, what did I do all day? How is this my life? I'm so stressed out. You tell us, go do those two things. Love on your team. Make sure you have right people, right seat. You guys, ⁓ again, a million podcasts to discuss all of that stuff. Go find them. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We will find them for you and send them to you. You just tell us.   Dana, anything else you can think of aside from learning your P &L forwards and backwards, looking at production collections first and then looking deeper and reaching out to us?   DAT-Dana (23:26) No, I think you hit all three of the big ones.   The Dental A Team (23:29) I love it. Awesome guys. Okay, go do the things you guys. It is way easier than it sounds and it honestly is way more fun than it sounds. I Dana and I have both come full circle on our love of P &Ls and numbers and being able to find the little secret sauces here and there. go do the things, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com when you're ready. We are here to help you forever. We're always here. And you guys drop us a five star review below. Let us know.   how this goes for you with your P &L review. Let us know how helpful this was. And again, go love on your team. Dana, thank you so much for being here with me today and we'll catch you next time, guys.

Kiera joins Dr. Paul Etchison on the Dental Practice Heroes podcast to talk about the infamous front desk and how to finally figure out what levers should be pulled and which should be pushed to get the department in ship-shape. The best part about this episode is that Kiera and Dr. Etchison make the steps to success easy to understand and implement. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my most incredible episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   speaker-0 (00:19) Kiera, so glad to have you back on the podcast. It's always a joy having you on here. And I'll tell the listeners, I've worked personally with Kiera a number of occasions, someone I very much trust, someone I respect entirely in the industry and just knows her stuff and always a great guest to have you on. And today we're going to be talking about, you know, front desk stuff where   I work with a lot of clients. Do you work with a lot of clients? I don't know if you share the same regard. I would love to hear your opinion on this, but I would say most of the clients that I work with, the front desk tends to be their most chaotic and unorganized department. I mean, do you feel that you share the same sentiment?   speaker-1 (00:59) Yeah, Paul super excited to be on the podcast with you. Always enjoy a good chat and I mean, think proof's in the pudding. Do you remember the number one reason you called me to work with you the first time? Oh yeah, I was front office.   speaker-0 (01:12) I think it was the second time and the third time.   speaker-1 (01:14) It really all those times were and the answer is yes and this is why I created Dental A Team is because like Working in the dental college and seeing so many dental students like you guys learn how to Drop your box on an MO and like how do I have a perfect crown prep? You don't learn how do I do the billing and how do I do the insurance and how do I schedule patients like you learn how to have patient etiquette and great dentistry and so that's why I created Dental A Team like it's dentists and teams like hey dentist let's get you to rock your space and then let's work on the team side because   because even myself as a team member, there was no learning. It was like, just do it. And I'm like, well, what do I just do? And so I think the front office just feels so elusive. It feels so scary. And like, Paul, you're in someone's mouth. You're not like, ⁓ how do I do an insurance claim? And so I think there's so many nuances, but also for dentists, the front office is the gatekeeper of your money. Like they're the ones who schedule for you. They're the ones who present your cases for you. They're the ones who collect the money for you. They're the ones who bill for you. So so much of your financial freedom and like,   your paycheck is also directed by a department you don't even understand. So I think that that's why there's so much just like, it's not conflict, it's just almost like unknown and it feels daunting. And so you don't even know what levers to push or pull because you don't even understand how the how the engine works. It'd be like, hey, Kiera, my car is making a sound and I'm like, good, I don't know what to do. Like, that's not even my realm. And I think that that's how a lot of dentists feel about the front office. So, yeah, that's why that's why I exist and why I love to   be on the podcast and share because it doesn't need to feel daunting or scary, nor do you need to do it all. I think just being aware and knowing what things to look for, what things you can expect and having a hopefully a trusted voice in the industry where like, hey, I'm here, no judgment. Like just ask all the questions and let's help you guys get your team up to par. And also for team members, cause they, lot of times don't even know what they should do either.   speaker-0 (03:05) Yeah, absolutely. They're just thrown in there and said, here, figure it out. Do it. Just answer the phone and do all this fun stuff. I mean, like, I think what struggles for dentists as practice owners is we just don't understand, like you mentioned. We don't understand, like, how to send a claim, how to look at an insurance breakdown. But whereas every other element of the practice, we have a deeper understanding on it. Do you think, I mean, I'm sure it would be beneficial, but is it necessary for a dentist to learn everything about claim submission and all these things?   front desk related? Or can we get by with some more higher level organizations such as you provide?   speaker-1 (03:41) I think, Paul, it depends on who you are. think Paul Etchison, I would say you probably can get by with some high level. You got it, you got it figured out, you can sift through. For some other doctors, they want to at least know. But I would say it's a blanket statement across the board. I think at least having a slight awareness, go up to the front office and just sit there and be like, hey, walk me through how you submit a claim. ⁓ I think you even knowing some of the jargon, the language of   what's going on up there. Like, can I see an EOB? ⁓ That's like, and I think it's kind of like, go back Paul, being a business owner, I equate front office to like a PNL and CPA and bookkeeping. We have all learned how to run a business without being a CPA or a bookkeeper, but it's because we're in the language of the PNL. And I think, how can you get into the language of the front office? You know yourself, but.   I think abdication and just like delegation, like hands off is probably a dangerous space to be, think for any business owner. Like I don't want to be in sales, but if I don't understand the sales process, that's not going to work. Marketing, like, okay, great. But I need to at least understand the nuances of it. And I think that's the same for front office. So I would say as a simple blip, why not just go up and listen to how your front office schedules? Why not go up and just see how they submit claims or verify insurance?   And then, yes, I would talk to and listen to podcasts by the Dental A Team or other trusted individuals in the field. ⁓ We have online courses that we've created for all of these. Not so dentists learn it, but just to like, what's kind of my, I don't know, like front office for dummies, like go back to those books that they had, like, what's my quick overview to where I'm not going to get screwed over, I'm not going to get embezzled from, I'm going to know what to expect of my team. And I'm even happy to share even simple job descriptions of what those roles   can and should be doing. I think even that knowledge alone helps doctors just feel more confident and competent of like, ⁓ my office manager should be acting like a COO. My billers should be acting like a CFO or an accountant. Like they should at least know this and be able to bring things in. And my over 90 should be know more than 5 % of my collections. Like knowing just those little pieces, I think ⁓ that's just going to give people more confidence. But again,   equated to how you work with your CPA and your bookkeeper. You didn't know that, but you were immersed in the language of it. And I think the more you can just look, know, learn without doing. And I'm talking like this is like a week or a month. Like it's not like years and years. Like you could just quickly get affiliated with it. But I think audits and spot audits once a quarter would really be beneficial. And if you're a hands-on person like myself, literally have your front office have you like submit one claim and submit and   put in one payment onto the software, ⁓ do one insurance verification, do one scheduling. It might feel weird, but just like you have your front office come back and watch a crown so they can explain it in a treatment plan, just doing it one time also gives you a lot of familiarity that I think you can catch a lot of things just because you almost know what does A plus B equals C, how does that equation actually work.   speaker-0 (06:54) Yeah, and I love that CPA analogy because that makes a lot of sense. Like we don't get deep into the bookkeeping and deep into the profit and loss, but we do know enough that we can use it. You know, and I see with like the front office is that a lot of dental practice owners, just don't see the value and they just don't see like why to provide the training out there. And it's such a large part of the practice. I mean, just like, like if you could like pick just a few, what are some downstream things that happen that us as owners see that is more visual to us?   evidence of lack of training upfront.   speaker-1 (07:27) Yeah. ⁓   Paul, I don't disagree and I think it's something crazy because it's like hygiene is so important and so we like focus a lot on hygiene and make sure it's there. But your front office is the, I call it like the bookends of the practice. They're the initial ⁓ information for the practice and the first impression and then they're also the last impression. And I can't tell you how many doctors I'm like, Paul, you're amazing, but your front office is actually destroying your business and you don't even know it. So things that you might not catch or see are sometimes like your front office with billing, like look at your review.   because if your billing is having problems, it will pop up in reviews and they'll say like, they charged me wrong or they didn't quote me right. Like that's gonna do some red flag alerts for you just to be able to quickly see. Usually the billing issues downstream are gonna show up in the reviews and patients leaving the practice that you might not even know about. ⁓ Other things that I think you can catch are like, if you have any type of recording of phone calls or have a family member that you trust, just be a random new patient with air quotes on it.   and give feedback of how they were treated on the phone. I think that's a really good way to find out because if your front office puts them on hold or they don't have like genuine care and customer service centric, patients are going to leave that you don't even get the opportunity and you're spending all this money on marketing. But then our front office is like, could you please hold? And it's like, great, super happy to be put on hold or I can't get you scheduled in or even like, I think sometimes dentists, you.   Kind of like myself, when I go into a practice, I'm like a creepy little hangout behind the scenes. Like, doctors, if you have a little bit of downtime, just go like hang on the wall and listen to how your front office team is answering the phones, how they're presenting treatment plans. You probably like, areas that I see a lot of opportunities that are missed are, how are we converting our phone calls and getting patients on the schedule? How are we scheduling? Like, are my patients saying, I cringe when I go in. I cringe when I hear phone calls.   I cringe when I hear another scheduling. I cringe when we're presenting treatment. If a patient's like, I'll just wait. They're like, OK. I'm like, OK. No, like, we should go past this two times. There's ways to do it. Or if a patient calls about a balance and they're like, it's OK. We'll just write it off. And I'm like, we're writing that off? ⁓ You can look at audit trails to see what is being written off on your accounts in billing. ⁓ You also can look at your AR. You could quickly just run the AR report. You don't even have to know.   A good benchmark is less than 1 % of your collection, or like one month's worth of collections should be all that's in your AR. So if you're producing 100 grand, we should have no more than 100 grand in total AR. So those are just some downstream of, think, like really making sure our schedule's full and we're treating patients amazing so they're not leaving before we even get that opportunity. Are cases being closed? And like we've got great verbiage to close cases.   And then honestly, like there was a practice and I walked in and there was a huge stack of checks and I was like, what are these doing? They're like, I just don't have time to enter those. And I'm like, well, we don't have time to like pay you either. So get those checks in like really truly. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but like you've got to get these in. ⁓ And then looking at the claims and how much AR sitting in there just to see, and then doing a quick audit trail to see I had a practice. had about, gosh, about a million dollars worth of AR.   And I was like, is high. And they're like, yeah. Like if we can't get in touch with the patient, we just write it off. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? Like you just write? They're like, yeah, we try. But like, if they don't answer, we just write it off. And I was like, so that's like not allowed. And we need to have the doctor approve those. So I think some of those little pieces, and those can be set up with audit trails or permissions within the software. And I think even just some of those safeguards can really help a practice.   Like these are, think, a lot of red hot fires that could be worse than you realize. Dr. Paul, you could be doing amazing dentistry, but if your front office team is not great on the phone, not great with case acceptance, not great with billing, you might accidentally be losing a lot of, like there's just a lot of open holes and you're trying to put in more by diagnosing more and doing more dentistry at the top. But our buckets got quite a few little leaky holes that even if we put like patched a couple, you'd see your practice grow a lot more with minimal effort.   speaker-0 (11:47) Yeah, I always like to think of the idea that if we've got like a $1 million practice and typically we see case acceptance in like the one third, like 33 % ish, you know, when we're looking at a fee. So you would think that we're diagnosing $3 million. So most doctors will focus on the things such as like, well, let's work on the way I talk to the patient. Let's work on this. Whereas completely missing the fact that, I mean, just even getting a 5 % increase in case acceptance that would come from training on the front desk end versus   stuff that you would do on the back. So it's like, it's a valuable part of the office. But, you know, I'd love to ask you, we've got this part of the office that is a lot of competing demands, a lot of different things to do at once. And what I see is doctors often getting upset at their front desk when they're not filling the schedule because the doctor has a cancellation and now the doctor has time to like say what is going on and they go to the front, they say, well, who's filling the schedule? And everyone's like, well, we're doing this, this, this, and this. How do you, as an owner, like,   help a department see these competing demands and have the right sort of priorities.   speaker-1 (12:53) Yeah, Paul, there's a great book ⁓ that I am obsessed with this year. We sent it out to a bunch of people and let's see. Hold on. I'm looking it up.   You know, I really love it. Clearly. I think it's called Begin with We. Let me just double check myself on it. I'm pretty confident looking it up real quick. ⁓ It's We. Yes, Begin with We and it's by Kyle McDowell. And it was something that I really got obsessed with this year because there was a one of his 10 rules is outcomes over activity.   And I realized that I think that that is one of the greatest hiccups in the dental practice is we're so obsessed with activity, but not outcomes. And so in a dental practice, I'm really big on what is the outcome that this position needs to get.   I don't want them and I used to do this. Like I used to have end of day checklists that were like front office team needs to make 25 re-care calls. And then I was like, why am I saying that? What I really want from those 25 re-care calls is I want a full schedule and I don't want my team to be perfect, but I do need to make sure that the main outcome. So like one main outcome or KPI or metric per position and they know and like some people are like, Carol, how do get your team to do this? And I'm like, my team knew that if our schedule was not full, they were not going home.   like period, like you're gonna, I don't care, you're gonna stay until eight o'clock at night, but like that schedule is expected to be full. And it's not that I'm like driving hard lines. It was, this is the most important thing. So my scheduler, their goal is that they need to have my doctor scheduled to goal 90 % of the time, like we are scheduled to go or it's front office team knows that my hygiene schedule needs to be completely full with all confirmed patients because don't worry, they play games and it's like, well, my schedule is full. And I'm like, yeah, well, half of these weren't confirmed. They're gonna be no shows. So it's a...   My schedule is full or we're allowed one hygiene opening with all of our hygienists per day. But like by end of day, this needs to be done in every day that that's our goal. And our goal is to make sure that hygiene is up to goal 90 % of the time. We track it daily. We track it weekly. We make sure they're there. My treatment coordinator, my doctors need to be up to goal, like to their scheduled daily production goal. That's the expectation every day is that they're scheduled to goal. And when I look at the course of a week or a month, my expectation is that 90 % of my days, Paul, you're hitting your daily goal.   Well, now that and that's like, that's their main focus. I think so often we're like, we want the schedule full, we want the patient experience, we want this and we want that. But I'm like, if I can simplify it for my team, just like my AR, my AR needs to be less than one month's worth of collections and I need less than these amounts per category. Great. There's so many other things they can do that they can get busy and like, I got to answer the phone. But if I know before I leave, like the way I win and the way I check my day off is.   I've got my doctor scheduled to goal, I've got my hygiene schedule full and we've got our months collections done. Those are three of your biggest areas. Of course there's a thousand things, but when we lock and load on that and my doctor needs to diagnose X amount, ⁓ it does also then impact our case acceptance because guess what? Now that treatment coordinator is like, shoot, I have to get Dr. Paul up to, I don't know, 5,000, 8,000, whatever your daily goal is. And I know that that's my expectation and I'm going to be reporting every single week on this.   And what happens if I don't hit goal? So some people incentivize with bonuses. Some people, this is just part of your job description. Some people are meeting on weekly one-on-ones and like helping them through it. Some people like treatment coordinators work with their doctors and they review treatment cases every single week. But if you can laser focus each one of them, but it's not a would like to have, it's a must have as a culture. And we are a culture of we hit our outcomes consistently and we don't miss those. We don't have to be perfect, but that's what we track and measure by.   That's how you improve at practice. And then all the other noise goes away because me as a team member, I'm not trying to compete for what I think is most important. You've helped me know and we've aligned and we've agreed. And I know what's going to be the outcome if I choose not to. And then everything else kind of falls into place. As a front office team member, there's a lot to do. But I think just giving one or two really helps streamline that.   speaker-0 (16:56) So like what I hear you saying is that if it's important to you as the owner, you've got to.   make it important to the team as well. And that's by discussing, making it a focus. Yet, I find that a lot of practice owners are very scared, and I don't know if scared is the right word. Maybe fearful of ⁓ pressing too many buttons up there. know, like upsetting people, over-asking, asking too many things. I mean, do you think that practice owners need to have a mindset shift around the leadership that comes with the front office?   speaker-1 (17:29) I think it's a...   I don't know, like it's almost like a family motto and it's a team motto. Like we all work and contribute and each of us is part of this bigger whole. And so like if Dr. Etch does not diagnose enough dentistry for us, like that's a broken part in our whole like wheel. And I need to be as a team member able to count on Dr. Etch to be on time for our patients and to diagnose enough treatment for us. Like that's his part of our puzzle. And if he doesn't do that, I need to hold him accountable. And so it's not a Dr. Etch's   like top dog supervisor, we're all part of this to make a hole and we all need to be able to have like go to five dysfunctions of a team. Like how can we have more healthy debate and call each other out? ⁓ I love thinking of sports analogies where like they want to win. We all know what like win on the scoreboard looks like and I can only imagine like, could you imagine like we'll just use the Chiefs. I like everybody knows the Chiefs like right now. So like could you imagine Patrick Mahomes?   Like someone doesn't block for him and he gets completely smashed and he's like, Hey coach Reed, could you please tell the team to tell them to block? It would be ludicrous. Like Paul, you even laugh about it because it's so ridiculous. Instead in the moment he's like dudes block for me. Like I'm not, we're not going to win if you don't do your job. But yet in the dental office, we don't see ourselves in that way of being able to call each other out when we're not, we're not doing our part of the puzzle to win on the team. And so I think doctors, I think that's the mindset.   mindset shift of you should be able to hold them accountable just like they should be able to hold you accountable and if we see it, a lot of times I like these KPIs to be up on a board where it's visible and it's either green or red and my name's on it and I know that I've got to contribute and we look at this whole family aka your practice every week and are we green or are we red? Did Dr. Etch hold up his end of the deal? Did I hold up my end of the deal? Did our other person hold up their end of the deal? And when you start to see that,   It's like a sports team and we say we have this scoreboard to know if we're getting the W at the end of the day or if we're getting the L and we have to call each other out when we're not. Yes, we're here to help, but we also are a team of outcomes over activity and a team of ownership mindset where I own that and I make sure that I'm blocking for you so you can like go and win the touchdown. But all of us are winning collectively together. We don't just have a superstar all star. It's a collective effort. So I think.   Yes, you can be concerned, I think doctors, you push buttons when you come up and you're like, who's filling my schedule? Rather than maybe you hang out and just listen for a minute and hear how things are going, that you could then take that into coaching in the future. ⁓ You are always praising good behavior, but you have a clear scoreboard. It's like you don't have to go up there. But if we're missing the scoreboard, then we have conversations more consistently, so it doesn't feel out of the blue. We're able to coach and counsel more often, and that's just part of it. We call each other out in the moment rather than like,   talking around each other, we call each other in the moment.   speaker-0 (20:26) I love like just the idea of that it's a culture piece and you make a part of your culture and it's more like macro level. It's like we're looking like, like you mentioned, the outcomes over the activity. ⁓ if, if I'm a doctor and I'm listening to this podcast right now and I'm like, yeah, that sounds great in theory, but that would never work in my office, not with my personnel and not with my team. They wouldn't take that sort of constructivism or that, that feedback and they wouldn't have that, that team attitude. And I deal with this a lot with coaching clients and I'm sure you do as well.   It's a culture change that's required, but it could make the owner's life so much easier if we just only had to focus on the outcomes and not so much micro things. How would you suggest a doctor maybe have this conversation with their front office team to say, like, I want it to be more like this. This is what my vision is for this. Help me get to this point. Like, what do you think that would sound like?   speaker-1 (21:22) Yeah, and I do love this. This is why we coach like doctors and teams. This is why we come in because sometimes an outside voice is easier than an inside voice, right? Like I get it. It's scary for me. This is why like know yourself and be free. And if you're not the one that's like I'm good at setting a vision, but like holding lines like this is not my jam rock on like you need a good pair to you. That's a great office manager who's really good at communicating this and getting a team on board. So I think like sometimes doctors show they've got to be   the producer, the diagnoser, the sales, marketing, all the pieces plus the accountability. I'm like, know what you're really good at. Paul, I look at you, you're an amazing visionary, you're really talented at dentistry, you're great at culture, and your office manager was kick a next to you. She did so good at holding pieces together and you would bring in training to give her support so they could grow to the next level.   You are like you're like I'll kind of do it, but like that's not who I am. I'm the same way I've got an operations person next to me and can I do it? Yes, but is that my zone of genius? No, and that doesn't mean we abdicate and we're like, well just because I don't like it don't do it, but I think like if you're really good at this then rock on and do it.   But doctors, we need a vision of where you're going. And that's your main thing that we need from you of like, what does this look like? Where are we headed and why? Like what's the lighthouse on the hill that we can all rally behind? And then we need a really good like leadership team or office manager next to us. And every time I talk to doctors about joining us in consulting, my first question is like, great, what are your issues, problems? Like tell me about your practice and who's your implementer next to you. And if they don't have a strong OM next to them, I know that that's 90 % of their problems. So we need to fill that seat next to them because   a good yin and yang, Paul you know this just like I do, they need to be that accountability person. You're drilling and filling, but then that becomes part of our culture and I think if you've never been this way, a good way to take this into action is like let's have a team like state of the company or like next vision or whatever you want to call it, but like this is how we've been operating.   And this is where we're moving to and this is why and this is how it's going to make all of our lives easier. And I understand that it's going to be a little jostly and hey, so maybe you hire a coach or consultant that's going to help with that. Maybe you and your office manager rally. But I have found and I have seen that a lot of times having somebody outside can help. Like Paul, that's why you hired us is because like we needed an outside voice even though we were saying the same thing.   to come and I love all of our consultants, we've been team members, we've been in the front office, like we've been there, done that, done it successfully to really empathize and understand. But I think it's gotta be a, is where we've been, this is where we're going, this is why. And if a doctor were to say, that's not my team, they won't relate to that, I would say, look at you first and say, like, choose your heart. If your team's that way, like, do you really wanna move into this next layer? Like, how bad is that pain?   Because if you're not willing to do this, your team's not going to follow you either. But you are the culture setter of your practice. So what you tolerate, it's not what you say, it's what you tolerate. And so that is truly your standards of the practice. So I would say it's also a, you got to have like a little like conversation with you in the mirror of, I really willing to change my culture? Am I really willing to go through the like, there is a chasm you've got to cross.   But the other side is truly beauty and it does work and teams do actually thrive if they know how do I get my win? What does my doctor truly want from me? And teams genuinely do want their doctor to thrive. Like that's why they're there. So I think you have to be committed to holding that line, to driving that vision, to having the uncomfortable conversations and making them comfortable and having a really good person next to you. It can be a DA, it can be an OM, it can be a hygienist.   But I think a lot of times having two voices that move it forward oftentimes are easier. But doctors, you've got to be a really strong lighthouse on the hill. And you've got to be committed. And you're willing to go through the effort to change a culture. ⁓ Culture doesn't happen overnight. Culture is a slow burn that takes a while to turn. ⁓ But I think it's like the Titanic. You don't think it's moving. But then when you look up, it has made progress, even though it didn't feel like it. And I think that that's the same with culture.   speaker-0 (25:35) Do you feel that, I mean, it's almost like, and I see this with my clients, is that they're focusing on the wrong area. Like, we're looking at, someone might reach out to you and say, hey, my front desk, I want them to do this, they're not doing this. I want them to do this other thing. They dig their feet in, they say no. I mean, can you tell the story of a recent client that you worked with that maybe came in and was pointing a lot of fingers, but really, it just needed to look in the mirror?   speaker-1 (26:01) Yes, this happens often. And I think it's like a whack-a-mole. And I think that that's why people do reach out for coaching. I think that they recognize that I'm spinning all these tops and I just don't know where I need to go. And it's like, great. So a recent client that I would say they were so obsessed about their hygiene department and they were trying to run around. They're like, we need to fix this, we need to fix that.   And I was like, actually what you're saying with all these words that you don't realize is you just want more profitability. You're stressed out of your mind. So you're going after all these different things when we just need to get your profitability dialed in. We need to figure out like where are we cash bleeding and fix that issue because your hygiene department probably only needs like a small uptick, but you're after that. You're after this person, you're after this, but your real main problem is your cashflow low. Like that's it. And that's a you thing. That's a you not knowing business. That's a we need to fix that.   And then we look at which systems do we need to implement or which department do we need to go attack that's going to actually fix that problem for you. And so I think so many times people want to, like we hear podcasts, right? So it's like, okay, I'm taking notes today. I'm going to go check in on all these KPIs. But sometimes like something I love about how we consult is a lot of consulting companies like ABCD, you got to do that. And for me, I look at, all right, what are we already doing really well?   what is the true pain point of the practice and what's the one, two or three things that are very easy changes that are going to exponentially get you out of the problem you're in and move you forward. I might have a set way that I want you to say a phone script. I might have a set way that I want your case acceptance to go but those might not be the root issue and the root issue might be you as a leader need to get us a vision. I will tell you Paul, we had a mastermind in person and people were like complaining like my team's not bought in, my team's not bought in and I was like all right guys, I just have a quick question.   If I were to walk into your practice today, how many of you like talk to your team, you're not allowed to give them influence. How many of them could tell me where we're going and like where we're headed in the next five to 10 years? They did not raise their hands. And I was like, that's your problem right there. You have not given this team where we're going, why we're going. And so they're just rowing their own little boats over here thinking they're doing the most important thing versus I'm headed towards this. This is my number. This is how I win. And you gave them that clarity.   and you looked in the mirror first and got the vision. So I say, this is twofold. There was one of, you need to give the vision to your team. You need to have the clarity of where you're going. And second, instead of playing whack-a-mole and like trying to fix every little thing, what's our true root problem that we need to solve? And if things are going good or like mostly good, let's go after the fastest, easiest levers. Like people are like, I need more profit or production. I'm like, okay, what are the easiest, fastest ways? Increase our production, increase our collections, decrease our spending. Production.   diagnose more, close more cases, look at our block scheduling and look at our hygiene. Like those are like your simplest easiest ways and make sure like our schedules fill to goal. Like that's really there's not a lot that we have to do that I think we sometimes over complicate when we could simplify and make it a lot easier. And I think that that's probably the whole message of this of there. I think it's actually a lot easier to get to where you're trying to go. I just think like go all the way back to the beginning.   It's like my car is making this sound and I don't know how to fix it. So I'm going to try the spark plugs. I'm going to try the brakes. I'm going to try the da da da. When really all you needed to do was just like fill it up with gas. So just finding that simple piece I think is where people, it's hard because they don't know. So they're going to play whack-a-mole rather than give me the vision, get the numbers dialed in and let your team thrive in those departments.   speaker-0 (29:39) I couldn't agree more. I love that you said that. I think that's going to be so useful for so many people to hear. Talk about what the Dental A Team is up to this spring and how people can reach out to you if they want to learn more.   speaker-1 (29:51) Yeah, we are always like, we're just here to help. So we do doctor and team training, we do virtual and in-person. We have in-person masterminds, which are super fun for doctors to get connected. And I didn't like to be the owner that like, I go get rallied and then my team doesn't. So I'm really big on like, let's rally you and your team so you don't have to try this. Like, got super pumped on the podcast, but like, hey, OM, could you go listen to this podcast and do your job better?   So we do a good job of blending for people. so, yeah, in February we're in person and then in April we're doing our master, our summit. So we always do a summit. And if you guys tell us that you heard about it ⁓ on Pulse, definitely you will get ⁓ a VIP ticket, but that's going to be on April 24th. It's a four hour CE. It's our amazing summit. Head on over to TheDentalATeam.com or you can email us Hello@TheDentalATeam.com I'd love to have you there.   But yeah, if you're like, gosh, I just need help. We do like a full practice like autopsy with you and like, hey, let me just give you some free advice. Let us help you out. But yeah, anyway, we can help you and your team streamline. So doctors can be amazing doctors and CEOs. Teams can level up to their highest potential and we do it together. Conjecture like Paul, Paul's an amazing doctor. Like talk to him about like doctor mindset. I don't know how to tell you how to do a fill. Like that's Paul's world, but how to get your team on board and how to rally with you and support you in the life you deserve. That's what deadly teams about. And   I would say doctors, be selfish. You're CEOs. You should be the dentist. You should be the CEO. You don't need to be the everything. You don't need to know all the front office. are people that can help you and support you. ⁓ But learning that and getting your team the tools, that is your job to do. And I would encourage you to reach out if we can help in any way. And always, always a huge fan of Paul and his group. And listen to Paul. He's got brilliant ideas. He's one of my favorite dentists that I've ever coached. And he's an amazing person at culture and.   of being able to drive people to results. And I think I'm just a good jelly to his peanut butter. We do the team side. do the helping your doctors get to the life they want through team execution.   speaker-0 (31:50) Awesome, Kiera. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I always enjoy having you on, love connecting with you and listeners. Go check out Kiera's stuff. She's brilliant. She is a brilliant person and she knows how to get your team on board and to do the things that you want them to do. So thank you so much, Kiera.   speaker-1 (32:06) Thank you. I appreciate it so much, Paul. Thank you so much.   The Dental A Team (32:09) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Chris Sands and Brent Saunier are on the podcast to talk about the hottest topics in the dental accounting world. Founding partners of Pro-Fi 20/20, these dental CPAs chat with Kiera about how to reduce overhead and expand the number of patients coming in, expense metrics from the hundreds of offices Pro-Fi works with, a tax rule you NEED to live by, what to stay away from financially with your business, and a ton more. Pro-Fi 20/20 is an accounting business that the Dental A-Team recommend. This episode is a goldmine of information from two fellows who know what they're talking about — especially with regard to the dental industry. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   speaker-0 (00:31) today I wanted to bring on two special guests. These are actually CPA in the CPA world. Believe it or not, Dental A Team actually consults this company. So we definitely love them. They went a step above most CPA companies and they really wanted to get to know the ins and outs of the dental world. So I'm super jazzed to bring them on and to just have them dive into some of the hot topics in the accounting world. ⁓ two people that I trust and recommend heavily. ⁓ I   They are one of my top three CPA firms that I refer and recommend constantly. So I'm excited to welcome Chris and Brent from Pro-Fi. How are you gentlemen today?   speaker-1 (01:06) Awesome, Kiera. Thanks so much for having us. We're excited to be with you.   speaker-0 (01:10) Yeah, absolutely. Brent, how are you doing today?   speaker-2 (01:12) I am doing great. I appreciate the invite. I'm looking forward to this 30 minutes with you.   speaker-0 (01:17) Yeah, absolutely. Well, who knows? We'll see how long this ends up going, guys. Brent, can't put a time on us. It could be dangerous zone.   speaker-1 (01:24) You're lucky he said he's doing great because we're in the heat of extended tax season, so he's kind of in the trenches. Lucky he's in a good mood.   speaker-0 (01:32) I know Tiffany has been trying to get back out to you guys to see you and Beth you heard this awesome rock star in the company She keeps saying like tiff. It's like extended tax time or it's this or it's that deadline I'm like, my gosh, you guys just have I think you're secretly adrenaline junkies of CPAs even though you don't come across that way But I think you love it cuz tax season I feel is just like adrenaline rush like trying to get to the deadline. I just can't imagine that stress like   Every quarter every year you just hit it. So props to you guys. That's not my world but super jazz to have you guys on here. ⁓ so Chris let's dive in I know there's some things so we're gonna kind of hit on overhead we're gonna talk about some taxing some Some things to be aware of i'm just so excited because this is a world I don't know and I do purposely bring really really talented and educated cpas and financial advisors onto the podcast because I'm we have a three-fold approach in our company. It's focusing on   Money and finances making sure your business is profitable you as a person and as an individual and then systems and teams top to bottom So I am big I think as a business owner. I wasn't profitable when I first started. I didn't know how to look at my numbers I didn't even know what the heck over influence. I was like googling how to figure it out So i'm just jazzing you guys are here. So Chris kind of take us away I know you had some great topics for today and i'm excited to just   Rift a little bit with you, dive into these things, things that are really tangible for our practices now, especially where you guys work with hundreds of offices across the nation. Lots of good data to be pulling out for our practices listening.   speaker-1 (03:04) Sure, well, ⁓ Kiera, I think that there's a lot of discussion around, does the DSO world seem to do a better job with overhead than the private practice world? I think a lot of private practice doctors are wondering that, they're frustrated or how do I get my overhead down? And a lot of times, I think when you focus on expenses, you tend to attract expenses. And in our world of accounting, I will often tell doctors that, ⁓   Accounting cannot make you money, it cannot generate revenue. The expenses part is the easy part for us that we can work on trying to reduce some things, but you either have a revenue problem or an expense problem. And in most cases it's actually, you creating enough revenue on your fixed expenses? And most of dentistry doesn't understand how simple that is to scale the dental business model when you look at it from a high level.   You scale a business and reduce overhead with doctor production. Okay. And so that means you need enough patients to see the practice that I worked in from my experience was 40 to 60 new patients a month per doctor, per full-time doctor. And it means you need to be reinvesting enough into marketing. And I'll talk about that, that expense or reinvestment of marketing in a minute to get those new patients. And you need to be.   monitoring the phones that get answered properly and there's conversion rate of those inbound calls to appointments scheduled. And then the real job is case acceptance. Okay, and so here I am in an accounting firm coming on your podcast and I bet you didn't think I was gonna like be talking about case acceptance.   speaker-0 (04:46) was like, wonder we didn't talk about all your time. I'm just kidding.   speaker-1 (04:49) So, know, dentistry is really the product that's being delivered. And if you're ethically diagnosing the need and creating the treatment plan, your job is to help the patient understand the urgency and necessity of fixing the problem and paying you to do that work. So your job isn't really the dentistry itself, it's case acceptance.   And your first task is to become great at case acceptance yourself as a practicing clinician. But then the real task as the owner is to be able to teach other doctors to become good at it. So I think, you know, the only the only variable overhead that the dental business model has is paying doctors a percentage of the dental collections that they create. And then you have labs and you have supplies.   associated with the dentistry that's delivered. those expenses are variable. They track with the amount of dentistry that gets done. Everything else is fixed overhead when you really think about it. Marketing is fixed and it only changes based on your choosing. Your team expenses are fixed and they only change when you hire or fire. Your rent and facility costs are fixed. Your equipment costs are fixed and only changed by your choosing. And the various required admin costs, they're all pretty much fixed. They only change by your choosing.   So if you can create more doctor generated collections with the same team and fixed expenses, your profit margin goes up, your percentage overhead, your percentage overhead to collections ratio goes down. Okay. And so I guess we see most private practice or single, should certainly say single location, solo doctor practices. We see them failing at this because they choose not to reinvest enough.   back into the business, into that marketing for new patients. They're not monitoring the phones. They're not training their team. They're not training their doctors on case acceptance. And they're too closely focused on just the clinical delivery of the dentistry. Don't get me wrong, that's required, but that's not what makes you successful or financially successful. So I can give you ⁓ some generic ranges for expenses, but the real thing is that   You know, the real way to scale a business is to generate more revenue on the same overhead. That's kind of the definition.   speaker-0 (07:20) And isn't that basically then probably the DSO model because they have lower fixed costs per se. They've figured out how to have centralized billing, centralized call center, centralized. So many things centralized that they don't need all these different things. So solo practices, if I'm understanding correctly, they've got all the costs associated, but they only have X number of revenue where when you start to add in those multiples of practices,   That's where your fixed costs, it's going, yes, of course your fixed costs will increase a bit, but I mean, I do know our fixed costs did not go up that much more when I added our second practice to it because I already have my base of fixed costs there and then we're just able to add more revenue. Is that kind of what you're saying? Am I understanding?   speaker-1 (08:01) Yeah,   I mean, you know, that, part about centralizing is, know, when you, when you do have multiple locations, I would say three or more, then you can consolidate the amount of team that's working the front desk into one location. Instead of needing three to five team members at the front desk in every office, you may only need three to five team members for all three offices. You're having one of the best things by the way, as kind of an aside, one of the best things that private practices can do as they grow is to get those phones off the front desk. You know, let.   speaker-0 (08:20) Right, right.   I agree.   speaker-1 (08:30) You know, like there needs to be, that needs to be in a totally separate admin space. But, ⁓ you know, I get asked that question a lot. Like my overhead is 65 % and how can I afford to hire another associate doctor and pay them 30 or 35 %? Well, you know, that doctor is going to create new collections. That's the point. It's not to give them your patients. It's to grow the number of patients coming in that, that you as one doctor maybe are stressed.   and you hire the next doctor and you've got to continue to invest in the marketing to keep your job as the owner is keep the chairs full, right? As long as the chairs are full, if that associate doctor is ethically diagnosing like you are, if you guys have a ⁓ clinical standard of care in your practice, if you guys talk about how you treatment plan and your treatment planning the same way, that's all required. But here's the real test. You know, how do they connect with people? How do they, how do they,   establish a relationship, establish trust and get them to move forward with that treatment. So I think dentists hate to use this word in dentistry, but the job is kind of sales. You know, if you believe in your product of dentistry to solve this need and like, again, if you diagnose decay and they don't get rid of it, you failed. I could go on a tangent on that, but the new doctor will bring new collections and you might have to hire at most, you know, an additional   speaker-0 (09:46) Yeah.   speaker-1 (09:55) Assistant or two and that would be a new fixed overhead. You would increase your fixed over it slightly But other than that the doctor covers all their costs with their their percentage pay the labs that are associated with it that the supplies are associated with it and You should net somewhere in the ballpark of 40 to 50 percent on the new collections they create and that that just adds to your profit Because all the other fixed overhead stays the same   speaker-0 (10:19) So I think there's a few things on there of like, I just, think it's a matter of realizing a lot of people bring on associates though, because they're tired, they want more free time. They don't want to be working as much. And I think it's important to clarify that if that's your model, that's totally fine. Everybody knows on the deadline team, I am not somebody who judges. I think everybody has their own personal path.   And so whatever jives with you and resonates with you. So if you're wanting to bring on an associate to have more free time, to not have to produce as much, fantastic, but realize that that overhead might not trickle down because now you're kind of replacing your cost with an associate that you're paying. And some doctors I know don't take as much pay as they would pay an associate per se, which to me, I think is a somewhat failed model. I'm really big on prepping and preparing for that associate, paying yourself as if you were an associate. So you know, these costs before you bring on an associate.   ⁓ but I really think it's important to note that because like you're saying that overhead will go down as long as the doctors are producing. And as long you're able to bring on that other doctor and have them produce, cause they should cover themselves. I definitely agree with that. ⁓ also I'm sure people are saying, yeah, but Chris, like in order to bring on another associate, I'm going to have to build out ops. That's a huge cost and expense. So I am curious, what have you guys found in Brent? You might have some answers to this Chris, you might. ⁓ but if an office is having to say, build out two more ops.   in their practice to be able to bring on an associate, how long does it usually take when you're doing build outs for that cost to be recouped and start being more profitable? Because oftentimes I do think that that gets into the problem with a lot of doctors is they're constantly building more to bring on these other doctors. So they're always adding more and more expenses. Like when do they ever break even? So what have you guys seen with build outs and different things like that of that break even point? How long should they plan for it to not be as profitable?   speaker-1 (12:09) Okay, I'm gonna give you a lot of answers on this. So number one, we use a metric called revenue per chair. So, you know, every, you   speaker-0 (12:17) What   do recommend? What do you guys recommend per chair?   speaker-1 (12:19) So yeah, everyone has a space and you have only a fixed number of spaces or operatories you can have in it. And there's only a fixed amount of time and days and hours and a number of doctors that you have. And revenue per chair capacity, we see a range between 25,000 to 40,000 per chair per month. And it does not matter when you do this. This is just, take collections and divide it by the number of chairs you have. ⁓   This does not matter how many chairs are for hygiene or how many chairs are for dentistry. That's your choice. Actually, you know, there are models where every chair can do everything and the patient never, but the 25 to 40,000 at 35,000 of revenue per chair, you're running fairly efficiently and you're going to need to be planning to expand. You're going to start to run out of space. So that's our metric first and foremost. And so if somebody tells us, well,   speaker-0 (12:53) Sure.   speaker-1 (13:09) I've got four chairs right now, but I have space for seven. I haven't built out the other three. I tell them, you don't need to build out the other three until you're approaching that $35,000 a month of revenue per chair. Question you asked, how much does it cost and when do you recoup that? So in my experience, typically it's around $25,000 per ⁓ operatory to equip it, assuming it's already plumbed. ⁓   after you just take that number and say, so let's say you were equipping a few operatories, so $50,000, you ⁓ essentially, your cost of the doctor plus the lab and supplies should max out at 50%. Okay, now they have to be producing. So until you get them, they've produced over $100,000. All right, let me do it per chair.   They need to do over $50,000 per chair for you to get your costs back. After that, you're in the money.   speaker-0 (14:09) which I think is also smart because I don't know. think dentists kind of err on two different sides. Sometimes they're too slow to actually build out. They are so cost conscious and so concerned about that build up, about the cost of the chair, about all the other things that they're missing, that that one chair is going to generate several thousands of dollars of revenue. I've had a few doctors where I'll say, sure, no problem. We'll do a deal. I will happily pay for that one chair and you pay me all.   the revenue that comes through from that chair for the next three months. That's all I ask is three months. and I know I'm going to come out way ahead of you because it will generate and it will produce, especially in high producing practices. So I think so often people are just so scared to do those build-outs because they see the cost or they do the flip side where they believe like, if we build it, they will come and they're overly aggressive and they don't have necessarily the patient base or the doctors in play to be able to accommodate that. So   I love, I need to agree. It's either cut costs or increase your revenue. Like that's really overhead.   speaker-1 (15:12) One more way to think about it is, you know, if they have patients that are having to wait so many weeks or months to schedule out to come in. if you can calculate your collections divided by the number of patients seen for any given time, for year to date or for a full year, you can get your average revenue per patient. Okay. And if you know your average revenue per patient, you know how many either new patients or how many more patients you need to fill that chair to cover the cost.   Okay. So if your average revenue per patient was, you know, $1,500 per patient, um, and the cost of that chair is 25,000, just take 25,000 divided by 1500. And that'll tell you how many patients have to be seen in that chair before you pay for that chair. Sure. You're to be in the money, you know, it's in terms of the construction. That's another basically upfront, one time fixed costs that you're going to cover. And then all the future revenue that it's going to generate. So.   Maybe if you like, think before we end this topic on overhead, I'll give you kind some of our expense metric. ⁓   speaker-0 (16:18) Sure, yeah, absolutely.   Well, hang on, before you go into expense metrics, I want to bring up one piece that I think often gets missed, because you're saying like we're in the money. But I also want to bring up something that I really love to point out, and that is return on emotion. Some people don't want to bring on an associate. Yes, like as a business model, you can be more financially successful with an associate. Yes, you can, having more chairs, more build out, more practices. ⁓ But I also want to point out there is a return on emotion. There are sometimes   Bigger headaches, they're also sometimes less headaches with bigger organizations. I personally love to consult larger practices. The pettiness, the cattiness, the smaller drama is way less in larger practices or multiple locations. So like that drastically drops down. They figured it out. They're dialed into systems. But at the same time, I think it's important for people to assess that return on emotion. You might have a dreamy life. You might be doing exactly what you want and sure you could produce more.   But if you're off work at say two or three o'clock every day and you work two or three days a week and you're shelling and seven fifty to a million in profit, not a bad lifestyle. So I think it's also important to assess like what you ultimately want and what your return on emotion is before just saying like, I'm going to build because this is the way to do it. I think if you're looking at your practices as a business model, which I personally think a lot of us should look at it that way, ⁓ just to see what you what you ultimately want, what's your end game. And that's also where I love financial advisors of   Like what is your total term? Like where do you want to get? Does it make sense to grow? Does it make sense to stay where I'm at? ⁓ I think oftentimes we, we forget that return on emotion and how that is. We always think of like return on investment, but what does that return on emotion too? So just want to put a plug of like, I think everyone's on their own path, their own journey. Definitely agree. There are lots of ways that you can be insanely profitable and having multiple practices is a great, great, great business play. And you're able to help more practices. I'm all in favor.   You're gonna have multiple locations. Make sure you're doing awesome dentistry because sure, it can be very lucrative. Just be ethical because I think that plays out long-term. So Chris, with that, what are some of the metrics you guys look at? Because I agree, I love to hear people's metrics. I think we're pretty closely aligned with you guys on metrics, which is another reason I really love working with you guys and your clients.   speaker-1 (18:32) So I think if you ⁓ were to survey the Academy of dental CPAs and all of their, what you see them put out statistically, they're gonna tell you the metric of one to 2 % for marketing. When you go and you immerse yourself in the DSO world and their conferences and get to know what they're doing, you're gonna see more of an average of six to 8 % reinvestment into marketing. DSOs have a harder time with retention. They have more patients going out the back door. Private practices.   degraded retention, but they don't often invite enough people to the party. So we don't go by the one to 2 % number. think that's an area where people try to, they're trying to keep costs down. You know, your business is the greatest asset that you own that provides the greatest return and you have the most control over. So you should be reinvesting in it more than you reinvest in the stock market or anything else. So our metric for marketing is three to 8%. Private practices, like to see at least three to five.   I mean, excuse me, in GP practices, in specialty practices, especially like orthodontics, needs to be on the higher end. Team expenses between 20 to 30%. We certainly try to keep that under 30%. Team expense does not include doctors. Okay. So that's all of your, all of your, uh, your, your entire team, including a hygienist as well, but not doctors, uh, dental supplies somewhere five to nine, five to 10 % labs.   speaker-0 (19:36) Yes, absolutely.   speaker-1 (19:58) four to 7%. So again, those dental supplies and labs really should not be greater than roughly 15 % total. Rent and facilities, five to 9%. What does that mean? So if you have a high percentage in your rent and facility costs, if your rent facility is let's say nine, 10, 11%, that means you're probably not maximizing the space and getting the collections that is possible there. Again, using that revenue per chair metric.   When you're on the lower end, if you have 4 to 5 % rent of facility, means you're running very efficiently. You're probably going to be running out of space and need to expand or potentially relocate or get another location. And then there's general administrative costs somewhere in the range of 4 to 10%, depending on the practice type and what additional folks they have.   speaker-0 (20:48) Cool.   speaker-1 (20:50) That's it on everything.   speaker-0 (20:51) No, I love it so much because I think so often people don't look at their P &Ls and they don't even know what they should be targeting for. It's just like, well, do I have money left over or do I not? And then I don't know. like all of that combined should equal about 50 % there. Is that correct? Those are 50 % and then doctor pays 30 % to give a 20 % profit margin. And then you subtract debt services from that. that kind of your guys' model? That's what I've heard. It's what I typically recommend.   speaker-1 (21:18) Roughly. mean, yeah. You know, I, the most ideal is that I think when the average doctor starts to work with us, their profit margin is in the twenties, the 20 % range. our goal is to get them into the forties. Okay. And everyone does chase this like 50 % number, but I will tell you that eventually if you have to scale again, if you have to reinvest, that's the part like you're, drive yourself nuts. Would you rather have, you know, 50 % of 1 million or do you rather have 40 % of 3 million? Right.   You know, and that's that. So it's not always just about that overhead percentage. Uh, it is about if you choose to scale and you're, you're buying, you're reinvesting some of your, your overhead percentage, you're reinvesting some of your money to buy back your time. Like you said earlier, okay. Um, whether that's on multiple doctors or not, you know, being a slave to the chair is difficult and high risk to you as a business owner. It's one of the riskiest business models there is.   speaker-0 (22:12) Right.   I think that that's such a good point.   But guys, you don't know, can, Pro-Fi is fantastic. You can reach out to them, have them help you with your PNLs. Also your current CPAs, you can get a chart of accounts and give them these percentages and say, this is where I want it to be. Help me get there, give me some information because a lot of CPAs are not dental specific and they might not know these industry standards. And I agree with you. I also think it's important to think of growth years and also profit years. Some years you are definitely massively.   reinvesting into the practice and you might not be sitting at as high of an overhead, but you're doing it with the intent. Like when I bring on new team members, when you bring on new doctors, your overhead is going to go down. It should go down because you are investing and you're growing, but you need those people. This year on Dental A Team is a growth year. I am heavily bringing on new team members. My overhead is not as great as it has been in the past years. But if I, like you said, chase that X number of overhead and never invest in that growth,   I can't get to the next level of where I wanna go. So I thought that was really, really helpful. Thank you for that, Chris. And I know now we wanna spin over to Brent. Brent's been hanging out silently over there of some tax things. And I do love that you guys ying and yang on practice metrics because that's what we're all about. And then the tax world that I'm like, here's the thing. Here's my take on taxes. I am so grateful to live in a country where I get to pay taxes to have my own business. Like I truly think that is a massive blessing of the country we live in.   With that said, I also think it's my responsibility as a business owner to be as savvy as I can on taxes and not overpay on taxes because I'm just dumb and I'm not actually looking at strategy using smart people beyond myself to do it. So Brent, I'm so jazzed. Talk to us kind of about some tax things that you've been thinking of that your clients are dealing with.   speaker-2 (24:00) Yeah, absolutely. So I remember a few early evening calls with you and you're calling and saying help.   speaker-0 (24:06) It was in December last year, like literally right before the end of the year. And I was like, Brent, I owe so much dang money in taxes. Any ideas? It's fine, guys. It's fine.   speaker-2 (24:19) One of the foundations of Pro-Fi that we built it on is education. So we are very big believers in educating our clients to understand, first and foremost, how do you even generate taxes? So the number of conversations we have with dentists that just don't have a basic understanding is really astounding to me. So we first take an approach of, you have to understand how do you generate income tax? You generate income tax by the salary or W-2 you take.   and profit. The key thing here is it does not matter if you take a dollar of that profit out of the business, you still owe tax on the profit. So here, when you're looking at your P &L, let's say a doctor has a half a million dollars of profit and they choose not to take it home and leave it in the business, they will still pay tax on half a million dollars. I had a call today, the exact conversation is like, why didn't take any of the money home?   speaker-0 (25:18) It doesn't matter. were profitable brother, sister, like rock on. Happy day for you.   speaker-2 (25:23) You know, as Chris was alluding to, if you choose to reinvest in the practice, do marketing or other items like that that are deductible, that will obviously reduce your burden. The second thing, the second biggest mistake is don't underestimate your effective tax rate. So Chris and I have, we call it, I guess the golden rule or the 40 % tax rule. And that is geared towards over-preparing a business owner when it comes time to send in those quarterly estimates.   And I'll come back to that one in a minute, but the 40 % tax rule, if you have a pen, I would write that down because that is a rule to live by. And also ask your CPA advisor, whoever they are, whether it's us or your other another CPA, ask them before you make the decisions. So I got a call yesterday from a doctor in South Carolina. He's like, hey, I want to buy a machine that's going to cost me $85,000. My equipment rep said I'd get a 40 % tax deduction.   Just about that much.   speaker-0 (26:23) That was a clever salesperson.   speaker-2 (26:26) Yeah, they all do it. We love equipping reps. No badging equipment reps. But understanding, depending upon your entity type, whether or not you will be able to deduct that in the current year is a huge thing that you have to understand. Chris and I have seen so many doctors over the years that have come to us after the fact. And I think we've done a great job of educating, hey, I bought this equipment, it's $100,000.   When we do the tax return, it's like, you're not involved deducted. They're like, why not? The equipment reps that I could. So just make call your advisor before you do it. That's the best thing you can do for yourself.   speaker-0 (27:02) Well, and I, to that point, I just say like, you should have experts on your board as a business owner, people that you genuinely trust for taxes. And like you said, ask them, ask your rep about the best products and what they're seeing of results within the patient's mouth. Cause that's where they're experts. But I'm just going to put a massive plug, like, gosh, the number of dollars I have spent personally, because I didn't ask,   If we can save anybody even a couple of grand, like you're welcome. You're welcome. Just ask, ask before you do it.   speaker-2 (27:36) Right, absolutely. Then I kind of look at what are some things that you can do to make sure you're not blindsided by that tax surprise? ⁓ One thing we do is we always recommend in your business, you have to run multiple bank accounts. And one of those bank accounts is a tax savings account. Your business should fund and pay for your personal tax bill. So think about like ⁓ grandmother's cash envelope system.   create different buckets in the business, move the money out of your OpEx account because, know, like for me, if I have 20 bucks, $20 in cash in my pocket, I'm going to spend it. But if I put it away in the bucket where it's intended, it'll be there when I need it.   speaker-1 (28:18) My bucket, right?   speaker-0 (28:19) Yes, you can just send them my way this year Chris. It's fine Brent. It's fine I'll take him but Brent I want to speak so highly to that because ⁓ It really does help. I will also put a plug of like have really good financial planners and tax planners with you because I am actually really really good at saving money for taxes What I really get frustrated with is when it comes to December and I have been saving and I have been putting that away ⁓   And then they're like, Kiera, you owe an extra X amount. And I'm like, what the heck? I've even saved this. So that's where I also think it's really pro to have really good CPAs that are that actually no tax. So I am curious. You guys tell me the truth, because I don't know how this works. I'm not a CPA, but I swear every year I get a call December 1st and it's like almost a double what I've already saved for the whole year. And I'm a saver. Like I don't spend a dime in my business.   speaker-1 (29:14) call you get all year long, Kiera.   speaker-0 (29:16) It's not well, I have a monthly call with them and we even plan for taxes, but this year my quarterly taxes It's okay guys. I'm interviewing new cpas. It's okay. my cpn doesn't listen to the podcast I don't think if so, it's great. We've had a good run for several years But like that's where I get a surprise. Is it common? Should you be getting a surprise call on december 1st? If you've got good tax people, and you've been planning and preparing and putting money aside all year long is that   speaker-1 (29:41) As you answer this question for her and I would go over safe harbor estimates, but Kiera to set you up for what Brent's going to say. What happens is somebody tells you a number and you kind of start to operate like a zombie and you're like, okay, I put that number away, put it away and you did it. And you're like, okay, I put the number where you told me, but at the same time you're trying to grow your business.   speaker-0 (30:06) To that point though Chris I'm gonna like back on this because I think I'm actually a really smart business owner But every freaking year this happens. I'm trying to fix this and hopefully someone   speaker-1 (30:15) I think it has to do with your growth.   speaker-0 (30:18) I   overestimated what my growth would be this year. So I said I was going to be double what I was last year and we're coming in at about a 70 % growth of what I was last year. So I gave my CPA a 30 % extra window to project on me and we're still coming up a hundred, I'll say a different number, but I'm coming up more than I had saved.   almost three times as much as they had saved for me. cause I get burned every single year. So I'm like a squirrel with nuts and I put away for tax savings in my company because I never know what I'm going to owe. And it scares me. So with that said, I agree with growth. If you can, if you can project where you're going to go and you're having consistent quarterly meetings with your CPA, is it common to still have a massive like uptick in December? I would ask.   speaker-1 (31:04) No, it's not.   So look, to keep it simple, like, you know, I'm kind of talking on the managerial accounting side of things and Brent's talking on the tax side of things. If you're meeting with that accountant and you look at that bottom line profit, okay, you owe 40 % of that profit, whether you took it home or not. And then if you made any estimated tax payments, you can subtract those tax payments from that 40%. Okay. ⁓ And then you can apply some deductions and maybe bring the number down.   speaker-0 (31:24) Agreed.   I'm asking for a friend hashtag myself right now I mean I get better every year around taxes because I hate the surprise and I think most people do but I also wanted to point out I'm like I think I'm pretty savvy with business I talked to a ton of CPAs like this isn't like my first day running a business So and I'm happy to hear and with that 40 % So here's another thing that I've also which maybe I'm just dumb Maybe I'm just coming around the block to this so you guys can tell me ⁓ but it's 40 % of the profit correct like   And that profit also includes my W-2 as a business owner. So I've got to like...   speaker-1 (32:10) That profit is after your W-2. Hopefully your W-2, you have normal withholdings. Sure. you're like zero or one, you can kind of pretty much say, hopefully the federal and state taxes are all withheld from that for you. Right. have to worry about it. Okay. It's the profit that's left over after your W-2 and all the other expenses of the business you have 40 % on. So Brent, tell her about what happens at the beginning of the year.   When we talk, they those first estimates. think everybody starts to like, they get glued to the estimates and they never update them.   speaker-2 (32:41) Yeah, so a couple things. So, Kiera,   speaker-0 (32:45) Call   you in December, Brent. We're going to have this conversation in year two.   speaker-2 (32:49) Maybe we should start in January for next.   speaker-0 (32:51) I like that strategy is much better. I'm like I've even I started my tax meetings in July this year guys Like this is how much I'm paranoid and I'm like they're just shelling a ton on me again And I'm like how does it happen every year? I don't I don't understand so   speaker-2 (33:05) Here's a trend I noticed over the last four years. you know, there was in 2017, there was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which changed the tax code. also changed. There's also been changes to the payroll tax tables. So I would take UW2, look at your federal tax withheld and divide that by your taxable wages in box one. More than likely, it's going to be in the 10 to 12 % range.   If you were in the 40 % tax bracket, you're already 30 % short on your taxes. Let's say you pay yourself $100,000. If you're 30 % short, that's a five digit dollar. So that's where I'd first start. And that is very, very, very common. You will not see any withholding in a W-2 being over 25 % unless you manually requested that from the payroll company.   speaker-0 (33:39) Right.   speaker-2 (34:01) bonuses or automatically taxed at 25%, but your regular payroll is probably in the 10 to 12 % range. So that's one reason it's happened. What Crystal's talking about, so let's say that we prepare your return in April. So let's say your 2020 return and every accountant will do what's called a safe harbor tax estimate, which basically says your estimates will be 110 % of your prior year tax.   speaker-1 (34:30) The IRS wants you to put 10 % more than last year away, like pay them in advance. They like you to do it quarterly because collecting money once a year is a bad business model.   speaker-0 (34:40) And it's a bad business model.   speaker-2 (34:42) So like Chris said, when a client gets those estimates, and let's say they're $25,000 a quarter, they are fixed on $25,000 a quarter. So what we do is with all of our clients in June and early July, we actually run tax projections or mock tax returns the upcoming year. We pull their year to date profit, we get all their deductions and we project out if that original safe harbor estimate has changed.   Then we do it again in November and early December to make sure that you're still on track and also looking for additional ⁓ tax strategies. But to answer your question from earlier, should you be surprised with a big number? No, not if you're doing proper planning.   speaker-0 (35:30) with like a little variance, but I just want to point that out because I think so many business owners get scared of taxes and this year, don't worry guys, it's on my vision board by the age of 36. I will be a tax expert. I look at it every single night. I have no desire to be a CPA, but I really think it's important as business owners to educate yourself on taxes and like you said to plan and to save for it because otherwise it's just this always surprise bill that creates stress. For me as a business owner, I know often I just feel like   I don't dare spend money because I'm gonna get hit with this big unknown. And so I'm like this girl, I literally have four tax savings accounts in my business right now. And they're in like four different business accounts, so my CPA can't see them all. Because I'm like, you come to me every year with this huge surprise and every year it's like double what I thought you were gonna say. And like I'm grateful to be very successful in what we do. However, I don't think business owners should be surprised, especially if you have a good CPA. So I just wanted to like find out like, that normal?   I feel like I'm on the anomaly, but good to know on that.   speaker-1 (36:33) Tax surprises cause cash flow problems.   speaker-2 (36:39) So Kiera, let me quantify that one of   speaker-0 (36:41) Guys,   don't worry. Everyone on the podcast, this is a Cura therapy session. You're welcome to be attending this. So we're glad.   speaker-2 (36:48) So can there be a tax surprise? Yes. The reason the tax price might happen is if you told your CPA, hey, I'm going to be doing these improvements and they're going to be done by December 31st. If in December you tell them, well, it didn't work out and I'm not going to have all these expenses. And yes, you're going to, you're going to get a surprise because you didn't, your plan didn't follow through. The other thing is talking about the separate tax account in the business. It's,   speaker-0 (37:12) That's fair.   speaker-2 (37:18) Absolutely recommended, but the most important part is you cannot spend it on anything but your tax bill. You cannot not rob Peter to pay Paul. That is probably the biggest mistake you could make is saying, well, I'll take it now. I have eight months to put it back in.   speaker-0 (37:34) That's like that makes my heart stop. I feel so stressed for people and also for anyone who wants to know like you I wish you could see the zoom right now with me Brent and Chris You know these guys love what we're talking about because Brent is literally getting like so excited and so animated talking about this So that's just when you know people are good at what they do I get so geek I'll geek out on dentistry and systems and like how we can help you and they're jazzing about some some tax benefits here So I agree. I think that if you aren't doing that, I also like the thought of 40 %   Do you guys recommend, because I know another piece to it, which I realized this year was like charitable contributions. I'm LDS. And so having charitable contributions, 10 % is something that I was like, that was funny. We didn't prepare for that. So that's like another check that I wasn't planning. And then also like SEP and 401ks. Do you guys have anything that you recommend for that of having a tax savings fund, but also building up those other funds and those payments that you'll be making to reduce your tax bill? Yes.   but those are also pretty big expenses, depending upon how your business does every year. How do you guys manage or navigate that? Or should I just be saving more? Because again, I'm like building these funds up to this, I've got four accounts, because I stress out about it.   speaker-2 (38:44) So Chris, I'm gonna let you take that one on the cashflow. It's really cashflow planning.   speaker-1 (38:48) Yeah, a lot of questions in there.   speaker-0 (38:50) Cool, like I said, this is why I podcast guys, because I can ask my own personal questions.   speaker-1 (38:57) In terms of okay, should you be doing okay. what do you want me to start a chair charitable chair?   speaker-0 (39:03) Just   like I think that a lot of people might get quote-unquote surprised at the end of the year because not only do we have a tax bill to pay, we have charitable contributions that we're paying. We also have 7401Ks. Like there are quite a few other funds that need to be paid out again to reduce our tax bills to help us. But those are also cashflow that you need to have on hand as a business owner to be able to front that money. So I've been also thinking that could be why other people feel like it's a surprise at the end of the year, just all lumped into taxes when it is just other pieces to help reduce that tax bill for you.   speaker-1 (39:33) if   something is important to you, then it needs a separate bank account. if charitable giving is important to you, I think you should have a separate bank account so you can visually see that you've got it ready to pay. And in order to make it tax deductible, it does need to be a 501C3. can't just be any random, say, it's... Right? So ⁓ when it comes to all of the retirement accounts, mean, ⁓ 401Ks and IRAs and simple IRAs and all of that,   speaker-0 (39:51) about last year.   speaker-1 (40:02) Roth, that's like the smallest fraction. That's like the, you know, the entry level league of the tax code in terms of savings. And it's, it's really kind of the stuff that the masses can do. I certainly think it's important to save and save for retirement. think when you're a business owner and let me say this, mean, upfront, I'm a contrarian. I think when you're a business owner, you have to be a contrarian and know that not everything applies to you the same way as everyone else. Sure. I, my bias is I have a much.   stronger tendency to say, you know, spend the money in your business or put the, I should say, invest, reinvest the money in your business for growth, because it's going, there's an asset value to that, to that business. need to learn what that is and what you one day can exit it for. And it creates, gives you the most, you know, income. ⁓ If you put money into a 401k or you put money into marketing in your business, you get the same tax deduction. So that's a question. If you're looking for like year end stuff, you know,   You could put the money into the, into the retirement plan, or you could prepay some expenses for next year. ⁓ You lot of people, think don't trust their business, which is weird because it's the thing you have the most control over, but they don't trust their own business. Typically it's cause they're not really great at managing their own cashflow and having discipline. And so they're, they're hesitant to invest the money in the business. And they'd rather go roll the dice and put it in the stock market. And at the time of this podcast recording, let me tell you.   We are in a recession. It has already begun. Everything is very high. Stock market's high. Real estate is high. Your business is one of the safest places to put your money right now. It provides you an inflation hedge, okay? And it creates revenue. ⁓ And it's tax deductions. I'm a big believer in putting the money into your business or getting another business. I think Brent can talk about, know, people ask us like, what are some of the largest   speaker-0 (41:47) Right.   speaker-1 (41:56) deductions you can play in. Like what, are the bigger things you can do outside of a 401k? Tax deductions. Generally speaking, the tax code rewards you for doing things that improve our economy. And that's primarily investing in businesses, you know, adding another location, employing people and commercial real estate, commercial real estate is a big one. Again, commercial real estate's really high right now. It may not be the perfect time to be buying or building. Cause all of the costs are really high.   save that cash, even if you have to pay some taxes, save the cash for liquidity for the tough times. when this recession happens, most practice owners are going to stop investing in their business, they're to stop marketing. And you got to do the opposite. That is the time where you can do all of that at its lowest cost. that's when millionaires are really made is during recession. So I'm going on a tangent now. You got me passionate   speaker-0 (42:50) No,   I like it. I like hearing it because I like thinking of other things. think so often you said it really well of business owners want to contract. They want to not reinvest in themselves. It's like, well, like let's put it in the stock market because that's what I heard that we should do. But I really do love that mindset. And that's why I love podcasting. That's why I love talking to different people. This is why I bring you guys on here because I purposely, intentionally bring different ways of thinking out there. You've got to make your own decisions.   But I'm a big like when people are zigging, I want to zag. So right now real estate's hot. Commercial's hot. The stock market's hot. Like I literally am sitting here just thinking like, here, just sit on some cash. Like, like you said, I might have to pay more taxes on it, but sit on that cash because you know, it's going to drop. And during that time, that's when you do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing. So I really love that advice. And I think it's wise and it's prudent. I also love what you said, Brent, of having the 40%.   A lot of people say do 30%, but agreed a lot of dentists do tip into that 40 % tax bracket. And I would much rather over prepare than under prepare. Chris, to your point, I really love also having the buckets for like we said, charitable contributions, if you're going to do ⁓ 401ks, but I really, agree with you too. I think reinvest in your business. Look to see, I do end of year spending. I look to see what I could reinvest in, what things are gonna propel us the most. I look at marketing, I look at website rebuilds, I look at.   Different softwares that are going to propel us forward different ways to make our our practice more efficient What things are really going to invest in our company and our team? To make it and then I just do fun things like, know trips places I definitely don't get much ROI on that except for emotional ROI, but I know I know this is a longer podcast guys I really hope and I also hope team members listening realize that this is not just for business owners. I think that this is also   Individual tax prepping make sure you are preparing look for ways that you can reinvest in yourself What things could you prepare for what things can you build out? Do you have separate savings accounts for different things that you're going to maybe you don't have to save for taxes But guess what maybe one day you will be a business owner So teach yourself the discipline to save now to look for reinvestment. I also think is super valuable. So I want   speaker-1 (45:05) team members, for those team members, what side hustle can you create? What side of business can you create? know, and what, what commercial or what even residential property, rental property could you create to give yourself rental income? And there are deductions that come along with that. But if all you do is just do your day to day job, whether you own a business or don't own a business, you're not going to save anything in taxes, nothing significant. got it. You got to create some value in the world out there.   speaker-0 (45:29) Agreed. say deliver the biggest and best value. So you guys teased me. So I want to wrap up our podcast with some things to not be doing. You guys have kind of like a hit list right now of some things, some tips that a lot of us might be doing that are cracking down. I know I have been privy to some of these things as well. So take us away. We'll wrap this up with just some, some of that hit list of what not to do. ⁓ and   you know, as we get in there, thank you guys for sharing all that you have. Thank you for doing a personal session with me already. So I'm excited for the hit list now.   speaker-2 (46:01) So I would say the biggest one that I've seen is the fascination that doctors have with crypto.   speaker-1 (46:01) Go ahead, Brent.   speaker-0 (46:12) Brent, it's because we're bored. We don't know what else to do with ourselves, so we're like, why not throw a little into crypto?   speaker-2 (46:17) Here's the problem. So I have about a half a dozen doctors over last six months. They called me and said, Hey, I put $200,000 into the crypto market, Bitcoin. And I'm like, really? Where did you, where did you write the check from for that investment from the practice? Here's the problem. If that practice is an S corporation and they invest that money in crypto and they hit it big, they could potentially blow up their IRS S corp election.   and the IRS will take it away from you. So if you're gonna do investments, do not write the check from your practice. You can take the money home as a distribution, then put it into crypto, but do not do it through your business.   speaker-0 (47:01) This is a moment where I just had like a, I'm like, good. I'm glad I did that at least right. even knowing. Why is that?   speaker-1 (47:03) Sorry.   So that one, I mean, that one can cause some serious damage. ⁓ But the other ones that I think nobody wants to hear when they're listening to this, and I get in all these battles on social media, Facebook groups and all that. But the two things that come up over and over and over again that everybody's kind of cheating on and they're going to get busted on is number one, paying employees and especially dentists and hygienists, paying them as 1099 contractors.   This is going to get you in trouble not only with the IRS, but with the Department of Labor. And there are some significant penalties. There is a black and white 20 question checklist that the IRS provides. You can Google that. You can find it directly on the IRS website. And it goes through a checklist of yes or no questions to determine if you qualify to be a 1099 independent contractor or if you fit the requirements of a W-2. And to simplify it,   The main thing is the element of control who controls the schedule, who tells you which patients you're seeing and when who's providing all the materials and the tools and equipment. And 99 % of the time, anyone in dentistry falls under the category of an employee. Pretty much have to be a specialist that owns their own separate practice already coming in part time in order for you to 10 99 them. And if you're 10 99ing them, you're 10 and you have to do it to their business. The other thing that doesn't work is when, you know, they're like,   Oh, I'm an individual doctor. I'll just set up an S corp and you can 1099 my escort. The IRS is not stupid. Again, they're they're looking at what are your what is your role within that that place that you're receiving the income from the revenue from. So anyway, everybody hates that. But I'm telling you, I   speaker-0 (48:58) I   don't think it's a, it's not a good place to play with fire. Um, I have a really, really, really awesome unemployment lawyer, um, and employment lawyer. He represents Uber Lyft Red Bull. He's in, um, San Francisco. If you guys need him, he's amazing. Reach out to us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Um, but he told me he said, Kiera Uber and Lyft, which I personally think I'm no lawyer guys. I'm not there. Uber and Lyft to me are the epitome of 10 99 contractors.   but they are, ⁓ they're coming down, they're cracking down on it. And ⁓ I have heard that it is no longer just a small offense. It's a pretty big offense if you misclassify. To me, really, I'm a risky person, but I believe in being smart and also paying people the way they should be paid. As much as it's not fun, we transitioned our whole company and I just think play that one safe because labor laws are not something to ever mess with, in my opinion.   speaker-1 (49:51) Yep. And you know, the government has shelled out a lot of money through this pandemic and they've got to collect it and get it back. And they're going to get that back from small business owners. And, ⁓ you know, our, our dependent care systems of Medicare and social security are very fragile right now. And that's the one thing they do not want you to screw with. And so they collect that money through W2 payroll. They're going to, they're going to force more and more than everybody's W2, especially in the occupation of dentistry. Second thing is the cars. Okay. Everybody wants to run their cars through the business.   You might be allowed to run a car through your business. It depends on what type of business you're in. If you're in real estate and you're showing houses and you're driving your clients around, you can probably write your car off through your business. But in dentistry, you're going to sit across the table from an auditor and they're going to say, what does a car have to do with the business of dentistry? The IRS tax code says that your business expenses must be ordinary and necessary to the business for them to be deductible.   What does the car have to do with the business of dentistry? How is a vehicle ⁓ justified as 100 % business use as a necessary use in order to do dentistry?   speaker-0 (51:00) What if it's a wrapped vehicle that's marketing?   speaker-1 (51:03) That's different. there are very specific guidelines in the IRS tax code about what is marketing for a vehicle. must be fully wrapped. It can't just be magnets. It can't just be stickers. But it has to be significant that's used for marketing. What we find is not a lot of doctors want to wrap their test up.   speaker-0 (51:23) Because they're ticked off with the patient that Ruekinaal didn't go super well and they're cutting people off on their drive home and you don't really want your flashy business to be that car.   speaker-1 (51:31) Right. I mean, and to make it legitimate, mean, the car has to be legally registered in the business name. It has to be covered under business insurance, not your personal insurance. The loan has to be under the business name, not your personal name. And there's a, you know, most people are not doing that. They're doing, they're buying it personally. They're just making the payment out of their, out of their business. And they think that they can deduct the whole thing. And this is not true. There's even greater scrutiny if the business tries to buy, if the dental business tries to buy a vehicle.   and depreciate it, take it as 100 % use. So I know people hate to hear that, but I would just caution everyone listening, stay away from 1099 and cars in your business. But everyone's.   speaker-2 (52:12) doing   it!   speaker-0 (52:13) I heard a really great quote one day and they said Kiera everything's deductible until you get audited and I was like That's really good advice. I appreciate that. So guys, ⁓ Chris and Brent. Thank you guys for coming on the podcast Thank you for being people that I can call Brent. Thank you for being my December, you know midnight hour friend I loved last year. You said care. There's really not much we can do. Maybe we should have done this in January. So ⁓   But truly, I just appreciate you guys helping so many doctors. know you help a lot of our clients. Shout out to those clients that we mutually work together. I love working with CPA companies. I think we're a good peanut butter and jelly together. We help grow the practice, make them more profitable. You guys make sure that their books are in line. Give us the guiding stars of what levers to turn to help the practices. You take care of the taxes. So it's a really good yin and yang and   I hope all of you listening today found a lot of value. Team members, look at this for yourselves. Get the side hustle. I hope this spurred some, some topics, some conversation. Team members, can also help your practices reduce that tax bill. look for ways that you can spend end of year, just different things. So I definitely think team members have a lot of play in this as well. So Chris and Brent, thank you guys so much. It's super fun. If people want to connect with you, ⁓ maybe they're done with their CPA. Maybe they just want to find out if.   There might be another option out there. How can they connect with you? I know you guys specialize in DSOs, larger group practices, but also the solo practices as well. How can people connect if they're interested?   speaker-1 (53:40) Sure, so check us out online at our website, Profi2020.com. That's P-R-O-F-I-2-0-2-0.com. ⁓   speaker-0 (53:47) You did   that because 2020 was such a great year that you guys want to remember. ⁓   speaker-1 (53:53) That marketing plan went out the window. It was 20-20 clarity to give you clarity on your finance.   speaker-0 (53:54) No.   I   just thought I'd throw it out there. So no one will forget Pro-Fi 2020. 2020 was most memorable year guys. Don't forget it. They don't want to forget it ever.   speaker-1 (54:07) We have tons of free videos, a lot of great content on there. Check us out on our YouTube channel, all social media, know, at Profi2020. We're very easy to find. ⁓ But we're managerial accountants. It's way different than financial accountants out there. Make sure you look up that difference and know what you're asking for. ⁓ And we always do free consultations for anyone who would like it.   speaker-0 (54:29) Awesome. Well, Chris and Brent, thank you again so much, guys. Go check them out, Profi2020. Chris and Brent, they are the owners of the organization. So super grateful for you guys coming on here.   Kiera Dent (54:38) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine.   to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene   onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be   re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

This episode is all about the simple power of a morning huddle. Tiff and Trish talk about the why behind these daily meetings, including what to include versus not include, how to look for opportunities in the schedule, why everything goes a lot smoother with a bit of communication. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back at you again. We've got another fun topic today. This is one, honestly, we talk about these a lot. We talk about morning huddles. That's what we're gonna do, spoiler alert, morning huddles. We talk about these a lot, but I feel like we have not had an awesome recording, an awesome podcast recording on this in quite a little while. So I'm actually super excited for what's to come. And I've got Ms. here with me today. ​ cleared her calendar for some podcasting time with me today, which I always appreciate and adore. And we're actually, we pre-record these, you guys know this, so I'm just gonna drop this now. It kind of makes it a little funky, because this may be the end of March. I'm not sure where you're gonna get this, where this drops, so enjoy. But we're getting ready for our in-person mastermind. We'll be having another one in September, so that's why I don't mind talking about it. It's the end of February now, recording for March. But we're getting ready for our in-person event. ​ Literally two days from now. I can't believe that I moved podcasting here, but Trish I think we were I was at least sick I had to reschedule everybody's been sick, but holy cow what an amazing week I feel like the energy and the team is is crazy We've got a slew of doctors and office managers coming to Phoenix tomorrow ⁓ At the airport is gonna be wild and I'm excited to see everybody in person Trish. How are you? How excited are you for this mastermind? ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (01:26) so jazzed. They've just been so fun. It's one, it's always just neat to actually be able to like touch the people that we work with, hug the people that we work with, shake hands with the clients, with the new clients, and just on site is always just really, really, really fun. So I am very, excited for this and our weather is perfect for the people that are coming from the cold. So they'll be very happy. The spouses that are attending will really be enjoying the pool. It's just going to be a great, a great experience for everybody. ​ The Dental A Team (01:43) I agree. ​ I agree. think end of February in Phoenix has to be one of the best ideas we've ever had. I remember a couple years ago I have a practice out in Georgia and she and her girlfriends do, they do trips every year and it's this girls trip and it's so cute and it's so fun and they came out here and it was, it would have been like two weeks ago our time now so beginning of February which is always, February in Phoenix is, I think it's the best time. ​ of the year to be in Phoenix. Hands down, February in Phoenix is my favorite month. And it poured. And it was freezing. And she's like, girl, we came here because it was snowing at home. And I was like, I they went to Sedona and it was freezing. And I was like, ⁓ dang it. But now, fast forward, this weekend ⁓ is literally the best time of the year to be here. And when we go in person, the reason this is super relevant is we do ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (02:34) I bet. ​ The Dental A Team (02:51) Morning huddles we implement with all of our practices. We strongly believe in them. We will tell you why. When we come in person to you, we get this really cool energy. And gosh, we love being boots on the ground in offices, seeing where you guys work, seeing how you work together, getting that intel and that information. And it's just, I think all consultants can say, sets us on fire. Having you guys all come to us is just like heartwarming in a way. ​ It touches our souls that you want to be here with us and it's just a different, it's a different energy, a different vibration and having so many really cool brains and minds melding together to help one another and seeing the community and the camaraderie is just so cool. And I just, I'm so excited. So we're, we're stoked. The next one's in September. If you're not coming to this one or you're not, by the time you listen to this, you're not reminiscing on how cool it was. ​ You better be here in September. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. That's how you're going to get your ticket. You tell us you want to be here, we'll figure out a way. with that, we won't be talking about morning huddles this week because we do them as consultants. But Trish, morning huddles, I know, are super important. think every consultant probably on Earth right now is like, you should be doing morning huddles, especially Dental A Team consultants. What is your why behind a morning huddle? ​ How do you explain the practices? How do we convince the people here that are like, we don't need morning huddle. What's your why? ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (04:28) My why is because number one, communication to me is always like, you're never going to lose from communicating. When you have everybody on the same page in the morning to kind of start to direct the show for the day, it prepares you for those hiccups that can actually come up. There's this, I might have shared this with you, Tiff, there's this, and I don't remember the name of it, but it's a Navy SEAL video. And basically the title of it is like, if you want to change the world, make your bed every morning. ​ The Dental A Team (04:55) Yes. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (04:58) When I watched that, was like, making the bed every morning, that's the morning huddle for the dental teams. And what he shares is like, if you can't do a simple task, like make your bed in the morning, how are you supposed to be prepared as your day goes on to face something more challenging? Because that's a simple task. The morning huddle is also, it's a pretty simple task, but it's kind of a big one because you get to look at this. Yes, you get to look at the schedule as a team. ​ We don't need to go patient by patient by patient. Everybody can see that they're on the schedule. What we're looking for is our opportunities and to celebrate a win. Like do we have a win from yesterday? That will certainly get the team charged up. But what is happening today? Who's coming in and where are the opportunities, especially like say from the hygiene department, who's coming in on the hygiene schedule today with an existing treatment need? It's clear it's there because they didn't do it last time. ​ We talk to them about it. when can we collaborate real quick on what are we going to do differently today? Do we need new photography? Like what's the story with that patient? But it's to align us as a team, note, like find our places. Like this would be a good place for an emergency. And, and again, just create clarity and accountability on what that day looks like right now. We know the dentistry changes many times and can throughout a day. ​ However, again, when we orchestrate together as a team in the morning and we start to direct the show, those days will, it's almost like it's guaranteed they're going to flow easier. They just are. ​ The Dental A Team (06:38) Yeah, ​ in compare to pull out your, your Navy SEAL video and like really combine those pieces. What you, what you said in there was preparing for preparing for the day. If you can do this task, like when something more difficult comes along. So it made me think as you're speaking there, you're saying, talk about the unscheduled treatment and what are we going to do differently? Because what I, what that said to me that I smashed those two things together in my brain. And I thought, well, if I'm the ​ hygienist or dental assistant and then I'm like, okay doc, what do you want to do? One, efficiency is my jam. One, that is a waste of time. If I've got the patient there but I have to wait for the doctor to come in to have a conversation about the treatment that was on there, we're losing time, we're losing trust, we're losing an opportunity. And then two, if I have to troubleshoot those all day, we haven't already troubleshot them, I'm troubleshooting those all day. ​ and my mill breaks, my mill, my crown broke in the mill. And now I'm troubleshooting that. Plus I've got another patient coming in that has unscheduled treatment that I'm responsible for that I have to get scheduled and I have to get their re-care. But this thing just over here, and now the ultrasonic is spilling water all over the floor. Like if I could have gotten all of those other small, like making the bed style stresses out in the morning with my team informed plans, this broken crown. ​ The ultrasonic, the phones went down, the internet isn't working today. My car broke and I can't get to my appointment. All of these things, these happen every day, every single day. So I think Trish, you'd like, I talk about morning huddles all the time, you guys, but you just changed it. You just even changed the small perspective for me just now and got me lit up of how can I help practices reduce small variable stresses. ​ so that those big stresses have space to live. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (08:37) Right. Yep. That's exactly it. And if the doctor, you know, let's say there is a nine o'clock patient coming in that has unscheduled treatment from the last visit, but the doctor is now, like his time has now been used up with an emergency and his other patient has three composites that are trying to That's how he's fun. Now, hygienist is always already prepared because we talked about it this morning. We know new photography is going to be necessary and ask the right question. The doctor may not even need to go in there. ​ The Dental A Team (08:55) Yeah. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (09:07) during that particular time. So it's just the organization of those what ifs that can happen throughout the day. Many teams, what do they usually tell us Tiff? Our huddles aren't productive and we'll go what? Because they literally just sit there and review the schedule. We don't need to. Yeah, I know me too. I'm like, well, no wonder it's boring. That's 15 minutes of your life that you could have slept in 15 more minutes. But when they do just kind of just pull out the meat and potatoes. ​ The Dental A Team (09:08) Yeah. ​ Yeah. ​ And drive's been crazy. ​ Seriously. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (09:36) Where do we have opportunities on the schedule today? If that, nine o'clock hygiene patient does have existing treatment needs, are we able to slide them over and say, 10, can we make some other things work? And when they do it more like that, when they look at it more as like they're trying to design the business for the day versus just review who's coming in for the day, then they do find them way more productive. ​ The Dental A Team (10:02) Yeah, I completely agree. I thought, Trish, as you were talking there too, I thought how many doctors complain, how many team members are listening today and you can hear your doctor say, how do you not have an x-ray? Or they come in the room or how many hygienists, I know even as a dental assistant, I get so frustrated if he walked in the room and he's like, I need an x-ray. And I'm like, ⁓ I could have had that for him. Like I could have been prepared. I want to be a step ahead. ​ so that we're saving those spaces. And you mentioned like doing the treatment today, same day treatment. If we've already talked about it as a dental assistant, I've preset a tray, not opened, right? But I've got everything that I need that I can throw in a room for when that patient says yes, because we already talked about it. But being a dental assistant, and I speak from the dental assistant space, because I was a dental assistant for a really long time, and I loved it. And being the dental assistant, it would drive me nuts when I didn't have ​ the space, the capacity or the forethought. I didn't know something was coming. And then the hygienist comes at me frantic and rushed because she's like, my gosh, he wants to do this now. And he said it and I didn't, and I'm like, okay, like I'm taking on your energy. And I'm like, my gosh, like now everybody's frantic. And now the feeling goes wrong. And what should have been 30 minutes just took an hour and a half. And the patient that should have been fine, that had a scheduled appointment is now waiting because we just, we weren't prepared. ​ And then I think I offended an office once I didn't mean to but I think I did because they're they loved the doctors loved to go through every single appointment and literally to the point of like 20 modl and I'm like, are we talking about it because it should be a crown? No, that's what we're doing And so I told them like you're just basically telling your team that you can't they can't read a schedule ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (11:48) I'm not wearing glasses. ​ That's exactly it. ​ The Dental A Team (11:57) you should ​ have already done this. Everyone should have already looked at the schedule and if you want to meet with your dental assistants and powwow for every single appointment that way, by all means, but your hygienist in your front office, they were checked out 20 minutes ago. They're out. I think I slightly offended them, but they changed it and they left it. It was fine. Sometimes that's my job, right? It's like, sometimes we have to say the things you don't want to hear and move forward with grace. So we did it. ​ And then you you mentioned well when you mentioned a lot of practices are like they're not productive. I agree. So Trish agrees Sometimes they're not productive. So we come in and we help you make them productive another thing that I hear that I've had to troubleshoot with some offices and I know you have as well is We can't all be there early enough right maybe I have some doctors right I have some moms that drop their kids off in the morning and so they're really kind of skating in or some hygienists that are kind of skating in and ​ Or they've got split shifts. So they've got so many people that they've got multiple, you know, shifts coming in. And I've got some things that I've trouble shot, but what do you, how do you help them navigate that as well Trish to still get the prep and we call it like winning your day. Like how are we, how are we going to win today? ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (13:11) That is a common one, especially for like the larger practices. You know, I have a doctor, I have a practice that there's five doctors, everybody's coming in at different times. So what we have done with that team is they just have, have like mini huddles with their OM. So before, you know, if the, let's say one group comes in at eight, next group comes in at nine, that group comes in at 8.45 and they meet with the OM. So the OM sometimes it's like on some days does depend. She's having three separate huddles. ​ but she's running them just as efficiently as if it was an entire group. So those team members that are coming in at the later shifts, their focus is on like their columns, their hygienists that they're working with that day and the doctor. But as far as like getting out of it, there's always a solution to have a huddle, like always. Some teams will say like, well, we could do the end of the day. I never, ever, ever, ever recommend that. ​ The Dental A Team (13:59) always. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (14:09) People want to go home. Dentistry is hard. It takes a lot out of us. And if you expect a team to want to sit with you at 4 p.m. or 4 30 p.m. to review tomorrow, it's probably going to land on deaf ears. But those other split shifts, that's the way it's handled. So you have your key people. They meet with the O.M. that is, you know, that was present for the main, the big morning. It's just delivered in a smaller group, but the alignment gets to stay the same. ​ The Dental A Team (14:30) All the other ones. ​ Yeah. ​ Yeah, it's like you're running it like there, you have so many doctors. So you're running it, those doctors are essentially working as an office, right? So you're running them as an office rather than like the full office because you're doing that doctor, their assistants, their hygienist and the crew that will be together. So I love that. I've also had a, I've had a doctor, he was, he was a really funny guy, is Louisiana. ⁓ ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (14:46) Exactly. Yeah. ​ The Dental A Team (15:04) And so he just, he was just a funny guy, you know, and he was like, well, me and my truck, right? Like he's coming in with his big dually from an hour away because he lives on a farm. And he's like, I can't, I can't leave any earlier. And I was like, that's fine. You've got speakerphone in your, your truck. It's going to be surround sound. You're there with them on surround sound in your truck. And he was like, you're right. And I'm like, there's no excuse. You're not doing anything else. You're just driving. So. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (15:29) Okay. ​ Yes. ​ The Dental A Team (15:33) get there and he actually ended up more often than not getting there on time to do the huddle because he was intentional about it. was just, you just have to, you have to get through the block. You know, you have to see that there is a way around and normally you're gonna accomplish what it is that you're trying to do. I also have another office, both of us have been into this office together. We've done them together and they are really good at ​ Blocks, very good at blocks and they have a lot of blocks, a lot of blockers for huddle because they just, they just, they do. The timing is just not right for 90 % of the team. And that's really, that's really hard. And it's kind of, it was kind of defeating almost to them. Like, this is something that I'm hearing you, we should do this, but like, can't, you know, and it was defeating for them. And I was like, cool, do it at lunch. ​ So what they do is they'll do a 15 minute huddle at the end of their lunch hour. So they go to lunch a little early, you know, they kind of adjusted their schedule there and they'll huddle for the next 24 hours. So they do this afternoon and tomorrow morning and then look at tomorrow afternoon, but then split the day. So they're kind of adjusted it a little bit, but they're still meeting. And what you said in the beginning Trish was communication. And for most of my practices, and I think ​ We all experience this, Trish. Doctors come in and they're like, we need systems and our communication sucks. I'm like, well, you have systems and your communication is because you're not talking to each other. And so they're all in their own little worlds. They're in their own lanes. And what happens is we get this idea of what we want it to be in our lane. know my patients. I'm handling my patients. You do you. And we get siloed. And this and handoffs force communication. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (17:10) Yes. ​ The Dental A Team (17:33) so that the team is a team. We can't be a team without actually talking to one another and it forces that. And so even for the practices that have to do splits, but they're talking to their OM, their OM is the glue, which actually Trish, what you did there and what they've done is solidify even more that the office manager is the glue of the practice because she's the one that they rely on. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (17:58) the heart of cell. ​ The Dental A Team (18:02) to ensure that they're communicating correctly. it doesn't, morning huddle, nothing we do. Nothing we do has to be exactly the same as the way somebody else did it. And I think that's the beauty of our consulting and the way that we work with our clients is that we are going to take the system and the idea that we know works and we're tailor it around what's going to work for you. So it's not a one size fits all. It's not an everyday at 7.45, everyone in the country. ​ is meeting for a morning huddle. It's just not. And I have other practices that will do it by video, by Slack. So they'll record the morning huddle, and then the office manager is responsible for meeting with them, and they watch the video together. And kind of very similar, but they've got the video, so they've got the input from the first team, because the doctors and the assistants do kind of mingle a little bit more. ⁓ So it's kind of stacking communication throughout the day. ​ But I think the biggest piece there is it's, yeah. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (19:01) That's another good one. That is a good ​ one. I personally have not had to roll it out, but I've worked with some practices that have done that. And I mean, there was no complaints and I was on a call with Kiera and ⁓ she was talking to a practice about doing that. So mean, there's always a way. There's always a way. It would just be 15 minutes to look at today and maybe even tomorrow, depending on the size of the team. today, today is really the most important. If we can get 15 minutes. ​ The Dental A Team (19:17) Yes. Yes. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (19:30) somehow, someway, everybody seeing the plan for the day, then it's probably going to be a much better day than it could have been if you didn't have the 15 minutes set aside for this. ​ The Dental A Team (19:41) I agree. ​ I agree. All right, Trish. So thank you. I really wanted this to be on the go. A why on morning huddles? Because we've talked about morning huddles so much before. And most of our practices, at least, are doing them. I think our action items should be, if you are not doing a huddle, what are the top three things, Trish, that you would tell the doctors and practice managers out there to implement tomorrow if they are not doing morning huddle already? ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (20:10) and not even considering it like they're not gonna have it. Okay, then they've got to do, then they've got to have some form of like say a shared Google Doc where there's the schedule and they can put notes. Somebody's gotta have, they've got to have a view of the day with some kind of commentary that they can go in and I mean, Slack there's that, but maybe just the Google Drive, the schedule's there, they add their commentary, it's reviewed. ​ The Dental A Team (20:13) Yep. ​ Trish Lee Ackerman (20:38) They may be even initial so that they've read it. They can add more commentary, but something with this day in the office has got to be reviewed by the key team members for sure. And if that is something that they do, via a shared document, then that's what they do. it's got, like it's kind of a non-negotiable. It's got to happen. They're going to run into chaos. It's not fair to them. ​ and to have just something at a glance, that wouldn't even take 15 minutes. That'd probably be more, maybe even like five if they were doing it individually. But each provider does need to have a key team member with them. They need to review the day and add commentary and read any other commentary that was placed there. ​ The Dental A Team (21:26) Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Perfect. All right, guys, go take a look at what you're doing. If you're doing morning huddle, phenomenal. Thank you so much. Drop a five-star review below and let us know what you're doing for your huddle because the ideas will flow. People will read those and they will see what you're doing as well. If you're not doing huddle, if you don't want to do huddle, you're still like, guys, don't believe you. Do what Trish just said. I think that is a beautiful idea. If you're ready to implement huddle and you don't know how or you don't ​ Want to get too crazy with it? Number one, reach out to us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We will send you documents, we will send you information, we will help you. Number two, review your numbers, review your schedule for opportunities, meaning unscheduled treatment, unscheduled re-care, and time for limited emergency exams, and prep for how you're gonna win. What is something that went really well, and how can we make today an even better day than yesterday was? ​ So go do the things Trish. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing all of your tips and your tricks and all of your freaking almost had patience, but your practices. Like you share your practices. Guys, if you are Trish's client, you are flying high and we get to hear about you all the time because Trish just loves you guys to pieces and raves. So thank you Trish. Yeah. All right, everyone drop us a five star review below. Let us know how you're doing, your huddles. Let us know how you enjoyed this podcast and hello. Trish Lee Ackerman (22:44) Thanks, Tiff. The Dental A Team (22:54) Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and also don't forget to ask us how you can be part of September. Okay, bye guys.

Three months into 2026 and the Dental A-Team is already clocking how different patient flow is this year. Kiera talks about optimizing your practice for that unique 2026 patient. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I hope you're just having the best day. I hope that you're realizing things are so good. Things are amazing. I hope that you are just like on cloud nine. And today I'm really excited because this is a topic that I was like just so jazzed about. Cause I realize our patient flow is something that is different for 2026. Like we have it different. It looks different. And I...   I'm just really excited. So if you're new to the Dental A Team podcast, welcome. I'm super excited to be here with you. I hope that you are just jazzed. And I think that, like I said, this is going to be something that is going to be very fun for you. And I hope that you take it on. I hope that you look at it. I hope that you just get excited to like, Hey, amazing. We're going to be able to like fix our 2026 patient flow. So when I look at this, like 2026 is   very, very, very different than what it was even like when I started the company back in 2016. I think patients in 2026, they're not more difficult. They're just super aware of their time. It's not just enough to be good at clinical excellence. You know how to be really easy to do business with. And if patients feel like energy's off or the vibe's not there, they're going to possibly just leave without saying anything. And so I just wanted to come on today   talk to you about some things that I'm seeing in 2026, things that we're seeing with amazing practices that are doing really, really well to help you all, like let's optimize our patient experience, which I know I've talked so many years about patient experience, but I thought like the patient is different today in 2026, they're more used to everything being online. And I think let's not be foolish. We still sometimes have older patients and we need to make sure that we're not adapting everything and changing, but the new generation of patients are definitely a different breed.   than what we had before, which every generation is different. So looking for this, I just want you guys to really like get excited. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Kiera Dent and our job is to help you guys have thriving practices, possibly impacting the world of dentistry and to truly just like make it to where you guys feel like you get tactical practical tips on the podcast. I love hanging out with you. I wanna remind you, you're doing better than you think you are. And if this podcast has inspired you, touch your life in any way.   please be sure to leave us a review. Those five stars keep us top of mind for everybody. And also pop us in Facebook groups, us, tag us on Instagram. We will comment, we will respond to you and we always appreciate it because that is your subtle way of being able to help us infiltrate the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So with that, I just want you guys to know that like, ⁓ this patient experience flow is going to help everything improve. And it's for our production, our case acceptance, our team energy, patient loyalty, all of that. So.   Getting this patient flow, I believe is so important. So I think like really, really, really working on the first 15 minutes of our patient experience because patients are gonna decide about your practice immediately and they're gonna look at Google reviews, they're gonna look at your social media presence and then it's gonna be on how they make the phone call. So what's gonna happen for it? Like how can we optimize this? And I think one thing is how is your like...   hello on the phone. So ⁓ even if we need to record it, listen back to it. I put a mirror always with my front office team members. I want them sitting up straight. I want them smiling really, really big, like almost a cheesy grin. People can feel that energy through it. And then I look at like, how can I make it the easiest, smoothest check-in for them to where when they get to my practice, after I won them over the phone, when they come into the office, they feel different. So how can I make sure my check-in is very fast and personable? How can I make sure there's like minimal paperwork that's like   just annoying, iPads that don't work. My team is prep, so when they come and get the patient from the waiting room, they are concierge luxury without the like high price tag of that. Like I just want people when they come into the practice, I feel like people care a lot more about how they feel. They care about the experience of it. I mean, you guys have TikTokers, YouTubers, Instagram people, like that's the world we live in and they are walking everywhere around you. And so...   we make sure that they're going to want to showcase our practice and feel that way on time, getting seated on time. These are big things. feel like time is people's greatest commodity and feeling like they're important is the second. So when we look at it, I think that as I look at my processes, what can we do to speed up our check-in? What can we do to like make our paperwork that is clunky? Could we review? And I'm not saying like have anything where you're not legal. Like, of course we need to keep our standards there and we want to get our health histories, but   Like for me, when I send new patient paperwork, I ask them to send it back to me 48 hours before their appointment to make sure my team can be prepared. Just think of how nice it is for the patient. Like that's how they confirm their appointments. Totally ripped this off of IVF clinics. They're charging me 25 grand plus. And for me to even schedule my first appointment, my paperwork had to be submitted 48 hours before. Like I could not do it, couldn't schedule. And they just set the tone with me. Like this is how they operate. It was fine. I wasn't annoyed by it. Like, great. I got it right back to them.   And then when I got there, they knew all of my history. They took me right back on time. I just felt like it was such a different experience versus someone who's like having me fill out paperwork in the waiting room. I've gone to others. I went to a psychiatrist the other day and I was like, fill out the paperwork in the waiting room. It's just versus the IVF clinic where it's all online, it's seamless, it's very easy. It's not clunky. They text it right to my phone. I can fill it in. I don't have to print things out. I just think, how can you make it to where when they walk in,   It's the feeling and experience you want them to have. And I also think for a lot of practices, identifying what feelings do we want our patients to have. If you need help, go look at your Google reviews, have ChatGPT help you and say like, are the top five feelings that our patients feel when they come in here? And then look to see, is that what I want them to feel? And if it's not, change it up. Like how I feel when I walk into a spa versus when I walk into a dental office versus when I walk into an amusement park, there are very different feels that they want me to feel. And each of them needs to curate it. So for yourself, how can I do that?   Some practices actually have curated scents. So when you go into the practice, all of their practices smell the same. Some people have coffee bars. ⁓ I just think it's, what do want? Do want them to feel like high end luxury? Do you want them to feel like we are your family practice in the neighborhood? All of it's gonna go into effect on your decor, on your paperwork, on your experience, on how we answer the phone. So really making sure that that's dialed in and that's very solid is going to help a lot. The next thing is going to be...   Well, and a way to like, just put a nice pretty bow on that is ask yourself, like, where do patients slow down when they, when they come to our practice or when they're trying to schedule, that's going to help you figure out where can we maybe optimize that? Is it through phones? Like we could use a phone center. Where is it that patients slow down when they're trying to get here? Are they trying to arrive? And then where as we, as a team, are we slowing down? What's taking us the longest? That's going to help you like, just really optimize this patient experience. The next thing is going to be on like clinical momentum. You guys have heard us talk.   heavy about block scheduling. And I don't just do this for production. I do this for ease and flow of a practice. Like we tell people all the time, a great day for you is a great day for a patient. And they might want the 10 o'clock, but what they really wants to get in and out on time and they want our doctor to do the best work. So we just guide them to the schedule and say like, perfect. So Dr. Mike does crowns at 10 a.m. on Mondays and 2 p.m. on Fridays. Like whatever time you want it to be, but we guide them.   So our schedule is there. I'm not kidding because what this does is doctors are not bouncing between room to room. Hygienic is not waiting on a super long exams. Assistants are trying to like get from room to room and then we're out of materials or we're out of equipment that we can't use because we didn't schedule appropriate. We only have one thing for implants. We've got two implants next door to each other. Patients feel that you might feel like you are a duck on water smooth and you're paddling like crazy underneath, but patients can feel when it's tension and chaotic. So how can we put into place block scheduling?   How can we like utilize assisted hygiene, use our hygienist to help numb our patients? What can we do for exams? Like we are big on hygienists, all have the exact same exams. So when doctors walk in, we just tell them the same thing. We have the same handoffs. We use route slips, different things. We make sure we've got like, when's our doctor the most optimal at different times? So we build a schedule that's like our doctor's most optimal working time. We build SRPs when we're doing new patients. Like it's, how do we get a good flow and rhythm in the practice?   because patients feel that it feels like, wow, I've said it before on the podcast, I'll say it again, people feel perfection. And so how can we make them feel that the practices in sync, that we're flowing, that we're vibing, that we're jiving. And when we found out, a lot of times hygienists are complaining when we work with them and rightfully so, that doctors are taking forever to get to exams. So what we do is we streamline the hygiene appointment, we streamline the hygiene exam. So when doctor comes in, we actually role play these handoffs really clearly.   And then we have it set on the handoff with the doctor and also with the front office team. So that way everybody's getting the information as soon as you get in. We make it very easy for the doctor to connect to the patient, very easy for the hygienist and the patient to be very clear on next steps, and then very clear for the front office of what we're going to need to take for that patient. You better believe it's amazing when we get this dialed in, patients literally walk up to the front desk and they say, hey, Dr. Mike wants to see me back in two weeks for a crowd for an hour and a half. I need to get that scheduled. And you just sit back and like.   this just happen? The answer is yes. And a patient feels so good because they're clear on treatment. They're clear on where they need to go. I think a lot of times when we're looking at treatment and exam times and that people think it's quantity over quality. When it's like you can have a three minute exam and that patient can feel so seen, loved and heard. If we're clear, we're to sync and like everybody's working in a system and a process, they feel it. And doctors are more focused, hygiene's more on time and the team stress drops.   This is what happens. Like we're not adding extra. We're just doing it in a different flow. And so I would just say like, you can look at yesterday and figure out where was it most chaotic. Look back at the last couple of weeks. Where did we get into those traffic jams and what could we do to change this? Could we change up our hygiene exams? So that way every time doctor walks in hygienist, you're all different shades. So we need to like make sure that doctor, when he comes into hygiene room, one, two, three, four, or she, each doctor, that it's at least something similar and consistent because hygienist just like you.   like doctors need to give you the same type of exam, doctors need the same type of handoff no matter which hygienist they're working with. So look at that to see where can we figure that out? Where can we make our clinical momentum even easier with block scheduling, with hygiene exam consistency, with correct handoffs? Patients feel that and they love that. And then the next piece is like, this is tricky of like, what's gonna cause a patient? Like, okay, we figured out how to make it speedy when they come in.   We figured out how to make it more flowing throughout their appointment. Now what's going to happen at the end of our appointment that they're going to remember. And what I found is people don't like to wait. People don't like a lot of follow-ups. People like to have it very like tied with a bow and people want to move on with their life. say every time when people are in the office or thinking about dentistry outside, good luck. It's a free for all. So I think when you look at it, what's going to turn a patient off will be   waiting a long time to get out the building, like they're done, get me out. So how can we streamline our checkout? I sometimes call it like the HOV lane, like that's just fluoride payments. Sometimes we can even put that in the back versus we need to schedule you for a treatment plan and like go through more in depth. So can we have speedy checkouts for easier patients? Easy way to do it. What about like our treatment plan, making sure that handoff is really clear and then our treatment coordinators are super, super, super thorough and it's like, perfect, we schedule you.   We go through your questions, we present clean financials and we make it very easy for scheduling, very easy for financials, very easy for patients to get the treatment done that they want without a lot of headache. I coach a practice of five locations. We do multi, multi, multi millions. I will tell you those treatment coordinators are top, top, top notch. I work with them constantly two times a month and we have this dialed down to where it is so smooth and we close patients and we have been reviewing, we've been doing this for almost six years. And I just want you to know that type of like reps on your checkout process,   A patient experiences like bookends, the beginning and the end or what they're going to remember the middle. It can sometimes make or break, but usually it's the beginning and the end. So what can we do to make it where it's like an amazing, like I left you with a huge warm hug. You felt so loved, so valued, so appreciated, and I send you on your way, but I'm very efficient with that too. It's not taking me like 30 minutes to get there, but I want to make sure you're thorough. So that's going to be, I think convenience is no longer impressive. It's expected. And I think when we realized that like,   We used to think we're going above and beyond when we make it convenient and we have online scheduling and online bill pay. It's expected now. So I think when you ask yourself like, at the end of our appointment, is it easy for our patients to move through? Do they feel like they left our practice with like a warm hug? Is there anything that we could do to make it more convenient for patients that they might be expecting? If you're not taking online payments, online scheduling, you need to update that. Like that's, it's no longer an option anymore. We're not taking checks anymore. We need to have online payments for patient.   And so I think it's a, we're not just competing with other dental practices. We're competing with every other experience. So we're competing with Chick-fil-A, we're competing with Target. We're competing with Amazon. We're competing with anything that people are using day in and day out. Like I love working with Amazon. If I ever have an issue, I just message them and I get my refund and I don't have to worry about it. Like that's great. I'm going to shop with them a lot more versus hotels.com is super annoying to me. And anytime I have an issue, it's never fixed. It's never done. Now back.   prior to 2020, they were amazing. Now they're just junk and I don't want to work with them. Not because they're not great, but because they're just not easy to work with. Airbnb, VRBOs, like airline places. Everyone wants to make it as easy as possible. People get very frustrated. And I don't think we have a culture as rigid or as willing to like, I don't know, like almost plow through the noise like we used to. They want it to be decisions are easy. I felt loved.   I felt welcomed. I felt cared for. I felt like I got the best dental experience ever and I'm going to go on my way. So I think it could be a really great benefit for maybe you guys have a secret shopper, have a family member come through and give feedback on it. Maybe one of you goes through like call and make an appointment. How hard was that? How easy was that? And don't be nice because we're friends. Like we're genuinely wanting to give feedback so we can be the best practice. And how was my appointment? How was me sitting in the chair? How was checkout? How was follow up?   where could we make those just a little bit easier and make it to where we can still be so personable and really connected to our patient, but very efficient and convenient as well. So I think as a quick recap, looking through this of how do I make my bookends? Like what's my like first impression and arrival experience? Then what's our middle, like the clinical momentum and the experience and our handoffs. And then the end is how can I like minimize the lack of convenience, the inconvenience, the taking a long time? we...   separate our patients out and have a different exiting flow? Can we make it to where it's just a simpler process? Can we schedule it in the back more? Thinking of all these areas because it's not about moving faster, it's about being more intentional and making patients just feel like almost like this invisible thread where it was like seamless to go to the dentist and it was fun and it was enjoyable and whatever you want them to feel, helping patients have that. And so when people feel comfortable, when they feel wanted, when they feel seen, when they feel heard,   They actually say yes to treatment more. it's a double win. Not only are they going to like, leave you great star reviews, but they're also going to want to say yes to treatment because they like you. People say yes to people that they like. People say yes to experiences. People want to come back when they enjoy being there. And you have an opportunity because most people don't like the dentist. So even just doing a smidge of this is going to make you stand out. But I really think like, look at your 2026 experience. Look to see where are we maybe not serving the clientele as we had.   Be careful because you can accidentally get outdated very quickly if you're not willing to adapt, but make sure you're adapting to your culture, your experience that you want. Really have that as a clear core value, vision statement, mission statement. Here's how we want patients to feel when they come in. With Dental A Team, we want you to feel like it's easy. We want you to feel like you're loved. We want to make sure it's fun for you. We want to make sure that like, you know, that we're always going to do the right thing. That's Dental A Team. Like I'm not here to create like one off raving fans. I want you to be lifetime.   I want you to like love it. I want you to feel like we just got a review the other day and they said you're one of the greatest parts of our entire team and we're such a value to have you on our team. That's what Dental A Team is. It's because we make it easy. We make it fun. make it where it's like there's like we're your little fairy godmothers. We know where to take you. We know how to drive you. That's what I want in our core values like fun, ease, ownership, do the right thing. Those are all part of it. Grit. You figure it out. That's our culture.   and that's what I people to feel when they work with us. So if we can help you optimize your patient experience, optimize your practice, just be a, sometimes even having an outside, like literally I was paid a ton to go into an office and just fix their exit flow. That was their number one pain point that they didn't know they had. I watched it and I saw it, we fixed it. Case acceptance radically went up, patient experience radically went up, reviews radically went up. Small, simple things because you don't know what you don't know. You also can't see because you live there. So.   I'd love to help you out. team would love to help you reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go to our website, TheDentalATeam.com book a call. I'd love to work with you. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

This one's for the business owners out there! Kiera discusses all things overhead — what's normal, what's high, how to lower it, and what overhead even means in the first place. She then goes into specific tips of what it takes to lower that overhead quickly and responsibly. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and oh I hope you're ready for today's podcast today's podcast is one that I Love but you might not love it But guess what after today you're going to love it and you're going to know why because this is an episode for the business owners out there and office managers and team members guys, I   Love, love, love, love, love talking about overhead. What's normal, what's high and how to lower your overhead and what does overhead even mean? And I know that this is something where maybe you've heard it in the past and guess what? One of the greatest tools to learning is remembering. And so today I'm gonna walk you through how we get overhead and how we're able to lower it fast. ⁓ I have found when consulting hundreds and hundreds of offices, the number one pain point is cashflow. We actually just created ⁓ like,   amazing little graph and document of how offices are looking at things and how we, this is like just a pyramid. And if you guys are watching, we're going to see how good I do. Gosh, I'm not, okay, Paul, it's not pretty enough. I won't share it yet, but we actually built this like pyramid to show kind of a proven path from chaos to control and how we go.   Like what is the base layer that causes offices the most amount of stress and how it goes up. so base layer of this triangle is cashflow and profit stability. Then after that, it's time delegation or removing the doctors a bottleneck. Then we go up to systems and consistency. Then we do leadership and CEO transition, and then it's legacy and optionality. So, and this was like really fun because I like put it all together and I was like, okay, guys, I figured out what causes Dennis the most. Like we're talking hundreds and thousands of offices and putting it together.   And then our marketing team was amazing and Paul, shout out to him, he took it and he was like, all right, here, here you go. This is what it is. And what I looked at is so many people come in and like, here, we need systems, like, because we don't have cash. So they think that the systems will get them the cash, but knowing the right system. And this is oftentimes where it feels like whack-a-mole is we're putting in the wrong system, trying to get the outcome. And so it's like putting in the correct lever to be able to move. And then you're like, well, I need a leadership team.   But if you're on cashflow row, you're not thinking about a leadership team. You're like, I gotta get out of the burning bush. But if you're on cashflow positive, you're like, gosh, I'm just like stuck in all the weeds. Well, great, we need like to build you a leadership team and we need to get systems in place for you. And we need to look at which systems are not working. And so that's why I wanted to go into overhead for you today of how, like what is overhead and how is it working for me or against me? And how do I get this down fast, AKA more profit for you. And that's not because we wanna be rich and like,   whatever, I want you to actually be very wealthy. You like put in a lot of time and effort, but we want you to be making profit as a business. If you're not making money, it's a hobby and it's a liability and it's stressful. And we need to get you out of that stress zone so you can do the best dentistry, the best care. So when I look at offices, a lot of times they're not under producing, they might be overspending. And when I look at profitability, there's three levers. We need to produce more, collect more, or reduce our spending. are the three ways to get there.   And so that's how we're gonna look at these. Those three make more profit. So when I look at this and when I look at your biggest pain point that most offices are struggling with is cashflow. And why? Because you were taught to be a dentist, you weren't taught to be a business owner. So you're like, great, I made money, but I don't know how to spend the money and I don't know what I'm overspending. I was talking to someone and ⁓ this is a dear friend to me and she's running her business and this is like leading me into a possible other business idea that's been percolating for me. She was like, Kiera.   She's not in dentistry. She's in a different industry. she's like, Kiera, I made 200,000 this last year. And I was like, dang girl, I'm super freaking proud of you. And she's like, I took them 48,000. And I was like, what? She's like, yeah. And I said, well, hold on. She doesn't have employees. She's solo. And I was like, but why? Like, okay, 200,000, let's take taxes out of there. Even if you're sitting at 37%, which you're not, let's just.   we'll chunk 40 out of that, okay? Like let's do 40%. So was like, that's like 80. That's like really high. You probably are like 60,000 out for taxes. So we'll put you at 200,000 minus 60,000. We're at 140. Where did you spend like a hundred grand? And she was like, Kiera, I don't know. I don't know. And I thought to how many business owners feel like her? How many people feel like, but I made this money, but I don't have it and I don't know why.   Like gosh, 200,000 only taking home 48. Like you might as well go work for someone else. She's like, I worked more. I'm not with my family. I've done all these things. And I feel like that's how I feel so many dentists feel. They're like, I'm working harder than I was as an associate. I have all this stress. I'm not sleeping. I'm not with my family. And I'm not even making the money that I want to be making. And so I'm just really pro of like, Hey, there are solutions and there are ways. I think understanding what overhead is, understanding how business works.   and using it within your dental office is going to help. So, Dental A Team, I'm obsessed with helping you guys have your best lives. ⁓ Our job is to help you hit profit goals, control costs, not always have to produce and work more. Like let's work smarter, not harder. ⁓ And really it's just to positively impact the world of dentistry. We call it the Yes Model. So focusing on you as a human, earnings and profitability, and then systems and team development. Your business should truly serve your life, not the other way around. And so, ⁓   Let's just like dive into what is overhead. I don't want any of you to be like my friend and honest. I'm going to get that friend out of that dilemma. I'm like, I think this is how I was. I think that it comes from, right? Like, why do we build companies? We build them out of like necessity for ourselves. We build them out of like things that we had. We build them from like, I've been there, done that. And here's how I'm going to help you. But we also need to learn how to be really strong business owners. And something I feel like I've been really proud of and something I'm really grateful for is   The language of business has actually made a lot of sense to me. was good with math. used to, you guys ready? Another random Kiera job. ⁓ I was a math tutor for quite a lot of my life actually and taught littles. I didn't go, I was not into calculus. I was doing algebra, geometry, like little kids. I had a whole tutoring business. Like that was another business I started up. Cause I found out what they were paying me as a tutor versus what they were charging the client. And I was like, heck no, I'm doing my own business. It is really hard to do marketing in case you're wondering for tutoring, but.   I got my little business over the summer and drove around all these houses. ⁓ But math has always kind of made sense to me. Like one plus one equals two. And I like it because with math, maths, it's very fun. And so when I look at overhead and I look at targets, I'm like, all right, what does it mean? So overhead is the total amount of money that it costs to run a business. Okay. So that's what overhead is. And you know what? These are pretty slides. So I think Paul will be just fine.   ⁓ We actually have an entire presentation that we did on like preventing cashflow leaks and what is like the dentist profit plan? So I'm gonna actually show you guys if you're watching awesome. I think this will be a fun thing for you to see   Okay, so what is overhead? And I think these slides just break it down really simply. And if you're audio listening, great, I'm gonna tell you what's on the slide. So what is overhead? It's all the costs to run a practice. So we're talking payroll, rent, labs, supplies,   anything under the roof.   It does not usually include Dr. Pay. Now I'm gonna throw a disclaimer. I am not a CPA. Talk to your CPAs about this. I'm gonna just tell you how Kiera has learned it and how it's made sense for me when it didn't make sense, okay? So that's overhead. And I get annoyed with the overhead and this is why I prefer to talk profit versus overhead because the fact that it doesn't include Dr. Pay annoys me per CPA usual guidelines. Now I'm not saying all CPAs, but usually this is like how it is. It's all the costs, but they don't include Dr. Pay because you're a business owner. So like, why should we pay you?   Now, what is profit? Profit is the total after overhead and doctors are paid. So I like doctors to be paid 30 % of production. Think about it, that's what associates are usually paid. You can be 35%, I don't actually care. Like whatever it is. So in this simple equation, we would do revenue or production, AKA collections, minus overhead, minus doctor pay equals profit or available funds, okay? So if we're in a practice and we produce and collect, because if we produce but we don't collect, remember that's gonna hurt.   ⁓ 100,000, we minus 50,000 of overhead costs like our rent, our payroll, our supplies. We pay our doctor 30%, so 30,000. We would have profit with air quotes of 20 grand. Okay, I did perfect easy math for you. If our doctor was 30%, if our overhead was 50%, our profit would be 20 % on $100,000 practice, okay? So these are the levers. We either increase production, decrease costs or increase our collections. That's how we're gonna do it. Now, what is cash flow?   Cash flow is profit minus debt services, okay? This is where it gets weird, because you're like, well, it says I'm profitable and my overhead's good, but I have no cash. Well, this is why, because we have debt services, which oftentimes like our student loans and sometimes they're building loans. Those are debt services that don't actually get included in overhead. And this is a CPA, it's how it gets like deducted down and all of that. So like you can deduct certain things, but that doesn't mean the cash is taken out. It got.   written off, do tell the like laws that are way beyond my pay grade. So profit minus debt services is cashflow. So debt services are practice loans, equipment loans, student loans sometimes are or may not be included in this. You got to check with your CPA and your personal expenses. So what happens is we have a business and this business is producing 2 million for us, okay? Our overhead, let's say we're like really kicking it and we're at 50 % overhead and our doctor is being paid like rock on, doctor's paid.   So we've got money left over, but then on that leftover, yes, doctor, your business is doing well, but you as a human also have expenses. You have your life expense, you've got your student loans, you have all of this, which is why you don't feel like you've got cashflow, not to mention taxes, okay? So when we look at this, what is an ideal over it? And this is where it gets like really hard, like my overhead and my cashflow, and like my overhead's good, but I don't have cash. Well, it's because we haven't like put it all together for you and we haven't made it to where like, okay,   What is John's personal life? What are your costs? What are our debt services? What are the costs of the business? Great, now we set our office goals. And sometimes you have to be careful because your life expenses might be more than your business can produce. And I know that that's annoying and I'm really sorry, but we have to also live within our means of what our business can do. We can't squeeze out our business when we're looking at it and we're like, well, shoot.   you might be overspending. again, I'm not here judging. There's no judgment here. I just want to be realistic. One plus one equals two, always in math. And that's why I enjoy it. So when we look at this, our goal is to have you profit 20 % and an overhead of 50%. Remember, 50 % overhead of the cost, 30 % doctor pay, 20 % profit. That does not mean you're taking home 20 % of that profit and of doctor pay. You owe taxes on that. So that's super fun. Take that out. Just like my friend, right? We took taxes out. And then from there, we got to pay our debt services. We've got to have our life. Then whatever is left.   Over is your cash. That's why it's hard. So this is where people are like, I don't get it, Kiera. No, you do. And I'm gonna teach you, okay? So we wanna have those. Now, when we have an overhead calculator, what we do is we wanna get this to 50%, 60%, like that's great. Cause the less we spend, the greater our profit is, right? Like if I make a hundred dollars and I only spend $20, I have $80 left over. That's great. But if I have a hundred dollars and I spend $80, I don't have $20. We made a hundred.   but how are we spending? So again, it's either increased production, increase our collections, because your production might be there, but if your collections are lagging, you might not have as much cash. Why? You produced it, but we didn't collect it. That's a big problem. But if we produced and collected what we need, then what's our spending? And I will tell you, usually expenses can be pretty high. So we look over here, and on this example here, I've got it at 60 % total overhead. So like our payroll should be about 30%, dental supply should be about 5%, lab should be about 7%.   facility equipment 8%, advertising 2%, office supplies 1%. Like break this down however you wanna adjust it. Your rent might be so hard, bank charges I hope that they're less than 3 % for you. But all these add up and you can adjust these and these can be moved around and say like maybe if we only had our payroll at 25%, I'm not here to say pay your team less. We just are looking at like what things can we do? In this scenario on the screen, doctors only at 20 % of this and their profits 10%. Well, it's because our-   Our overhead is at 60%, we're high and we have debt services of 5%. That's why. So costs really do matter. So if we collect 100,000 and our overhead before we paid our doctor was 73,000, our overhead is 73.82. That's without even paying our doctor. Well, then our doctor got paid 20%, okay? So 73 plus 20, we're at 93%. Woohoo, we're living on the edge there. We have debt services at 5%, this poor doctor is negative.   They got 1.18 % on a $100,000 collection month. They're not quite negative. Like their total overhead over there, it's like not where we want it to be. So it's negative based on the thing, but their net profit on a hundred thousand is 1100 bucks. Well, that feels like junk. Like, yeah, I got paid 20 grand, but after I paid everything out, my total expenses for this, and this is where I think people get weird. And that's even before we paid taxes. My overhead was 73, my doctor salary is 20,000.   my debt services were 5,000. So we add all that together and that's how we get up to that 98, which leaves us with 1176. That's annoying. They're not doing good. This is where the cashflow crunch happens. So when we look at this, and this is why I really love to show you like what is cashflow, what is overhead, and hopefully you're able to see that. And if not, hopefully I explained it well enough for you. And I wasn't just talking on the screen. I tried to make it to where you guys could hear it and see it. But when we look at this, this is where I get annoyed because like, okay, what can I do then to reduce it? I just told you.   We either look at what are we spending and I just gave you some parameters. So can I get my payroll or my supplies or my labs down? Can I give my team a 4 % of collections from last month and that becomes our supplies? Yes, you can. And we can start tracking that. So there's little things we can look at and we can see what can I reduce down? How can I trim this down? And honestly, trimming your overhead. So we stop spending. If you're a CE junkie, great. We give you a budget of X amount of dollars and that's all you get to spend. The rest doesn't. We look to see where are we overspending?   Maybe we are overstaffed and so we need to increase our production based on the amount of staff members that we have. I love team versus staff, but like, let's look at that, okay? So let's look at it and let's find out where is one or two categories on your P &L that are out of it. And if you need an overhead calculator, be sure to reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I love to share that with people. So review your P &L, look at it. Let's look at our overhead, see where we are. Your goal is to be at a 50 % overhead before a doctor's paid or a 20 % profit, okay? Now we look at payroll.   Are there ways that we could look at this? Are there ways that we could cut it down? Can we make it to where people are not clocking in, clocking out too much? How are we going to be able to have this? And this like 30 % is all fringe benefits, everything included in there. So what can we do on there to make sure that we're profitable in that? Can we like look at other ways? Can we outsource things? Like our hygienists are expensive. So is there a way that we can maybe outsource some billing? Again, not to say to fire team members. want our team members. Teams are assets. They're not liabilities. But what things can we get creative on?   no overtime, that's a no-go. People only work 32 hours. We work on four-day work weeks and we rotate. There's a lot of different things you can do, but looking at that, committing to it. And then the next thing is like, let's figure out what is our true BAM of the company, including cost of the company, cost of paying our doctor, cost of our debt services, and then let's work backwards. Okay. That's how much we need to produce. And this is how much we need of profit. Then what do need to do on diagnosis and production on the top half?   and scheduling and creating a block schedule for that. Now, if you're like, I don't love numbers, Kiera, and what you just said was so awesome, but so scary, great. Reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. want to talk to you because when you can say and truly feel it in your bones, I love numbers and numbers loves me. You are going to feel so much more confident as a business owner. The reason people get scared on overhead and profit margins is because they don't understand the language of business. They don't understand how money works. They don't understand how taxes work.   So I decided I was so sick of crying in December. I said, that's it. I'm not gonna cry in December anymore. I'm going to become a tax expert on this. So what I do every single month is we have our overhead. We know what our overhead is. I know what Kiera's pay and comp is. So we take that. I also take taxes out of there. I have buckets set up of how much we're gonna put in of savings. I've got a BAM for our company. And I did not do this overnight. I make sure our collections are there, our productions there. We make sure that our overhead is in check based on industry standards.   We start to trim away one or two or 3 % from there. So we trim and make sure we've got all of our ducks in a row. Our collections are at 98%, our production's where it needs to be based on the cost of the business and our overhead, we've trimmed it down, we're getting it to 50%. You can also get your overhead lower by increasing your production. Could I do better higher dollar per hour procedures? What can I do to get my dollar per hour up 50 or $100 per hour more? Can we do same day treatment that's gonna help our patients? Absolutely yes.   What about our hygiene? Are we taking x-rays at the right time? Are we doing fluoride and fluoride therapy? Are we blocked scheduling correctly to make sure that we're hitting our numbers? Is our case acceptance, could we increase that? Yes, these are the ways that you get there and these are ways that you do it quickly. And so knowing your benchmarks, knowing how cash works, knowing how overhead works, knowing how this works, this is half the battle guys. Like just listening to the podcast high five, like pop the confetti. I wish I could like sprinkle confetti for you. This is half the battle.   So you learning it and committing to like, want you, I have a doctor and we were like profit and production. That's all we're going for. And that's what we talk about because this is the base. If we can get your cashflow up guys, everything else falls into place. Like truly it really does. And then we're able to do more things because cash is there. We know you're taken care of. You're more stable and confident. And I remember Ryan Isaac with Dentist Advisors. He and I were chatting, gosh, we're probably talking like 2019, 2020. And he said, team members, you want your doctors to be so profitable because when a doctor is confident in their cash.   they are confident in their business and they're not stressed out. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't have like spending problems. I've seen that with other doctors, like business is doing great, but we have a spending issue. That's a you issue and you need to like have discipline on that. But I will tell you being confident in your cash, being confident in your profit, being confident in your overhead, what those mean is half the battle. And this is what I actually obsess about. So we actually teach our doctors. ⁓ We have an overhead calculator. We look at your overhead every month. We have scorecards for you.   We teach you, we look at it, we have goals that we set together. We look at your diagnosis, we look at your case acceptance, and we figure out which lever will be the fastest, easiest to move with you. And this is how we're able to do it with you guys. So reach out, commit to being like cash is king, profit and production. You are going to be a profitable practice and you're gonna make the money that you deserve to make and that you want to make. And we're gonna just do a backwards equation with you. We're gonna figure it out and we're gonna lock down. I have a CPA and she said, Kiera, I will recommend Dental A Team all day, every day. She said, you have made my clients more profitable than.   any other consulting company, that's because we are going to be obsessive about profit and production and you getting your overhead down. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Tiff and Trish break down what it means to have the right person in the right chair that's best for your practice. This means gauging comfort levels and the ability to stay calm, but it also means supporting each position so they feel like they can win at their job. Listeners are invited to review their positions based on what personality would thrive there — not only to increase treatment, but to make everyone's lives better, too. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are here today with, honestly, really fun one. These are some of my favorite subjects, the things that we talk about on here. I tell you guys that all the time, but I have Ms. Trish here with us today. Her internal nickname, Dental A Team name, for all of her clients, you guys can use this, is Tada. There's all kinds of reasons for it. We don't need to hash out today, but just know Tada is here. And I know I've said this on the podcast before, but if you're new here, you haven't heard it yet, I love.   podcasting with these women and I love also handpicking the topics. get topics given to us from our marketing company. We have a lot of input and say on them as the consultants, but really we just kind of look, I look ahead and I'm like, that's what we're doing in the month of March. So fantastic. And then I kind of handpick which consultants I want because I love when   I get to watch someone and partake with someone speaking on things that they're passionate about, that they truly thrive in and they love. And Trish, this topic specifically today, I know I tell you guys this, I don't know if you believe me or not, maybe you do, maybe you don't, but I know this is something that lights you up and I'm excited to be here with you. Thank you for blocking your calendar for me. Thank you for getting this set up. know it's like, both of us are like a little chaotic storms.   when it comes to things like this. So I know both of us were like frantically getting ready. So thank you. How are you today? And how excited are you to be here? Like just, you know.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (01:24) Thanks. ⁓   Thank you. Thank you.   I'm doing great. I always love it when I get to podcast with you.   The Dental A Team (01:34) Thank you, thank you. I ⁓ feel like all of you ladies bring your own sense of ease to podcasting for me, which is fantastic, because then I don't feel like totally exhausted by the end, so thank you. ⁓ Something you're really phenomenal at is people, Trish. I think you read people really well. I think you read people quickly, and I think that it's very easy for you to determine.   where people should sit or what they should be doing, what they're really great at. It's very easy for you to walk into a room and say, my gosh, this person is born to be a treatment coordinator. She is born to be a billing representative. you mentioned, gosh, what were we on? We were on some call this week. And you mentioned that you were a really great treatment coordinator. And I think we did it. It was on our coaching call we did together.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (02:24) Yes.   The Dental A Team (02:24) last week and you mentioned that you are a phenomenal treatment coordinator and is your passion and I think that reading people piece is part of that. It's part of who you are, it's part of your personality and it's part of what makes you a phenomenal consultant but also what fed into that piece of treatment coordinating for you and I think Trish if I had to read you correctly I think you love it and I think it lights you up to be able to read people and get people established in something they can be passionate about.   because you can read personalities. So very easy to see why this kind of topic we're doing, know, personality versus experience when it comes to team members. Very easy to see why that was such an easy fit for me to choose you to be here today. And before we dive in too much Trish, I want to ask what, ⁓ gosh, what about reading people and being able to peg that?   What do you love the most? What do you love when you walk into a room and you can say, my gosh, this, like what lights you up the most about it?   Tricia Lee Ackerman (03:28) I think what lights me up the most is like I can easily target somebody who is comfortable talking. So if somebody just kind of looks like their, you know, their shoulders are down, they look like they're at ease, that's going to be a pretty easy person to go and approach. Then you have your people that smile and they obviously they still look very friendly, but there is, it's, again, Tiff, it's like they don't have something written on their forehead. So it is really a read.   It's an internal emotional read that I have where it's like, you know what, that person actually probably doesn't want me just going up to them, just like starting a big conversation. And even if I do, you can read a person's body language and see how they're engaging back. And if the engagement back is kind of light, then like that's not a person that you push on. I'm not gonna make them have a conversation with me about a recent wedding they attended if they...   The Dental A Team (04:04) Yeah.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (04:24) clearly see if it's showing that they just kind of don't want to do that. So I don't know, like, I don't think there's a book that you can read on how to do this. Maybe there is. I, I personally think that this is something that you either kind of have or you don't. That's just my, that's just my thoughts on that. because again, I mean, some people really struggle, really struggle with knowing how to read a room. I'm sure they don't want to, but yeah, if there was a secret sauce, I would   love to share it, but I do think it's kind of an internal characteristic that you may or may not be born with.   The Dental A Team (05:01) For sure, I totally agree. actually, have my son, you he's 17 now, the recording of this and we've always, myself and just the people on my side that have been involved in his life and forming him into the kid that he is, we were always really big on being like socially aware and really just aware of his surroundings. One, because you know, as a parent, was a single mom scared to death that somebody's gonna steal my kid, you know.   So I made sure like he was always insanely, intentional about watching his surroundings, but then also being the one that's courteous to everyone else. Like you just don't be in the way and not so much that you make yourself small, but don't be in the way because it's very easy to just be like, ⁓ awesome. Yep, you go around, know, like don't make it a thing. Just be super aware. And I know that Brody's got that kind of intentionality and that intuitiveness that   he can read people as well. And I wonder, often I watch him do it, and I'm like, gosh, is that because you're so aware of your surroundings and you're watching for your next move, right? Because I know for me, it's like, where am I going to step next even of a crowded grocery store? What's the easiest path? When I'm driving down the street, well, which lane is going to be the easiest for me that I'm not an inconvenience to other people as well? So kind of like double dipping there.   So I watch him do these things and I think to myself, there are so many people that are not aware of their surroundings. Is that a piece of it, right? And like you said, it's kind of ingrained as personality. Anyway, it's high tangent there, but I think one thing to do is to really ramp up your awareness of present, I guess really, right? It's being present with where you are at and the people that you're with. Because when we're in our heads ahead or behind,   we're not here and we're not intentionally paying attention to the things going on in the people around us. How do you feel like then? I mean, where can we talk about hiring? We can talk about all the pieces, but realistically, we get the biggest question is like, gosh, do I hire for personality? Do I hire for ⁓ experience? Do they have to have dental experience? Do they have to have management experience? But really, I think this also applies to looking at the team that you have today and making sure that   Tricia Lee Ackerman (06:59) Anyway.   The Dental A Team (07:23) We say this all the time, right? Person, right? Seed. It's a massive piece. And I think these pieces you can take and apply to both. When it comes to personality, Trish, and it comes to not just like, that's one thing, to be able to read personalities and be able to be in a room and navigate the situation, but personality versus experience. How do you help practices differentiate the two, even in any situation at all?   Tricia Lee Ackerman (07:50) Well, obviously, ideally, personality and experience at a high level, both. That's perfect. That's awesome. But but more than more times than than than not, we do have that situation where the doctor will say like she was really not, you know, hiring for an office manager. She was really nice. She was really great. She was all these things. But that's awesome. However, that's a position where we do need to see the skill set.   What type of leadership ⁓ experience does she have? And maybe she doesn't have any, but can we set her up for some? And how quick, how sharp is this individual? Because if they're really, really, I use the word cool. We can train skills, but we really can't train cool. You kind of either cool or you're not. And if they really like this person and they're sharp, then maybe we should entertain giving them some leadership activity homework.   and see how that comes. If it's somebody that has all the experience in the world, say like as a treatment coordinator, they've been doing it for a very long time, but they're kind of cold, they're kind of direct, ⁓ they kind of really don't know how to like maybe laugh or break some ice. Is that really the best treatment coordinator? Because that is really a role where you have got to be able to do both.   The Dental A Team (09:12) Yeah.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (09:15) And that's where I shined and loved it so much because I was able to read the room and I was so passionate about what I was actually getting ready to sell to them. But I could also tell if, if, mean, if they started sweating and like, okay, slow down, back up, let's start to find like what's happening with this person. So the personality, you know, that's, that's great. Most offices are looking for somebody that knows how to smile and   and things like that. The skill set, it doesn't always have to be right on point as long as we can give them some tools slash tests, which we can and we could deploy those to monitor like almost like their sharp skill set. Like how sharp are they? How quick are they? Because if they're nice and quick and sharp, it might just be our person. Some of the best people that I have hired through the years had zero dental experience, but they were sharp.   They were quick. were in the restaurant industry. That's an amazing industry because people know how multi-task like crazy they can order drinks, they can order food, they can serve, and they have to do it all with a smile because their tips depend on it. those are perfect. That particular group of people are excellent examples because most of them do have the personality and they're sharp. Easy to.   The Dental A Team (10:16) Mm, I agree.   Yep.   Yeah, I agree.   I totally agree with that. have hired, I tell practices all the time, when you're at a restaurant and you have a hostess or a server or somebody that you love, give them your card, whether you're hiring now or not, give them your card. ⁓ I totally agree. I think too, as you're chatting through all of that, I agree 100 % with all of it. And I'm thinking too, as you're saying that, yes, you're front office lead, you've got to have the leadership skills, you got to have these pieces, and does the dental   Is the dental necessary? Not necessarily, right? My best treatment coordinator ever, she didn't have any dental experience, but she loved people and she believed in the product, like you said. So she didn't even, half the time she didn't even know what she was selling. She was just like, I know that they said this was going to make you healthier. So like, why would you not get this done? And I was like, this is wild. Like, it's an SRP. Yeah, yeah. And they would schedule and it was great. And they would prepay, right? And it was like, gosh, she blew my mind with it, but she believed so much in the people being healthier.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (11:26) And it works. Yep.   The Dental A Team (11:36) that she just did it. But I'm also thinking as you're saying this, yes, there are personality pieces for that that's necessary. And then it's like, yes, there's also personality pieces for our billing coordinator. So I think that's where the avatar comes into play, right? And knowing what are the goals of this position and what kind of a personality can do that? Because you're bubbly, like for sure this person can do billing.   Right, I can do billing, Trish, can do billing. If we sat down, we can do it. But I'm gonna be bored out my mind and it's gonna take me 10 times longer than the personality who was built for it. Because my personality, I need to be, I need to move. I need to move more, I need less details. I am not a detailed person. And I need to just, I need more interaction. So that billing personality might be someone who's a little bit more muted, a little bit, you know.   and more introverted, ⁓ detail oriented, loves the numbers, wants to dig in, and you probably are gonna want some experience if you can find it, but again, a skill set that can be taught. How do you help your practices kind of navigate those avatars?   Tricia Lee Ackerman (12:51) Just yesterday, literally just yesterday, this was a topic. And it's an office that does have, that like the skillsets is there for all of the team members. However, they weren't in the right seats. So when I started digging a little, because of course case acceptance is always something that I really want to target, because what does that do? It increases production and it's just a big win. Okay. But what we discovered was that,   The Dental A Team (13:02) Awesome.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (13:18) the team member that was actually more say like the checkout seat that was kind of finalizing and kind of closing up the treatment plan was, was like really shy when it came to money, ⁓ really shy when it came to like asking for any kind of deposit. And so what we found was that when that particular team member is in that seat, we had less people scheduling.   So meanwhile, I had gotten to know this front office team a little bit more over the last even just six weeks. And I thought to myself, hold on a second. I know exactly who needs to be in that seat all the time. So no more rotating of seats. We're going to lock down this chair is for that person, this chair. And I had ⁓ a touch base this morning with the O.M. They're already feeling like less anxious.   because the person that is now there is good at both. She has no problem, you know, wrapping up a financial piece of things, but she can also talk dentistry if any of those questions do come up. we, and that was a fun exercise. I do like doing that. Like, let's look at your team. Who are all these people and where did they shine? ⁓ okay. But they're sterile tech. Maybe just maybe.   The Dental A Team (14:19) Yep.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (14:42) We could just hire a sterile tech and this could be your main treatment coordinator. So evaluating those seats and I think consistently evaluating the seats, because we do evolve with change, that is a really successful and not time consuming project that I think a lot of OMS and doctors could and should do regularly.   The Dental A Team (15:03) I totally agree with you. I love that you just did that yesterday. ⁓ And I love that you keyed in on the rotation of seats because I feel like a lot of practices do and I hear a lot of managers and team members and doctors say, yes, but I want everyone to know how to do everything. Cool. I do too. I want you to be able to fill in if someone decides to take a vacation. Absolutely agree with you. I don't want things to go left undone. But being responsible for everything.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (15:21) Yes.   The Dental A Team (15:31) because no one's responsible for anything, and then that means no one's, everyone's responsible for nothing, is a whole lot of things not getting done effectively and a ton of underlying stress that people don't even realize they're feeling. The anxiety of not knowing how to win in your position or not feeling fully confident in the things that you're doing because you're doing so many things that require different brain sets.   You actually, you, you feel it, but you really don't know that it's happening until you get stabilized in that seat with clear goals and a clear way to win and in a space and a seat that you thrive in. You're like, I feel free. Like I feel so much less stressed and I didn't even realize I was stressed. It's, so much fun to watch. And if you've ever felt it, you know what that feels like and Trish.   you keying in on that right now might be to me at least the biggest piece of this whole podcast because so many practices and I think both of us experience this fight that like no we all do it right we all do it we all we help each other we don't want to be a team that can't help each other ⁓ golly if you become a team that can't help each other because you're in a treatment coordinator seat instead of this float seat where you're doing 15 000 things that's a different issue   Tricia Lee Ackerman (16:44) Yes.   The Dental A Team (16:57) That's completely separate and your culture needs to be fixed. But right now, you're not helping each other. You're actually holding each other back and you're, as the manager, I think I'm gonna just, hard truth, as the manager and the doctor, allowing a space like that to exist is a detriment to the people that you've hired. And it, to me, says, I don't think you can do one thing really well, so we're gonna do all of the things all together to make sure nothing gets missed.   And in reality, there's so much stuff that gets missed.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (17:31) Yeah, a lot of missed opportunity for growth there. And it can be so, and now like this, in this case, the gal that is now in this seat and she's not moving, she's going to be so empowered. And then the other two that we moved into the seats that are appropriate for them, same thing. They're going to feel so empowered. And that, and I'm looking forward to a check in with them in two weeks. That I really truly am, but.   The Dental A Team (17:34) for sure.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (17:56) That's the key. The right people, right seats, we say it all the time, almost every day to at least one client or more. That's the ticket. Who are your people? Where do they shine? Where are they currently sitting? And where could a better seat be for them?   The Dental A Team (18:15) Yeah, yeah, and I think what are the seats that you have and what's the goal of that seat? Because when we don't know, when we just say, well, I've got five front office team members or three front office team members, cool, but what are those seats? Well, we have two that sit at the front and then one that sits in the back. Okay, but like, what is the seat? So if we're saying we've got a check-in, a check-out, and an office manager who does billing and treatment planning, great.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (18:30) Right, I did.   The Dental A Team (18:44) We got five seats, label the seats. What is the seat? What is their main goal, the main duty of that seat? And how can they win in that seat? I did that exercise. I think it's very similar to what you just did, Trish. I did this with a big practice, three doctors, lots of hygienists, lots of, and I've done it with, we've both done it with so many practices. The big guys are the ones that are the most fun to untangle because those webs are deep.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (19:08) Yes.   The Dental A Team (19:11) But we started untangling them and the doctors were like, wait, I like, want to, I want to help with this. And they untangled the seats and the goals. And even as far as three metrics per position in the front office that they can say this position is winning so that now that front office gal can take this job description and say, great, these are the things that I'm going to do. This is my operations manual for my seat.   on how I'm going to get there. And just being able to have that clarity alone, even for the doctors, they think it opened up a ton for them and I can't wait till they deliver it to the team because it's just, it's empowering. And when you're hiring, that's how you know if you've interviewed the right person. Does this, this seat, the seat that I've created, the job description, the goal and the metrics, what kind of a person will thrive   reaching those. I'm not going to put a like introverted, great with numbers person. I want great with numbers for a treatment coordinator for sure, but they're not selling anything. They're just reviewing it, which is fine, but if you want a different result, you've got to do it differently.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (20:29) Something else that comes up Tiff quite often is, and this can be such a hard decision for a doctor, they might have like their best dental assistant that they've ever had. And those two work so well side by side. However, that particular say dental assistant could be an absolutely incredible treatment coordinator. But when we bring that to the doctor, that's when they're like,   because they just can't imagine not having that person side by side with them as their assistant. And the doctors that do recognize it and go, ⁓ my gosh, you were so on to something. Those are amazing transitions because number one, that dental assistant that we're even considering putting into like a full-time treatment coordinator role, she knows that doctor inside and out. She believes in him. I she knows everything about him, the dentist.   that is somebody that can really grow a business, then we just hire, we replace the dental assistant and sharpen those skills with the same ones, the one that stepped out. But like that is also something that doctors don't, sometimes they don't even entertain that idea. We have to entertain it for them. And then when they see that, it's like, and I can only imagine, it's very scary for them to lose their key person sitting next to them all day, every day, but it can also be a,   The Dental A Team (21:45) I agree.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (21:54) really great move.   The Dental A Team (21:56) I totally agree with you. Totally agree. Love it. Thank you. I knew this topic would be fun for both of us. We both kind of love moving people around. I love seeing, I love when we can move someone, like you just said, like giving someone the empowerment to try something they've maybe not really done before, but that growth opportunity to go from chair side dental assistant to treatment coordinator and just like learn a new skill set is, it's super cool. Super fun to watch. So.   Thank you Trish. I think if I had to pick out some action items for everyone, I think based on what Trish is saying here, evaluate the people you have. Look at their personalities and look at their skill sets. Trish, said, like, where do they thrive? So what do they love to do? Oftentimes, too, when I say that, I like to look at their personal lives. Like, what kind of sports are they playing? Like, what activities are they doing? Are they knitting? Are they pottery? Are they, you know, are they volleyball players? Like, look at their personalities.   And then also look at your positions and what personality would thrive in that position, not only to get us more treatment on the schedule, but to fulfill them, to make their lives better, to make them happy, to make them love where they work, and in turn, make you love where you work. So I'd say go evaluate your people, evaluate your positions, and get the personality straight. Build those avatars and take a look. Trish, anything you want to add before we wrap this up?   Tricia Lee Ackerman (23:23) don't think so. really don't. The disc test, maybe I'll toss that in. That's always kind of good one. Doctors do love to do that. ⁓ You know, evaluate those. Everybody can even do them together when you hire somebody else on or if you're considering. and you know, vibe checks. We always talk about that. Do your vibe check. Let your team do a vibe check. And again, how's their personality? Does that personality fit the actual practice? Some practices are full of spunk and fun and craziness. I see some of these teams on Instagram and they just   The Dental A Team (23:24) Awesome. Yeah.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (23:52) track me up, that would be a great one for fun. And you know, some doctors are not. So you might not want to bring in say like a clown into a really conservative practice. They might not mesh. So evaluating personalities slash the skill set. Yes, it's not always that easy, but we can certainly help. And ⁓ once you do get those right personalities in those right seats, like you said, Tim, everybody wins.   The Dental A Team (24:21) Yeah, I love it. Thank you. All right, guys, you heard it here. Go do the things. Trish, this was phenomenal. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Everyone, you know where to get ahold of us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or leave us five-star review below or both. We love both of those. So we can't wait to hear from you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Trish, thank you.   Tricia Lee Ackerman (24:29) Thank you.   Thanks, Tiff.

Kiera is joined by Derick Van Ness of Big Life Financial to talk about taxes, and how to handle them beyond simply thinking of them as a necessary evil. The pair discuss knowing your numbers, utilizing tax credits, the magic touch of a CPA, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners, this is Kiera. And today I am super excited. This is one of our top favorite guests that has been on the podcast. We're bringing him back on because there are some new updates and our clients love him. I love him. He is incredible. Derick Van Ness, he is with Big Life Financial. And you might have heard him on the podcast before talking about R &D credits, tax saving ideas, CPA.   This man does a lot of your wealth and how to build and keep your wealth. So I always love our conversations and just like his good information. Plus, if I remember right, he might know Garrett Gunderson. So obviously I've been a fangirl since day one. Derick, welcome back to the show. How are you today?   Derick Van Ness (00:42) Well, I'm doing great and really happy to be here with you, Kiera. I'm not Garrett Gunderson because he is taller and better looking, but I'm a good second place.   The Dental A Team (00:48) Ha ha ha!   I think that you're great. The fact that you know Garrett Gunderson, that already just has elevated you. I mean, I think it was one of our first conversations we ever had. And I was like, have you ever read like Killing Sacred Cows? And you're like, I actually know Garrett Gunderson. I was like, what? Fangirling. So ⁓ anyway, Derick, for those who have not met you, haven't heard your episode, because we do have new listeners to the podcast. Just kind of give them a little intro of who is Derick Bennis? What is Big Life Financial? And give the listeners a little intro to who you are.   Derick Van Ness (01:20) Okay, well outside of being ⁓ in love with my wife, in love with art and in love with racing sailboats, what I do professionally is I help ⁓ doctors and dentists to be smarter with their money. So what does that mean? That means how do you, not so much to make it, I mean we do help people scale, but once you make the money, which is something a lot of dentists are good at, how do you keep it through tax savings? How do you grow it and how do you protect it, right?   And today we're going to talk a little bit about how do you keep more what you make? Because honestly, for dentists, even though taxes seem boring when you don't have to write that $50,000 or $100,000 or $200,000 check, it gets a lot cooler. If you would have told me I'd be a tax and financial guy when I was a kid, I probably would have just taken an early exit somewhere and jumped off a bridge. But I really see money in what we do as a lifestyle business. It's not about money.   The Dental A Team (02:01) Yeah.   Derick Van Ness (02:17) If you have enough, then money is what it is. When you don't have enough, it's a problem. And I just find for a lot of people, it's the reason or excuse that they constrain themselves. They don't spend time with family. They don't think do things that they want to do. They don't have the experiences that are going to change their life. So when we can get money out of the way, then you can live your big life, which is why the company's big life financial, because it doesn't matter if you have more or less money. The question is, what's the life you're living? What's your quality of life?   And so taxes are a big piece of that. Obviously we can't talk about everything on a podcast like this, because you'd be buried under a ton of bricks. But that's what I do is I try to make this stuff easy. I try to make it fun. And I want you to realize that the whole point of all this money stuff is so that you can live a life you want to   The Dental A Team (02:55) You   Which Derick, that's why we have connected. You have met my husband. have had personal conversations outside of the podcast because I very much align and subscribe to this lifestyle and this mode of thinking. I believe that practices should work for us and us not work for our practices. I believe that we became business owners to have these big lives and these, audacious dreams. And yet I feel so many people live below their, their potential. They are trapped. They are.   Derick Van Ness (03:33) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (03:34) It's crazy. I ⁓ had a client and she actually made so much money last year, which was amazing because the year before she was like, Kiera, I want to make more. So I was like, great, we're going after profit and production like blinders on. Don't talk to me about anything else. And she had like a crazy year and she's like, great. Now I have this huge check. I've got to write in taxes. And I was like, not my problem. Like you need better CPA help on that, but glad we made you the money. But I bring that up because one, it was a huge win for a client, but two,   Derick Van Ness (03:52) I don't know.   Yep.   The Dental A Team (04:02) I think that people being able to keep the money that they make, hold on to more money that they make. Like I love that we live in America and it's a free country and that we get to pay taxes. Like I'm so freaking grateful for that. With that said, I do not want to pay one penny more than I need to. And I want to maintain and keep as much as I possibly can to live the life I want and to not feel the guilt of being a successful business owner and to do the fun things that I always imagined and dreamed of doing without the guilt of doing it. And I think so many people are so scared of.   Derick Van Ness (04:11) Yep.   The Dental A Team (04:32) being financially free, they're scared to spend money. They get hit with tax burdens left and right. I can't tell you how many dentists that I hear at the end of their career and they've had great careers, but they have no financial stability. like, Derick, this is the stuff that stresses me out and keeps me up at night and which is why you're on the podcast because I want people to be smarter. want them to be more educated and I want them to live happier lives. So let's walk through like R and D credits and CPA and like how people can live a more enriched   Derick Van Ness (04:33) Mm-hmm.   Yep.   The Dental A Team (05:02) big life today rather than waiting. I think it's just a fun topic to talk about. I'm intrigued, so let's talk about it.   Derick Van Ness (05:07) Yeah   Well, let's do. mean, we can start generally with taxes and then we can kind of move into the credits piece because it is like a it's just a small very segmented piece of what you do with your taxes. overall, the biggest thing I see is most people see taxes as like a necessary evil. This is the thing I have to deal with. When people see something as a necessary evil, what do they do? They do the minimum. Right. And what that really turns into is   You're not talking with your CPA. You're not coordinating with them. You're not being proactive. At the end of the year, you just want to do the least. So you just hand them all your stuff. I realize people don't come in boxes anymore. Now it's like, here's my QuickBooks password. Or I add you to my account. ⁓ And then they tell you how much you owe. But if you ran your business that way, if you just didn't look at anything all year, and at the end of the year, you're like, I wonder how we did. Wouldn't go so well if you didn't talk to your team about anything. What's that?   The Dental A Team (06:01) People do that though, Derick. They do it all the   time. This is not abnormal. They do it all the time. They're like, my gosh, I owe how much? my gosh, we didn't hit goal. And I'm like, ⁓ let's at least look at our numbers. Like that's step one. Step two, let's talk to our team. You're not wrong. I'm just shocked at how many people do this in real life. And I'm like, hey, there's a different way of living. like, maybe let's take that path. Just try it out. It's like t-shirt. Try that one on. It might feel better than your current oversized, like two baggy of clothes that don't fit. And then you're angry.   Derick Van Ness (06:11) I know.   The Dental A Team (06:30) the time. anyway go on didn't mean to interrupt the rant.   Derick Van Ness (06:32) What if I'm gonna be   a Gen Z VSCO girl? I I want the Oversight T-shirt and the angst.   The Dental A Team (06:36) Well, as I said it, as I   said it, I was like, well, that's like the current style. Like what's uncomfortable clothing? Maybe it's like the wool scratchy. I just came back from Iceland and I'll tell you what, I didn't buy a single shirt there. I was like, that is gonna scratch me. I know it's warm, but I'm not wearing that for the rest of time. Like there are softer clothes in this world that are equally as warm. Like I'll choose that. So that maybe you're wearing a wool scratchy sweater. Cause you never look at your numbers. You're always irritable. You're always angry.   Maybe you might get the oversized hoodie that's way more comfy. Maybe that's the better analogy for today.   Derick Van Ness (07:07) Well, and so you help them look at their numbers, right? What's your P &L? What are your KPIs? There are tax numbers too, right? Like I'm usually meeting with clients in September-ish to say, OK, how much have you made so far this year? What does that put us on track for December 31st? And then we have November, I'm sorry, September, October, November, December to do things to get that number at the end where you want it to be. I'm not talking about go out and spend $1.   to save $0.40, right? People do that. Oh, go buy a car. If you don't need a car, that's just a waste of money. I literally had someone who's like, should I just buy a G-Wagon? I'm like, only if you were going to buy a G-Wagon anyway. They want the tax break, but.   The Dental A Team (07:45) I mean, I asked that question too.   I mean, I do. I do ask it as well, but it's unnecessary. You're right. Like, so I can repel you you're not going to do it. Don't just because you get the tax benefit. You just have to pay the money. So, but I do ask because I want to know, just tell me I can buy the boat, Derick.   Derick Van Ness (07:58) Yeah.   Well, boats are totally different. They're way more fun, but they're also way more expensive to maintain. So I love boats. I absolutely do. But they are not cheap, right? As the saying goes, break out another 1,000. That's what boat stands for. Just go to the ocean and throw $1,000 in it every month. That's what owning a boat's like if you don't use it.   The Dental A Team (08:05) They are not. I know.   gosh, I've never heard that.   That's hilarious.   That's hilarious. I've heard like the best day and worst day of owning a boat is the day you buy it and the day you sell it. Like that's the only best days. I have a boat. I do love the boat. It is an older boat. things I'm not... Maybe mine's like break out a 10 because we've got a much older boat. But like, know, when we upgrade then we'll be in the thousand realm. ⁓   Derick Van Ness (08:28) So.   Yep.   Yeah.   Yes, yes. So boats are great. Not usually the best tax strategy. But the big thing here is when you sail a boat or when you drive a car, I heard this the other day and I thought it was perfect. It's like when you drive a car, what's bigger, the windshield or the rear view mirror? Most people are doing taxes in the rear view mirror. That is not about your expansive future. That's about recording your past, right? And so if you just did business planning one year at a time,   Like you wouldn't ever buy the building. You wouldn't ever invest in the equipment. You wouldn't ever invest in the education, right? It's the same thing for taxes. It is part of a cohesive and ongoing plan. ⁓ so when you want to plan that, we have to look into the future. And so looking into the future allows you to control your income, control your expenses. But you have to know your numbers to your point, right? Like if you don't understand a P &L,   It's really hard to do tax work because we don't know what your income is. And I have some clients who come in that way. And I have to really get them to understand that if you don't have good books, you don't have good data, it's like trying to do dentistry without a diagnostic. You just go in and start drilling teeth to see what's happening. No, you wouldn't do dentistry that way. Don't do that way with your taxes either. should I just buy this and I'll just buy that and randomly and I help those work out?   Your P &L is really like your diagnostic, right? Both on the income side, but also that's related to taxes. And so I think the big thing for people is think of taxes as an additional income stream. If you do this right, you can keep, like a lot of dentists pay 40 % or more in taxes, right? So if we can cut that from 40 down to 20 to 25 % on average, that's 15 % straight to your bottom line.   And it probably takes an average of two hours a month at most, which is pretty good, right? Like if you could add a new service into your business, no employees, no marketing, no overhead, two hours a month, but profits went up by 15%, would you take it? Most dentists would say, yeah, that six figures is pretty good.   The Dental A Team (10:53) As long as I'm not going to jail, Derick,   I don't want to go to jail. That's my only line. Like, how is this legal? Because so many people talk about tax strategy and my line is I'm willing to live in the gray, I'm just not willing to go to jail. So how do you go from 40 to 20 that's legal and ethical?   Derick Van Ness (11:01) you   Yeah, we don't want to go to jail.   Yeah, so there's two things. There are lots of little things. So research and development credits, which we'll get to in a minute, is one of those things. It's not little. I would call it a medium thing. For a lot of dentists, it's worth between $10, depending on the size of your clinic, $10,000 $50,000 a year. So it's sizable. And then there's all the pay your kids, cost segregation, salary and dividends, all that kind of stuff. And those things stack up. If you pay your kids right, then that can save you   The Dental A Team (11:21) I agree, I would too.   Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (11:40) 10, 15 grand if you're in a state where you can pay your state taxes and have a federal write-off that might save you 10, 15, 20 thousand dollars a year. Taking a salary, the proper salary versus dividends that might save you another 10 or 15 thousand. So these things start to stack up but when you're in that 500,000 plus tax bracket there are things like and I can't totally get into details because this is stuff for accredited investors and I don't know who the listeners are and all that but there are   Investments you can make that have big tax breaks, right? And that could be everything from energy types of things to short-term rentals, different types of real estate. There's a lot of different stuff, right? So that sort of depends on what's the life you want to build and aligning that. ⁓ There are lots of charitable and donation type strategies where you can create some really big tax breaks. There's entity structuring, ⁓ where you take your income and how you take your income matters.   So you can really layer all of this stuff and make huge chunks, take huge chunks out of your business. The bigger you are, the bigger you can do with these things. And honestly, once you get over a million plus in income, then there's another layer of stuff you can do. It's just a lot of times the setup costs, you have to have enough tax burden to make it worth it. But there's some really neat stuff out there. And some of the stuff with the big, beautiful bill. ⁓   bringing back bonus depreciation. There's some really neat things where, oh, if you do a solar thing, you can get some credits, but then you can also get all the depreciation in the first year. And so you put in $100,000 into this type of investment. You may not make a lot of money, but you might get $150,000, $175,000, $200,000 worth of write-offs on your taxes. And when I say write-offs, mean dollars you don't pay, like true credit dollar for dollar. That could be huge, right? Things like that.   The Dental A Team (13:10) Yes.   Right.   Derick Van Ness (13:38) that a lot of people are just unaware of. And don't take that as an investment advice. I'm just telling you about things that exist in the world that may or may not be for you. Check with your financial professional. But yeah, you start stacking all these things up and you go from, I wrote $150,000 check to, I wrote a $60,000 check. And then what I like to do is help people take that 90 grand you would have given to the government. And now let's add that to what you would already save. And for a lot of people, that's   The Dental A Team (13:47) That's amazing.   Derick Van Ness (14:07) a lot more than they were already saving. So we more than doubled their savings rate. And the fastest thing you can do to build wealth is just get more money into the equation. So that's really it is we're trying to create money that you can then put to work for you outside your business. Because what nobody ever tells you is, even if you're an amazing dentist and you make all this money and you sell your practice for top dollar, and you get all that money, you become a professional investor.   The Dental A Team (14:27) you   Derick Van Ness (14:36) And if you don't have any investment skills, if you don't know how to put that money to work, if you don't know how to protect it, you're just a lamb to the slaughter. You know, everybody shows up, they got an idea. Your brother-in-law wants to start a coffee shop or a brewery. Your neighbor has the next best tech app. And all of a sudden, all this money just starts disappearing because you're not seasoned. So one of the things we like to do is get people doing these types of investments, learning, getting a skill set around it so that when you do get that big   big shot when you sell your business or you have those huge tax or those huge years and you don't pay all the taxes, you know what to do with the money. Because that's a whole different skill set than running a dental clinic.   The Dental A Team (15:17) I don't disagree. And that's why Derick, I love having you on here. And I think your comment of the goal is to get more money to put into the equation. What are the things like, I have 90 grand or I have 150. What are some of those investments that, again, realize that we're being generic and there's a reason you have to be generic is because there are rules that financial planners, advisors, CPAs have to abide by. in general terms, Derick, what are some of the ways that   Derick Van Ness (15:25) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (15:45) you found to generate higher levels of wealth? We're putting more money into the equation, but what's the equation that's going to get it? And again, I know this is very, I would say like vanilla. We're just talking very much basic.   Derick Van Ness (15:56) Yeah, yeah, I'll just   give you the principles, right? The philosophy behind it. One of the things is we always, all of our lives we've heard diversify your assets. Diversify, diversify, diversify.   The Dental A Team (16:06) all weather portfolio, Ray Dalio, right? Like you got to get it everything, have it all. What is it like? think eight uncorrelated assets or something like that is what it should be. Anyway, there you go. Okay.   Derick Van Ness (16:09) Yep.   8 to 16 non-correlated asset   classes. Yep. And the idea here is this. It used to be that you could put your money in the stock market. And each individual stock did its thing based on what its performance was. Since the late 90s, early 2000s, everything's kind of gotten grouped together. Almost everybody just buys the S &P 500 or just buys index funds, which is basically the whole market.   And so if you look at the top five stocks, which are usually the Google, Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, depending on one or two others, ⁓ whatever they're doing is usually what the market's doing, right? It all has a tendency to ebb and flow together because it's all been chunked together. So I don't see those all as different asset classes anymore. How I personally invest, I'm not saying you need to buy into my ideas, but so you can have money there. But then I do think you want to have money in other things.   that maybe aren't tied to the stock market. Maybe you've got some oil and gas. Maybe you've got some farming communities in Central America. Maybe you've got someone who's doing senior living homes, someone who's developing all these empty office buildings. And they're all tied to different things. So that way, if the stock market takes a dump and goes down, that's not all your portfolio. Maybe it's 15 or 20%.   if real estate takes a hit. Yeah, your real estate takes a hit, but maybe something else does well. Having things in your portfolio that if some of them struggle during inflation, some of them do well during inflation, right? Things like gold that holds its value. And so the idea is to be able to put your money to work in a way where it's in a bunch of different buckets that aren't all tied to the same thing. And what that really creates is stability, right? And why that's so important is when you're growing your money,   The Dental A Team (17:46) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (18:09) You can have the ups and downs a little bit, but when you go to start pulling money out, the volatility, the ups and downs are what really kill your ability to pull money out, because you have to always protect against the downside. And it's why if you look at the market historically, it'll go up, depending on who you ask, 6 to 8%. But when you're pulling money out of the stock market in retirement, the numbers say sustainably over the long term, you can only pull 3 to 4%. Why is that? You would think, ⁓ I can pull.   The Dental A Team (18:21) Mm-hmm.   Right.   Derick Van Ness (18:38) six to eight, but it's three to four because of the volatility. If you are counting on that, it crashes that year and you sell. Then when the market recovers, you have less money to recover with. And over time that stacks up. So the idea there is to work with someone who has the ability to put you into different asset classes, help educate you. This also gives you a chance to try different things. So you can start to get that seasoning we were talking about and learn how money really works because   The Dental A Team (18:43) Right.   Derick Van Ness (19:09) You know, money, health and relationships are the three things that really dictate the quality of your life. And it's funny, we don't spend a lot of time in them in school, right? And so, ⁓ so it's something you have to learn, just like if you don't learn how to take care of your health, you suffer. If you don't learn how to have good relationships, you suffer. And money is another thing. All of those you can get help with, but at the end of the day, you have to be able to be competent enough.   to get the results you want. And money is just one of those things.   The Dental A Team (19:40) Yeah. No, Derick, that's a, think it's such a good way to look at it. And I will say, I was very much a baby investor and I think I still would qualify myself as pretty naive. But it is, they say like, I don't know, what is it? The eighth wonder of the world is compound interest. And it's crazy because when you start out and you just get started on your investments, it feels like this is stupid. At least I have, I've so told many financial advisors, feel like they like,   Derick Van Ness (20:04) Mm.   The Dental A Team (20:07) money monster. So it's like the cookie monster. Like I give my money to you. I never can get it back. I have no clue how to access this money. And then you start to see it and you're like, wow, that started to compound and this started to become different. And we had our first year with it. We didn't have to write such a large check to the IRS and done legally and ethically. And I was like, wow, this is a very different world that I'm living in than I have been. And it wasn't as hard as I thought. And so I, like you said, I do feel like you're   Derick Van Ness (20:11) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:33) comfort level and they do say that women tend to be better investors than men because women, we just put money in, we give it to you. We're like, here you go. We don't ever like go check it and watch the stocks. Stocks. Whereas men are like, cons I'm like looking at those stocks, like my husband checks it like 10 times a day. And I'm like, just don't even look at it. Like I don't even, it's the cookie monster, the money monster. You take the money. I know you haven't like taken it. People get angry with me. They're like, Kiera, we can't legally take your money. And I'm like, no, but I just have no clue how to access it. They're like you email. And I'm like, I know.   Derick Van Ness (20:44) Right.   Yep. In your brain, right?   The Dental A Team (21:02) but it like stocks and then I got to pay taxes and I don't understand any of it. But I will say, I think it's like PNLs, the language of money, the language of investing. It's a skill that you are learning. And I do agree, the younger you can learn this, the more time you have to recover if you make mistakes and versus having to be perfect later on in life. So I really very much subscribe to your model of thinking. And I love that. I love that you've talked about taxes, how to save, how to get it into   Derick Van Ness (21:11) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (21:31) Again, I remember I sat in a Tony Robbins wealth mastery thing. Ray Dalio was in the room. had no clue who half like Paul Tudor Jones. I think that's his name. Like so freaking smart. I had no clue who these people were. And like here you've got like five billionaires sitting in the room with us. And I was like, I had no clue. And they start talking about this stuff. And I feel like an idiot, but I will say it's an idiot that I love to be because the more I learn about the more I'm involved in it, the more you expose yourself, the more you learn how it works.   Derick Van Ness (21:38) John Paul Tudor, yeah.   Yeah, I remember.   The Dental A Team (22:00) And I think like what you're saying, Derick, I just hope people talk to your financial advisors, get your uncorrelated assets, start building that portfolio because time, like they say, you only have so much time and the best time to plant a tree was like a hundred years ago. The next best time is today. And I just, I don't want to be that person when it comes to my portfolio where I wish I would have started. All of us will wish we started sooner, but I am grateful that we started as young as we were and are building it the way we have versus   Derick Van Ness (22:23) Yes.   The Dental A Team (22:28) waiting until like, and I don't care if you haven't started then start today. If you've been doing it, figure out how you can do more. ⁓ But I think Derick, I have a question of, I always live in scarcity. So what do you tell a client like myself where I'm always afraid that I'm going to run out of money. I don't know where it comes from. It doesn't matter how much I have. I have acorns upon acorns upon acorns. I swear like you've probably can find money in my couch. I'm not that bad. I don't have it in the couch, but like,   Derick Van Ness (22:32) Yep.   The Dental A Team (22:54) How do you get to a level where you feel comfortable spending money rather than just always saving for retirement and not living today? What's the balance of that?   Derick Van Ness (23:03) Yeah, so what I've discovered working with over 2,500 people on all of this, Kiera, is like money problems don't like quote unquote go away. They just change. In the beginning, it's like, how do I make money? I don't have enough money. How do I manage the car payment or whatever? Then you make a little bit more and you're like, okay, now I'm past survival. Like, how do I start to grow? Right? So you invest in yourself, your business, your education, whatever. Then you start to grow some more.   Then you start saying, okay, now I'm growing and I'm making money and I'm living a decent life, but how do I build for the future? So it's not just the now, then it's the future, right? And then what happens is you definitely get to a point, at least I've seen this for myself and a lot of clients is you start to make a good amount of money and the problem becomes how do I make sure that this doesn't ever go away?   Right? Like now I'm living this really good life and I can travel and I can spend time with family and I can do the things that I want to do. And I can buy nice clothes or go to nice dinner or do nice things for my kids or whatever your thing is. And I don't have to think about money. But then there's this fear of like, what if I lose that? Right. And going back. And so the money problems just change. I believe it's an instinct that's built into us. Like the monkeys that ate bananas and then just stopped worrying and didn't hoard them.   ended up dying faster than the ones that hoarded them, right? And so, like, I think it's an instinct to be paranoid, to be fear-driven, and that's where we have to, as humans, understand our wiring and say, my wiring is for survival, not for happiness and fulfillment, right? Because survival is what reproduced. Happiness and fulfillment, especially in a scary world of survival, ⁓ doesn't do very well.   The Dental A Team (24:27) Sure.   Derick Van Ness (24:52) Right? So, so we have to try to rewire our brain as much as we can. ⁓ And I think the biggest thing is to focus on a big future, a big vision. When you're moving towards something, then you're not focused on moving away from something. When you're in fear, you're, moving away from something. I'm moving away from failure. I'm moving. I'm trying to avoid losing money. I'm trying to avoid running out, trying to avoid making a mistake. You know, this about business ownership, like you can't avoid the mistakes. You just try and minimize them.   and learn from them as fast as you can. Like making mistakes is part of success and nobody says it that way, but I think it's really, really important to get that. And when you're moving towards something, you're in abundance, you're in striving, you're in goal oriented, whatever your thing is. And that doesn't have to be about money. That could be, I wanna be a great parent. I wanna get in better health. I wanna have more free time and make the same money.   So this isn't like just a money conversation, but when you're moving toward those, you have a tendency to lose your fear. I think it's when we aren't sure where to go next that we get afraid of losing ground and we do that. And so I think sometimes it's just a matter of clarity and reminding yourself, where do I want to go? What am I building? Like once you get past a certain point, like, you know, once you get past a certain amount of income or a certain amount of wealth, it's not about money anymore.   Right. It's really about contribution. It's about impact. And I think when we, our mind can really only focus on one thing at a time, especially as men, ⁓ women are much better at seeing the big picture. ⁓ But, but really when you're focused on something that holds your attention and then it doesn't drift to some of the other stuff as much, it doesn't mean you won't. Cause I'll tell you, I'm at my most vulnerable when I wake up in the morning and my brain starts doing payroll and all these other things. And like you said,   The Dental A Team (26:26) you   Derick Van Ness (26:47) I have enough cash stored away that I could not make a dollar for a year and still pay for my whole business and do the whole thing and be fine. But that doesn't mean that that instinctual part of me doesn't freak out for a minute until I come in and say, hey, we're building massive things. We're changing people's lives. Let's just focus on that and let the rest take care of itself. That really is the best thing for me is to focus on where I'm going, not where I'm afraid I might end up.   The Dental A Team (27:15) Absolutely. I   think that was good. Good wisdom there. You are the person, if you guys have heard me talk about it on the podcast, this came from Derick. He's the one who's told me it's a return on emotion, not necessarily a return on investment and like what helps you sleep at night, what helps you stay there. And I love that you talked about like it is a survival instinct. It's not a bad instinct. so loving that side, but also tempering it so that way we can enjoy the fulfillment. And again, I also think that there becomes confidence in yourself. I think enough.   enough business crashes, enough mistakes, enough things where you come back from it also teach you that there's certainty within yourself that no matter what comes your way, ⁓ you know that you'll be able to survive it, you'll be able to come. Someone told me once, it's not unsafe, it's just uncomfortable. Unless someone's running at you with like a knife and it's truly life threatening, it's like if the stock market crashes, that's like we're still safe, it's just going to be pretty dang uncomfortable for a little bit. If we become bankrupt,   Derick Van Ness (27:47) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (28:13) We're not unsafe, we're just uncomfortable. And that has given me a lot of, I think, temperance on when you think about finances, like that'd be uncomfortable, but I am still safe and I would still be alive and we can come back and we can figure things out. So Derick, I know we wanted to pivot gears and talk R &D credits, because this is something that's new. yeah, let's kind of chat that because I think we've gone through tax strategy, building wealth mindset around ⁓ how to maintain and have that.   Derick Van Ness (28:30) Well, yeah, we'll keep it short here.   The Dental A Team (28:42) return on emotion and building those skills. And I really love that you just said money issues don't ever go away, they just change shape. And I think that that's the same as business, right? Business problems just become a different flavor and different color. ⁓ But now let's talk about like some R &D credits because we've talked about R &D. I've seen several clients do very well on R &D credits. So was excited to hear like, they're back and they're back again, and they look a little different. So I'm excited to hear if you guys don't know what they are, Derick will definitely explain them and how you can.   Derick Van Ness (29:02) Yep.   The Dental A Team (29:08) Dental practices are ripe for the picking of R &D, it's exciting to have a resource for dental practices.   Derick Van Ness (29:15) Yeah, dental practices really are because the R &D credits are designed when you do new things in your business that are based in technology. And that could be computer science, engineering, biological science, or physical science, like chemistry, ⁓ which dentists are doing all of that stuff. So when you do new stuff in your business, the government realizes you're taking a risk. You're trying a new implant system. You're trying a new ⁓   a new type of diagnostic, you're trying a new flow for your patients, whatever. Sometimes it blows up in your face. I everybody listening here has tried a new piece of software and after six weeks you wanted to throw the computer out the window and you're like, we're going back to the other one, we got to find something else, right? ⁓ Or we tried 3D printing and it was just really, really hard and like some people love it, some people hate it. But at the end of the day, every time you take that risk, the government knows that you could lose money.   The Dental A Team (29:57) Totally.   Derick Van Ness (30:11) So the R &D credits are really their effort to say, don't stop innovating. Don't stop trying to get better. We know you're going to take some skin, knees, and elbows along the way. And we're willing to give you some credits to help with that. so ⁓ dentists, like dentistry is moving so fast. I don't have to tell the listeners that. There's new stuff every single quarter, every single year. Five years ago, everybody was getting crowns to be milled. Now they're 3D printing teeth and doing all, you know.   digital scans and all the other stuff and pretty quick here, think we have robots doing surgery. I don't necessarily want to be the first person to try that, but.   The Dental A Team (30:45) Yeah, me neither. I'm like number   like 200,000. I'll try it at that point. I'm usually like number two jumping off a cliff if the first person's alive, then I'll jump. Unlike innovative robots, I only have 28 teeth left, so I'll just let them practice a bit more before they come to me. It's okay. Stick with the drill and fill. Yeah, the drill and fill, I'm okay with it. It's all right. It's better.   Derick Van Ness (30:51) Yeah.   Yeah.   Yep.   I'll just pay a little more for the people.   Yes. so effectively, most dentists just don't realize they're qualifying for these credits. And so what we try to help them do is we do a free estimate to help you understand, OK, let's go through the different things that you did in your practice. It takes maybe a half an hour to identify the different things you've done. And right now, there's a window. And this is why we wanted to talk about this today, that closes on the 4th of July of 2026. So we've got about three or four months left.   where you can go back and you can file for 2022, 2023, and 2024. I don't want to bore everybody, but effectively when they did the 2017 tax rewrite, the first Trump tax rewrite, it broke the R &D credits in 2022. You could file for them, but the downside was bigger than the upside, so it wasn't worth doing. Now, they kind of did that on purpose to balance the budget, and they thought, oh, we'll change it before 2022, and then COVID happened, so they never changed it.   So it got broken. So they came back and they fixed it and said, hey, you guys can go back and claim this, but you really only have until the 4th of July. So they gave us one year to do it. ⁓ And so it's a big opportunity, a big window right now where you can get three years worth of credit. So you can literally go back. The government will send you a check for taxes you've overpaid, and you can get that money back. I won't tell you the IRS is really fast at processing this stuff, but they do get to all of them.   The Dental A Team (32:23) Wow.   No.   Derick Van Ness (32:34) And the checks come in, and we've done over 1,000 of these for clients. So it's definitely a legit thing. And the credits have been around since the 80s. They became a permanent part of the tax code in 2015. So they were kind of new. They've been around about 10 years. But the first couple of years, nobody knew. then over the last couple of years, they've become more and more popular. But then they kind of screwed them up in 22 through 24. So the reason I wanted to talk about them is if somebody is a dentist, they're not claiming these credits. But they are doing.   The Dental A Team (32:38) Wow.   Derick Van Ness (33:04) Innovative things upgrading equipment trying new software trying new techniques new implant systems new Diagnostics, whatever you probably got all these credits sitting there. You don't know about and It's worth getting a free estimate to see what's on the table. Yes You do have to amend your taxes, which is a very small pain in the butt But your total time into this should be an hour or two, which is really a short conversation You send over tax returns ⁓ A team like ours would give you an estimate   And if it seems like it's worth doing it, then you do it. You just let them do their thing and you write the check for the fee, right? So it's pretty hard to beat bang for your buck hour for hour. And like I said, for a lot of practices, it's between 1 to 2 % of your gross revenue. This is not a quote. This is just like what I've generally seen. So if you have a million dollar practice, it's probably 10 to 20 grand a year if you're doing these types of things. I mean, I have some. We just did a doctor who's got   Six offices they're getting almost a half a million dollars back right it can be it can be major and Doesn't take him any longer than to take someone with one office so you know it's it's just a big window of opportunity that I wanted to try and squeeze in here and People who haven't done this or unaware. It's like hey, we got a big opportunity and you can do this for 2025 moving forward every year. It's it's back indefinitely and so my hope is   The Dental A Team (34:07) It's incredible.   Derick Van Ness (34:32) People can do the catch up. And then from here forward, you don't even have to amend. You just party your tax return. You just don't pay the taxes. Just like you depreciate equipment or anything else and just get the tax break, the difference is tax credits are dollar for dollar. So if you get $10,000 tax credit, it's just $10,000 you don't pay in taxes, not a $10,000 write off, which might be worth $3,000 or $4,000.   The Dental A Team (34:40) awesome.   Mm-hmm.   Totally. No, and I think Derick, I'm so glad you brought this up. And at first I was creeped out by you. I'm not going to lie. Like when you first started talking about it, was like, are these like, I don't know, what are they called? The opportunity zones. And like, I heard a lot of people got their shorts burned on those. And I was like, do I even put this on the podcast? But I will say, Derick just said he's done thousands of them. They have had great success. I have seen clients tell me, thank you. So that's why I wanted Derick to come on because any client that comes from Dental A Team does get preferred.   Derick Van Ness (35:03) you   huh.   The Dental A Team (35:26) I don't know treatment. don't know what you guys do, but I do know that there's, ⁓ you guys get, you just said you get pushed to the front of line. If you mentioned you heard on Dental A Team podcast, we also have a link with big life financial. I'm pretty sure Derick, if I remember right, I'm pretty sure we do. ⁓ but definitely wanted you guys to have that, especially with a closing in July. And it's something where I love that Derick will just like, he's met with me and my husband several times to talk about multiple things. Derick is non pushy. And I appreciate that about you, Derick. You ⁓ educate.   Derick Van Ness (35:27) Treatment, yep, yep, front of the line.   We do. Yep.   The Dental A Team (35:56) and then give people the information and then you're to make the decisions on your own. So I think like, why not? Why not reach out to Derick? Why not just like see what it looks like? And then you have their resources. They're not going to file unless you want them to. You don't have to break up with your CPA if they file for you. I'm pretty sure. Is that right? Like you don't have to switch.   Derick Van Ness (36:09) Correct.   No, no, yeah,   you don't have to. We can amend it for you. But in a lot of cases, it makes sense to just have your CPA do it. They've got all your information. So but we can handle it either way.   The Dental A Team (36:25) So I think like on that, I just feel it's very much worthwhile. And I know Big Life Financial does a lot. do. I'll let you like take it because I know you guys are added to more services. But I think like if nothing else, we want to have the call to action of like, just look into the R &D credits. Like I said, I have seen multiple checks go to practices. They have not been audited. ⁓ Things have gone very smoothly for them. I was skittish. But I mean, Derick, we've been talking about this, I don't know, almost five years now, if not longer, that we've been telling practices about it. So.   Derick Van Ness (36:52) Yep.   The Dental A Team (36:54) very excited, but Derick, kind of tell about the makeup of what Big Life Financial is and then how people can reach out to you, especially in particular to the R &D credits.   Derick Van Ness (37:04) Yeah, so for the R &D credits, just go to, it's just BigLifeFinancial.com So BigLifeFinancial.com/DAT D-A-T right? Dental A Team. And all you got to do is just set up a time there to talk with myself or someone on my team. It's like a 15 minute call. And we'll just screen it, see if it makes sense. Beyond that, we do offer full service taxes if for some reason you're looking for tax breaks or you feel like you're, for one reason or another, you need to make a change.   then we can do that. We do also work with an RIA. So if you're looking for some of these investments that might have tax breaks or other diversification or whatever, we have those capabilities as well. So we really try to be front to back like what we call like a family office or a fractional family office, which is what the super rich people have. They just have an attorney and a CPA and a   Uh, an insurance guy, an investment guy, or probably 10 investment guys who all just work for them. Obviously most people can't afford to have an entire team that just works for them. So we work with a limited number of people, but we have a coordinated team that way. And, and it's taken me like 10 years to find the right people to do that. That's, that's really it because the Uber wealthy have those people, the people who are making 50 or a hundred thousand bucks a year, they don't need it. We really work in this sweet spot where a lot of people make.   300,000 400,000 on the low end to 2 3 million on the high end. And they're kind of in between, not rich enough to have the team that's all working together all the time, but rich enough that you really need it. Like this segment of the population is the one that just gets crushed on taxes. ⁓ And so we're really doing our best to help minimize that. So that's why we work so much with dentists and doctors.   The Dental A Team (38:56) That's amazing. I love that Derick. And I think for everybody, it was BigLifeFinancial.com slash DAT. We'll be sure to like link that in the show notes and also add it for you guys. But, and Derick, love, I didn't know what a family office was at first. And then I found out hanging out with a lot of wealthy people, what it is. And so for you to provide that, think worth conversations ⁓ and definitely appreciate the insights today. It was a really fun episode. I'm glad we got back together. It's been too long. ⁓ And like truly guys, just reach out.   Again, I would do it as exploration. would do it as like, just find out anytime I hear things like this, I just go book meetings. It doesn't mean I need to actually execute on it. But I think again, learning the language of business, learning the education, seeing if it fills right for you. Now you can ask a million people, but like I said, Derick and I have been doing this for about five years and every client that has been referred to Big Life Financial has gone through, has told me how much they've been grateful for it. So Derick, I appreciate you. Any last wrap up thoughts today as we wrap up today? I appreciate our time so much today together.   Derick Van Ness (39:55) No, I think it's just understanding that part of building wealth is beyond just making income, right? Just making income won't build the life you want to live. Once you earn the money, you got to take care of it. And there's a lot of pieces to that. So whether it's with us or someone else, just take that on for your family's sake. It's not just about making it. It's keeping it and being smarter with it. And if you do that, you're going to be in good hands.   The Dental A Team (40:20) amazing. Well, Derick, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you all for listening. I love what Derick said, like it's not just enough to make the money, we need to figure out how to keep the money and set yourselves up for the great lives that you've been building and to truly have that big life as Derick has described it. So for all of you listening, I hope that today you don't just passively listen, but you actively take action and commit to having the wealth of your life, the wealth of your dreams to have that life that really ⁓   is the life of your dreams. there's a quote from my mirror from when I was little where I said, don't just dream, do. And I think that that's how I'll leave you today. So for all of you listening, thank you for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Chances are, your accounts receivable (AR) is not dialed in. Kiera provides very tactical, specific tips on how to get your AR cleaned up and start bringing in money you've already earned. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a very important topic But one the people like my rat rat rat, but guess what my rat rat rat is gonna make you a lot of money So I hope you're excited for it. So we'll take that rat rat rat into kaching Because it's dentistry party done and we're just gonna like help you out. I hope you guys enjoy hanging out with me This is my like nerdy geeky side that definitely loves and obsesses of being able to help you guys and it's been so fun I'm working with some people and teaching them about this and   getting them excited on how they can fix their AR ⁓ is something that just like really, really lights my fire because doctors, you do the freaking dentistry, get paid for it. Can I get an amen out there? Like seriously, you do the dentistry and AR and making sure you're paid is something that I am so obsessed about. So, and this doesn't mean doctors, have to do it yourself. So I want us to get into the AR like the womp, womp, womp, it's annoying, but guess what? These are billing tips that work that are gonna make you a lot of money for work that you've already done.   This is like people like, Kiera, how can I make more money and not do more work? And I'm like, just take the money, the what you've already done. it's crazy. lot of people come in and like, Kiera, you're really going to be able to like, ⁓ give us an ROI on your consulting. And I'm like, time. Why? Because I know your AR is out of control. have yet to meet a practice that has perfect AR. And if you are the practice email me, I'm going to give you a freaking shirt and we don't get out done on a team shirts anymore. So yeah, you should definitely email us. ⁓ there are a couple of practices out there.   But most the time, AR is something that is not dialed in. It does not have a plan. And this is something that is going to be very tactical for you. So first step is AR. What is AR? It's the accounts receivable. Okay. And there's two parts to it. AR has the patient portion and the insurance portion. Okay. So when we do dentistry, we need to make sure we collect money and we bill insurance and then we make sure that we get paid for that. Now, insurance is such a sneaky little game and I get so annoyed by it I love to teach people this.   So we need to have it where there's like a few processes that make AR really good. So we're gonna break it down very simply. Number one, good information in means good clean claims going out. I'm always like, we send clean claims. Clean claims mean, clean claims, clean claims. Clean claims, clean claims. ⁓ Clean claims. I'm gonna giggle saying it. I can hear the little jingle in my voice. Clean claims means that we...   have the correct information. So I've got the patient's name, the date of birth, the insurance information. That's all correct. I've got the group number and please for the love of everything, holy, do not make a million group numbers. Do not do that. Make sure AR are so messy and your insurance box is so messy. We just have it. We also need to have fee schedules that are up to date every single year. Please do that. We need to attach it. We do not want write-offs. So what this means, ⁓ also another like, it's not a pet peeve. It's just like,   Oh, I'm sorry. You need to like listen to the podcast and implement this. Stop reporting to me your fees in gross numbers and do it in net. So many times I get on calls with people and they're like, Kiera, we produced like 2 million, but we collected one. And I'm like, ouch. And they're like, well, like our net was like, you know, 1.2. I'm like, so tell me you produce 1.2. Let's live in real land numbers, not the 2 million. Cause you're always going to be mad at me. They're like, well, I produced 2 million, but I'm only making a million. Well, yeah.   Because guess what? You didn't really produce two million. I know you want to say you did, but guess what? Insurance is what really is paying you. So we've got to do that. And I know you don't want to, but when you will do this and you attach the correct fee schedules to it, you are actually going be able to predict your numbers better and your money and your finances are going to get better on your personal side too. So hear me out. It was the worst day. was worse than Christmas getting a lump of coal. I took our production and it dropped us by 30%. And guess what? My goals are to produce 20 grand in a five out practice per day. You want to know how hard that was? I was like, I'm never going to make it.   But guess what? Because I was reporting in real numbers, me even as a TC and an O.M. we were able to schedule more correctly and get us to the actual 15 grand of true 15, 20 grand per day of true production that we were collecting. How much do think my business grew? ⁓ a lot because we were actually producing incorrect numbers, not inflated numbers. So clean claims. We're back to that clean claims mean we've got correct information. We've got the correct ⁓ all of the information is correct.   We've got our insurance verification done and we've got the fee schedules attached. So then when I'm giving an estimate, I'm estimating to the best of my ability. We do not send pre-Ds. I call them pre-denials. You can have your own opinion, but I really truly do not like pre-denials. They take time, they waste energy. And to me, guess what? I got the best information. I'm a thousand dollars. I'm an insurance coupon. I need to be a dang good treatment coordinator that's able to communicate this. And if the patient owes money, guess what? We've got to be really good at communicating that too. This is our best estimate.   I'm gonna do my absolute best. We called your insurance company. I've got the best insurance verification. This is the absolute best I can get today. We're gonna take care of that. And on the flip side, hey, worst case scenario is you're gonna owe this much out of pocket. Tell them that. Then they're not mad at you when you call them. like, hey, insurance didn't pay as much as we thought. But remember, worst case scenario, this is what it is. And I can work with you to get that collected, okay? So then from there, we make sure we have correct documentation as well. We need to attach the correct narratives.   ⁓ insurance or excuse me, x-rays, intra-orals, whatever we need to get that paid. Insurance companies are obsessed with not paying for you, but it's because they play the game. So just figure out the rules of the game. We have our fee schedules in there. We send the correct documentation and we send it out every day and we check to make sure none of these claims get stuck in our claim sender. Okay, so we wanna make sure it goes through the clearing house. It doesn't get stuck there. I feel like that's like the post office for claims. We send it through and we make sure all of them get pushed through to the insurance company.   and then we follow up. And now this is where I need owners of each of them. So we need somebody to make sure that all of our intake process is correct. We need someone to make sure that our, what we send out in our claims is correct. And we tell the clinical team what we need for every single claim. And then from there, we have one person who owns our billing department. AR needs to have a clear owner. Who is our billing person that works on this every single day? Yes, you heard me. Because the goal is to get our claims paid within 30 days. You can do it. It's doable, but you gotta have a process.   So that person then their job is I recommend we run the AR list at the beginning of every single month. Then we put it into an Excel spreadsheet or however you want to do it. I found that it's easiest in Excel and then we have it color coded. And I like it to be broken down so that way the biller, their goal is to get through every single patient. Yes. And I have seen 2,500 patients, 7,500 patients. Like it is amazing how many like line items we can get. Hopefully you're more like the 500 to 700 patients on that AR list.   Then what we do from there is we've got patient portion and insurance portion. And what we want to do is we want to actually get this really, really dialed in to where we are collecting at time of service, the patient portion. My hope is that your patient portion that's due is very minimal. And the only time we have a patient portion due is because insurance didn't pay as much as we expected them to. So we got to go collect. We've already collected the money before they go out. Please, for the love of everything, holy do not let your patients just be like, I'll pay you with an insurance pays. Absolutely not.   collect the money today. It is much easier to collect today and give a refund than it is to go chase money. I'd rather you get paid today, wait on insurance. That's fine. But be like, hey, we call your insurance. We estimate really, really well. This is how much we're going to collect today. And then, hey, if it's good news, great. We're going to be able to get you a refund. And if it's not, then great. We're not going to have to call you and ask for as much in the future. So this is what we're estimating. This is our best estimate. We've called your insurance company. We've done everything we possibly can to make sure it's the best we can. And I guarantee you, we're going to take great care of you.   Collect the money. Then when it comes in, what I like for the biller to do is to look, what did this insurance company actually pay? And then go update your fee schedule to the true numbers, because fee schedules are just very generic, but for your area and your zip code, we actually like, if insurance billers will go through and look at that and be like, on a crown, Delta Dental actually pays $758. You're like, yeah, right here, it's like 500. Okay, so $558, but we had 500 in there.   Go update that so then we collect more accurately throughout the year. If we are really disciplined in this and our insurance biller will do this, your billing gets so much tighter and we have less money in our AR. Then we go through it, we go through every single claim. Now if your insurance is a lot in the AR, because we haven't worked it, you're gonna wanna work with the top pieces first. The most expensive, the biggest accounts, and I work insurance ones, and then I work patient ones. And I also am looking at the 90 days, and then the 60 days, and then the 30 days.   And then the zero, don't even like zero to 30. don't even touch that 30 to 60. Yes. 60 to 90. Yes. Over 90 for sure. I'm going to hit that. So you can sort your listing Excel of the biggest account balances. And we're going to call the insurance. We're going to call the patients because you feel like you made like a lot of progress. Also, we can look down at the bottom. Another thing too, is sometimes there's like $5, $10. If your insurance list is really big and your AR is really large, sometimes I recommend writing like below $10. Now this is your money. It's not mine. So you do what you want to do with it.   Sometimes I do recommend writing that off, but before we do it, we're to want to send statements to everybody, see if we can collect any of that. Then we have a set date where we're just going to write it off and call it bad debt. We're going to fix our processes moving forward. But if you will do this and you follow it and everybody follows it every single week, every single month, your AR is going to get cleaned up. So people are like, but it's so hard. And we have like one person who owns it. And I say like Tuesdays and Thursdays are insurance and Monday, Wednesday, Fridays are patients. And we call our patients and we do our insurance.   and we clean it up and we get the correct fee schedules and we make sure that we're following up consistently. We're hearing, excuse me, what they say on the ⁓ claims. We're hearing what they are denying. Also, just because it's on a claim and they on an EOB and they say, you need to write this off. We do need to be really smart on insurance and we don't just say, we wrote it off. Absolutely not. We double check, we verify why was it written off? What were the reasons for it? Can we resubmit it? Can we get this paid? Is this a patient portion that needs to be paid?   Do not just write it off because the EOB says it was written off. So we do not do that. Then what I also recommend is we often wait till the end of the month. We talk to our billers and they didn't get through all their AR. Office managers should be meeting every single week with their billing coordinator and the biller needs to be reporting. Here's how much AR I've completed. This is where I'm at. This is my plan for the next week. I'm going to get through every single patient this month. Also, we do not just send statements out. People love to do this. I'm very pro.   We call first, we text and then we send a statement. Why not just call them right then and there and be like, hey, Kiera, great news. We got insurance paid, we owe this amount and I can take card when you're ready and get that all cleared up for you. Send them a text with the payment link. Here you go, this is the balance and they will pay it. Send them a statement that has a QR code to pay online. You guys stop having them write checks and send it to the practice. Make it easy, talk to your payment processor. I love Moola for this. They make it so easy for patients to pay and their fees are so low. So if you need it, tell Moola, The Dental A Team, sent you.   They're incredible and they're a great processor for you. But this is where it has to be. And I'm really big on what we need to have our goals be. So I like to make this simple. Our over 90 should be no more. All of our collective AR should be no more than one month's worth of collection. So if you're producing 100,000, there should be no more than 100,000 sitting in AR. you've got more than that, let's fix   the way I like the goals to be is I like it to be it's no more than 15 % is in our 30 to 60. And the reason why is because that's going to be pretty big. Now zero to 30, I don't worry about, but it's 15 % or less in our 30 to 60. Then it's 10 % or less in our 60 to 90 and less than 5 % over in our over 90. We want to make sure that it follows that. So that way you guys are able to, but great. And those are very generic and you can get those lower. The only thing that usually impacts are over 90 are usually payment plans and also ortho.   So if you have those in there, there are ways that we can discuss with you on how to get those out to clean up your AR, but you've got to have this structured. We've got to have this to where people are following it. And we need to get this in every single week and like truly work with our billers. And if offices will follow this, you guys, this is something that is not hard, but it does take discipline and discipline does equal freedom. And doctors, had a doctor and she was just like, Kiera, I'm not making any money. And I was like,   I don't understand because you have so much money in AR and your production's so great, but we're not collecting the money. So step one is we collect. Now, if your AR is also like ballooned out of control, we can fix it and we collect money when they check in and we make sure we collect on the checkout. So this way we're catching both sides of when patients are in the practice. And some people are weird about that. And I'm like, why are you weird about that? We know they have a balance and we're gonna collect it when they check in. Think about going to the doctor's office. So like perfect, they collect money as soon as you check in every single time.   It's not weird for people to do that in healthcare. So let's collect on the intake and let's collect on the outtake when we're giving the treatment plans. These two areas are gonna fix AR and people are like, that's so hard. And I'm like, I would much rather collect money when they're in the practice rather than needing to call them. Also, another mode of thought is I don't ever give more than 1 % of collections in refund checks every single month. So refunds and credits can get really ballooned people are like freaked out about that. Cause maybe like collected too much, which is like,   High five, good. I'm not saying over collect, like, hey, insurance paid more like that's a win. But before we give those refund checks out, those are the ones I'm gonna call first to see, do they have unscheduled treatment? Like, hey, great news, your insurance paid more than we thought. Let's get you scheduled, let's use that credit for this treatment. So it's a great way to fill your schedule too. But hey, if there's a true credit on the account, let's just start writing 1%. So if we're producing 100,000, what's 1 %? You got it, a thousand bucks, okay?   So 1 % of that, we're gonna then write those refund checks back for that month. This way it doesn't hurt your overhead of time. Now watch because there are certain state laws that do require you to give refunds sooner than that. So check your state laws and make sure like whatever it is. There are some new ones that have just come out. So be sure to check that so you're compliant with your state laws. If there's nothing about it, 1 % is usually a pretty good frame of mind. So that was a quick down and dirty and I hope you enjoyed it. But really taking it from clean claims, you're welcome.   to fee schedules being entered in, to submitting claims and making sure they go through, to following up on our insurance, making sure that we're tracking that so everybody knows where our claims are at, what things are going on with that. And then from there, we're gonna make sure that we have ⁓ every single week check in with our biller. And billers know we want 15 % in our 30 to 60, 60 to 90 is 10%, over 90 is no more than 5%, no more than one month's worth of collections total in our AR, and giving back 1 % refunds.   You guys, this is something I obsessed about. This is something we work with billers on. I have a practice in Oklahoma that we worked with. They had 2,700 line items of this and we just worked with our team and we cleaned and we cleaned it and it took us about two years and we were able to get them back into perfect collections, perfect processes. It took a while, but discipline, dedication and setting these things into place now are going to protect you and prevent this from happening in the future. Also, there are some great AI companies that you can use.   ⁓ Lassie is a great one that I've heard of. There's a few new ones coming up on the market. So if you need help with it, insurance verification, you can outsource. We have a lot of resources. So if you need any email Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And if you're like, I need help, I'm drowning, I'm not making money. Let's talk. Profit production guys. it's the way we get more profit. We either increase our production, decrease our spending or increase our collections. Those are the three levers. So whatever those three we need to work on. And sometimes it's so hard because you're like,   But like I'm doing dentistry all day long, Carrie, I have time. You're right. You're supposed to be the dentist and the CEO. Let us train your team for you. That's what we love to do. Work with you and your team. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Commit to being profitable this year. Commit to getting your AR in place. Commit to following these billing tactics. You guys, it is not hard, but it does require discipline. And we're happy to help you set it up. We're happy to follow through. We're happy to show you how to have the conversations. We're happy to show your team how to do this. We're happy to build KPI scorecards so you can watch it and utilizing analytics for it. So it's never daunting and scary.   It's disciplined dedication and dedicated time to make sure this happens. And usually team members get scared and it feels daunting. So it's kind of like the laundry. just like keep letting it pile up, but doctors, this is your hard earned money. And I don't believe it should be like laundry that piles up. It'd be, should be something that we are actively engaged in fixing and working through to make sure that you're getting paid what you need to be paid. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

The Dental A-Team Podcast has been around for seven years, if you can believe it! Kiera reflects on her original goal with the pod, how that goal (and dentistry in general) has changed since. It's been an evolution of leadership, systems, culture, and growth, and the ball is still rolling. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy birthday to the Dental A Team podcast. guys, gosh, if this was a child that I would have had, Dental A Team podcast today is seven years old. We started this back in 2019. So is that right? 2020 would be one, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, seven. Guys, seven years. We've been hanging out together. Like gosh, I would have a seven year old child. Like that's insane. And I just think like, thank you.   is what I is my biggest piece of ⁓ if I was blowing out the candles today, which I usually actually do. ⁓ That thank you for going on seven years of a journey. Thank you for listening to me when I used to car cast and I didn't have video and I was so new. I remember like one of my first ones was like nailing jello to a wall. And like, gosh, I just think back to don't break up with me and so many of the podcasts over the years and the guests that we've had and the   people that I've met because of this podcast, like I get emotional, I get grateful of, gosh, like we just think that these things happen. We think that, it was just right time, right place, but I believe that there's something far greater than that to where all of us were working, we were being prepared, we were being put into place where it didn't just slip into place and happen. It was something that was magical, it was euphoric, and it was meant to be able to reach each other, to be able to talk to each other, to be able to serve you.   to be able to have you implement and put things into your place in your practices, to be able to be right time, right place, but due to lots of preparation to be here. So if you're new to the podcast, welcome, I'm Kiera Dent. I had this crazy idea to create a podcast that helps dentists and teams come together. Being a team member myself and being a business owner, guys, like this is the perfect platform to bring that together. And I think I have such a special vantage point to be able to share with you doctor and team members perspectives. And so today I just wanted to think about like,   growth doesn't happen overnight. And what the podcast was versus what the podcast has become, it's crazy to see how far we've come and how much we've evolved. You guys, have like 1100 plus episodes, never in my wildest dreams that I think I would hit record that many times and talk to you for this many years and hang out with you and travel across the globe with you. But it's one of those things of today is going to be reflecting back and a forward looking episode. And this I think very much applies to practices, team member evolution and how it goes. And I think   days often feel long and years seem short. And when we can do this, we're gonna look at like, gosh, what the journey has been in seven years and how fast it goes and how slow it goes and hurdles and challenges. But you guys, this is about how we reflect on the growth we've had on our practices and how it's gonna be able to serve you guys moving forward. So as we go through this truly, I hope that today, I don't know, just wrap your arms around yourself, give you a giant hug and pretend that's me giving you a hug.   a hug for listening, a hug for sharing, hug for ⁓ leaving reviews, a hug for ⁓ giving ideas, a hug for sharing in Facebook groups where we glean information, a hug for ⁓ being a pen pal to me, a hug for ⁓ allowing me a space to share my life to the podcast. It's been something where I will wake up in the middle and I'm like, my gosh, I got a great idea. I'm gonna go like podcasts this of sharing tips and tricks and things that I feel you guys would really benefit and serve. So just giving you like,   Just give a squeeze because I adore you. love you and I'm so grateful for this. So as we reflect back, ⁓ I think oftentimes we see growth as much easier if we look back, right? Like little kids, you don't see them growing day on day and day. But when you measure on a wall, you're able to see the growth. And it's like, wow, we have this. And so when I started the podcast, my goal was like, let's give teams, let's give tactical. And we stayed that stayed true. ⁓   But over time it's expanded and I recognize the needs of practices. mean, hashtag COVID, things changed, it became radical. We went through the great migration together. We've gone through team members and the evolution of hiring and firing and culture and going from like dentists and to where it's like, wow, we aren't just here at Basic. We're now looking at CEOs and we're running these multimillion dollar businesses. We've got startup practices. I've got practices doing 30, 40, 50 million in their locations like.   It's an evolution of leadership and systems and culture and growth. like, all of this is like, we can't say stuck. I mean, now we've got AI introductions. It's like, gosh, like the crazy cool stuff. And so it's something to see like how both industry and conversations have matured over time. And I think also for you and your practice, think today, one of when you started that might be this year. Kudos. There's some of you I know that just bought your practices and I'm so freaking proud of you. Hashtag my Midwestern students. I'm so proud of both of you ⁓ and you both know who you are.   You might be on day one of your practice ownership. You also might be on day like, I don't know, a thousand. Gosh, like, is it crazy to think that day a thousand's only about three years in? You might be on day 20,000. Shoot, how many years is 20,000? I'm gonna do some math, because 20,000 divided by 365 days, you'd be at 54 years. Some of you actually might be there. Some of you are maybe like 10 years in, so you're on day like 3650. I don't know, that was so hard for me, okay?   3650, 10,000, what'd we say on that? If you're at 10,000 days, you're at 27 years in the practice. A thousand, like just think about that. Sorry, I know my math earlier was a little off. A thousand days, that'd be about like just over three years. That's what I meant by the 10,000. 10,000, shoot, you're in 27 years plus. But when we look at this, we think about how everything's evolved. And I want you guys to really look at like.   How have things evolved in dentistry, even since the time you became a dentist? And if you're a dentist in school, like look back, it's an evolution. And so I think it's like, the goal is always like growth, but I think it's expansion and impact more than it's growth. Like we can just grow, but we can be unhappy. But expansion is not just about size, it's about reach and influence. And it's one thing like we could have thousands of followers, which honestly, you guys, I'm blown away when I look to see where our podcast reaches and the countries and the international impact and the...   the state side impact and the number of offices. You guys like that is such a blessing to me. That was the goal. The goal was how can I have a voice, a positive impact of tactical of being your friend in the industry that's always going to go out and always about the best companies and bet the best practices and be on the cutting edge of things. That's what it is. And it's about reaching influence and impact. Like in every one of my vision boards, impact is in the middle. I want to impact your life in the most positive way. And so when you're looking at it for you,   It's not just about growth, it's about expansion and impact and influence. And so it's, what does it look like in a practice? Like as we grow, you're going to have stronger teams, you're going to have cleaner systems, you're going to have healthier leadership. Think back to day one of practice ownership, to day 10 of practice ownership, like it's very different. Dental A team as a company this year hits 10 years old. Can you believe that? I was three years in when I started this podcast. Kiera Dent has evolved. We have a stronger team. We have clearer systems. We have healthier leadership, but I'm still evolving. Is there an out as like...   me and a couple of people, Tip was like almost like employee number one. And those are two girls who wanted to make an impact in this world. And while that has stayed the same, there has been maturity because we've had to, we needed to have cleaner systems. We have to navigate the change. We have to have different challenges, different opportunities. And it's something where it's like, we want to create, I think you go from like rapid fire excitement to keeping that into this more mature of what's the legacy, what's the impact, what's the expansion that we're going to go to. And so   ⁓ I think it's a space for you and your practice of what do I want my growth, aka my expansion, which is going to be about influence and expansion. That's my growth. What do I want that to look like? What do I want my teams to look like? What do I my leadership to look like? What do I want our reach and our impact in our community to look like? What do I my legacy to start to feel like? And I remember I was like on a plane and I was filling in what my 10 year vision of my business looked like. And I remember being like,   gonna be? I said it in 2019. you know, that's three years away and I was like, I'm gonna be 43. I was 33 at the time. I was like, my gosh, I'm gonna be so old. Now I'm getting close to that and I'm like, wow, that wasn't too bad. But it was so hard for me to imagine 10 years from now. But I think that exercise forced me to really get crystal clear of what do I want my life, my expansion, my growth, my impact to be? And then what kind of a team do I need around me?   What kind of ⁓ clients are we going to attract? You guys, I don't want all clients. I want the nice ones. I want the ones who are obsessed with their teams. I want those who are obsessed with giving back and growing and being the best. want people who are obsessed with giving to a community and taking from a community. I want people that want to their standards, rise to the next level. I want those people in our community. And if that's you, you better join us. Denali team.   is the place for you. And it's not just about growing and elevating your practice. Well, yes, we're all about ROI. It's about ROI on your life. It's about making you have a better life, a happier life, a more fulfilled life. So join us. That's what we're about. And if your practice feels that way, and that's the expansion and growth you want to have, it's a let's reflect back on who we were, and then let's focus on where we want to go and who we want to become. And so really truly having that of, I just want you to think of A, what's a podcast that you've implemented since listening for seven years? And B,   What's an area or an idea that if you look back, truly has shaped and changed the way you've done dentistry or run your practice? I know for me, hiring a coach is truly one of the most impactful times of my life. Liz, I will sing her praises forever. I met her in 2019, basically right when I started the podcast. Liz has been so influential for me and she's guided me. She's matured me. She's made me into a stronger leader. I've cried with her. I've argued with her. We've had to have timeouts together.   She's the person who like just a couple days ago. I called crying and I was like Liz I don't know what I'm doing again I sometimes feel like a child and she's just that like nurturing loving woman to me that has given me guidance has given me direction and I will tell you that that is something that I heard people like you need a coach you need a guide and I was like yeah, yeah, know what I'm doing I'm so good at this she has like I think steered me away from so many wrong decisions I could have made and helped me make better decisions. She helped me be profitable. She helped me learn number she   And she did it with no judgment. And I think giving that gift back to so many offices is so radical. But when you look at it, what is something that you are really proud of that was a decision you made that radically improved your practice? That's something that I want you to focus on. And then when I look ahead to where I need to go for us, like our next 10 years, I realize like, I need to hire a COO. Do you know how scary of a decision that was? I was like, yeah, I recognize I need someone who's been there, done that in corporate like companies like we.   We coach dental practices, but running a consulting company is so much different than a dental practice. And that was a decision. And that's what our 10 years needs to have. I needed somebody much stronger than me that could pair with me. And we're hiring that we've had somebody amazing in place for that. And we're bringing on our next full-time person for that. And I just think that's my next 10 years. That's what I need to hire. That's what it is. It's not an overnight change, but it is an evolution. It's an evolution of how we do our systems and our processes.   That's going to be an evolution. Our patient experience, our client experience, those are evolution. So looking at it of what was one that you implemented and then what's one that you're going to implement for your next 10 year stint. And then that goes into our next piece of how we look ahead with intention. And I think when we go into that expansion and that growth, it's going to require clarity and not urgency. And to me, I think that this has been the most maturity of like going from the podcast where it was like, Hey, I'm Kiera. And I just want to talk to you about like all these cool things too.   Hey, what does the podcast really need? And hey, what are the industry trends and what are things you're not thinking about that me on the podcast is a voice and a wisdom to guide you through? I need to be delivering for you. That's looking ahead with clarity and not urgency. That's morphing and evolving. And so looking to see how your practice can move forward and expand and grow with clarity and not urgency. Sometimes you need urgency, but what I found is as you go through the process, you actually stop making as many urgent decisions   and you move into more sustainable, ⁓ we're getting ready to do a say to the company. And what's great is I can share this with you because guess what? ⁓ My team will have heard of before this releases, so I can share it with you. ⁓ But Britt did a really awesome thing. And I loved her play on words of how we kind of are doing this. Like we're going ⁓ when we change our, like what we've been focused on. And we were on a rapid growth era.   And now we're moving into a consistent results era. And like the difference of that urgency zone, like just what it kind of feels like is like the focus and the urgency is focusing on fires and tasks. Our decisions are driven by urgency and gut instinct. Our leadership roles is that the owner is involved in everything. Our accountability is top down and reactive. Our growth and results, results fluctuate with effort and energy. Okay, so that's kind of that urgency. And we move into more of this consistent and having a bit more clarity on there, right? So it's gonna be   We have it on clarity. And what that looks like is our focus is outcomes over activity. So results over tasks. Like, what are we trying to achieve? What are the KPIs? What do we need to do? Yes, we've got these tasks, but like, I can make 50 phone calls, but not fill a schedule. No, the outcome is I fill the schedule, not just make the phone calls. Our decisions are driven by data priorities and long-term impact. So what's going to impact us the most? There was a doctor who talked about this the other day and he said like, how, like what takes up 80 % of my front office is time.   And how can I alleviate so they have like 80 % of their times on patient care? And I was like, that's freaking brilliant. Like asking questions by that leadership roles, ⁓ leaderships now lead, manage and hold accountable. They remove obstacles for their team and they elevate performance before it was like owners involved in everything. Now it's having a leadership team that's doing it. Accountability is shared systems driven and focused on outcomes. Growth and results are predictable, repeatable and driven by proven systems rather than like effort and energy. So like, if we get tired on that, our results dip down.   but we've got predictable, repeatable, and driven with proven systems. That's going to be that next level of how do you look ahead with intention? You move away from this urgent to this more clear zone ⁓ and really get that clarity that your team needs. Even just saying that and driving a practice into that, you feel calm, you feel connected, you feel centered, you don't feel this like constant panic, but getting from point A to point Z does take intentionality.   does take clarity, does take time. We didn't start the podcast on day one and get it to where it is today. That was an evolution, just like looking back at this. And this is something of like, we are focused on freedom, not from new stress. We're on intentional growth, not more growth. We start to prioritize our time, our needs, and you start to realize less is more. That's how it is. And I think when practices do this, they start out crazy. They should, that's how it is. And then we morph and we move into like, perfect, we're gonna have leadership teams and we're gonna have   ⁓ direction and we're gonna have numbers and data and we're gonna make decisions based on that. And then we're going to move into what does this look like for all of us of how are we getting there? And we roll out visions and we have a vision for the whole team and a mission that we're all rallied behind and every person's contributing to that. And we start to have more ⁓ awareness to the teams and departments and we have more outcomes and less burnout with less effort. And I think about the podcast, I used to podcast.   like a freaking beast guys. I'd be doing it on my drives. I'd be doing it in the middle of the night. I'd be doing it on planes. I'd be doing it like when I'd wake up at the hotel. That was very chaotic for me. And now we have like set days and we have a marketing team and we talk about ideas and we talk about you guys and we come up with plans for you. It's so much different than what it was. And I'm able to be my best self for you on the podcast rather than my frantic like, oh, I got to these podcasts done. It's something that I can look forward to. And I think the question for you to say of like, again, remember we went through this. had   Number one, reflect on the journey so far. Then we said celebrate expansions and impact. And then we look ahead with intention. And I think that the question for you is as you're evolving, even if you're on day one of practice ownership, or you're on day 27, or like 27 years, or 54 years, or 60 years, ask yourself, what does the next version of my expansion and impact look like for me in my practice?   And I think for us with the podcast, we just did this and I'm really excited. You guys are going to start to notice there's going to be a little bit of different vibe, a little bit of a different scene. What's been, it was not like so many of the things, the tactical, the practical, the giving you all of it, but there will be an evolution of things that you need. And I think when we look at our practices, what's the evolution that your practice needs to get to that next amazing version that's less is more, more outcomes over activity.   more clarity over urgency that you'll be able to really take to your team. You guys, this is how, like when we reflect back and I think about the podcast and I think about practices, this is how we're able to get clarity and how we're able to get impact and how we're able to get intentional growth that actually lasts and it's not like short spurts. You guys, I've done the short spurts. It's like, won't grow. we gotta retract. We won't grow again. We gotta retract. We didn't have it built. It's more intentional growth done with plans, with reflection, with learning from the past.   and going into the future. guys growth for me is a journey. And I think that celebrating milestones and sharing and doing birthdays and all of that is really fun. And I hope you celebrate the birthdays of your business. Britt asked me the other day, she Kiera, when are we at 10 years? And I was like, oh my gosh, like November 16th, 2026, 10 years, a decade of business ownership and the lessons I've learned, the opportunities, the lives, seven years on the podcast. You guys, that's so many incredible people.   that have been a part of this journey of growing me, of evolving us, of being a part of my life. And I just want to say thank you and celebrate these milestones, celebrate you. I think so often I can be like, cool, high five. And now onto the next one versus like, we freaking hit seven years guys together. That's a seven year relationship. A lot of people don't even make it that far. And yet we're in this together. So even if you want to share my like birthday gift wish would be.   Send me an email. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com of what's been a podcast that's inspired you or changed your life or a ⁓ tool or something that just really made you think because then I'm able to even get more contextual contact from all of you. This podcast built for you. It's built by an obsessed person for dentistry for you to make sure that you're living your best life, that things are the absolute best that they can possibly be for you. And I am so grateful for you guys. This podcast truly exists to support your growth, your leadership, your practice, your team today.   and in the future. And I cannot wait. Leave us a review, send me a note. A review would mean the world to me. A note. ⁓ I'm such a geek. I really do love like little letters and notes. I love to read reviews. I think those are ⁓ very public personal notes and they just mean the world to me. So thank you for being a part of this. Happy birthday to the podcast. I'm here for you guys today and in the future. And as always, I adore you. And if we can help you in any way, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.

Why is it so difficult for doctors to delegate, even when it so obviously impacts the team? Kiera and Dana discuss the art of delegation, and where it overlaps with clear expectations and accountability. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript:   The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I love when I get the consultants to podcast with me. And today I got the one and only Dana,   I actually have a better nickname than Danie for you. I've like upgraded. I really do think you're Dynamite Dana. And so welcome to the show. Dynamite Dana. Like you just are dynamite in so many ways, so many areas. People love you. I know people are like donuts with Dana. That one was really catchy and clever, but I think like dynamite Dana is who I'm going to stick with. So how are you today there? Dynamite Dana.   The Dental A Team (00:27) Doing good. I'm glad you found one that felt right.   The Dental A Team (00:29) I mean, I still love Dainty   so much and that will probably always forever remain. ⁓ But Dana, truly you're a dynamite consultant and I've watched you evolve and it's like, ⁓ you were on the podcast with me last time where you took a practice from negative profitability to multi profitability in just a couple of months. And I think the dynamic and dynamite ability you have so like dynamic doesn't feel as cool as dynamite, but it's because you're this dynamic player and you're able to help teams, help doctors, help offices.   The Dental A Team (00:33) You   The Dental A Team (00:58) And really it's, think like role clarity, like really focusing on top priorities. And I think that that's like the clutch piece of consulting. If I like boil down what two consultants do differently is yes, we have this like Mary Poppins bag of tricks, but I think the piece is we know which Mary Poppins tool and prioritization and piece based on the numbers, based on the goals need to happen. And I think you're very, very dynamic and dynamite and being able to do that. So excited to have you on the show today.   The Dental A Team (01:26) Yeah, I'm really excited to be here. I haven't podcast in a while with you, so it's going to be fun.   The Dental A Team (01:31) great time girl.   think our last one was talking about your transformation practice. So today's gonna be fun because I think that this is a topic you and I see often is like   doctors struggle, teams struggle to delegate and they struggle to have like role clarity and I'm even guilty of this. Like I've watched myself like it's crazy when I have these podcast topics and I'm like hi it's me I know I'm the problem I know I'm hanging on to these issues I know I'm causing this chaos and so I kind of wanted to like talk about   why doctors struggle to delegate, why we get into this like bottleneck, and then what it can look like on the other side and how we've been able to help doctors. Like, I know you've got a couple in mind. I've got a couple in mind of what does it look like when we start to trust that process? So Dana, from your perspective, why do you feel like doctors don't delegate and we like bottleneck and we hold on or like owners and founders and office managers? Like, what is that? Like we know we're bottlenecking. Like it's annoying to me. I'm like, I know I'm having a temper tantrum and I don't know how to stop it. Like I know I'm not delegating. I know I'm holding on. know I'm freaking   like failing over here. What, like, why do think this is a rift? What are your thoughts?   The Dental A Team (02:32) I   I will say I feel like Dr. Personality is like a doer, right? They're so used to like to get to become a dentist, right? You have to have succeeded thus far in life. And I do feel like that in order to kind of get where they are, they've had to kind of always do right work really hard, hit the books really hard, hit the clinic really hard. And so I do feel like it's kind of ingrained in them just as humans is that they want to do all of the things. And I also think that there's a misconception of leadership. And being a good leader means doing all   things, making all the decisions, having everyone lean on you for everything.   The Dental A Team (03:07) Yeah, I love that you say that because ⁓ there's a book that, gosh, I should look up the name of it. mean, like, I really will actually, guys. Like, if you're watching, don't worry, I'm ⁓ looking this up right now. ⁓ But it's like the founder mindset. And I think so many of us, it's the founder's mentality, how to overcome the predictable crisis of growth. And I think about this book often because like you said, it's a...   what you have always done won't get you where you need to go. And like those habits and those patterns and the different pieces, it's this, like you said, like you had to work hard in dental school. You guys, watched you. Like I worked at a dental college. ⁓ We watched you be this person. And also there's a perfectionist piece of you literally are working in such small areas. Like the mouth is so small. You have to be perfect. You can't have that. Like, I mean,   shoot, you barely move that burr wrong and you're nicking the tooth next to it and you're like, dang, and now gotta like patch this thing up. Like you really do have such a small, finite controlling area. ⁓ But I think it's ⁓ a space of, we all know, Dana, it's like, logically, I know that if I delegate and I trust my team, my life gets better. So what do you feel like it is? Like, how do people actually let go of the vine? Maybe I'm asking for coaching for myself.   The Dental A Team (04:18) Yeah, and I think some of the hold back   is they might have tried to delegate something in the past and it didn't go very well, right? Because there's an art to actually delegating and delegating that is successful and setting real clear expectations. And so I find like, well, I've tried, right? But the person it fell through the cracks or there wasn't an accountability piece built in. And so I think it's like learning truly how to delegate correctly and delegate so that pieces come back to you and you're not chasing down the thing that you   thing that you gave because if you have to chase it down, if you have to check it, like it's still on your plate then, right? That, that it still hangs over your head if you, if those pieces aren't in place. And so sometimes I think too, it's like they have had a past history of trying to delegate and it's like not failing, but feeling like, I should have just done it anyway.   The Dental A Team (05:09) Totally. And I think as you said that like, I'm into now the how of like, okay, I hear that I agree. And I, it was funny, Jason, I, call it like tub talk, like think tank talk. Like we go out hot tubbing, we don't take our phones. It's like really beautiful and shoot, it just snowed. So I can't wait to get out there and like go hot tubbing in the snow. ⁓ it's a really magical world, but we were talking about it and I realized we're using a recruiter to help hire some team members for us that I'm really excited about that are like far out of my league that I don't even know how to hire. So   ⁓ brought in some executive recruiters for that. And I remember they were asking me, they're like, Kiera, what's going to break your trust the most? And I was like, I know actually, like for me, and so team members hearing this, the number one thing, and Dana, I'm saying this because you are not this person and I'm going to highlight you, I think there's also a space when doctors delegate to make sure the person we're delegating to is right person, right seat. ⁓ For me, I've learned that the way I lose trust the most is when people tell me they're going to follow through and they don't. Like I'm very, because I just feel like,   then don't do it. I get they have best intentions, but I'm more obsessed about outcomes and you delivering rather than you just taking a million things on to make me happy. ⁓ And so I thought about it, like, who are the people that I trust implicitly, like on our team and Jason, I'm not going to like do the role of X day. And I'm that's like unfair. You'll get to hear the like behind the scenes, Jason and Kiera talk. One doctor, he was like, Kiera, if I could just be a fly on the wall to hear the conversations you and Jason have. And I was like, I don't know if you want to know them all. ⁓   But I thought about it I was like, okay, my core crew that I really do trust, like what is it and how do I delegate to these people? Like Dana, I know, and this is why I called you Dynamite Dana and Dynamic Dana is Dana, I know with out of doubt, I can give you clients and you're gonna deliver and you're not gonna let me down and you're gonna follow up, you're gonna have scorecards, you're gonna show up to the coaching calls, you're going, like I never have to come and check in on you to make sure you're delivering to clients. Now, you may need help, that doesn't mean they're not gonna be like never asking, but I know you're gonna hit those deliverables. If I give you a project like, hey, you're gonna present,   Never in my mind have I been like, uh, Hope Dana is going to show up on that. Like I know I can count on Dana to be there. She's going to follow through. If she's got questions, you're going to proactively ask me. It like, I can give you tasks that they don't come back to me. Now there's other team members where I'm like, I feel like I'm playing whack-a-mole. I'm like, uh, did you check on that? Did you check on that? Did you check on that? Like, and I've noticed my anxiety is like lit to the next level. And I think as you were saying that and office managers and team members, I hope you hear this loud and clear.   This is the fastest way to break trust and not have a doctor trust you. And truth be told, like I'm going to just call out team members, not even just doctors. You're also being the bottleneck because your doctor doesn't trust you to give it to them. Now, doctors, there is a way for us to not take it back on. ⁓ But I was just, as you said that Dana, I think that there's a big space of doctors make sure that like, if you consistently have a person who's not following through and not delivering back to you, stop trying to make that person fit. Like just call it out of what it is and say, like, listen, this has to change. And if it doesn't, I recognize you're not right person.   Like Shelbi, ⁓ she's a kick-a personality for being that. She never lets anything slip through her. mean, Dana, she is on us like sticky. It's like, hey guys, where's this at? Where's that? But she's so nice about it. And there's just certain personalities that are that way. And then there's other personalities that are like more creative and you don't need them to be in. I don't need to delegate all that. Like they can have different projects. And so I think when you look at it, make sure that the person, and you can also look at people's personality profiles. There are some that are like detail centric.   They should be your operations. should be your office managers. They should be your billers. And then you're going to have people like myself. That's a little less on details, but I'm a dang good treatment coordinator. I don't need to have as many things. I just need to hit a goal. Like it's less confined versus an office manager. So I think also like picking people that are the right people for that. Dana, I talked a lot on that. What are your thoughts on that?   The Dental A Team (08:48) No, I completely agree. I do think it takes the right person in a seat and then once you have the right person clearly defining their role because sometimes too it's like who does it who has the capacity for me to delegate this to right and I think that sometimes things get lost because we ask the person that we always ask and yes they do but then we stretch them so thin things start to fall through the cracks because we haven't said hey is this something that you really feel like you can take on so it comes down to just like you said that trust that open communication and so I think   Role clarity helps delegation. It also helps like where does it make sense? Right? I'm probably not going to ask my biller to do treatment follow-up calls, right? I might probably ask the person that's working to my schedule or the treatment coordinator herself. So I think that all of these pieces, sometimes it's hard to like link when I'm like, okay, well, let's get clear job roles. Well, how does that help me delegate? Right? I think linking all these things together can really help a doctor see how   The Dental A Team (09:39) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (09:45) easy it can become and not just for doctors like yes this is for the doctor that holds on to everything but for leads that hold on to everything for oms that hold on to everything this is just a really clear path for you to see do i have the right person in that seat is their role really really clear and who has the capacity to take on anything that comes up or something that you want to take off your plate   The Dental A Team (10:08) Totally. And Dana, as you said that something, our Dental A Team is in like such a fun transition or like we are, think Dana's feeling, our whole team's feeling it like we have gone from what Dental A Team was to what Dental A Team is becoming. And I'm super excited. We're going to roll out like a state of the company. Dana doesn't know it yet. Like it's coming. Like I can't wait. I know she's feeling the buzz around it, but I recognize as a leader that sometimes you've got to call out what was and where we're going. And   our team went through a, what I've called like a snow globe freaking shake. Like we decided like, let's just throw all the confetti, shake every person into different spots. And it's like, Britt's in a different role. I'm in a different role. Shelbi's in a different role. Thinking as like consultants, like Dana, you pretty much stayed the same, but like everywhere else around us, we just like ripped change tour and we built an accountability chart and we had to really say like, okay, what are the seats that the organization needs without names on it? What are the tasks that realistically should go under here?   And then like, let's look to see what open roles we have, who fits in what spots. And I remember we had a leadership meeting in September of last year. And who I remember, Britt was sitting at the table, Tip was at the table, I was at the table and Britt looks me across the eyes and she's like, Kiera, I just want to highlight and recognize that what you're about to go through and what I'm about to go through, Shelbi, Tiff, this whole leadership, like it is going to be a shake and it's weird. And we all actually like Dana hasn't seen it yet. You're about to get your PDF version come next week. ⁓   of our accountability chart, because right now it is that like, who does this make sense? Like I have normally gone to Shelbi because it's easy and Shelbi and I were working on like fees and different things. And I realized like, well, yes, I used to do that. Shelbi actually needs to be an EA and needs to fully be in that role. And Britt's over finance now and I need to go to Britt. So it's just like, we are constantly like pull out the legend. call it like, let's look at our big legend over here. Like who should this task be under? But I actually think that helps with delegation. And then the team actually is empowered to say like, Hey,   is this my role and not in a combative way, but like, let's make sure that instead of us just going for easy paths, we're going to the correct people. And then those roles actually have KPIs and then you got job accountability below it. So I think like, if you don't have something like that, and this is where like org chart and accountability chart, they get harped on. I recognize like operations people, they come in, they're like, marketers love to give me a growth plan. Like, cool, I hear it. It's like top to the funnel, down to the funnel. Operations people love to give me an org chart.   And what I've noticed though is if you have that clarity of who does what delegation becomes much easier and accountability holding to becomes easier because we can pull out the paper and I'll be like, Britt, it says right here online, like squint your eyes. It's right there. Or we're like, okay, here's a process. It's not on anyone's plate. Let's look to see under which seat going to your capacity thing, Dana, which seat does this make sense? And can they take the capacity today or what needs to shift so that way they can.   But also I remember Tiffanie, ⁓ she was like, you guys have never told me what my full job is. So for me to say I have capacity during hot, I don't even know what it all encompasses. And so ⁓ as I worked with offices, as I worked through our own company, I will say accountability charts and org charts need like an update like every six to 12 months. And we relook to see are there additional tasks because businesses innovate, they evolve. mean, Dana, what you were starting to do versus what you're doing today, it has evolved. Everyone evolves and   I also think like we noticed when we were going through it, we have a VA who's amazing. Everybody loves Joash on our team. Shout out to Joash. ⁓ And we happened to notice that like we needed somebody over in marketing and marketing. were going to go hire somebody and we're like, Whoa, Joash has like 75 % of his time available right now. We could actually deploy him over in marketing and make that tour. That gap can be filled. And so I think like even in consultant world Dana, like you probably are like, Hey, I actually have space. I could take on more projects if you guys need. And this is how it's a   right seat, right role delegate, but then look at all the other players and like, Dana, you got really great strengths and some areas. What if we deploy you in this? So that way your leaders are not, especially as organizations grow bigger, let's deploy and use our team players to the highest level of clear job and also capacity. I think like then accountability is not as hard because we're not inundating just two or three people, but gosh, like as I say, all this, is an evolution of practice. ⁓ Tiff, Britt, Shelbi, and I were all talking like,   It's been the core four for a long time. Like we've just done everything and we're like, we now have 17 team members having four people try to do like a one. I mean, we're not even using half of our team. And yet the co like the top leaders are drowning. It's just an evolution. And I think that this is where bottlenecks revisions having an outside person come in and see it helping you guys elevate really just paramount. And so I'd say like quick steps are get that org chart. Like Dana was saying in the accountability chart.   figure out where the gaps are and who should it go under, not name, but position, and then put names in and see where gaps are and who could we pull in to help out. Like you said, and then you get the job descriptions that are super clear. And then we start holding accountable to that job description. It's very easy when we all see it, got it, and getting the whole team bought in. I'm not going to lie. It's taken us like four months to get here to where whole team's going to see it. There's been a lot of shifting and shaking and making sure we have it right. And then letting the team know it's going to evolve.   But just giving clarity, but even for me, I now know who do I go to, who do I pass this task to? It becomes so much easier to delegate and get rid of those bottlenecks. Dana, that was so much knowledge. Like welcome to behind the scenes. You get to learn firsthand on the podcast, you're welcome. like thoughts about that as a team, as a consultant, like what do you see in that?   The Dental A Team (15:23) Thank   you   I love that and just like kudos to you here in the leadership team for just always trying to map out those pieces and I do feel like as a team member I think it's important for doctors leaders to understand like team members most team members if you have right people right seat like we talked about in the beginning most team members want to grow they want to do a really great job they don't want to let you down when you give them a task and so this is just a pathway that   Create success for everybody. You can get those things off. You can hold accountability You can do all of those things with success and your team members get to elevate themselves grow within their position grow within their skill set And so it's just like a win-win overall for everyone when it's done this way   The Dental A Team (16:15) Yeah, no. And Dana, thank you for saying that. And thank you for the reminding. I think sometimes ⁓ when you have like one bad apple or one bad experience, I think as a leader, even myself, I don't know, my brother-in-law, was a, he's like this really big wig and build like these most incredible homes and all that. And I remember when I got married to Jason 15 years ago, I was like, gosh, Jay, your brother's always so grumpy. And I'm like, I get it. Businesses can pick at you and almost like take away that naive   innocence of how much people are great and you might see the dark side of humanity in spite of the goodness that you see. And I think for me, Dana, like you saying that it's like, no, that's a good, that's a good remembering and reminder for myself of team members really do want to make your life awesome. Team members really do love you and they want to rally around you and they want to be great and they want to grow and they want to evolve. They just sometimes need to know like, what is it you want? And also empowering team members like, can't wait, Dana, we're going to show this and   I'm excited for team members to look at this and be like, Hey, like raise a hand. Like I got space. I can help in these areas. Like this is where you use collective brains to help out, but team members like falling through. ⁓ but I also think like owners don't lose faith in like the goodness of your team. And, sometimes they'll drops. It could be a wrong person, wrong seat. It also can be. There's a lot on that person and we need to like deploy or clarify to make it easier. So Dana, let's talk real life. I know you have some offices. I got some offices.   The Dental A Team (17:42) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (17:44) Let's talk about   like how, what does it look like when it's doing it well? ⁓ How does it feel for offices? Like, let's just kind of go through that.   The Dental A Team (17:52) Yeah, I think the biggest word that comes to mind when offices do this really, really well is just freeing, right? To have that trust in team, to know that you're going to give them something and that like you also have something in place that's going to show you that they are continuously doing it without having to track them down every day, without having to add it to your calendar. It just creates so much balance in a team and it just creates this freeing   sort of like innate trust amongst each other that like, yeah, we're gonna be able to keep a pulse on it. We're gonna check it for sure, right? We're going to trust and verify, but we've built in all of these pieces and getting to this point, right? It's not without a lot of work, right? And a lot of digging in together as a team and saying like, hey, we want more accountability. We want more responsibility. We want these pieces. We want the office to be successful. And I think once an office has it, it truly, truly is.   balancing, its alignment, and it's like freedom.   The Dental A Team (18:54) Mm-hmm. And I think for me, I feel often like I'll speak to the leader side. I sometimes like I'm the monkey who's got my hand in the trap holding on to the nuts so hard and trying to like get free and I can't and all I need to do is let go. And I think that there's a surrendering, there's a grace there's, ⁓ but I do also believe that teams rise to the level you believe they're capable of. And so if I'm sitting here like, they're going to let me down. We, we find what we focus on. And so.   Why don't I look to see how are they winning and what are the gaps and do we have a clear KPI where everybody knows like this is my number. I can't freaking wait Dana. I worked on it last night. I'm super jazzed. It's going to be a good time. But like even helping our consultants know like we've evolved. So what is it that like we expect our clients to be getting in the first 90 days, 180 days, 365 days like Dana, when you first started with me, I was like, good luck, go out there, do something fun.   But as we've gotten bigger and as we've evolved and we've evolved and we've attracted different clients, that needs to evolve. So what do your dental hygienists need to do? And what do your dental assistants need to do to win? And what does your front office, what does winning look like and making it so simple? So we have our top level of this is our number of accountability. This is what winning looks like. Then below that we have tasks of all the different tasks that are there. And what are the core processes? Do we have those documented and dialed in?   This is an evolution of business, but this really is like how you're able to delegate through role clarity. And like you said, Dana, there's freedom, there's alignment. Going through it, keep saying, at first I said, I feel like I'm an orange being squozed, Jason. I feel like we're trying to make oranges. And I was like, actually, I lied. feel like I'm an olive being pressed right now. We're not getting a whole squeeze out of this. It's like a drop by drop by drop. But I think if you can see the end result.   and you have a coach or a guide or someone who's been through it with you, I think it makes it so much easier. And Dana, I know you've got a client right now that you've been pushing on this. This client, I love so much. But just walk us through like a little bit of a glimpse in like, and of course, change of details so people can't figure out exactly what client it is. We'll peel back, we'll give you a couple, we'll mash them together. But like peel back how this doctor went from where they were to where they are today and what that looks like for this doctor.   The Dental A Team (21:07) Yeah, I think this is a doctor that just went through a practice transition where they took over a practice and you know, I think a lot of times when that happens, it's like you do want to be involved, you want to feel like you know every piece, you've got your hand in every piece, you're making all of the decisions. And then there comes a point in time where I usually say it's like the like six month year mark, where you realize like, crud, I can't continue to do this and not feel burnt out. So it's just been really fun to see them find the right people we   The Dental A Team (21:25) Thank you.   Yeah.   100 %   The Dental A Team (21:37) worked this entire last year on stabilizing team, finding the right people, finding good people, not rushing those decisions. And then when we realized they weren't the best people, right, making those decisions quickly too, because that can be stressful for everyone. And so it has been really fun that now that there are right people in right seats, like   being able to trust people to make decisions, being able to say, no, that's somebody like my office manager can answer that pushing team members to go to leads and something as simple as I use this as an example, they locks had to be changed at the office, right? A lock broke. And so all the locks had to be changed. And this doctor was just going through a lot personally and was out and the OM just made the decision called the locksmith, chose the locks, had them all replaced, like covered, like paid the bill all   The Dental A Team (22:12) Thank   The Dental A Team (22:26) of things. And I cannot even tell you just like how grateful how amazing it felt. ⁓ And just how it like opened the window of you know what? Yeah, when I let people make decisions when I let them do the things that I know I can trust them to do what a weight it takes off even something like that small.   The Dental A Team (22:47) That's.   The Dental A Team (22:48) And ⁓ I just remember on our call about that, it was just like a light bulb went off and it was like, the more and more I can do this, the better things are going to be. And everything worked out. Everything was fine. Was it maybe the exact lock like that he would have chosen? Maybe not. But at the end of the day, the building's secure, everything was handled and he didn't have to do it. He didn't have to come in on his day off, didn't have to do it. And it was just a really cool epiphany to see after the   last year that he's been through.   The Dental A Team (23:19) That's amazing, Dana. And I think like, as you say that it's crazy because I can coach this and then living in it. It's such a funny zone. Like I feel annoyed. Like I said before, it's like, can see that I'm throwing a temper tantrum and I don't know how to stop it, but I see it. And I think being aware of it is number one. And number two, I think it's really, ⁓ for me, at least, and again, my team listening will know I'm not perfect at this. So like, this is an evolution of Cure. And I'm not here to say like, I'm great at this today. It's an evolution. ⁓   And I think again, it's from founder, right? A founder or a new owner, like you got to do it all. You really do. And then it's like, my gosh, this got too big for me. Like I can't do it all. I'm up at two in the morning. I'm going to bed at 10 PM. Like this is not sustainable. And also for teams it's not, but I think it's this crazy piece. Like you said, what things do I really need to have an opinion on and what things can I be like, awesome, you did it. And like empower that team member and be so proud of them. And I think as we evolve, a lot of times we feel like   No, no, no, I need to be in control of everything. Like I really do. Like I need to pick the locks. Like that's out of budget versus I think if we can scale ourselves back and say like, that was actually awesome and kudos to them and train yourself to see how they did the right thing and how they did the best thing. And even if it's not your exact way, when you get a team that's running, they will actually be better than you will be on your own because you are evolving the whole, like the whole piece.   You as a leader need to set the vision. You need to say, here's where we're going. Here's the budgets, here's the parameters, and then truly trust your team. And I say that to myself, I say that to you, I say that to everybody listening, because I think it's a constant reminder until it becomes a habit and a personality. Like we're asking you to be like, okay, ⁓ I really love strawberries. And now I'm trying to get you to really love tomatoes. Like, they're both red. It's a different way of operating. It's a different method.   So we're gonna choose that. She's like, you have two wolves. You can feed the scarcity or the abundance. And which one am I feeding today? I'm gonna feed the one where I delegate, I trust, I empower. We have the pieces. But I also think Dana, like at the beginning, I do think some thought process behind like, let's get an accountability chart. Let's get job descriptions. Let's make sure everybody knows their KPI. And I think that sometimes that prep work is tricky. And then let's make sure we're really hiring the best people to do the job. Like...   I think there comes a space in business where at the beginning you hire and you gotta like grind it out. Like people don't know, we're trying to like make them into like, Hey Dana, welcome to being a consultant. Let's train it up versus like, Hey, we can hire consultants that have been consultants. Like there is an evolution. And I think at the beginning, yeah, rock on, you're going to be a lot more involved, but as you evolve, you're going to start to hire people that are just as good, if not better than you are and trust and let them run, ⁓ while still verifying and checking in.   You either choose to do that or you choose to hold and both are both are available, but it depends on what's your ultimate goal. And I think if you can focus on that, focus on the team you want and expect them to rise to that occasion. I watched it in organizations and I'm watching it in myself. Like truly it's amazing, right? People write C and clarity teams evolve and doctors feel a lot better. So any other thoughts, Dana? I know that was kind of a very fun, how you delegate, how you delegate it properly. And also like   how happy that doctor was like, shoot, I didn't even have to do that. That's incredible. What other things are they capable of as well? And kudos to that office manager for just like, I think like just taking the bull by the horns and be like, I'm going to do this and you're going to see that I'm awesome. And I'm going to win you over. think kudos to that office manager too.   The Dental A Team (26:47) Yeah, it was really fun to see.   The Dental A Team (26:49) Yeah. All right, Dana, as we wrap today, I think it's doctors teams like don't get stuck in the trap of not delegating. And just because it wasn't right before, let's look to see why wasn't it. Was it wrong person? Was it wrong path? Get your accountability charts in place. Get the map, get the rollout, get the KPIs, get the meeting cadences, like checking in with your leads every single week can really help get this cadence moving forward. You're not perfect. We're not looking for perfect, but we are looking for that evolvement. Not as much like sitting around your neck, but really empowering your team.   and rolling it out and continue to evolve that what you had before is not what you need today. And if you need a coach, mean, Dana does this, I do this, our team does this. This is what we live for is to make you and your practice like truly flourishing and thriving. So Dana, Dynamite Dana, thanks for being on the podcast today. I always appreciate it, you.   The Dental A Team (27:34) always a good time. Thanks for having me.   The Dental A Team (27:36) Of course, and for all of you listening, reach out if we can help. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.  

Are you providing your patients with a 5-star treatment? It starts with your front office. Kiera breaks down what a full rollout of peak client care looks like, identifying five different points to utilize as soon as that patient walks through the door (or calls). Episode resources: 5 Star Treatment Planning Document Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment  Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today, I am so excited. Today is gonna be one of my absolute favorite topics, and it is getting more patients to say yes to treatment. You guys, I obsess about this, and I talk about it a lot, and I just feel that these are some really good things. And so I wanted to go through our five-star treatment planning process with you today, so that way you guys are able to help more patients say yes, be able to maximize your practice.   Because at the end of the day, a patient who comes into your practice, they want to do dentistry. There is a treatment coordinator that I worked with for years and she always says like, Kiera, my thoughts are when I go in and I treatment plan, like the reason is patients are gonna say yes to me because they're at the practice, they want to get this help. And I just think having that mindset helps so much. And so this is a five-star treatment planning and we've actually created it for the entire practice. And   one I'm gonna go through is,   specific and then we actually broke it down for our front office team, our clinical team and our doctors of this process of five star treatment planning. And what's really fun is when we implement this into a practice, we do a full rollout with the team. And then what we do is actually once they complete it, they actually get to check off their stars. And there's actually way you can become five star certified in Dental A Team. So if you're new to the podcast, welcome. I'm Kiera. Dent really is my last name. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry and I'm obsessed with teams and doctors having their best life possible.   Our team is so committed to you, to your practice, to making sure that you are thriving and not just surviving. And so really giving you guys tips and tricks that you can go implement into your practice to help more patients say yes, to be able to help your team be so thorough and so productive and really making life easier. So we love to hear from you. I love pen pals. You can always reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And if you're ever curious of, I wonder what consulting could look like in my practice.   Be sure to book a call. It's complimentary. We go through your practice with you. We assess your practice. We give you a roadmap, whether you work with us or don't, to make sure that you are always being able to positively impact your team, your life, and your community. Because our goal is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So with that, five-star treatment planning. So these are the quick five stars that we go. And like I said, then it's broken down more in depth of what each department needs to do. ⁓   The first one is going to be more for front office team members. And it also can be for clinical team if we're actually having them present treatment in the back. And so the first star is when we go into it, we're going to smile and assume the yes. So before we even walk into the room, we have confidence. We know that we're going to go into it. We know that we're going to have patients say yes to us and we smile.   We are going to assume that the patient wants to do dentistry. Why are we going through and saying like, my gosh, this is a big case. my gosh. I don't know if they're going to accept. my gosh. my gosh. Stop that. Why are we doing that? There's absolutely no reason to do that. Patients are at the dental practice and just because they don't love the dentist doesn't mean that they don't want to have healthy mouths and healthy teeth and being able to have confidence. I say our mouths are the coolest thing ever. We get to smile with them. We get to talk with them. We get to eat with it.   Like there's so much value to it. Like it truly is, I think, the gateway to our confidence. It's the gateway to our health. And so being able to help patients have that. So I'm always going to assume, like my mantra is, everyone says yes to Kiera and there's always a solution and we will find it together. So we go in and we have that and we're going to assume the yes. We also gonna use what I call the three E's and that is edification, empathy and energy. So I'm gonna watch the patient and I'm going to edify the doctor, which is star number two.   I'm going to have empathy for what they're going through and not just assume it's run of the mill, just because it's a crown for us, doesn't mean that that might be life altering for our patients. But we're not going to put negativity out there. We're still going to be able to have empathy and positivity for them and help them see that this is the best place for them to get their treatment done and then making sure our energy matches. You guys, I come in really high. I have a lot of energy. So many people are like, Kiera, we want to consult with you because we love your energy and our team needs that. Well, guess what? Our whole team has to have that because this is who I am.   And sometimes you need to have energy and like, need to get too excited on the podcast and I need to rally you. But for some of you, I remember there was a doctor who's like, Kiera, you're like a little much for my team. And my team's more like, hey, how are you? Well, guess what? That team is actually a better fit with Britney Stone. Britney is a much better match energy wise than I am. And so just making sure that we mimic and mirror the patient across from us. So star number one is smile and assume the yes before we even walk into it.   Star number two is we want to rave about the doctor and repeat a perfect handoff. So we want our patients to feel like they're on the winning team. And I think about it, if I'm going in like, I'm going in for surgery. And if that treatment coordinator who's presenting to me, so I've met the doctor, they've diagnosed the treatment to me. Okay, so all that needs to happen before we get to this spot. But the doctor told me, Carrie, you need to come back for surgery. If that front office person that I'm talking to about my financials said to me, gosh Carrie, you're so lucky.   ⁓ Dr. Kressler is absolutely incredible and you're going to get such great care. I've seen him do this surgery multiple times. I know you're in the best hands and truly I'm here to make sure that you're taken care of. We're super excited for you and I know you're going to have great results. Like even me saying that I feel this whoosh of like confidence of OK, got it like I am making the absolute best decision I possibly can. And so this is what we do. So number start number one is smile and assume the S use our three E's. Number two is rave about the doctor. Help them see that we're on the winning team.   and use that perfect hand up. It'd be like, awesome, Kiera, you are so lucky. Dr. Jones is so incredible. He's done this treatment so many times and we're gonna get you taken care of. Dr. Jones wants to see you back for a crown. We need to get you scheduled in about two weeks. We need to do about 30 minutes and we're also gonna get your cleaning scheduled for that. This is gonna be amazing. Doctor is incredible. And then we move to the third star, is schedule the appointment first and give two options. We wanna get the commitment.   So a lot of times treatment coordinators will like come in like, how was your visit today? Meh, I'm at the dentist. Why don't we control this narrative? I'm going to smile like, Hey, it's so great to see. I'm so excited to get you helped out. Dr. Jones is so incredible. You've made a great choice. And I know he's going to take great care of you. We're to get you scheduled for that crown in two weeks. It's going to take us about 30. It's going to take us about an hour and a half. I hope a crown's not 30 minutes. It's going to take us about an hour and a half. And we're also going to get that cleaning scheduled. perfect. First things first, let's get you scheduled.   I've got Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. That's when Dr. Jones does all of their crowns. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. The reason I wanna move right into scheduling is because this is gonna help me get a commitment. And I believe that words are free and we should use them to our advantage. So when I'm going through this, let's just make it very easy for the patient. We smile and assume the yes, we rave about our doctor and talk about our perfect handoff, and then we move right into scheduling. Now the patient might be like, well, I wanna know what this is going to cost. I say, absolutely.   I want you to feel so solid and rock solid confident moving forward. Dr. Jones is extra busy. So we always just make sure we get you on the schedule, make sure we get that appointment set. I'm to go over all the financials. I want you to be super confident with that. But we'll just get you scheduled since the schedule is so busy. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. Now, if they push back again, don't stress, talk to them. But this way they're able to see the flow, how we're going to do this. Because for me, what I'm also doing on that is I'm putting emphasis of we are doing treatment. And the question is how we want to pay for it, not the question of are we doing treatment or not.   I'm not forcing a patient, I'm not making them doing it, but sequence does matter when it comes to treatment planning. And you guys, I am a dang good treatment coordinator. 50, 60, $70,000 cases paid in full same day. It is not something that is hard, but it is something that's finesse. And I do believe that it's an art, not a like set in stone science. It's an art, it's a feathering. It's a reading the patient, it's understanding. And I'm giving you guys literally how I do this and how it's worked for so many practices.   practices we've been able to add multiple millions annually by doing this process. So we schedule first, get them scheduled. Then after that, we're going to present the total treatment. So star number four is point to the amount. I don't say it out loud saying 10 grand is very loud and obnoxious and obtrusive. Pointing to it doesn't feel as bad. And I'm going to use the art of silence. So that's star number four in our five-star treatment planning. So once the patient's scheduled, we're gonna present the treatment, all right? So we're gonna go through that crown and that cleaning.   It looks like it's going to be this amount. This is what your insurance is estimated. I'm pointing with my fingers. I go down and your out of pocket total will be blank this when we see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? I want you to be super confident moving forward. And then I zip my lips and I'm silent. And the patient usually will say, perfect. Nope, no questions. I'll see you then. Or they'll say, ⁓ I'm curious about that. Like that was a little bit more than I was thinking. Do you have any options? I promise you they will say that.   But instead of me right here, which is where I think most treatment coordinators and failing goes wrong is when they say, ⁓ my gosh, so do you have questions about financing or do you have any questions about this? One, I don't ever want a patient to say no to me. So I don't ever use the questions of do you want to, or do we want to do this, or do you have questions? I say, what questions do you have for me? Let's get you scheduled, not do you want to schedule? And these are just small little nuances, but if you watch yourself and you listen to yourself and doctors, same thing in your exams.   and clinical team members, same thing when we're back there. We're so obsessed with this like quick, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, I wanna get you in and out versus I want to actually solve, I want to actually schedule patients and I want to actually be thorough with my patients. So what questions do you have? Words are free, use them to your advantage, use the art of silence and don't talk, zip your lips, but people get nervous and they don't want you to break up with them and they don't wanna be rejected so they start talking and they're like, my gosh, we can talk about finances, we can talk about, do you actually wanna just for free?   This is how discounts come about. This is how doctors are like, my gosh, I just gave that, it's a way for free. Stop talking. Let them process and let them ask, what questions do you have for me? I want you super confident moving forward. And I stop and I smile. And I truly do. And I might feel awkward, that's okay. But remember, I'm assuming the yes, they're going to say yes to me. Why wouldn't they say yes to me? And my second mantra is there's always a solution. And we together, me and this patient are going to find it because my job is to make them healthy, happy, and like total full care of health.   So then we go on to star number five, and that is over objections, okay? So objections do come, but objections to me are like, just remember that they need more information. We haven't educated them on something. That's all it is. They're not rejecting you. And so I say, go beyond the no with air quotes two times. And I do it as an S because I just want to find out and I want to dig to the root. I'm not forcing these patients, but 99 % of the time an objection just means I need to educate them more. I need to answer their questions. I haven't filled them in on something and that's all it is.   So we become a word ninja, we go past it, let's find a solution. And then if I've gone past it two times and I've really done my best, then I schedule them on a two, two, follow-up. So I call them in two days, two weeks, two months. So no matter what, they're still gonna talk to me and I'm going to make sure that they get the success. So that's our five star.   And when you start tracking it, we track it as well. We look to see our patterns and it helps our treatment coordinators get better and better. So now you're like, well,   But Kiera, that's great. Now let's talk about the objections. Cause I got my fifth star. My fifth star means I got to go past objections twice. Well, let's talk about some objections. Number one is a lot of people do think about just insurance. So they're like, okay, well, what about insurance? I like to explain that insurance is a coupon. So like just like Kohl's cash or coupons at the store. Well, you still want to buy the carrots, even though they're not on sale. And so what we do is we use our insurance and we maximize every single penny of it. but we also don't want to just wait on insurance and have insurance dictate because it's never going to be cheaper.   or more predictable than it is today. So we wanna make sure that we your treatment taken care of, you're worth it, you deserve it. And we're gonna squeeze every single dang penny out of that insurance company that we can. But we just have to recognize that dental insurance is different than medical insurance. And dental insurance is a coupon, medical insurance, we pay our deductible and they cover everything else. So that's why, and so our job is to help you out with this. We're gonna get you scheduled for this. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which works best. And we're gonna make sure that you're taken care of with that. Schedule.   If they're like, I need to check my work schedule. Fantastic, no problem. I, Kieran, you gotta be careful, use your words. I, Kieran, would hate to forget about you. The truth is, I literally will. I've got like 100 patients coming today. So I would hate to forget about you and let you slip through the cracks. Let's just pop you on the schedule and if that doesn't work when you get home, me a call and I'll happily change it for you. That's it. Then you're like, okay. If I say, oh John, I would hate for you to forget about this, he'll be like, I'm not gonna forget. But if I'm like, oh, I would hate to forget about you, patient's like, yeah.   Don't forget about me, Keir, put me on that schedule. It's all about psychology and making these patients feel like VIPs. I truly believe our patients are VIPs. I love them so much and I want them to get the best dental care possible. So that's what I'm gonna do for schedule or for work. Now if it's cost, I remind them and truth be told, it will never be cheaper or more predictable than it is today. So let's get you scheduled, let's figure this out, let's work through the solutions. I have so many solutions with you. Like let's work through it. What solutions do you have? Like this didn't happen overnight, we don't have to solve it overnight.   We do need to get going on it so it doesn't get worse. We present the other side of the problem. This is what happens if we choose to wait. And I just want you to know your options, you're worth it. Let's get this taken care of. There's always ways that we can work on cost. You guys, there's thousands of ways. We can do less treatment. We can split it up. We can do layaway, whatever your practices processes are. But usually it's not cost. Usually it's fear. And I'll say, let's talk about it. Do we have savings or do we wanna talk about third party financing?   I'm not gonna give them care credit to go home and apply for. Let's just apply right now. Let's find out what our options are. Let's see what we've got here that we were able to find out. And then like, I don't want you to have to go home and make this hard. Let's make this easy to where you feel confident and we're able to find the solution for you.   How many times do we actually spend the time to do that? To me, that's VIP care. I can't tell you how many times I've watched treatment coordinators like, here's the application, go home and do it. Well, guess what? They're not. That's hard. Let's make this easy for them. Let's find the easiest way for them to say, yes, that's VIP customer service. And I know you might be like, here, I'm so busy. Guess what? This is the fastest, easiest way to fill your schedule. How many of you want to make phone calls to fill that schedule? I don't. I'd much rather sit here and do five minutes of care credit with you rather than chasing you down, trying to do care credit, figuring it out. That's way harder.   Choose our heart here. And then spouse. Spouse like, need to talk to my spouse. Absolutely. I 100 % want you to chat with your spouse. What questions you think that they'll have? I want to make sure that you're fully prepared and confident to answer those. Well, I think they'll want to know about costs. I think they'll want to know about the... They'll tell you. They will tell you. Or if they're like, oh no, I'm like, hey, I really hate to try and like relay things to my spouse that I don't know about. I'm happy to get them on a phone call so that way we can talk about this openly. I'm here as a resource for you.   more than happy to do that with you. Now there's two ways you can do this. There's pressure or there's like confidence of I'm genuinely wanting to help you out. And truth be told, like I know this is so much easier. I think in all of treatment planning, I'm thinking how's the easiest way for this patient to say yes. How's the easiest way for me to help them. And this is where we're going to go. These are how I'm going to go past these objections. And I think for so many of us, we just want to like one and done. I did my job, check the box versus like it's outcomes over activity.   my outcome, I'm trying to get as many patients scheduled as possible, not the activity of I presented treatment plans. It's very different. So if I know my goal is not just to present treatment plans, my goal is to have like 80 % success. Well, then I'm going to look at this and I'm going to work through this and I'm going to check off all five stars and I'm going to become an expert. But realizing that I have to continually improve on treatment planning is going to be a great piece for you.   So this is the five-star treatment planning. And like I said, we have it for every single position. This was more of a front office. We have it for doctors. We have it for clinical team members, but this is a great way for you guys to increase your case acceptance, help more patients. And remember, 80 % of treatment planning is psychology, 20 % skill. So when we go through this, I think this is going to really be able to help you guys, guide you guys. And I know it will because I've done it for so many practices. So let's do it for yours. And if you need help, there are practices where we literally just do treatment planning consultations.   We consult them, we work with the front office team members, and what we do is we listen to the treatment plans, we help them out. And I've done this with many offices for multiple years. And it's crazy because in those practices, they're like, what happened? You guys also became like so successful and people were noticing that. And they're like, well, it all started when we hired this consultant and they've added multiple millions, but dollars are nice. Lives changed is better. And how many lives have we been able to help? How many people we've been able to help?   because we chose to be word ninjas, we chose to use our words to the best of our ability. We chose to listen and to see and to look at the results we're getting and change our processes and not be so set and like, well, this is what I do. I tell everyone that we coach, I don't actually care. There's no script. Like, yes, you guys can have this email us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com   But more than that, what I care about is that you're able to help these patients and that we get the outcomes, the results. We're after results. We're not after the task. So if your results are crushing it,   You don't need to change anything, but if they're not and we're not getting the results we want, then change. And I would hope that you and your practice take on that none of us are perfect. All of us are here to expand, to grow, to evolve. And that's what we're here to do. We're here to help and serve more patients. So reach out if we can help you guys. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go implement this, go change more people's lives, go become treatment planning masters. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Key Performance Indicators (or KPIs)! By establishing KPIs in your practice, you find ways to remove the emotion that doesn't need to be there. Tiff and Kristy explain how KPIs drive a practice — and how to implement them if you haven't started yet. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back again today and I say we again because I've got Miss Kristy here with me. You guys know how much I love her and podcasting with her is just, I told her today, like I just, you bring a sense of calm and it's great and letting it be on a, like Thursday afternoon, this is kind of cool for me ⁓ and ending my week. I've got, you know, we've got things to do tomorrow, ending calls with this is really, really cool. So Kristy, thank you so much for being here today. How are you?   The Dental A Team (00:29) Good and you?   The Dental A Team (00:31) I'm good,   thank you. ⁓ I'm... I was gonna say that, like what the heck? I'm so glad you're here though because, you know, this time last year you were here in snow and ice and I'm so glad you're here but it is cold and I heard you guys, record these, this is January right now, it'll be released in February but it's like so cold. It's like 43 degrees in the morning here and us Arizona women are just not used to that so.   The Dental A Team (00:34) It's cold for Arizona.   The Dental A Team (01:01) I agree and there's supposed to be ice and snow coming, not for us, we get rain, thank goodness, but I'm like, that's why we live here, so we don't have to deal with ice and snow. yeah, puts a little damper on travel, so we'll see. We'll see how that goes, but I am glad that you're here. This is the time of year that everybody comes and visits. February is a massive, massive time to be in Arizona. In March, we've got spring training games going, we've got...   Waste Management Open, we've got, oh my gosh, every weekend there's a taco festival or something going on. So this is the prime time to be in Arizona. If you wanna come visit, tell us that you're coming and we'll be happy to give you some suggestions. Kristy, we talk about these a lot and I'm excited because I know you actually thrive in this world a ton. You make decisions based on these. are phenomenal at projections.   four practices and the world of KPIs, which you guys, for those of you who don't know, key performance indicators, those are the indicators within your practice that tell you how you're performing. I had years and years and years ago now, like way too long to even count, I had a manager one time and she said, Tiff, I want you to start joining the KPI meetings on Thursdays with the CPA doc and I. And I said, okay. And then I ran over to my computer and I was like, Google, what is KPI? What does KPI mean? I was like, I'll be there.   That sounds great. This is like growth for me. You're putting me in. I was like, yep, I'll be there. And then I was like, what does this mean? So if you don't know what it means, you're not using them, you are not alone. I had to Google that once upon a time. And that was before Chat GPT. I feel like I would have been so much better off if I had that to break it down for me. But alas, here we are. And Kristy, I love KPIs. I love black and white decision making. I love any opportunity we have that we can remove some emotion.   from a decision, especially in the dental industry. We have a lot of emotions in the dental industry and being able to remove those and say that yes or no something is or isn't working. And my favorite piece of that is when we do that, Kristy, I think it gives us the opportunity to tackle the system and not make it personal about the person. Like it might not be that you suck.   it's that the system's not working or we're not using it correctly. And if that's the case, I'm fine. We start using it correctly or we alter it. But I think, Kristy, it makes me feel a lot better about accountability and about KPIs and just about leading teams when it's less about a feeling and a person and more about the system. So I'm excited. Kristy, tell me, why do you love KPIs?   The Dental A Team (03:41) Yeah, for the same reason, Tip, because so many times we see people focused on the wrong thing. And when you really dial into the metrics, they start to tell a story, right? And sometimes even metrics can look a little bit deceiving, but that's why I like to say the numbers start to tell a story. And then we get to dig into it and figure out the story. So, you know, just in saying that, I think if I wasn't doing what I was doing, I would be some kind of detective. And I mean,   The Dental A Team (04:09) I think   you would too.   The Dental A Team (04:10) Maybe that's why it's so exciting for me, but like, and it's truth, right? The numbers don't lie. And so a lot of times we have misperceptions on things and that's the human aspect. So to give grace on us, and I also feel like what we measure expands, it grows, right? And so if we're focused on the wrong thing, what do we get more of? And so,   The Dental A Team (04:33) Mm, true.   The Dental A Team (04:40) I just think it's the fastest way to make improvements. And it's kind of funny Tiff, because in other things we do, if we want to lift weights or we want to lose weight, what do we do? Get on the scale or we're like, we lift 50 pounds. my gosh, I added another weight. We measure it really well, but in dentistry it's like taboo. ⁓ we can't do it. Like it's so bizarre, right? But I just, again, it's the true measure. We talked about this.   The Dental A Team (05:02) I agree.   The Dental A Team (05:07) on a different podcast of winning. It truly lets us know if we're winning or losing, and maybe we'll focus on the wrong thing, right? I know you've heard it a zillion times. Doctors come on, need more new patients. I need more new patients. I need more new patients. And we look at their outstanding treatment list and it's like $3 million. And I'm like, do you really know what you mean? Right? So again, sometimes it lets us win faster because we can breathe direct and focus on   The Dental A Team (05:26) You   for sure.   The Dental A Team (05:37) what's really gonna get us there.   The Dental A Team (05:40) Yeah, I love that you said that. I love the idea of focusing on the wrong thing because I think we do that a lot. focus on the negative, right? We're like, what was our attrition rate instead of what's our new patient and our active patient count? Are those growing? Because if our new patient count and our active patient count are growing, attrition's fine. But if we're looking at attrition rate, we're like, how many are we losing? We're grasping. It's a different kind of energy and that will grow. So if you're looking at it,   you want your attrition to grow, then keep watching it. If you want your active patient count to grow, keep watching it. And if it's not growing, then you tackle the systems and assume attrition is happening. So I love that you said that because it broke it down, I hope for everyone, a little bit differently there. And our podcast today is How KPIs Drive a Practice. And I think in that simple statement and those two minutes you were just talking, you just broke it down, like verbatim on how it drives a practice because   what you focus on will grow no matter what. you're right, it's so everything in our life, we count everything. Like it's just human nature to count and track everything we do. We track our money, we track our expenses, we track our weights, we track our weight, we track everything that we do, we track our gas mileage. know, my sister's always like, ah, I got 16 gallons or whatever. I need to go get the best gas price. And I'm like, girl, I don't.   I don't know what she's like, what is your car get? I'm like, I have no idea. But there's, know, she's tracking that. But like, then we go into a dental office, it's like, don't talk numbers. Don't talk numbers. Don't track it. Because that's going to make somebody feel bad. It's like, no, we're going to track it. We're going to see that we're winning. And we're going to feel really, really good. Like my sister, sometimes she comes home and she's like, ah, I guess mileage was down. Sometimes she comes home and she's like, guess what? Simple. But that's how simple it can be.   doesn't have to be astronomical, but those small wins add up to something astronomical. And I have had so many clients that, I've had clients that have purchased practices, they're like, all right, when are we starting marketing? I'm like, well, what do you mean? You've got, like, what's your patient count? What's your active patient count? And then what's the total patient count of that practice? Because you have, every patient right now is a new patient. Starting marketing,   is a wild use of your money. Let's internal market, let's get your exams better. There's so many different avenues that we think are just the norm, so we jump on board with them. But then when we pull and extract those actual KPIs, we can find the root of what we need and the root of any problems that there might be, any systems that need to be revamped. So I love that, because that's how you're driving success, by watching the KPIs.   Kristy, and you've got, I hope everyone knows, I don't say it every time, but Kristy's done so much in her dental career and held so many titles and she's consulted for far longer than she's even been a presence here at the Dental A Team. We're so grateful for her. Kristy, in all of your experience, what do you feel are the easiest KPIs to start tracking if we're not tracking any? And then what are the most valuable KPIs maybe that people don't think of?   The Dental A Team (08:53) Ooh, that's deep. Obviously, I think we have to look at it as like two different forks in the road, right? Because so many times we hear the practice of a million dollars and then we hear the practice of six million. And I think doctors, you guys get all ramped up and think if I'm the million dollar guy, why am I the six million dollar guy? And I'm thinking, wait, wait, you don't necessarily want to be that guy. You're actually more profitable than, you know.   The Dental A Team (08:55) I I like that one.   Correct.   The Dental A Team (09:22) So it's not just what's happening in the practice, but also how profitable you are, right? And truly us here at the Dental A Team, we're looking to make sure you're hitting that profitability because that's where the true freedom is. But with that being said, the biggest KPIs out of the gate is what do I need to hit every month to be profitable? And then I measure my production, net production.   and collections. And ⁓ I am going to throw new patients in there, but in a different way, because doctors do want new patients and a lot of times they're getting them. But don't just look at how many I'm getting. Look at how many are reappointing. ⁓ you know, it's one thing that you're getting them and you might be doing limited, limited and letting them go out the back door. So again, look at those, but also   put more weight on how many are getting reappointed. And then ⁓ I also like doctors to look at diagnostics, dollars and diagnostic or sorry, acceptance dollars and percentage. ⁓ They go hand in hand. It can't just be percentage of acceptance because maybe I'm not accepting enough to even get to that goal. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:31) case acceptance.   Yes,   yes, I love those. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:46) And lastly,   probably in that tip would be your reappointment rate. How many are we reappointing? Because keep those patients of yours. Don't have to spend so many external dollars to gain more because if we just keep what we have and too often we look at how many people are sitting in our inactive pile or we don't look at it and you have a whole nother practice sitting there that you could tap into.   The Dental A Team (11:13) Yeah, I love that. I love what you said about the case acceptance dollars, the diagnostics and the case acceptance dollars. I too have doctors, I love having them ⁓ track their diagnosis and then their dollars. Number one, I hated being a treatment coordinator that had no control over how much was being diagnosed and only initially when I was treatment coordinator, were really only looking at case acceptance, which is very popular.   So case acceptance, case acceptance, and then they're like on your neck and that call these three people, why didn't these, like call the people and like I have called all the people. I can't, and we have so many clients, right, that the TC's are like I've called all the people, Tiff, can't, Kristy, I can't call anymore. Cool, it might not be in the case acceptance. Sometimes it's in the diagnosis and then to loop back to your new patient statement, all of those go so hand in hand and this is why, ⁓ heaven help me, this is why.   things like our scorecards, clients of Dental A Team that talk about the scorecard. This is why the scorecard is so important because you can look at a dental analytics screen and it's choppy, all over the place. The scorecard brings it together so that you can see what's affecting something else because to your point of the new patients, I had a practice near and dear to my heart. He hit his massive goal this year and I'm so proud of him. We worked really hard on, it was, you know,   Timelined out for five years and he hit it literally two weeks before his deadline, his date. One of the things that was holding his practice back was the new patients. He needed more new patients, needed more new patients, so his marketing company is like, all right, we're gonna ramp up new patients. And then all of a sudden we've gotten new patients, but it's like, we're not growing. There's nothing on the schedule, what's happening? And so I said, okay, what kind of new patients? And we had so many emergency, limited, transient, going through town, looking for an emergency.   He was doing a lot of same day dentistry, but not getting things booked on the schedule and not really adding to his patient count, because there wasn't reappointments happening. When we dialed that in, we found that and I was like, here's the key, switched his marketing, his new patients went up,   Then we focused in on his case acceptance. And then like you said, with the dollars, we're seeing, are they accepting fillings?   Are they accepting crowns? Are we getting the near cases? Like what is the case acceptance percentage is cool, but what are we actually, what's the procedure that's being the dollar amount and is there a ceiling maybe in our treatment planning, either back office, front office, wherever it is, is there a ceiling that our system needs to be able to help us overcome in diagnosing a certain dollar amount or treatment planning a certain dollar amount?   The Dental A Team (14:03) Yeah, I love that you say that, And as the TC, that's the one that gets me because so many doctors go back up there or come to us and say, they're just not closing it. And I always tell my practices, case acceptance is a team sport. And literally, it starts from before they even call the office. Like everything you're doing is contributing to their trust. And so ⁓ truly, docs,   I know you don't want to hear this, but it's your job to get them to yes with treatment and ⁓ financial coordinators get them to yes financially. So some of them can work heroics and they do, but it is totally a team sport. So going back to the diagnostics too, you asked a tool that I use ⁓ that maybe isn't so looked at. And I would say print your procedure count report yearly and just take a look, you know?   Are you doing four surface fillings? And I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but is it aligning with your philosophy? And are you giving patients the choice for long-term care? Because sometime that probably four surface filling is going to turn into something, you know? And let your patients decide. Let them decide.   The Dental A Team (15:18) Yeah.   Yes, I love that I have worked with many practices that they do give the options, but they assume that their patient base wants something specifically or can only afford something specifically. So they may give the options, but they kind of talk them into starting with something and started just leaving it on the table and saying what, if this were your mouth and roles were reversed, that we often say,   this were your mom, if this were your sister, if this were your brother. But I like to think, what if we were in different seats and the patient or the dentist, you were sitting in that chair, what would you want someone to tell you? Because you might even still err on the side of like, mom, when it happens, we'll fix it, but like, let's just do this patch for now, right? Because I don't, we don't want to get you numb. Like you might still err on that side for a family member, the, know, quote unquote conservative, but if you were sitting in that chair,   what would you want the dentist to say to you? And I think that makes a massive difference. And that is like your detectiveness, right? That's your detectiveness, but it works and it's what practices need sometimes. And I think, Kristy, part of those pieces, and you showed me your AR thing yesterday and how you diagnose that. And sometimes we do have to go to those spaces.   The Dental A Team (16:17) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (16:40) because you can't see it in the other areas. like, gosh, something is here, but that's why you look at those KPIs that are gonna drive success. And then when one of them isn't working, when one of them isn't hitting the metric that you want it to, you dive deeper. You're not just going to say, okay, every month let's pull the procedure code report. You're gonna say, if case acceptance, if we're not hitting production, case acceptance isn't working or diagnosis isn't working, now we're gonna dig a little bit deeper.   I think what tends to happen is we either go surface and we're like, everything's fine and we ignore issues or we go so deep that we're in the weeds and nobody has time to see the patients. We're just pulling reports all the time.   The Dental A Team (17:20) Yeah, it's so funny. So much psychology goes into it, right? Like our doctors get so upset in dentistry. I remember like doctors thinking, well, we're the only ones that do free consults. Medical doctors don't do free consults. Why do we do it in dentistry? You know what I mean? But yet we also complain, my schooling costs so much and they don't want to pay me what I'm worth, you know? And it's like,   Almost everything, it's funny when we get into it and I work with clients, I'm like, we kind of caused it. We taught them. How many times do we answer the phone and we go, do you have insurance before we even know their name? You know? So it's funny. It's like an oxymoron in a way, but I love that you brought that up because many times we do it to ourselves.   The Dental A Team (18:10) Yeah, yeah, we just spin our wheels on something, to find it and trying to get it right in an industry where nobody's taught how to do this stuff. guys, doctors learned how to be dentists and that's it. It's a rare occasion that you come across anybody who is taught how to run a dental practice. And dental is different than medical. So even healthcare professionals, right? People who have a degree in healthcare management, it's different.   This is why we're here. This is what we do. This is this is years and years. mean, across the whole Dental A Team team, like we should count that up. That'd be a lot of years. I don't even know anymore. We've grown to so many consultants. I don't even want to try to count that right now. We'll do that later. We'll ask Josh to do that for us. But regardless, there's so much wealth of knowledge here in.   The Dental A Team (18:57) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (19:04) ensuring that and we've done such a great job at finding the solutions and the systems to at least get templates and things started to customize for practices. I think that's just an immense value that consultants like the Dental A Team bring is that space of uniformity. these are things that we've seen work. Let's start here and then let's layer on top for you and let's adjust it for your practice and your team.   and those KPIs that drive success, pretty universal. And you said, you know, the common ones, production collections, new patients, diagnosis, case acceptance, and I loved your reappointment rate for new patients and just in general, those tell you the stories. And then from there, we dig and dive deeper. So I love it, Kristy. Thank you so much. think if I were to give an action item, it would be to revamp.   your KPIs if you're digging too deep and grab some new ones if you're not going deep enough, if that makes sense. So, Kristy, anything else you'd like to add?   The Dental A Team (20:09) No, I love it. The only thing I would say, Tip, I know you have the saying down better, but use, love the numbers, right? Don't use them as sticks, is that?   The Dental A Team (20:17) Yeah.   Yes,   yes, numbers are here to guide us. They're stars to guide us. They're not sticks to beat ourselves up with. Yeah, years and years of presenting with Kiera. Awesome, well you guys, go check your KPIs, go check your scorecards. If you're a Dental A Team client, you should have a scorecard. If you don't, get after your consultant. Everyone has scorecards this year, so we're good to go. But if you don't know how to use it or if you're confused by it,   The Dental A Team (20:26) There you go. Love it. Yeah. Love it. ⁓   The Dental A Team (20:48) or if you're not a Dental A Team client yet and you want information on it, please by all means reach out. We're here to help you. We wanna make sure that everyone is successful, whether you are a one-on-one client with us, a group client, or just here as a listener, we wanna make sure that you are all successful. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, and you guys, we'll catch you next time. Thanks so much, thanks, Kristy.   The Dental A Team (21:08) Thank you.  

This episode is all about the power of a phone call, and how you can maximize it. Kiera goes into the formula for phone call success, and how it will boost your patients' interactions with your practice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and gosh, I decided to shake up the background and hang out in my house and have you come hang out with me. And so if you're watching this, welcome. This is the studio. This is where I live. This is where I hang out and just trying a couple different things. I really obsessed about making this podcast a space where you feel like you're hanging out with me in my living room. And we're just sitting here.   chatting shop, we're sitting here talking about all things dentistry. And today I wanted to just go through a quick episode with you guys of how we can improve our conversion rates. So there's a couple quick levers of how we can improve our calls, our being able to get our forms and documents and being able to do this without spending more time because that's something that we all wanna do. And so ⁓ I think it's a lot of times like how can we convert our calls better? How can we get things done a little bit more efficiently? Do we do AI? Do we not do AI? And so.   I really feel like just small improvements. You guys know on Dental A team, I'm obsessed about small little improvements done to create efficiencies. I remember I was in a practice and they said, ⁓ okay, Kiera, like come on in, we wanna see you. And I went in and we were able to add about 13,000 to their practice. And they were like, Kiera, what did you do? I'm like, what did I do? It was just very simple, easy things. was, ⁓ we had patients stop at the front desk and start making their payments so we were able to make our collections higher.   We had them doing a handoff to their team of what were the next steps. So that way the patient felt confident of what they were doing next. ⁓ and we just scheduled patients. We assumed the yes. And those are not hard things. Those are not sexy things. Those things are just things that are going to help you guys tremendously. And so today it's like, let's figure out how we can convert a few more things. So. Dental A Team is truly a company where I believe that growing and having sustainable growth comes from optimizing before we spend more. And I know that it feels so.   Alluring and something that I want to do is I want to spend more and I want to get the magic pill and the reality is that you can probably get the exact same results with minimal effort if we just optimize a little things and so figuring out how we can catch more missed calls or how we can convert more new patients or figuring out how we can get more patients to say yes to treatment is something that's really really fun   A Team's podcast is tactical, practical, implementable. That's how we operate. That's how we like to consult. And I love working with practices. I love being able to see you guys ⁓ in your offices, being able to do things, ⁓ being able to just live your best life. Life is our passion. Dentistry is our platform. So, all right, you guys ready to dig in? Because I'm ready to dig in. The number one thing is, let's talk about our phone calls and optimizing our phone calls.   because that is our number one zone. And I think it's crazy how much we spend on marketing to get these new patients and how much we work on having a great patient experience. And then we have our newest trained person that knows nothing about our practice answering our most important phone calls. And so things on this are like when we miss phone calls or we don't handle a phone call correctly, those are little lost opportunities. And this isn't to rag on our front office team. We're busy. You guys, I've sat in the front office. I prioritize the patient in front of me over the phone. And so what are some little things that we can do?   And there are softwares. There's like patient prism and they're like, I pretty sure with weave, they have them where we can actually track and monitor and see our, ⁓ our phone calls and see how we're doing. But we want to just help our front office team. Like it is crazy. Jason, husband told me, ⁓ he was like, yeah, I, Kiera, if you don't like what someone tells you at a practice, just wait, call back and you'll get someone else and you'll get a different answer. And I think about that in practices and how often are we possibly doing this? How often is our practice maybe.   doing it where we actually are having Susie follow protocol and Sarah isn't and therefore Susie is undercut, but Sarah was trying to do what's right. They're both trying to do what's right. So this is where we're at front office teams. Let's make sure we're all saying the same thing. So no matter if they get Sarah or Susie or Kiera or Jason or John, every single one of them is the exact same. And this is going to help. So number one, we need to have actually in the front office team, especially usually there's quite a few of them. We need to make sure that one person   is dedicated to like first on phone, second on phone, third on phones. So everybody knows like, hey, what is the ring, the ring place? Now, if you're a really large practices, sometimes they put it in a call center. All those are totally fine, but we need to make sure that every single person is actually optimizing our phone calls. And so it is a, you can even get a phone tree where we optimize new patients. We have a line for billing questions. So that way we can actually know which phone call should I prioritize and know exactly this is a new patient phone call. Now, when we,   When we answer the phone, I actually put mirrors in front of a lot of our team members. We want them to smile. We want the patient to feel the energy on the other side of it. We want them to feel like they chose the best place. And I actually feel this is one of the greatest ways to optimize is if you just give your patients a little bit different experience on the phone of like, we are so excited to have you call us versus we are annoyed that you bothered us in the middle of our day. That tone and intonation is going to help patients say yes or no a lot more to you.   I remember, and I shared this example a few years ago, I was trying to find a PT and I called around to a bunch of different locations and I literally chose the place based on how they answered the phone. And I think I truly believe in today's world of AI and automations that what is going to become the number one differentiator more than cost, more than anything else is kindness. Kindness and customer service is going to be what far outshines most everything else because it's becoming a trait. ⁓   People are grumpy, people have the COVID cranks still, people are annoyed. I walk into stores and like, we're closing in 30 minutes. I'm like, fantastic, I'll just shop on Amazon. They don't yell at me. This is where I think we need to recognize our society and people want to be loved. We are human beings, we are human connections. And so really being able to give that. it is about, let's answer the phone. Let's have our intonations and our tone and that big smile.   And then let's make sure that we're following protocols. So how we block schedule, how we schedule patients, how we handle a new patient phone call. New patient phone calls are great to optimize. It is a, like we take control of it instead of saying, you have insurance? It's amazing. How did you hear about us? Let's change that tone and that vibe. So that way they feel like, my gosh, like I heard about you on Google. We absolutely love our patients. Like our Google reviews are what we're so proud of. And we strive to make sure that you as a patient coming in.   are going to be able to leave us those same reviews because you have the best experience with the best dentist. I'm Kiera, it's so nice to meet you. Let's get you all ready and set up for your appointment. What are we looking for? we coming in like when was the last time we saw the dentist? I want to make sure I set you up for the right type of appointment. We just take a few minutes to be human. A new patient phone call can literally be done in five minutes and make them feel human. It's taking control of the conversation initially. It is saying.   Hi, how did you hear about us? I'm Kiera, welcome to our practice. I know you're absolutely going to love it here. Let's get a couple of information. Let me start with your name, your phone number in case we ever get disconnected. I'm gonna make sure I get you so taken care of and we truly cannot wait to welcome you into our practice. ⁓ And then we go through, if they have insurance, fantastic. If they don't, if they're on an insurance plan that we don't take, that's fine guys. These people can still come. want you to, I'm gonna drill this down so hard on optimization of our phone calls. ⁓   Just because a patient doesn't have insurance, we are not going to let $1,000 dictate if this person comes to see us or not. You guys, $1,000, I know that not all insurances are 1,000, but that's usually about the max, but they pay so much more than that. And this is about a long-term relationship rather than a short-term transaction. I'm going to say that again, our new patients, it is about a long-term relationship rather than a short-term transaction. And if we can remind them of this is the greatest place, you're so welcome to be here. You're so like, we are so happy to have you here.   People choose that all day long. People want to know they're on a winning team. So how can we make them feel like they made the absolute best choice by choosing our practice? And I want you to audit phone calls. So for the next couple of days, I would like, and we actually track, we have trackers where it's like, let's get our new patient trackers and how many of these new patient phone calls scheduled and didn't schedule. And if you have your front office team track this for about one week, they will actually be able to see how many new patients are actually getting, how many are we converting and why are we not converting it.   Then if we actually listen to these calls back, we can fine tune one or two statements and be able to optimize and get people to come in. You guys like, this is one of the things I'm like, I don't know how much more easy I can make this for you. But if we just prioritize two or three little things on our phone calls, making sure we all schedule correctly, that we welcome them and we're excited and we just role play this for the next month, you will absolutely increase your practice. I promise you, because we're going to convert more phone calls. We're going to have more happy patients.   We're going to have patients who are more excited to come to the dentist because they're already feeling welcomed. These are little things that don't make a big, like they don't seem grandiose, but they make a huge, huge, huge impact. so making sure that we're optimizing that you guys, the phone is one of your most powerful resources in your practice. And if we have like, you do not want your billing representative and billers, this is nothing against you. am not a great biller. I was like, I don't want to go to bat. I don't want to go figure out the one penny you do. And that's why we have different roles.   You want somebody who's so excited, who loves your practice. ⁓ I've had front office team members that are in this role that are from like tanning salons or from a high end customer service or from a waiter waitress situation or a hostess situation where they just love and they want to welcome and they want to greet and they're so excited and they just make that person feel like a million bucks. so making sure that our phone calls are optimized really truly is going to help us and help us really ensure that our practice is optimized. And so with that new patient phone call,   It is a, let's snag them at the beginning, let's ask them how they heard about us, let's capitalize on that, let's find out what type of cleaning that they want or what they're calling for or when the last time was that they went to the dentist and then let's schedule them appropriately with VIP customer service. And then what I typically do is if we are using insurance, I say, fantastic, I'm gonna send over our new patient welcome information right now while I've got you on the phone, make sure it gets to you. And then I do need to get that back 48 hours before your appointment to make sure it's confirmed. Did you get that email from me?   Fantastic. When can I expect to see this? I want to make sure I don't miss it for you. And that way I can get your patient, your appointment confirmed. I have them commit to me right here, right then, because if I do that, this patient's already more locked and loaded to come into me. They've committed that they're going to get this back to me in the next two days. I'm going to look for it. And if you really, really want to stand out and shine on customer service, following up in two days, hey, Kiera, I didn't see that paperwork come through. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it. You can set little reminders for yourself. This is not hard.   and listening as front office, you be like, my gosh. But I wanna say what is actually hard? Choose your hard on this. Chasing a patient, not getting my insurance until the day of being, like having new patients, no show on appointments, that's hard. Me following up in two days on their paperwork and making sure that they give it to me so I can, 48 hours ahead of time to make sure their appointment's confirmed, that's not hard. That's just a shift of your process that optimizes your process and makes it to where you actually have a ton less work. It feels like hard work today.   Just like if I were to say, okay, go sign your name. You're like, okay, I can sign it. Got it. If I say, okay, now sign your name, but you have to sign it every other letter, that's going to feel hard because that's actually easier than you signing all the letters. And if you practice every other letter a few more times, you actually become faster at that than you were at your initial signature. So just because it's different doesn't mean that it's hard and it's not efficient. It just means you're doing it as a different way. And so really looking at that and seeing how can I actually make this to where we can optimize our phone calls. And that's what we're going into.   You guys, just a small optimization of our phone calls, of how we operate, of how we ask for information, that's going to cut down so much more time that allows you to be in front of your patients, because you're not chasing all these forms all the time. I promise you, get patients to commit to you before they even get into your practice, and you're going to have a completely different practice. And so I want you just to remember that this is a great way for you to optimize on a phone call. Now, there's several other ways that we can optimize. We can optimize on our handoffs. You guys have heard me talk about NDTR about a thousand times.   We optimize on that and I say it's like, we don't just get a drop a sheet with our front office or we drop a patient and say like, good luck. It's a, we hand them off so they know exactly what they're doing. We hand them off every single time. It is a well-oiled baton and we practice that consistently from front office to back office, back office. Like let's not like bicker towards each other. Let's figure out what does front office information need to give us so that way we are all set for our appointment. And then what does clinical team need to make sure is in the notes so our insurance claims go out correctly.   And then what does clinical team need to bring to the front office? So that way it's a smooth handoff. And what do doctors need to say to team members? So that way we get all the information necessary while making sure the patient's front and center. That small optimization, which I will do on another podcast for you with the handoffs and the different pieces are going to be able to make it to where your patients absolutely 100 % schedule their appointments. And people are like, but it's so hard to do. Choose your hard guys. This is not hard. You want to add an up level your practice?   Optimize your phone calls, optimize your handoffs, optimize your life. I promise you, patients can feel perfection. These are things that I would recommend you do on a monthly, weekly basis where we role play this out until we perfect it and this is how we operate it. Do you think at Disneyland that they just like hope and pray that those things are gonna work out and that's gonna be perfect? The answer is no. They practice, they role play, they practice, they do it. They make sure that the way people are talking to guests is the exact same way no matter who it is and they employ hundreds and thousands of people.   So in your practice, you think that this would be doable? I hope you say yes, because when we can optimize, when we can make sure that our phone calls are the most important thing and our handoffs are the second most important thing, your patients will feel that. And then we get raving fans and then we get the reviews. You guys, reviews aren't just happenstance. Reviews are intentional. It's because they can feel the process throughout. They feel loved, they feel cared about, and they feel like you are going to take care of them. So optimize, you guys. This is the time for you to just optimize.   to have it to where it's so much easier for you, to where you're able to really, really, really drive these patients forward. So as a quick recap, let's talk about it. Number one, we're going to shine and outshine our competition by kindness and customer service. And that might be a theme that I'd roll out to your practice this year of kindness and customer service. We want patients to feel wanted in our practice and we want them to feel excited to be here with us. So what we do from there is we make sure we find out when we take a new patient phone call, what exactly, how did they hear about us?   We tell them they're on the winning team. This is the best place for them. We scheduled the appropriate appointment. We have the correct information. And then we ask for their paperwork back to confirm their appointment. Just that small shift is gonna change a lot of things for you. And then we optimize our handoffs so we're not just dropping people off. We're optimizing front offices giving clinical team the correct amount of Clinical team, think of how happy you'd be if the paperwork is already in there before the patient arrived and you're able to take your patients back on time. That would be like a hallelujah. Everybody would pop confetti and we'd say thank you.   Also, clinical team members, shout out when you do get that. Go tell your front office thank you, because what we praise typically gets repeated. So make sure that we're saying thank you for that. We take them back on time, information's passed to our doctor, doctor's back to us, us up to the front office, and we have the correct information on our claims, and we're giving that feedback of, if claims are being denied, let's tell each other what's being missed. We get those things fixed. You guys, your practice will be.   next level. And this is something where, yes, we always look for optimization and dollars on the schedule. And I will tell you, we can add 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 very quickly, but it's through very, very, very simple things. And simple does not mean easy. And I think that that's where people shy away from this, but I'm going to encourage you to be the practice that's optimized, optimizing the little ways. Maybe we use AI, maybe we listen to phone calls, patient prism, other, other platforms that are going to be great for you. Let's, let's actually have somebody go through and video our handoffs of a patient.   Like, let's just see it. Let's watch it back. Think about pit stops. There's a great YouTube video where they do a pit stop that was optimized in ⁓ racing and they practice it over and over and over and they timed themselves and they got better and better and better to where it was so fast and everybody knew exactly what they were supposed to do. And I think about a practice that way. Are we optimizing? Are we practicing the most important things? Are we obsessing about crazy things that really aren't moving the needle forward? That's your challenge. That's your choice. And if we can help you with this,   These are things I'm happy to share our new patient phone call script. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Happy to share it and like, let's chat. Let's chat about your practice. Let's talk about what things we could optimize. What areas could we make more efficient for you? This is what I obsess about doing. This is what our team obsesses about doing. This is why we created Dental A Team. Things don't need to be hard for you to have success. And I encourage you to do that. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! News flash: Setting goals for yourself isn't selfish! In fact, Kiera encourages you to set personal, then professional goals. In this episode, she talks about why it's important to think about yourself a bit more, why taking personal time helps you AND your team, and the best way to actually set those goals. Say the things you want to have; be clear about the life you want. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   The Dental A Team (00:31) You guys, I hope today's an awesome day for you. I hope you're doing something great for you. Hope you're loving on your teams, giving them compliments, telling them how great they're doing, being very specific and intentional. And I hope you are just remembering that you are working in the best profession, in my opinion, that you could ever, ever, ever ask for. That's right. I believe that dentistry is the greatest profession any of us could ever work in. And I feel truly blessed and honored that we get to work and serve and   Give back to a community that I am obsessed with. So with that said, guys, please be sure to leave us a review if you have not done so. Yes, I'm talking to you. I don't know your name, but I'm talking to you. Please go leave us a review. I know you've been a podcast listener for so long. Please help us out. Help us grow our podcast and serve and give to to more people. Guys, it's very simple.   Whatever device you're listening to you scroll down to the bottom. There's a spot where you can either write an actual review or just leave the star rating. So please help us out. Keeping us at that five stars and giving back has been really, really beneficial. And then we're able to rank higher on the dental. When people search for dental podcasts, we're able to rank higher and help and serve more people. With that said guys, I want to talk about why as teams and owners, it's important for you to set goals for you.   That's right. I think oftentimes we get so obsessed with setting goals for our practice that we forget that it's okay to set goals for the life that we want to have, for the life and the practice that we want to have. Not the one that we think we should have, but the one we genuinely want to have. What happens with that is so often I was actually just talking to a doctor and he said, you know, I really, really, really want to have where I only work three days a week.   but I'm concerned that that's going to impact the team's goals of being able to grow and produce more since I'm such a strong producer. Okay. Number one, kudos to this doctor for loving on his team so much that he wanted to make sure his team was successful. Also with that  said, I have found that when you are setting goals for yourself personally, you're much happier and you want to work harder. And also docs, if you just tell us what your goal is, we as team members get to become insanely. Yep. You got it.   innovative. So we get to come up with it like this office. The office manager said, Hey, that's fine if you want to do this, because guess what? That gives us an opportunity to come up with different ways to change our insurances, to look for ways making sure that we have our fees exactly where they actually should be. It's going to eliminate patients who don't want to be paying for the services that we're offering. I love that this office manager took it on as a challenge.   of how she could actually reach the goals that the practice is set while also reaching the goals that the doctor had for themselves. So for you guys, it's really that thought process of how can we actually achieve the goals that we want? Want? Yes, I said it, want. I want you to achieve the goals that you want. ⁓ And so with that said, making sure that you're setting goals for you. Now, sometimes I think that we feel selfish. We feel like, well, who am I to deserve this?   But the answer is you're a person. You're a person of worth. You're a person who actually deserves to have the life you want if you want to have it. Or you can sit in a victim mentality and say, well, this is just the life it's going to be and I have to do this and I have to do that. Well, fantastic. You're welcome to stay in that mindset, but that's actually not true. You don't have to do anything. You get to choose the state of life you live in. You get to choose the state of being that you come to work every day in.   You get to choose those things. Those are things that you have full control over. You also get to determine the goals that your practice sets together. Doesn't mean you'll necessarily reach them, but guess what? You get to set that. You do. You do. And so because of that, make sure that you actually are setting goals that you want to achieve. And don't worry about being selfish. We often have these stories in our head that aren't real. Guys, if you're a doctor who only wants to work two days a week,   Please just say that. Say that because that way we can actually work and create something. We could hire an associate. We could do a lot of different things for you. We just need to know what you actually want. So I recommend setting three personal goals and three professional goals. Yes, tis the season guys for goal setting. I'm obsessed with it. I was just talking with my younger sister and she said, Kiera, I don't know how you have so much passion for setting goals. So if you feel that way too, that's okay.   ⁓ but my little sister also told me a few days later, said, Kiera, you ignite thoughts in my mind. You make me think of, should start setting goals. I want to set goals. What am I doing? And she said, so by you saying this, you're actually giving back on such a greater level because she said for me, I don't think like that, but you do. And so if I can actually benefit from listening to you and hearing your passion, I'm then able to set and create goals as well. When that's something that I just don't even think about often.   And I loved that. So I thought, okay, let's talk about this, but really getting into the nitty gritty of being okay, setting personal goals ⁓ of what you really want. So number one, I set three personal and three professional goals every single year at a minimum. This last year I had five of the five, I hit four of the five. The only one I didn't have hit was having a baby. ⁓ we can't get pregnant guys. And it's so irritating to me, but I probably shouldn't have set a goal around something I really don't have full control over.   So, ⁓ but beyond that, I did hit all the goals that we have and it's actually pushing us to go and start on a journey of IVF. If any of you have tips on that, please email me personally guys, it's not professional. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'm super excited. That's our 2022 journey. ⁓ The bottom line is setting those goals. So because I had a goal of having a baby last year, guys, and even though I didn't,   ⁓ It forced me to think of the company differently. It forced me to have our entire company work on getting our SOP manual done, of having people learn to run the business so it wasn't completely dependent on me, of getting it more internal and having a team that could do this for me versus it being dependent on me all the time. It was one of the best goals that I set because it forced the company to innovate, create, and go into a different realm than it's ever been before. So that's why it's a paramount, guys.   I hope I'm like drilling this into you to set goals that you actually want. Now, what do you do if you don't know what you   Well, let's just go do a dream session. All right. Let's have you go just dream and imagine of anything and everything you've ever kind of even wanted. I'm talking like silly things. Like I've wanted to have a home cooked meal every day. Like silly things.   Because what it will do is it will start to generate. an activity that I did that you guys can try is I'm going to give you three minutes, one sheet of paper, only one sided. Yes, you heard right. One sided. You can't write on the backside, only the front side. It has to be at eight and a half by eleven. I can see you guys getting huge poster boards, you overachievers. You got three minutes. You can even do it faster. Do it on two minutes. Set that timer for two minutes. Anything that's written on this paper, you will achieve.   If it's not written on this paper, you will not get it for the rest of your life. Yeah, I just made that real serious. The rest of your life. Okay. So it's forcing you to think, I will only get these things if they're written on this piece of paper and I have two minutes to write down what I actually want in life. I don't care if they are materialistic. I don't care if they're relationship. I don't care what the heck they are, but you have two minutes and you get nothing else on this list for the rest of your life.   That's a really good way to get you guys to think about what you actually want in your life. Okay, try it out. Then after that, go around and write one three or 10 years next to this. What is it going to be? Are you going to achieve this in one year, three year, five year, 10 year? Because some of those goals might take a little longer to achieve, but that's a great way to really see what do you actually want. Again, like really play by this. If this is all you are going to get for the rest of your life, the rest of your life, some of you might have a few years left. Some of you might have less time.   or more time, but this is all you're going to get. That's how you can start to see like, do you actually really want in your life? And then from there, that's how we can start to create these personal goals. I write silly goals. I write awesome goals. I write goals. you guys, every year I get better and better and better at this. I haven't always been good at it I don't think I'm great at it today. I just think I'm willing to consistently do this year over year over year. But I write things that I actually want. This last year.   You guys, I love to have savings accounts. You can ask Jason. I've got about like 12. My bookkeeper hates me. Not like hates, hates, but just drives him nuts. And I've got so many bank accounts, but I like to have these because they give me security. I've got my company bam. I've got my personal bam. I've got a fun from traveling. I've got a fun for my house decorations. Like I get crazy guys, but it gives me security. And so I oftentimes will write goals around how much money I want to have in my savings accounts. Guess what?   Every year I hit these goals. I write goals. I love cars. love fast cars. I did just buy a Tesla Model 3 performance. So zero to 60 in three seconds guys. And I freaking love it. It's so fun. I love fast cars. So oftentimes I write goals around cars. I also this year my goal is to be in the best shape of my life. So I hired an in-house chef. Guys it's actually cheaper than going grocery shopping. Just so you know I did the math on it. It is cheaper.   than grocery shopping to have an in-house chef. I don't know how I found this guy, but it was something that I wanted to have. So I'm hiring somebody. They're going to come cook for me one day a week. They make me three meals with eight servings each. That's 24 meals for me and my husband. They will put it into containers for me. Bada bing, bada boom. I've got dinner, lunch for an entire week and they come in once a week and they go grocery shopping for me. And it's cheaper than if I were to do my own grocery shopping. So things like that.   I want to be in the best shape of my life. You guys, I'm terrible. I love to cook. I just don't make the time for it. And then when I do cook, I go to, it's too quote unquote hard for me right now to eat healthy meals. So I said, okay, if I'm going to be in the best shape of my life, what do I need to do about it? So those are some fun goals that I do just so you guys know, I have a goal to not work Mondays and Fridays. I love to have Fridays as my own personal day to do Kiera's things. Monday, I love it to be business dream day.   that's not quote unquote work. I just don't want to be scheduled in meetings. I want to have a day where I can dream about the business. And if I want to work, I can. And I can start when I want to start. And I don't have meetings that are scheduled. That's something I want to do. So writing those things, being OK to say the things that you actually want to have. ⁓ In years past, it was that I wanted to travel out of the country one or two times. This next year, it's probably going to be that I have at least   four weeks off throughout the year where I can actually just go on vacation with my husband and we can go have a great time. Whatever it is guys, you can create these goals. So really making sure that you write your personal goals. Then you go to your professional goals. Notice I do personal and then professional. Reason being is because if I take care of me, it's just like on an airplane guys, you got to put your oxygen mask on you first. Then you find a way to create it within the business.   If you're clear of the life that you want to have, if you're clear about who you want to be, and this goes for owners and team members, guys, this is not just reserved for owners. This is reserved for everybody. Everybody, everybody can have this, you guys, every single person. So with that said, you guys then go to professional. If you want to have this life, what needs to happen professionally? What are the growth goals that the company needs to have? Now you might need to scale it back. It might be unrealistic for you to take four weeks off this year.   Maybe it's that we start this year at two weeks and then next year we go four weeks. Just know because you write it down, it does not mean it's written in stone. It can be adaptable. One of my new values that I've created for myself is flexibility. Cause I was like, no, I said four weeks, I will find a way for four weeks. Well, flexibility can really change my life. It can help me be happier and more content with it out of being as hard. So giving myself that permission to have flexibility is something that I really valued. And so.   Maybe I'm gonna change it. Maybe two weeks is still gonna give me that excitement and that happiness. But being able to start working towards the life I wanna have. I'll tell you guys, three years ago, I said I wanted the company independent of me. Took me three years, guys. And the only way we were able to actually find out if it was is because I got COVID and I was out for a week. Like down for the count. My head was spinning like a top with helium in there. Like that's literally how I described it. I couldn't do emails. I was stuck in New York. It was crazy.   Tiffanie was doing presentations for me. Sissy was running the podcast. Shelbi was running all the meetings. People were talking to sponsors for me. I wasn't around. I wasn't creating content. The other consultants have started to do podcasts where we get consultants information so you guys can hear from a different perspective. Like those were innovative things. Innovative things that took me three years to actually achieve. So don't be afraid if these things don't get done right away. But the biggest piece I wanted to drive home is   Be okay setting goals for you. Be okay taking care of you. You've worked hard. You deserve it. You guys trust me. feel selfish often. And then I started thinking, I'm willing to give everybody else their dream life. I care about my team members and I hear about what they want and I work really, really hard to create the life that they want to have. How come I can't be a great employer to myself? How come I don't care about myself as much? How come I don't allow myself   the opportunity to succeed and win. Guys, I bust my buns. Why am I not a good employer to myself? I've thought about it. If I was an employee for myself or let me rephrase that. If I was an employee for somebody else who treated me like I do myself, I would probably quit. Think about that. How do you treat yourself? You probably work sunup to sundown. You probably don't get many vacations.   So many of you called me during the holiday season, which I freaking loved. It like just fuels my fire. I love talking to you guys. We all get, we all get jittery. We don't know what to do ourselves with that much time off. We, we love to create. We love to work. We love to do these things. So we're like, how can I improve the business? Well, let's work on that. But just think if you worked for somebody else and they had you do that, you'd be livid. But that's how we treat ourselves. So I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying be okay to also treat yourself really well.   Be okay to invest in yourself. Be okay to maybe spin the coin and say, hey, if I was truly an employee in this company and I was interviewing myself and I was caring about the goals and aspirations I have, what would I do for myself? How would I do it a little bit differently? How would I view me? Could I maybe show a little more kindness? Cause guess what? The kindness you show yourself, the investment you show yourself is the same investment you give your team. Don't fool yourself.   Guys, the kinder I've been to myself, the more giving I've been to my team, shockingly. The more I'm in sync with the life I want to live, the happier I am, and the more my team supports it. It's shocking, guys, because guess what? My team loves me. They want me to have an awesome life. They want me to be successful. They want me to have a family. Sometimes it's okay to accept that people love us. It's okay.   to accept that people want us to live our dream lives. It's okay to not want to work in the practice clinically every single day. Those are not wrong things. That's progression. That's growth. If you're not growing, you're dying. So be okay to set those goals. So I want you guys to take this, whatever stuck out to you in this podcast, I want you to go act on it today, not tomorrow, not in five days. I want you to grab a pen or a pencil, grab your phone, whatever you need to do, but write down, what are you going to do for yourself? Are you going to write personal goals?   Are you going to be kinder? Are you going to actually treat yourself like an employee and answer those same questions? What are your one, three, five, 10 year goals? Who do you want to become? Because guess what? You as an owner need to be growing and progressing just like your team does. You need to be investing in your success just like you do your team. And I will promise you your life, your relationships, your health, and your work life will all change for the better when you take care of you.   So guys, this is Kiera just giving you a big hug, high five, whatever you choose to receive of, it's okay. I want to give you permission, permission to live your best life, permission to be kind to yourself, permission to be crazy, permission to just live full out, permission to go off the rails, permission to be crazy. Guys, it was downright crazy to buy a Tesla. Do you know how much fun it is? Do you know how much I giggle? Going zero to 60, turning on Santa's sleigh and spreading holiday cheer?   laughing with my family, letting all of them drive it, going 115 miles an hour. shouldn't say that. Any of you cops, I did it, guys. It was so fun. I can't wait to take it to the racetracks. I can't wait to do these things. It's so fun. Is it any smart? No, but guess what, guys? I could die tomorrow. I'm not saying be crazy. I'm just saying make sure you're living and you're not waiting to live. All right, guys, as always, thank you so much for listening. I'm cheering you on. If I can ever be a help.   If I can coach you on these things personally or professionally, please reach out. I'd love to. This is what I geek out over and it just fuels my fire because if I can help you live your dream life while being profitable, while growing your teams and your systems, guess what? You're going to give back to your community, to your teams, to the people around you. And that's how we're going to massively impact this world for good. So please reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   Kiera Dent (18:56) I hope you all loved today's episode as much as I did. It is crazy to think that this many episodes have been released since we started the Dental A Team Podcast. And I started looking to say, my goodness, our listeners need to be reminded of some of the things they may have learned a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because so many things in our practices weren't relevant back then when we heard them, but they are relevant today. And I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't re-release some of these episodes for you to remember, to refine.   to optimize and really truly if you ever need a topic or you're like, my gosh, I wonder if the Dental A Team has anything like this, go onto our website, TheDentalATeam.com, click on our podcast tab and you can literally search any topic. So whether it's overhead or hiring or firing or team morale or engagement or case acceptance or hygiene or associate onboarding or whatever it is, we have so many episodes for you. And so I am going to intentionally be   re-releasing some of the top best episodes for you, pulling back some of the ones that I needed to remember, some of the things that I feel for you to really, really relearn right now and to re-remember, or if it's the first time, welcome. I'm so happy you're listening to it, but I hope you truly enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you share this with somebody. I hope that you go and implement today because we only have one day. We only get today. And so making today the best that it possibly can be. If we can help you in any way, shape or form, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

A practice won't truly thrive until its team members are aligned and attached to your company's purpose. Tiff and Kristy go into what it takes to gain collective buy-in from those who keep your practice humming, including being reminded of fundamental desires, embracing vulnerability, understanding motivators, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I'm so excited for you to be here today. You know, I'm   always excited. I love podcasting. I have loved doing this over the course of all of the years that Kiera and I have been putting these out. They are so much fun. It is so cool to reach you guys and it is amazing to get the time in with our consultants. And I'm bringing her live to you, well not live, I guess. It's live for me. It's recorded for you. But I'm bringing her all this month for you because...   We just busted them out in one day, if I'm honest with you, Kristy. Thank you for being here. Thank you for blocking your afternoon for podcasting with me. And I'm excited for this topic. How are you and how excited are you for this topic?   The Dental A Team (00:41) Excited and I'm doing well. It's not 49 degrees in the morning. It's actually 71 here Oh 72 now, so know that's a little chilly to us, but I'm excited the sun's shining and We get our time together. So I'm excited   The Dental A Team (00:49) ⁓   That's fair. I love walks and I was doing morning walks until like mid December and I was like, I can't, I don't know if it's because I'm an Arizona girl or if it's because I have, you know, thyroid stuff and Hashimoto's, but that chill, as soon as it hits my body, I'm done for. You don't want to be around me. You don't want to know me. And so I have not been going outside in the morning nor later in the evening because that Arizona desert does something   different when that sun goes down. So very happy to hear 71. Those are my, I really, think my sweet spot is like 73 to 76. That's my ideal. So if we can find a place that's always 73 to 76, I say we jet. That's where we're going. We just stay there.   So I love this topic today because, I mean, I love every topic we go through, because you tend to really spin it for me and make everything fun. ⁓ But I love the emotional side of life and the buy-in side, and today really talking about how to get teams bought into your big why. And I like that because I love purpose. I like everyone to have a purpose. And I think when a practice owner   knows what they're after, they have their purpose, it allows the team to then see their purpose within that that why within the owner's purpose. And we actually talked about this a little bit. Now that I say that, it's like I've repeated that we talked about this at the Mastermind in September. And it was actually fun. Anyone who was there will hopefully remember maybe recap will remind you. But Kira was talking we were talking about   writing their why's like what are they doing? What's their purpose? And Kiera spoke about hers and it was really really emotional because Kiera and I get emotional   it was fun to see for her how her   purpose and her why came to life when she spoke about it because I think it morphed a little bit as she was saying it but then it was really fun because she was able to see how my purpose   is fulfilled within her purpose in that I think for owners, it's scary to think that your team has a drive or a why or a want, and it can feel like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. And if they have their own thing, they're gonna leave. And some of them will, that will happen. I've seen, I had a practice.   The Dental A Team (03:34) Hmm.   The Dental A Team (03:39) She was there in September. She'll remember, she'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I had a practice, I went, we did a stellar meeting. ⁓ it was so much fun. So much fun. She has the best practice, she has the best why. She's just an incredible human. Two days later, ⁓ she had a team member quit because she wanted to open up her own business and she wanted to do hair. And the inspiration from talking about why's and talking about what are we doing with our lives.   prompted her to quit and start a hair salon. She just, I was like, I am sorry and not sorry at the same time. So it can happen. And I think that's the fear for a lot of people. But watching Kira open up and then watching Kira get so emotional over how my why and my purpose is fulfilled within what I do, within my position.   The Dental A Team (04:15) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (04:33) it was like something morphed and changed for her and we all got to see it as like this butterfly effect. But I say that because I can't, I can have my own purpose and my own why, we all do. But when you can see how it aligns with the company that you're working with and how you can serve your purpose and your why within the job that you're in, that's really cool. And I think Kristy, for me at least,   personally as a team member, that helps keep me tethered to the job. Because if I don't know what the why is, where we're going, what are we growing for, why are we tracking these numbers, like what's the big deal, and I just wanna help people, I'm gonna move on until I find my place. And the find your place is being in alignment and being attached to the purpose that your company is serving and driving.   And that was a really long-winded way of introducing the topic. But I thought as soon as I said those things, I was like, oh my gosh, the September event. And so I hope all the doctors listening who were at the September event remember, because it was a really magical time for Dental A Team. And for those of you coming to future events, just buckle up, because there's always something really cool attached. But Kristy, passing the mic over to you, what are your thoughts? And really gaining team member buy-in, what do you?   What did I prompt for you in all of those words I just spewed?   The Dental A Team (06:02) Yeah. Yeah, and   all those words.   Tiff,   I know we were talking numbers earlier, so hopefully they were listening to that too, but the numbers are our gauge, but the buy-in has to be emotional. It's gotta be vulnerable and it's gotta go back to why you do what you do. Like, why'd you get into dentistry? And doctors why maybe, I mean, you said it, doctors why may be different than team members, but.   I venture to say almost every one of us that got into dentistry have some sort of passion for caring, you know? And we gotta get back to the root of that. And we even talked about ⁓ finances and getting to the emotional why. It's no different. If you want our teams to be bought in, you've gotta get to your emotional why. And you doctors have to be the North Star in that.   You can have leadership teams, right? But they've got to be very clear on the why. And it doesn't mean that our direction won't change, because it could change. But that intentional, why do you do what you do? Why do you wake up and get out of bed? We have to identify that.   The Dental A Team (07:17) I love that. You're spot on. And something shifts and changes, I think, for a person when they key in on that. And it's not just going with the motions. We can go through the motions in life very easily. And I think you finish high school and you go to undergrad and you go to school and you go to whatever. You go through dental school. You become a dentist. You do the thing and then you buy the practice. And it's like you get there and you're like, why did I do all that?   Right? They forget. They forget why they did the thing. And I listened to a Simon Sinek thing not too long ago. Well, you know, I love listening to him, his speeches. But one thing that he's been able to key in on for purpose is going back to your high school self. Because in high school really is when we decided what we wanted to do and we tagged it to a work.   like to a physical thing, like what is the job we're going to hold? But somewhere in there, our high school self wanted to serve a purpose and we attached the job to that purpose. So if we can kind of think back to our high school self and really think what did we love? What inspired us? What did we like doing? Where did we feel the most fulfilled and satisfied at that age?   that helps figure out what it was that you're intending to do in life. What is that purpose? Because the purpose isn't, this might rock a few of you, the purpose isn't to do the best dentistry in Kentucky and have smiles that last forever. That's not why you're here. You were not put on this earth to.   Do fillings you might be doing fillings, but that's the actionable piece. That's the what? but what's the why and We actually Kristy shared this recently with a client and Really like I feel like this kind of work on your purpose your your emotionally driven purpose is What can? re-inspire dentists   who might feel like they don't know what they're doing anymore. Why am I even here? Why did I become a dentist? Or teams that are like, what are we doing? Why are we pushing? What are we even after? But that emotionally driven why you can see where in your purpose, the what that you're doing, the job that you're doing, might be satisfying and fulfilling that space.   The Dental A Team (10:05) Wow, that was big. And yeah, you're absolutely right. We just went through this exercise and when you start feeling burnt out, it's great time to go back and revisit that why to reignite that fire and remember why you're doing it because you are going to go through the ebb and flow and the hard times to get there. But when you can let that be your burning desire in your gut, the rest of it's going to fall back into place. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:33) Yeah, yeah.   Thank you. I love all of this work. It's part of like who I am as a human is to help people figure out the inspiration that makes them love what they do every day. That is what I said in September. is my purpose is to inspire people to love what they do in life. So this stuff lights me up. Like I know I'm in my purpose when I get to talk about this stuff. So that's very easy. But how do you   Once we key in on that, Kristy, how do you suggest or coach doctors in sharing that with the team? Because it is incredibly vulnerable, especially when you figure out that your purpose has nothing to do with dentistry. Dentistry is the engine behind the purpose, a lot of, we talked about this earlier too, a lot of people are afraid to share those kinds of things. They're afraid to share the numbers, they're afraid to...   The Dental A Team (11:13) it is.   The Dental A Team (11:27) It's scary to be vulnerable and it's scary, it can be scary to inspire a team to want their own purposes too, again, because you don't, you're like scared they're gonna leave or go start a hair salon. But what do you, how do you coach them on that and how to be vulnerable?   The Dental A Team (11:46) Yeah. Well, I think it's funny that you said the hair salon, first of all, because that person can be a great referral source back to the practice. So it might not be all bad. That too. Yeah. And with that being said, it is vulnerable. And what's coming to my mind is how many times do   The Dental A Team (11:50) I do too.   That's fair. I was thinking that was the opposite of you. ⁓   The Dental A Team (12:11) And again, doctors, I'm not trying to pick on you, but how many times do they come to us and say, they're just here for a paycheck?   The Dental A Team (12:18) Mm. All the time.   The Dental A Team (12:21) And maybe we shouldn't make that wrong.   The Dental A Team (12:24) Yeah, I say   that. ⁓ my gosh, yes, drop the mic. I say that all the time. We are here for a paycheck. We have to pay our bills.   The Dental A Team (12:28) Yeah.   Yeah, and doctors paying something too, which means I think my soft spot goes back to sometimes doctors are afraid to say they're doing this for a quality of life or a legacy of life that they're going to leave and it is tied to money. And I don't think we need to be shameful of that anymore. I truly don't. And I think we need to give permission because even if I am here for a paycheck, that doesn't mean I'm going to serve differently. Right.   ⁓ It's okay and let that be the motivator because if they're getting that, they may serve even better.   The Dental A Team (13:13) Yeah, yeah, and you made me think of to speak to all the team members who are listening. For me, when I hear that somebody wants to a legacy or a legacy dental practice where their kids, if they decide to be dentists, can come be dentists, like this lifestyle, I want this lifestyle for my family. Well, I'm helping serve that I'm helping provide that. And in turn,   I'm also growing. I'm also reaping benefits of them succeeding. So I would much rather work for a doctor who's driven to keep going and keep growing than someone who's like, we're just here to do the fillings. Like cash your check, because I'm like, are we though? Are we going to be here in a year? Like is this stable? The doctor who's like, yeah, I want to build a legacy and I want to impact this community and my family in   XYZ ways. I'm like, cool, you're bought in. That means this is stable. I can get bought in on that because my family is going to grow as your family grows. And I can see myself here for a long time. And I think that's that team buying and that vulnerability of this is why I'm here because I'm here to serve my family. I'm here to pay my bills. I'm here to make sure Brody goes to college. I'm here to make sure that he has everything that he wants and desires. Ask my   The Dental A Team (14:16) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:42) checking account. That is my goal. Brody is happy and it's served by doing things like this. And if I want my goal, if my goal is to leave a legacy and be the entrepreneur who leaves a legacy for my family, that people can pick up that business and they don't have to work for anyone, then that's going to look different. I'm going go open a hair salon. I'm going to go do that thing. But I'm going to do that regardless of you telling me.   The Dental A Team (14:44) you   The Dental A Team (15:10) your purpose and your why, it's gonna happen no matter what. So don't be afraid to share it, just know you're serving, you're providing a space where people can grow. Whether they grow with you forever or they grow to a place where they're like, cool, I can go do that thing that I've always wanted to do, that's incredible. You got somebody to a point where they could go fulfill their life dreams, holy cow.   That's really freaking cool. And hopefully in the meantime, in the middle of that, you guys built some awesome systems that somebody can come in and learn. Because not everything's a guarantee, but the way you said that, Kristy, is just spot on. That vulnerability piece and allowing the team to decide if that's what they're here for or not, instead of leaving in the shadows, never speaking of it, and hoping that they stay anyway.   The Dental A Team (16:05) Yeah. How many times have you, I mean, I haven't worked at a lot of jobs, so I'm pretty loyal to my jobs, but for people that have gone, and I've interviewed people and hired people, so I'm speaking to myself in this too, but how many times have we shared our why in that process?   You know, and it all starts there. And you said something before, the what. The what may be getting to three million this year. And that's all we ever hear instead of the why. If we hear the why, then we can get behind the what. And then I like to say the core values just serve as how we behave to get to the why.   The Dental A Team (16:48) Yes.   Yes, yes, I love that because oftentimes core values are how we like how they want the community to view us. And so, you know, where we have integrity and we do great dental care and we have your dental, ⁓ your dentistry in mind and your dental health and is our is our heart. I'm like, I don't know how to show up to that. I don't know how to I don't know how to exude your dental health is my heart because it's not I don't.   I'm not here, I think dentistry is really cool, but I didn't go to dental school because I don't want to be a dentist. So that's spot on. It's hard to know what we're aiming for and what we're going for if we don't know the why or the what. A lot of times we're not trying the what either. So if we don't know what our goals are, if we don't know what our inspiration is, I tell people all the time, motivation is short lived. I can motivate you for a short amount of time, but if I can inspire you, inspiration lives inside of you.   Motivation comes and goes, it dies. It dies. That's why gym, you know, people who aren't inspired to go to the gym, they're not inspired by the change that the gym can make in their lives, like the steak, right? We talked about the steak and having ⁓ an all-on-four so we can eat a steak. If there's not inspiration tied to the health, the motivation to get up and go to the gym will die. It will fade. Every January, you're gonna be re-motivated to start the gym again. But if there's not inspiration living inside of you,   to be healthier, it will die off. So if I'm not inspired by the work that I'm doing, which if I'm doing new patient intake forms, like give me something to be inspired about. that's, you know, this can get really boring. Insurance verifications, why am I doing this? What difference does it make? Give me some inspiration so that I can attach to that and then give me the path of how I show up and live it every day. Those are your core values. So you need your   your mission vision, your why, what are we, why am I here, your inspiration, and then how do I show up to that?   The Dental A Team (18:55) I agree with you 100%. And I think you said something that we failed to realize. I wish I could remember the name of the book now, but there was one and he treats people that have heart attacks. And he's like, if you think I could motivate people, I should be able to motivate people because they're at best door, right? And I'm gonna try to get them to change eating or this.   The Dental A Team (19:06) Okay.   Yes.   The Dental A Team (19:20) they do for two weeks or two months because they remember what it was like to have a heart attack, but then they go back to the behavior. So even when we're faced with our own mortality, you just, I mean, it proves like we, it lives and dies. Yeah. Yep.   The Dental A Team (19:36) We're complacent.   Yeah, muscle memory sets in and it's easier to stay where you're at even in uncomfortableness. And even if your life is uncomfortable, it's easier to stay here than to make the change because you don't know what's on the other side of change. It's an unknown. You can't quite even imagine it or what you imagine you can't guarantee is going to happen. So it's easier to stay in the uncomfortable because it's what you know. There's no questions. It's gonna stop.   It's uncomfortable. It's easier to stay here and even face your own mortality than to say, okay, I'm gonna do this thing and whatever happens on the other side, I'm okay with, because that's scary.   The Dental A Team (20:17) Yep.   Well, I think the other thing, Tiff, that we failed to really tap into is you recognize it and you do it once. And how many times do we get with our clients and we're like, what is your what? Well, it's written down somewhere or it's in the drawer. Like you've got to revisit it and make it come alive or you just forget. And it's not front and center. And then that's when you get the burnout. And that's when you, you know, we've got to get back to that core and revisit it. So   I challenge you every time you have a team meeting, bring it up, talk about it. How are we living it? What are we doing that's in alignment with that and serving it? Because that's what's gonna inspire you to keep going. And so often, as a leader, that's one of my favorite things. How inspiring are you being in this moment? How inspiring am I being if I'm squatting, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. That's not inspiring change.   We talk about it all the time in hygiene. You say you're not flossing every day. Well, no, I just told you I'm not flossing. That's not inspiring me to floss every day. Right? So again, I just think putting a little spin and making sure you know your buy-in and then also revisit it. Don't put it in a drawer. ⁓ I once learned, and again, I apologize where I don't have the statistic behind me.   The Dental A Team (21:25) Yeah. Yeah.   resource.   The Dental A Team (21:45) They say, or resource, yeah, they say if you state your goal, you're a certain percentage ⁓ to achieve it. Is it James Clear? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe give them credit with credits on it. With that though, if you write it down, you're even exponentially higher. And if you say it, write it down and share it with somebody even more so.   The Dental A Team (21:55) I think so. Yeah. It might be atomic habits.   The Dental A Team (22:14) And then if you revisit it frequently, those are the people that really hit their goals.   The Dental A Team (22:16) Yeah.   And I challenge you to, you, meaning everyone and even myself, to consider goals that we're not willing to share with other people. It's much easier to tell ourselves that we're gonna do something and then not do it than to tell other people that we're gonna do something and then not do it. We will hold ourselves to a higher level of accountability if we vocalize it to people outside of ourselves, because we're okay to lie to ourselves. I'm okay. I'm okay to have.   low personal integrity until I can't take that anymore, until it hurts too much, but I won't do that public facing. So I encourage you guys to evaluate that to us there. Is there an unspoken goal that maybe if we just said it out loud and wrote it down and had some accountability partners around us, would we actually do it? Just like I said, I was gonna do a pull-up and let me tell you how many times Erin asks me if I've practiced for it.   The Dental A Team (22:51) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:14) You know?   The Dental A Team (23:14) I love it. You know, Tiff, I had a client one time that ⁓ she wrote, she was in a pretty tough spot financially and she wrote a check to herself, pulled it out a few years later and I mean, granted, visited through the way, did some of the things we talked about, but pulled it back out and it was like, holy cow, that she thought that was so undoable.   The Dental A Team (23:27) Mm, I love that.   The Dental A Team (23:42) and then it was surpassed. So challenge, I challenge our listeners.   The Dental A Team (23:44) ⁓ Yeah.   Yeah, I like it. Thank you. This was a fun. These are my favorite. You know that these are my favorite topics and I love having someone who's of the same mindset and I guess path of leadership. We listen to so much stuff and so many people and read so many books. So I love bouncing this stuff with you, Kristy. Thank you. And I think if we summed it up, I would say the biggest the action item from today is to sit down.   and get in touch with your purpose. And no, I know, Kristy, we've talked to a few clients, but specifically a client we worked with together that we had to stress that it's not perfect. It may not be perfect. It may take you months to really dial it in, but just start. You have to start somewhere. And oftentimes we hold ourselves back because we think we're not ready for perfect yet. It's not done. I don't have it like...   formulated yet. It's not my brain hasn't finished. Well, your brain's not going to finish if you don't get it on paper. Once you get it on paper, it's out of your brain and your brain can then process other things and other things come to light. So that would be my challenge. and Kristy, thank you again for today, for the whole day. Thank you. And thank you for just all of the, all of the light that you shed on this topic in general. think we can.   We can see lot of brilliance in that. So thank you for being here today, Kristy.   The Dental A Team (25:15) Yeah, thank you for ⁓ having the conversation with me.   The Dental A Team (25:19) Yeah, it's my favorite. I'll do this all day long. One care is like, what do you love? This is what I love. So how do we do that? But anyways, you guys, know, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you are looking for advice, you're looking for guidance. If you're a client, obviously reach out to your consultant. We all dabble in this stuff. We all do the leadership. We all have those paths. And if you're not yet a consultant or someone who's going to be a listener forever, that's   cool too, just know we're here, reach out. We love this stuff, we are passionate about serving the dental community in the best ways possible and reaching as many people as we possibly can. That's why we started the podcast years and years ago. So reach out to us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com Drop us a review below, let us know what you loved about today and honestly, Kristy and I would love to hear from you guys. Again, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, tell them, send this to Tiff and Kristy. We would love to hear from you guys on what is your why?   What is your purpose? What's your inspiration? And how are you gonna use it? I, truth be told, would love to see those emails. I know, Kristy, you would too. awesome. All right, guys, go do the things. Go be inspirational and check back with us. Let us know how your teams do. Thanks so much.