This is a continuation of last week’s article on the nine things that hold doctors back from taking their practices to the next level, or cause them to become a “settler”. Dental Settlers are those doctors that pride themselves in antiquated practice strategies, or just stop trying because they are too tired and worn out to compete in the new dental economy that we find ourselves in. The practices that continue to lean on the traditional aspects of a dental practice are destined to struggle their entire career. These same doctors, clinging to an outdated mode of practice, will be the last group to change. Postponing these changes will only result in finding out that because of timing, you will be too late to recapture the practice you always thought you would have. We begin here with number five.
Poor location: It is actually possible to become invisible to the normal patient you might want to attract. Three decades ago, most dentists thought that being in a high-rise commercial medical building was great, not so today. It is the worse place you could put a dental practice. We all know that 92% of all appointments are made by women. Knowing this, we want our offices to be where women are. We need the visibility and traffic counts to make our practice take off. I want to be next door to a Whole Foods grocery store on one side, with a Starbucks, jewelry store, dry cleaner, Ace Hardware, and a few restaurants thrown in for good measure. Find the perfect location and marketing becomes a given. Figure out how to have an LED sign and it is even better. Paying more rent is actually inexpensive if you have the perfect location, because it really is not an expense but an investment that pays huge dividends. It just takes advantage of the natural marketing that visibility and convenience garners the smart doctor.
Poor Demographics: Demographics are the characteristics of human population and populations segments, especially when used to identify consumer segments. They include the statistics of population’s ages, sex, education, income levels, race, etc. There is a sweet spot for every type of business and dentistry is no different. Competition or saturation of dentists to population is the most important. You need at least 2000 potential clients per dentist to do well. Go below this, and you find yourself in a dog-eat-dog battle for scraps. This is the number one reason that practices struggle and ultimately fail. Understanding who your audience is will add momentum to your growth. Once you know the ages, race, sex, income, employment, and education levels you should be about ready to design marketing and offer specific services to take advantage of your location and demographics.
Doctor and staff fail to embrace change and implement information: I think most of us have taken courses, purchased recordings online, and read about practice management and leadership yet fail to improve. There is no learning without application. It doesn’t matter what you have studied if you can’t put it in play. Change has and will always be a constant in healthcare. Far too many doctors have decided to plateau and just coast for the rest of their careers. Almost as bad are those who think that they can just postpone the changes they need to make, only to wake up and find that the opportunities of yesterday have passed them by. Playing catch up is way over rated. The most frustrating thing we see in coaching is a doctor who knows they need to change and, when given the answer, they procrastinate on implementing the strategy that would literally turn their practice around.
Financial Captivity: This really just means that you have spent too much with too little to show for it. You are the doctor that goes out and buys a 3D Imaging unit or Cerec machine when the numbers just don’t work. It’s as if these doctors believe that buying one more new, shiny object will propel them over the top. This inability to spend money when you need to on the right strategies, handicaps you and your ability to move to the next level. We see doctors who have added on to their facility only to realize that they raised their overhead 10% with no ability to afford the marketing they will need to fill the chairs.
Poor clinical results and skills: Clinical speed, consistency, services, and success as judged by their patients is a recurring theme. On your dental “island”, patients can (and do) vote you off. Dentistry is a small consumer business based on relationships and results. Our clients literally vote with their feet and wallets. They decide with whom they spend their money and what they spend their money. A lot of doctors are practicing decade’s old dentistry even when designs, crown preps, materials, and systems have changed. In a consumer driven business, patients vote with their feet. Keep in mind that, clinically, everything is changing so rapidly that you need to spend at least 20 hours a year in concentrated clinical improvement along with adding services to your office. You probably need anther 10 or 15 hours on practice management and leadership. The age of referring out everything to specialists died decades ago. We all need to learn to place implants, do oral surgery, cosmetic dentistry, ortho and kids. The best, most profitable, most stress-free practices, with unlimited growth potential, are those that embrace both bread-and-butter dentistry for all ages, and pseudo-specialty services. It is the perfect balance of what patients want along with what you have to offer them. It is the arena where wants and needs are equal components and the patients chose you.
Take each of these nine areas and work on minimizing their effects by changing how you look at the relationship you have with patients while embracing the change that will be necessary for you to compete in the future.
If you have followed these articles on Reflect, Decide, and Act, along with studying the nine areas that will hold you back, you will be prepared to change the face of your practice. If you embrace these tenets, you have opened the door to unlimited growth and increased profits. As always, give me a call if you have any questions or need any help.
Michael Abernathy DDS
[email protected]
972-523-4660 Cell