By Jayme Amos. Get free updates of posts here
Dental Practice Management Technique:
The Ideal
Every dental practice has one underused tool.
In dentistry’s Startup Bootcamp we discuss this (our invitation-only program). You’ll also hear about it the live course, the Startup Practice Blueprint.
Its a tool that is so simple, but so often overlooked.
Its free, requires no weekend course and no fees.
While many will implement dental practice management techniques from various consultants, there is one that could clarify, simplify and empower you more than any other. It’s holding you back from your desired level of satisfaction and production.
That tool is: Your Ideal.
Your Ideal.
In this concept’s simplest form, you merely do 2 things:
1) Communicate it and
2) Require it.
If you do these 2 things clearly and consistently, your dental practice will surely become more of what you desire and less of what gives you frustration and stress.
Does that sound like a cheap poster from the mall? It may, but I can assure you that if you communicate and require YOUR ideal, you will more satisfied and more productive throughout your career. This is true of your communication with patients, referring doctors and staff.
So many clients we work with will tell us they’re frustrated. And many, many times, the root of the frustration is that the doctor’s ideals haven’t been clearly communicated.
Ask yourself this and attempt to answer slowly, pensively…
“When I’m frustrated in the dental practice, is it ever related to people not reaching
My Ideal Expectations?“
The sad, debilitating alternate side of communicating and requiring your ideal are the dentists who experience the following:
Tired. Burned out. Cash crunch. Unfulfilled. Limited.
Pessimistic. Closed. Worried. Controlled.
Confused. Mad. Frustrated.
I assure you that if you determine what your ideal is, communicate it, and require it, you’ll avoid the need for dozens of other dental practice management techniques. Your entire career will look differently embracing this simple concept.
So if this dental practice management technique is so simple, why is it so underused and underdiscussed?
Hmm. Well the first and easiest answer is that its free. Its hard for any business to spend a big marketing budget on a free piece of simple advice. That would be one of the biggest reasons we don’t see this dental practice management technique plastered on the walls at dental meetings.
But in addition to that, the “Ideal” method of improving your practice takes GUTS.
- You need guts to have people hear what you’re really wanting.
- You need guts to let patients know what you’re really thinking is appropriate for that treatment plan.
- You need guts to tell that vendor all your clear, tough expectations, facing that potential conflict.
- You need guts to tell the staff you don’t approve of texting during office hours.
- You need guts to be honest with yourself about what you really want out of your career, your family and your personal life.
Guts are scary.
Guts are the biggest reason why the simple tool of “the ideal” isn’t enjoyed by more of your colleagues.
But could you work up the guts if the rewards were big enough for you?
I think you can.
Here are some ways I’ve seen the “Ideal” dental practice management technique work well:
Communicate your ideal…
…treatment to patients. Don’t “watch” that decay when you know. Communicate your ideal treatment to the patient. If you’re honest, sincere and informed on the proposed treatment plan, your patients will know you care. They may still say no but many times they’ll say yes because they’ll understand you’re telling them about your ideal. It will come from a place of integrity and care that only your ideal can exude. If the patients knew what you know, they would follow your genuine, high integrity lead from your chairside position.
Communicate your ideal…
…hours to staff. Don’t let them tell you – it’s your business, your career and there are great staff out there who want to support your vision but they need to hear you communicate and require your ideal. Don’t be held hostage. Speak it clearly. If they have a chance to hear how you have a standard and you’re not swaying, they’ll respect you more and have a chance to live up to your ideal. Can you imagine removing that stress from your life?
Communicate your ideal…
…results you expect of vendors. Set the expectations up front. Plan out what you want before you meet with them and explain your ideal to them. They will let you know if they’re not a good match. Those who are a good match will rise to your standards. When vendors rise to your standards, the world tends to work with you and for you. But if you duck the conversation for fear of confrontation or any other reason, you short change your own potential. Allow your vendors to live up to your potential…tell them your ideal!
Communicate your ideal…
…financial policy. Patients who can pay for tires and iphones can pay for the care they accept. Don’t be fooled by other goofy dental practice management techniques – its very simple, really. Don’t let your empathy blend with sympathy and permit someone to dictate how they will pay you for services delivered outside of your financial policy. Your standards and your ideals will be an accepted reality if they’re communicated well and required with consistency.
Communicate your ideal…
…standards to yourself. What do you expect of yourself? You will fail some, you will succeed some but require your ideal from yourself. Your ideal will give you the most confidence and the most pride. The feeling will compel you to reach new levels satisfaction. But you won’t have a chance of reaching that fulfilling level without having candid discussion with yourself about your ideals.
Your investment in your education, your career, your family, your facility and your patients deserve your ideal; your great dental management technique. Each one of those things is in your life because they are there to be with you – and they want to be with the best version of you. So define your ideal.
Communicate it. Require it. Pursue it.
Your “ideal” isn’t a class in dental school or a CE you’ll take at a hand’s on course but it alone can be the deciding factor that defines the doctors who are fulfilled, satisfied and flourishing in their dental practice.
Here is a challenge for you that could reshape your future happiness and accomplishments: take 30 minutes today. Write down your ideals with a minimum of 100 words of precise, clear thoughts in these 6 categories:
- Your patient’s care
- Your Staff’s roles and responsibilities while they’re on the clock
- Your family
- Your income
- Your vendors
- Your legacy
If you take 30 minutes (just 5 minutes per category!) I predict you will wow yourself. I anticipate you’ll look at what you wrote and feel confidence, control and potential that can carry you to your next level.
Give this a shot – see if it can reshape and redirect the way you work and they results you get. This could be a defining moment in your life!
You deserve the best….The Ideal.
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