I've analyzed thousands of practices over the past 15+ years, and I've uncovered some information that you will find incredibly useful: 100% of the doctors whom I've observed are not reaching their full potential. That's right: I haven't seen a single practice owner whose business is fulfilling its capacity for growth. The problem is that most of you don't realize what you are even capable of.
To give you a little bit of context, there are two types of practice owners. You fall into one of these two categories: practice owners who grow their businesses or practice owners who maintain their businesses . . . without growing them.
I've discovered that the vast majority of dentists-at least 75%-fall into the second category. The reasons why dentists fall into this category may vary. Maybe you feel like you "can't afford" to make investments in your practice, or maybe you feel that you are "too busy." Maybe you haven't fully embraced the fact that you are truly a business owner because you only see yourself as a doctor.
But here's the thing: You got an education, received your license, and decided to open your practice. And BOOM! At the second those doors opened, you became a business owner, as well as the primary investor in your business.
Until now, however, you have probably adopted a passive attitude toward running your business. Every morning, you show up at the office, attend to your patients, pay your staff, and take your salary from whatever's left. You might be working your butt off, but it doesn't really feel as though the "reward" is worth it so far.
I'm here to try to change your perspective. I only have one page, so I'm going to cut to the chase. As a dentist, you are in a fantastic, booming industry. As a business owner, you have a moneymaking vehicle at your fingertips. As someone who has been observing doctors just like you and their practices for more than 15 years, I'm telling you that if you commit to making some changes, you will be able to work fewer days per week, work shorter days, take more vacations, and make more money. Interested?
Here is my primary piece of advice, based on a critical mistake made by dentists around the world. You need to invest in training your front desk staff. By changing this one thing, you can go from being a passive dentist, who has no real role in growing the business, to being an active business owner with a vision of success. It might sound like I'm oversimplifying, but I can tell you that I've given this advice to thousands of dentists. Some of them took this piece of advice, and some of them ignored it. Within five years, the dentists who took this piece of advice flourished. We trained their teams, their new-patient numbers skyrocketed, their production increased, and everyone's income increased. It's been a beautiful thing to watch.
Do you want to know why training your front desk team has such a tremendous effect on the success rate of your practice and-to be blunt-your income?
Your team handles the very first point of contact you have with each new patient-the telephone. The first phone conversation between a potential patient and your front desk team member is a vital moment when the patient has the opportunity to schedule an appointment or simply hang up the phone. So, here's the last thing I need to tell you: You are gravely underestimating the importance of this conversation and the importance of your phones. As a result, you probably have not properly trained your team to handle these phone calls, answer all questions, or schedule patients for appointments.
Because of you, most of these calls are falling through the cracks, and you are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new-patient appointments every single month. I am not exaggerating. You could have the best marketing in your whole city, but if you have not trained your team on the phones, you are flushing your marketing budget down the drain. If you want to boost your new-patient numbers, production, and collections, you need to make training your front desk team on the phones a priority.
Jay Geier is the founder of the Scheduling Institute and the creator of a telephone training program that helps dentists attract new patients to their practices. He is finally revealing his secret for record-setting results, 600+ new patients in one week. Visit www.schedulinginstitute.com/DE to discover how he did it.
