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Kiera is joined by Sean Hamel, CEO of Art of Dental Marketing, to talk about … yup, dental marketing! Sean goes through why dentists struggle so much with messaging, what the right language for patient referrals is, how to make your practice stand out from that other practice 0.2 miles away, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I have a very special friend back on the podcast, Sean Hamel. He and I actually worked together. He worked in Dental A Team for a hot minute. he is a CEO and founder of the Art of Dental Marketing. He is here to talk about all things of what works, what doesn't work. I shoot, guys, you guys know marketing is my Achilles heel. So I get really smart people in the industry to come on the podcast, talk about it. So, Sean, welcome to the show. How are you?   Sean Hamel (00:25) Thanks, Kiera. Good, thank you. It's always good to see you. I that was when when was the Dental A Team kinda overlap? That was like four or five years ago now. Crazy how time flies.   Kiera (00:33) I know. It   yeah, because we were doing an event. So I think it was like three, four years ago, and we were going through like   Sean Hamel (00:38) Mm-hmm.   Kiera (00:38) a rebrand and I still have emails from you and like campaigns that we worked on together. So it's fun   Sean Hamel (00:44) cool.   Kiera (00:44) that we've actually like worked together and now here we are. You work with all the dentists too. So yeah, but it's been a hot   Sean Hamel (00:49) Absolutely.   Kiera (00:50) minute and now here we are podcasting again together. So here we are.   Sean Hamel (00:54) Absolutely, always good to see you.   Kiera (00:56) Likewise. Okay, Sean, for those who don't know you, tell them a little bit of who Sean is, how did the Art of Dental Marketing come about, and w like why you we should even listen to you today. Like basically pitch yourself.   Sean Hamel (01:07) Absolutely.   I know there are so many dental marketers. It seems like every day there's like 20 or 30 more, probably more than that. But I started dental marketing about 15 years ago. I was purely accidental. I have a degree in marketing, graduated, and in doing that, got a job it for a dental financial services company basically running their marketing and was meeting a lot of doctors and making friendships with a lot of doctors.   And nobody tells you when you graduate school with a marketing degree, but you suddenly become all of your friends and family's like resident marketing expert. And   Kiera (01:41) Yeah.   Sean Hamel (01:41) so one of my buddies was graduating from dental school, and another buddy of mine was having some issues with SEO in his practice. And so they just kind of asked me some general questions. long story short, helped them choose some solutions, wasn't really amped about any of them, but you know, tried to help them make the best decision they could, and they didn't get great results.   and so I started helping them and using story-based marketing, which is a big piece of what makes ADM different, we were able to get them really solid results and they gave me a lot of grace to try things. And over the course of doing that, we were able to get really good results for them. And so in doing so, other dentists that were their peers and friends and things started asking, you know, who's doing your marketing? And so I started to get more and more clients. to now, you know, 14, 15 years later, we've worked with   hundreds and hundreds of doctors. and I travel all over the country speaking and teaching doctors about why dental marketing largely doesn't work. most of the time here it's a messaging problem. But why dental marketing doesn't work, why no matter who you seem to hire, you can't really get results. and also just kind of talking about why the industry is tilted in a way that it's not really set up for doctors to be successful and they have to kind of learn as they go how to vet, how to properly seek out help.   And then even how to monitor the people they're paying to help them to actively get results. Cause that seems to be the biggest issue for doctors is I hire seven marketing companies and nobody can   Kiera (03:10) Mm-hmm.   Sean Hamel (03:11) get results.   Kiera (03:12) Okay, so dig into it. You pitched me, well, I'll listen to you, Sean. Why doesn't cause selfishly for myself, I'm in the same boat. I'm like, my gosh. Sean, I looked at my numbers. This is gonna be fun for you. We decided to do a revamp. I've done this twice. So this is   Sean Hamel (03:25) Mm.   Kiera (03:26) year two that I'm trying this. Like I did it a couple of years ago and then I was like, forget that. That was a really that was a five hundred thousand dollar mistake. This year I'm up to a   Sean Hamel (03:32) Mm.   Kiera (03:32) seven hundred and fifty thousand dollar mistake. Like I don't know if it's   Sean Hamel (03:34) Mm.   Kiera (03:35) a full mistake, but it is like it just feels like this bottomless pit in marketing. It's like   Just keep pumping more money into it and hope and pray something works out. And then you re-pivot the strategy. And then it's like, okay, it's gonna take three more months to do it. So I am equally piqued. We have a great CRO on our team now that actually I've seen more results than I've ever seen. But it's like   Sean Hamel (03:52) Mm.   Kiera (03:54) that's hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like I just listed Kiera's dirty laundry on the podcast 500,000 two years ago, 750,000 this year. Our marketing expenses are up by 350,000. So enjoy that.   Sean Hamel (04:04) Mm-hmm.   Kiera (04:04) Like those are some big numbers. And so I don't want any of you dentists out there being like, my $50,000 marketing is expensive.   Listen, all y'all, I know what this is. And also don't tell me consulting's expensive. Like I've gone through, I paid 250,000 for Tony Robbins. Like there is expensive consulting and then there's also just like it is just a a good fee. So Sean, talk to us. Talk to me. Hi, I'm Kiera. I'm your I'm your client today. Tell us why doesn't marketing work and how do we actually get it fixed?   Sean Hamel (04:29) Well, and and d for dentists specifically, you know, dental is so unique. your issue with which is selling two dentists is a lot of times a messaging problem too. but as far as it relates to dental practices specifically, I talk about what I call the cycle of mediocrity, but it basically is what I've kind of drilled down over over a decade of doing this, working with hundreds of offices. And I talk about it in depth. I'll kind of give you the the cliff notes because it is a very   long conversation. I know we're trying to stay   Kiera (04:59) Okay.   Sean Hamel (05:00) like under 30 minutes here. But with dental practices, largely what happens is everybody looks the same. So if you pull up, you know, five dental practices, everybody looks the same. They say the same things. They're hiring marketing companies that are selling very like generic templated things. So everybody looks the same. It's all hyperclinical. You know, everybody's trying to to chase the same people.   While they're all looking the same. And so because of that, Kiera, the only way the marketers know how to differentiate the businesses is with discounts. So   Kiera (05:30) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.   Sean Hamel (05:31) the the practices, because everybody's so close together and they're all saying the same stuff, they get locked in these price and proximity battles. So they're fighting over how can we how much can we outdiscount the practice next to us? They're being advised by industry leaders, industry leaders to do   Kiera (05:46) Mm-hmm.   Sean Hamel (05:47) new new patient specials constantly.   And then a lot of it too is just, hey, this practice is 0.7 miles from my house. This practice is 0.9 miles from my house.   So   Kiera (05:55) Totally.   Sean Hamel (05:56) you have you have those kind of decisions happening, but you get locked in price and proximity battles, which leads to what I have kind of coined as what I call the freebie trap. But the doctors get conditioned that they have to give away what they do in order to be successful.   Kiera (06:09) Totally.   Sean Hamel (06:09) It's not super helpful because that means you got to do more dentistry to make up for it. And when you're battling on price, that's all you're giving people. That's the only thing they have to make a decision off of.   But those price and proximity battles, getting in that freebie kind of mindset and constantly giving things away, that brings in non-desirable patients. And the non-desirable   Kiera (06:28) Right.   Sean Hamel (06:29) patients are the one everybody's complaining about, right? They take a chair time, they don't have credit, they're not going to accept treatment, they come in for the special and they leave. And so that puts a lot of pressure on the practice because dental practices, as you know, you have to see somebody repeated times before you really start monetizing that relationship. But dentistry is a relationship business.   And so the one and duns put a lot of stress on the practice, and that starts to cause burnout and frustration on the team and the doctor because they're constantly chasing this new patient number, but they're still not making any money. They're busy, but they're not profitable, which is a huge problem.   Kiera (07:01) Mm-hmm.   Sean Hamel (07:03) So from there, the burnout starts to set in and the doctor goes out and starts throwing up Hail Marys, hoping to get help, like you are, hoping to get help. I'm spending all this money, noth

How great would it be, having systems that sail smoothly no matter who is sick, who changes positions, who quits, who [insert out-of-the-blue incident here]? Tiff and Dana talk about what exactly to implement in your practice so that communication flows. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. I say it every single time. and I have Miss Dana here with me. And Dana and I have been podcasting together for what feels like an eternity at this point. It's been a long time. she is an OG with me at this point. And if you ask Kira what OG means, please ask her next time you see her in person. Say what does OG mean? and she will tell you it's oldie but goodie. And so that is our company.   lingo for OG at this point. And Dana, you are my girl. You know I love podcasting with you. We have done so many podcasts. We were actually just talking about fam here. Like how many times can we take these different perspectives of these similar topics? And I'm like, gosh, yes, I agree. And it's like we we talk about such similar things, but Dana, I do think you and I do a really great job. You kind of coax a different   side you and I both come from different angles in so many different ways. So if my point of that is if you're here today and you hear this topic, you hear what we have to say and you're like, gosh, I I think I need a little bit more, do a quick Google search. I call it a Google search. It's just a a search on our website. on the podcast section of our website, if you type in any of the keywords that you hear today, there's gonna be more podcasts that pop up. It's maybe I think I could say like similar content, but that even feels wrong.   their topics you guys that we have just poured into and poured so much information out into the world because we want you to have everything that we have in our brains in your pocket. So make sure if you feel like gosh I just needed a little bit more go search it or if you like these were fantastic and what else are they talking about? What does Tiff mean? Go search on our website TheDentalATeam.com there's a whole podcast section there's a little search bar there. Go do yourself a little search and you can find just hundreds of topics. So   Dana, thank you for being here with me today. Thank you for always going rounds with me. and for prepping ahead of time so that we can see kind of where we want to take this, even though who knows where it'll go, you know, it could just change on the drop of a dime. But how are you this morning, Dana?   DAT-Dana (02:11) Doing good. And I tip, I think that's my favorite part of podcasting with you. It's like we can come in with like best laid plans and then we just get to talking and it just starts to get natural and it goes where it needs to go. and you're right, while like maybe there's some similar topic in there, I do feel like there's always a new angle to it, there's always a new consideration in it. And so I love that you say, hey, if you want to deep dive, check out the other ones that are around the same top like topic point, because   It might not just be you and I, right? It might be you and someone else. It might be Kira that talks about it. And we all have just just different like skill sets and backgrounds that I think puts a little twist on everything. So I'm excited to be here with you.   Tiffanie (02:49) Yeah. I   totally agree. I love how you said that. And I agree. And honestly, in the morning I'm like, gosh, we had a podcast. And then as soon as we get here, I'm like, I just get to hang out with Dana for an hour. So this is kind of cool. I definitely need this time with you. So thank you for being here and thank you for always having a fresh perspective. for our listeners, if you've never met Dana, please go check.   Her out, come to the events, come see her in person, listen to all of her podcasts. Cause Dana, you really do have an incredible mind, and I love picking it. So I'm gonna pick your brain today. And marketing gives us some really cool topics, and and I love like we talked about they'll they like put a spin on different words and you know, similar topics, but it's stated differently. The titles it's titled something really cool and catchy, and I think speaks to the fact that we do have really   I mean, dental is like it's dental. Like how how exciting can we get here? You know? But we really do have exciting takes on so much stuff. And something we've been working on, our our doctor's only mastermind actually tomorrow is kind of a similar topic, Dana. You mentioned this that like what if the doctor's not there? So something our company's been working on with our clients internally, and then it's transitioning now into outpouring messages here on platforms like this is really prepping the business.   for when something changes, when maybe a doctor's out, and that could be vacation, that could be gosh, my doctor, when I was like, gosh, Dana, I think I was twenty maybe. I remember coming in after Thanksgiving. It was it was the Monday after Thanksgiving. And my doctor is like on a scooter, like those little like what you know, his knees up scooter. And I'm like, what happened? And he had an A T V accident over Thanksgiving break and he had   like broken his ankle and it ended up being this whole thing. He was on that scooter for like eight months 'cause he had have multiple surgeries. It got infected. And I remember standing there at t nineteen, twenty, however old I was, looking at him and going, What if that was your hand? Like I knew in that moment how like serious this could be. So I think we think about plan for your vacations, but what about all the things that we can't plan for? Illnesses, you know, we've got   hygienists that have kids that have school, you know, things that they have to attend or breaks. Like we've we've got a an industry that's full of a lot of moms and a and a lot of illnesses. I know I was sick last week because we had a kid come home with something, you know. So I think Dana, to your point of our of our conversation earlier, it's really like systems that keep   working when plans change, but sometimes it's not even just something falling off of the schedule. Sometimes it's that we're short staffed or without an entire doctor because something has happened. So Dana, when you when I we read that topic and you you looked at it, I said it earlier. What did you think of? If you had to prep a practice, a dot a client was like, gosh, things are changing or something changed, what would be your go-to method for helping them prepare   for systems that can withstand change.   DAT-Dana (05:59) Yeah.   Yeah. And I think that dentistry is still very and I love it. Some of my favorite offices, you know, I walk in and they're like, I I don't want to do dentistry without this assistant, right? Or I don't ever   Tiffanie (06:09) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:09) want to be in business without this, you know, office manager. And I think that dentistry still can be a little bit people dependent   Tiffanie (06:17) For sure.   DAT-Dana (06:17) versus system dependent. And I think we've had to talk about this a lot lately, because just a hiring climate.   a little bit of a hiring drought in some areas of dentistry and just in some areas of the country, it's been harder   Tiffanie (06:31) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:31) to I think hire and replace team members too. So I feel like getting practices to see that we have to have systems in place that no matter who is there, no matter how many team members are there, we can kind of pivot every day and and certain things continue to go on.   you know, especially like those patient experience things or the patient flow pieces and closing treatment, right? Those are things that have to go on, no matter how many people we have in the practice or or who is there or what the schedule looks like. And so I think that it's something we're having to work a lot with offices. And I think it's great to be able to have a platform like this to talk about how we do that.   Tiffanie (07:10) Yeah, I totally agree. You said, in there like case acceptance and filling the schedule essentially, right? And I something that that makes me think of is the importance of communication. Right. We we call it handoffs. Everyone says, you know, what's your handoff or how do we do a handoff? What is you what is the verbiage we should use with a handoff? And I think if we narrow it down into like the simple word of communicate, making sure that we're all speaking to each other, it's the biggest   space that leaves room for error and I have I have a practice and I love them dearly and that doctor he constantly is saying like how do we how do we mitigate the chaos? How do we mitigate the chaos every day? Why is it crazy? Why are there, you know, cases are missing and schedules falling apart and phones are ringing off the hook. People are calling in and I'm like, gosh, it's so simple, it's annoying.   Because we want it to be this grandiose, like difficult thing, but it's so simple, it's annoying. We just need to talk to each other more. We need to say what's in our our brain to one another and prep and plan together. If everyone knew that Joanna called out this morning and that the assistance team were short staffed, everyone could pick up the pieces in their area and help. But most of the time, I feel like the hygiene department doesn't even know.   that there's a dental assistant missing until sterile's backed up and they're like, What is going on? And they're like, Where's Joanna? Where has she   DAT-Dana (08:38) Mm.   Tiffanie (08:38) been all day? It's like three hours into the workday and the assistants are running ragged, or vice versa.

Practice success doesn't always equal personal life happiness. Kiera talks about the Yes Success Model, and how to align your business goals with your personal life goals, because they're allowed to complement each other (and should, frankly). She asks probing questions that'll get you thinking about alignment and finding the right motivating factors to keep going. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript:   Kiera (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And I am so excited because I love today's topic. And I hope that it just gives you a filtering and a process of how do I like actually make like growth decisions and life goals and like what is that long-term vision clarity? Like to me, it's such an empowering topic for you. And I'm so excited because I think that so many practice owners, when I meet them or we work with them, is they actually build a successful practice that they don't want. I've done it. I built a business that I didn't freaking want to work in. And I've said, like, hey, if I   If I actually like didn't have to work here and I didn't own this, would I keep working here? And if I can't say yes, then we might want to rework this. and honestly, growth without direction can leave you with more stress, more responsibility, and less freedom. And so today I just want to work on like sometimes bigger isn't always better. Sometimes like we just need to be better aligned is better. So bigger isn't always better. Doesn't mean bigger is wrong, but better aligned is where we're actually trying to go. So I want you guys just to know like a lot of owners feel stuck.   Even after they hit success. Like I had a podcast a while of like the empty millionaire. Like I thought like if I hit a million, everybody says this and I was like, Yeah, right, I'm not gonna be that person. No, I remember being like, So this is it, huh? Like, all right, we've hit a million.   Cool. Do I love my life? No. Like it was this wild thing. And so, like, why do we still feel stuck after hitting success? And how to create this vision that guides a lot of your decisions to where you have a filtering process of yes or no? Like I think about Willy Wonka and the golden egg, like yes, no, good, bad, like giving you kind of that framework to know. And then like what are some questions you should be asking before your next big move? So I think it's really fascinating because when we work with a client and we get on our first call, I'm not here to say like, what do you, what do you want to produce?   we call it the yes success model and the why stands for you. The number one thing I want to know is like what what's the life that you're trying to build? I say it often I will say it here. Your business should serve your life, not the other way around. And I've gotten it wrong for so many years where I've given up so much of my life to serve the business. I remember being like, I think back to when I first started the company and Jason and I would be hanging out and we were literally floating down the river. I kid you not, like we're rafting tubing, and I'm on my phone answering emails. And that was an aha moment for me of like here, I think you're doing this wrong.   Like you need to freaking shut it off and like be present. And I'm building like that's not the life I want. I don't want to be working seven days a week. I don't want to be psycho. I don't want to be stressed out of my mind. So like I think it's really powerful. Like I call it the yes success model. You are number one pillar. Then it's earnings and then it's systems and team development, not the other way around. If I mess up on you and your life and we are building a practice and you're not fulfilled at the end, we have failed. And that is my definition of it. So I don't want you guys chasing someone else's version of success.   I don't want you chasing more locations or operatories or production. I want you doing this because this lights you up and this is your vision and that not because you feel like that's what you should be doing. We're gonna stop shooting on ourselves. I have a practice, they produce about four million a year. They're at a 35% overhead, they work four days a week. People are like, you need another practice, and they're like, we don't want to. This is the life we want. And I think sometimes being that stalwart in your vision is really, really critical and pivotal. So today I just want you to like.   realize that vision planning, like I talk to offices all the time, if your team's not following, it's because you don't have a strong enough vision. If you're not happy in your life, it's because you don't have a strong enough vision of where you actually want to go. So I want you to really have these growth decisions that move you closer to the life you actually want, not further and further away from that. So number one, what are we gonna do? Hi, we're Dental A Team. I'm obsessed with you. I'm here to help you have the dreamiest life you could ever imagine. I love, love, love helping dentists and teams come together to live their best life.   And I really want to empower you, CEO dentist out there, the dentist who is the CEO of their life and their practice. I call it life and business on purpose. Like let's GSD together. So step one is let's define success beyond production. And for me, this is really hard. I remember there was a dentist I was talking to, and he's like, But Kiera, production is the only thing we can compare against. It's the only actual number. You're right. There is no number of like, what's my fulfillment measure today? Am I like 10%, 20%? There's nothing in there.   So it's really, really hard because sometimes we're like, well, my production number is the only thing that I compare with all the other dentists. But I have a dentist who's making a million a year, like he's producing a million a year, works three days a week, and loves his life. There is no way for me to say, like, what's his success measure? I can know what his production is and like, hey, I got an office over here doing 29 million. But we got to define our success beyond production. So production's a result, it's not a vision. So I really want you to have like   it's hard because like setting revenue goals without lifestyle goals is a miss. Saying yes to every opportunity is another miss. Feeling successful on paper but exhausted in reality, that's another miss. So we pivot it and sometimes I feel like this is the time where like pretend I'm your fairy godmother and I'm just gonna wave my magic wand for you. Like if you had no stressors, you didn't feel like anybody was judging you, no parents, no spouse, no family, no friends, no no, I don't know, like mean girl or mean guy sitting on your shoulder, how many days do you actually want to work?   What kind of dentistry do I actually love doing? When do I want to retire? Or like maybe scale back a few days? What about my family to look like? How much freedom do I actually want? Notice I didn't put in there any dollars in there because if we can focus on vision first, dollars come second. If I know what your vision is and what your life is, fantastic. We can go build. You guys, dentistry is untapped. It's freaking awesome. Like, so let's just build. Like, what does that look like? And you might realize, like, I don't know, Kiera. And so I was actually working with a friend this last weekend.   And he's like, Kiera, what do you do when you don't know where you want to go? And I was like, Well, step one is we got to have a little guiding star. Like, let's just do five or 10 years from today. What's your age and what do you want that to look like? You could go further and you could say, when I'm 90, what do I think I'd want to be doing right now? Like when Kiera's reliving her life at 90, sitting on her rocking chair with hot pink hair, like it's actually cutting candy. Pink, you're welcome. for that visual, like, what do I want my life to look like? So, whichever one's gonna work for you.   Sometimes a tenure for me, I just need like a little glowing light up on the hill. That's written in pencil. It doesn't have to be permanent. But what do I want that life to look like? And most people usually do it based on one of three things. It's either going to be a dollar amount, which is totally fine. It's going to be on a fulfillment, like what's going to drive you, or it's going to be on a purpose. So, like for me, massive impact. I drive so hard because I want to impact and serve every dang dentist out there. So share this podcast with somebody. Help me on my goal. Like, I'm obsessed with helping dentists have their best lives.   And so like that drives me literally in the middle of every vision board, unintentionally, it says massive impact. Like, what can I do that's gonna leave a stamp and a mark on so many people's lives? And so I built the podcast for free because it was a way for us to reach more people. I hope we brighten your day. You're welcome. Go leave us a review for it and tell more people about it so more people we can serve. Like genuinely, that's what it was. But that's like in the middle of my goal board. So for me, it's impact. Like numbers are super fun and numbers drive me hard. And I'm not here to say like numbers are wrong. I am highly numbers driven.   But like, what's the impact? That's gonna motivate me so much more. Like serving 500 dentists and then serving a thousand dentists. Like that to me is something of like a churn. I want to make 40 millionaires in my next lifetime. Like, how do I do that? Like the next decade of my life. So, like, I look at this, but also like, what is the life that I want? What's the trade-off? They can be hand in hand. So I really want you to look at like what is it? I told you about that office that I've got this 3.5, 35% overhe

It's Kiera and Britt on the pod together, with listeners getting a live look into how the Dental A-Team is thinking about the year's end — plus ideas as to what could be copied over to dental practices. There's a large emphasis on cost estimates and budgeting, including knowing when to fine-tune production or start cutting, and finding alignment as a team over those decisions. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today, wow, today feels like it should be written in the history books. Me and the Brittany Stone, No BS Britt coming on the podcast today. Britt, how you doing today?   Brittany (00:12) Good, was just thinking it's been a minute since I've been on the podcast.   Kiera (00:16) I know. I always message Britt when I need like certain topics. I'm like, hey, you want a podcast with me? And Britt's nice to say yes to me. I don't I don't bring Britt on as much as we used to. Britt doesn't actively take clients now. Britt hangs out in the background with me more often. So Britt, I think that that's like a win. I'm gonna say it's a win. Like Britt gets to be a little,   Brittany (00:36) I'll take it as a win.   Kiera (00:38) yeah. We work on some cool, crazy projects. We're working on a real fun one right now, getting ready for next year.   Britt, that spreadsheet's sexy. Spreadsheets are kind of my love language. So reviewed that   Brittany (00:48) Thank you.   Kiera (00:48) this last week and we're excited. There's some fun things coming up in the company for all future clients and our current clients. So Britt and I work behind the scenes, but yeah, No BS Britt. If you guys don't know her, she has been a consultant for quite a while. She has like three favorite clients that she kept when she decided to, you know, move along. And then she works in our operations in HR. And Britt is just a wealth of knowledge. She also's a hygienist. So   All things, but Britt and I decided we'd get on the podcast. AK I decided and asked Britt if she would join me is really how this shook out.   Brittany (01:16) Yeah   Kiera (01:20) we want to talk about like some of the things we're doing in Dental A Team for end of year planning. And I figured Britt and I, like these are our real everyday conversations, helping you guys plan and prepare for end of year. And Britt, maybe I'm a little psychotic on end of year planning, but I figured like let's kind of go through what we do together in our company, how we set up, and then hopefully again for offices you guys can be prepping for.   end of year. So that's my that's my plan for today, Britt. I hope you're on board with that.   Brittany (01:45) I mean, I like it. think our company sometimes has a little bit more, has a few more variables than like dental practice   Kiera (01:51) Yeah.   Brittany (01:52) end of year planning. think we'll just say that on the like psychotic comment, but dental   Kiera (01:58) Yeah.   Brittany (01:58) practices, not to say there aren't variables involved, but you know, cost of travel and stuff like that is real fun right now.   Kiera (02:07) I mean, seriously, our travel costs, we were going through all of our expenses this year and I was like, wow, we are up a lot. And a lot of them are just travel costs. Like I was shocked at how much travel has gone up. There's just a lot of things, right? Everybody's dealing with inflation. And so   Brittany (02:20) Mm-hmm.   Kiera (02:21) as we go through it, I think systematically Britt and I start planning our year around September time. So we'll be going through and we're gonna pull up all of our costs for last year. So we're gonna look to see.   We're gonna look at 2025 and then we're gonna run from 2026 from January till September. What is that? And then I don't know what the word is, Britt. Like when you just I think it's project out. That's the word I'm looking for. We're gonna project, yeah. Choose the word. We're   Brittany (02:43) Protect, forecast, choose your word.   Kiera (02:46) gonna project your forecast out how much we think we're gonna spend for the rest of the year. So that way we can get a good glimpse of what does everything look like? How does this work? What what are we actually doing? And then becomes my favorite part until I hate this part.   You then go   Brittany (02:59) Zzzzz   Kiera (03:00) to what we plan for next year. And so   Brittany (03:02) Mm-hmm.   Kiera (03:03) Literally there's a line item of like what's 2026? And then what do we think 2027 is? And man, Britt, we got our booties burned on some of the things we projected last year. Like we thought it was only gonna be 90,000 and it came in at like 120. So I definitely recommend looking at that. but also like Britt, what are some of the things you see for us and then also for offices? Like when we're projecting out for next year.   What are some of those costs to be planning in? Cause you've got your everyday ones. We're going need to impact for inflation. Like you said, like we're going to sell travels. Like we're going to have to need to boost that up. You still got merchant fees. You still have your rent. You still got these different pieces.   Brittany (03:35) Thank   Kiera (03:37) But like, what are some of the additional things that like you and I talk about in the business that I think a lot of practices might also be considering in their practices too?   Brittany (03:44) Yeah, I think that the steady things are the easier things, right, to anticipate. It's when you're wanting to go and do some fun stuff like, hey,   Kiera (03:52) Yeah.   Brittany (03:52) let's go buy this thing or let's, you know, implement lasers across hygiene and we're going to need to go and buy lasers for everybody or things like that where there's going to be a bigger cost, bigger expense, bigger investment or like, hey, we want to build out.   three ops, right? What does that mean? Does that also mean we're adding in more providers if we're building out those operatories? So some of those things that are one, bigger costs, two, there's opportunity involved. So like there should be some revenue involved with that, of course, if we're investing in those types of things, but being able to plan out both sides of them. So one, what's our investment? One is that investment hitting us? What's that going to look like? And two, right, then like   Part of the fun is like the, are we banking on being the result of that thing? So   Kiera (04:43) Yeah.   Brittany (04:44) if it's provider related in a dental practice, right? What does that mean for even our revenue, our production, if we're gonna be adding on a hygienist or adding on, you know, another doctor to the practice that we didn't have there before. If it's just   Kiera (04:58) Yeah.   Brittany (04:58) an expense, right? Then planning for that expense and how you're gonna go about paying for it, whether it's gonna be.   one lump sum that's going hit us or if we're going to finance something and then that bill is going to be coming to us every month and we're going to be paying it out.   Kiera (05:13) Yeah. And Brett, I think when you talk about that, like it is tricky. And I do think we have a bit more variable expenses. Like for us, it's like dental offices, you know, you got your dental assistant, hygienist. For us, we're like, shoot, when do we need to hire a consultant? Like, don't be too early,   Brittany (05:27) you   Kiera (05:27) don't be too late. What's their capacity that they can handle? so I do think our company does have a few more variables, but I also think, like you said, it's a okay, what is it going to cost? And then what is our projected income for next year or our revenue?   And I'm really excited because in our mastermind with our doctors coming person, this is mine and Britt's like little power project that we've been working on of like   Brittany (05:47) Thanks   Kiera (05:48) helping doctors see, like build in all the expenses that you want. Then let's see what we're gonna produce in how many days and what's your dollar per hour. And then it's like figuring out which levers we can push. And Britt, I think about you often of like, okay, do we need to produce more or do we need to cut more? Like which one are we going to be leveraging? And so when offices are looking at this, and even for us, like I love to have that wish list. Like I love to put it in of   I want to hire this and I want to do this. And like I think, and then when we get to the bottom of it and we're looking at our projected income, it's like, shoot. Now we get to go back through with like full blown   Brittany (06:16) So she's not very happy.   Kiera (06:18) razor and just cut and slice and dice. And hey, Britt, I'm just curious, how do you feel about company retreats on that budget line? Just curious how you feel. I know you just talked to an office about this the other day. It feels relevant, but how do you feel about company retreats?   Brittany (06:32) I think one, build those things in for what you want   Kiera (06:35) Ha ha ha.   Brittany (06:35) to do, what you want to plan to do. then plan wisely. Company retreats can get wild. I think we've all heard some stories. We have great teams, but sometimes we put up in an environment and in a condition and things happen and we have to deal with things we don't want to deal with when we're trying to have fun. yeah,   Kiera (06:51) Yeah.   Brittany (06:53) that's what I'll say on that topic.   I think that owners, this is a good practice of planning things out to be able to see, if I want to do all these things, right? I love my docs that like want to go and take all the courses and buy all the t

Dentistry is most important when a patient is in the practice. As soon as they leave, there are a million other parts of their life competing for priority. Tiff and Dana discuss how to talk about dental care with your patients so it doesn't get lost under the heap of everything else.  Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back again to podcast with you. To yeah, I loved that Dana. Dana's got some excitement in her veins today. I think it's nice out. Honestly, it's nice out. I had I had to close this window the last podcast. That's what you saw me do. and then I have another window open and I'm in Phoenix. We don't open our windows often, and I've only got like probably thirty minutes left of this window being open.   DAT-Dana (00:27) Right.   Tiffanie (00:29) but it's energizing. I feel like   I just need the fresh air and and it's just beautiful out. So I can imagine Dana where you are if it's this beautiful here and then Brodie's in he's forty five minutes south. So he's in Tempe and he sent a picture and it was more beautiful and I'm like, gosh, go another hour and a half past that towards Dana. It's gotta be just gorgeous down there right now.   DAT-Dana (00:51) It is. I feel like though Phoenix can just be gorgeous and be gorgeous. Further south, and there's an as you know, Tiff, because you kind of grew up in this area.   Tiffanie (00:58) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (01:00) if it is sunny and beautiful, then typically it's paired with wind, right? So I feel like my windows are never   Tiffanie (01:04) This is   DAT-Dana (01:06) open because even when in the temperature is beautiful enough to have them open, the wind is going and I don't want all   Tiffanie (01:12) yeah.   DAT-Dana (01:13) the desert dust you know, sitting in my living room. So   Tiffanie (01:17) I love   what you just said. I love it. So Brodie texted me a picture and I said, Gosh, that's prettier than here. I said, This is this weather is the only thing I miss about living in Sierra Vista. And what you just said, people say, Why did you move? Like the weather was the weather is better in Sierra Vista. It literally is. The temperatures   DAT-Dana (01:33) Yeah. Yes.   Tiffanie (01:35) are better. You get a better winter, you get better seasonality. Like it is just better. And people say, Well, why did you move? And I say, Because of the wind. I legitimately   90% moved because I couldn't you just can't be in it. It whips your hair, like it hurts my hair hitting my face as a child. I remember the pain of that and the tangles and brushing my hair out at the end of the day because I had to walk home from the bus. Like legitimately, Dana, the wind. I can't handle Southern Arizona winds. Yeah. Yeah.   DAT-Dana (02:12) Yep, yep, you   hit it. You hit it right on.   Tiffanie (02:15) Spent   my I spent my whole childhood there. I lived in Sierra Vista till I was what, twenty? I think I moved up here when I was twenty. I can't I can't do it. So yeah, I love that you said that. And everyone listening, you just got a nice little taste of the Arizona weather history there. It's never changed. It's still windy. So if you want wind, go down south. If you want really cool honestly, it's it's beautiful down there. So if you haven't visited Southern Arizona, meaning   Like Phoenix is cool too. Obviously Sedona. But if you haven't been south of Phoenix, Tucson has some really cool stuff. But then you get into like Saurita, where you are, and Senoida, there's like wine country, there's Tombstone, Isbe. Like there's a lot to do down there. And I discredit it and disvalue it 'cause I grew up in it. but it is really beautiful. And   on to dental. Yeah. Yeah.   DAT-Dana (03:08) Yeah, but my windows just stay closed. So I can look at   the beauty. I just Yep. Right. Yeah.   Tiffanie (03:13) My windows stay closed because it's too hot. So in Arizona we just don't open windows. Okay.   It's just stifling in our house all the time. It's fine. So on that note, dental. Dana, we get fed podcast topics. and then you and I, I love that you and I are just like, nah, we're not gonna do that one today. I don't I didn't like the other one. So today we we already talked about kind of   Prepping for changes and and systems that work in the midst of change. That was a a podcast we just recorded. So if you haven't heard that one, go back, find it after this one. You don't need it beforehand. But they kinda go I think they kinda go hand in hand because one change that we oftentimes don't prep for because we don't know it's coming, is accepted treatment still like falling off of a schedule. And I think that happens a lot. I have a lot of practices that are like,   It's full until the day before or two days before or gosh my hygiene schedule's full six months. I can't get ab get anybody in. But then the week of it's falling apart. So we're not here to talk about hygiene. There's plenty of those podcasts. Go search it. But we are going to talk about why accepted treatment still falls off of the schedule. And Dana, right before we started this podcast, you said something and I was like, Yep, another drop mic drop moment from Dana. She'll always give them to us.   I would love for you to repeat what you said right before we got on this podcast because I think that it's true and I think that's where we start.   DAT-Dana (04:38) Yeah. I I am known for my brutal honesty tips. So what I   Tiffanie (04:42) Ha ha   DAT-Dana (04:44) said before we got on is like treatment that falls up after the fact is typically for the same reasons that we hear patients give us that they don't schedule to begin with.   Tiffanie (04:53) Yes, yes. And I got excited about that because I believe that oftentimes we work so hard in like the sales side of dentistry that or not that we work so hard on the sales side of dentistry to get a yes that they're just like, okay, yes, fine, I'll schedule it. Like, well, what about this hurdle? What about this hurdle? And yes, I wanna work objections and I wanna I wanna get over hurdles.   But I think Dana, in what you said, you said the same, they they fall off the schedule for the same reason that people don't schedule. And I wonder if not every time, but if sometimes those patients who are falling off weren't actually a yes, they were a let me out of this office right now, right? Because I I've taken a lot of   Communication courses, a lot of relationship style courses. I've done a lot of emotional intelligence and just like communication stuff. And something that is tried and true in every aspect of anything that I've done extracurricularly is the relationship comes first. And   Knowing   the person, knowing the why, knowing the reason, and speaking to that and overcoming, helping someone overcome an issue or a problem and seeing better on the other side is the most important factor. And oftentimes in our objections and our conversations of our hurdles, I wonder if that aspect of the communication gets missed because it's more about checking check boxes.   than it is about investing in the person. And maybe I'm being wild, but when you said that, that's where my brain went and I was like, gosh, it's the relationships. Dana, what are you what's your perspective? What are you seeing on your side?   DAT-Dana (06:47) Yeah, I 100% agree with you. And I feel like when because we hear it all the time when we go into park, well, it falls out because life happens, right? Well, you're right.   Tiffanie (06:55) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (06:56) Life is going to happen. and typically we will also kind of say that like dentistry is most important when the patient is in the office. So then when life happens, right, it becomes less and less important. And I think that you're absolutely right. And to me, it tells me that like   I actually didn't really listen and get to the bottom of what actually was holding the patient back or what their no actually was. And so yes, I got a yes, which great, but I didn't actually get a yes that meant I'm fully committed, I fully understand, I'm fully ready to go. and so then that's kind of why we see it fall off. And I feel like   The biggest thing is life is going to happen for your patients when they leave the practice. So if they don't know where, when, how to prioritize the dentistry that you are talking about with them in life happening, then we didn't get it right.   Right, because life is gonna happen and I need to know that if my dog chews 35 Legos, like she's been doing every week and has to have an emergency vet visit, right? That   Tiffanie (08:00) Yep.   DAT-Dana (08:01) like I know where my dentistry needs to fall in the spectrum of the things of my dog eating 35 Legos, right? Do I need   Tiffanie (08:08) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (08:08) that crown or does the dog need to so life happens, absolutely.   Tiffanie (08:12) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (08:13) But I think our biggest tool is   treatment coordinators or people that talk about treatment or even the dentists, right? Tre doing the treatment planning in the back is they need to know where to prioritize the dental work that needs done with the life things that are going to happen. And I think when we just get that artificial yes, that didn't happen.   Because they   Tiffanie (08:34) Yeah.   DAT-Dana (08:34) left and something came up in their life, or they left and were just like, I do it all the time. I go to Target, I put all these things in my cart, and as I'm walking up to the thing, I'm like, I don't really need that. Or   Tiffanie (08:44) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (08:46) you know what? I don't, I don't really need my lips moisturized. That chapstick can go. Right. An

Your key performance indicators do not have to be intimidating. In fact, with the correct frame of mind, they tell you exactly what's going on in your practice! Kiera shares the smart way to utilize KPIs, including: Looking for patterns, not just numbers Finding the question in each KPI Understanding KPIs are team-wide, not just for the owner Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera, and I hope you're excited because I'm gonna talk to you about KPIs and whether you're excited about it or not, you're gonna listen to KPIs because KPIs are the vital of your practice and your KPIs are really telling you a lot more, just like your vitals on your body are probably telling you a lot more than you think they are. I have been getting and falling in love with weight training, and I had a client shout out to her. She was like, Kiera, you need a new passion to become obsessed with, and I think weight training could be there.   But with my history, I was anorexic for a lot of my life. And thankfully that part of my life I think is like done and over. And I love food. And so with weight training, my coach was like, you've got to track in and you gotta weigh in. So it's weighing in every day, doing your measurements, and then doing macros. And for a girl who is terrified of that, because a skill for me and eating food, like a lot of food.   was like no goes for a lot of years in my life. And what I found though is she was like, Kiera, you're just tracking these because they're telling you information like the food you ate yesterday, or are you like coming up on your menstrual cycle where you're bloated and you're holding more water? it's been fascinating. And I've been tracking for almost a year now. So like huge win. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sure you're all cheering for me. and if you're not, I appreciate the cheers. but what I realized is like,   It's just data and it's telling me information. And I re bring that up because I believe that this was what our KPIs are too. The KPIs are just data to tell us if something's working, if it's not working. I'm obsessed with tracking my metrics. Like there was a while that I was weight training and I wouldn't track what my weight was. And I never was getting stronger because like it's like, I think I was at like 10 pounds last time, versus hey, last time you were at 10 pounds, we're gonna start you at 10 on your warm-up and we're going up to 12. And now I have a really like strict UR trainer.   Who watches my metrics, watches the pieces, and then adjusts accordingly. I am up to PRs that I've never been hitting, but it was because I actually use the data, not just track the data, to make better decisions. And that's what your KPIs are. So I just want you to know that like look at your KPIs to look for the right messages because we're only looking to see if we won or lost most of the time with KPIs. But using these to diagnose problems before they become expensive to me is where your KPIs really start to become impactful. Similar to like, wait.   Right. Like we're trying to add and bulk up my calories. Like I came in at a lower calorie, no shock to anybody. but for us, it's like, okay, well, for me also, how do I know I can add this much food in? Like, guys, so much protein. If you have protein tips, please email me. Be a protein buddy out there. I am so tired of eating cottage cheese, chicken, fair life shakes, cottage cheese. Like my main thing was like cottage cheese, wheat checks, gr raspberries, and peanut butter.   I have eaten Built Bars, like you name it, protein powder. I shout out to Ballerina Farms. That's my favorite one. I've made an Orange Julius with vanilla protein powder. Like you guys, to get that much protein has been so hard. But I also know if I don't get enough protein and I'm lifting, I'm not gonna get my the the gains and the strength that I'm actually going for. And this is to make Kiera, 95-year-old Kiera, to be freaking ripped. I wanna be like running and beating your 20-year-old son or daughter. Like that's what I want to be doing. So   But if I'm not looking at this, I'm not diagnosing these problems. So like we're adding more food food, but like we got to watch to make sure the measurements aren't changing and we're not adding it too quickly or not. So it's this whole piece. Same thing with your KPI. So I hope that analogy was there. I hope that, and hey, if you want to talk to me about like protein or weight training, hi, I would love to talk to you because I was like rookie girl who didn't even know how to lift going into it, wasn't like a bodybuilding competition. There's really, I don't know how to explain it.   But there was this incredible photographer from Spain who does physique photo shoots. And that was like a goal I worked towards. And to be able to have that to weigh in, to do a bulk and a cut, to just like be able to turn my body into this incredible machine and see how I can fuel her. Hey, if you want to talk about that, like hey, maybe that's another podcast of like, but happy to chat with anybody and just know, like, it's really incredible. Also, exhaust the body, tame the mind. Shout out to Dan Martell.   It really has also made me a more powerful CEO and to navigate some of the hardest times in the business because I've been able to have that mental strength and support by working out. So total tangent, but like let's get back into KPIs because KPIs really truly are so helpful for you. It's the first thing that's going to work with you. We have a KPI dashboard for all of our clients. We use the analytics with all of our clients because this will tell you before there's truly a problem. And we can watch trends instead of being like, it was an off month or I feel this way. No more, I feels. It's either I'm gaining.   My weight, like and it's muscle, and I'm building muscle, or I'm just eating nonsense over here. Like it's been really fascinating. So I want you to know this, and we're gonna talk to you guys about like what your KPIs are really trying to tell you. So, as I mentioned, step one is looking for patterns, not just numbers. So, usually like we have a book of business trend for all of our consultants. So we're watching certain KPIs on every single practice, all hundreds of clients that we have, we're watching it.   And we look at kind of like a three-month trail. So I want to see how are these clients doing? How are they doing compared to last year? Because that's going to tell us the whole story. Looking at it just monthly isn't really going to tell you a lot. Just like me tracking my metrics every single day. Well, it's not really going to tell me a lot. But looking at it over the course of time, I'm going to be able to see, okay, when my like as a female, when girls go on their period, guess what? They actually increase their weight because our hormones shift. So then I'm going to be able to start to see. I can actually start to tell without even looking at a calendar.   Which men, I don't know. My husband's like, how do you just not know these dates, Kiera? And I'm like, listen, and all the ladies are giggling, I don't freaking know when this thing's gonna come. It's not like an alarm clock on the 30th of the month that shows up, gentlemen. Okay. So for a female for us to be able to track because of our metrics going up, I'm able to tell when my period's coming much better than I used to be able to predict it because I'm actually watching and trailing that. But I've been tracking it for multiple months. So now I can see the pattern of what's going to happen. So with that.   A lot of men are also giggling, like, well, Kiera, I could tell you beyond just weight. It's probably your mood shifts. Hey, we women are emotional creatures, and I'm okay with that. All right. I hope you guys just enjoyed my like rant between men and women. And I hope you guys all got a good giggle because I did. But back to KPIs, I'm getting tangenty on you all. A single month's not really going to tell us the whole picture. We've got to look at this of like, cause you can have high production, low production. I look in January. It's really embarrassing when I'm showing a new client like an example of a book of business and showing them like,   How this client's trending. January always usually has a low collection. And I know that because December is usually a lower month, which usually means my January is a lower collection. It happens almost on every single practice. So you go down the line, all those buckets for us of every client usually is red on their collection compared to their production. Usually they're producing X amount, they're collecting, but their December is usually two weeks, sometimes three if we're lucky. But that tends to happen. So if I'm saying, like, my gosh, those collections are down.   Well, no, I need to look over this. Or if we're panicking because we have a slow week, everything's down. No, but we need to figure out like how we can actually predict this, how we can measure it. So what I like to do, and this is what our practices are doing, we're looking over several months. So usually like a quarter. Also, I'm gonna look annually because sometimes it's cyclical. Anybody have a September or an ominous October or a dead December? You're welcome. because it's either a September or an ominous October.   And some of my practices just have a genuine dead December. Like my practice in Hawaii, they must aloha over there. It is dead, dead, dead December. So we have to plan and prepare for that because I know it's just gonna be dead. So we're gonna look at this and we're gonna look at the trends over several months. We're also gonna look at cyclical, what's happening annually, or even like month over month, what's going on and w

Guest episode! Kiera is joined by Paul Edwards, CEO and co-founder of CEDR HR Solutions, which provides human resource support especially for dental practices. They go through a rapid fire of topics, such as coaching and accountability, worker classification, documentation and evidence (including AI!), and reporting policies. Visit CEDRSolutions.com to learn more about Paul.  Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a great day. I love my episodes with Paul. Paul is incredible. He is the owner and founder of CEDR. And guess what? He is somebody that I get to just pick his brain about all things HR every time he comes on the podcast. So, Paul, welcome to the show today. How are you?   His Paulness (00:19) very good and I'm gonna take that introduction, that part where you said Paul is incredible. I'm gonna turn it into my ringtone and I'm gonna be insufferable for the rest of the year with that.   Kiera (00:25) Yeah.   His Paulness (00:27) So thank you for that.   Kiera (00:29) You're welcome. I it's funny because every time people meet you and they know you're an HR, they're like, he's actually really funny and he's a good time. And he used to play in a band. And I'm like, yeah, he makes HR not feel as scary. But every time, every time I leave, everyone's like, my gosh, he scared me to death, which is good. Like I think it's a good healthy, like you're super approachable, super nice, but also like whip us into shape of like do this, don't do that. And I appreciate you continually like guiding us along the right path.   His Paulness (00:55) There's   a lot of moving parts when you're an employer. So it all feels a little bit scary. 'Cause soon as you get figure one thing out, then there's the next thing. You're like, no, I'm doing that wrong or or I could do it better or whatever. So yeah, you know, we try   Kiera (01:07) Yeah.   His Paulness (01:08) to break this down so it's understandable.   Kiera (01:11) Which and I appreciate. And if you guys are not subscribed to his newsletter, he's got the best newsletter out there. Like I think you guys do an incredible job. So, Paul, if they're not, how do they get connected to your guys' newsletter? 'Cause that's one of my favorite things about you guys.   His Paulness (01:21) Well, I think what you want to do is just go to the website and search for almost any form on there, but there are education forms on the website. So just go to the website and join what we kind of refer to as HR Base Camp. So if you think about base camp as a place you come back to when you're on a big hike, well, you're on a big hike as an employer. And so we are constantly sending out helpful stuff, you know, two or three times a month. We send out some pretty cool stuff to all of our base campers.   That'll get you also an email that invites you to join the Facebook group, which is kinda cool 'cause you're in there with just managers and owners. and you know, it's about ten, I don't know, nine thousand people in there, something like that. So, yeah, that's the way to go there. you know, you can also subscribe to my podcast, which is what the hell just happened and we cover a lot of topics there that that are kinda fun, you know. So   Kiera (02:12) I love it. Okay. I want to just get that right in at the beginning because you guys truly he's got the best newsletter, got an incredible podcast, and I think this is the stuff that keeps business owners up at night. So let's like not have that happen anymore. So, Paul, we're gonna just like rapid fire. There's   His Paulness (02:27) Okay.   Kiera (02:27) a few topics, and then I know you've got some case studies for us as well. So, and if you guys don't know Paul, CEDR, they are one of the top dental HR companies out there. most of our clients use them. He is one of our   I do not bring a lot of people in to speak to our private groups. And Paul is one of the people that I have hand selected to come in and speak to all of our dentists in a very intimate that's not on the podcast. So it's like no recording, it doesn't get shared. He comes in and speaks to them. So, Paul, I'm excited for today. This is stuff that we'll talk publicly, but let's talk about some of these items. Coaching and accountability. I'm sure we're all doing it wrong. I'm sure I've been coaching and telling people to do this. So tell us what we can and can't do when it comes to coaching and accountability.   His Paulness (03:08) you know, the thing about coaching accountability is that it starts to feel like it starts to feel like something that's punitive, like consequences. And and when it goes into that realm, it's really hard to get somebody to listen. I I I don't know about you, but when someone starts to tell me what I'm doing wrong and that's what the focus is, I get defensive. And that's just human nature. So when we t when we talk about coaching and accountability, especially with Dennis, and I know that you're gonna I think you're gonna agree with me.   I while there are exceptions to the rule, and probably many of them, overwhelmingly I find that dentists do not want to have difficult conversations with their employees. They kind of avoid it. That I mean it's it's about 50% of the reason they get office managers because they're like, I want to have these conversations. I can get someone else can do it. Here's the thing that   Kiera (03:55) Yeah.   His Paulness (03:56) I want to say. Yes, sometimes it ends up where you have to have a really serious conversation with someone. but the   Better way to go about this is for you or you and your manager when you hire someone is to set the expectation with the employee, I mean literally during onboarding, that they are going to receive feedback from you, both positive and sometimes it might feel a little negative, because you're making small corrections. So if you get in the practice of making small corrections as you go forward, you don't you you have far fewer of those big conversations with someone.   And then the the ones that are frustrating, I mean the issues that you're facing with an employee, also become easier because when we're looking at someone who's late all the time, and you know, in a practice with you know, we ha always have just the right amount of employees. We never have a I don't know about you, but I never have an excessive amount of employees around, where everybody's important, you just start leaving no quarter for being late all the time.   you really have to say something about look when you're even when you're only five minutes late in the morning and you tell them what the issue is, you tell them what the impact is, you explain their role in a very positive way so that you can say, Look, when you are late, we are missing you. Not you need to be here on time because when you're on time, bad things happen. And if you don't start being on time, bad   Kiera (05:19) Mm-hmm.   His Paulness (05:20) things are gonna happen to you. If you start with trying to enroll them in the idea that they're playing an important role.   you know, part of the reason I think for goal setting is that you get to say, how are we going to get to the goal if this behavior continues? So I just want to give everybody this reminder that coaching is coaching and it doesn't always have to be corrective and it needs to you if you set an expectation and then you execute on it, you're gonna get a lot better outcomes with people when you bring them on board. And and the other the other end of coaching should always be.   Can you do that? And do you need anything else from me? Like is is is the issue here me? Do we need to give you more training? What can we do to help you get there? So don't forget where that's appropriate, you'll always want to insert that in.   Kiera (06:08) I think Paul on that just like piggyback, what do you do when you've had that conversation like four times? Like, Perry, we've had this, we've had this, we've had this, like, I miss you at Morning Huddle. We need to be at what   His Paulness (06:20) I missed you.   Kiera (06:21) point, at what point is it not like cute? It's like the I feel like it's the child that keeps throwing the rock and mom's like, Okay, let's not throw the rock, like it's gonna break a window. When   His Paulness (06:28) Yep. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Yeah.   Kiera (06:31) do I actually like do something about it?   His Paulness (06:34) As my mom would say, when do we get to snatch a knot in him? That's what I I was just with my mom. She's eighty eight years   Kiera (06:37) Ha ha ha.   His Paulness (06:39) old right now. I she actually said, Son, don't make me snatch a knot in you. 'Cause I like to take her out in public, embarrass her now, and pick on her. but anyway,   Kiera (06:46) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.   His Paulness (06:51) look first things first, great question. I I would do wanna say that after you've had the same repetitive convert conversation with someone   After the second or third time, especially if it's in close proximity in time, you know, you've already talked to them two weeks ago about something and they're doing it again or not doing it. you also want to make sure that you're making little notes in their file. That's very important. and what I found is is that if you don't hold someone to the standard, right? The standard that you're looking for, I I you're they're never going to improve.   And if they're not improving, then maybe they're not the right fit for your company. And the sooner that you figure that out for them and for you, the better. And so if I'm in my third or fourth time within a month about the same thing, I'm sitting down and having a much more serious co

Does your team feel out of whack? Tiff and Pam pull back the curtain on maintaining practice camaraderie by sharing where to find those daily wins. They discuss not only setting goals, but the most effective way to do so; how to best utilize morning huddles; why ongoing communication is critical; and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. We love taking over the podcast, giving Kiera a little break, and as consultants coming on. So you have both myself, Tiffanie and Pam here with you today. Pam, how are you doing this morning?   DAT Pamela (00:20) I am doing fantastic. How are you doing,   Tiffanie (00:22) Good.   DAT Pamela (00:22) Tiffanie?   Tiffanie (00:23) I'm doing good as well. At the time of recording this podcast, it is morning time for us, about 10 a.m. And it's just after a long weekend. It's nice and hot outside. It's 2026, so I don't even know what year you're listening to this in. but we are just excited to be here. We love starting our weeks out with you guys, with podcasting, with delivering awesome information, awesome content. And Pam, I think today's   Topic is something that is really beneficial for everyone. And listeners, we want to make sure that we're always delivering the best quality, that we're delivering the best ideas, and that we're taking the things that we've learned not only in our own extracurricular activities and our own time in dental practices and education, etc., but also what we're seeing in practices that has been   Tried and true, that's been tested, and that's worked for practices. And something that comes to light for us often is camaraderie, culture, making sure that a team is really, really working together as a team and not just kind of like department by department or me here for myself, that kind of thought process. So today Pam and I are gonna be reviewing some pieces that we feel like we've   really nailed in within consulting and within, you practices of our own that really helped to establish that. And Pam, before we get started too much, what are you seeing in your consulting that you feel like kind of comes in alignment with this? What what are what are doctors saying? Why does this idea of really bringing together that camaraderie and that culture piece, why does this seem to be relevant for us today?   DAT Pamela (02:12) Yeah, I mean that culture piece is huge, right? It's it's everything in a ball and how do we describe that? It's really difficult to describe, but you know it when you experience good culture or a poor culture in especially in a dental office. And I think that alignment, everyone knowing what they're working for is and working towards is super, super important.   Tiffanie (02:37) Yeah. What do you feel like when you see an office that's not in alignment that maybe isn't having those shared goals or shared wins, things like that? What kind of things are you seeing happen because of that? Like what are the negative impacts of team members not being ali in alignment?   DAT Pamela (02:54) Yeah, that's a a really good question, right? It's I think what I think everyone in the practice needs to know what that vision is, right? And when it is when the vision does not turn into daily habits, then that's where alignment or misalignment happens, really, right? destroying momentum is what I see. Destroying that alignment is constantly changing, right? If you're the leader and you're   constantly moving the goal, you're constantly saying, well, t we're gonna do this today and then tomorrow we're gonna do this. And you're just bouncing around. That's really difficult. So it doesn't matter what you decide it is, just stick to it and talk about it every day. So the pro that's a big issue that I see. Like a lot of doctors and office managers just feel like they, okay, here's what we're here's our daily things that we're working on to get to the vision that we've created.   But they don't talk about it every day. And it it   Tiffanie (03:55) Yeah.   DAT Pamela (03:55) it's it's just something that you have to do, whether that is a one, two, three, here's our focus, three focuses for the month, one focus for the month. It doesn't matter, but you have to that's that's a big issue in a lot of practices. inconsistency, right? Then that would kind of be in the same vein as that. When you know your doctor says, okay, I'm gonna be at Huddle every morning.   And then it happens for three days and then not for two, and then it happens for three more. So that it's it just says it's not important, right?   Tiffanie (04:29) Mm-hmm.   DAT Pamela (04:30) another another thing I see is I I again it kind of goes back to too many initiatives create confusion. So simple f simplifying it and giving one or two things that we're doing, accomplishing this day, week, month, whatever that is.   Tiffanie (04:51) Yeah, no those.   DAT Pamela (04:52) Yeah, I   I yeah, and I you know, I don't think teams really fail from a lack of information.   Tiffanie (04:59) Mm-hmm.   DAT Pamela (05:00) perhaps they feel f they fail when there's a lack of focus.   Tiffanie (05:05) Mm-hmm. Yeah. And today we're talking about daily wins. Like how what how do daily wins help the progress of the practice? And how do daily wins help keep us in alignment? And some of the pieces that I think I see that come up that show us that this isn't happening, that shows us we're out of alignment and shows us that maybe some of those pieces that you were speaking to, Pam, are happening as when a doctor comes and they're not profitable.   they're they're not able to find the profit or they're not able to fill the schedule or they feel like their schedule is full, but it's hectic, they're not reaching goals, or maybe they don't have goals, or some of the biggest pieces, or I have a lot of clients that will come and say, gosh, we need more new patients, but then we look at the schedule and I'm like, Well, where are you gonna put new more new patients? So it might not be an acquisition issue, it might be a scheduling issue, but though those pieces really kind of point us in the direction.   of a misalignment and that misalignment is typically going to like to your point, Pam, be really related to the goal setting and the clarity around the goals. Like you said, they they don't always need more direction, like more words, but they sometimes lack that clarity that creates that confusion. And really, maybe not confusion so much as to like our monthly goal is 150. Like we need to hit 150,000.   But maybe confusion on what is a priority. So when we don't have that clarity, when we're not all rowing in the same direction, we're not talking about it frequently, we start to make decisions that are based on what's easiest, what's gonna clear up the busywork in front of me right now that may not be moving the needle forward when there's maybe an option for something that could move the needle forward. And I just put that on the back burner. And what I mean by that is maybe   Maybe I'm cleaning up a protocol because it's a little messy and a little confusing, but there's a patient who's just called to schedule treatment and I said, you know what, I'll call them back. I need to finish this first. But my priorities are a little out of sync there and out of alignment with what the actual goals are. And I think, Pam, when clients come in and they say the schedule's, you know, a schedule's one of the top things that clients come in and and talk to us about or that we get   random emails from our listeners at [email protected]. You guys send emails all the time, please continue. We love those. But we get those emails that are like, gosh, my schedule's full. I'm not hitting goal. My schedule's full. It's chaotic and it's crazy. My team doesn't know how to deal with the chaos, right? I don't, my team doesn't know how to mitigate the chaos. and a lot of those pieces, to your point, Pam, can be discussed daily multiple times. So   When you're helping a team find that alignment, Pam, where's one of the first spaces that you help guide them to speak of those daily wins?   DAT Pamela (08:05) Yeah, I I mean it's it's really like when you're setting your goals, setting those KPIs and and setting your goals, it's it's not only saying we are gonna do 150,000, this is our monthly goal, but it's how do I get there? Me as one person in the practice, right? So you know, that that momentum telling each individual, like, okay, your job is this today. So   For example, if you were to set your vision as being like, okay, we want healthy patients, a happy team, and exceptional dentistry, right? That's not giving me a lot to go forward. So it's making sure within those goals, let's say it's 150,000, that you do actually say, and this is your job today. We are going, you're going to be looking for all the opportunities that we have. If something comes up, make sure you let everyone be aware. So   It's keeping that communication, I think is a big part of it. And really and and it is like to your point, Tiff, it is something you can talk about every day. Like are we staying on task? Are we staying on priority? And you know, we can do the tasks, yes, but the priority is production today, right? So or   Tiffanie (09:23) Yeah. Yeah.   DAT Pamela (09:24) the priority is you know   Patient experience. What whatever that is that you're doing, but you have to describe exactly what each team member needs to do.   Tiffanie (09:34) Yeah. And that can come down too to like their job descriptions being super clear, right?   DAT Pamela (09:38) Mm-hmm.   Tiffanie (09:38) So if I'm a scheduling coordinator, I know my goal of my position is

Post-visit follow-ups — this episode is all about 'em! Following up with patients is one of the most overlooked ways to build trust. Kiera shares tips on both how to accentuate and accelerate your post-visit methods as a practice, as well as what to avoid doing. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera. And today I wanted to just talk about a way for your practice to stand out in a pretty easy, pretty easy way. Along with that, it's also a great way to boost your case acceptance. So I want to talk about how, like, outside of your visit, the post-visit follow-up is actually one of the biggest things that can differentiate a practice. And I think it's something we haven't talked about a lot. It's just something we naturally do. And I was excited to do a podcast about it because realistically, the patient experience doesn't end when they walk out the front door.   But I think for a lot of offices it does. A lot of times it's like, my gosh, they're back in six months and they don't have their treatment scheduled. I think some of you can feel that. sometimes it's like, well, do we do follow-up on these patients? And people are like, but we're too busy to do that. And so making sure that we realize that follow-up isn't just customer service. It's truly one of the most overlooked systems for being able to build trust, to being able to increase your case acceptance, to be able to really grow a raving fan patient base. and I think it's just something that's a very easy piece to add into your practice without a lot of lift.   but it's going to give you a lot of lips. So I love the ones that are like, what's that 1% that I could do that would give me like 20%? That's one of these awesome tips that I wanted to give all of you today. So I want to just walk you through some of the post-visit follow-up things and how you can how you can really accelerate and accentuate that. Also some of the mistakes that practices make after a patient leaves. And then what are some of the things that we recommend you do to really help increase that patient care follow-up. So these are things that we do all the time in Dental A Team. We work with hundreds and thousands of offices.   We help, we see, we see the patterns. And our job is to really make your life so easy, so comfortable, so confident, and for dentists to really like have fun doing dentistry again. So I wanna just go through this with all of you today, give you some tactical, practical tips. And remember, Dental A Team's mission is to possibly impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So I just want you to know that today you're gonna learn how to follow some of these tips, put them into play, and hopefully gain patient loyalty.   increase those raving fans and really boost that case acceptance for you. So the goal is like people love to feel remembered. And there's this whole thing where people remember the beginning and the end of an experience. And so your intro, you probably have that really dialed in. We say hello, we have the coffee bar, we make sure it says warm welcome. And if not, start there. Okay. If you don't have that dialed in, start there. But then the second thing is what people actually remember a lot is how they feel when they leave.   And so a lot of times when a patient leaves, we're like, check the box, they're done, great. No communication from them. The next thing they're gonna hear from us when it's time to schedule and do their six-month appointment. But like it's follow-ups automated and it's very impersonal. And I know you're like, but Kiera, we have so many patients. Like, how am I supposed to make this feel personal? So a couple of things, and there's some resources out there, so it doesn't have to be a major uptick, but one great thing that makes patients stand out all the time in practices is to call after a major procedure. also on a new patient who's coming in, call before they even get there.   And call after the new patient visit. There are softwares that actually let you just leave a voicemail so you don't even actually have to call. You can just have it as part of the dental assistants checklist. Here's the three patients, call them tomorrow. You can send a personalized text when appropriate, making sure you stay HIPAA compliant. You check on the patient's comfort and recovery. And you can also thank patients for choosing your practice. Now, there's ways that it can be automated. And I had a dentist that I just went and saw, and they're like, How was your appointment? It was one of the worst appointments. Like, I will tell you, it was absolutely one of the worst dental appointments.   Ever had, and that's saying a lot because I work with hundreds of offices and I've seen some pretty ratchet experiences. Like, that's okay. You're growing, you're learning, there's no judgment. When I'm coming in as a patient, I'm not here to consult you. I want it to be a great experience. Well, they texted me afterwards on an automated thing saying, How was your appointment? Leave us five stars. And I was I freaking hated you guys, like, not the thing to do. But if they would have, and I was a new patient, if they would have sent me a text like, hey care, we really loved you choosing our our practice. We're so grateful for you, and we're really excited to see you next time. Like   Fantastic. And then if I write back and say something, awesome. but really just quick little things to be intentional rather than automate. And I know we're just looking for the automation, and you're welcome to automate. I'm just saying, like, think about it. How many big procedures did you have yesterday? And also how many new patients did you have? Odds are we're probably looking like two to four. Two to four. And this isn't necessarily a dentist. This can be the front office team. This can be our clinical team. So it does not need to fall on the dentist shoulders. How much time, truly, would it take to make four phone calls tomorrow?   The appointments and just say, like, hey, how is that going after that crown was done? We want to make sure that you feel cared for. Any questions that you have, and also like if the experience was great, just tell your friends. But like, I'm gonna ask and make sure everything's good before I ask for a referral. but just calling and saying, like, hey, I just want to check in with you and make sure that you're good. People want to feel important, people want to feel great, and people will remember how you make them feel. So, small little things of follow-up will create that raving fan culture.   Like I can't tell you if I've ever had a dentist call me after a procedure. The answer is probably not. Like zero for zero. So do you recognize how this is something so small? The uptick, like that's two minutes a day that we're gonna be doing? Now you're like, but Kiera, like what if they're in pain? Great. It's a great way to get ahead of it instead of getting a Google review that tells you it's a great way. And we'd rather know if our dentistry is not doing well. So that way we can fix it long term. So just do a quick follow-up on them. Check in, see how they're doing. This one thing.   Like, so if we just say like one procedure that should automatically trigger a follow-up the next day, just add that in. Add that in as a simple thing. I would do new patients and I would do any big procedure. Call them that night, call them the next day, just make sure that they're good. Again, this can be some doctors do it on their drive home, some delegate it to their front office team, some delegate it to their assistants. I don't care. What I'm saying is we're doing our job to make that patient feel seen. It's like, think about restaurants that put fresh flowers on the table. That doesn't take a lot of effort, but it's something that's memorable. It's something they're like, wow.   They went a little bit above and beyond. And to me, that's a two-minute uptick for you that's really gonna make patients feel seen, valued, and loved. The other piece is with treatment. This is gonna be a second part of it. We also have treatment plans. And my goal is for you guys to get your treatment plans scheduled, to make sure patients are saying yes in the chair, making sure that we have them. If they don't, you need to be following the two two two follow-up. So anytime a patient does not schedule with me, I tell them, like, fantastic, no problem, Marsha. I want to make sure that you have all your questions answered. I'll touch base with you in a couple of days, just see if any questions popped up that we maybe didn't think about.   Just to make sure that you feel like you're rock, solid, confident moving forward. I'm gonna call Marcia in two days, then I'm gonna call her in two weeks, then I'm gonna call her in two months. And some people are like, ugh, I feel like it's such a nuisance. Well, if you feel that way, they're going to feel that way. For me, I believe that like if a patient doesn't get treatment done, I failed them because we diagnosed it. Like, this is something where I need to like make sure that treatment plans are revisited. Patients are definitely not the ones where it's in their court saying, I'll call you back to me. I've left them with.   something that they don't that they need clarity on that I need to resolve. There's no ownership of unscheduled treatment and it just sits out there like, okay, well, moving on to the next day. Versus like, no, we have follow up every time. We know we follow up in two days, two weeks, two months, and we know that there's a personalized conversation instead of it just being like, are you ready? It'd be like, hey Marsha, I know we chatted about this. I wanted to make sure all your questions were answered. I've been thinki

Establishing the right systems in your practice creates consistency, profitability, and freedom in ways that individual effort is never going to. Kiera talks about the difference between systems and the people using them, how to know if you need a new system, why the right system equals scalability, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera. And today I want to just go back to basics with you because I think that this is such an important thing because we talk so much about systems, but I think people want systems and we talk about systems and like what are systems? And like what is the difference between a system and needing to train people? And I think that there's just this like back and forth in our worlds where we think like, hey, if I get a system, everything's gonna work. Or   Hey, if I get the right people and train them, then it's all going to work. And I think that they go hand in hand. And so today I wanted to kind of break down, dispel, disseminate, and like what exactly is a system? What exactly should we train? How do we put these two things together? And how do you really get the freedom that you're looking for? Like, we're about to roll into a mastermind and I was building the content. So spoiler alert, if you're not a part of our in-person masterminds, get your booties over into Dental A Team because we do meet twice a year and have a leadership mastermind where doctors and OMs get together with myself.   our entire consulting team, and we really talk about things off record. So there's no cameras, there's no recording in there, and it's just a rift area. And I was working on like what do dentists really want? And it's the control paradox. They want control, but the way you get control is by knowing that your systems are working for you and people are reporting. You don't want to actually do all the pieces, but you want it to report back to you and you want to know things are being done your way. Yes or yes yes. Like, am I speaking to you? And do I know you? I hope so. Because I absolutely love dentists. I want to just give you a giant hug and I want to remind you.   That you are doing better than you think you are. I want to remind you that there is an easier path than what you're doing. And I wish I could find somebody that was the Kiera Dent for dental consulting companies. I wish, I wish I could find her. I had a client tell me today, he said, Kiera, you have blessed the world of dentistry in so many ways. And I take that as such a huge compliment because not only did we make their practice better, but that doctor is literally working seven to three, four days a week, taking home several millions a year, living their best life, being with their kids, and to be able to give someone their life back.   Be able to help grow them personally and professionally, that is the greatest gift in honor. And so I am so honored that this is the job I get to do. This is the company that we have. And so while systems are annoying, I want to remind you like this is the way that you're actually going to get the freedom, aka the control that you want to be able to see if your practice is working. So I want you guys to recognize we've got to do systems, we've got to do training, we've got to hold accountable. We can't just put it in play. Like there's cure, this feels hard. I know one of our core values is ease. So I'm gonna try and break it down with you.   Of ease. These are things that we've done hundreds of thousands of times. We work across the nation with small boutique practices. We're talking Medicaid, FIFA service, boutique, natural path to multi-locations. I've got a practice that is building, I'm not joking, a 50 op location. So you name it. We've seen so much in our world. We've seen the DSO world. We've seen the private practice world. We've seen DSO's gone wrong. We've seen DSO's gone right. I feel like having that experience and credibility is something whew.   You can't get other than just living through it. And then my job is to give you as much of that and to hopefully work with you, empower you, change your world, whatever it is. All I ask in return is that you leave us a comment, you leave those five stars, and you share this with someone. That's all I ask. Because if we can serve and help more people just like you, that is the greatest gift. You guys know my mission is to possibly impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. That's why I do this. This is why I do it for free. I don't charge you anything. I don't ever, we don't even have ads. We do our own thing because   Wanna make sure that we're giving you guys back high value quality. So, with that, what I want you guys to realize is systems are going to create consistency, profitability, and freedom in ways that individual effort is never going to fix for you. So, number one, systems are what's gonna create that consistency for you. So when a person leaves, we don't want that knowledge to go out the door with them. When someone has a day off, we don't want that knowledge to go with them. We want to have that system of stability through all of it. And that's what it's gonna create. I remember the day that I had my company go through, it was a three month project, and I had us work.   Actually, break down our entire operations manual. There was like a sense of relief in breath that I could relief that I never realized I had. Now, that is a hard project, and usually it's not gonna move the needle for you. I'll tell you that was one of my worst quarters. Profitability-wise, we didn't grow, but stability-wise, we exponentially grew. Now it's been about five years since I did that project, and guess what? We've outgrown those systems. So guess what? It's probably time for us to do it, and we are actually working on our next version of it. And I'm so excited about it because it's gonna be so much better.   We do not like the way you can tell a system is missing is every team member does it differently. So if you walk in and you're having different assistants work with you and every assistant sets it up differently, guess what? You probably don't have a system. You just have people just doing it their own way. If different schedulers or if a scheduler is out and our schedule doesn't go the same way, now that doesn't mean case acceptance is perfect because there are some skills behind it, but that does mean that we have a set follow-up, we do the same billing. If this person's out for a week, everybody would be able to do it. That's going to help.   If new hires struggle to learn, we don't have a system. We have it being where people are telling each other. If results depend on who's working that day, you don't have a system. You have a people thing. So what we want to have is, excuse me, you want to have documented processes, you want to have standardized expectations, and we want everybody to be trained the same way. But we also want to make sure that that system really is getting us the results that we want. So what we do is   I'm big on when we take on an office instead of doing a whole operations manual like I did. You can do that. Don't worry, we can help you with that if that's your like main shebang. but typically what we're gonna do is we're going to look at what is the vision of the practice, what does that doctor and owner want? And then what are the numbers telling us? And usually your number that's the lowest number or what the PL tells us, that's where we're first gonna build systems because everybody wants the system to win, right? Like if I come in and I put in a protocol for I don't know, like scheduling.   But your schedule's great. We're all out on time. We're hitting our productive goals. Sure, that's nice to have. And I'd like it documented of what we're currently doing to make sure, like if that person's out, we can repeat it. But odds are that's probably not my biggest pain point. Now, there is a flip side to that. And I will say that if team members leave, then yes, it is a very detrimental. So at a minimum, I like every team member to have a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly list of what they do and at least those protocols written down. So if someone's out, I can grab their checklist and I can be like, all right.   Sarah daily does this, and here is where it is in the drive, or here's a video of it, or here's a checklist of it. So that way if Sarah's gone on vacation, nothing that Sarah is doing is dropped. So non-negotiable for me is everybody has to have a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. If you want those, guess what? We have them for all of our clients. So makes life real easy. And that's just something we've built, but every person should have that. Then what we're gonna look at is we're gonna actually build systems based on the metrics and the numbers. Because basically we've got the core processes done.   Those are core processes daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, what do we do? And we've got quick systems built behind the scenes. So that way I've got everybody's job. So if anybody walks out and leaves me, I'm not sitting here like, huh, how do we like it's crazy. Whenever someone goes on vacation, I'm like, awesome. Let's see if we've got a protocol written for this. Let's see if we've written it down. Can we figure out how to do podcast scripts? Can we figure out how to do podcast reels? Can we figure out how we do podcast recordings? Can we figure out how we do payments? Can we figure out how we schedule?   And if we don't have all that written down to where anybody without being told can do it, let's start with that. So, and then after that, let's look at what our numbers are telling us and let's build systems there. So if like a front office doesn't have a great scheduling system, which h

Tiff and Kristy break down monthly financial controls that protect your practice's profit. These include identifying lag and lead measures, getting your supplies in check, creating a budget around the team's fun money, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. Welcome back to the Dental A Team podcast. I am your host today, Tiffanie, and I am so excited to have Miss Kristy here with me. Kristy, you have been with us for quite some time. We have done a lot of podcasts together. and I truly love and appreciate your willingness to jump on. You just came from a coaching call, so thank you for hopping over here to me. I know your brain's a little busy with   Notes and getting everything wrapped up. We do a lot for our clients. So I know Kristy, you just spent an hour with a team or or doctor, and next steps are making sure your notes are wrapped up and you get a nice little email over to them and that's what our clients come to expect. So Kristy, how are you today? Thank you for serving our clients in coaching calls and serving our clients and our audience here on the podcast today. How are you?   DAT- Kristy (00:55) I'm doing good. Happy to be here with you.   Tiffanie (00:58) Awesome, thank you. And this guys is why I normally schedule them on Mondays and I am just feverishly working to get ahead. And Kristy graciously accepted my Tuesday invite to come podcast with me. So thank you, Kristy. Kristy, I know I always say this, I kind of handpick different podcast topics to make it the most fun for you ladies while you're here with me. So I get to talk about all of the pieces and I   Pick things that I think you guys are gonna enjoy the most. I think all of you, all of us consultants could speak to all of the topics that we have, but we all kind of gear towards favorites and things we love, things we do a lot of. And something that you do a lot of is you look for the money and finding it seems to be something that you enjoy, but also something you're just really, really good at. I know Kira speaks to that often as well. And today I wanted to talk a little bit more in-depth.   on profit because I know we talk we've spoken a lot on a lot of different podcasts about AR, bringing AR down, kind of how to find those controls within the practice, but making sure we're looking at monthly financial controls that protect the practice profit was something I wanted to chat with you about today. So how's that sound Kristy? Sound awesome. Awesome. Good. Let's   DAT- Kristy (02:16) Sounds like a plan. Let's find the money.   Tiffanie (02:20) find the money. So one thing I love that we like to do with our clients   And   something we do, I think, in our personal lives too is control what we can and then, you know, leave the rest for later. We we fix the rest later, we work on the rest later. And something that we can control is how much of our profit is being spent to a certain extent. So there's different spaces within the PL, within the practice spending that we do have control over that I think we don't spend enough time projecting and looking at to be able to know.   that we are profitable or that we can create that profit. And to me, when I see a topic that says monthly financial controls that protect practice profit, I think of budgeting. I think making sure we're working with it as a means of what we already have so that we're not overextending ourselves just like we do in our personal lives. So Kristy, you work with practices within their finances and their profit a lot. What are some areas that you work specifically on   helping them to protect their profit within those numbers.   DAT- Kristy (03:28) Yeah. Well, I think it's important, Tiff, that we look at it routinely, number one, and understand what our fixed expenses are and then what are ones that we can actually maybe pull levers and see where we can budget and plan for. so many things. Again, just like we look at numbers inside of the practice, there's lag and lead measures, right?   I kind of look at the PL the same way. There's lag and lead measures. And so sometimes it's just being more proactive and really looking and planning ahead versus reactive and looking at the bank account to go, is there money?   Tiffanie (04:11) Yeah, which I think we all do that at some point, right? Personally   DAT- Kristy (04:14) Yeah.   Tiffanie (04:15) and professionally. When you're looking at a PL, I love that lead measure, lag measure. PLs are full of lag measures and doctors will look back and gosh, I have a practice that only gets them quarterly, and I'm like, I don't know how we do this. Like it's so hard. We've got to be looking at these every month, like you said. So we're looking at those like lag measures. How do you pulse within that?   those lead measures. What are you using and what are you seeing as lead measures when you're looking at those numbers monthly?   DAT- Kristy (04:42) Yeah, well, number one, we might be planning ahead for hiring a new teammate. What is that gonna cost us? And so wrapping that into our budgeting for the month, or maybe there's a new piece of equipment that we're looking to buy or a CE course we're going to, like looking ahead and planning for those expenses on a monthly basis so they're not a surprise to us when when they do hit.   Tiffanie (05:09) That's brilliant. I love that. So making sure even if we know, hey, we're gonna try to bring on an associate this year. So that associate cost, a lot of dentists know look at the associate costs and start, you know, planning for thirty percent goes over here or twenty percent or whatever you're gonna do, goes over here, start putting that aside. But to your point, Kristy, for   Hiring, something that I think we fail to think about often when we bring on an associate is the rest of the team that may need to be brought on as well. So do we need more dental assistance for the associate? Do we need another treatment coordinator to work that schedule? Sometimes, even Kristy, there's hygiene, right? There's a hygiene hire that needs to come along with that associate. So it sounds like for you, you're looking at with that practice, okay, this is our current lag measure. This is our current what we can say is.   our usual and customary employee cost. And then as we add these other additional team members, we can expect that employee cost to become X dollars. And then turning that into being able to see what the what the production and collections costs need to be in order to cover that volume.   DAT- Kristy (06:19) Yeah, you got it, tips spot on. And we can almost do that for anything that we're future pacing and planning, right? To see if it makes   Tiffanie (06:27) Yeah.   DAT- Kristy (06:28) sense even.   Tiffanie (06:29) Yeah. And I as you're seeing as you're saying that too, you said planning for a a large equipment purchase. So with that, then you can look and say, okay, well, this is what our profit is or what we project our profit to be in the next coming months. Can we set aside or how much can we set aside out of that profit each month to be able to afford that large purchase rather than vice versa? I think a lot of practices   And people we say, I want or I need this, and they offer low percentage rates or no percentage rates. So instead of saving towards that thing this day and age, we just say, cool, let's get it, and I'll pay monthly to pay it off. So you're you're even thinking potentially flipping that mindset and saying, let's let's project and see when do we need to make this purchase? How much will it be? And how can we get the money for it?   DAT- Kristy (07:24) Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes we do need to finance it, but also knowing what that's gonna look like too. I mean, maybe that makes more sense. Yeah,   Tiffanie (07:33) Yeah.   DAT- Kristy (07:34) agree with you, Tip. We need to kind of look at where our expenses have been, especially like with team, it's easy to look p back at the last 12 months or six months and say, this is where we've been running. You know, what's kind of funny about that is we just came off of a month where many of our clients had three payrolls.   And being able to budget for those ahead of time, right? So   Tiffanie (07:56) Yeah.   DAT- Kristy (07:57) planning ahead and knowing what we're looking at, but you have to be looking at it routinely.   Tiffanie (08:03) Absolutely.   I totally agree with that. Quarterly, yearly does not, it just doesn't work. It does not, you're left in the dark so much. monthly financial control. So we can project, we can look and see, okay, where's our growth taking us? Do we need to prep and plan for any expenses? And I love your like even adding if we're adding debt, what does that added debt look like against the current PL? And then two.   I was thinking earlier about this, like what pieces do we use a lag measure for to like pull into this month for, like you said, a lead and a lag. So I know a lot of practices I have them working off of budgets, like to the max. And so I have obviously I think a lot of practices work off of an ordering budget, so a supply budget for the back office.   But I know a lot of them are like a little skewy too. They're kind of all over the place. Or they're like, it's fine. We're $3,000 over. And I'm like, $3,000 is like another percent or two sometimes. So making sure we stay in line with that, but projecting that and putting it on spreadsheets, right? So I have practices that have budgeting spreadsheets for that reason. So they know exactly how much money they have to spend. And I have dental assistants that find   that to be like a game. Like that inspires them to go find the best deals because they know they on

Kiera is joined by Dr. Rania Saleh, founder of Oryx Dental Software, a dental practice management platform that will streamline your practice's inner workings. The two talk about the journey of AI from when it first launched in dentistry to now, how AI can work in your practice as an accompaniment (not a replacement), the honest pros and cons of this intelligence, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and today is an exciting innovative day. I am so excited for our guests that we have on here. Her and I met about three years ago in person, maybe even four. Gosh, I can't even remember. But I remember being in this event in Napa, and we were all hanging out in this lunch area, and there was this amazing woman who was talking about her AI innovative dental platform. And I was so fascinated by it. I went up to her, started asking her questions, and here we are four years later. So I've got Dr. Rania, she is the founder of Oryx Dental Software. And some of you may have heard it. It's a new I remember when we were talking, she's like, it's an AI platform that's gonna like take over and help schedule and a lot of the tasks that offices struggle with. And she's a dentist. And so I loved her for those reasons because not only is she a dentist, so she gets your pain point, but she's also created a software that helps a ton. And she's here to talk about all things innovative AI. And I know so many dentists are just chomping at the bit because. Dr. Rania, you know dentists are about like four, five, six years behind where you were. And so I'm super excited to have you here to talk about AI, talk about how AI is impacting dentistry, talk about how your platform's been able to help and serve. So Dr. Rania, welcome to the show today. How are you? Dr. Rania Saleh (01:10) Very good. Thank you for having me. Kiera (01:13) Course. So I gave a little bit of an intro to you. I don't know if you remember the lunch. I know we had a pre-show of how it was like that was so long ago and things have just upgraded and elevated since then. But give the listeners a little background to how you went from dentist, which I know you are still dentisting, to building this software to being like this AI innovative KOL in the industry. Kind of give us a little background of who you are and how we got to this point today. Dr. Rania Saleh (01:38) Yeah, so I started out as a dentist. and I I was an associate like most of us start. Then I went to the COI Center and I learned like a whole new way of doing dentistry. And at that point, I'm like, I'm gonna open my practice, fee for service, startup. and that happened in the middle of the global financial crisis. everyone thought I was crazy for doing it, but I went ahead with it and my practice started growing. I was doing great. it grew to multiple specialty, multi-location. and I got pregnant with twins and I had to be put on bedrust. Kiera (02:23) Mm-hmm. Dr. Rania Saleh (02:24) And it was a big, big shock for me because I had a lot of systems in my practice and I thought we were doing amazing. And at that point I wasn't practicing that many days. I had multiple associates. my practice started declining when I wasn't there. and this is when I realized that a lot of the systems were just in my head and not everyone was implementing those. and I started thinking, like, how do we get back on track? How do we stop losing? Losing money, losing patients' confidence, getting bad reviews for the first time ever, all of that really hurt me. And this is how Oreg started. Kiera (03:06) I love it. Because I think, Dr. Rania, you can really speak to how a dentist feels, right? How many dentists, I think, as you were saying it. I'm sure they're saying, yes, me too. Like I can empathize. I know I've seen it with all the clients that we work with. Systems aren't systems, right? Standards are not standards. They're what we tolerate. It's what we have as processes. And I remember you saying, like, orgs basically is going to become these offices, office manager for them. And don't worry, office managers, we're not replacing you. We're just enhancing this for you. But I remember I was so fascinated by your innovative way. And so I wanted to talk about what things can AI do from, you know, when your software first started to today, I feel like AI has just taken off, right? I was always curious what would take down like Google, right? Like coming with the internet was something in my lifetime that changed. And I was like, what's gonna be the next piece that is that innovative in our world? And I believe AI is here for that. So I'm just curious, like from what you've seen, those systems you said like they were living in your head. What things have you seen that practices can do from like AI is not a replacement, I think, for clinical decision making. It can be a tool for it. But how are you recommending that we use AI and dental practices that you've seen from software to clinical to front office? What are some of the I wanted to like really just rift with you? This is my selfish side because I'm like, Dr. Rania Saleh (04:18) Yeah. Kiera (04:19) let's chat all things AI. And what are you seeing that are like the pros and the cons? Where can dentists start leaning into this? What are some of the best on the market right now? You're one of the I love you were you're a you're a founding female in the industry and you're very innovative in it. So let's have a good rift on on AI and what you're seeing in that realm. Dr. Rania Saleh (04:38) Yeah, I mean, like AI touches every aspect, and I was so excited when something like this was created. And what was really good is with Oryx, we started with systems. What I said, like a lot of the systems were in my head, and we started like, how do we create a check-in checklist, a checkout checklist? How do we make everyone's life easy? So we made a lot of automations in the system very early on, but these automations still needed a human to intervene to be able to make it work. And with the emergence of AI, we're like, my God, this whole workflow that works perfectly for us can now be automated. So although it was easy to manage, now it's a click of a button and the whole workflow of scheduling patients, having AI receptionists call and and get patients that were not scheduled, like this is a great innovation. getting getting your clinical workflow, having to spend time with the patient. If you have your AI summarizing for you, we talk to our AI, and I always say that way, I want my AI receptionist to be the same as my best assistant. So I want I I don't want to learn a new language to speak to my AI. I want to speak as if I have Jessica or Jennifer or one of my best assistants and I'm just telling them I'm gonna do a crown on this tooth, let's extract this tooth. I see a recession here and it's capturing all of this and charting it. So AI charting is like a game changer because now my assistants could be doing other stuff while I'm doing my charting Perio AI is great. The same for imaging. It's a great tool to help us locate conditions, share our findings with the patients, and patients are just fascinating by that. So I don't see an aspect of the software where it doesn't touch it. Also like on the insurance collection, auto-attaching the narrative, anything that the insurance needs, all of that. is built into the AI system and there's a lot of tools to do that. So I I really think people should try it to see what it's capable of. Some people are a bit scared to dip in there, but I it's a game changer for us. Kiera (07:09) Yeah, so let's talk about let's play devil's advocate. because I think so many people listening are sitting on that side of the fence of like, but we're in clinical. And so how do I know that this is HIPAA compliant? How do I know that this is safe? I think that that's a big, a big concern. And then the other concern is like, well, yes, it can help me attend. How many mistakes does it tend to make? How much more double checking? Because I know there's offices and like insurance verifications. Let's go back a few years. Insurance verification, I feel like insurance verification companies have popped. Left and right. Like I feel like they're daisies in springtime. Like we just have a lot of them. And offices will say, I love it, but it's not accurate. So I don't trust it. And I'm just going to do it myself. So I think it's a twofold one. What are you finding for like AI with HIPAA and us being compliant in that realm? And then part B of that question would be: can I actually trust this and how much error? Like, are we talking 70% error, 80% error? And is it really helping my team or is it something where my team is kind of like, turning a blind eye to it, thinking it's taking care of it, and then we're just getting a lot of mistakes we have to fix first. So first question is like let's talk about hip end compliance and making sure in the medical space that we are we're protected and safe on AI. Dr. Rania Saleh (08:19) Yeah, I I would say like there's a lot of new AI companies every day. It's like a new name and people would tell me, Do you integrate with this? Have you heard of this? And if you don't have a BAA agreement with the company you're working with, then it's not HIPAA compliant. So that's the very, very basic. Before you go with any AI or any company in healthcare, just make sure that it's HIPAA compliant, that it has all the certifications needed to administer AI. And I would say that's the bare minimum to to protect yourself, to protect your practice and to protect your patients. W with the errors, it's like Anything that you do, the AI is not a hundred percent accurate, so you still have to check. But for me, I think if if I'm charting, could my

This DAT podcast episode is a fan favorite! Danny with Swell is on the pod! In this episode, Kiera chats with Danny about Google reviews, Google reviews, Google reviews — a very necessary part of having a practice. Danny shares what practices can do to get their name out in front of potential patients; what not to say in your review responses; why bad reviews are actually good; how to get patients to leave the best kind of review; and a ton more! 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 pumped for today's podcast. I have one of my favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite companies. I met them when they very first started. We were just starting, so I think we kind of have a little like duo friendship that way. But these people are amazing. And if you aren't utilizing them, if you haven't figured out how to boost your Google reviews, you are in for the best treat. So I'm so pumped to bring on Danny. Danny works with Swell. If you guys haven't heard about Swell, You need to. because in my opinion, the reason they're the best is because they do it so well. That's how I remember swell. they're just the best at getting Google reviews and I'm excited. Danny's got some cool things to kind of help practices, even if you are utilizing swell, even boost those Google reviews more. So Danny, welcome to the show. How are you today? speaker-1 (01:14) Thank you kindly. I'm doing well, just here in snowy Utah, living the dream. speaker-0 (01:19) I love it. I love it. We actually pre-show connected on the fact that Danny may have gone to school with my husband. So we're waiting till post show to see if they know each other. I feel like it's like who's behind the door? My husband wasn't free. but it's kind of fun that you're in Utah. But Danny, kind of for those who don't know about Swell, Zeke and I I literally remember being in an office. I was in Alabama consulting a practice and they needed help with Google reviews. So I looked up, I had been told About swell. I was on a flight and somebody had mentioned swell. And so, and you guys were like early, early, early on. I was early on in my career and I remember I like just picked up the phone. This is when you guys used to not have a great branding. It was like a well. And I'm like, I don't understand what this is about. And I called and Zeke answered and I said, Hey, I'm Kiera Dent with the Dental A Team. I heard you guys are great. I want to utilize you in a practice and see if you're good. What do I need to do? And that's honestly how Zeke and I got connected. And Zeke has just been awesome. and the practices that I put you guys in, no joke, I think the best one the worst one did thirty Google reviews in one month. The best one did eighty five Google reviews in one month. And so it was super fun for me to have immediate social proof and great testimonial. And since then, Zeke has told me many times, Kiera, any event you go to, please tell me we will be there because you're a little walking advertisement for us, which I am because you guys do it so well. So that's kind of how I met you guys, how I got introduced. But kinda tell us like what the scope of swell is and how you guys even got started. speaker-1 (02:50) Yeah, so Swell actually kind of fell backward into dentistry, initially was hoping to help small pharmacy groups survive against the big boys, but then stumbled into dentistry and realized that there was a great fit in that a there were many systems that were currently attempting to help practices get reviews. A lot of them was just the five digit short code. less branded or personalized messages just with a link and then a few different steps that they had to do in order to leave a review. But Swell just said, well, we need to make it super easy, super convenient, and with as few steps as possible for patients to leave a review. So went out and integrated with all of the practice management softwares, stayed hyper focused on driving the most reviews possible for practices. And really swell as we know it today with without the whale that you're talking about, new branding. We think we're a little bit sexier and agree. And you know, our our design and and the aesthetic of our product, our branding, all of that is really great. But most importantly, we're just super effective at getting practices, reviews to the sites that matter, mostly Google and then Facebook, Healthgrades, other sites as well. Totally. yeah, that's that's swell in a nutshell. Primarily we know reviews are the tip of the spear, but then Swell built a little bit out and said, hey, reviews help you stand out online, but then you need to connect conveniently and convert these patients. And so we've built out some tools like web chat and and different things after the fact, but it all starts with the reviews. speaker-0 (04:27) For sure. And I will say, I am a swell, we have been a swell user. So swell, up until we joined with HubSpot, we've actually utilized Swell's chat on our website and it was awesome. We loved it. It was so easy and it actually started building so much traction. And literally the only reason we don't have swell on ours is because HubSpot integrates and it just pulls all the information. But guys, if I didn't have HubSpot, I would still be Wispwell. You guys were fantastic. You helped with our Google reviews. We still utilize you guys for Google reviews. but kind of like so offices, obviously. I hope if you don't know, we are in 2022. You've got to have a presence on Google. Like, no ifs, ands, or buts. Everybody finds you on the website. That is to me your website, and being on Google is your resume to the world. And if it's not there, you're not going to be found these days unless you are attracting a different clientele than the current millennials, Gen X, Gen Z. Whome coming in, like that's what they're looking for. So, Danny, kind of walk us through. You were telling me some crazy cool algorithms. I also love that you guys have always only been with Google because I was never a huge fan of some other platforms. and so I love that you guys have just stayed primarily, primarily Google because Google doesn't take away reviews unlike some other platforms. but kind of just tell us some of the algorithms you guys have come up with because you guys, that's honestly why I think you do it so well, is because you've stayed very niche, you've stayed very focused. And you guys crank Google reviews. So kind of just walk us through some of the things you guys do differently that practices can do to increase those Google reviews. speaker-1 (05:58) Yeah. Well, just I think one thing that's really important for practices to understand is that Google reviews to the Google My Business page affect local and broader searches. So, like you were saying, Kiera, it all starts with an online search. Dentist near me, affordable dentist, cosmetic dentists, all on for, whatever the case. And if practices aren't showing up in that initial Google search, it's referred to as the Map Pack. then They're being overlooked and potentially missing out on a patient that could have searched them online through social proof, read through very positive reviews, and said, Great, this'll do. I'll I'll make an appointment. so Google is tracking several different things. one is the location of the searcher, that's pretty intuitive. It's just how far away is the business from where that patient is searching. there's proximity, and then there's something that's called authority. So that's how well. Are they known online? Are they do they have SEO? Is their website getting lots of hits? this is less important for the review side. but the two important things that we like to focus on is number one, Google is constantly tracking the star rating of the practice and then the frequency or the recency that they're receiving reviews to the Google My Business page. So Essentially, we think that if you can raise your star rating or maintain a high rating and have fresh recent reviews coming to the page with responses as well, because responses are factored into that freshness or recency, those pages are more, excuse me, those practices are more likely to show up front and center when a patient within proximity searches for a dentist or or anything of that nature, they'll they'll pop up. One other thing you and I spoke about were the keywords. This is something that practices. Those of you who are already using Swell, I want you to listen closely because this is a great way to increase in terms of keywords and boost your chances of being front and center on Google. If a patient, when when you're sending out your review request, you could actually in the verbiage say, please describe your experience with us. Now the patient is able to say whatever they want based on HIPAA. They can say, I went in. To Dr. Lenary, I got an implant, an all-on-forecase, you know, they they changed my life. And then when I respond to that as the practice, I know I can't say the patient's name or or anything tying specifically to their actual appointment, but I can say we love to do all on four cases, we love to place implants, we love to do veneers, we love Invisalign an

Perio does not get the attention it deserves. Tiff and Kristy discuss why periodontal health is such an underutilized area in dental practices, and give specific tips to bridge the gap through diagnosis, case acceptance, and follow-up — for everyone from your hygienists all the way to the front office. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiffanie (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am back with you today on the podcast hosting. This is Tiffanie and I'm just so excited to be here. I have one of my favorite podcasting guests with me today, one of our prized consultants. You guys know I bring the consultant team here to you, and I love them all dearly. and I have a few that just   Calm me. And Kristy, you're one of them. I know I say it all the time. And and the practices who are lucky enough to work with you know what I'm talking about when I say you calm. So thank you for being here. I value you and I appreciate you and I'm excited for this topic, first of all. But secondly, how are you doing? It's like peak monsoon season. It's you know in my books a month and a half late for a normal what Arizona should have monsoons, but we're finally getting rain, which is huge.   DAT- Kristy (00:52) I know.   Tiffanie (00:53) And that's   totally different. And when this drops, it'll be like a month from now. So they're gonna be like, What are you guys even talking about? But how is the end of your summer turning out? I'm pretty excited over here.   DAT- Kristy (01:04) Yeah, it's been a good summer. the storms I had forgotten like intensity of it last night definitely had me up a few times and felt the house rumble, but thank goodness it's it's all good. It's all good. Just a fun light show. Yeah.   Tiffanie (01:19) Yeah. It was crazy, right? I said it was like   a it was like being at a concert. Like the it just wouldn't stop. And it's funny you say that you forgot how intense they were because for the listeners here, Kristy lived here in her younger years, moved away for a while, and now she's back with us. But Kristy, that in between space, we haven't had storms like this in a really long time. So when it happened night before last in the backyard is like   crazy and it's coming in all wild and it's beautiful and I'm just like sitting there in awe like a child. Aaron, my fiance, is like, this is crazy. And I'm like, this is my childhood. This is what   DAT- Kristy (01:57) Yeah.   Tiffanie (01:58) the storms are supposed to be like. We just we haven't had them in I'm not even kidding, probably eight years. It's been   DAT- Kristy (02:06) Yeah.   Tiffanie (02:06) so long since we've had good storms.   DAT- Kristy (02:10) That's crazy. Well, I'm glad they're happening now. Like you said, we do need the rain. It it got it got kind of intense, but hey, I'll take it over the tornadoes and the other stuff happening. So yeah. Yeah.   Tiffanie (02:20) I know. I know. I agree. This is why I live in Arizona. For the beautiful   storms and the no like natural disasters. I'll take the heat. I love it.   DAT- Kristy (02:29) Agree. Agree.   And if you haven't smelt the desert when it rains, like nothing like it, right?   Tiffanie (02:35) It really is. It's incredible.   It's incredible. I love where we live. So we are blessed. I love Arizona and people think I'm crazy for that, but I really, really do. It's my happy place.   DAT- Kristy (02:45) great.   Tiffanie (02:46) Well, off topic of weather, which I could talk Arizona all day long. I wanted to dig into some systems with you today, Kristy. And we've done a podcast, we just recorded a podcast on finances. So if you haven't found that one, go find it.   But   this one I really wanted to dig into a couple of in office systems that I think are still being missed. There's still some gaps in a few places. And one of those places I think is perio. I think that it's still not getting the attention that it deserves. in in the office, chair side, and then when the patient leaves, like I just think it's still not a hot topic.   for practices. Kristy, am I off base or do you feel like do you feel the same or similar?   DAT- Kristy (03:36) Yeah, no, I feel 100% the same, Tiff. And and though I didn't grow up being a hygienist, I definitely have a soft spot for them and a passion for oral wellness. So 1000% I agree with you. And it's one of those areas in the practice that I think there's a lot of low-hanging fruit and and opportunity. And to my hygiene friends, please hear me. Like I know you're treating the disease. We just   We just need to approach it a little bit differently so that you're doing well by the patient and the practice.   Tiffanie (04:12) Yeah, I agree. And I think to that point, Kristy, I hear you. And I hear a lot of hygienists say, you know, well, I am I'm doing it, I'm just not coding it correctly. And my question is, and this is maybe a red button, I don't know, hot topic, I'm not a hygienist, right? So I will say that loud and clear, I'm not a hygienist, but based on my scheduling knowledge and the treatment planning that I've done.   I know that when you do diagnose it and code it correctly, you want extra time. But if we're not doing that and we're not getting the extra time, like how are we really eradicating it and helping the patient? And I think there's still this financial stigma tied to it. And I get it. I I understand that. It's not easy to it's not easy to tell somebody they need to pay you money.   Especially when you're the one doing the service. I get that. We sit in that situation sometimes and it's not easy. And I also know that I trust what I'm paying for when I'm paying what I should be, if that makes sense. Like if I'm if I'm told, you know, I'm I'm I look up and I find this doctor who's supposed to be great and yeah, they're they cost more than the doctor down the street.   Who's offering discounts or or what have you, but says he gives the same value and the same treatment, like how you value the treatment that you're giving is perceived by the other, the other side. So   DAT- Kristy (05:53) Yeah.   Tiffanie (05:54) a long-winded way of saying stop discounting yourself and your services, because it's not actually helping anything. it makes me sad. Like, gosh, I want patients to know.   That they're getting the treatment that they deserve. And imagine if they went for one second somewhere else in an emergency out of town and somebody said saw something and said something, and they're like, Wait, what? What do you mean there's something there? I just had XYZ. That would make me so much more sad as a practitioner than to have to tell someone, hey, there's more going on here. You're you're older.   I'm older, our bodies are changing, you know, our cells are regenerating, you're taking different medications, whatever it may be, things change every single day. And I'd rather have that conversation than the conversation of, yeah, but it's fine, I'm watching it. You know? Yeah.   DAT- Kristy (06:55) yeah.   Yeah, what are you watching? It's kind of funny that you say that because Tiff, I was listening to a thing for Pearl AI, and I remember the gentleman talking about his wife had gone to have her yearly exam done and a doctor was like, Wait, you're too young for this, like breast cancer is not that early. We'll we'll just watch this. And it was like a ding ding ding to him, like, what do you   Watch what? We're not watching anything   when it comes to our health, right? So yeah, I I agree with you, Tiff. And I think it's kind of funny listening to you because I was literally just talking to a team about how we create a lot of our outcomes. And I think part of it is it's well, I know most of it starts with us and how we create the verbiage around it to create value for what we're doing. And hygiene's no different. You know, we get really upset because   They're the first ones that fall off the schedule, technically. I mean, I challenge anybody to go back and look at last month's cancellations, and majority of them are going to be hygiene patients. And so, with that being said, I do think we do ourselves a disservice by saying it's just your cleaning. You guys, none of our hygienists are maids. Like they're oral wellness people. And truly nowadays, I mean, back when we started, we didn't know all the all the connections, Tiff, but now.   When you guys can can put some of those eye-opening stats to Pereo Health, and we know that gum disease can be prevented or stopped from progressing. we have a due diligence to treat our patients different. So truly, number one, I challenge people to not call it a cleaning and start creating value for your hygienist. Like   They are oral therapists and a lot of disease starts in the mouth. Like I'm have a huge passion for it. A lot of disease starts in the mouth. And when we can make those connections and approach it differently, because we know all of our dental people are caring people. And when we approach it from that caring aspect, we're gonna get a different outcome when it comes to treating our patients and having them value those services.   Tiffanie (09:15) Yeah, I think adding to that beautiful statement is you said when we care about them, right? So we're adding value, we're ca we actually care about the human. I think that flows into also making sure that we're doing the due diligence of following up when patients say no in the office. Cause I do think that space is still really disregarded in treatment care follow up. So when we're doing follow up calls.   I know the implants are important. I know the crowns are important. I know the doctor side treatment is important. But how often are we calling the patients who need the periodontal services? I know when I was in

Kiera and Kristy share tips on having financial conversations with patients, including the type of mindset to adopt so it's not so intimidating, key language to use to get everyone on the same page, the power of a litmus test, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review   Transcript:   Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team   listeners. This is Kiera, and today's a lucky day. I'm so excited. I get one of my faves podcasting with me today. I get the one and only Kristy Treasure. If you don't know Kristy, she's one of our dynamite consultants and she just drives offices to success faster than most people I've ever met. She's absolutely dynamite. And today we're gonna be talking about how to have financial conversations with patients. This is right up her alley. Things she's obsessed about talking about. Kristy, welcome to the show. How are you today?   DAT- Kristy (00:26) Good, thank you. Pleasure pleasure to be here.   Kiera (00:29) I love it. Kristy, it's so fun to talk. You love talking all things money, numbers, metrics. Like that's your jam. How did you even get into numbers and metrics, Kristy? Like, walk us through for those of you who don't know Kristy, she was an office manager. She's been like every position in the practice. She grew this exponentially large practice. But for some reason, her niche is numbers. So, Kristy, how did you get into numbers? Like, why are you this like obsessive woman about numbers? How did that like passion and obsession come to be for you?   DAT- Kristy (00:56) It's so funny. I think at one time I actually thought about getting into accounting, but I never did. Yeah. But in the dental world, you know, really   Kiera (01:02) I could see it, I could see it.   DAT- Kristy (01:07) the numbers are really only a measure of how well we're taking care of our patients and getting them healthy. And so from the dental realm, you know, oral wellness is a passion of mine. Maybe I should have been a hygienist too in a different life. But with that being said, the numbers don't lie. And so   Kiera (01:25) Mm-hmm.   DAT- Kristy (01:26) the you know, being in OM and practice administration, it it was the guide to let me know if we were winning or not. And so it it's not so much about the number, but where is it trending, you know? And so being able sorry, Kiera, being able   Kiera (01:38) Mm-hmm. How do you no, no   DAT- Kristy (01:42) to give that back and have teams know where they stand too, I think is hugely important.   Kiera (01:49) So, how do you get teams on board with this? Like that was gonna be my follow-up when I was about to cut you off. Sorry on that. Like, I agree with you. It's ch it's shell, but how do you get your teams on board? Cause I think this is a common piece and a common like fear of offices is they don't want to tell their teams. They don't want their teams to talk about numbers. Doctors are afraid if teams look at numbers and they're gonna think they want to buy a new boat, which I'm like, go for it, buy the boat, like live your life. But how do you get teams on board to look at these numbers and doctors not to be afraid to share numbers with their with their teams?   DAT- Kristy (02:18) Yeah. I think first and foremost we start out by talking about why did we all get into dentistry? Because usually it's about caring for our patients. And Kiera, I think there's also a misunderstanding that just because a practice may be collecting six million dollars doesn't mean the practice is financially healthy. And so when teams understand there's numbers inside the practice and numbers outside of the practice, I think it helps them   understand and just like they have to manage their finances, you know, what's in the bank? How am I gonna pay my mortgage? Like getting them on board to understand that helps them also drive for the success. And I don't know, you've been in dentistry a long time too. And I truly haven't met a doctor that isn't willing to give back when the practice   Kiera (03:05) Mm-hmm.   DAT- Kristy (03:05) is profitable. So typically, you know, when teams are on board and we're rowing in the same direction for a goal, it's a win win.   Kiera (03:14) Yeah. I hope the doctors heard that. I hope the teams heard that of it is a win-win. It's a good way for us all to get aligned and be on the same page with each other. And like doctors, it is a business at the end of the day. And having a practice and having the numbers tell you, I love numbers because I feel like they're the non-emotional facts of the business. They're able to tell us, are we winning? Are we losing? It's just like a scoreboard in sports. Like it's up on the board. We know if that team is winning or if they're not winning.   and for us not to have like visibility into our business to know are we on track, are we off track? To me feels like what do we do when we're flying blind? Like I can't imagine a sports team like playing against each other and there's no score up on the board. It's just like hoops versus hoops. Like that's fun for a while, but the drive and the like, how do I protect my craft and how do I become a better player? And how do I know if we're actually playing as a team or we're just out here all open? Like those are the ways that you can actually see if you're winning or not. So   Kristy,   I'm gonna pivot us now to financial conversations with patients because it's all things money. We just gave you guys some tips on how you can talk to your teams about this, teams why you need to look at the numbers, how it is a scoreboard of the success of your practice. They don't lie. Every number tells a story, every number t ties to a system of what is broken, what can we improve, how can we improve it? It actually makes like your job easier as a team member because then we're not trying to solve the whole practice. We're just refining based on what the numbers are telling us.   So now pivoting that to patients, I think so many treatment coordinators, doctors, hygienists, like everyone in the practice is so scared to talk money with patients. So Kristy, like let's dig into that. How can people like what is that? Why are people afraid of this? Any tips on how we can have these financial conversations with patients?   DAT- Kristy (04:56) Yeah. I think first and foremost is understanding that, you know, we're in it to get patients healthy. And we   Kiera (05:04) Mm-hmm.   DAT- Kristy (05:04) all understand that if there's active infection going on, it's not gonna get any better than it is today. And so   Kiera (05:12) Right.   DAT- Kristy (05:13) coming from the you know, reframing our brains and coming from the space of taking us back to why we got into dentistry and caring for people, their oral health   equates to their overall health. And if we can get them healthy as quickly as possible, all the better. But I also like to tell my teams, we play the healthcare advocate, but it's always in the patient's hands. So when we can put it back to the patients and say, you know, I'm here for you. And truly this is your journey. You get to be in the driver's seat. And we're going to do this in your timeframe.   And within your budget. It takes that pressure off and it really makes it a relational thing. And we can be the guide to getting them healthy.   Kiera (06:03) That's amazing. And I think Kristy, as you said that, like it's just a reframe, right? Like I think we have the reframe right now. Like you you're telling yourself a story. You're telling yourself a story of, like people have to pay money and it's uncomfortable and they w but there's also another story of we're doing this amazing service and they're paying for a great service, just like Kristy. You used to cut hair. Like people, you give a good haircut, people want to pay you for a great and they even tip you.   Like no one has tipped me in my career for not sucking up their uvula. I would love to have a tip jar. Like you're welcome patients. I didn't suction that up. but like they want to, they want to pay for a service. And I think in dentistry we get kind of weird because like we are in healthcare and when we go to the doctor, but like never once have I ever gone to the doctor and been like, I'm just not gonna pay for it. Like, I know I have a copay, I know I have this.   And so I think for us to reframe it of we've done great dentistry, we've done a great service. People naturally know, like when I go to the grocery store, I buy groceries. When I get my haircut, I pay for my haircut. When I go to the dentist, I pay for my cleaning. I pay for my my care. Like that's what I pay for. And so I I love that you talk about Kristy of like this is just why we're even in dentistry. We did this to get patients back to health. We're here to serve.   I think that there's this space of having confidence in who you are and not being afraid of asking for money. Like it's okay. You did great work. You brought them back to health. Like you did something amazing for them. They are more than happy. It's the gift of reciprocity. And that worked so hard for me. But when we've done something good, people naturally, as a byproduct, want to pay for it. and so helping us, like you said, let's just do a reframe. Like, what if for the next week everybody in our practice just thought like every patient wants to pay us?   Like I promise you, it will be that you've just like activated that and you'll start to see more patients want to pay you. More patients are not having financial conversations of issues with you. It's not a conversation, like they're not rejecting you. They just want like they're just asking questions. And I think we often take those questions as rejection rather like it's confrontation rather than just conversations.   DAT- Kristy (08:11)