The more engaged your team members are with your practice, the happier everyone (patients included) is. Kiera shares four questions to ask employees in connection to their engagement, then breaks down how to interpret the responses and what to put into place for improvement.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.75)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm so happy you guys are here. I hope today has just been an incredible day for you. And I hope you guys just remember that we are so lucky and so blessed to work in this incredible industry of dentistry. We are getting ready to roll into Q4 and I hope you guys are just feeling good about it. Like Q4, end of year, here it is. And I hope you guys are just loving it and enjoying it. And you just feel like you are completely and utterly prepared for the greatest time ever.

 

As always, thank you for listening and please, please, please go leave us that five star review. Please share this in other groups, tag this, snag this. You guys are gonna wanna share today's podcast. I know you will, but you guys downloading these episodes, sharing them with other people, that's how you keep us as the top dental podcast. And you know our mission is to get this podcast into every dental practice out there because I believe that if we can positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible, we are gonna make the greatest good.

 

We're gonna be able to help teams. We're gonna be able to help owners. We're gonna be able to help patients have the best lives, the best experiences, the best communities. And that's what I'm here for. So today I wanted to go into a topic about how to get better employee engagement. All right? Anybody here for it? Are you here for employee engagement? Because if you are, I am here for it. I think having employees is some of the like hardest and most rewarding part of owning a business. And so today,

 

I just wanted to give you guys some amazing tips of how can you guys get your employees engaged. So my husband, actually is overseeing several, several, several physicians and people within his hospital. And we were talking about employee engagement and I feel like there's a space of like, we, do we survey our teams? Do we not survey our teams? What do we do with this? And he mentioned that at the location that he's at that they actually hide.

 

four questions within their survey to find out how employees are engaged. And so I will read them to you. Number one is, my work gives me a sense of personal accomplishment. Number two is, and you guys, I'm definitely looking and I'm reading this right now. I would recommend your company as a good place to work. I intend to stay with your company for at least the next 12 months, and I am proud to work at your company.

 

Kiera Dent (02:21.742)

So those four questions, my work gives me a sense of accomplishment. I would recommend this place is a good place to work. I intend to stay here for the next 12 months and I'm proud to work at this dental office. And as we were talking about this engagement, my husband has, with all of his team members, he has several, several team members and he just came in getting tens across the board of his employee engagement. And so I was asking him about it I said, what is it? And he said, these are the four questions that at their hospital that they're the most concerned about knowing.

 

How are they at? And so I asked my husband, said, okay, tell me more. I want to like do some information research outside of dentistry. What are people doing in other healthcare professions? What is that? And he said, I asked him, said, what are the things that really helped for your organization? And he gave me a pretty good list of as a manager, as a leader, what is he doing for his team to make sure that they're taken care of? And one of the things that I thought was crazy interesting is he said, the first one was that they're never alone.

 

that everybody helps each other out, that they feel like that they're a part of a team. He said that all of them actually talk about getting a lunch break and being able to have that time away from patient care and that they are fulfilled by their patient care and that they're like what they're doing is something they're very passionate and fulfilled by. They're compensated well. They have great hours that they're working and we're talking, this is a hospital setting. So it's stressful. It's hard. They have a lot of cases there and patients that they're responsible for. They see patients every 15 to 30 minutes. like

 

Just think about dentistry, we're not seeing them that often, at least we're hopefully, unless we're pediatric or ortho. But just thinking about how can we get our employees more engaged? And I've kind of had this like weird space of, we've always done two times that we would actually, send out surveys to our team and something, I was talking to a friend and they have done a lot of studies on, on surveys and your employees actually will rate themselves higher.

 

than how they actually are because we had some surveys and people were giving us tens across the board and then like a month later they were giving us a notice and I thought, gosh, like how is this even real? And so I'm in this weird, conflicted space of, here's the four questions but how do we actually get that information? Because there have been a lot of studies that have been done that actually show that employees actually want to show up the way they think that their employer wants them to be. So they're going to maybe give higher numbers and higher ratings than how they really feel.

 

Kiera Dent (04:44.396)

because as human beings, always want to be seen better than we actually are. so thinking about that and how do we build that and how do we build this space? But really, how can we get our employees engaged and excited about what we're doing? I think those four questions, if I were to go back and to look at offices that we consult and work with practices and looking at my practices, like I have several practices that have some of the best engagement. And I think about them that their work does give them a sense of fulfillment.

 

that they do plan to stay with that office for the next 12 months. And I think that comes from leadership giving a great vision of where they want to go and really having it be something that these people are passionate about. think them feeling like that they would recommend your office as a great place to work and that they are proud to work at your location. And maybe today your team's not that way. And maybe we need to flush some people out and bring on people that really are aligned with that vision.

 

I know it feels scary because the world has been tricky to hire and the world has been harder to find and retain team members. But I do believe that when we have those four things core and we have our employees bought into it, we have our leadership team in place with that. And we really are working towards that. I do believe that we have stronger engagement. I also think I'm working on really, really speaking the truth and encouraging your team to do so as well.

 

At the end of the day, you should be able to put your vision out and your team should be buying. And if they're the correct team and the best team, and if not, then it's okay to let people go and find a location that they really are satisfied with and you can keep driving it forward. It's always interesting when I consult practices and I see offices that have right people, right seat. And we were actually just on a meeting. I'll pull up some notes for you guys. We were just on a meeting and we're super excited to be working with this guy. And he was talking about.

 

If you guys haven't read the book, it's called the EOS life and I really really really loved the EOS life because there's a great definition where they talk about that people are compensated correctly, that people feel like they are having a sense of fulfillment and excitement and engagement, that they feel like they have time for their other hobbies and their lives and that they're just truly truly fulfilled within what they're doing.

 

Kiera Dent (07:04.844)

and that they have time and the bandwidth to do it. And I thought, how often are we kind of scraping things together, myself included within our companies, because right now it feels like, it's hard to get people hired. It's hard to get people engaged. But if we can think about, all right, these are the four questions that we want for our employees. But in addition to that, we do want people to be really engaged in the work that they're doing. They find it meaningful. We want them to feel like they're compensated very well and that they're giving back and contributing to the growth of the organization and that they have the time.

 

to have passions outside of work and they feel fulfilled by that. And like we have them in the right seat so much that we almost have to tell them to stop working because they have such a love and a passion for what they're doing. And so maybe today you might be looking and thinking, my gosh, there's no way my team's that way. Or you might be looking and thinking, wow, my team really is more engaged than I give them credit for. But what is a small one or 2 % shifts that you can make that would actually make your team more bought in and more engaged to it. And this is what I think I am the most passionate about within consulting.

 

is being able to help offices get their teams aligned to be rowing in the same direction where, like this coach told us, they said, the greatest thing is getting all the human capital rowing in the same direction. That's gonna create the momentum with ease. But if we're not there, we need to figure out is our vision wrong, is where we're headed wrong, are people wrong? Do we not have people engaged? Is this a place where culture is wrong, where leadership's wrong? Like what is the piece that needs to be fixed? Because oftentimes we try to like,

 

throw out so many great things when really it's just one small change that if we were able to make that change, things would actually move forward a lot faster. So really looking at those four questions, really looking to see what is our culture, what is our vision, and do we have all of our human capital rowing together? And if not, it might be time, like myself, where I hired a mediator coach to come in and help us set the vision of our company, to help get our team realigned and reinvigorated on where we wanna go. You guys, I am a consultant and you would think that I would,

 

always know how to do it the best. And that I would like to dispel any falsehoods around that because, yes, I'm an incredible leader and yes, I have it credible. I also can run out of like, where am I going? And was this vision the right vision? And I need some clarity around it. And so knowing when it's time to pull in a coach or a guide or a consultant to help you get aligned because they can hear things and they're not in the weeds.

 

Kiera Dent (09:26.602)

I realized I was in the weeds and I can't see clearly myself. You guys, I do this for a living. I coach other practices. I'm able to get their visions, but when you're in it, you're so close to it that you can't see it. And I realized to get my engagement scores higher, to get our team bought into things higher. I needed to hire somebody outside of our organization who can say the things that maybe I can't say, or who can say the same things that I say, but my team hears it differently because it's coming from someone else. And it's crazy because I believe as leaders.

 

When we can realize that we need that help and that guidance for ourselves and also for our team. That's the greatest thing a leader can do. Our job as leaders is not to know all the answers. Our job is to find the answers. Our job is to guide them on a compelling vision. Our job is to make sure this is a place that's, that's fair. That's incredible that people are proud to work here, but that doesn't mean that we need to enable. That means that we need to empower with accountability and ensure that where we're going, our human capital, AKA our entire team.

 

is bought in and driving. Now we won't have all A players and that's okay. We might have some B players, but the reality is we want everybody passionate driving towards that same goal with vigor and vim and excitement. Otherwise we've got people pulling us back and that's where things get very hard. That's when we start to have a lot of the team turnover, but truly when we can set our goal and our vision and our sights in the same direction, our entire team will be more aligned. So.

 

I would love to help you guys. I'd love our team to be able to help you guys guide you, help your team get that vision and that guidance, help give you doctors that vision and guidance, because oftentimes we're on our own isolated islands thinking we have to figure this out ourselves. But I realized that's our own ego speaking, not what's real. There is so much help out there around you to give the guidance, to bring your team, to get them bought in. and I'm so grateful that Dental A Team.

 

I truly believe is the best consulting company out there to do this for you and for your practice. So let's get your team bought in. Let's get you guys excited. Let's get that energy back. So everybody's rowing in the same direction and we can truly have that incredible definition of an incredible life where we're so fulfilled. We're so passionate. We're compensated well. The business is thriving. We have time for hobbies and family and other things extracurricular. And we do it with so much ease because we love what we do so much and getting people in those right seats, right places with the correct deliverables around it.

 

Kiera Dent (11:45.408)

is really the greatest way. So reach out, [email protected] There's no reason to wrap up this year and have it be hard for you when the easy answer is right in front of you. You just have to reach out. And I promise you that if you're not the right fit, we'll let you know. We'll let you know if you are the right fit. But generally speaking, when you come, we probably have a solution that you haven't thought of. And we always do everything with ease, simplicity, and making sure it's fun for you and for your team. So reach out, [email protected]

 

And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

 

Tiff and Dana discuss the importance of coding accuracy in dental practices. That includes universal codes everyone can understand, how to stay up-to-date on resources, the best way to know team members are getting paid for all their work, different codes across specialties, and more.

Episode resources:

Reach out to Tiff and Dana

Tune Into DAT’s Monthly Webinar

Practice Momentum Group Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:01.11)

Hello Dental A Team listeners, we are back at you today. I have the one and only Miss Dana here with me to podcast. I love pulling Dana in. I love pulling all the consultants in, but I truly love pulling in Dana. think I shouted you out this morning. do. Wednesday core value shout out in our.

 

I know that we've done some podcasts on that. So if you're not already doing a core value shout out every day or every week, please by all means go listen to those podcasts because it's freaking incredible and Dana you truly are the epitome of ease within our company and for your clients and I just think you need to publicly shout it from the rooftops be Just recognized for that aspect of your personality. You truly do make life easier I know a lot of your clients feel the same way you are

 

so good at finding the easiest path for the systems implementation for whatever it is that needs to be done for us as a company. So Dana, welcome today. I'm so excited to have you here with me. Thank you for joining me on this beautiful Wednesday. I don't know what day this is gonna air, but it's a Wednesday today. And it's absolutely gorgeous here in Arizona. How are you, Dana?

 

Dana (01:08.193)

doing good, Tim, doing good. love days like today.

 

The Dental A Team (01:11.629)

I do too, I do too. It's starting to get fallish in Arizona, which means 85 degrees instead of the 105 that we had last week, least up in Phoenix. I know you get a little bit more fall down where you're at, but I'll take the 85 over the 105 for sure. Today, Dina, I wanted to pick your brain.

 

I've got some information today I wanna share with the doctors. It's also for billing departments, for treatment coordinators, for whomever wants to listen to this. But I really wanted us to shout out our doctors for really, really just knowing everything about their businesses. I know that you guys are all here listening. I know you're watching, whatever it might be, to really learn more about the business side and about what the team is doing to help support your practice. So I wanna shout you out for that. And I just think it's a really incredible tool.

 

and resource to have to truly know what it is that's going on, the inner workings behind the scenes of your practice, aside from just the dentistry that you're performing. So shout out to you guys for being here, for listening. Team members, if your doctor's not listening yet, please share it with them. Dana, today I really wanted to pick your brain and go over some coding information. I know it sounds super boring, you guys, but stick with us. We've got some great tips and tricks and some tools, especially for you doctors who are out there to really

 

focus in and pay attention to the things that are being input into the system and sent off to insurance companies, or if you're fee for service, you still need to be insanely accurate within your system and making sure that we're using the right tools. So doctors, again, this one's for you as well. Billing representatives, treatment coordinators, front office representatives, office managers, whoever you might be, whoever might be touching a ledger or an account or a code in general dental assistance, hi, Genes, you guys.

 

This is all gonna be really great information for all of you. Coding with Accuracy happens to be a book, by the way, you can purchase that. But honestly, coding with accuracy is incredibly important and valuable to your system, not only for the billing portion to ensure that we're accurately sending things off to insurance companies, accurately getting paid, but realistically to show super accurately what you've actually done with your patients to your patients. That way, if anything were to ever come about and anyone needed to look into it or

 

The Dental A Team (03:28.327)

your patients had questions and they asked for the account, it makes sense to the next person who's looking at it. And you can say, yes, I did that, that was me. I did that filling, I did that crown, I did that crown seat, I did those pieces. I know a lot of practices, and Dana, I think you've probably seen this too, a lot of practices will overuse, in my opinion, an office visit or a palliative treatment, to certain codes like that and unspecified, because they're just not sure.

 

what to use. And so they throw one of those, especially office visits, and I'm like, what is this office visit? How many, this patient's been in for 20 office visits. They're like, most of those are crown seats or like if a filling needed to be adjusted or like, and I'm like, wow, so we don't have any documentation right here that we ever sat any of these crowns.

 

That's an issue. looking at those pieces and making sure that we're super accurate with what we're calling things is something I really, really want to talk about today, Dana. Have you noticed that as well? I know you see a lot of clients, you do a lot of virtual clients, but you see a lot of ledgers, you get a lot of things sent to you, and you have been traveling a ton this year in office to practices as well. So what are you seeing when you're out there when it comes to coding and just kind of like randomness that you're seeing thrown around?

 

Dana (04:40.983)

Yeah, I agree with you on just like the miscellaneous codes. I delivery. What did we deliver? Because we need to know exactly what we delivered today. And then a lot of just like 999 things and sometimes a 999 code you absolutely

 

The Dental A Team (04:47.133)

Yeah.

 

Dana (04:55.967)

can utilize it, should be utilizing it, but oftentimes too, it's like, no, there's actually a code for that. Like we don't have to send a 999 with documentation and notes, there's a code specific for that. So making sure that offices really are up to date, also to like when things change because they do change occasionally. And so just having somebody who knows those things in and out has resources to spot check and that we are billing what we're doing and coding exactly what we're doing.

 

The Dental A Team (05:25.511)

Yeah, I totally agree. The 999 code, I love that one. It is thrown in there for everything and I am guilty of the 999 code because I'm like, don't know what he's even talking about. 999, that sucker. And I'll explain, I'll say exactly what he just said to me. I have no idea what he said, but I've got this. So I'm surely, surely guilty of that one. I do love the staying up to date and doctors, I really want you to know and understand within dentistry.

 

There's not, like we have a course for billing that will review billing for you and will go over the basics of billing, what it needs to look like, how to send a claim, how to input an EOB and a payment and all of those pieces. But there's really not a good school for billing where it's like, gosh, I'm gonna send them to a billing school and now they've got this accredited school has shown them this kind of like medical billing, right? You can go to medical billing school and now you're a medical biller.

 

to be a dental biller, you just needed someone ahead of you to show you how to do it. So within this world, it's just super important, like Dana said, that we stay on top of it as best we can. So making sure that we're getting ADA emails sent to us and that we're watching for any codes that change, because they will let us know. Whatever your state's dental association is, I know here it's the AZDA, the California Dental Association.

 

Whatever it is, make sure that you're signed up for those auto emails, because that's going to be the best resource. And then as those yearly conventions come around that we all love to go to, that we hate taking boring classes, look for any updates. I wouldn't say you've got to hit the billing courses yourself, or you have to send your billing rep to the billing courses. Sometimes they're a bust. Sometimes they're super insurance prone or driven. I don't love that. But if there's anything that's like coding updates or

 

New laws things like that. It's always a good idea. So I do want to preface it with that Just know always staying up to date just getting those resources sent to you is going to be super super important And now aside from that there are things like coding with confidence coding with accuracy All of those different books that you can get I believe coding with confidence you can order from Amazon or ADA I think both of them have it. I think it probably comes from the ADA when you do it from Amazon, whatever you choose

 

The Dental A Team (07:37.7)

It's a fantastic book and having that resource, there's a companion book that goes with it as well. I always had that resource with me. It was literally in a drawer behind my desk and as soon as I had something pop up for an implant or gosh, when we were doing over dentures and there's just so many parts and pieces and little things that need to be accurately coded.

 

There's no way I'm gonna remember all of these things or intuitively know it. So I would pull those books out constantly and I would go through it with my doctor and I'd say, okay, does this describe, is this what you're saying? Is this describing it? Because even just for regular dentures, there's different codes that can be used. And if you use one that's a maxillary but you're doing a mandibular denture, you're not gonna get paid, right? And even if you put upper denture in the thing and you did a mandibular code, they're still not gonna pay it because it doesn't match.

 

So just making sure that those codes are super accurate. Now from a doctor's standpoint, why is this important? Super important because you need to be paid, right? So my owner doctors, you need to be sure that your practice is being paid, that you're being paid for what you're doing, your hygiene team's being paid for what they're doing, and that if, again, anything were ever to have been and come about, somebody looking at the ledger, looking at the account, looking at the chart, can accurately and confidently see exactly what you performed. So not only do you need to get paid,

 

you need to cover your tail. For my associate doctors and even my hygienist who might be listening, you really, really wanna watch your production and your collections, because typically, especially my associates, you guys are gonna be paid off of that in some form or fashion. So making sure that the coding is correct and that it accurately, actually reflects what you've done is key. Otherwise, you might get paid for a filling when you did an onlay.

 

Right, and the billing representative, has, or he has no idea, they were not chair side with you. So if it's not fixed chair side, or if you, gosh, Dina, how many times have you seen this one, where chair side, you know, we were scheduled for an MO, chair side, doctor's like, this went into the distal, we've gotta update that. So we update it, we tell the patient, we're like, got another service added, get the treatment plan going, lay them back, finish the filling, and then they go up front, and then they get paid on an MO.

 

The Dental A Team (09:51.99)

because the MOD was never switched out and the appointment went before it was set complete. again, the billing representative, he's not chair side. They have no idea that that billing changed. The dental assistant needed to update and change it. So making sure that that's accurate in there. Now, Dina, I know you have a lot of practices and a lot of associates. You've got a lot of big practices that have a lot of associates. How do you make sure at the end of the day, at the end of the month, at the end of everything, that these guys are knowing exactly what their

 

being paid on? Like how do you make sure that they know with confidence that they're getting paid for everything that they did?

 

Dana (10:28.329)

Yeah, I have them usually daily check their provider production and check their individual provider day sheet just to make sure that everything was accounted for. If there were changes, if something was walked out inaccurately, catching that from the very beginning is super important because honestly, like you pointed out, the difference in some of these codes is hundreds of dollars worth of production. And that can be even within implant parts, even with indentures, like a difference in that

 

that coding can majorly impact production. So making sure that everything is accounted for, everything that they did is on there and everything is walked out and ready to submit. So that whether it's insurance based or we've got to call a patient and say, hey, you know, we under collected that service did change, we had added. whether it is patient portion that we've got to update or insurance portion, just making sure that we're catching that. And I like to do it daily because

 

Claims are submitted daily. We're reaching out to patients and we don't want a patient to go till the end of the month before we're like, hey, by the way, you missed a thing, right? So I like my, especially my associates and hygiene to just look and make sure everything's accounted for each and every day.

 

The Dental A Team (11:34.98)

Yeah. Yes.

 

The Dental A Team (11:47.01)

Yeah, I agree. think that's perfect because pulling that sheet, especially like Dentrix and Eagle Soft and OpenDone, like all of these programs have a super easy sheet to print at the end of the day or even like print screen and then just look at it. So we're not using all the paper all the time. I've definitely had it where a doctor will come back like a week later and be like, we didn't actually do a buildup because we just, you you treat and plan a crown and we should plan a buildup just in case, or you have your doctors who treat and plan only a crown and then add a buildup.

 

if we needed a buildup and so vice versa. A week later, we're like, I didn't build up on that crown. I'm like, well, bro, she gone, she lost. There's no way, it's so uncomfortable to call a patient and be like, by the way, we forgot to charge you for that billing that's underneath the crown that's to build the tooth back up because of the K. And now I'm in this whole conversation of like, why didn't this just get done the first time? So I totally agree. I think that's brilliant. And doctors also, looking ahead at your schedule,

 

Dana (12:21.687)

It was true.

 

The Dental A Team (12:43.172)

Prepping your schedule in conjunction with that is gonna be huge. We get really comfortable. Our dental assistants are incredible. I was a dental assistant near and dear to my heart. It's my favorite position. If I were ever to like quit everything in life and go back to in-office dentistry, it would have to be as a dental assistant. I would not do anything else. It's my favorite space. But you guys, I messed up sometimes. Like it happens. I would get forgetful.

 

Like how many times did I forget to grab the bond? And I'm like, you can't do a filling without a bond. How did you forget that? And then expecting me to change it every single time in the chart or make sure that it was accurate ahead of time. Things flip through the cracks. So we've gotta have checks and balances. We can't just rely on one person to get it right every single time. So your dental assistants prepping the charts, prepping your schedule for the next day is huge, but I really wanna implore that you guys, you doctors,

 

You are looking at your schedules as well. You know what's coming up and you know that it's accurate. I had a dentist that worked in our practice. He's fantastic. He's gone to all of this oral surgery, like extracurricular. He's just, it's insane. I watch his videos on Instagram and I'm like, that's so gross. I always must do him. Like I remember the first time I did a bone flap with you and I was like, what? I can't do this, but he's so good. He did all of these like perio surgeries, oral surgeries. He did so many things in our practice and holy cow.

 

A GP girl over here, learning how to code for all of these extensive procedures that he was doing. He was doing, you know, he's doing the blood draws before it was even a thing. I am like, are we allowed to do that? Like I'm in my practice, like what the heck? This is crazy. And now I'm having to code things that to me are like outlandish.

 

and I'm sitting there Googling things. Like, this doesn't make sense. So I'm pulling out my little code book and like, gosh, it is in here. This is a dental thing. We can do this, but there's no way those added procedures would have been accurately coded if I didn't take those extra steps to ensure it. And if he didn't, bless his heart, come to me every day.

 

The Dental A Team (14:47.322)

with a list of the things that needed to be added to tomorrow that wasn't accurate or things that we missed today. He would double check his treatment plans just because they were so extensive. And honestly, there were times, like he did GP work in our practice as well. So there were times too where he would catch a filling surface was missed or an onlay surface was missed. And I'm like, dang, not only are, you know, did we miss something on your giant surgery over here that I literally cannot assist with, cause I will pass out.

 

But we also miss like a surface on an online, like, goodness gracious, right? But he is my example because he was so diligent about making sure that the charting was accurate. Like, of course he wanted to get paid for the things he was doing, but he's like, I need to make sure that whatever it is that I'm doing, it's all here. It's all accounted for. And when he went to go do all of the accrediting with the oral surgery boards and implant boards and like, he's got all this crazy stuff behind him now. He needed all of those things. He called me from Texas years later.

 

And I was like, remember that patient that we did that thing? And I'm like, my gosh, yeah. So I'm like looking for this patient. He's like, I need all of their notes and I need all of their ledger and I need everything to submit to the implant board. And I was like, my gosh, thank goodness we went through and did all of those things. So you guys, it doesn't matter what you're doing. You don't have to be doing crazy dentistry or crazy oral surgery within your practice. Those minor things need to get caught as well. And Dana, earlier you mentioned like the 999 code.

 

And I know we have to go in or have the auto updates done and make sure that the codes are being updated. But I did notice there are more and more systems that even have as simple as broken appointment code already in there, Crown Seat Code, Denture Seat Code, all of these pieces. So when you're working with practices and you're seeing this, or they ask us, we'll get text messages from office managers that are like, this is what he said, what do I code that as?

 

I don't know, right? But what are you doing? How are you helping them to figure out, this is probably not a pallet over 999 or what an office visit, this is probably X, Y, or Z.

 

Dana (16:52.117)

Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest, if a lot of times I am pulling like a coding with confidence, or I'm googling things and, I'm trying to piece it together or I'm asking, you know, okay, well, like, walk with what does that look like? Walk me through like, can you explain the process to me? So maybe I can find it in here or send me a picture of the part that maybe I can look it up. But it's really just doing due diligence and combing through the codes that are available. And then determining

 

The Dental A Team (16:58.797)

Yeah.

 

The Dental A Team (17:10.987)

Yes.

 

Dana (17:20.083)

If there is a specific code for that procedure and if there's not, then yeah, you do a 999 code with lots of documentation, IOPs, all the things, so that once it gets to insurance, they can determine if it's something that they're covering.

 

The Dental A Team (17:35.266)

I agree, yeah, I love that. I do love Google, I have Googled so many times. I've been in office trying to help them come up with cheat sheets, which is the next little topic here, but that I'm like, what is this? Or give me a picture of this so that I can put it on their cheat sheet. And doctors who are doing things like implants or dentures even, crowns, anything you're doing, having those cheat sheets is super helpful.

 

I have a lot of my practices throw those into their operations manual. So with the crown setup or whatever, it'll also have the steps and the codes that would be used. We have to update it when they update, but have all of those available there side by side with it. So it'll be like, crown seed, and it'll be the setup, and then it'll be all of the codes. The ones that get wild are our implants, right? Our All-On-X denture cases. Those ones get wildly insane.

 

dentures, right, start to finish because what happens is in the treatment planning mode, let's use denture, right, as a treatment planner, right, so I'm a dental assistant and the doctor says we need to do a full denture. Cool, maxillary denture. And then I'm like, treatment coordinator, here you go. And they're like, cool. And then they schedule a denture. There's like 16 steps sometimes to a denture.

 

Right, so having that and being able to break it down and break it apart shows that all the steps and processes were done and then having a cheat sheet that goes along with it helps not only your treatment coordinator and your scheduler, but it helps your biller and your dental assistant, even your hygienist. I've had so many hygienists come to me and say, what step are we on? And I'm like, well, I'm not sure, let's look. Like, let's look at our checklist and see where we're at. So even within that denture, having the denture treatment plan for pricing.

 

Dana (18:56.011)

Yes.

 

The Dental A Team (19:24.294)

Obviously, right, any extractions, any bone grafts that need to be done. If you're doing a temporary denture before the final is done, if you're doing, gosh, if you're doing a scan and a final delivery, like they're getting much faster. But before, remember, we had to have a wax rim, we had to have teeth and wax, we had to have the color shade, we had to have a try-in, then we had to have a realign. Like all of these pieces needed to be segregated out in there so that we treatment plan.

 

the one thing, but we have those steps readily available so that it can be scheduled correctly and in order. And then having those cheat sheets with those codes lined up is super helpful. I have a practice in Wisconsin that was just getting so confused on the implant process and an ortho process. And I was like, easy peasy, let's just like section this out. And now every single time they've got it laminated and they just pull it out. They're like, I've got my implant sheet. I've got my ortho sheet or whatever. So I always have them add that as well. So Dana.

 

Wrap it up for us. So we've got coding, checking, all the pieces. What could an office do, a doctor do to ensure maybe even adding it to their operations manual? What's the process they should make sure that is being followed and updated yearly within all of these pieces that we've talked about today?

 

Dana (20:42.627)

Yeah, I think it's added to your yearly calendars that you make sure that you do know the updates you have the codes every year and just like we get Insurance fee schedules and we do all of our insurance updates just add that to that list one So add and make sure we've got do we have the resource for it? And do we know what they are? I think to any time that you are adding a new service just checking and double-checking that you know what the codes are So if you're bringing in a CBC team, make sure that those codes are in there and you've got fees attached to them

 

and all of those pieces. I love your cheat sheet idea as far as especially where there's a there's a lot of nitty-gritty things that need to get built out for specific things like ortho-like implants making sure that you've got cheat sheets and you make it really really easy and then make sure you've got a very clear communication system for when treatment changes so that it gets changed all the way okay and then I think daily having people look at them and just one

 

Final tip I guess in in with your cheat sheets oftentimes we call things things that like are not in the code, right? The description of the code is not that and then we're constantly like, what are they actually? What do they actually call right? A lot of your systems will allow you to add notes to like those procedure codes put in what you call it in the office so that it's easy to find it will still put the actual code definition on your piece going on your claims go out, but if you call something something specific

 

just update it in your system so it's easy for the team to buy.

 

The Dental A Team (22:12.623)

That was brilliant. I know my dentist had like five different terms for a hater bar and I never, was like, I don't know what you're talking about. And the Ribon, he would call the, you know, the Perio procedure by the name of the material he needed. And I was like, so, and he only do this once every, I don't know, 10 years. Like this procedure is never done. He's like, we've got to do a Ribon. Where's the Ribon? I'm like, I don't even remember what this is.

 

I don't know what that says. So yes, I agree. I love that idea, the descriptions and making sure too then I would transfer. We do this in our Google Drive, you guys. Whatever you might call it, also probably put that on your cheat sheet, maybe in parentheses. Like this is what it is. These are the five different terms that any of our doctors may call it so that it is easy to find and easy to figure out. I think that's brilliant. Awesome, thank you for wrapping us, Dana. I think this was insanely beneficial for all of our doctors out there and our team members again.

 

Doctors, if you're here listening, congrats. I think that's so huge. It's really important for you to know and understand these things. Share it with your team, because they can use these pieces too, especially anyone who's doing your billing and your practice. And then team members who are out there whose doctors haven't heard this one yet, share it with them. Make sure that they understand what they're getting into as well, and that they're supporting you in your position as a team member to be super accurate, because you're depending on them.

 

to get things right so that you can do your job. So share it with them. Make sure you guys are all up to date and as always, reach out for any questions you might have. [email protected]. We are not code masters, but you guys, we are solution masters and we will find the answers or find the way and we can help you with just about anything you can think of. [email protected]. We can't wait to catch you next time.

 

Josh Scott of Studio EightyEight is back for more! He joins Kiera to talk about the marriage of creativity with performance marketing for dental practices, how to pull meaning from conversations when talking about dentistry, why putting yourself out there actually helps your patients, and more.

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Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:00.526)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera And today I am so jazzed. have one of my dearest friends and I don't mean that like as a podcast intro, like truly this person is someone that I just count as one of my greatest friends. And I'm so excited to welcome Josh Scott, CEO, founder, Studio EightyEight Marketing. They have the best swag. I was just telling Josh, I wore their sweatshirt all summer long. I am a terrible ambassador. I don't take pictures and post, but I love your swag. So Josh, welcome to the podcast. How are you today?

 

Hey, I'm great. It's always good to be here. looking forward to this all week when I see it show up on my calendar. And yeah, you know, I don't know that I believe you, Kiera. You say you wear the flag, but I've never seen proof of it. So we can talk like that on a podcast, but just saying I've never seen it. You know, I should like stop this podcast right now and run upstairs and go grab it. So then we have the, all the social proof, which I think I'm going to do. So we're just going to hit stop. All right, Josh. So, like I said, we were going to hit stop and

 

for the world to see. All right. It exists. It exists. All right. I love this sweatshirt so much, truly. And I love you guys so much, but like your swag this year was my favorite swag of all because the sweatshirt just feels like a nice hug and I appreciate that it's your company, but it doesn't feel like I'm just wearing like swag, like EightyEight You've got the nice like sports attire to it. So it felt good that I wasn't like.

 

Studio EightyEight I need to work on our Dental A Team. Cause I'm like, when I send you swag, it's like be Dental A Team today. Of letting me still be a human, but also that. So it does exist. I hope that my marketing team takes this crops it. It's on here. We'll tag you. We're going to use this clip for like the next three years. That's what's going to happen. Yeah. No, it's fun. Our team, they, so, so first off with swag, it's like, try to give people stuff that they would actually wear. So it's not just like,

 

blatant, you like you look like a team member of ours when you're wearing our stuff because you're just all EightyEight out. But, and they have a theme every year. So this year was this whole athletic company kind of vibe, which was a ton of fun next year. We're already like in concepts for, we do it in Q1 every year. So already in concepts, this whole like camping, kind of like modern camping theme. It's kind of fun. Like, they're, they're all geeked out about the videos. They're going to shoot around it. The, know, we're looking at like little tin mugs and things like that.

 

The Dental A Team (02:22.413)

So it's fun, but I always encourage, this is a good segue, because I encourage dental practices, like when they do swag, sometimes it's just like their logo, really big on the shirt or the hat or whatever. It's like nobody wants to wear a hat that says XYZ dental. But dentistry is so easy. If you just put, get a trucker hat, put smile on the front of it, put your logo on the back, smile more, smile bigger, let's all smile. That message is so...

 

awesome to like wear out in the world. And people love that. I've got this one sweatshirt from a dental practice to smile more on the back. And what's funny is when I wear it's a really cool hoodie. When I wear it, like people talk to me. They're like, yeah, I love that. You know, like, yeah, the world needs a smile more. And sometimes like when I'm traveling, I'm pretty introverted. And I had this on one time. It was like eight people kept talking to me and I was like, okay, I remember to never wear this again when I'm traveling because it actually creates conversation. And I'm trying to like check out from.

 

So I love it. And I think like good call to that because it can be so easy. And that's what I actually love about you guys with your marketing is your marketing is so very intentional. And I think dental practices can have it be very intentional, but it's very easy and it's fun. And I think you guys make it fun. And that's actually why I love you guys as marketing people that I recommend you guys do so many great things, your rebrands, your websites, your marketing. So

 

Josh, we were talking before about how there's kind of like these two parts to marketing that practices have really struggled with up until now within marketing. let's kind of like just do some chit chat on marketing. We'll probably like morph into CEO. Like I don't even know where we're going to go today, but we're just going to have a good time. Cause when Josh and I podcast, it's since the first podcast we ever did together, it's been a comical, like comedy show, either pre post or in the middle. And I think that's why we both love to podcast.

 

Yeah. Awesome. No, I think in dentistry, it's what's really interesting is up until this point, like historically from a dental marketing standpoint, if we go 10 years ago when the 15, whenever when digital started to come around, everybody got real focused on what we call the marketing services. like SEO, digital ads, some social media and, and dental marketing companies on the whole have been really bad at what they've put out. And so they almost kind of do this, like what's this minimum viable product we can put out.

 

The Dental A Team (04:43.819)

at a recurring retainer rate, like 500 bucks a month, a thousand bucks a month, 250, whatever, and just do enough to get by. Lots of stock content, how can we replicate it, how can we scale it, do it at an MVP, and just get it done and collect revenue. And so that was the state of dental marketing for a while. When we came around, I kind of had this different vision of, it felt like nobody was doing creative work. So I kind of came in with this whole creative agency approach of.

 

let's make beautiful brands and websites and photography and video. Cause I felt like all things being equal. If you're just looking at a bunch of stock websites, the first one that's kind of waves your hand and says, Hey, we're different. Look at us. It's just going to win. Like the Gary V says, the creative is the variable. And I've always believed that. But now, so, so then it kind of led us to this point where people were having to choose and they would say like, okay, like our competitors, their biggest knock against us was okay. Beautiful websites. Like they would actually concede that like,

 

beautiful websites, but they're not going to score good on Google. If you come with us, they're going to score better on Google. And so we almost had this war of, okay, you can speak to humans and do something that's designed really well, but Google doesn't like it. Or you do something that Google is going to score well, but like it just is not connecting with humans. And so maybe we get a lot of traffic to it, but we're not converting at a high rate. And so it just becomes this kind of cycle.

 

And what we've been able to do the last couple of years is I really challenged that belief within our agency and just said like, guys, can we do something that's still gonna connect with humans? Like you're still gonna feel something, but can we also build amazing SEO into it? Can we build amazing ad strategies that get that same traffic, but now they're gonna convert higher. And so for me, it almost became this like custom story-driven creative meets performance marketing.

 

And that's really like the most ideal growth strategy out there. And so we spend the last two years really, mean, we've hired SEO specialists, ad specialists. I honestly think right now, mean, our two SEO specialists, I would probably put them up against any dental marketing SEO in the country at this point. And it's kind of led us in this whole reorganization because now our marketing services are starting to take off and

 

The Dental A Team (06:57.801)

internally, we're trying to actually marry that too. Like, okay, we've got a creative agency on one side and a performance marketing agency on the other. And it's, you know, it starts breaking stuff and then you're like, okay, these systems don't work. And so that's been a ton of fun. is, yeah. of fun, like air quotes. I that's the CEO fun, right? Like, it's so fun. I know. And this is what happens. It's like you, as a company, as a business, you find a better way to serve clients and you're like, yes, let's do that.

 

and you get a year or so into and you're like, this is like breaking a lot of stuff that we have to now go back and rebuild. This is the fun when they're like, hey, start your own business, your freedom and you know, then you get into and you're like, this is a lot of work and energy. But we're having a ton of fun with it. And I think that that's really where the so kind of a history of dental marketing and where it's at today is I think being able to bring the both, both of those together, like this best of both worlds. If we're talking about growing a practice, it's

 

custom creative storytelling content with performance marketing. Man, if you can put those together, like you can grow a practice. And I think something I really love about you guys is I think as dentists who are a bit more introvert, like you say, you're introverted traveling. I think they feel very similar that way too. And it's like, my gosh, but I have to now be all online or in order for me to have this, have to be this like very bubbly. Like, I mean, there's some amazing doctors out there that have actually done it.

 

But I really love that you guys don't make them be anything that they're not. And that's like your whole premise of what you guys do for marketing is like, no, you be authentic to you. So if you're outgoing and extroverted, like let's do that and let's build your marketing message around that. But if you're more introverted and more person, like you want to, you want to keep that close to you, that's also fine. And so really just giving people the playground of be who you want to be and tell your story the way you want to tell it and run your practice the way you want to.

 

And you're ultimately going to attract patients who jive with that. Like you don't have to be a one size fits all to be successful. And that's something I've just always loved about your guys' style, your approach, and the way you operate. Yeah, it's probably the biggest pushback we get when we talk to potential clients. And to be honest, I would imagine people don't reach out to us because of this as well. But they're like, Josh, I don't really have a story. Or I don't know what my story is.

 

The Dental A Team (09:15.495)

or I saw these clients that you showed in this speech, but like I'm not them, you know, cause sometimes we tend to show the more sexy work, the work that we're really proud of and people like, yeah, but that's a brand new startup and that space looks amazing. And my space just does not look like that. And so there's this barrier to it. And what I would say is there's a couple of things is number one, like everybody has a story and that's part of our job and our discovery is to really pull that out, you know, with questions like, why did you even go into dentistry? Like why choose this profession?

 

why this location, why this path of CE that you've decided to commit to. Those types of things really help us put together, okay, here's the why behind it. The other part of it is it doesn't have to be entirely like your personal story either. It's really more the story of the practice. And some people are real okay with those intertwining and it kind of meshing into the gray. And then some people are like, nope, they compartmentalize it. Here's my business, here's my personal life. They are completely separate.

 

And so like, get that too. I'm like, well, then the storyline becomes the practice. Like, why is this practice here? Why should patients choose you? Why is your team better? If given the choice of any practice in the community, you say patients should come here first. Why? Like, let's explore some of that. So it's a little intimidating to approach it. And I mean, need to hear the doctors right now. mean, with video, it's, nobody likes being on video and watching themselves. And so that's, that's also, they're like, so I need video.

 

I'm like, well, your site's gonna perform way better with a video. Okay, I'm trusting, I'm like, trust me, our team's gonna be great, it's gonna be interview style, you're really gonna feel at ease, but that's another big hurdle to overcome sometimes. And I just have to say, as someone, I mean, I had to learn video pretty early on in my career of Dental A Team, and I remember there was a company called...

 

drive and we hired a marketing company. I $80,000 in three months with zero ROI and I made probably I kid you not 200 videos. Like I literally pulled our operations manual. I should have the team pull some of these videos from the archive for you. Like there's one where I buy into cake and I ate so much frosting that it actually hit my uvula and I started gagging, but I was so committed to finishing this video, not redoing it that I like. And then I like,

 

The Dental A Team (11:38.079)

I'm crying and laughing and keep going like commercial. Another one I'm pulling the operations manual out of the oven as like a turkey dinner like I'm dressed like like the amount of video nonsense that I did was ridiculous. But I think it was really great because it taught me like nothing's perfect. And I think even now you don't have to be perfect to get this. But what I love is I actually use you guys if you go on to Denali teams website, I love I always say if you want to feel like a million bucks.

 

Like even better than going to the spa or getting your hair done or anything like that. Like men, I don't know what you guys do to feel like posh and luxurious. Like maybe it's like getting a like well tailored suit. Like Josh, what is it for men? Like for girls it's like we go get our hair done, we get our lashes down, we get a makeover. What's like the equivalent for men? You know, I can get down with a good, you know, massage and a manicure. Like I'm not gonna lie, but I'm not talking about most.

 

man, you know, maybe a football game with a beer. can, I can go that way too. So whatever it is where it makes you feel the most posh. always say, if you want to feel that way in photography and video studio, EightyEight will make you feel that way. And that's something I have always loved about you. say like my best photos, my best photo shoots, my best video shoots always are studio EightyEight can tell without a doubt. Like you guys have this, you must have set presets. Like honestly, all the photos look the same. Like you can tell that they're just as incredible and I always feel my best. And so

 

We actually had you guys come out this year. Our team did our company retreat in Disneyland and you guys were so nice to accommodate because that's where I flew my whole team in. all virtual and we actually did a photo shoot in our hotel. Like I kid you not the things Studio EightyEight can do and make look incredible is off the charts. We went over to an office and they were so kind and accommodating for us and then we came back and they actually interviewed me and I was so nervous about this interview and I do this for a living.

 

and I've worked with you guys before I've gone through your brand pieces and I love that through your brand exercise. It's actually not hard. you just answer questions that are very simple. And then you guys, Studio EightyEight like delivers what I have inside of me that I don't know how to explain in a, creative artistic way, which I think is beyond magic that you were able to do. but to the interview in the video part, they did just ask me questions and I just rifted.

 

The Dental A Team (13:56.201)

And I rifted for quite some time and they're so nice. I love people on the other side of the camera that are giving like the head nod, like very intentional. They're so good at it. They're so nice. Like that's something I think you guys do incredibly well. And, I saw the final product. was interesting. I was out for a little while this year and I came back and I saw this final part. I didn't even know it was on the website and I happened to be looking at our website and it was so incredible to see my, my story and my life.

 

You guys were able to parse it together. I like it super emotional about it because you don't realize it's in you. You don't realize that that's a part of you. And I think you guys are just like, that's why I love Josh. I think you just see people for who they really are and you bring that to light in a way that's so safe and so accommodating and so just special. I think is probably the best way. feel like the way you present our photography and the way you present our websites and the way you present brands and the way you present video.

 

Is you take someone who doesn't know how to express themselves like so many of us feel like we're alone or people don't get it like I was just watching Survivor last night and every single person on the show is saying like you just feel so alone you feel like people don't get you you feel like you've been an outcast your whole life or you feel like you know, why am I the one doing this and I'm like every single freaking person on this planet feels that way and yet working with you guys you just it's like it's almost like the way I'm envisioning it is almost like you

 

pull out this like little green sprig of life that I didn't even know was a part of me. And I feel like I'm pretty confident. I know who I am and like I can tell my story, but it's just magic how you pull that together. So doctors or teams or any company worried about it. One, you guys are just so good at it. But like I said, I feel like you're able to take who we are and create masterpieces that we didn't even know were a part of us. And you're welcome to use that as like a testimonial, because honestly, I didn't intend to any of this.

 

I'm just going keep letting you talk. don't even. But it really is. It's just like the little glitter moments that you don't realize are a part of you is what I think you guys bring, which is probably why I rep your swag all the time. Like, because I think it's just magical of what you're able to create for people. And again, like I've done how many sessions with you guys, like Josh, you and I have gone through so many rounds of my brand and my life and my story. And I feel like you guys know me, but you weren't even there this time. It was your team.

 

The Dental A Team (16:19.245)

And they were able to bring this out of me. And I just watched it and I was like, yeah, that's exactly how I want Dennis to feel. That's exactly how I want people to feel. That is my life. That's why I freaking built this company to serve people on that level. And I just think mad kudos to you. And yeah, it's a testimony that I didn't mean on a podcast, but I just think it is magic to watch you guys like spring to life stories that people don't even realize. So if you're questioning, like I don't even feel like I've got a story.

 

You probably have this story. You just don't know how to put the pieces together. And if you don't think about it and you just interview, you guys are very creative and talented at pulling it all together. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I mean, that's, and I know it's obviously very heartfelt. David was out with you guys recently and he's, he's one of our full-time photographers. He just is on the West coast. He used to actually live here in Columbus and that's how we got to meet him. He came to me and said, Hey, I want to move to LA. And I was like, fine, just handle everything, you know, like West of the Rockies. And so

 

he's an amazing guy. And I'll tell you, part of our process is like with those content creators, the talent has to be there for sure. But what a lot of people don't realize is the missing piece is the human component. like it isn't anything, but they have to be able to, mean, we, go through training on like interview skills. We go through training on, you know, walking into a room of, of, like a dental practice and you've got, you know, six to eight females there and they've got some anxiety about what's happening. And they were just told.

 

24 hours before that they're gonna have their photos taken and you gotta be able to go in and like manage a room and manage people. I mean, we train on posing because you can't just like put people together and expect a great team photo either. There's a lot of like science and intentionality that goes around that. And so we've worked really hard on that stuff. But like you're right. mean, we, it's, we had a client recently and what I, what I loved what she said was we delivered the photography and video and, and,

 

And she, I think she was texting Joanna and I and she just said, this is who I thought I was, but I wasn't sure. And when your stuff came back, it was like that person I thought I was, like I am that person, you know? And she saw that on the other side. It's almost like you get to see how the world sees you. And I think so much of it is like, we're just in it day to day. like,

 

The Dental A Team (18:37.111)

Having a grip on that story and even like your impact on the world on the day to day is so hard, I mean, because we just like, we get up, see like the starts and the stops. We see the times we just like failed or said something we shouldn't have and had to go back and fix it. We see we're dealing with a client that's not working well or a patient or a team member's attitude and every day can just be like that. And you get to the end of it you're like.

 

I don't know, man. feel like I'm surviving. I feel like I'm trying to build something, but it's just like, we're going against gravity. Just trying to make it happen. And when somebody else comes along and they go, they almost step back and get this 30,000 foot view. It's almost like the, like the movie screen view. Like they, they force you to almost like sit up towards the back of the movie theater and zoom out on your life. And now you're seeing it play in this like feature film. And yeah, you have these moments where you're like, this is amazing. Like this is worth it. This is.

 

actually, like this is actually beautiful, like it's actually moving me. And that's an amazing thing to be able to do. I think we all, so going back, I think we all have that in us. It just takes somebody to come along and go, no, this is practice you're building. Like the world needs this. Like this is beautiful. And I love like when I get to talk to entrepreneurs and CEOs and dental owners, cause I'm like, you guys are actively, like here's what you don't realize. You're actively participating in creation. Like you're building something that did not exist there before.

 

So like that's, that's this amazing thing and you're doing it for the better of the world. Like what, what better story? Let's just take that. What better story is there out there than that? It's just not. So entrepreneurs, I'm like, yeah, like this is what you're doing. of course you have moments when you're tired. Of course you feel exhausted. Of course you feel drained. You're like putting your energy out there to actually create something that has never existed before for the better of humanity. Like,

 

it's going to drain you, it's going to zap you day to day. You're going to be like, there's nothing special happening here. And so I had to come along and go, but there is, and here's what we see is so powerful. And as you were saying that I couldn't help but think about, there's this company called story worth, like not a plug for them whatsoever. I just happened to, my husband's parents are quite a bit older and, my parents are like, my husband, I are both very fortunate that both of our parents are still alive.

 

The Dental A Team (20:59.781)

And I decided this year I was going to have maybe make like a little competition between his parents and mine, just as I, my thought of how I could get these stories done. but I'm having his parents and my parents write stories every single week and we're going to compile it and put together books for, all of my siblings, all my husband's siblings. And I know like the grandchildren and everybody just kind of wants these stories. And it's interesting because his parents and my parents both were like, I don't want to write these stories. There's really nothing to say.

 

Because I think we minimize our stories and our lives. And we're like, but I'm not Walt Disney, or I'm not Gandhi, or I'm not Mother Teresa. But we don't realize that 99 % of the population is not them. We're all just average day people. But those average day people are the people that impact and change. And so for my in-laws, them writing their story, no, this isn't going to be a best seller. I'm not going to go put it out there. But it's not meant to be. It's meant to serve our family and the people that are connected to my in-laws and to my parents.

 

just like in your practice, your story and your practice and why you even built this is not meant to be for every single patient in the United States or across the globe. It's meant to be in your niche of the people that you're meant to serve and that you're there to serve. And so I really just love that you said like you bring it to the forefront and it's been really fun to watch my in-laws and my parents this year see that they actually do have a story. And again, it's through prompts. Like you said, it's like very simple things that they didn't even realize.

 

But it's been so magical to learn about them in an easy way. And that's, think, what you guys do really well. so, but I did the same thing with my mom. This whole thing, know, story worth Joanna did with her mom and for Mother's Day and I did it for my mom. And it's like she's not as consistent as I would like her to be with them. But competition Josh, got both parents going against each other and it's great. They've all done it. We're consistent.

 

That's a great idea. But it's like every now and then, and because she's just up earlier than me, like I get up and I get my email and it sends them to me. And so I get this and a couple of times I've been like, I'm so busy, my email box is full, but I forced myself to stop and I read it. And sometimes I'm just like, this is fascinating. Like, you know, even thinking about like what she came out of and how she raised us and you're right. And then when they all get kind of stitched together, it's going to create this like, you know, amazing story.

 

The Dental A Team (23:21.227)

I was at the ODA two weeks ago, Ohio dental association, and I was walking the trade show floor. We usually actually don't support it, but there were some speakers there and we did a reception and all that. So we had a team on the floor and I'm walking and I just know a lot of people. So it's just like, you're stopping every so often, but notice this new marketing company on the floor. And I forget what their name was, but their display was kind of modern and minimal. And I was like, okay. Like it kind of caught my eye. All the guys have like the Nike dunk pandas on.

 

which is what my team wears at conferences. so immediately I get into this like, dude, they're knocking us off. They're stealing our shoes. We wear these shoes. So I was like, I'm going to go have some fun with them. So I just walked up. I said, hey man, I like the kicks. And he was like, thanks, thanks. I said, yeah. I said, my team wears those at conferences. We've been doing that for a little while now. And he's like, your team? I was like, yeah. I said, we're just over a couple rows. I said, Studio EightyEight And he's like, Studio EightyEight And I'm like, yeah, I'm Josh. I was like, Gavin, I read his name title. Nice to meet you.

 

And he goes, you're Josh with studio EightyEight I'm like, at this point, like, yeah. So a couple of his team members come over and he was like, dude, you, he tells his team members, he's like, guys, we've learned everything we know from this guy and their company. I'm like, then I'm like, great. Because I get agencies that come up to us and they're like, do we follow your stuff? We're building an agency. We're doing the exact same thing. I'm like, amazing. Yeah. Copy our stuff and build another business. so that's a whole nother conversation, but.

 

He goes, he's like, were the first one to bring custom photography and video into dental. And I'm like, I was like, bro, I don't know about that. I'm sure people did custom photography before that. And he was like, no, but you were the original disruptor of that whole thing. And I was like, we were probably the first one to create a business model around it and be able to take it nationwide in a way that was profitable and that served the profession. So was like,

 

Yeah, but it was like that. So he's repeating the storyline back. It was actually, it was very like, kind of, I don't know, was like sincere and it was cool. It was like this, you know, interaction, but I was like, I've never thought of myself like that. But when somebody says it and then you're kind like, well, I mean, maybe, I don't know. I'm a disruptor, who knows? But yeah. I love it. I love it. And I think like, as you were saying that, I think so many of us don't realize how impactful what we're doing.

 

The Dental A Team (25:43.946)

is I was just reading an article this morning and they said, what's the most impactful book you've ever read? And they said, shoe dog. And shoe dog came up at another conference and another conference. And that's literally just a story about Nike. And I guarantee you that person when they're and I don't know their name. I have not read it. It's on my queue because I saw it again of like reading the most impactful book. But I just think most of the things that impact us the most are people's stories.

 

The things that we remember our people stories the things like and even if it's a small thing and it's not some person like Walt Disney or Gandhi or Nike So many of those stories just need to be told and I think we're in a day and age like you look at social media like people watch videos because it's telling stories and they're entertaining and it's fun for us and yet if I go on Jason's Social versus mine. We have two very different algorithms Like Jason has a little bit of dark humor on there and I'm like, my gosh, you watch this like I'm laughing but I feel like

 

a little embarrassed that I'm laughing at it. Like Jason and he, like, he just thinks it's hilarious. Whereas he comes on mine and it's like all Taylor Swift. So like very different algorithms, but yet people are building content for different people. And so that's the whole point of like these practices. Like you're not meant to serve every person. You're meant to serve the people that you were like truly destined to serve. And I think that's what I love about dentistry is the lives that we get to change and the magic we get to create. Like you create that magic for these owners of being able to see like

 

their work come to life, like you said, the masterpiece while dentists are being able to create those smiles for all these patients and let their life become a masterpiece as well. So I just think it's lovely. I really do. And I think, I think we downplay how incredible we are. And I think I'm here to propose like there might be a better way, obviously not in the egotistical way, but in the way of like, I did do some good things and I did take some hard risks and I did it because I want to serve these people. Yeah.

 

Like there's nothing like we should be sharing that more. And obviously people know my mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I'm like, the way you do that is by showing up as you and you do that by, doing these things day in and day out. So I think it's just, it's a lovely thing that you guys do. And I would say if you haven't gone through the brand exercise or had your photography or had the videos, like try it. Because like you said, I think you get a zoom out from someone else's perspective and see your life and not in an egotistical way, just in a like, dang.

 

The Dental A Team (28:09.002)

Like I have done a few things in this world and I think it makes the suck days of success not as hard. because you're like, wow, there has been something that's been made. So again, this wasn't the intent of the podcast. just naturally came probably cause I put the sweatshirt on. feel more in studio EightyEight mode. Well, I think here's kind of one of my, my recent thesis because I was reworking a keynote recently and for next year. And I was like, we're

 

If marketing is all just about data and KPIs and analytics and all this stuff, we just, we just end up with this kind of like empty thing of just literally trying to drive traffic to get this knowing like, okay, for every thousand people we convert at like 2%. So like, let's, let's get 10,000 people in and a hundred thousand people. And we're, driving traffic for the sake of this like minimal possible conversion. And I think just in our world, and it's going to have to be like this as we move forward, people need to feel some.

 

And that's the side of marketing we don't talk a lot about. And I'm actually very empathetic to it because on one side we've got ROI and KPIs and data and we can prove something's working. And to be honest, it's easier to throw a couple thousand dollars at Google and end up with new patients in the chair than it is to go, how do I build a brand? Because that's so subjective and it feels like it's all like feeling and things and the way photography makes people feel and the way they connected with this video and.

 

the user experience on the website, like how many clicks do they have to go? It's all that very subjective, like subtle stuff and building a brand is hard. Like there's, there's not a lot of checkpoints along the way. Like, I doing a good job? You know, our son recently left for college about six weeks ago. He went to university Cincinnati, which is about two hours away. So he's not so far, but I remember that whole thing of, as soon as he decides he's going to Cincinnati, it starts this clock like,

 

as a parent, you're just like on the clock. It's like, there's okay, 45 days till he's gone and start shrinking. And what I probably wasn't prepared for is it really smacks you in the face with this one major question, which is, did we do enough? Because now the time is, it almost is like the time is shrinking. You've got 45 days left. Did you do enough the last 18 years? Cause now he's leaving and, that's, it's a, it's a tough question. Like were we enough? And especially on Joanna's side, it was, it was very

 

The Dental A Team (30:31.018)

You know, there's a lot of emotion to it. Like I got 45 days. had these 12 conversations I need to have with them. And, but you're also like, but I can't shove them in that time either. You just have to trust. And I go back to like, okay, so how would I know that I was a good parent? There's no data. There's no KPIs. There's no like ROI on this along the way. But I remember things like there was this moment, like when he was eight and I watched him interact with some adults and he used some manners and you're like, okay, like

 

I actually can't believe he learned that, you I remember his very last volleyball game as a varsity in high school, they went to the regional finals and they ended up losing. And so it was like this emotional night, but one of the dads came up to us and said, hey, I just need to tell you, like, Kaden's been a great leader on this team. His son was a freshman. And he said, they were very intentional about, this is not just the seniors team, this is all their team.

 

taking what they learned and pouring it into the freshmen. said, you may or may not hear that all the time, but he said, your son is not only a great leader, but he's a great man. And my son just looks up to him so much. And it's moments like those where you're like, okay, I might've done enough, you know? But it's in building a brand is a lot like that. It's just, hard to get your hands around. And so I think that's sometimes why we skew the other way of just give me data, let me throw money at it, give me data, give me KPIs. And then it's either it's working or it's not working. And we move on to the next thing.

 

where building a brand is like, it's two years, five years, 10 years, it's a lifetime, but it's harder. Yeah. And I think it's important for doctors to realize in teams that what you're building is a legacy for as long as you're doing it for. It doesn't have to be a lifetime forever, but you are building a brand and you are a brand and what you're doing is changing lives. so recognizing that, and I think like,

 

not to add so much weight to it that it feels daunting, but to add enough weight where you realize like what you're doing is important and what you're creating in those patients. Like I don't think I was on a podcast earlier and I said in dentistry, we're not heart surgeons, but we are smile surgeons and giving that confidence to our patients. I think that we undermine possibly the incredible work that we're doing for society and the confidence we're able to give all these patients.

 

The Dental A Team (32:51.942)

is something that I do think is worthwhile. like the patients need to find out, they need to find you because otherwise they're gonna go to someone else and not to say another dentist isn't as good, but I guarantee you the doctors that are listening to this podcast and the ones that are working with companies like Studio EightyEight you're the ones that I would want my patients to go to and my family to go to. so it's like when we're in a world where anybody can be found, we need to have our best doctors standing out. And I believe that that's our moral obligation to serve patients at the highest level.

 

Just like I believe the best doctors need to be out there and the best surgeons need to be out there because like we only have one set of teeth. And so if you can help save more teeth and more smiles, I think it's like it's a no brainer that you need to have your brand and your business very, very readily available. So Josh, I just love this podcast. I felt all the feels. I feel like so many doctors just need to share their stories. And so people are interested. How do they work with Studio EightyEight? How do they connect with you? Like I said, you guys, I have gone through, I think everything Studio EightyEight does.

 

I've done their brand, I've done their photography, I've done their websites. It's an incredible experience and it's very easy. So how can people even just dip their toe into this if they're interested? Yeah, for sure. A couple of best ways to reach out. Number one, I'm on Instagram at Joshua Scott. So I'm still in my accounts and DMs. So just send me a message if you heard this podcast. Just even say, hey, I heard the Dental A Team podcast. You'll get a response from me. Ask me anything.

 

I'm more or less, I'm like, I'll offer you advice all day long. I'll take a look at your stuff and just give you my professional opinion on it. and then if you want to reach out to studio EightyEight or get specifics there, it's, go to the website, s8e8.com letter S number 8 letter E number 8.com. there's a bunch of buttons there. can submit to get in touch with somebody and they can walk you through our packages and what we do and see if it's potentially a good fit for you. I love it. I would say if nothing else.

 

Just make sure that you are, you're sharing your story like the little story worth of our parents because that's so important for people to see you you don't have to be the video. You don't have to be all the different things. You do it on your level and your terms of what you are. But I do believe that the world needs you. Patients need you. So in the most loving way, don't be selfish and like hide yourself away, share yourself because this world needs you. Josh, thanks for being on the podcast today. It was such a good time with you. Of course. I always enjoy it. Appreciate it.

 

The Dental A Team (35:14.154)

Yeah, none of this was scripted, which is a ton of fun. You just kind of get on and, you know, when you can talk to a friend and it just goes wherever it's, it's always a lot of fun. It's a good time. And for all of you listening, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

 

Kiera is a guest on Dr. Gallagher’s Podcast in this crossover episode! There is a lot of important ground covered here, including how to establish the ideal practice flow, the differences in consulting between speciality and general practices, why being a human being feels like a lost art, how to hire the best people, and more.

Episode resources:

Listen to Dr. Gallagher’s Podcast: Apple, Spotify, YouTube

Reach out to Tiff, Britt, and Dana

Tune Into DAT’s Monthly Webinar

Practice Momentum Group Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

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Transcript:

Brendan (00:02.346)

Of the Dental A Team, this is Kiera Dent, right? So this is, I love that it's dent because there's dental dentin, part of the tooth and stuff. So it's just perfect. It really worked well. And you have a consulting agency, right? Dental A Team. And how many years have you been in around?

 

Kiera Dent (00:16.95)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (00:25.494)

Thank you.

 

Kiera Dent (00:30.976)

Yeah, so we've, the company is almost eight years old. She's about to have her eighth birthday in November, but yeah, it's been fun. It was a complete random idea that I came up with to start it, honestly, to help a bunch of dental students and here we are. So it's been a really fun place to be.

 

Brendan (00:49.738)

Two more months and eight years, congrats!

 

Kiera Dent (00:51.796)

I know. Thank you. Thank you. It came from, I worked at Midwestern University's Dental College for three years while my husband did pharmacy school. And one of the students straight out of school said, hey, Kiera, I want you to come help me start my practice. And I said, my gosh, like, absolutely. I've always wanted to be a practice owner. I was a dental assistant and a treatment coordinator and an office manager prior. And so I went and I helped her start her practice and

 

We took our practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months and opened our second location. And then I thought, my gosh, like if I could help her do this, there's all my other like favorite dental students. Like I'm sure I could probably be a resource and a help for them. And so that's really what spurred the consulting company. I had never worked with a consultant before. And then I started helping practices and adding, you know, 25,000 of production to their schedules very quickly. I was adding, increasing case acceptance to a hundred percent.

 

within one day and I just thought, okay, there's something about this and it doesn't have to be hard, but I'm gonna be a resource for all those dentists in school because you guys go to school and you're so passionate about what you're doing, but then there's the business side of it. And so if I could be a resource, a trusted resource, knowing what you're learning in school, so that way you guys can be so successful, positively impact your world, help your community, help your team, help your patients, and you guys are living your best lives.

 

That really is what spurred me into being a consultant. So here we are all with the love. have no clue what consultants should do. I just keep making up what I believe my students from Midwestern would want to have and just keep coming from love of you guys, just doing the best to support dentistry and us supporting you in that vision.

 

Brendan (02:30.004)

Excellent. And so you're not at Midwestern anymore. That was only in the beginning for those years. So roughly eight years ago.

 

Kiera Dent (02:33.068)

Mm -mm. Yep. Yep. I worked there for three years. No, so three years. And then I went and I worked in Colorado for two years. And then I started the company in 2016. Yeah, 2016. So it was great. It was a good time. And here we are now, eight years later.

 

Brendan (02:48.904)

And in Colorado, that was the practice that you brought them from X to that would be roughly five X. Wow. Well done. Well done. So they started for a year there. You knew them. You had a good rapport, good relationship with them over a year or two. You grew it from that. then you're like, and that's when you decided, OK, let's scale. How did you take that next step from there? So it was just you working at her practice. Right. And then from there, you said.

 

Kiera Dent (02:55.008)

Mm -hmm. Yeah. Thanks.

 

you

 

Kiera Dent (03:08.384)

Totally.

 

Kiera Dent (03:13.344)

Mm -hmm. Yep.

 

Brendan (03:16.136)

So you don't work with her anymore. was like a see you later. I'm going to figure it better.

 

Kiera Dent (03:18.072)

No. It was incredible. And we had such a good run. And I have to give mad kudos to her as a dentist, because I think we were really a dynamic duo. I came in with amazing like management and TC skills. We both didn't know what we were doing. And I think that that's part of doctors opening practices. But kudos to her for bringing me on because she knew I knew pieces she didn't know how to do.

 

but yeah, it was, I think more her vision. We both were very gung -ho. We wanted to serve more. We wanted to have a bigger impact and footprint. And so it was, we got this practice going and then we bought our second location and then there ended up getting like seven practices all together. But things I learned from that was, it was over the course of like five, six, I ended up leaving. She continued. and it was something very interesting that those are like sexy numbers to put up on a scoreboard and.

 

Brendan (04:00.019)

In two years?

 

Kiera Dent (04:12.268)

Everybody always has the bright eyes of like, my gosh, like how did you do that? But I think my obsession has come, like her and I were both on like death row. Like we were working 2 a to 10 p It was insanity to try and get that success. And while yes, there's sexy numbers on the board, we both realized that there's more to life than what we were doing. And are we gonna just like slay and try and drive this through or is there maybe something more to this? so yes, it was, we did part ways and I'm just so proud of everything that she created.

 

But I, like one, my marriage, my life, all of those things were falling apart. And I realized me traveling back and forth from Reno Tahoe area to Colorado all the time was just really hard on my marriage. I wasn't seeing my husband. I was completely anorexic. I was like 98 pounds and I'm 5 '8". And it was just, everything felt like it was deteriorating. And so that was where it had to be like, let's do a step back. Her life was deteriorating. And I thought...

 

there has to be a better way to success than what we've done. Like, yes, we've got sexy numbers to throw up on the board. Yes, we've got all these cool things, but is there not a better way that we can do this where you can have an incredible family and you can have incredible numbers and you can have a thriving business. And that really has become my passion and obsession is helping more dentists live a fulfilled life, hitting up those sexy big numbers or whatever they want to do, but still maintain their life, their identity, their freedom is really what I'm obsessed with within our company and our culture.

 

and really helping dentists get that life.

 

Brendan (05:41.89)

yeah, and that's such a great pitch to where it's let's let's seize that life that we dreamed of again. love that now in where it started to get a little rocky there speaking of Colorado, but while it started to happen was that the first two years when you were there was that within the five six years when she scaled to seven or so practices first two

 

Kiera Dent (05:47.68)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (05:51.634)

Hahaha

 

Kiera Dent (05:55.564)

Mm

 

Kiera Dent (05:59.692)

No, so that was my first two years. Yeah, absolutely. And both of us were there. And I think that that happens, right? You've got all the student debt. I used to call her 2.5, like when she's hunched over, not like good ergonomics. I'm like, hey, 2.5, we're 2.5 million debt. Like with student loans, the practice acquisition, within our first couple of months of owning the practice, our building was being torn down. So we had to move our patient base to another location, build up another practice. So

 

And I think oftentimes it's how people come out, right? Like you've got a lot of debt, you've been sitting in residency for so long, or you've been in school for so long or whatever it is, or you're an associate and you feel like, okay, I bought this practice. I think there's this like innate desire to just hit the ground running, but we forget that that can only sustain for so long. Like we are human bodies, we are not human robots. And realizing that there's...

 

so much that can happen. We also were very naive. We did not have systems in place and we just kept adding more fuel to our fire that was already burning and blazing bigger than we were. And so we got to a good place. We were hiring other doctors, but I think that that's where my obsession has come of, like, let's give systems. And I just got off a podcast with one of our doctors that we work with and her and her husband are kind of thriving and jamming the same way I was.

 

But what they've done differently is we like, we're really specific of let's get all these systems in place before we buy our second location. And like, let's slow to grow rather than like fly to die. Like it was a very different model and they're thriving and they're happy and their marriage is incredible. There's different, like both are available to us. I think I'd prefer, let's take the, take the sustainable route that's very doable that keeps your passion alive rather than killing you off at the beginning.

 

Brendan (07:46.548)

Yeah, yeah. So when you translate into systems and processes, I, so coming from a clinician, a provider background system and processes, I have an idea, you know, like the system I'm thinking of is like the computer or no, but really in a practice setting, if I could just have some insight to what you mean behind that developing systems and processes before you buy that second practice, what were some of those systems, if I can, if I can know.

 

Kiera Dent (07:51.178)

Of course.

 

Kiera Dent (08:01.321)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (08:06.102)

Sure.

 

Kiera Dent (08:16.015)

Of course, yeah. And this is what I just geek out on. This is why we have the podcast. It's like tactical, practical with ease. So it's like, do you have a process for how you're doing our billing process? And in Dental A Team, I actually made 12 categories that kind of fall within the 12 months of systems to have. So there's your office management. You've got your practice profitability and your numbers. We have our dental assistants and how we set up our rooms and our operatories. We have our handoffs. We have our

 

like how we hire and onboard people. We have our operations manual completed. We have our treatment tracker and case acceptance. We have our hygiene protocols to put those into play to make sure our hygiene teams diagnosing and we're treating patients the same way. We have our doctor optimization where we're really working on like, what are the clinical skill sets of our doctors and are we maximizing their skills within? And so those are what I mean by systems. And I'll be completely honest. We were like just two girls flying by the seat of our pants.

 

So like we did not have a process for billing. We did not have a process for scheduling. It was just like dump it in and we'll figure out how to do it versus like you can have, I mean, I've added multiple millions to people's schedules just by having block scheduling with ease and they're out by four o 'clock, they're out by three o 'clock. We're putting up really hard, like great numbers. The patients are happy, the team is happy. Like literally I have a practice that I took from 2 million to 4 .5 million just by changing their block scheduling.

 

And so it's like, these are the simple systems that maybe you don't have to go buy another practice unless a DSO or something like that is what you're trying to do. But let's make sure that we have those, because I've also gone to offices and they're like, we're completely maxed out on our space and I find an operatory there. We don't actually have to go buy a bigger building. We can keep it here. We can systematize it here. We can maximize, like, are we doing our handoffs? Are we collecting before they leave? Are we having proper treatment plans?

 

Are we tracking our case acceptance? Are we watching the things that like our hygiene teams doing? What's our hygienists producing per hour? Are there ways that we can help our patients more? What's our morning huddle? Those systems in place make it clockwork where it's very predictable magic behind the scenes. Like we know we will have magic in our practice because we have systems in place. And maybe we don't have to go for the multi -practices unless that's our drive and our desire, then by all means, let's do it.

 

Kiera Dent (10:37.408)

but let's make it to where we can stamp it out. I promise you, like you look at McDonald's, think that's the easiest one. They were the crowning jewel of systems. They were not stamping this out haphazardly. They were looking for the efficiency and making it to where each new place would have the same exact experience just in a different location. What's your experience and your practice and how can you go replicate that with ease is really what I mean by systems behind the scenes.

 

Brendan (10:43.572)

Mmm.

 

Brendan (11:01.556)

Yeah, and were you doing all this at Midwestern?

 

Kiera Dent (11:05.67)

No. So at Midwestern, if you recall, I feel like I was your tooth lunch lady. I handed out all the teeth, the composite, the like all the things I don't know in the simulation center. So I worked with the first and second year students and helped with the radiology and all of that. But prior to that, I was a dental assistant, a treatment coordinator, a scheduler, a biller. I just wanted to get a discount on my husband's tuition. I'll be fully honest. And it just had to work out. So then I became this cute little tooth lunch lady. Like, here's your teeth, here's your composite, here's your bands.

 

Brendan (11:32.958)

Hahaha

 

Kiera Dent (11:34.99)

And then went and helped her in Colorado and then started helping other dentists just really.

 

Brendan (11:40.084)

Yeah. And Midwestern, because there are two Midwesterns, there's Arizona and Illinois, right? You were in Arizona, was going to say, because Reno, Nevada. Are you still in Reno, Nevada?

 

Kiera Dent (11:43.262)

Arizona. We are. Yep. So we still live here. My husband ditches residency here because my family lives over in California. So it was the closest location without paying California tax. Yeah.

 

Brendan (11:57.16)

Wonderful wonderful and just just just step back to being at Midwestern have you ever seen it like a show or a movie or something where The guy or girl moves the plant that's in the shade into the light and then all of a sudden the flower blooms I Feel like that's where you moved yourself out of the shade into the light not to make the old figurative But I literally see like because because now you're killing it you're consulting with all these practices and stuff doing so no, that's a really

 

Kiera Dent (12:11.338)

Yes.

 

Kiera Dent (12:22.262)

Thank you.

 

Brendan (12:25.662)

First of all, the story is incredible because you've to appreciate someone who takes that hop, skip and a jump gets into the environment. That's a maybe it's a risk and it just they blossom. that's, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to be like a radio show here, but I, know, I really seek for the optimism in people's lives. There's a lot of fear going on these days. There's a lot of skepticism, a lot of conspiracies, and it's really nice to find let's let's hone back in together and let's really get into the nitty gritty of the good things.

 

Kiera Dent (12:37.568)

Thank you.

 

Brendan (12:54.898)

and success stories. yeah, so that's just, wanted to touch that really there because I really appreciate that. You know, we need, we need risk takers and we need to admire those and understand how they did it. Okay. So moving on, can you just shout out your podcast on, so everyone knows?

 

Kiera Dent (12:55.308)

Totally.

 

Kiera Dent (12:58.7)

Thank you.

 

Kiera Dent (13:07.916)

Yeah, of course. Yeah, we have the Dental A Team podcast. Gosh, I think I'm about up to, we might have surpassed our 900 mark and headed towards our 1000 mark of episodes. So definitely try to have a ton of resources for free out there. And for any dentists out there listening or students, like I love the students. Clearly I have a very soft spot in my heart for students and residents, people who want to grow. But if you go to our website, TheDentalATeam.com, we have our podcast link.

 

And literally you go and you type in anything, treatment planning, scheduling, verbiage for dropping insurance, like you name it. I probably have a podcast or two on them and all of our databases there for you. So trying really hard just to give back. and like you said, my goal is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible and just remind us of how like blessed we are to be able to change people's lives through dentistry. And, I truly believe that owning a practice should not be hard. It does not need to be hard. You can still have everything you want. So yeah.

 

Our podcast, The Dental A Team, love to have you there. Thank you for that shout out.

 

Brendan (14:10.314)

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Now continuing, if you can do me a favor and on your Instagram, the bio, if you can just change, I think you changed the name of your handle, your organization, the company, the podcast, that handle changed in your bio. I think it's, might've been an older handle, but you can't click it is what I mean. We just got to fix that. That'll help out your followers so that they can make the link between you and you know, and your consulting group. Just something I noticed, but yeah. So, so moving on for there.

 

Kiera Dent (14:12.897)

Yes.

 

Kiera Dent (14:19.965)

Mm

 

Kiera Dent (14:26.842)

sure.

 

Kiera Dent (14:32.118)

Yeah.

 

Thank you.

 

Brendan (14:37.852)

So you have the pockets you have on providers and stuff. You just had Dr. Jason Auer back on. I just saw him last week at the Amos conference, which is pretty cool. And I had him on the podcast last year. That's a lot of fun. How often do you meet with providers, owners, DSOs versus private practices? I'm curious what the percentages are there. And then the percentages of providers versus do you ever talk with other

 

Kiera Dent (14:43.36)

Okay.

 

Brendan (15:06.74)

people that consult for practices.

 

Kiera Dent (15:09.022)

Yeah, for sure. So hopefully I understood your question. I'll answer and if I missed it, please, I'm here for it. But our consulting primarily focuses on GP practices. We have a really strong pediatric following as well. Some OS, some ortho. We kind of dabble in all of the specialties a little bit, but really GP and our niche is to work with the practice owners. We sometimes will work with their associates, so the doctors and then also the team. As I found,

 

Like we put so much out there for the doctors. Like everybody is targeting the doctors. Why would they not? The doctors are the buyer, the doctors are the ones running the practice. But I realized if we can elevate the team as well and we can teach the team to think like owners and we can get the team inspired and excited, that's 90 % of the battle of having a successful practice. So we coach both. We raise up office managers. We build leadership teams. We do quarterlies. I do work with startup practices all the way up to multi -level DSOs.

 

And so really kind of everything in between my sweet spots, usually the two, three, four, five locations is really what I love to do or practice owners who are wanting to grow and possibly sell to a DSO. I love the startups. love to give them the system so they really do well. Exponentially, we have an entire CE online database that's got operations manual and all those pieces, but really my body has physically been in over 250 dental practices. I used to travel about

 

265 days a year. And so I now have cut that back and I don't travel as much as I used to for work. I do more for fun, but that's really kind of our nutshell. And then we bring all of our doctors together and I love to get doctors to just share. from the brand new owner to the experienced owner, having them collaborate together in mastermind settings where there's so much knowledge, I get to see it. Most people don't get to be in 200 offices. They don't get to work with 200 teams.

 

But to bring all these teams together and bring all these doctors together, that's where we elevate and lift everybody up. And so it's really fun. So hopefully that answered your question, but if not, ask any other ones about that.

 

Brendan (17:15.124)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that definitely answers it. And what kind of percentages are you at now versus in the beginning working with DSOs versus smaller private practices? I'm curious.

 

Kiera Dent (17:23.66)

Gotcha. So we're more like, I would say 90 % are our private practices and 10 % are the DSOs. However, a lot of our practices do sell to those larger DSOs, which I think is just a common piece right now. But I am very pro not, I don't have a one size fits all. Our consulting is very much, what does that doctor want to do? And some doctors are like, Kiera, I get emails from DSOs every other day, but that's not what I want to do.

 

And my job's not to say like, let's build it to sell to a DSO. My job is to say, Brendan, what life do you want to have? What do we want to do? Where do you want to be? Like, what do you want your financial retirements to be? How much time do you want off from the practice? And let's build your practice to suit your life and fulfill your life. Because if you are happy and thriving, everything else will fall into place.

 

Brendan (18:10.516)

Yeah, I would like everything else to fall into place one day. Hopefully nine months after graduating, that's the goal. I did already sign with a practice. It's a multi -practice out on Long Island. How many practices have you worked with on Long Island?

 

Kiera Dent (18:12.492)

It will.

 

Kiera Dent (18:20.351)

Amazing.

 

Long Island, I've actually had two over there. So I've definitely been up in that area. I had a practice in the Bronx, definitely not dental 365. I used to work with an office named Brian Stimler. He was out there and then there was another office in there just slipping. This was, mean, we're talking six years ago that was in Long Island. I like, I could see them. I just cannot remember their name. I'll look it up post show and let you know.

 

Brendan (18:27.786)

10 .0365, who, who, can I know?

 

Kiera Dent (18:46.829)

But yeah, I'm flying out to Canadaigua on Sunday to go and work with a practice up there. So I still come out that way, but I don't have any more on Long Island.

 

Brendan (18:56.02)

That's all right. Wow. Okay. So you're all over the U S Canada at all. Cause you mentioned.

 

Kiera Dent (18:59.198)

Mm -hmm. So I have consulted in Canada. I've consulted in Australia and New Zealand as well. I was trying to do the whole international thing. We have lots of listeners international, which is super fun. But I almost got deported from Canada on one of my visits. after that, which I thought Canada of all the places. So almost the client told me just to say I was going for fun. so I did. They like searched my phone.

 

Brendan (19:15.546)

What? How did that happen?

 

Kiera Dent (19:27.722)

They were like, what are your clients? What do you do? Like, what do these friends do? They're dentists and they told me, technically I'm allowed to go over there to collect data without a visa, but if not, that they could deport me. I was so scared. I've never been that scared in my entire life. I was shaking. I definitely went and visited by Niagara Falls. Like I literally was a whole complete tourist. I told my clients like, I'm sorry, we'll not be doing anything. We still have a good giggle from that time. But yeah, after that, I just stopped.

 

Traveling International for development.

 

Brendan (19:57.802)

Is that by plane, car? Like what?

 

Kiera Dent (20:00.308)

It was in the airport. I should have. So it's funny. I was actually in Canandaigua and their practice was in Toronto and it was like a two, maybe a two hour drive across the border. And I should have done that. But my assistant at the time, like we were just new, we were young and I had someone booking travel for me. And so she flew me back to Newark and then flew me to Toronto. And when I did that going through Toronto customs, I was rookie.

 

The things I did wrong one I was dressed like a business professional on a Saturday Two I was trying to be so super ultra honest and put that I had peanuts like I had nuts in my bag Which was so dumb like I wasn't eating it there like I don't know what my thought process was on it And I remember getting a pink line across my little document going into Canada Which sent me to the right not to the left. I was sitting there waiting forever then I started to wonder like

 

Why am I in this line? Like usually this is a faster thing. Then I started to get nervous. like I have contracts and things like that in my email. Luckily when I got up there, the lady was not having any, anything like we were not getting onto good terms. Like they're very strict at border control. And luckily my, they're so mean.

 

Brendan (21:14.794)

They are like for like it's good to be strict, but you're there for business. What's wrong with I don't like why are they stopping? I don't know what and the peanuts. What's wrong with peanuts?

 

Kiera Dent (21:22.152)

So they say, are you bringing any nuts with you? And I was like, why did I say yes to that? Just don't eat them while you're over there if you accidentally, or throw them away. I don't know what my deal was. yeah, but then on my flight back, my client was like, you're fine. You got over. And I said, I don't think I'm fine. And truth be told, when I went back to the airport, there's a code that they'll put on some tickets. I couldn't check in. So when I was flying back, I wasn't allowed to check in on.

 

line said go to the airport. I printed my ticket and I got four S's on my boarding pass, which then meant I got searched up and down left and right. The really cool thing is because I do work in dental offices, my bag and my shoes actually flagged that I had bomb making materials on me. They asked what I do for work and what my husband does for work, found out we were in healthcare, which I mean, there are some things that we do have in dental offices that probably could contribute.

 

Brendan (21:56.554)

no, yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (22:20.214)

So when they found out I worked in healthcare, I was allowed to go, everything was fine. I got to the gate, I got searched again at the gate, and then finally I was able to fly back home. So I have never been so excited to see the US flag flying after. So that was my end of international consulting. I've still consulted people in Canada, but they have to come over to the US. I'll meet them right at the border, but we do it all in the US now. So that was a good lesson learned early on.

 

Brendan (22:46.665)

Okay.

 

Yeah, yeah, fair enough. And you could probably do a bit virtual. Why do you need to meet in person? I'm curious.

 

Kiera Dent (22:54.74)

Yeah. So that was like really what I built the company on and we've since shifted and whatnot. But what I found was like going to people's offices, like I went to one office, I'd been consulting them for about six months and I walked in and they had paper charts. Never once did paper charts come up on any of our calls. And I'm like, excuse me, we have paper charts in this office. Like how was that never a conversation? And what I realized is what me as a consultant might see that maybe isn't like

 

a good flow or good things, a dentist who's been doing this for years might not even know that that's abnormal. And so sometimes being able to see the practice can really help. It can really help us evaluate. We can get the team on board. So that's been something that's been really fun. But we've also now learned that, like, I think after seeing so many practices myself, we know a lot more of the questions to ask of the team pieces of the flow. There's different ways. mean, COVID really helped exponentially grow that virtual piece. And honestly, we can get, I would say,

 

We're like 98 % as good of results virtually as we were getting in person. So the only thing I think people miss is just like us being with their teams. So now we're flying all of our doctors and teams together. So we're still able to influence. And we learned through COVID, we did virtual team events and teams love it. Like we ship swag boxes and we really learned how to have this like fun, engaging experience virtually that teams get bought into. And then it's cheaper for the doctors not to have to fly an entire team.

 

Brendan (23:58.548)

if could.

 

Kiera Dent (24:22.092)

to a location as well.

 

Brendan (24:23.956)

Right, right, right, right. I just thought of a couple things to ask you really quickly. Have you ever met Paul Vigario of SurfCT? No, okay, they're an IT company. They do a bunch of things, but you were mentioning kind of, I forget the exact word you used, but you were saying like building up and motivating the team of the dental office. He uses the word empower, which I thought was interesting. I didn't know if you guys had crossed paths or something, but he would be a good person to connections in the network. The other thing is I could,

 

Kiera Dent (24:31.658)

I have not. That'd be a one.

 

Kiera Dent (24:42.221)

Mm

 

Kiera Dent (24:50.944)

Yeah.

 

Brendan (24:53.8)

I wanted to ask you because you like to go your at least you started the business by going in person to these offices. Do you have any recommendations that you make as far as the flow? Because you have the waiting room and then you have the operatories and all double chairs. Maybe if consult consulting group, consult rooms and follow up rooms next to them. And then towards the end on the way out, it's different from the entrance because people got dental treatment and they got to make that payment. Hopefully before they leave the office. Is that anything that you evaluate and make better or

 

Kiera Dent (25:19.717)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kiera Dent (25:23.564)

Totally. Yeah. One of my offices, they're a very big booming practice. They do over 14 million a year in one location. And I went up to their office and it's kind of my running joke. said, you guys, I don't even want to put this on my resume that I did this for your practice. We're talking big booming practice, huge practice. They've been doing amazing for years. What I implemented in their practice were flowers that I went and bought from the store.

 

and put in vases at their checkout location because what I noticed is they were not getting a high of cases closed because there was no privacy. It was too big of a thing. And I also noticed the flow was really confusing because people were coming from both directions and they were actually running into each other. Patients were backing up, patients were leaving. And I'm I'm kind of embarrassed that like, Kiera Dent came in, Dental A Team, and I put flowers on your checkout.

 

But what happened was their case acceptance skyrocketed. The patient flow I practiced with the entire team. Because what's crazy is those little things we don't think about, but the patient experience exponentially increases and our case acceptance goes up exponentially. So I'm like a miracle girl in practices. Case acceptance is my jam. Having really smooth flows for practices is really what I love to do. And so yes, in my perfect world, if I get to see your blueprints before you build the practice,

 

Always having an in and an out because it really helps but if like the practice is how it is Let's figure out flows Sometimes I'll just add a little bench by the checkout where people can actually seat their patients so the patient's not leaving the door Little different things where you can hand like a route slip or anything of communication like the baton passing between the front and the back office so that way everything is just so clean and what's going on between the front to the back and having that flow very

 

very easy. But yeah, that's something I really love to see. Because just one small little thing or in big offices, I do like a direction and a flow of traffic. So that way we're getting all patients going through one door, getting them to check out, there's a set process. I call it like the HOV lane or the like, so they're just a quick checkout, like a speedy checkout, send them to this person. If they're a longer one, put them here, have different people that are better with different skill sets at those two seats.

 

Brendan (27:16.394)

Interesting.

 

Brendan (27:30.378)

I like that.

 

Kiera Dent (27:41.61)

Sometimes on the check -in, I'll have people take payments, so we're not backing them up. In really large practices, when they start to get bigger and bigger, I will start to have the clinical team, like very easy. If they just need a fluoride payment, just swipe that card in the back, very easy. We can get credit cards on file. And then there's checks and balances to make sure none of it gets missed because more hands in pots can oftentimes lead to chaos. But if it's a systematized way, you can do so much with a flow and make everybody's life so much easier.

 

Brendan (28:09.738)

Absolutely. So then at least to my next question and right on that, virtually, how do you assess someone's patient flow and the routes and finding that HOV lane?

 

Kiera Dent (28:18.348)

So, oftentimes we will still go to practices, but if I'm not in a practice, it's really simple. Like do a little FaceTime video with me, like walk me through your practice, show me what your patients are doing. and what's really fun about our consulting is when you've seen so many offices, you can like within 10 minutes of being in a practice, I already know what they could do to improve very quickly. Cause you just see it. It's like we're playing a game and I spot it. And so just do a fast, easy FaceTime. I've got an office right now and

 

We work through their entire flow virtually and everything's moving really well. So just an easy FaceTime or a Zoom will take me around the whole office and we can just pick up a small little change here or there.

 

Brendan (28:59.998)

that a lot. Are you only working with general dentistry? Can you come over and work in oral surgery at least a little bit? Maybe.

 

Kiera Dent (29:05.782)

course. Yeah, we have three OS offices right now. So yes, we do branch out to other specialties. OS is fun. I like working with GPs that did implants and things which I get there's a world of like OS you're more trained. GPs love to dabble. I think like I'm not here for that debate but I am here for I love OS. I think OS is so awesome the things that we can do for patients I think.

 

being able to give people confidence back, being able to do it with so much ease. I love surgery, I love surgery cases, I love implants, I love bone grafting. We did a ramus and we harvested the ramus for an implant and it did not go well. So I have a lot of respect for MaxoFacial who do it well because ours was not a good experience. But it's just fascinating the thing. So yes, we definitely work in OS and help with that.

 

Brendan (29:43.08)

A lot of fun, yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (30:04.202)

And they're just different things.

 

Brendan (30:04.532)

You said, yeah, you said three office. Is it three different offices or like one organization or the three different organizations? Okay. Okay. It is one of the max. I'm curious, max, Dr. Iraq's.

 

Kiera Dent (30:09.652)

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. No, no. I would love to just go see how they do it because I think I'd learn so much. And that's the other fun thing. I am always, I tell offices, I'm like, I'm here to teach you any tip and piece that can make your life easier, but I'm also here to learn from you too. So much of what we do in our consulting, yes, came from experiences and things we brought to it.

 

But there's so many great ideas that I see in offices that I'm obsessed with. I've seen really awesome ways to cut down supply costs just with tip -out bins. I've seen awesome ways with flow. I've seen really awesome things with things you do in the waiting room. There's just so many cool things when you go and see offices. So I would love to go see Mac's offices. What are they doing? What's their patient experience like? What's their team experience like? Because offices...

 

Brendan (30:45.567)

Mm.

 

Brendan (31:01.587)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (31:05.164)

It's usually dependent upon the owner doctor. I'm like, you can easily, I usually within like five or 10 minutes of meeting a team, I can tell, will they be successful or not? And most of it is due to the owner doctor and how they are. Dr. Jason, he's incredible. He has such a heart of gold. He's very committed to where he's going. I'm like, he, he like plants success everywhere he goes because of who he is. like, his team of course is thriving. know they're thriving without even seeing his office. So yeah, it'd be really fun to go see him.

 

Brendan (31:14.452)

Hmm

 

Brendan (31:34.132)

They are, they really are. And you need to meet Megan Dwyer too. She's like his go -to, maybe you know of her though. Yeah, they are, their organization is pretty incredible. Of the DSOs, I would put them at the top of the list, I think. Moving forward, I'm very curious to see, because they're fairly new. They've been in it for a bit, but they're fairly new. I'm curious to see where they go. I still have a couple more questions if you have some more time. What's, so here's a quick one. What's something you like to spot the,

 

Kiera Dent (31:34.986)

Thank

 

Kiera Dent (31:47.104)

Mm

 

Kiera Dent (31:57.546)

Yeah, of course I do. Yeah, absolutely.

 

Brendan (32:03.838)

The gaps, I love that. What's one difference you see in oral surgery offices that's different from the general dentist office?

 

Kiera Dent (32:11.3)

Wes is just big treatment plans most of the time. Like it's a, we're not, we're there to build a relationship. We're there to love them, but we're not there. Like you're not there Dennis forever. Like you guys are there for very much a specialty. And so like the way you schedule an OS practice compared to how I schedule a GP practice, the relationship building with an OS practice, a lot of it's going to be relationship building with all your GPS in the area where GPs.

 

are more about just attracting patients in. So that's something I see a lot, but OS is, I think OS is helping the doctors. OS has a reputation of like, pop that anesthetic in, take the teeth out and off they go. It's kind of a little bit more, it is a little more rash. And so just helping those doctors realize like that experience is getting you the reputation all the way out. Like you're an incredible surgeon.

 

Brendan (32:59.06)

more rash. Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (33:08.372)

Make sure the bedside manners match your expertise. Make sure that patient feels your love for them because dentistry is such an intimate experience. Like nowhere do you let a stranger put their fingers in your mouth. Like it's just, weird. Like we literally let these strangers do it. It's very weird. And so helping those, is. And then a lot of OS, I noticed that they're such brilliant surgeons that they struggle with team dynamics a lot.

 

Brendan (33:19.388)

It is. It's your mouth. Yeah.

 

Very vulnerable, yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (33:35.424)

That's something I noticed more so in OS than I noticed in GP. so helping them see like you are this incredible surgeon and I want you to be the expert there. And I also want you to be a human to your team. Like Dr. Jason is, he is a very different OS. He doesn't have that chip. He doesn't have the, which I mean, my husband's in medicine too. And there's some surgeons who have that chip on their shoulder and they're total jerks. And like I watched even in the healthcare, some doctors are such

 

Brendan (33:36.088)

Kiera Dent (34:03.67)

jerks to their team. And I'm like, you get so much more further if your team's behind you than you do by like barking orders at them or telling them. And I understand surgery is stressful. Like if we mess up, the surgery has some not so great side effects to it. And so I understand the need for that perfection, but I'm like, teach your team with those perfect systems that you want it perfect every time and then love on them when they do great things too is something I noticed. Now that's not like

 

Brendan (34:13.524)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kiera Dent (34:32.006)

blanket statement because there's GP doctors that have that need that exact same advice. But that is something I think it's just OS is it's fast. It's like shucking teeth all day long and

 

Brendan (34:42.046)

Yeah, no, it's so it's so disappointing though. And I completely connected with that. I'm surrounded by such brilliant people. Some of the people that have gotten just at my program, don't want to mention the program, but at my program surrounded by other oral surgery surgeons and residents that have gotten the top scores in the country. And but there's just such a disconnect where they're like, they just think it's taken out teeth. And I get made fun of for taking a long, I like to take a long time at the consult. I'll ask you three times before you walk out. Are there any questions that I can answer for you? You know, I don't care if that's annoying.

 

or if I'm taking too long and the assistants are bugging me or making fun of me from the hallway and stuff. But it's that patient experience. It's exactly what you said. And I make a lot of content on the side, make fun of that too. But no, I'm really connecting with you on that. It's such an important thing. And I cannot stand that ego. I don't care if you have a DDS and an MD. We are human beings. And outside of the clinic, you're Josh. You're just Peter. You know, I'm just Brendan, right?

 

Kiera Dent (35:38.956)

Thank

 

Brendan (35:41.066)

You're not talking to this and that. And you know, obviously there's so many amazing people out there and you know, those are some of my friends. So I'm not talking about them, but it's an interesting thing. It's so weird to find such a predominance of that ego and elevated mindset. And I've found dentists who are just the same exact thing too. For another time though, but yeah, feel like we're going on to that. But it does, comes down to the patient experience. And I really do appreciate that.

 

Kiera Dent (36:02.861)

you

 

Kiera Dent (36:09.398)

for sharing.

 

Brendan (36:11.074)

man, I just missed there were another two things that I had lined up ready to go. shouldn't have said anything.

 

Kiera Dent (36:18.49)

No, you're good. I think though, as you said that, I think the greatest thing that doctors can do is build that confidence in your patient. I tell all my treatment coordinators and consultors and doctors, I'm like, they are not here buying dentistry. They are buying your confidence. They are buying your, that you're going to get the best results because I'm like, people forget that like we live in dental Tinder.

 

Like there is another dentist, there's another maxofacial somewhere else that can get like, they can do the same thing. And I'm like, they're buying you, they're buying your confidence, they're buying what you can give them of the dream and the hope. And so yes, like I love to ask what questions do you have for me? I want you to be rock solid leaving here. That helps that patient know one, what questions do you have for me is great. It's open -ended. I'm getting them to say yes to me rather than no to me.

 

Two, I'm telling them how I want them to feel. I want them to feel rock solid, confident, moving forward. What questions do you have for me? If they tell me they want to check with their spouse, absolutely, I want you to check with your spouse. What questions do think your spouse will ask you? That way I can make sure you're fully prepared for it. That's my way I can get past it and find out what's really taking this patient back. When they're like, hey, I need to check my work schedule, absolutely no problem.

 

Let's add you to the schedule. So me, Kiera Dent, who's ditzy over here, doesn't forget about you, Brendan. I never want to let you slip through the cracks. I'll just pop you on the schedule. You give me a call when you get to work, if that doesn't work for you, because I would hate to let you slip through the cracks. So many little things where we're making that patient the VIP. I feel like in today's world, it's funny because we think that there's so much competition out there, but I'm like, it's actually really easy to stand out and it's called being kind. I think the world has gone through the COVID crank.

 

I think we've become very self -centered in a lot of ways in the world. And I'm like, the greatest way for us to give incredible patient experience is to be kind, to show up as a human being, to sit knee to knee with them on their level. Like you said, what questions do you have for me? I think we've kind of forgotten how to be human beings. We've become human robots. And that's how you can actually stand out in today's world. I'm like, it's such an easy way to get an edge is to just be kind and to treat them.

 

Kiera Dent (38:27.828)

and make sure that they're rock solid confident is going to be the way to win those patients. And then like, I don't care whatever you do have great bedside manners. but I remember my ER doctor when I had an appendix burst, I loved my ER doctor, I loved him and he was so busy, but he made me feel so taken care of. And my husband went out to while I was waiting in the room and he's like, our doctor is literally running between rooms, but as soon as he gets the door, he like walks in so slow and like, Kiera I'm here, whatever questions you have.

 

and then would like book it as soon as he left the room. I never felt that rush. I felt like he was taking great care of me. And I think that's a great way for all dentists to have an edge and to win the patients that need to be served by you.

 

Brendan (39:11.21)

Yeah, you need to have that humanistic quality to you it and just back to you were saying how it's like tinder There's always another it's like there's always gonna be another oral surgeon who's taller. There's always gonna be on their dentists That's better looking That's that's so funny And just just a few more questions. I I got back to it by the way the Within those first two years, I'm curious I want to just just if we could touch into the secret sauce a little bit here

 

Kiera Dent (39:23.628)

Sure.

 

Kiera Dent (39:28.768)

Yep. Good.

 

Brendan (39:40.884)

Cause I'm going to start in this practice next August, August 15th. And I am, I want to, I want you to come over and do a whole revamp and we figure out what's going on. The offices, the practices, I'll pay for it. However we got to do it. But within those first two years, I'll be working for someone, but you were with someone who had started her own practice or was working in.

 

Kiera Dent (39:59.724)

Nope, we started it. We bought it from a retiring doctor. Yep.

 

Brendan (40:01.61)

Start from there. What were some of those key things, maybe two or three things, if you could touch on them that got her from the, regardless of the numbers, but what got really the scaling going? You said systems and processes, so you got those going. Is there another one or two things that I should be looking for in my first two years? I got a two -year contract, that's where I signed. I want to be a partner there one day. What's something I should be looking into to find or bring to the table to be that missing piece, if you can share something, one or two things.

 

Kiera Dent (40:19.724)

Thank

 

Mm

 

Kiera Dent (40:29.78)

Yeah, of course. So I think I'd find out where are the gaps in that practice right now. What are the things that the owner doctor maybe doesn't enjoy doing? Are they really amazing with numbers? Are they really amazing with the team? Are they really amazing clinicians? Because usually people have a natural gravitation to something. And so when I look at practices and partnerships, I work a lot with partners and helping doctors come together.

 

Brendan (40:40.36)

you

 

Kiera Dent (40:55.94)

is what's the complimentary piece? So like when I have a husband wife duo in a practice, I'm like, all right, one of you is probably naturally gifted with the team and one of you is probably naturally gifted with numbers. That usually tends to be the dynamic I see with partners. When there's multiple partners in there, we obviously bring different skill sets to the table. But I would say go find out as a partner, if your skill sets the team or if it's numbers, I also say that that can't be your crutch either.

 

You still need to go learn the other side of it. So that way you can be a resource for them. So just because you might not like numbers, go figure it out, figure out how they do the billing, go talk to the front office, have them like you sit in the chair and physically send the bill. So you understand what that process is like. So you know how you can help support your team as well. And also how you can check and audit the numbers in the books. I really love when doctors come in with an owner mindset and there's also gotta be a level of appreciation.

 

while there's also confidence. So recognizing that that doctor took all the risk to build this practice for you, I think goes a long way. But then at the same time, you need to come in with something that they don't have that you're going to bring in. really being observant of what don't they like or what are the gaps? How's the team doing? Are we doing team meetings, listening to podcasts? And then also remembering that you're a leader. So I think you leading, no matter if you care to do it or not.

 

as a doctor, you're just a natural leader to your team. We are always going to follow you. We're always going to respect you because you're our doctor. And so I think those are the pieces, but I feel pretend this was your practice. What things would you have to know? You'd have to know the numbers. You'd have to know what profitability is. You'd have to know what your EBITDA is. You'd have to know the billing processes. You'd have to know how to hire and fire. You'd have to know the HR portion of it. You also have to be a great clinician. And so as you like, usually I say your first six -ish months, you got to be a bang of

 

clinician. Like I need you to come in, I need you to produce, I want you to do all these things and really learn that mentorship piece and then like start to take on those little pieces of the practice ownership. So when you come to the table, you're not just bringing a check to buy into the practice, you're bringing skills that are very valuable to this practice that's complimentary to what they have already.

 

Brendan (43:05.994)

Excellent and thank you for that. We actually are doing some stuff on the marketing side so I'm very glad that you mentioned those things. Okay great so we'll be touching base throughout next year. I start August 15th so we'll be doing that. We'll be touching base. Is your work expensive?

 

Kiera Dent (43:18.355)

I'm caught.

 

Kiera Dent (43:28.199)

Yeah, of course. So we do online and we do in person and really we try to customize it to your practice. And so all of our fees have always been covered by either the amount we reduce in your overhead or the production we add to your practice. I've never once not had our consulting paid for and we range anywhere from like ,600 a month all the way up to $4 ,500 a month, depending upon the amount that we would be doing, whether we're coming to your practice, whether we're coming out here.

 

what different pieces we're doing and how much hands -on. But really, my goal is how can we help people succeed and flourish is what I love to do.

 

Brendan (44:00.468)

next one.

 

Brendan (44:06.354)

Excellent. And you have a team, I'm sure you have other people who's Shelby, by the way, she's just, she helps coordinates things or.

 

Kiera Dent (44:12.441)

Yes, Shelby is my executive assistant and our customer success. And she really so she does all of my scheduling and coordinating, which is incredible. And then she also takes care of all of our clients, too. So she's beautiful. She's incredible. I hired her. She was my next door neighbor, actually. And I was like, I was like, this girl takes care of my plants when I'm on the road. She just noticed my plants were dying and started watering them for me. She just like randomly check in on me. She was a waitress. And I'm like,

 

Brendan (44:28.468)

Amazing! That's great!

 

Kiera Dent (44:40.138)

This girl loves people so much. want her in my life and on my team. so, yeah, we've worked together for almost four years now and she's just truly incredible.

 

Brendan (44:50.922)

That's amazing. that's so nice that it's like a family business. Yeah!

 

Kiera Dent (44:53.44)

So look for good talent. I know, look for good talent everywhere. I've hired people from my next door neighbor. I've hired people from friends of friends. I've hired people from church. You always gotta be on the lookout for incredible talent because those people are the people you want in your life.

 

Brendan (45:09.428)

How do you find the roles for them in your company? I'm curious, because with one of my marketing startups right now, with the co -founders, that's what we're looking for. We need this and this done. But then finding the right people, you know, on top of the day -to -day, the nine -to -five, you found people at church, neighbor. And they just happened to fit that thing that was missing at that one time, or they molded, you trained them. I'm curious.

 

Kiera Dent (45:23.98)

Sure.

 

Kiera Dent (45:31.168)

Thank

 

both. So I think it's important, like whenever I tell people like, hey, we're going to try and find a role. And we don't know, I just say, great, like, let's write down everything, like, just dump it all on a list of everything that you are either doing, or you need to delegate out or things you'd like to not be doing. And then let's see if we can cluster it. So can we lump tasks together? Like for me, I need someone to book my travel, I need someone to do my emails, check the mail, like take care of my clients when I was on the road.

 

All that really falls into an assistant role. And then I was able to go find that person. And when I first did it, just dumped everything on a list. I went back with a pink highlighter, my favorite color. And I'm like, these are things that truly only I can do. And it's a good ego test because 90 % of that list is not only you can do. They're probably like 5 or 10%. That truly are tasks that only you can do. And then I looked at the ones that took me the most amount of time. And then I was like, OK.

 

Who could I hire for this? And that's how I started hiring these different positions. Now, a lot of times, you kind of know an assistant role or an executive assistant role or a manager role or a marketing person. And then I'll either put posts out there, job postings out there. I write my posts. I hate jobs to where I'm like, I don't know. I make them very fun because I really love that person and I want them to come be with us and realize how great of a position this will be for them. But no, there's so much that can be done.

 

with freelancers, like my first personal assistant I hired for 500 bucks a month. like, I don't even know what I'm having you do, but like, know I need you. So like more tasks will come as you take on more things and I'll just like keep paying you. And so then they just morph. And usually those personal assistants or those assistants that are kind of at random, like jack of all trades, master of nothing, they really just... So I found my first one on Indeed. I hired her. I just put an ad out.

 

Brendan (47:20.446)

Yeah. Where did you find that person, by the way?

 

Brendan (47:27.518)

Thank you.

 

Kiera Dent (47:28.876)

Viva HR is a great resource too, that I love. I'm happy to share a link with all the listeners. It's $99 a month and you can post on all the platforms, unlimited ads. And I was like spending $15 ,000 a year on job postings for a while. This has cut down a huge expense for us. So I do post there. but I write mine very fun. So I like talk about how fun our company is. I talk about our Disneyland retreats. go on, I talk about like, what's your favorite cupcake flavor. So that way it's just very intentional. And then for them to come back to me.

 

I do tell them they have to respond back with certain things. And if people don't do it, I just weed through. But yeah, the first personal assistant I hired, she was a college student. She came from a great company in the area. And she just loved me from day one. For personal assistants, I have a really good process that I'm happy to share with anyone trying to hire this role, where we make them do certain things like book a trip for me, schedule this dinner thing. And I look to see their thought processes and how long it takes them. So I kind of test them through the interview process.

 

So she was hired from Indeed. Another one was hired. Shelby was my next door neighbor. But yeah, they just come from all over random. But I found the best people for that role are usually from hospitality. So waitresses, servers, Starbucks. Anyone in that service tanning anything in that world where you've got to really be high end nice. I love a waitress or a waiter because they've got to watch so many people.

 

Brendan (48:26.388)

Mmm.

 

Kiera Dent (48:53.376)

They serve a bunch of people. They're very fast paced. Like that's a good person who matches me. I love to bring those people in. but yeah, that's, so that's where I find those people. But indeed, honestly, college towns, a lot of people in college town just want like, I don't need them full time. So they're really good role to bring in part time. But I found the ones that are in college usually are the best ones for that personal assistant. And then

 

Brendan (48:56.67)

Yes.

 

Brendan (49:01.642)

Speaking of tanning, yeah, this light isn't doing me any good. But all right, anyways, start, keep going, keep going. I'm very worried.

 

Kiera Dent (49:21.036)

depending on what they're going into school for. Shelby was going to school for business administration, so it was a perfect match for her. My other one was going to school for teaching, so she was with me through the time she got her degree, and now we're still really good friends after that too.

 

Brendan (49:34.026)

Amazing. You're brilliant. This is one system in process to another. I really appreciate this. I really do. Excellent.

 

Kiera Dent (49:38.73)

Thank you. Thank you. I want to make your life easy. So whatever we can do to like simplify and ease people's lives. That's what we're here for.

 

Brendan (49:47.046)

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for coming on. No, I'm just now you're we're hitting the cap where there's there's a lot to take in here. Can you do me a favor and please go and take a look at Max's offices and everything like within this year so that afterwards that we can talk stealing double things.

 

Kiera Dent (50:04.46)

Right. Exactly. Well, he's so great because he's been on your podcast earlier today. He just mentioned he was like, everybody thinks they're competitors. And the reality is we're not competitors. There's enough teeth to go around. There's enough like all, all ships rise, like all tides rise all ships. And I love that perspective. I'm like, we need more people like him. I guarantee you if you went and saw his offices, he'd take you around. And that's the type of doctors. Like, we attract these doctors.

 

Brendan (50:28.84)

I did actually, yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (50:32.32)

who want to give to others, who want to lift each other up, that want to share their best ideas. And that's what I'm committed to just creating more of because the more we celebrate, the more we share, the more we lift each other up and we give all these ideas, like I will happily give anything I can for you because the more you can succeed, the more you're going to rise other people up with you as well. So why not? The world needs more goodness and more positivity. So let's create it.

 

Brendan (50:56.21)

It does. does. The one thing because he has a corporation now. It's a big organization. They're amazing. They're beautiful. But then there's going to be certain ceilings and walls and what you can and can't do. Unfortunately. And I was very I saw his offices and he is outstanding and his team is great. They're lot of fun. They're a lot of fun. And I I love that. But I just saw the path to kind of I don't know where I'm going to make it. And I want to try to go towards administrative in addition to

 

taking out teeth and doing the oral surgery. And I felt that in a DSO, there would be certain boundaries that might prevent that growth. And I'm sure you understand that, right? Especially with your story of the blossoming, right? So yeah, I could do, and then there was one person that their organization hired that I knew of that probably wouldn't work well, but butting heads kind of stuff. So you have to make decisions as you move on. So I'd be very curious if I was to work there.

 

Kiera Dent (51:47.148)

Sure.

 

Brendan (51:52.126)

We wouldn't have a future of a project together of building, creating systems and processes. So you know what I mean? Like, and this is kind of like how I like to connect. had a great conversation today. I can't thank you for not coming on. You have such a busy schedule. Shelby's great, by the way. I'm all over the place. It's only me here right now. And one day learning from you, maybe I could scale, but thank you so much for coming on. I'm going to, I'm going to be posting this on whatever platforms we can. I'm sorry that you're recording this with the backwards Riverside. Thanks.

 

Kiera Dent (51:57.299)

Sure.

 

Kiera Dent (52:06.41)

Thank you.

 

Brendan (52:21.78)

for Shelby to putting that together though. Yeah, thank you. I know we're hitting that hour mark. So I want to be conscious of your time. Maybe we could do part two sometime in the future. Or maybe when you come through, if you can. Can I, I know you have a team now, in the future, revamping the practice and stuff. Is there a different price from getting you versus a team member, a delegate? How does that work?

 

Kiera Dent (52:22.841)

Yeah, of course. Thank you.

 

Kiera Dent (52:31.18)

Thank

 

Kiera Dent (52:34.516)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (52:45.453)

Yeah, great question. I have always tried to make sure that whomever I hire is just as good as me, if not better. I even tell other people, I'm like, honestly, my consultants are usually better than me due to the fact that all they do is consulting. And so they're truly incredible for it. So I have never wanted to have a different fee for myself or for consultants. And so currently, it's the same fee. I just don't take on as many clients. However, with that said,

 

certain people that we've connected with and if I'm in the area and it works out, by all means, I'm happy to come. And even sometimes it's me plus a consultant because I just, my biggest expectation of ourselves is I feel like we have got to be there for clients. Like when I need my coach, I need her. And so we are so on top of it that I would never want to have it where I am busy, I'm on podcasts, the clients can't get in touch. So I always, if I even am on an office,

 

I pair myself with another consultant just so you guys always have support and you're never left due to the fact that I am busy and I do travel. absolutely, there's no extra fee if it's me or someone else. So yeah, that would be, but honestly, our consultants, I only bring on consultants in our company that have my experience or better, that they've had to grow multiple practices, that they have the dental experience, that they've got the passion for dentistry, that they've grown multiple practices.

 

because I don't feel like if you haven't been in their shoes, it's very hard to convince people of what to do or to even have that empathy. yeah, so that's how we operate. But now if I didn't bring on people that were just as good as me, if not better, I think that'd be a flaw of myself as well.

 

Brendan (54:23.924)

That's such a good idea. Do you ever get all your teams, the consultants together on the podcast all at once? How often do you do that?

 

Kiera Dent (54:29.482)

We do. actually did one. It was actually really weird to have all of us on there because like virtually you don't know who's going next. So was kind of this like weird dynamic. But we all do get together. It was one of those like, it's always like, there's a little bit of a delay and then like we're all consultants. So we're kind of like sharks. No one wants to like sit back. So it was just like really weird. I'm like, guys, like it'd be so fun with podcasts together. And then we were like, that was really, really weird. So Maxis3.

 

Brendan (54:51.155)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (54:58.538)

But usually two of us will get together. But yeah, the consultants are truly magical. And I'm just so lucky to have such a great team of people who just have the passion and the love for their clients and their patients and their team that they're just really, really amazing people.

 

Brendan (55:14.363)

Have you seen that meme of the Spider -Man where they're like in a square and they're all pointing at each other and they all look exactly like feel like that where it's like, are you gonna go? Are you gonna go next on the?

 

Kiera Dent (55:17.994)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (55:23.702)

Well, and it's hard because like everybody's screen, like if you're on Google meet or on Riverside, like all the boxes for each screen are in different spots. So it's not like we can be like the top, the bottom, like all of us are different. so, yeah, but our team does get together every day. We've, I've just found in a virtual company, you've got to keep that team morale and have fun. And so it's so fun that we like, when we see each other in person, it's like, nothing has passed by, which I really am so proud of our team for doing. So it's been fun.

 

Brendan (55:50.826)

You got a powerful team then that you guys all respect each other. You guys are friends. That's a group that's hard to find. You must, I mean, you're the leader in the organization that must have been, it's just, it's probably another testament to you that you know how to pick the right team members. You have a feel for people. That's interesting. I've learned a lot about you today and I appreciate it was a slow start to the conversation, but I feel like we got to a really good place and I can't think of her coming on. This is, I've been very impressed. Thank you for doing what you do. I'm looking forward to seeing where we can go in the future.

 

Kiera Dent (56:14.751)

Thank you.

 

Brendan (56:19.006)

when I finally, I gotta get out of this residency program and start practicing, hopefully.

 

Kiera Dent (56:22.325)

Enjoy it. Learn as much as you can through residency. That's why I tell all my doctors, I'm like, go through it through residency. Learn everything you can. Get your bedside manners up. Get your speed up. Get your skillset up. Get so confident in that. Get your treatment planning up because then you're going to walk in and now people are paying you as the doctor, as this private practice. They're not coming to you because they have to. So like take this as the most beautiful, amazing, like couple of months and just soak in everything you possibly can.

 

Because private practice is not like residency or dental school or anything like that. Now you have to be the one that like is really the magician that turns it on and gets people to follow you because they love you, not because they have to come to it.

 

Brendan (57:03.732)

Yes. Yes, that's going to be lesson one. You'll have to teach me how to empower the team. I want everyone on the same playing field.

 

Brendan (57:32.478)

Anyway, so thank you. won't take up any of your night. I know you got the family to get to, but thank you so much.

 

Kiera Dent (57:38.547)

Absolutely, thank you so much as well.

 

Kiera gives listeners advice on what they should be checking in on with their practices as 2024 begins to wind down. This could be finances, operations, staffing, or personal health. She also encourages setting strategic goals as you begin to forecast 2025.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.842)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera Welcome to the podcast. I hope today is just an incredible day for you. I hope you're loving it. I hope you just remember, hey, we're in dentistry and dentistry is the most incredible thing that we can ever be a part of. You guys, just think it's absolutely magic of what we get to do. It's absolutely incredible of the lives we get to live. It's absolutely incredible of the lives we get to serve and to help every day between our teams and our patients and our community. Like it is just magic.

 

that we get to be here. And so I hope all of you today, just like write maybe a little letter of gratitude of how grateful you are for this life that you get to live, for this practice you get to be a part of, for this community that you get to be a part of. Maybe journal it, maybe text it to somebody, because I truly do believe that we build momentum and seeing the good in our world is truly, I think, a talent. I think it's a muscle that we have to strengthen day in and day out. And that's really what I try to do on the podcast is bring you tactical

 

while also positively impacting your world. And so please share this with someone, leave us those five star reviews, download this podcast, put it in the Facebook groups, tag us while you're listening, whatever feels right to you, because you doing that helps other people see this and other people who might be in darkness or not knowing where they're going or maybe not feeling as optimistic about where we're at in dentistry. This can be a great resource and a gift for them. So please share and just thank you for all of you that have shared and made Dental A Team Podcast the greatest podcast out there for dentistry.

 

All right, today I'm excited because it's end of year. And end of year for me is like exciting and exhilarating and sometimes daunting. So I really, in our private consulting within Dental A Team, we actually do this where we prep our doctors and our teams to look at the next year and to really go through a deep dive review. This is actually my favorite time of year with our offices to deep dive them through.

 

What should we be looking at with it being end of year? So today on the podcast, I'm going to just take you guys briefly through it, but just know if you want that deep dive, please come join us on TheDentalATeam.com book a call with us, reach out. [email protected]. I am obsessed with planning and preparing and making sure our offices are thriving without worry. That doesn't mean that every day is a great day, but it does mean that they always know the Dental A Team is going to prepare them and be planning ahead with them and looking down the line with them.

 

Kiera Dent (02:21.346)

because that's what I feel like we need to do. And so often we're very reactive because we forgot to be proactive. And so that's what I'm obsessed with doing with our offices and doing it with ease. And so every quarter having a way to check in on these things, every quarter we assess where we're at and where do we need to go and really being able to do that within our practices. So today, just thinking about end of year, a few things that you guys should be looking at as a quick highlight, like this is a very high level. I spend a good chunk of time preparing this for our doctors. We do it in our private doctor.

 

mastermind that we have every single month together. And then with our private clients, definitely working on this. just did it with my clients prepping for end of year. and like I said, I will give you a high level so you guys can have a taste of it. And then if you want to go deeper and one -on -one with your practice, be sure to join us. It is never too late to join. It's never too late to take the step to a different life. It's never too late to reach out for an expert who can guide you. And I would just encourage you, if you've been on the fence or you've been thinking about it for a while, do it, give yourself the greatest gift to have.

 

resource in your pocket. We never know when things will be hard for us. We never know when those days will come. This year, I haven't shared this publicly, but I had a really, really hard year this year, probably the hardest year I've ever had in business. And I just think about what did I do to be prepared for that? I could never have planned for that to happen in my life. It happened so unexpectedly. It kind of came out of left field on me. And I think about how did I get through that? got through that with an incredible team, truly of people who supported me through it.

 

And I got through it with incredible coaches. Had I not built that incredible network of my business coach, my financial coach, my CPA who's there with me, my lawyer team, I have a legal team, my personal trainer, my physical therapist. If I would not have had my mental therapist that I go to for therapy as well, that seven people in addition to my family and my team that were there supporting me, I would not have made it through.

 

And I had no clue that that hard time was coming. There were no warning signs. It came out of left field. And so I just think like, we never know when that's going to be there, but having that advisory board around us to support us, to guide us, to give us the direction when we can't see it is truly, I think, the greatest gift I've ever given myself, the most confidence I've ever given myself as a business owner. And so I think that's where the passion comes of.

 

Kiera Dent (04:42.75)

You don't know what you don't know. You don't know what's coming ahead. But what we do know is we can always be proactively prepared for it. And so I think I have proactively prepared for the last seven years to be to this place. I brought in experts. I don't want to know everything, but I know as a business owner, it's my responsibility to know all those things. So I hire people. I have great consultants. I have great coaches. I have great people on my team to make sure that our business is always where it needs to be, no matter what my life cycle is.

 

So with that, I think that that's actually something great to start off with for end of year. Where are you at with your advisory board? you have an amazing consultant? Do you have an incredible CPA that guides you? Does your CPA look ahead and do you know your tax planning? Where are you at right now for the end of the year? Are you prepared with that? Do you need to start saving? Do you need to make end of year expenses? Consulting, equipment, CE, different things that you want to do to grow your team for next year and for your business for next year.

 

Do you have a CPA that's proactive or are they reactive and just send you a bill? Because to me, they're a partner in the business with me and I expect them to be a partner with me. I expect them to be looking down the line where I'm not seeing things. Do you have a financial advisor that's making sure that you're on track for where you want to be when you retire and that all this work that you're doing is actually going to the work and the lifestyle that you want to have when you're done working. Do you have a plan for bringing in associates in an exit plan? What does your exit plan look like and do you have that mapped out?

 

with your consultant, with your financial advisor, with your CPA. So all of you are rowing in the same direction. And if not, let's get that in place. Let's look at this year. How did we do? Did we hit the goals we want? Did we not hit the goals? Why? I want you to get to the root cause of why. Why did we or why did we not? And I want you to answer it with no excuses. It's very easy to say, we didn't hire, but is that really true? Or did we just not look outside the box? There's outside the box thinking there are people everywhere.

 

And to me, I don't allow myself to have excuses for end of year. What happened? Why did we get here? What was the root cause of it? And I push my clients. I don't let them just give me the easy of like, Kiera, it was a hard year. Yes, I always wrap them with a hug. Yes, I'm always there as a support. And yes, I'm always there to ask the hard questions because if we don't have someone asking the hard questions and answering them ourselves, honestly, we are going to stay in a rut of excuses rather than action and execution. And to me, that's the, that's the worst place to be because you can't get out of it.

 

Kiera Dent (07:04.11)

We're constantly sitting in this swirl that we can't get out of. And so really having somebody that doesn't let you off the hook. I think that's why my clients are with me for so long is because they know that I'm gonna guide them to where they wanna go. I'm gonna ask the hard questions, I'm gonna support them, but we're also gonna get like, we're gonna GSD and get some work done. And so looking at yourself, why did you or why did you not? Now setting goals for next year, it should be at least a 10 % growth minimum.

 

Unless you're in heavy growth mode, then it could be higher than that. But something I've learned in a lot of the coaching and trainings that I've gone through is let's make sure our goals are super achievable and attainable because that actually builds momentum for practices. Bringing on new doctors, looking at our forecasting. We have our doctors go through and they forecast out how many days off they're going to be taking throughout the year. Doctors, I want you to take time off. Let's do that. Let's plan for that. And let's make sure that we have a plan in place to set appropriate goals.

 

with the time you're taking off to plan and prepare for it. So we're not just haphazardly setting goals, but we're actually strategically knowing where we need to go and what we need to do. So right now should be a time where we're forecasting out what raises, what hires, what are our costs gonna be? What's the time off that we're going to be doing to make sure our goals are very realistic for next year as well. Right now you should be assessing every department, what's going well, what can we improve on? Looking at your marketing efforts, looking at your accounting efforts, looking at your advice from your financial advisor efforts.

 

All these things are the things you need to be doing right now to be preparing for the end of the year to make sure that we're on a great foot to ring in 2025. I really have learned that having a good plan in place, having somebody who, who like really pushes me to answer these questions. I love it. I love to be challenged. I love to look, I love to ask the questions. I love to get my team on board. So me myself as the owner, I need to do this first.

 

Then I take it to my team and I ask them the same questions. And then together we co -create the answers together that all of us are bought into. What's our bonus? If we're going to have a bonus, what's our profit share? If we're going to do a profit share, why are we working towards these goals? What is it getting us? Is it giving us the life that we ultimately want to be living? And if not, let's make some changes to make sure it is. Are you happy with the work you're doing? you fulfilled? would say 80 % of the time it's okay. There's going to be 20 % where we do not feel fulfilled and that's okay.

 

Kiera Dent (09:20.462)

But 80 % of the time, do you feel fulfilled? Are you excited to go to work? Are you making the money that you want to be making? Is your team compensated the way you want to pay them? Do we need to make some adjustments and some improvements? You guys, what's crazy cool about dentistry is every single thing that you want to do is fully within your control. All of it. We just need to be proactively planning rather than reactively responding. So proactively plan rather than reactively respond. I want you to be having the dreamiest life.

 

I want you to know that next year you're going to hit the goals with ease rather than hoping and wishing and praying on everything, single possible star that we're going to hit it. I have an office right now that's been trying to add some doctors to their practice and our goals are a little shaky because we planned, we prepared. I mean, we've been working six months to find the right doctor. We're not willing to just hire a doctor, but we've been working. And when I look at that, it'd be really easy for me as a coach to be like, guys, like great job. Like we did it.

 

But we looked at it and we said, all right, what do we need to do to make it strong? What do we need to do to find this person? We are not going to take the excuses with my team. We've been trying to hire consultants. So if you know anybody, don't worry, we're not poaching from your practice. But if you know someone who's ready to take their next step and become a consultant, please email me. [email protected] or just send in your resume. We actually have it online. Like I said, we do not take anybody from practices. We consult. But if you know anybody, send them our way. But when we went to our meeting,

 

I asked our team, said, all right, what other things have we not done? We just keep doing the same thing and that's freaking insanity. I'm like, I'm crazy about it. You guys are crazy about it. They are out there. What do we need to do to change? And it was interesting because when we came into it with that mindset, we came up with some incredible solutions that we have never thought of, but it was a must, not a wish. And so for you as end of year, how can we make your goals for next year be musts, not wishes?

 

How can we think outside the box? How can we like not let ourselves off the hook? How can we be like this office where it was like, all right, we've got to find a doctor. We've got to do these things for us. We need to find consultants. We're not going to take this hiring's hard. That's for the weak. That's for the offices that aren't really here for it. Yes, that's true. It's fact, but guess what? Life's not fair. And you guys are better than that. All of us are better than that. So let's rise up to the potential that we have within us instead of falling to the mediocrity that is so easily available. Let's rise up.

 

Kiera Dent (11:47.788)

Let's be better next year, but let's do it with ease and fun and confetti and glitter and all the happiness because I don't believe that rising up has to be hard. I believe it needs to be disciplined and executed. I believe that we need to truly have good people around us and good support systems around us. I believe that every possible thing we want is out there. We just have to figure out how to find it and how to get there.

 

And honestly, right now I am truly here to say that Dental A Team has two incredible consulting models. We are rolling out something that I have never done before. And I am so excited. We are bringing people in person for the first time in Dental A Team's life, because I decided I want people to have these conversations together face to face in person. I want people to have an opportunity for experts of dentists just like them to come together where they can actually share their best ideas with each other. We have brilliant.

 

Brilliant brilliant doctors within our community and I cannot wait to bring them all together I can't wait to quarterly like really like Sexy whiteboard it out and like get to the root causes of your practice and do it with your coach and with a community of doctors Just like you I am so excited to be doing that We also have our online virtual one of a mastermind group that people are literally obsessed with either one There's one -on -one. There's custom for you

 

But I am so jazzed about it and it's time. It's time for you to take care of you. It's time for you to take care of your practice. This beautiful, precious team and community and patients that you've been blessed with. It's time to rise up and let's proactively take charge. You guys like, honestly, we have never once not paid for ourselves in consulting. We always cover our costs and we give you so much freedom. If there's an asterisk, because I had someone come to me and they're like, Kiera, you said all this on the podcast and

 

that's not what happened. And I did prove that we did exactly what we said, but you also can't have the excuse of not showing up as well. You also have to do the hard things. You have to fire the people that are hard. You have to hire the people. You have to think outside the box. You have to be committed to these results as well, instead of sitting back and having blame and excuse. And to this doctor, if they are listening, there is so much love with this and there is absolutely no judgment because all of us are at different spaces in our world. But I know as a coach and a consultant.

 

Kiera Dent (14:07.854)

that there is an opportunity for all of us to rise up. And if we get rid of that amazing best friend who's there with all the excuses and we bring on the one who has the solutions and that's more of the one we listen to versus the excuses one, your life will be different. Your life will be better. Your practice will thrive with more ease than you could have ever imagined. And I can't wait to have you be a part of it. So reach out. [email protected]. Let's get you guys to that level and truly take the time right now to make sure that 2025 is successful with ease.

 

not with a hope and a wish. I promise it's possible. I'm here to help you. I am so proud of you for being on this journey. You're doing better than you think you are. Make sure you have the support around you as well, because then it can be done with massive ease. And with that, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

 

Often when scheduling appointments, it’s all about the patient. But what about the doctor or team members? Britt and Tiff give tips for scheduling while keeping efficiency and quality in mind (for both parties).

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Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:01.057)

Hello everyone out there listening. I am so excited to be here today. I have snagged the one and only Britt Stone again today to do some podcasting with me. Britt, how are you today?

 

Britt (00:13.087)

doing great. I mean, we're cooling off a little here in Arizona and it's a great time of year. Fall's beautiful.

 

The Dental A Team (00:19.89)

I agree. I loved the weekend weather. I know you weren't here for all of it. You had an awesome vacation, but it was really truly beautiful. And then I saw, well, Sunday got a little bit warmer. We went for a hike and we were like, well, this is a little bit warmer. And then I saw, gosh, by Thursday we're supposed to be like 95 again. So it's only here for, I think the heat's only here for a moment again. And then we'll drop back down, but it has been a wild.

 

summer, like it's still summer here. I don't know how we're still experiencing summer. And I know, Brett, you and I both grew up here and I think people always ask us like, how do you do it? And we're like, I don't know, it's like three months of heat. And I think this year they challenged us and they were like, the universe was like, I'm gonna give you six months. And then their nature said, no, we're gonna like see if you can handle this. I feel as though I've never experienced anything like this in my life of living here.

 

Britt (01:10.389)

I mean, we broke some records. Sometimes that's an exciting thing and sometimes that's not an exciting thing to say.

 

The Dental A Team (01:16.857)

Totally agree. Not the records I wanted to break, but that's okay. We're still alive. You guys were still surviving. and I think we both probably, yeah. And I think we both probably can still say that we love where we live. So I love it. Love it. Love it. Thank you for being here. today I really wanted to pick your brain on some efficient appointment, scheduling, tips and tricks for the doctors out there. I really want to speak to, we always speak to both doctors and teams, but I really wanted to speak to doctors today and I wanted to

 

Britt (01:23.351)

I'm not trying any place.

 

The Dental A Team (01:46.223)

pick your brain a little extra because I you've really, really hard on some efficiency tips within the, you know, cost world as well. So we'll dive more into that. But Britt, from hygiene perspective as well, dental assistant perspective, we've got all of those different spaces. I'm really, really looking at efficient appointment scheduling. And for me, I'm constantly reminding teams, team members and

 

doctors because I think doctors will stick their foot in their mouth sometimes too, to really, really look at what's working well for your practices flow. Like what's going to work best for you. And as the doctor of the practice, like when do you want to do these appointments? Do you want to do a root canal at 8 a.m.? Maybe possibly like do the root canal at 8 a.m. Right? Do you want to do a root canal at 2 p.m.? Would you rather do it, you know, after lunch, before lunch? Like where do you feel the most yourself?

 

and the happiest to do these procedures because if we're just constantly looking at where the patient wants to come in, what's convenient for the patient, that's not always going to give them the best experience. So in that moment of scheduling.

 

The patient might be excited and happy because they got the appointment that they wanted, but when they get there for the appointment, are they getting the best experience that they possibly can based on the flow and energy of the practice? Or did we just schedule you something super late in the day when you're exhausted and tired and you've been working so hard or you had pizza for lunch and you're like, I don't want to do this freaking root canal. Like, I don't know. know my doctor that I worked with side by side for years, hated nothing more than coming back from lunch and having

 

fillings, like interproximal fillings and crown seats for three hours. He was like, this is going to be the worst three hours of the day because it was so much movement. It's like, just want one crowd, like, or one long appointment, right? Like I just needed one patient with three crowns. Like I just want one something long that we can just sit down, dig in, be done. All of that like crazy running around and like sporadic energy.

 

The Dental A Team (03:48.869)

for him needed to be earlier in the day when he was more like spry, right? He's just like ready to run. And I could appreciate that too because I felt the very same. And so when we figured that out for this doctor specifically, we were able to really switch the way the day works. It was better for me as his assistant.

 

It was easier for me when I was doing scheduling and the patients actually had a better experience. So when I think of effective and efficient appointment scheduling, it's one of the first places that my brain goes is really what does the doctor want? I think we tend to look at what do our patients want? What does our team want? Our team wants easy and it's easy to let the patient dictate the schedule. But we forget to say the doctors, what do you want your day to look like? And I think

 

Today, focusing super hard on that doctor aspect and really leveling up how much the doctors take into consideration and take that control on within that is what I'm here for today. Britt, what are your thoughts on that efficient appointment scheduling and from a doctor's side, like a doctor's angle, what could that look like for them?

 

Britt (05:00.515)

with you and everyone's different right some doctors want the big things in the morning and the smaller things in the afternoon some function the opposite and the reason why ultimately we want to know what doctor wants and how they're gonna work best is because one when doctors always are limiting factor right so like when we can have them functioning at their best everything's gonna run a little bit smoother and so like you said when it comes to guiding patients in the schedule think of

 

What's going to help everything over all run smoother? Because that's going to give the patient a better experience. The team's going to be functioning a little bit better. The day's just going to run smoother when our limiting factor, which is doctor, is able to function at their best. And when they're functioning at their best, they're also going to be the most efficient. So I love that when it comes to taking that into account.

 

And we'll talk about some things today that are even some like good like numbers or metrics to know of and be aware of to see like, it working? Is it not? Where are we? What can we improve upon? Right? Because at the end of the day, I know all my doctors, right? We want to be able to also like produce as much as we can in the time we're there, right? You're spending time away from your family, you're working. So how can we do the most with the time that you are spending at the office? And it does come down to scheduling and there's some ways to track it to know exactly how we're doing.

 

with this, whenever I start to talk numbers, I'll always say, we always want patient experience to be fantastic. And of course, quality of work to be fantastic, which we know you guys do as well. And there is a point where you can like push that line a little too far. So when we're talking about these things, even when it comes to scheduling, quality of work and quality of patient experience are always top of mind. we make sure we remember those. But some good numbers to look at to see how we're doing when it comes to scheduling will be like your doctor

 

production per hour. So do you know how it's averaging out so you can take your whole entire month? How many hours did you work in that month, are patient hours? We know you guys work a lot more hours, but how many patient hours did you work? And what's your production per hour? Because that's when it comes to efficiency or how is our block schedule working. That's kind of what we're playing with is how much can you do within the time that you have? And if that number is low or not where we need it to be, then

 

Britt (07:17.377)

How can we be more efficient, schedule more appropriately with the correct production, or tighten up the schedule if we can and still giving that a great experience and the quality that we need to have there. What can we do to get that production per hour up? So it's a good number for doctors to track. If you don't know your number, figure it out, super easy. What did you produce last month? How many patient hours did you have available on the schedule?

 

divide it and it'll give you your production per hour and then you know where you're starting and then you know where you can go.

 

The Dental A Team (07:51.121)

I love to do that formula as well in looking for open hours on the schedule because it really, really shows us how efficient or effective we could have been or what we could have produced as well. So efficient appointment scheduling, think with the block scheduling, you guys, we talk about block scheduling all the time. So we're not gonna dive into block scheduling a ton today. There are a million podcasts on it. Like reach out to us, [email protected] if you need more information on that.

 

So we're not going to do that right now, but when you do have that set, which is what Britt and I were alluding to, like where do you want to do these procedures? Where do you want them scheduled? How do you want your day to flow? When you have those things set, meaning you have to know how long it takes you and your assistant to complete certain appointments, you need to know.

 

how many of each appointment you need in a day to get to your production projections, right? Like what's my goal for production per day? I'm gonna build that out and do a perfect day schedule and then I'm gonna go back through and like Britt said, really count my hours. And you can do this for hygiene, you can do this for a doctor, count how many hours were available to be scheduled and divide your production by that to get your dollar per hour, to get your hygienist dollar per hour.

 

If you've got assistants who are operating as producers because they're FDs or whatever you've got in your state, you can do it for all of those different spaces and really see how well you or your associate or your high-dense or dental assistants are really paying for yourselves and what that could look like. Now on the flip side of that, I like to go in then and say, okay, well, this is my dollar per hour goal. Owner doctors, Britt.

 

Tell me if I'm completely off base here. I'm typically gonna have my owner doctors 850 plus per hour. My associates, I'm like 550 to 750. I would love to see an associate at 850. Totally possible. Owner doctors, I would love to see you closer to like 1050, 1200. Like those are the numbers I would love. PPOs, like they're gonna drastically change that for you. But we can work around it and it's the time of year to ask for being pieces, all those pieces. So we don't need to get into that today, but those are like.

 

The Dental A Team (10:04.485)

good goals to mull around. So then what I do on that note of the schedule, right, is look at these were my available hours. Well, as I'm doing my available hours, I'm also going to count my open hours. I just did this actually. I was in Utah a couple weeks ago with a prized practice and I just did this for him because he's like, tiff, like, we just tanked. I don't know what happened. And so I went through the whole year and I did available hours.

 

Britt (10:22.58)

Thank

 

The Dental A Team (10:33.214)

And then at the same time, I had one screen was available hours. The screen over here was open hours and it was how many for each provider I did the doctor, I did all of his hygienists and I did it for each one. And I said, okay, so we're about 40 to 50,000 off from the goal we've set this year. Let me show you where it's at. And we could literally pinpoint the month that had enough open hours just for him alone, not even including hygiene that was that gap.

 

the month, like not even just production for sure. You can say like, we were down a little bit here, but there was a month that he should have far exceeded the production, the monthly production goal that they had set that he was still under. But you could easily see because we had that perfect day scheduling in, we had the blocks in there. We were able to easily see how much he should have been doing and then calculate it backwards and forward. So we could do the lab measures to see

 

Why didn't we hit those goals and where was it and how could we have been more efficient with our appointments? And then the lead measures to see, okay, well, if that's the case, what do we have to do moving forward? So I love that you said to do that. And I think, too, what you're alluding to and what you're getting to with that is really looking at what are you doing now? Because then you can see, am I using this time efficiently and effectively? Like perhaps you've got the perfect day schedule in there.

 

and you've got your blocks, but maybe you did it two years ago or even six months ago and you're like, I'm still not where I thought I would be. So now go back through and see one, what were your open hours? And then two, is it actually working? Cause Brett, think I'm, you know, I've experienced this and tell me if you have where I've gone in and doctors are like either scheduled, not enough time.

 

for certain things and they're going late and now patients are like, but we're using blocks. And I'm like, but these patients are like waiting, like there's such an issue here. Or they're scheduled too long and then they've been done for an hour before the patient gets back. But on the schedule, they're not changing it. And so there's no reality set in. Have you seen that as well where doctors are like, well, I'm full and practices, right? Our teams are like filling the white space, it's full, but it's still not reaching goals.

 

Britt (12:57.111)

Yeah, and though agreed and you're right on your numbers. I'm like 500 minimum That's my low end for anyone per hour that you should be hitting so if you're not there Hey, that's an opportunity for you to get there and know where a benchmark is and agreed in a PPO office 500 to 850 like it's it's attainable fee for service and

 

Just to kind of clarify one thing when you say owner doctor right getting that 850 or plus Even easily some doctors into like thousand pretty easily or more Owner doctors usually when you start to bring on associates you get to do the more complex things that you like Usually to do and so you're getting those higher dollar procedures while associates are taking care of some of the lower dollar one Which is why we say that so just to give a little context behind some of those numbers

 

and agreed when we look at open space or how we're scheduling, then it's like, right, if I'm able to produce $850 an hour and I've just got like 30 minutes of slush time in there that we're not using, that's like opportunity costs. That's like 400 bucks easy that we're losing that if we scheduled better.

 

We could have added another $400 in that day just with that 30 minutes when it comes to scheduling. So starting to see the schedule in that way, it's not just full or not. It's what's the quality of the things that you fill it with and looking at those open space, like what's the opportunity cost? it is, it'll take your production per hour real quick when you've got that open space, because it's a big zero in there. So filling the schedule.

 

which I know everyone wants a full schedule, but it's like, all right, what are we doing and what do we need to work on and are we filling it in the right way? So just viewing the schedule in that way and helping your team to see it, right? Sometimes team members don't see it that way, but you see it that way now and helping them to understand what we could put in there. And with timing, when it comes to efficiency in the schedule, right? If doctors...

 

Britt (14:57.449)

always give time for your assistants. So I'm not saying like tighten up your schedule so much and forget about your assistants and the time they need to turn around a room or do what they need to do. But it might be a good time if you're not hitting the production per hour that you want to, to start kind of seeing how long does it actually take you to do procedures and do a time study and say, all right, how long does it take? Can we schedule smarter or more efficiently with reality of how long it takes instead of kind of adding in some buffer time?

 

The Dental A Team (15:25.663)

Totally, totally makes sense. And something you said there was really that cost per hour that you just lost with that slush time. So there's that happy medium, you guys, that Britt is mentioning where it's like patient experience, right? Patient experience trumps everything. And so you need that slush for the patient experience, fine, but really evaluate, did you actually need it? So there's a lot of practices we work with that the doctors are like, I need to build relationship.

 

100 % we are relationship driven people and we are a relationship driven company. So we are never going to discredit that or take that away from you. But what tools are we using to help build that relationship? Is your support team supporting you in that? Are they passing off information? Are they having conversations with you, with the patient? You know, are they just standing there stoic and quiet like, I'm waiting for you to initiate, right? Like your dental assistant needs to be like,

 

engaged and having conversations because if that's all on you, it's going to take you extra time and you're in there for a very short amount of time in comparison to your support team, whether it's hygiene or dental assistance. So ensuring that they're giving you that proper information and those handoffs and really involving you in conversations that they are or have had with the patient far outweighs and exponentially increases that relationship with the patient. And so it.

 

decreases the amount of time and effort you're having to put in to create that relationship and to add that extra value. You're actually adding more value because they feel a relationship with two or three or how many ever of you there are, they're feeling that relationship with multiple people and they feel an attachment to the practice. so take some of the stress off yourselves, ask the support team to really support you, right? Call them your support team. That's what they are there.

 

to do, especially your dental assistants, they're there to support you and support the patient and see how can I increase the efficiency, the timing, right? The experience without making things longer. Because now that 30 minute slash time, that potentially $400, right? You can slide something else in there and know your patient got a better experience potentially.

 

The Dental A Team (17:44.809)

than what they may have with that slush time, right? Patients wanna be in and out as well. You've just gotta do it in a way that doesn't feel rushed. And number one, your treatment has to be good. Your work needs to be good. You've gotta take the time that you need to accomplish great dentistry and then make everything else really, really efficient and effective. People appreciate that. People appreciate when you value their time as well.

 

and you're not just kind of dilly-dallying. You're like, yeah, let's get this done. It's gonna be freaking amazing. And as long as you keep that high energy there, they're gonna trust it they're gonna come back. Britt, you have this incredible sheet that you showed us recently for consultants. You've been working your tail off on. We don't even talk about the whole sheet, but kind of talk for a second about how you're doing the cost analysis by procedure, maybe even just like a crown, like to really

 

not only look at your doctor per hour, dollar per hour doctors, but also to look at how effective is the cost management per hour or per procedure. So walk us through that just real quick and they can get a little smidgen of an idea.

 

Britt (18:58.399)

Yeah, some of the things that we'll work through with our clients when we know, all right, let's look at how efficient we're running and what the cost is for things is looking at what does it actually cost us for a procedure? like breaking it down by the amount of time, how much is like the facility costs? How much does it cost me for my assistant? How much am I paying the doctor associate for this procedure? And then what's my lab fee? What's the cost of all the supplies that are used for that procedure?

 

So I can truly see what is that overhead for that procedure. And especially for some of our lab procedures, especially when you get to like your all on X cases or sleep appliances even, places where depending on where you've got your fee or what insurance fees that you're contracted with.

 

The Dental A Team (19:39.098)

for sure.

 

Britt (19:47.209)

Sometimes that profitability is not so great or sometimes even in the negative on some of these procedures Which just allows you that information allows you one. It's a reality check a gut check a little bit Allows us to straddle up strategize a little bit better to see all right What procedures are worth us doing right? I'll say if you love doing it then let's figure out a way to do it to where it's also Profitable so it makes business sense along with the things that you love to do If you don't love to do it and it's not super profitable for you

 

maybe you refer those things out because it's just not necessarily like completely worth the time. But until you start to kind of look at those things and know what the cost is, you don't have the information to make some of these decisions. And also it'll help you to guide you on insurance plans we are in network with.

 

When we get to the point of being able to go out of network, what ones do we want to go out of network with because our profitability on those procedures are just so low. So it's just good information to have to dig in to see, all right, where are we?

 

and you can play around with time, right? And efficiency. If you can go from 90 minutes to 60 minutes for something, that's gonna impact your profitability on that procedure. And it might just be that little switch if we can do it a little more efficiently that allows us to be like, okay, that makes business sense for us to do that procedure. We just need to ensure that we're not taking a ridiculous amount of time on it.

 

The Dental A Team (21:11.642)

Yeah, I totally agree. I love that. And it made me think of a client that I have near and dear to my heart that was doing all on X cases in his practice. he liked them. He thought he loved them. And he got real tired of them real quickly. And we did a little cost analysis and really saw that, well, he realized for one that he brought them in because he thought they were going to be game changer for the practice. And it was going to be this

 

Britt (21:24.599)

you

 

The Dental A Team (21:41.62)

lucrative situation where he could take a step back and he could do a couple all-in-x's a month and be done. Like he didn't have to do all of these other little pieces. And so he thought, that's going to bump production collections. My overhead is going to be fantastic. I'm going to be profitable and I'm going to do less. And so he brought all-in-x in-house and come to find out, right? It's a lot of freaking work. And he was not, he wasn't bad at them. He was fantastic at them, but the follow-up.

 

And the denture work like who loves like if you love dentures, like you better shout it to the world because there are doctors out there that need to know you're there. We need to know where you are because we need to send you all of our dentures. Okay. If you love them, shout it to the world, right? Shout it from the rooftops. And he just was like, this is a pain in the butt to follow up and how many post-op appointments there are and adjustments and the dentures are this denture broke and I've got to remake it and I've got another lab cost and I've got

 

Britt (22:26.187)

Thank you.

 

The Dental A Team (22:39.102)

So when we did that kind of cost and time analysis, he realized real quickly, because when he came to us, he's like, I am, he has like 72 % overhead. He's like, where's my profitability? Right? He's like, I'm doing all my nexes. I'm like, well, let's figure that out. And so we realized real quickly that something that he semi liked that he thought he would love, that he thought was going to be a game changer for his practice was actually costing him money and losing profitability for the practice because of

 

just all of the pieces that were involved. And he was like, you know, I don't like it that much. Like I'm really not like, I'm really trying to get my feet wet with it. And it's a lot to deal with. It's a lot to handle. And Tiff, don't think I actually want to do this. I was like, fantastic, start referring them out. That's, it's okay. That's why oral surgeons are here. That's why, you know, there are other people who do love to do it. And for my oral surgery practices, like they are incredibly lucrative. They are a really great.

 

tool for those practices because they're not doing fillings and crowns and crown seats and limited exams and re care exams and new patients with it. So for this specific doctor, we did exactly that where we did this cost analysis, we did this appointment efficiency analysis, really looked at his dollar per hour, his hygiene dollar per hour, his open hour, like we did all of these things that we're talking about you guys and came down to what is it that you want to do in your practice?

 

And what are you doing that you're trying to save your practice with or create something that you don't actually love that could be costing you money and time. So we had to really take that analysis. Like he also, you know, hates doing fillings. So we're trying to figure that out, but most doctors are like, get these fillings off my schedule. So, you know, we try to figure that efficiency piece out too, but I think when it comes down to it, these steps that you're saying to take.

 

really are the make or break to really figuring out what your practice looks like and what it could look like. So inventory wise, right, I would say go through and make sure that your appointments are the way that you want them and the length of time that you want them. And encourage your team, you guys, when you go long or when you go short on an appointment, change it on the appointment book so you can see the reality because then I'm gonna tell you, like Britt said, I want you to go back.

 

The Dental A Team (24:57.214)

through and do an analysis of your actual dollar per hour. So in comparison to your production, what was your actual dollar per hour? And also look at your open hour time. So what could you have produced if we had scheduled more effectively? And then also I would go through on your procedures and do this cost analysis because I do think hand in hand with the appointment efficiency goes this. You want an efficient and excelled patient experience.

 

and you want an efficient appointment and to know your dollar per hour that you're supposed to be getting in conjunction to what the cost is per procedure based on the time you're taking, I think is just like the magic sauce of really figuring out what you can do with your practice.

 

I would do those things. And if you need help with them, if you need ideas, if you're like, I don't understand this cost analysis thing, because you guys, it was over my head for a split second too. And I was like, wait, say that again. Just reach out, [email protected] re-listen to this podcast, obviously, but always reach out. You guys were here for that. So Britt, is there anything that I missed in those action items or last minute thoughts you want to give to these incredible doctors who are listening today?

 

Britt (26:13.717)

Yeah, I think those are great action items to take and I think.

 

This is for our doctors that you're banging your head against the wall like how am I not as profitable as I want to be, right? What are the issues? Or you're like, I don't think we can fit anything else into our schedule, but I'm not as profitable as I want to be. These are the things that are going to give you the information to bring some reality to it. And sometimes it can be those conversations of like, hey, we've got those doctors, we've got those people we love them who are a little chatty and you can still have a great place to experience and not talk so long.

 

So like sometimes that's the reality of like, hey

 

We make a choice, right? Either let's adjust that, still chat, but like, it doesn't have to be as long and we can fit a little bit more into your schedule. Or like, you get a little bit more time for talking and we're as profitable as we can be or as efficient as we can be with our schedule if that's the ultimate patient experience you want to have. And so I'll just allow you to make smarter decisions. I mean, I've had some doctors that are in rural areas when it comes to certain types of procedures that maybe aren't the most profitable, but they're like, hey, I want to be able to provide that to my community.

 

Awesome. I love that. Let's just be aware of it, see if there's anything we can do to manage the overhead and make it efficient. And then we may just manage how many of them that we do out in one day or one week or one month to ensure your space to kind of make up the difference with other procedures.

 

The Dental A Team (27:38.389)

Yeah, okay, awesome. You guys, this was incredible. Britt, thank you so much for always being open to diving into more numbers with me than we do on a lot of the podcasts. This one or one is super dedicated to our amazing doctors who are out there really just trying to make sure that you're giving the best to your patients and that you're getting the best for yourselves because we at the Don't Ateam truly believe if you are giving exactly what people.

 

deserve if you're giving that experience that people deserve when they come to a dental practice, you will reap the rewards. And those rewards should be insane profitability. In our opinion, you should be insanely profitable. You should be living your dream life because you're giving an incredible thing to patients that they can't get anywhere else. So with that said, go do these things, go figure it out. If you need help, if you are a current client, reach out to your consultant, or to our consulting team because we're here to help you with that.

 

If you're not yet a client and you're a future client or you're someone who's just listening because you love listening to our voices, reach out. Hello at thedoubleAteam.com. You guys, we're here to help you and we will give you whatever information that we possibly can because we just want everyone to experience the best lives you truly possibly can. So Britt, thank you so much for being here. I cannot wait to hear how everyone loves this podcast, so drop a five star review below.

 

We wanna hear how much you love this. We wanna know how much you love diving into the numbers side and really, really effective doctor style items. Like I'm so excited for this one. So Britt, thank you everyone. Have a great rest of your day.

 

Happy Halloween! In this episode, Kiera lists four “tricks” in dental practices that might scare a practice owner off, and gives advice on how to turn them into treats.

1. Leaking revenue

2. A team that doesn’t care about company goals

3. Untapped potential holding you back

4. Low case acceptance and high overhead

Episode resources:

Reach out to Kiera

Tune Into DAT’s Monthly Webinar

Practice Momentum Group Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:01.09)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy Halloween -y. man, I love Halloween. This year, I'm so excited. We have some really, really, really special neighbors and they have two kids and they have definitely allowed us to be a part of their family. And so they're now six -year -old son. They have a six -year -old and a two -year -old. Their six -year -old plans our Halloween costumes for us. If you know anything about Kiera Dent or if you don't, my mom was very much not.

 

pro having her kids trick or treat. My mom is very, very, very conventional and she did not want to teach her children. She felt like trick or treating was slightly like begging and she did not want her children to be that way. And so I do not, I do not endorse that nor agree with that. And my mom has since changed, but that was her beliefs as a young mom. so trick or treating, she had us go what's called pick a treat where we would actually take treats to our friends instead of trick or treating. And so

 

Actually last year, 2023 was the first time that Kiera Dent actually went trick or treating. And it was with this family that takes us with us. Last year we were Incredibles. And this year he has given, this little boy has given all of us the assignment of something from Toy Story. He plans every one of us who we're going to be. So this year I get to be Little Bo Peep. My husband's Woody. Don't worry. We'll definitely post up some pictures for you guys, but happy Halloween. I hope you have the best time. I hope it's fun, but.

 

What I wanted to do today is one, thank you guys for being a part of our podcast family. But two, remind you, please share this podcast with someone fun. Today's gonna be a fun one. These are things that should scare you as a dental practice owner. Our goal is to help you learn to overcome them and running practice does not need to be scary. So come and join our consulting with us. There's no tricks, just treats for you guys. And I'm gonna give you guys four little things that probably do scare you as practice owners and ways to overcome them.

 

We're going to do a little trick or treating here where I might trick, I might treat. Of course I'm going to treat guys. Here we go. but please share this podcast with those around you. And thank you for being a part of our Dental A Team podcast family. If I could give you a giant hug right now and just tell you how much I love and appreciate you for who you are and the special things that you bring to dentistry and to this world. And, just you being here, no matter what you do or don't do is a huge blessing to those around you and in my life as well, even though I might not know you personally.

 

Kiera Dent (02:26.07)

I feel you, I feel your energy and I'm so grateful for you. just share this with someone that you feel could use that huge giant hug of love and appreciation and probably just like some fun and some support. with that, right. Number one possible scary thing in a practice is revenue leaks in your practice. So what are some of those things that are leaking out revenue that if we just were able to patch up that hole might actually be able to help you. So things such as inefficient scheduling, billing errors, uncollected payments.

 

So I want you guys to look at your practices and see where are our revenue leaks. I think this could be a really fun almost scavenger hunt for you and your team to think about like, where are all the ways that we might be losing money on imperfect handoffs, on not billing out all the procedures that we do, on not having the correct dollar amounts attached to those. Keir Dents practice definitely sent out a $0 crown. We billed it straight to insurance. You better believe they were so happy to send me the EOB on that. That is a revenue leak in our practice. so,

 

on our inefficient scheduling? Have you built in the block schedules? Have you created a perfect day schedule? Are we working and role playing on how we can get people perfectly in there? Are we looking for same day treatment opportunities? That's a huge revenue leak within your practice. Looking for those same days, you get raving fans out of it and you're also able to help a ton of people with it. So can we actually help you guys close up that revenue leak and make it even better? What about the billing errors? Like I mentioned, attaching the correct things to our procedures so we get our money in within those.

 

20 to 30 days the first time and we're not having to rebuild or reattaching like setting up a process and a policy that we all follow every single time. Make that quick checklist, have it in the notes. We just grab it and go and everybody's there with it. It makes it so much easier. Uncollected payments, I can't tell you how many offices just let patients leave without stopping at the front desk or getting credit cards on file so that way we can bill these patients very quickly and collect. It's so easy. You guys, I have all of my stuff on autopay. I go to the therapist, I credit card on file, click, paid, done.

 

At my chiropractor same thing at my therapist my my physical therapist same thing at my gym person All these quick ways like you guys we live in a world of credit cards on file. We have Apple pay We have all these different pieces. Can we do that there? And what are the revenue leaks within your practice? Those are just some to get your your mind spurring But really look at that because that could be very scary in a practice. You're doing the work Let's make sure you're getting paid for it. Like I said, no tricks just treats. It does not need to be scary

 

Kiera Dent (04:50.132)

Number two, your team not caring about your company goals. Well, that can feel scary because doctors can feel like, I'm rowing this boat all by myself and it can feel awful. And so let's get your team to care about the goals. How can this help give them a better life? How can this help them help more patients? How can we get them on board and excited? I have an office right now and we're rolling out sleep in their practice and I cannot wait. We're making it all fun. They're going to get like part of the bonus and the rewards of helping more patients not die from sleep.

 

That's incredible. That's such a fun way to do it. And so looking for ways, people don't care about things that they're not passionate about. No surprise, right? Like that's a very easy thing. Kiera, give us some wisdom here. But I think sometimes simplicity and remembering what we already know is half the point of learning. And a lot of times learning is just remembering what we already know. And so getting our team, like what inspires them? Why do we want to hit these goals? How many patients do we want to serve together as a team? And oftentimes if your team doesn't care about the goals,

 

guess what, they might not be your right team. You want people that are obsessed about hitting these goals. You want people that are excited about building this practice. It's gonna serve so many patients. And so you also, as the owner and the leader, need to feel that way about it. Oftentimes when teens don't care about goals, it's because the owner doesn't actually care. And I say that with love and a huge giant hug and no judgment, because sometimes it's hard to stay motivated as owners. Sometimes we need someone to pick us up.

 

You guys, am so appreciative over these last couple of months. I've had some personal things in my life and so grateful for the coaches in my life that literally have like lifted me up with love and support and helped me figure out what is my vision? What is my path? I have probably five really strong people in my life and I'm so grateful. I happily pay them. so, I could not do this without all five of them. And just so thankful that I have that support system around me because

 

A lot of times it is hard to keep trying to figure it out on your own day in and day out. And so really being able to have that from your team and have that support is something absolutely magical. All right, number three is untapped potential losing you money. So things like, could we do some CE within our practice? Could we do helping a lot of our team start like learning to scan or taking impressions, or could we add Invisalign or could we add sleep to our practice?

 

Kiera Dent (07:09.886)

Or what other things are untapped potential within every team member? Could we do better with our treatment plan acceptance? Can we do better with how we schedule our practice? But what is this untapped potential? If I was looking at your practice today, what I think that your practice is a brand new baby, like in the life cycle of a business. Is it maybe a toddler? Is it maybe like a teenager? Is it a young adult? Is it like in its prime? Is it a dying practice, like getting a little bit older to retirement? Or is it on its way to death?

 

There's untapped potential within all of those lifespans. And so what's our way that we're able to find that untapped potential because there's so much opportunity. I have offices right now that are, we've just added very simple things to the practice and we've been able to take them from a $2 million practice to a $4 million practice just by adding in some untapped potential with them. Are there untapped potential within like the operatories in the space within your practice?

 

Is there untapped potential around your hygienist being able to offer fluoride to every patient or fluoride therapy where it's toothpaste and fluoride treatments? Is there untapped potential with us scanning for night guards? Is there untapped potential with us looking for same day treatment opportunities? These are fun little things that could be spooky and scary, but if we look at them, make them fun. Now, I'm gonna put a huge like asterisk caveat with this.

 

We do not wanna add all these things at the exact same time because that is very scary and daunting for our team, but we can brainstorm and like throw everything on a board and then pick the thing that's the easiest, least amount of effort with the greatest impact. And that's what we wanna go implement and execute on our practice. right, number four of things that are scary, no tricks, just treats today, of low case acceptance and high overhead. So kind of technically two in one.

 

So low case acceptance, that can feel really scary. It can make doctors feel like patients don't like me. It can make treatment coordinators feel like, we're just not closing cases. Case acceptance to me just tells a story. One, are we doing incredible with how we're presenting treatment? Doctors, are you using that NDTR next visit date, time, the re -care, there we go. Are you doing that and putting the bow on every single treatment plan that you're giving?

 

Kiera Dent (09:20.032)

Are you diagnosing with confidence? Are we doing quadrant dentistry rather than solo tooth dentistry? Are you confident on how you're presenting it to the patient? Are you possibly planting weeds in your flower garden by giving them obstacles as opposed to opportunities without realizing it? After doctors give this the most amazing confident treatment plan, they put the bow of NDTR on it. Team members, are we all taking that perfect hand off, scheduling them first and then having our team present the treatment plans and the finance?

 

Are we leading with insurance? Because if you better believe if I'm any part of your life, you will never lead with insurance. You will always lead with what we need to do. And then we will help the patient say yes to the treatment. Low case acceptance to me tells what are the doctors confident in, what's the treatment coordinator confident in, and where are awesome opportunities to grow. I love case acceptance. I'm obsessed with it. I'm obsessed with helping offices. I have literally taken a practice from 9 million.

 

to over 40 million just by working with them on case acceptance. I kid you not, there's multiple practices in it. They are incredible. And we just work on case acceptance over and over and over over over and over and over and over over again, because we know that that's what's gonna help more patients have a happier life. So when I look at this, I love it. It tells me what is that treatment coordinator afraid of? What does that treatment coordinator need to break through? What does that doctor need to break through? I can look to see the type of treatment plans just by looking at your case acceptance.

 

And so looking at this and how can we boost it? Now, if it's too high, I know we are actually not diagnosing enough. If it's too low, I know we're not closing and it's a happy medium. If you're presenting implants and high cases, it should be a little bit lower. If we're doing a single tooth dentistry and general dentistry more so, you should have a much higher case acceptance. So looking at that, because that can feel very eerie in a practice of like, what are we doing wrong? Oftentimes it's not what are we doing wrong? It's what are we saying? That's actually not helping us get to our case acceptance that we want.

 

So play the game, have fun with it because that case acceptance fills the schedule. Now if our schedule is too full and we're not hitting our goals, let's look to see what are we diagnosing doctors? Let's see, are we truly diagnosing full comprehensive care or are we diagnosing what we think they want? No, those are questions for you to answer that can feel spooky and eerie, but they do not need to be. Just be confident, the patient's there. It's not your fault they're there. It's not your fault that they have this treatment. It didn't get there overnight and now you have the amazing opportunity to educate them.

 

Kiera Dent (11:40.93)

help them get healthy again and become like so fulfilled by having that confident smile again. And then that in turn can also reduce your overhead. Looking at our P &L consistently, making sure that we're not overpaying for things that we don't need, but also making sure that our revenue we're producing what we need to be producing for our practice. These are things that I am obsessed with. I love them. It doesn't need to be spooky for you. It really just needs to be fun for you. And so that's why at this Halloweeny time,

 

No tricks, just treat. And within our consulting, we have our online version and we also have our in -person version and both of them give you a way for these spooky things to actually be done with ease. So I'd love for you guys to come try it out. Like, what's it gonna hurt you to come and be a part of a community of people of like -minded dentists, to have consultants at your fingertips that literally will give you the answers to all these spooky things and also get your team on board with you.

 

to come and either be in person and meet us. We're literally getting ready to have our doctors in person together and work on your business from the minds of brilliant people to be able to lift you and your practice to the highest heights that are out of this world, to be able to have consistent accountability in your practice of people that hold you to a higher standard and grow you. Come join us and be a part of it. I'd love for you to come try it out. Running a practice truly does not need to be scary. So come try us. I'd love to have you.

 

No tricks, just treats for all of you. You guys, I am obsessed with dentistry. I'm obsessed with helping you guys have the life that you deserve to live and that you're worthy to live and that you have every capacity to have. I'm obsessed with getting your team on board with you. So come try us out. Hello @ TheDentalATeam .com or just go to TheDentalATeam.com. Book a call with us. You guys, it's not scary. We literally like meet you with open arms and a huge hug. And we're there, whether you are on the top of your game or you are at the bottom of your game, anywhere in between.

 

We're there for you and I can't wait for you guys. end of year. It's a great time for you to be looking at these things, to make decisions, to make sure that next year that you are successful without knowing that it's maybe going to happen or not, but being confident that it will happen for you. Now is the time for you to take action, to not have it be scary and to have the best, best life that you could ever imagine. Reach out. [email protected]. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

 

Tiff and Britt are here to give advice on how to maintain consistency during the busiest times. They talk about keeping a positive mindset when things become stressful, how to avoid getting stuck in “fix mode,” how to find what tasks you can automate, and more.

Episode resources:

Reach out to Tiff and Britt

Tune Into DAT’s Monthly Webinar

Practice Momentum Group Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:02.11)

O my gosh, Dental A Team listeners, I am here today with the one and only Brittany Stone. I am so excited. I bring you Dana a lot and Dana is freaking fantastic. You guys know how much I love my time with her. But recently, I have been mixing it up a little bit and I love it. I get my couple hours a month of just one -on -one solo time with you, Britt. So thank you. I love having you here. I love that we're in different colors today. I think it spices it up a little bit.

 

How are you on this beautiful Friday when we're recording right now? It's Friday and it's freaking beautiful outside, right?

 

Britt (00:38.059)

I know Arizona, it's like the end of summertime where it starts to break a little bit in the heat. We're like, my gosh, this is why I live here. yeah, that's right. This is the reason why. I like that I got a full name today. It's always fun when that comes out and I get called by my full name. So I'm excited to be here. know, anytime I get with you consultants, anyone on our team, especially one -on -one, it's my favorite.

 

The Dental A Team (00:49.495)

You got it.

 

The Dental A Team (01:01.005)

I love it. love it. I had I had a client today actually on our coaching call say, what's the weather like out there? Like, are you is it cooling down? And I was like, no, it was like 101 the other day, I think he got down to like 95. But there was 99. And like, we're all over the place. And I told my friend the other day, she's like, gosh.

 

it's supposed to be fall, like where's our fall? Where Arizona is, and we don't get fall, we get ideal hiking weather. So we are walking into ideal outdoors weather in Arizona. There's no fall. We just get our hiking season until now May. So here we go, ready to hike.

 

Britt (01:36.779)

we can get back outdoors. know Tiff today is like, should I go for a run? And I'm like, should I go for a ride tomorrow? Probably. Like now we can liven back up and be outside.

 

The Dental A Team (01:46.702)

I was actually thinking that last night when I was like, gosh, dang it, what do do? And I was like, Britt would totally be on a ride right now if she could. I love it. I love it. Well, I want to hear from you guys. What do you do when it's nice outside? And I hope that some of you are in some beautiful weather as well. I know we've got some Arizona listeners out there for sure. But we've got listeners all over the country. And honestly, we have listeners outside the country. So I love hearing about the weather. I love thinking about that. And I love just making sure that

 

Britt (01:52.384)

-huh.

 

The Dental A Team (02:12.777)

No matter what your experience with Dental A Team is top notch and we are here for it. So you guys today, I really want to talk about busy season because with fall coming, with winter coming, being in fall, all of these pieces, your busy season is about to really, really hit in the dental practice. I know for a lot of pediatric practices that summer. So sorry guys, you're coming out of your busy season, but for majority.

 

Britt (02:38.145)

Congratulations.

 

The Dental A Team (02:38.89)

Yeah, they were crazy, right? just did analysis with my Peto practice this morning in July and August were freaking bananas for them, but September is starting to slow down. So with October coming as well. So here we are in the middle of it all in the thick of it all and hopefully you guys have already done things to ramp up that schedule from September to October now looking freaking amazing and really just getting into it maybe within the year benefit letters things like that. I know we put all the suggestions out there.

 

But as it gets busier, I know me and I think you know me. I you probably know me better than most people in my life at this point. I tend to, as it gets busier, get more and more and more forgetful. And I don't know if I'm the only one out there, but I'm forgetful by nature just in general. a very forgetful human being and I don't mean to be, but it's just who I am and I have to love myself for it. But as things get busier, especially when I was in practice,

 

this time of year where it's like that end of year rush, get the end of your benefits done, prep for the new year that's still busy, we tend to forget to focus in on that ultimate patient experience. And those pieces that we do that really set us apart from other practices, they get forgotten. Those are the first things to go. It's kind of like forgetting the chocolate chips and the chocolate chip cookies and you ended up with these bomb sugar cookies because you forgot that stuff or

 

Britt (04:00.307)

You

 

The Dental A Team (04:03.164)

the baking powder or whatever. Like we just, start forgetting those little things. And Brett, I really wanted to talk with you today because I know you coach a lot of practices and especially in our group practice realm, you have a ton of practices in there, you and Dana and the other consultants that really come together every week to talk about these kinds of things. And in preparation for that, I wanted to pick your brain and see what do you have practices doing right now or what have they been doing and how do you

 

Truly help your practices prep for this busy season to really keep that patient experience at the forefront and top notch. What are you doing and how can our listeners do something maybe a little bit different, something they can pick up?

 

Britt (04:45.471)

Yeah, end of the year we know it gets busy. I always say once Halloween hits, it's like poof, like we're in January because that seems to be the holiday that after that all the rest of them come along and it goes real fast. And in the dental world, we are really busy on top of it because people are coming in to utilize their end of year benefits, whatever it may be, getting stuff done before the holidays or in between their travels. While our team has also taken some time off for the holidays.

 

The Dental A Team (04:58.983)

That's so true.

 

Britt (05:14.707)

So I think it's a time that number one thing I would say is remember the things to be consistent at, right? So be consistent at our huddle, be consistent at making sure we have a plan on how we're gonna tackle the day. Because if you start with that strong foundation, keep it consistent, it's gonna help you to make sure that like, all right, we can handle this. And it's not gonna get too wild for us to where we kind of hit that frazzled zone where we start to forget about that patient experience. So I think.

 

That's number one, is stay consistent on the things that are gonna help you. And I always say, if you're leaving morning cuddle saying, well, we'll just figure it out. my gosh, it gives me anxiety. No, we won't, it'll get crazy. So figure it out before you leave morning cuddle when those things get added in and even add a little like reminder, right? We're here for team and patients. So let's make sure our team and our patients have an awesome day today. I think even just that to keep it a little bit top of mind can go a long ways.

 

The Dental A Team (05:54.873)

hahahaha

 

The Dental A Team (06:13.067)

I love that. I love that the consistency of it and really finding those pieces that create the magic when you're not busy. So you said like morning huddle, making sure our team is prepared and making sure our focus there is too, that our team has a good experience because when we have a happy team and our teams enjoying what they're doing, it just translates to the patient experience so easily. So staying consistent in those pieces and

 

If you don't have a good morning huddle routine, like reach out, we've got a million of them and we've got a million ideas, a million podcasts on them. And writing those things down, right? Make sure that the systems and processes, even if you're in the thick of the busy right now, write it down. What's working for you guys? What's separating you from the others? What's projecting your success today?

 

so that you can keep doing those over again. And Britt, it makes me think I have this conversation with practices and honestly with people in my life constantly, I hate nothing more in life than wasted time. And to me, Britt knows this. It makes me so angry inside and it makes me wanna just like leave whatever situation it is, right? I'm just like, this was so absurd to me.

 

Britt (07:17.665)

That's accurate. It's accurate. 100%.

 

The Dental A Team (07:31.458)

So, and I say that meaning I don't wanna do things that aren't getting the result that I intended. And if I'm doing things consistently that are not getting the result that I wanted, that is wasted time because I could have been doing something that was getting the results I wanted. And what I tell practices and friends and family is like, you're literally running the definition of insanity. If you feel insane, you feel crazy, you feel...

 

spun up and out of this world out of control, it's probably because somewhere you're running the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. And with what you're saying, kind of combining those things, it's really taking back that control and seeing what's working that you're doing consistently. And when you're busy, how do you maintain the control over that consistency? How do you ensure that those things stay top of mind for you?

 

Britt (08:09.291)

Thank

 

The Dental A Team (08:29.344)

I love that I get on a, you know, I get on a time tangent. So you guys like don't even test me on that. It's not worth it. It's like my biggest pet peeve and Britt does. Go ahead.

 

Britt (08:39.967)

You have a really good point and I think a lot of times it's easy for us to get stuck in what's not working or like picking the things that go wrong and any practice we walk into there are a lot of things you are doing that are working. So I think it's big to recognize whenever we're evaluating what's going on within the practice, what is working for us because I guarantee you there are things that are working for you.

 

The Dental A Team (08:47.487)

Yes.

 

Britt (09:09.483)

And we don't want to lose sight because sometimes we try to fix another issue and we get rid of something that's working for us and then it doesn't turn out the way we want it to. So I just want to kind of highlight that a little bit. Like that's an important statement that you made is focus on what's working, focus on the wins. They're in there, they're out there. Don't just focus on the bad things. And keeping those things that are working top of mind are just as important as working on improving the things that aren't working.

 

The Dental A Team (09:37.368)

I love that so much. And I work with clients constantly on that very topic because it is really easy to get lost in that. And I always say that it's like, you've got a new haircut, and you decided bangs were your jam this time. And you're like, I'm doing bangs and your hairdresser's like, cool, let's do it. You get bangs and we're like 1990s style bangs and we're walking down the street.

 

and somebody walks by and is like, my gosh, you did it. Your bangs look amazing. And 10 people tell you your bangs look freaking amazing and your hair is bomb. And then one person walks by and they're like, ooh, I don't know if I would have done bangs. When we go home and we look in the mirror, we're like, should I have done bangs? One person out of 11 said, don't know about that. And we're contemplating whether we made the right decision or not because it is so much easier to find and look at and

 

and be stuck on what's not working, what's wrong, how do I fix this, do I do better, than it is to look at what could be right. And when we start with what's working, rather than starting with what's not working, we can easily see what systems and processes are creating what's working and can any of those apply to what's not working. But if we flip it, we're stuck on fixing.

 

we get stuck in fix mode and we say, what's not working? How do I fix this? Instead of saying what's not working and how or what is working and how do I do more of this? Efficiency you guys like that is just efficiency and time management. those are Kira Dent says like efficiency will be on my tombstone on my grave one day because that is what I live my life by and this is why because it just doesn't my brain cannot comprehend.

 

doing something for no reason. There is a reason behind everything and we have to be intentional about it or we go crazy. And in the midst of being busy, that intentionality gets dropped. We're just doing, we're taking everything in as it comes and we're like, my gosh, I'm inundated. have so many things to do. Front office is checking out, checking in answering the phone and sending claims at the same time. Like one person is doing all of these things.

 

The Dental A Team (11:52.476)

And we're like an octopus in every space dental assistants, they're running four chairs because we had emergencies at the front office was like, no, we can do it. It's fine. One more crown before the end of the year. Don't worry. And my dental assistants are like, I'm going to kill you. And we've all got these octopus arms running all over the efficiency piece, the intentionality, the integrity of it all, the action ability that gets left to the side because we're just moving. And those are the days you guys that I run into the most walls.

 

Those are the days I wake up the next morning with bruises and I'm like, how did this even happen? I don't remember, but I've ran into 15 walls because the universe is like slow down, slow down and do the things that matter. So in the midst of being busy, the patient experience actually drops. And what I've seen happen is we cram a ton and I just talked to a practice actually yesterday about this and I was like, this is what happened. You guys got busy. So we get busy.

 

And we're like, I don't have time for all of that stuff that worked to get us busy. You guys, that's the point. I don't have time for re -care calls and re -care is booked out for three months anyways. Why am I calling them? And then what does three months from now look like for a hygienist, Britt?

 

Britt (13:06.635)

We got holes in it and then all of a sudden we're like, well shoot, why are there holes in the schedule?

 

The Dental A Team (13:11.036)

Because we stopped doing what worked to fill that schedule. And when we're busy, we stop doing those pieces, or we stop looking for a workaround. If I don't have time for calls, what can I automate to ensure that the information is still getting out there that people are still getting touch points? Can I ramp up emails and text messages? If I can't get on the phone? Like what can I automate that keeps those touch points going and keeps that relationship building? Because this practice I talked to yesterday had a stellar

 

month, stellar month, they were like, this was one of our best months ever. Get into the next month. Three weeks later, they're like, it has sucked. It has tanked. We've had no patients. I have not treatment planned anything. And I'm like, well, you're gonna have them next month is gonna tank too. Because guess what we did is in our busy month, we lived it up. We partied it out. It's like getting that giant paycheck in your 20s. And you were like, yes, like I got paid. And now I'm going out for the weekend.

 

But then in three weeks, we're like, shoot, is due. I wish I had the money. That's kind of what we're playing here. We're like, awesome, we've got all of this excess and we're going to live it up and we're going to party. And then comes the fall and we break down. So giving your patients the ultimate experience when you're busy, you guys, my biggest, biggest, biggest suggestion is to automate what you can find the pieces that you don't have to.

 

Do every single time on your own. There's a ton of automated pieces out there There's virtual assistants that you can hire to help offload some pieces even that the phone calls and the touch points to Patients reaching out to them while your stuff is busy like whatever that looks like I can I consider that an automation if I have a virtual Assistant who's not physically in the practice busy with me. That's an automation I can automate I can pull things off of my team

 

send it over to my virtual assistant and automate it from there. Making sure that systems and processes are actually being written down that we know what they look like. like Britt, like you said, staying consistent with those things that are working like morning huddles. How can our team win? How can our patients win? And really, really, really using like checklists. I know that's so mundane and so elementary, but Britt.

 

The Dental A Team (15:33.944)

How have you seen it? You've had a ton of clients before. You work with clients now, like I said, on that group basis. I know there's a stark difference between a practice that uses checklists and a practice that doesn't use checklists. And what have you seen in your experience from each?

 

Britt (15:50.815)

Yeah, I mean, I'll also just plug that like I personally am a checklist person, right? Because I couple things. I don't want to have to spend the energy to try to remember it when I can just write it down or have it on a checklist and make my life easier. Like, no, no pride in that. Like I'm not trying to be the one that like, my brains are like vault. I'll remember everything. It's not.

 

The Dental A Team (16:04.747)

Yep. Yep.

 

Britt (16:15.443)

I if our congratulations, I haven't met any one of those. But so I'm a big checklist person. And that's the difference. It helps with the consistency, right? Because everyone's trying to do their best, right? Everyone wants to get all the things done and make sure they don't drop anything. But nature of human beings, like if we don't have it somewhere to make sure that we're getting all the things done, it falls in, especially when we're busy, right? That it's like we get to the end of the day and it's like

 

I don't, what did I do today? Like, I don't know, did I get all the things on? I don't know, I'm so tired, I'm just gonna go home and we'll like try to do it again tomorrow. But when you have a and I love, especially for a front desk, a checklist that has like times in it. So it's like, clean things, midday things, afternoon things, or something, however you wanna organize it that's gonna help you, so then we don't get to the end of the day and have this whole checklist of things to do.

 

The Dental A Team (16:52.278)

Okay.

 

The Dental A Team (16:59.125)

Yes.

 

Britt (17:09.545)

And front desk, you get pulled in a million different directions. So it's like, all right, once I'm done checking someone out, where was I? What do I need to be focused on? I can go back to my checklist. yeah, this is the next thing I need to get done. anything for me, TIFF is efficiency. And I'm like, if I can automate something and not have to use my brain to try to remember it, like, hallelujah, I don't want to waste energy where I don't have to. If I don't have to memorize something, I'm not going to waste the energy to try to memorize something. Because I'd rather spend my energy on other things.

 

The Dental A Team (17:34.91)

Agreed.

 

I totally agree. I totally agree. I have to highlight you said, like, we're not vaults. We're not going to remember everything. And I like to think that I'm special in that, like, gosh, what is wrong with my brain? Like, you don't know how many times I've been like reminded of something I was supposed to do that I forgot. I'm like, what is wrong with my brain? Why can't I do this? Right? Like, I just need to understand it's okay. And then I'm not the only one. Like, I'm not alone. Mine is special. Like, I know that. Like, I know.

 

I'm pretty bad, but I use Blitz. I've got checklists, I've got Post -Fit Notes, I've got things in my calendar. We use ClickUp reminders. That's been fantastic with our company and that's a way to automate those checklists. actually have a pediatric practice out in Virginia and they have, Virginia and Maryland, they have all of their checklists, all of their end of day sheets, all of their monthly sheets, their, gosh, like the sterilization checklist. Everything is in ClickUp.

 

And so the team goes into ClickUp and they go in and or Asana any of those styles, especially for our administrative team, those are super helpful, you guys makes it really easy. I've got other teams that have it written and they'll do the laminated sheets with the dry erase markers and maybe they've got a big team. so they'll take a picture and they'll slack it into the team space at the end of every day. So it's not physically being turned in, but it's on.

 

automation like that. So I know we have automations in Slack that help us remember to fill out our KPIs or to go into our click up and update it like we have things that come automated as well. So that we remember things and as consultants, like we've got, you know, a handful of freaking clients to try to remember everything on and something you said about that, like, our brains not evolved. It's so funny to me, because for me, I can still recall, gosh,

 

The Dental A Team (19:33.458)

I've been with Dental A Team at this point for a little over seven years. So I have been out of my practice for seven years. So 10, 15 years ago is when I was with these patients. I can still recall multiple patients. I remember what they do for a living, their names, right? I could probably come up with their date of birth if I tried hard enough. I know what their kids did. Like I was thinking just the other day about

 

this family that I loved and she was always so sweet. She always wanted to like come in and talk to me about Brody and what is Brody doing? And her son loved Legos. And Brody at this time, Brody's 16 now and Brody at this time was like three. She's like, I can't wait for him to get into Legos. I'll have to bring you some Lego sets when he's ready to get rid of them. And I was thinking about it because Brody now is that kid's age then playing with Legos. But I was like, how in the world is it okay for me to be able to remember that conversation?

 

from 13 years ago, but I cannot tell you what I did yesterday and did I accomplish all my notes and get everything done. Like that is so far beyond comprehension to me and frustrates me so much, but it is just the point. Like we remember things that hit us on an emotional level or a trigger level. Like we remember things for God only knows why, but we forget the other pieces. And it's just crazy to me, but.

 

Anyways, Britt, tell me I guess.

 

Britt (20:59.859)

It's human nature, right? We're all humans. And that's at the end of the day. I sometimes we want to think that we're not human, but guess what? Everybody's human. So do the things to help yourself out, especially when you know you're heading into those busy times. And then I want to plug like a soft thing for patient experience too. I think this is helpful always, but especially when we get busy. I think that dental practices, right? We're all multitaskers. think front desk might.

 

The Dental A Team (21:08.474)

We are all human, that's fair.

 

Britt (21:27.541)

take the cake, like everyone assistance hygienists, we multitask a little different though. But I think right, we're pulled in a lot of different directions, but we want to be there. The best thing you can do is be there present with your patient when you're actually right in front of them. And so when you walk into that patient, like, just take a deep breath, like, as simple as that, just take a deep breath. So it kind of signifies like, all right, like this is where I'm at. So you can be present with that patient.

 

The Dental A Team (21:41.146)

there.

 

Britt (21:54.613)

So even though it's a busy time, you might be an assistant running three different chairs or something, you know, but if when you walk up to that patient and you look at them in the face and you take a deep breath so you can actually be there with them, I think that goes a really long ways that like, no matter what else, they may have waited a few minutes, but it goes back to the people remember how you make them feel. And if you can be there with them, like that's the piece they're gonna remember.

 

The Dental A Team (22:18.575)

Totally. I love that you said that because that is so important. And that's part of those pieces of, we said to go back and figure out what separates you from the other practices and your intentionality and your relationship is probably what separates you from the practice down the road. They're billing, they're seeing patients, they're doing the x -rays, they're diagnosing however they want to diagnose, but those are the pieces, those soft skills, those are the pieces that do separate you. So automate.

 

as much as you can on the other side of that so that you have the time, the space, the availability to be intentional with those pieces when you're busy. So absolutely. Okay, biggest pieces, biggest takeaways from today, you guys, write your systems and your protocols down, know what they are, take inventory of what's working and how you got there. What's working? How did you get there? And can you apply it in other areas? Use checklists, you guys, and do more of what's working.

 

less of what's not working, automate the pieces that you can so that you can spend time focusing on those pieces that truly separate you from the practice down the road because you are different and that is so magical and you need to really, really, really hone in on those pieces when you're busy. That's the most important part and it's the first part that gets dropped. Britt, thank you so much for today. I knew that you have some incredible insights to this one.

 

I appreciate you being here today. Of course. All right, guys, go do these things. Don't wait. I know you're in the thick of it right now. I know you're busy and you're like, tiff, Brett, I don't even have time for these things. Make the time because it's worth it. Don't let January, February, March tank because we didn't do the work right now. So go do the things. Brett likes to say choose your hard. Is it hard today or is it going to be hard later? And later usually means longer. So do the hard right now.

 

Britt (23:45.905)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

 

Britt (24:07.381)

Mm

 

The Dental A Team (24:13.806)

we're drop us a five star review because as always, we'd like to know how you enjoyed this podcast and reach out anytime. Hello@TheDentalATeam .com. We are here to help you. I mean, we can't wait to meet you.

Kiera and Dana download the latest Dental A-Team book, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price. Specifically, the two discuss why it’s so important to strive for playfulness, connection, and fun even in the workplace, as well as a new DAT project — coming March 2025!

Find the full book club rundown here!

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:01.026)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and I am so pumped. I got the one and only Dana with me, usually Tiff and Dana podcast. And today Dana and I are gonna podcast. How are you, Dana?

 

Dana (00:11.532)

I'm good. I'm excited to be here. I know it's been too long and it's a fun space, so I'm glad I'm here.

 

Kiera Dent (00:17.514)

I agree. told Shelbi, I was like, record. Can we start getting the consultants on with me too? Like I enjoy solo casting, but it'd be fun to hang. So I'm super glad. And today you guys, Dana and I are bringing you a special treat. We are going to book club podcast. Dana, Britt and I are probably the ones who actually book club in our company. So we're the constant three that do it. And I, as Dana this morning, I was like, did you by chance read that book? Because if so, I'd love a podcast guest with me on it.

 

Thank you, Dana, for coming to the rescue with me. But I think it's gonna be great. Our podcast, our book club for this month is The Power of Fun, How to Feel Alive Again by Katherine Price. And honestly, Dana, I think you might know this, but maybe you don't. The reason I chose this podcast or this book was because the confetti was on the front. Like, that was why I chose it. On the book cover, there was confetti. Ryan Isaac and I were talking about it, because I think I sent him the book of like, Probably Die with Zero or

 

profit first, like some like hard book and he's like, why don't we have more fun books, Kiera? So that's actually where it came from. But I'm super curious. Kind of let's dive into this book. If you guys didn't read it, totally fine. If you did, I think it's a slower read. I think Dana felt the same, but I think that there was a lot of good nuggets for now. And I'm all about how we can create more fun because I think adults forget how to have fun. That's I think my biggest takeaway is like, we've forgotten how to have fun. And she gave some good tips on how to have more fun in our lives.

 

What about you, Dana? What do you think?

 

Dana (01:46.936)

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there was a lot for me to take away. I don't think I've ever like, categorized my fun, or like, thought about creating space for fun. Like I think I'm a person that has a lot of fun, and I laugh a lot and there's a lot of joy in my life. But I did definitely like reframe my like, okay, well, what level of fun am I having and prioritizing that higher level of fun or what she calls true fun in my life.

 

Kiera Dent (02:14.752)

Yeah, absolutely. And she kind of talked about like, well, I loved a lot that she talks about is how much of our society has actually shifted us to not have as much fun. And I think one of my favorite takeaways in the book was when she talked about how like, our cell phones were actually designed to be like slot machines. And so like slot machines are intent, like, so much study has gone into keeping people like in the slot machine mode. And yet if we're doing that with our phones, gosh, like our world is crazy to think about. And so

 

helping us find ways to minimize distractions. And something she said is like, when you're not fully present, you're not happy. And so how can we be like in the moment having fun and like we're spending so much time consuming, but she said like, phones are actually causing constant stress and higher cortisol levels. And so playfulness, connection and fun are the things that we should be going for. And that's like laughing, being in nature, being purposeful and being present. And like times when we feel most alive are when we're actually playing. And I just thought it was such an interesting mindset of like,

 

  great, my phone's a freaking slot machine, which we all know. It's a heavily addictive, we're constantly wanting to go to it. And yet that's actually what's causing us to not have as much fun, which I don't know, like to be debated, like is it true? Is it not true? And this is where Dana and I love to book club. This is how we actually book club is we talk about like, well, what do you think? How do you feel about that? What are like your thoughts? So Dana, tell me your thoughts. Let's have a real book club, Denali team style today.

 

Dana (03:34.574)

Yeah, I mean, I do think that like, I can admit my phone can be a distraction and I can think that I'm enjoying something but if I put it away and I do something else, like, I can definitely see that I enjoy that other thing more, right? And so I think we tend to hold on to the phone or do the phone thing because in the moment it's like, yeah, scrolling, tick tock, I'm laughing, right? Or looking and catching up with family on Instagram, like that's fun.

 

Kiera Dent (03:56.097)

Mm-hmm.

 

Dana (03:59.982)

But when I put the phone away and I focus on connecting with the people around me and being really playful and engaging, I feel like that is definitely a different level of fun. And so I think that it it's prioritizing those moments and understanding that like what your phone really lacks is that connection.

 

Kiera Dent (04:21.944)

Right, for sure. And I think some people might argue like is connection really fun? And like, do I actually need that? And do I want that? And I just think like, again, the books are here for conversation. They're here to challenge our beliefs and to question and to see like, what are we doing? And what really is that way? But what I thought was interesting is, so over the summer, I had some things that came up for me and I was very disconnected from my phone. And I'm not gonna lie to you.

 

for like the first three days. And that happens every time I go on vacation. I don't know about you, Dana, but literally every time I go on vacation, I have like withdrawal. So Jason and I will intentionally go to places where I to like shut my phone off. I don't have service. I will purposely not buy service when I go places. And it's like a withdrawal. And I feel angry for usually like my first two-ish days, sometimes even up to three, which I don't know if that's a good thing or not. But I thought about it and over the summer when I didn't have my phone, it was crazy how like,

 

I want to say carefree, I became, but I went through the withdrawal period first of feeling angry, mad, annoyed, like, just give me my freaking phone. It was weird. And I'm like, gosh, am I like a, like literally having withdrawals, leaving this addiction? I don't know. Or was it like chicken and the egg, or was it like cause and effect? I don't know. So I don't know, Dane, if you've got thoughts on that, but those are the things that I've been thinking of. like, is it really true or is it not?

 

Dana (05:43.374)

Yeah, I definitely go through like, I would say more like anxious, like am I going to miss something that's important or am I going to so like the anxiousness at first, I will say that I do have like when we go on family vacations or we go camping or we do those things, like I will put my phone in a drawer even if I don't have service. But then the flip side of that is I get really upset that I didn't snap photos because I'm like, I want to be in the moment. I want to remember the moment like with my eyes and be super present. But then I get home and I'm like, I didn't take any pictures.

 

Kiera Dent (06:03.658)

I agree.

 

Kiera Dent (06:12.33)

I know, because like, but that's all we have, right? Are the memories and the photos and photos can like, Jarrett, it's even crazy because like Apple vision right now has a quote unquote live. And I was at this thing in an Apple vision, like guru came to our little conference. Like we got all these Apple vision pros and they said, like, what we're doing is like, we're creating time travel. Like I kid you not, this was part of their pitch for Apple vision pro, because what they said is like, if you do the video in live, you can put the Apple vision pro on and it is

 

Simulated as if you are really back in that moment So like taking the videos which I think is like perpetuating us having our video so we can relive the moment rather than living in the moment is Contrary to I think how you have fun and so I think that there's like I think that's why she categorizes the fun within the book I think that's why she has you look at it because I don't think it's an all-or-nothing But there is a company I was talking with Jason Tonori shout out to him when I was up at his practice and we were talking about and there's this company called Brick

 

like a brick wall and the purpose of the brick is what you do is you actually like tap your phone and you brick your phone so we basically put our phones back into brick mode like remember when we used to have brick phones and all they did was like call and kind of text like that's actually the purpose and what this company is about because so often and it's crazy because when you brick your phone you literally have nothing on there and it's wild how much you like it's almost like phantom hands go to the scroll or phantom hands go to

 

Siri or phantom hands go to Safari, like all these things that I don't think we realize how dependent and reliant we are on it when it's like, no, I want to go on a hike and just use my phone for this. But then on the hike, it's like, well, let's check where we're going to go for lunch. Well, I don't have that. And I've got to go back to survival skills of like, all right, I guess we like drive to the town and figure that. So it is this like interesting concept, but I'm curious if we had like less phones, would we be happier?

 

Or is there like this or like have more fun or is there maybe a middle ground Dana and this is something we're obviously just rifting on right now and we don't have answers to it. We're just talking, talking shop here. What do think?

 

Dana (08:13.028)

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think with anything, right? Like anything is great for you in small doses. And then, you know, when it can be large doses, maybe it's not so good for you. you know, my hope is that there is a middle ground on this and that we can use technology and advance in technology and use our phone. But also, I think big takeaway from this book is making space for more fun.

 

Kiera Dent (08:39.668)

And Dana, what are some of the things like, how do you make space for Murphun? Like, what did you take away from the book or what are you applying in your own life? I'm putting you on the spot. Maybe you, I don't know.

 

Dana (08:45.218)

Yeah. No, that's okay. No, I like that she kind of like went through like one big thing I'll use myself as an example, right? As a mama for like, something that she suggested is just making time as far as like looking at the things that you have to do and making sure like with your partner in my instance, like my husband, like that those things are distributed evenly, right? So that like, I'm not the one that's making all the doctor's appointments and coordinating all of the kids schedules and doing those things helps to create space when those

 

roles are divided evenly, there's more space for both of us to be able to prioritize fun. She talked about like organizing your physical and mental space. So using a planner and making sure that you plan for things and you've got deep, you know, deep work and focus time. And then outside of that, when you get lots of things done in your deep work time, it frees you up time to have more fun. Physical space, you know, she talked about just like organizing your physical space so that

 

when those things are organized, you don't have to constantly be cleaning up clutter or doing those things. It frees you up more. So I thought she had a lot of great suggestions that I think most of us can apply something to to buy a little bit of time.

 

Kiera Dent (09:57.034)

Right. And I'm, I am obsessed about this. So this summer I went and attended a bunch of conferences with Tony Robbins about, he calls it his RPM, Rapid Planning Method. And like I learned about it and I hated it. And then for some reason it clicked this year. And I'm actually super freaking pumped because like non-shameless plug here, our new, like we're rolling out a little bit different of our consulting program and we are bringing people in person.

 

and I'm super jazzed if you're interested and you want to come like mastermind with doctor to our brilliant and it's a leadership. it's you and your OM and then we actually help take it back to your team for you. So like still doing all the pieces. We focus in on your business for a nice retreat time. And then we're also going to work with you quarterly. Plus you still have your customized calls. Like it's like 99 % Dental A Team. We're just now bringing you guys in person to mastermind together and with us. And like the fun, exciting part of it is

 

I actually am so excited because I am so passionate about life and dentistry. Like I realized life is my passion, dentistry is my platform. And so how can I help more dentists and more people have more time in their lives, but do it in the way that is fun? And so part of Tony's thing that we're actually going to incorporate like styles of Tony, but made Kiera's way and then tied into dentistry for your practice is Tony had us go through and actually map out like the categories of our life. And I'm so pumped because I'm going to help dentists do this again.

 

like taking from Tony Robbins and then adapted to Kiera's way of how I want to do it. But it was so magical because Dana, I actually built a category of fun because I realized I never did fun and I didn't actually like schedule fun. And so every week when I'm looking at my week, I look for like, where am I connected to Jason? What am I doing for the business? What am I doing for like, and I call our house like our Oasis, there's also power and language. So like, it's not just Jason, it's like my forever love story with Jason and then

 

fun. Like I wrote like life is meant to be fun and playful and like have the sprinkles and the confettis. And so every week as I've been doing this for the last couple of months, prepping and preparing and like fine tuning how I want to do it with our doctors. So don't worry, like it will be so much business. But if you don't have the life that's fun and fulfilling for you, we missed the mark in my opinion, which is why I'm so excited. And if you're interested and you want to be a part of our inaugural like beta group with us, like please join us. It's gonna be freaking magic. But like

 

Kiera Dent (12:19.512)

It's been awesome Dana because I feel my life is more balanced and I hate the word balanced because work and fun are not equal. Like they're not, but they feel balanced. And I feel like every week I look forward to like, what is my fun? And if it's not in my calendar, I'm like, well shoot, I need to have more fun. And it is the same thing of like, can I delegate these things to Jason or someone else? So that way we can have more time. You can look for like different apps or using people are like, hey, we're doing all these tasks. Could we?

 

Could we hire a nanny for this or could we hire like this summer I hired a lawn care company and I thought it was so dumb, but Jason did so many projects that he's never done because we didn't have to mow the lawn. And it's just like a little test that I tried to do. We've since gotten rid of them and he's back to mowing the lawn. But the idea is like we're building our lives and having that fun element in there, not just doing our work and like the drudgery day in day out. So to me, it felt like much more intentional with our time.

 

than just being on autopilot, which is what I'm so excited about. Like, yes, of course, it's 90 % business, but if I miss the mark of your life being what you want it to be, I feel like we've failed. So that's actually what I'm so excited about. And if that jazzes you reach out, hello at thedeadlyteam.com. I can't tell you how excited I am. This has been a project in the making for years and it's coming to life March, 2025. So get ready, reach out. And even if it's fine, like it's too late, we have multiples throughout the year. So like, don't even panic. You'll be able to be a part of it, but

 

And it's still everything Dental A Team is offered with team integration and doctor integration and practice. But like, how can I help people have more fun and have a life that's more purposeful and meaningful is what just lights my fire Dana. And I think that that's the whole premise of this book.

 

Dana (13:56.172)

Yeah. Yeah. And, and I think it's just like, understanding what building in fun gets you because like, when I have fun, I am definitely more creative. I am definitely able to focus, right? Because I had an output of energy somewhere else. And I can definitely focus. It does help fight burnout, right? Which we always fear for teams is are they going to get burnt out? And I think that when there's fun built in, it helps fight those things off. It helps fight off stress. When you build those things in and, and

 

Yeah, I think that that's, you're right. Work and fun never are necessarily balanced, but they definitely, fun can help work not feel so overwhelming.

 

Kiera Dent (14:38.145)

couldn't agree with you more. And I love that you brought up the point about burnout because like, everybody's looking for the master like bullet of how do we avoid burnout? And I'm like, I think it's just having more fun in life. Like, can we allow ourselves those simple pleasures in life? Think of how much time as children we spent playing and creative and shutting our minds off. And now it's like nose to the grindstone like robots. And it's been interesting because as I've, I've changed my schedule up, like I said, I'm testing on myself as the lab rat here to the not like

 

let's keep it more like PR. I'm testing on myself as the beta test here, and then we're gonna take it to other people. But what I found is, if I have this shut off time, and I have this time where I can be more creative and more fun, my ideas for the business come so much faster and easier, rather than trying to like plow through. And I realized there's like a different mode of creative and like operative. And there's, it's two different parts of our brain. And so it's like,

 

Dana (15:10.754)

video.

 

Kiera Dent (15:34.456)

to me, it kind of took away the guilt of like, go have fun because I actually, like simultaneously, I'm actually working on the business. Like whatever I'm doing here is actually there. So if I'm organizing my house, I'm organizing my business. If I'm having fun, I'm having fun in the business. Like they go energetically across the boards and like my best ideas have literally come when I'm hiking or when I'm on the water and I'm like, my gosh, that's a great idea. Or I'm on vacation because everything else is shut off. And I think that's the whole point is like giving our brains like through this fun, a time of shut off where it's just

 

and everything almost goes into like rest mode, even though we're actively having fun doing something and being playful and laughing.

 

So with that, I think for all of you, have more fun. How can your practices have more fun? How can your life have more fun? I think that it's just, if you don't enjoy the book, that's okay. I felt like it was a bit of a slower read, but I think the principle of how can we have more fun and how can we build more fun into our life. And if you need help like I did, be sure to join us. Platinum is coming your way and it's gonna be freaking fun. If you're like, I need systems and I need one-on-one help, great, we've got that for you too.

 

Obviously we do systems and whatnot within Platinum, but it's really about how can we create your life and have your practices there. It's just gonna be magic. So reach out, join us. Hello at thedeadlineteam.com. Dana, thanks for podcasting on having some more fun with me.

 

Dana (16:52.324)

Yeah, absolutely, anytime.

 

Kiera Dent (16:54.696)

I loved it. And for those of you who are on our book club with us, next month we are going to have Deep Who Not How, The Formula To Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan. I'm obsessed with Dan Sullivan. Like I love Dan Sullivan so much. I literally met Dan Sullivan at a conference and I like geeked out and was just like, my gosh, I need to talk to you. Like literally has changed my life and...

 

Now you guys can have who, not how, which I think is a really awesome one, especially with hiring and all the different pieces, like who do we need, not how do we always do this and rely on ourselves. So get ready for that. Dana, thanks for being on the pod with me today. Of course, and for all of you listening, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

 

Dana (17:32.578)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Kiera speaks with Drs. Nick and Whitney Forsythe about their journey of being married and buying (then growing) a dental practice, and where they are now. Points include not letting work ruin a personal life, laying the groundwork for a good reputation, managing schedules, and more.

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Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:00.634)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so giddy. I had this grandiose idea that I wanted to start bringing on some of my favorite people, my favorite doctors, and I could not be more excited to bring on these two doctors, Dr. Nick and Dr. Whitney. Our story goes so far back. I actually knew both of these two in dental school. I watched them fall in love, get married, have a baby, like all the things. They have two babies. They've got their practice and I just thought it'd be really fun for them to come on.

 

because I think they have a really magical story of their practice and their practice journey and the things that we've gone on. So Nick and Whitney, welcome to the show. Two of my faves. How are you today? So good. for having us. Of course. It's so fun because we talk every single month and you guys are for years. Like how many years? About five, six years we've been doing this and you guys are my 6 a.m. call. We have had that call for years. And to just see where you're at now just makes me so happy.

 

when I don't have my 6 a.m. call with you and I start calls, I'm like, well, my day started funny because it's all good. But it's been so fun over the years. We've just done a lot of fun things. And so I think you guys just have a very fun, like practice journey that you've been on. And I think like, let's just share some of the things as much as you guys want to. But really, I mean, I think you guys need to just share how you fell in love in dental school. Like who saw each other first? Because I don't even know this, Whitney, you were a year ahead of Nick.

 

And it's just been fun for me to watch you like in the tooth lunch. Like I was the lunch lady. I just watched everybody fall in love and you guys were the cutest couple. Like who noticed who first? How did you guys actually meet? I need to know that. I was the cougar. It was just welcome week when they had all those like freshmen events. And then I was like, you're together so much too, that like everyone's kind of like, man, like you guys should meet up. And we, I got her number after a test, like a basic test.

 

test no makeup. I remember walking you know we'd walk back and forth to the class and seeing you and you're like my gosh you guys you saw the progression.

 

The Dental A Team (02:16.637)

Whitney was a year ahead of Nick and it was just fun to watch like because Whitney you're a little more reserved which I'm shocked and so happy that you are on the podcast. Nick is the social butterfly in the relationship but still like you've got your reservations and whatnot but I was like watching Whitney like fall in love Nick was so cute and I just loved watching both of you and two of you. You two are I mean I think everybody finds their perfect match but you two are just like such an incredible couple and then I remember Nick you reached out to me you know so we're thinking about buying a practice Kiera what do you think and I was like

 

Well, I think you guys should do it. And then lo and behold, move back up to Washington. You got your practice there. You bought a fee for service practice. I was scared out of my mind and I'm like, whoo fee for service practice. Everyone's kind of scared. Yeah, we get checks. would definitely say, I mean, you have to go with what you feel and you helped us look, we looked for.

 

I was still in school. think we looked for two years. think our main issue was just finding a big enough practice or at least that we can grow into for both of the banks. And I think a lot of people were checking us on like, it's not going to be enough or there's a lot of things. we found, you know, after a while, I think if you look at enough deals, you finally get a sense of what feels good. And it did feel good. And we...

 

Yeah, I mean, at the end, even at the final hour, people were still kind of like, should you do this? it worked out really well. You were with us every step. I mean, it's been an honor and it's been fun. And I just thought like, it's fun to share stories because I mean, even on a coaching call we had the other morning, it wasn't planned. And I didn't even realize we had the podcast coming up when we kind of went like on a little memory lane journey, which is what spurred the idea for this podcast of like,

 

what you've been through to get here. And I mean, for full transparency, it was two doctors and a four-op practice that was fee for service. To say I was a little nervous is an understatement. was like, you guys, two doctors, like you're going to cannibalize this one practice. And like, it's okay. We'll just send one of you off to be an associate. like four new patients a month. Yeah. low new patients, but he had good will in the community. He was ramping down. I think we,

 

The Dental A Team (04:38.605)

We maxed out his current impatience to begin with. We came in, we had to be soft changes, I think we called it with you, because we had, I think, four or five 30-year vets in the practice that stayed with us all the way, I mean, until recently, so just retired. But we, our idea, you know, we, with kids, we swapped off days. We didn't work all the time. It was just too much.

 

But we kind of cleared the patient base and the team was so much on our side. It was so helpful. We always in the background, I knew we needed more rooms. had someone look at the building. We bought the building as well, which I'm so glad we did. They kind of said, we think you can get two or three more. And we were like, okay, hopefully we'll cross that when we get there. And then we, you know,

 

Probably every year we've talked about this every year. Okay. When's the remodel build out more rooms going to happen? 2020 happens. So that occurred. And then finally last year we got serious about it and really looked at the numbers and yeah, it was a lot. Our accountant once again was like, are you sure? This is how.

 

Talking with you and really finding like the break even point. we do this build out, what do we have to produce monthly? Is that a realistic thing? And I think that's what helped me throughout this whole process that I'm just like more analytical and I need to see the numbers before I go forward. We bought the practice for 650 was doing eight 50 maybe we.

 

You know, grew, had to replace everything, not visual, I would say. So a lot of my men, but I think we, we were starting to peak at like 1.6 and you know, definitely making huge jumps, but it was peaking all at the right time. We started, it took us a good year to prep for the build-out. So we're planning a full remodel, adding three chairs.

 

The Dental A Team (06:52.301)

One more hygienist. Another hygienist. we started to, we were just talking about this. We started to pre-ramp up everything. It all hit, you know, we had all of a gone from four new patients a month to 50 new patients a month. We do accept Delta Premier, but that was it. So it was a good amount. We felt like we were also on pace. All of sudden we couldn't fit in anybody else and we needed it.

 

And so it kind of turned at just the right moment. And it really, I think all the pre-work with you, especially, know, you, Whitney and you are so much better than me at that. I'm like, of like, it will work out maybe. Whitney definitely, you and Whitney had the numbers, you had the forms for her and she had filled them out and you guys had talked like exactly how much we needed to produce. What was the bottom, you know, if things went.

 

the worst it could go. So that like really calmed us. I mean, like, we're like, okay, here's the exact numbers, the exact patients. that was the exact employees. mean, we went from five employees to now like we have 15. it's like, when do you hire them? You know, we kind of, over staff in the beginning, for sure. Yeah. The biggest thing we could have done is over staffing for a moment so that you're ready and everyone's trained. were worried about.

 

training and, yeah, all of the assistants are just super independent now, which was a big thing with more ops. And I remember talking to you, you gave us goals the year before, like, okay, here's where your assistants need to be. Here's how many you should have. So we had like really checked those boxes and it was like, gosh, I'm so glad we did that. Cause it's just a lot. It's a lot going on. It really is. And something like.

 

I just am so proud of both of you. And I love you guys are what five, six years into your practice ownership and you're still in love because I remember when we very first started, I was like, we have to keep you guys also happily married. I have very vested interest in you, but like your practice needs you too as well. And so I think that's been something really lovely to watch both of you do as well. Like Nick, you really come into your role. Like you're really incredible with the team and Whitney's great with the team. She's also really good with numbers. And so we've kind of divided like.

 

The Dental A Team (09:14.325)

Nick, take these areas, Whitney, you take these areas. But something I think is so paramount to note, I wanted you guys to get more ops sooner. Do remember? Like it was every all the time from like two doctors for ops. I don't know how this is going to work out. And you were also super adamant with me of like we're not working Fridays. Like you had a baby pretty soon into practice ownership. Then you had a second baby. And something that I just want to highlight that I think you guys have done exceptionally well is you work really, really well together as a team. So that's one thing to highlight.

 

Two, I feel like actually, like you said, Nick, the tipping point was perfect. Like we knew we wanted to expand to more ops, but I think actually like hindsight's 2020, which we're looking at today. I actually think you guys did really well because we maximize every like possible thing we could do other than adding Fridays or another associate. were adding Fridays. Like we were having to do it. Yeah. Cause it was just too, we were almost losing patients because we were too far up of doubt.

 

And that was, so we were hitting and you told us that we were going to hit that point. Right. Like we're sure. Okay. So if we get to this, this is what we're going to do. And it was always like a short-term plan. So we'll do this just for a little while. but I also think it was smart. mean, could you imagine if we would have added in all these ops and you had four new patients a month? Like that would have been. Like we would have made it work, but it wouldn't have been as smart. And so I think you guys have just really played your cards right. And, I remember.

 

Gosh, I think it was last year I was in your practice and we mapped out your block schedule. And I'm like, all right guys, this is what you'll be producing. And I remember taking it to you, you were both producing. I talked to you at the end of the day and you both laughed at me and you're like, there's no way, Kiera. Like that's ridiculous. And now to see all the construction go through, but Whitney and Nick, you're right. Like we literally built the plans of.

 

low end, high end. And I think that that has actually served you really well. We know the numbers, we know the BAMs, we know where you need to be. You guys are producing. Something I've noticed that I think you guys have done ridiculously well is you haven't allowed the practice to destroy your marriage or your life. Like you guys are parents. You really have prioritized being parents. Like it's so cute to see you as parents. You also prioritize your marriage. You also have friends. Like Nick, I know your family's close by.

 

The Dental A Team (11:30.017)

How have you guys done that successfully? Because your practice has grown. It's blossomed. Like we just went down memory lane and going from 650 to where you are today is just, I think it's surpassed all of our wildest dreams. I knew you guys would do it, but how have you guys been able to like keep that balance? Cause I think so many people want your life, but they don't know how to do it. I think you guys have just done it really well. So any thoughts? I'm genuinely curious. I don't know the answer. So kind of give me some feedback on that. That's so nice of you. Yeah. We, we definitely.

 

We call you our marriage counselor as well as our business coach and our consultant. it's nice to be so intentional about it. I think it forces us. It doesn't sound romantic, but like we schedule one date a month at least. mean, having a nanny helps. She watches the kids a couple of days a week and now we schedule her out.

 

You know, we also use Nick's parents a lot and Nick's family. So it's just like, have to schedule it and it sounds silly, but that's what we've done. And then just, our goal every year we like, okay, we want to take one vacation a quarter. I think that's been really important, even if it's just a long weekend, a week here, long weekend, next quarter, it's just, yeah, being super intentional about it. And otherwise you do burnout. For sure.

 

And it does get busy and I feel like the first year we didn't have that figured out. we basically, mean, especially without kids, this was our life. This was our baby. so putting the work in front end, guess, paid off. But yeah. And keeping it. Yeah. At our meetings, we do spend time. Like you told us we plan out our personal and our business. So we keep it very like we have to plan it out. And if we do it, it.

 

I mean, we do appreciate it, especially like that one trip a quarter or just something short, just to like take your mind off of it. Cause especially husband and wife, mean, it's all we talk about. It's all we talk about. It's really hard. we have to be like, okay, we're not going to talk about it. We're to do something else. Yeah. Which I think is just awesome. And it is something that I love and you guys do it so well is we do plan your personal life and your professional life. And then we check in on it. I mean, I love this year's scorecard. It's like, did you take your one trip for this quarter? Because I'm,

 

The Dental A Team (13:49.709)

Like, why do we not track our personal lives like we do our business life? And so I just think it's been fun to watch you evolve. And Whitney, think something that you just did so beautifully was you really wanted to be a mom and a dentist. And so I thought it was fun where we brainstormed through it and you're like, this is how many days I want to work. And we started low end and high end. Like, what do we have? But we never, I thought we did a really good job of not putting pressure on you to, have to work this many days to produce. We built the practice.

 

with the expansion to be able to sustain whether you wanted to come back full time, whether you want to come back part time, but we did it on like lowest amount of hours. And we knew Nick could do that. And I think that that was just something I don't know how was that for you as a mom? Like maybe you can speak to that. I mean, it did come with guilt. That was so such a huge decision. Like I want this practice to thrive, but I also want to be a mom. So finding that balance. mean, I don't

 

definitely don't have it all figured out, that's for sure. But setting boundaries I think is important. Like, okay, I will work two to two and a half days and that's it. We have to make it work or we'll find other options. Like I'm pretty set in my ways about that because I don't want to get like, they're only little ones. So I don't want to give that up. And it's hard as a couple.

 

to, you know, if there's a hygienist down or if someone's down, it's hard not to sub in. Cause it's like, we're, we have to really, we have to set rules. we, we will sub in and help, but we have to go, okay, like let's treat this like we're, you know, like we can't just to like make family a priority, which is good. I think that's so hard though. Like, how do you guys do it? Is it just like, we hold each other accountable because you are dentists. There's two of you, which actually I love.

 

know, like, Nick's sick, Whitney can cover and if Whitney's sick, Nick can cover and when Whitney's out on maternity leave, like Nick can be there and we can schedule your lives that way but like how do you hold those boundaries strong? II don't know and maybe it's just you guys have decided that family life is the most important thing for you and that's going to be our number one motive because I think it's so easy to slip and be like, well, we'll just cover here. We'll just do this. Like, do have any tips on that because I think that might be a secret sauce to your success. You know what?

 

The Dental A Team (16:05.741)

Looking at the numbers like if I'm sub in for hygiene I say You know how much am I gonna lose today? Can we fit these people in here and there like is it worth my time and worth? truly losing time with my kids for a thousand dollars like just breaking it down or you know, whatever the goal of twenty three hundred dollars like

 

Can I make that up in a clear letter case? Yes, I could. it's like just, yeah, priorities, I guess. Yeah. And there, mean, for sure for Whitney Moore, I mean, there's stress and guilt, tears, you know, I mean, it's just, we really have to communicate. I mean, that's the biggest thing. I think that's the biggest thing between us. It forces us as business owners when we're having our meetings, we have to talk about it. And it's almost like you're, you're pushed.

 

further as a couple because you just have to have these conversations like, it, know, do you want to do it? And we have to feel comfortable like just saying no, or, you know, kind of having those tougher talks with each other so that we can, we have to be on the same team, you know, as much as possible. I think that that's something also that I love watching you too, is you're very supportive of each other. And it's been that way all the time. And like, you'll kind of have like the little.

 

Like we know each other's pieces. Like Whitney's going to freak out about numbers and Nick's going to take a longer time to write notes. Like we just know it. And so we build things and we'll like, we'll have some comedy around it. But I think you two are truly on each other's is no competition. Like his wins are totally my wins and vice versa. That's yeah. I love that. We definitely know like, I have a lot, we know each other's like pitfalls. know we're going to fall short and it's always like.

 

But both of us are motivated on our own. It's not like someone's intentionally doing something. We're really not competitive with each other. Like one of us, like during the day we will swap schedules. I think that's been the biggest thing too for the build out is separating our own specialties. Like he does a lot of surgery. He did the year long residency and more sleep and clear liners. So it's like finding those niches as well. I think, you know, there are

 

The Dental A Team (18:23.117)

a lot of your people that you work with, know there's bigger clinics and we're pretty small time compared to a lot of people, we getting those specialty sections down, getting the systems down, and not like we have perfect systems, but like really pushing clear liners early, just like not with the patients, but just bringing it up and then getting that rotation down so we can bring like a really nice.

 

And then it feels good to the patients and it's a clean system. the, you're delivering like a high end, you know, just going through those, cause there's, you're going to make mistakes. And same thing with me. did that the Alabama implant education residency, and that was a big decision for us. Cause I had to be gone a lot, but getting it, getting the systems in order to be able to like do an implant for somebody and know for a fact, like.

 

They're going to love it. They're not going to be in pain. They're going to tell their friends. And then by the time we built out, were ready to expand. weren't like fumble. mean, of course there's always a little fumbles, but we weren't fumbling as much. We had already gone through the trials. Yeah. For sure. Not giving up because it's easy to be like, you have one bad case. And you're like, I'm never extracting two.

 

which I think is amazing. And I really have watched you guys both support and Whitney when you said like his wins are my wins. I know Nick, like when Whitney has her wins. And something I do think has also been very intentionally planned throughout your guys's career is making sure that I think sometimes, especially in like a husband, wife duo or pieces, like, well, Nick is the quote unquote higher producers. So we're just going to put all the pieces and like Whitney, you're going to take the other piece. But we like.

 

I knew you guys knew that's never gonna make for you to be happy. And so it was like Whitney, we've got to also build something where you're excited about it. So the clear liners and the sleep and something where you're passionate. We've even talked about sending you to go do implants too at some point when the babies get a little older, if that's what you want to do, but like giving both of you the edge and the niche. But then like you said, it's here to win for both. And so it's like, if I can help Nick out, I'll do this. And if he can help me out, think Whitney, I know you like definitely like helped with like notes or different things like I'll help here and Nick will help here.

 

The Dental A Team (20:37.857)

I just think it's been incredible because I think so many couples can't do that. And so I think you guys have prioritized your marriage, your babies, your life over the practice. And in doing so, you come to the table every time as more complete. I don't know how to explain that better than that. Like, I think you take care of yourselves first. Like you put the oxygen mask on yourself, you take care of each other, and then you come to the practice and you take care of your team, but you're intentional and you follow through. So I was curious. I obviously have my own opinions of what's made you guys successful, but if you were giving any tips to offices,

 

even if it's husband wife duos or people that are expanding, what are any of the tips of things? Like you said, I think we were smart to bulk you guys, especially where you're in a small town. We just started hiring. We're like, well, we'll just take them. We'll make the numbers work. But were there any other things that you guys feel have been maybe things that have set you apart? I think we've listed off a few like the implant course, Whitney having her own specialty, being intentional with the time your kids are there, but anything you guys feel that would be tips for couples or people doing an expansion.

 

that you feel really helped. Because honestly, I know you say I've got bigger practices, but I don't care about the over the top line. I care about profitability. I care about happiness. And honestly, you guys are huge players in that arena. And you've done it really, really well. So all the tips are here. Yeah. And you do put up big numbers. So let's just like, I think the only other thing we didn't touch on is I'm glad we did wait a little bit to expand until we built our reputation.

 

built those Google reviews. And now it's like we get so many referrals, that's our main source, referrals is our main source. So building upon that was important and really having an understanding of like we live in a small town. where our other office is going, a lot of people, it kind of was a happy coincidence. A lot of people dropped Delta, which is the only one we have and or accept.

 

It's funny. mean, you really have to be, I think we were talking to just ready for opportunities. Same, same like, with, with getting our systems down, we were kind of like ready to expand our, our reputation. Initially, that was like our first thing, just like pump reviews, get the talent. I said, we did a lot of like town things, especially before kids. have more time. go around, but then, you know, a couple of offices went. Stop.

 

The Dental A Team (23:01.261)

changed hands and didn't do very well. And we were all of a sudden like in a great position to take all those patients. And I feel like we were just always all of we had a few things fall in our lap that we were prepared for. And we, know, if we wouldn't have, I think, put the front end work in, it would have been tough to take advantage. Totally. Yeah. I think like that's actually something I had not pinpointed. So I'm glad you both talked about it. I think you do a really good job of

 

looking down the line and also planning for opportunities. So like the expansion, the new patients, the small town, like, and I think you guys both do a really good job. Nick, I know this is your sweet spot, but it's like when there's, I mean, you guys picked up someone from a car accident you were in, like such a random experience, but like, I think a lot of offices like, no, we're not ready for that financially. But you guys are like, nope, we know we're going to need this. So let's hire this person and we'll figure it out. We know we need hygienists, so let's bring them in.

 

We know we're going to be expanding. So let's get those systems in place. We know we're going to need to increase our production and like offer a bigger skill set. So like Nick, you go and get implants, Whitney, you clear liners and sleep. We are training the team to be able to do it. Like you literally took your front office person. You knew you'd need a nanny and she then transferred into being a nanny. So we didn't lose someone you already trusted. We brought someone else in. Like literally you guys are constantly looking for those opportunities, but not just looking, but seizing on them. And like, how do you get the guts to do that? Cause I mean,

 

I know the one you currently are on, buying the property behind your space. That was freaky, but so brilliant. You're going to have to expand. You're in small town. You're going to have to expand. like, Nick, just, you went, you talked to someone and now lo and behold, you guys purchased the land behind. Like, how do you- I don't have my guts to Nick. I don't rain on his grave. I think if I didn't have Whitney, I would probably be bankrupt already.

 

Yeah, we're varying. I'm always trying to buy stuff. It's going to make us better. Shiny object syndrome for sure. I think a big thing that you're talking about too, we kept the employees here. We tried to be as soft. We have to change some things, but we tried to be as soft as we could and having them on our side was huge. And then we build this reputation all of a sudden of being like great people to work for.

 

The Dental A Team (25:26.603)

which so is the person that we bought from. And so then all of sudden you get people, you know, of course you always have, have to do trial and error with some employees, but we've like got this great team and everyone's very supportive and we really invest in someone when we hire them. Like I will, I do some of the HR, but we will like train and train, we'll come in extra, like we will, you know, if your kid's sick.

 

I'll help you. know, we really try to make sure like our team feels really good. We try to like bonus them and do, and that has been one of our biggest things because now all of a sudden I don't do, there's like, they're taking over a lot of the stuff and it's really cool to see all all of we have to have team leads and it has made our lives so much better because also we don't have to. That's helped the balance as well.

 

Big time, yeah. We don't have to worry as much. were so hands-on. The bottleneck. Almost too, I mean, for sure too much. And we've finally been able to step back and just like so proud of our, we've always been proud of our team, but now it's like, I feel like we've got such a good culture going and it feels really good every day. Everyone's laughing and I mean, patients love that too. They pick up on it. Yeah. And I think that's something I've watched you guys do. You really,

 

So many of our calls, like of course we're always talking numbers. we're looking at the metrics, but like so many of the conversations are around the team. Like how do we have the conversation? And I mean, when you say 30 year vets, that was also another worry of like, all right. So we're taking on a practice of four operatories, two doctors and 30 year veterans. And how do we like make sure that we sustain that? But I really just love that you guys, you truly have love for your team. have love and loyalty and you want them to succeed and like.

 

It's been amazing. I think there were things when I was like, I don't think I would do that. And you guys are like, nope, this is what we want to do. And you've set the stage of this is how we want to operate our team. I think it's really paid undue dividends for you. just took a long time to get there. So what I'm trying to point out is you have done a lot of freaking groundwork and foundational work and building the reputation and building the reputation in the community, building the reputation with the teams, treating the team really, really well, looking for the opportunities.

 

The Dental A Team (27:49.035)

to now, like I'm not going to say it's easy going and of course you'll always have your pieces, but like there is more smooth flow than there was when you very first started. And like maybe you have any other tips of how you have such a good culture with your team. Like you guys are wicked loyal. I'm like, if you, Nick and Whitney hire you, like they'll be with you until you have grand babies. Like you'll be with them forever. What is it that you guys do? Because some people are like, no, they're hard. We need to fire them. And we have changed out some team members in the time of knowing you. But what do you guys do that you feel?

 

sets you apart to have that team that's got such a good reputation in the community. think we try, just like we do with each other, we try to get everyone's back as much as possible. we, you it's hard to say because you can't be like, so, you know, so Lucy goosey, but we really will, like, we will do anything for the team. Like it is so worth it. mean, we want it to be a positive experience.

 

flexible or super flexible. we will, we can, I will make whatever work. will hire extra people. Like we have an extra assistant that helps with hygiene. We got to do assistant hygiene, but we'll just like have a, just a fully trained assistant just to always, especially when we're having, it has changed our hygienist attitude in this. They talk in the town. It's such a small town and all of a sudden we're like getting more hygienist.

 

hey, can we come work for you in a time where it's so hard to get hygienists? know, we've got, we're just so lucky. Do you remember when you sent me the ad of how much your hygienists were going for in your area? Do you remember that? I think it was like 150 bucks an hour. Like I'm not making this up. Literally on Indeed. And to hear in an area where people are paying $150 for a hygienist, you and I both laughed and I was like, just hire a dentist. We'll like mess with you. But to hear that.

 

You guys are just doing some really incredible things that are different. Like you do train up your assistants and you want to make sure they're taken care of. But on the flip side, you have high accountability. Like Whitney, your forms are always filled in and you guys follow through on what you say you're going to do. And if we talk about meetings, you're going to execute with them. And so it's this interesting dynamic of the love and the accountability. And I think people don't realize that you can have both. And I think you guys are a really beautiful example of that. Yeah. Thank you. Of course. Of course.

 

The Dental A Team (30:12.119)

Well, I just wanted to showcase you. think so many people need to hear of where you started, that it is possible to have this balance. I mean, you work four days. Whitney, you're working what? Two days? Two and Two and a half. Yeah. Two and a half. You're a mom. You have a nanny. You get things done. You guys have this dynamic, this amazing dynamic. And what's something I am so proud of you is you are consistent. Like you will always fill out your agendas for our meetings. You will follow through on the action items that you need to do. And I just say mad kudos. Nick looks at Whitney. I know what that look was.

 

someone will. But I also think that that's like amazing. Nick, both like you and I both know Whitney's gonna execute on that. I give her way more action items than I give you. I say some things. I also know that you're gonna go in you're gonna produce and you're also gonna have like some of the hard conversations Whitney and I both don't want to do that. And you're like, Yep, I'll go handle that. That's where he thrives. You thrive there, Nick. And so

 

What I love is you guys have really looked at each other's strengths and weaknesses. You really helped each other out. And it's like, I'm going to pick up for you versus blaming you. And I think you do that for your team. And I think that's the culture that spread throughout. just like, like all the heart eyes and just so I just am grateful to showcase a couple that has flourished in a town where you were getting four patients, four operatories, a husband, wife duo, they've had two babies.

 

and you're able to have the life you want, the practice you want, the team you want. But it also came with some hard work and opportunities that you've taken as well. I mean, shoot, Whitney, some of the calls we get on, it's like, well, let's just go to the spreadsheets. Like, let's figure out the numbers, let's figure it out. But you're constantly observant, you're constantly willing to push the envelope. You guys will try anything. The number of things we tried for new patients is impressive. And every time we got one more new patient, we would celebrate it.

 

But thank you guys for just sharing your stories. And I'm going to open it up. Any last things you want to share, say, if not, we'll wrap up. But just really appreciative of both of you. So any last thoughts you've got? my god, we appreciate you. I can't believe it's been five, six years now. And honestly, your call.

 

The Dental A Team (32:18.445)

We always have something to talk about. You can get complacent and you're like, man, what am going to talk to Kiera about? Like, I don't have anything. And then there's always something that you just light our fire every other Tuesday at 6 a.m. I think it like, it's very easy. We get each other. We both get worked up about different things and you're very good at like, you're our sounding board. We're sounding board and we each like the numbers calm Whitney down and kind of talking things out.

 

For me, it's just so helpful. that's been great. It's great. to know without you. Well, and I just appreciate, like, you're the people I love to work with because I get so giddy to watch great people flourish, succeed, and have the lives they want. And I agree. I look forward to my calls with you every morning, like every other Tuesday, 6 a.m. I know you're on there. And I think it is something fun. And I appreciate you trusting me to light the fire, to paint the vision, say, no, no, no, we're not getting complacent. Like, where are we headed next?

 

and then we start building towards that. So thank you for being on the podcast with me. Thanks for being in my life. And it's fun to watch your journey and your story go from meeting in dental school to now having this incredible life that you get to share just makes me so happy for both of you. Thank you guys. And for all of you listening, I want you to have the success stories of Nick and Whitney. And so reach out anytime. [email protected], but truly.

 

Take the nuggets and the gems you just heard from this dynamic couple, this incredible duo who's built this amazing practice in life and implement it in your own lives. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Did you know? Practices working with the Dental A-Team tend to see a 10 to 30% increase in revenue and at least a 5 to 10% decrease in overhead. In this episode, Kiera talks about key ways hiring a consultant for your practice will boost your success.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:01.038)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today I am so excited because as things are coming to a wrap up at the end of the year, I know a lot of you are possibly talking to your CPAs, financial advisors, looking for all those different areas where you're possibly like, gosh, like maybe your practice is freaking thriving and you're looking for, it's end of year. What can I do? How can I maximize my practice? What are some options? Or maybe you're on the other end where you're like, gosh, 2024 was such a hard year for me. And so just wanted to pop on and let you know.

 

three ways that a consultant can help your practice either thrive or come back from surviving into thriving. Because oftentimes we don't realize that consulting can actually propel our practices forward. It's also a complete tax write-off for most practices, which is great if you're thriving and you need to find ways to spend cash and be able to get through the end of the year. Consulting is actually a great option that a lot of offices do, whether it's a pay-in-full option or whether it's monthly payments or even some offices will pay 50 % end of year.

 

and then 50 % throughout the rest of the year. So a lot of great options, but the reality is that I love about consulting is I like to invest in things that move me forward. So at the end of most years, I'm looking for what's an area or a gap that I have in my business, whether that's in my marketing department or my sales department or my dentist, like what dentists things can we bring to the practice? But every single thing that I'm adding into my practice, I want to make sure.

 

is going to give me an ROI. So an ROI is a return on investment and I don't like to buy things that are just cash. So looking at like, if we were for example, to say buy a car, well, what's the ROI that that's gonna bring and bring money into my practice? Probably nothing. In Dental A Team, our clients tend to see a 10 to 30 % increase in revenue and at least a five to 10 % decrease in overhead. Now it is a two way street. We can give every tool and resource but if clients don't execute,

 

then they're obviously not gonna see the same results. However, clients who do see the, who do implement and do receive the results, they actually see incredible value. So we have offices like this year that have added 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 250,000, multiple millions to their schedules by working with us. We have other offices that have decreased their overhead. I had one office at the beginning of the year start out at 75 % overhead and they are now down to 53 % overhead with intentionality.

 

Kiera Dent (02:20.43)

leadership put into place where their team is actually looking at the numbers and viewing the practice in a way of as a business, not necessarily just as a practice. And so being able to find something where if we spend, say 20,000, can they give me at least 20,000 back and or more? So 40,000, 50,000, can I get a return on my investment is a really great thing to look.

 

Other examples are like CBCT scans. Like, can you add that in and how many CBCTs could we do and give better patient care with purchasing these items? Maybe looking for an implant course that we could attend. Maybe looking for CE, but really doing something that's for our team and for every person on our practice to elevate. And that's actually something I love about Dental A Team is we aren't just focused on the doctors. I think going to all these events as business owners,

 

I found that the hardest thing for me is when I show up to an event and then I have to come home and bring it back to my team. And it's like, I'm all ramped up and amped up, but the team didn't necessarily get the same excitement that I did. The team wasn't in on all those meetings and different pieces with me. And so therefore I feel like, gosh, like this is sometimes hard to get the buy-in. And so when we built Denali team, I said, hey, what we're actually gonna do is we're gonna build a company where we coach the doctors and we coach the team together.

 

So doctors, we hear your plan of your vision. We help you build that vision. And then team members, help you implement and execute and build leadership teams and train your team on the billing and the tactical and all the systems. But we're helping you build the business, the practice of your dreams to be able to give the patient care and the team experience that you desire. And so thinking of those things, and that's kind of where I just wanted to pop in of like, whether your practice is thriving and you're like, Hey, what it's going to take us to the next level. I might consider consulting as an option.

 

Or if you're like, gosh, you know, could this CE course move us forward? Possibly. But like, I have offices that go to CE courses, like sleep. How do get your team bought into that? How do you like, and how do we know the CE to implement or not implement? Sometimes having a consultant or a coach can help actually get you more revenue, more value, more buy-in because they're helping guide and coach the team. And Denali team truly is experts at this. And so it's something really fun. So I just wanted to kind of give like some areas where

 

Kiera Dent (04:35.488)

If you're looking for that way to get some money off of your books, consider consulting, consider something that's gonna move you forward. Or whether you're looking for like, gosh, this year was really, really hard for me, we need to figure out those gaps. Either end of that spectrum, I do believe that consultants can help. And when you're looking for a consultant, some great things to look for are number one, has that consultant or consulting company been there, done that and done that successfully in your situation? Have they coached and consulted offices like yours? Do they have testimonials of offices like you?

 

Do they know where you want to go and do they have the path that they can show you of where you want to go? So if you're looking for, want to sell to a DSO in the next five years, do they know how to do that and have they helped other clients successfully? If you're like, nope, I want to be in my practice for the next 20 years and I want to have a legacy practice. Have they done that for other people? If you're wanting to expand and buy multi-practices, have they done that? If you're wanting to get your office manager to be doing all the pieces, have they done that? If you're wanting to add in a leadership team so that way everything's not on your shoulders,

 

that consultant done that and done that successfully? Have they been in your shoes? And for me, I like it when they'll like selfishly as a business owner, I'm busy. The last thing I want to do is have to go and like learn from my consultant and then go implement it with my team. I really love to have a consultant who teaches me and my team simultaneously. It feels like it allows me to like multiply and double myself rather than trying to do it myself because I feel like there's so much on owners. And so that's something that I just think is niche.

 

None of my coaches coach by team. And I really wish that they would because it'd be so much easier to have somebody else besides me coach and educate and get them excited rather than it all leaning on my shoulders. So when we built Dental A Team that was something I was adamant about of I want to make these dentists lives easier. want to make the team's lives easier. I want to be that bridge between doctor and team member and helping us all align and be on the same page. So as you're looking at it and just thinking that's how you're going to vet for a really good consultant.

 

Also look to see who is that consultant and do they align with where you want to go? Do they have the same principles, the same values? So for me, ours is we want to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And I don't believe that dentistry is what makes you your person. I believe it can be a great portion of your identity, but I believe that your life and your family and your hobbies and who you are as a person is the most important. So ours is the yes model. It's you as a person we focus on and what your life, your dream, your team, who you are as people.

 

Kiera Dent (06:59.874)

Then we focus on E for earnings and profitability and making sure that you're profitable as a company. And then S stands for systems and team development. Do we have the systems to run and we're not dependent upon team members so we teams can go on vacation, they can have fun. And as we grow and expand and, or if we lose team members or we need to hire new team members, we have a system in process where it's system dependent, not team dependent. I say it's system dependent, it's team implemented and adds the sprinkles and the sparkles with the team flair to it.

 

So we have tried and true systems that we're gonna then be able to go in. What are you looking for? Are you looking for someone who comes in and they are A to Z cookbook and they give you the systems that way? Or are you looking for someone who's going to be more collaborative with you and hear what you want and then be able to add in different pieces for it? What are you looking for and what are the results? And then do their results speak for themselves? Can they tell you consistently they hit this?

 

Do you want a doctor community? Do you want a team community? Do you want to go in person and go to events and masterminds? Or do you want to have it virtual? How do you want this to work out? And so really looking at those options are going to be pieces to look for. In Dental A Team we heard, we heard what you guys were saying where you said, we want in-person masterminds. We want to network with these other doctors. We want to learn. so come 2025.

 

Welcome, we are going to be meeting you all in person with an elite leadership retreat where it's doctors and leaders coming together. So doctors in their office manager, doctors in their associate partners, coming together and really masterminding on your life, on your practice and on your business. Having a great time where we actually like hot seat on your business and we work on your life and you workshop for a day and a half and meet incredible people. We also are working with your team simultaneously. So what you're learning.

 

In person, we're gonna be able to help take back to your team. So we still lift that training your team members for you, putting places, pieces into play. And we also have for newer practices that might need just like the foundations and building blocks of a business where we do it in a group setting where every single month there's a new system that you can implement while also having access to the consultants every single week. So different ways and different pieces and what that looks like for you as consulting.

 

Kiera Dent (09:02.422)

And then let's just think of like, what are some different ways that a practice like truly a consultant should and could help you go to thriving rather than just surviving. And some of the things is like, I think one of the greatest things we do is find the small little areas to make your life exponentially more efficient, whether that's from handoffs, collections, the way we set up our statements, the way we do our confirmations, the way we build our schedules, the way we do our handoffs, like those very small little pieces. People ask me all the time, Kiera, how are you able to like...

 

add 30,000 to a schedule in one day. And I'm like, honestly, it's from handoffs, morning huddles and collecting at the end of the day. Like that's all it is. It's nothing hard. It's nothing crazy. But when we get a whole team bought into this process and this system, then the system flows and moves. So it's very simple. So things that I think are super important is can we look and maximize your schedule for increased production? I love to do less work and get more gain. And so how can we work less and make more?

 

Like how can we do that and give better VIP patient care? And so I love helping people build out block schedules. Like I was talking to an office earlier and they said, Kiera, should we expand our practice? And I said, well, like, let's look at where you're at and are you maximizing all of what we already have or should we go and like spend more money on it? And so many people don't realize like what we already have, we could like wring it out, squeeze it out a little bit more and there's no extra cost to the practice, but there's actually little efficiencies that we can put into place.

 

One of my favorite examples is I walked into an office and they're like, Kiera, we know we need more space. We have no more space for patients in this practice. And we know we need to have a bigger building. Like we're already like, we've got land. We're already building the other building. Like that's our biggest problem. Within about 15 minutes of working with this office, I was able to find where they could add another operatory. They added another operatory and we were exponentially able to increase their practice, but they were so closed because they thought that there's no possible way for us to add.

 

anything else into this practice. And yet sometimes just having another set of eyes outside is able to help you see what truly is possible. And so that's something that I'm obsessed with that I love. We're able to add hundreds of thousands to this practice and serve more patients while their other building was being built. It made it a smoother transition as they moved into the next location. And really we ramped up their handoffs, their doctor exams, little small things, tracking our treatment so doctors know what they're diagnosing, tracking our case acceptance, looking to see are there little ways we can do it.

 

Kiera Dent (11:28.12)

have an office that we've added multi-millions to in the course of working with them. And everyone's like, how have you done it? And they said, we hired this coach. And this coach coaches all of our treatment coordinators. And our treatment coordinators then learn little ways to say things, different ways to present things. They're an incredible office at implementing and executing, but it's in these small, little verbiage tips that are able to help them. And so how can we maximize your practice for exponential growth, but do it in the easiest way? Let's not come in and change everything.

 

Let's look for the tiny little things. So number one that I feel like a consultant really can do of the three ways they can maximize and optimize your practice from thriving to thriving or surviving to thriving is one, maximizing your practice for optimal. Like I said, looking for those little spots where if we just do one or two little changes, a little verbiage change here, a little collection here, a little change in our scheduling and block scheduling, we really truly can actually make your practice so much more profitable. And something I'm very big on, one of our core values is ease.

 

How can we make this so easy for our practices that the team's excited to implement it, the office is excited, and it gets us the great result of helping more patients? So that would be number one of ways that I think a consultant truly can help you thrive in 2025. Number two, consultants are really able to take the numbers of a business and translate them into action to help your practice grow. So, so many dentists come to us and so many office managers come to us and they have no idea how to read a PNL.

 

They don't understand what KPI should be. They don't understand how to use the metrics, the numbers of the business as levers in the business of, okay, if we increase this, we can decrease this and we can actually get more of what we're looking for. They have no idea how to do it. And the honest reality is that's okay. You didn't go to dental school to learn business, but a consultant and a really educated consultant can actually help you translate those numbers into action. And so what I'm obsessed with doing is teaching our offices and our leadership teams.

 

Let's look at the numbers. Let's figure this out. What should our payroll be? What should our supplies be? What should our labs be? How can we make one or two changes? Do we need to increase our production? Do we need to increase our collections? Do we need to decrease our costs? What is it going to be? And then teaching the team, like the leadership team and our doctors to look at the numbers and say, I love numbers and numbers love me. Because when we can look at the numbers and get so obsessed and excited about these numbers of what's our overhead, what's our profitability.

 

Kiera Dent (13:47.456)

What are our metrics and how can we translate this into helping more patients? Teams then start to look at it and put the puzzle pieces together. For me, numbers are just puzzle pieces and like, how can we put the puzzle pieces together to make this incredible practice grow and thrive and be able to serve and help more patients? So it's something I am obsessed about because if we can get this dialed in for them, guess what? They're going to be able to freaking thrive.

 

They're gonna be able to look at the numbers, but not just looking at the numbers, but taking it into action. So if our overhead's high, what do we need to do? A lot of consultants come in and they want to cut. My goal is to not cut unless we're like overspending on supplies and then all we need to do is put a supply tracker into place and bada bing, bada boom, it's all fixed. People now know how much we can budget. You empower them, you teach them, they fill it in. Our supplies are instantly fixed. Same thing with our lab supplies. They can get fixed very quickly.

 

So when we look at it and we can just give them the empowerment, give them a simple spreadsheet, give them a simple worksheet, give them the tools and the levers, teams now get excited about it. And I have teams and it was so fun. I was on a call and one of the teams is like, well, we are thinking about this and we're not sure that we want to do this. Cause when we're looking at the numbers, we realize this. And I wanted to cry because when the team is looking at the numbers like a business owner and they're seeing, Hey, do we really need to hire this other employee?

 

Or is that gonna impact our overhead and could we band together and do we wanna do this? Or is this something that's a nice to have, but not a must have? Or is it, no, this is a must have and if we hire this other person, this is how many more patients we should be able to serve and it should translate into these kinds of goals. And so many people are like, Kiera, there's no freaking way that you could ever get my team to be that way. And I say, try me. Like truly, I'm very confident in what we do because as a team member myself, I didn't understand numbers. As an owner, like.

 

The most liberating day of my life was when I realized that numbers are a superpower and not something to beat myself with. Like when I realized the numbers are truly the treasure map. Like if I'm looking for the clues to success, look at your numbers, look at where you are. You will literally see what you need to do to be able to move forward. And that's something that I think is so empowering, so inviting. And when we can teach doctors and owners and teams to look at their numbers and turn it into actionable help for your practice.

 

Kiera Dent (16:03.584)

you're able to truly thrive. And now success is not something that just is happenstance. Success is something that's very predictable that you can do. So using your numbers would be number two that I think great consultants can do for you and your team. And then number three that I think a consultant really can help you do. So number one, like we said, was optimizing the efficiencies within your practice, finding those pieces. Number two is translating your numbers into actionable ways to help your practice and getting your whole team to be able to see these numbers of

 

the yardstick of success of how many patients we're able to help and serve. Number three would be setting and achieving goals. I think setting goals is always tricky. think figuring out projections, I think it's hard when you look at the schedule and you're like, I don't even know what I should set my goals and I wanna take vacations, but I can't take vacations and I'm stuck here and I'm not able to have the family life I want. And I say, again, it's back to the puzzle pieces of numbers and schedules and being able to set realistic goals for your practice. So I tell our offices, I tell my doctors,

 

I don't care what schedule you want to have. don't care if you want to be off at three o'clock. I don't care if you want to work three days a week. I don't care if you want to take six weeks of vacation, like whatever you want. Let's like just tell me and then let's plug it in and let's figure out how we're able to, to use our practice and use our schedule and use our team in a way that's going to fulfill all the needs and the wants of the practice. It's so doable. And I think that that's what's so fun for me is to set these goals and help practices and teams reach higher potential than they ever imagined that they could have.

 

I remember getting a text from one of my doctors that we coached and he said, Kiera, when you came into our practice and you set a goal of X amount, this practice, they were producing about 200,000 and we looked at it, we figured out the schedule, we did the block scheduling, we optimized the schedule. Again, going back to the number one, optimizing little areas of efficiency for maximum impact. The doctor said, you came in and you said we should be able to produce 300,000 a month. And the doctor said, I did not believe you for one second.

 

And he said, and what's crazy is we did 300,000 our first month. did 305 our next month. We did three 10 our third month. And to see them going from 200,000 to 300,000 felt like something that they had never done before. And so helping offices turn dreams into a reality is what lights my freaking soul on fire. Because when I can help you see that like the numbers are there and the schedule is there and all we need to do is bring the pieces together and you're able to have the dream life that you want to have the family time that you want to have the practice that you want.

 

Kiera Dent (18:21.902)

Yes, there areas where we're maybe going to need to make a sacrifice or we realize, can you want to do this? Let's maybe hire an associate or we think outside the box. But really, I believe like my passion is life and my platform is dentistry. And so helping dentists have the life that they want, having teams have the life that they want is where my life, like my life goal and passion is as a consultant because helping so many people achieve this. Like I have doctors and when I met them, we were producing 150 and now we're producing 500,000 a month. And

 

The reality is that practice did not believe that this would even be possible. And now they're hitting goals and objectives that they never believed were possible. And they're stretching the envelope and they're figuring it out and they're serving more patients and they're helping more patients and they're truly being the dentist that the community chooses. When I see offices having that and the dentist is having their dream life and they're having more free space for admin time in their world and their team, their leadership team is taking it on. That's what I feel like we've made it. We've made it for that office.

 

When I have another office and they tell me, Kiera, every year you do the projections with us, we take it to our CPA and they laugh at us. I'm like, you've got to be crazy. There's no way you're going to hit those numbers. And every year we hit them and we hit them with success. And they're like, Kiera, it's magic because those are numbers that we never believed we'd be able to do. But you break it down so simply. You help us set these realistic goals. You look at our schedule, you look at our providers, you look at the time, we look at what our team can do. We make sure we put our life forward and what we want to be doing so that way we're living our best selves.

 

and you help us set and achieve these goals that we never believed were possible. And to me, that setting and achieving the life that you never believed was possible, you always hoped it would be, but we help you achieve that. And so those are three areas that I really feel that consultants can help you either thrive even more or go from surviving to thriving. And like I said, I am so passionate that we built different models for different practices. So if you're a newer practice and you're like, we're just starting out and our budget's not as much, phenomenal, we literally built a program.

 

that takes you through the systems that you need, that gives you weekly access to consulting where you can literally come on and ask your questions and send your team because I'm so adamant that we're gonna coach your team and we're gonna coach the doctors and we're gonna teach you to take care of you, to have a profitable practice and have systems that are dependable so you have predictable success rather than hoping and wishing for success. So if you're brand new, there's an option for you and there's a great space and our community is so incredible and people just love it.

 

Kiera Dent (20:44.398)

If you're a practices like, we're a little bit beyond the fundamentals. We're not this newer practice. We want to have more one-on-one help within our practice. Phenomenal. We coach your team. do coaching calls with you and we bring you in person to work on your practice and on your life to make sure that you're getting what you need. If you're like, Hey, we want some help in our practice. We want you to come to our office. Amazing. We have options for that because I believe that consulting isn't a one size fits all. I believe that a practice is not a one size fits all. I believe that a life is not one size fits all.

 

I believe that you know where you want to go. And I believe that with the great coach and a great consultant beside you who's been there, done that and done that successfully over and over and over again, you truly can have whatever you want. And so I just wanted to pop on and give you guys some resources that you're looking at the end of the year, whether it's your best year or whether it was your one of your hardest years, there's solutions. And I truly believe that the greatest people of all time, they have a coach and they have a mentor next to them. They have someone that's going to push them. They have someone who's going to grow them. They have someone who's going to work with them.

 

someone who's not gonna give up on them when the hard times are there, someone who's gonna guide them, someone who's gonna help their team grow and thrive. And if that's what you're looking for, I'd recommend looking into consulting and seeing, is this an option for you? At Dental A Team, I wanna give you so much value. And so whenever people schedule a call with us, we look at your practice and we give you value. So even if you're not a perfect fit, you're gonna leave with great resources and we're gonna direct you to someone who can help you. If you're a great fit for us and you're someone who's growth minded,

 

You're someone who's committed to success. You're someone who wants to grow your team and wants to grow you. You're a great fit for Dental A Team. And if you're like, gosh, I just don't even know what consulting is like, I encourage you to just make the call. It's not gonna hurt to get on a call. It's not gonna hurt to figure it out. It's not going to hurt. The pricing can be anywhere from as low as like $12,000 a year, all the way up to 50,000 a year. There's variable pricing throughout, but I promise you every single one of those dollars that you put in is going to come back to you in ROI of systems.

 

of decreased overhead, of increased profitability of your practice, of better case acceptance, of reduced errors on billing, of higher collections. So it's this crazy thing that it's one of those best investments that's going to give you a guaranteed ROI on your investment. And for me, when I'm looking at investments and I'm looking to see where I should invest my money, investing in my team, investing in myself and investing in a way that's going to give me a guaranteed ROI is where I bank.

 

Kiera Dent (23:05.548)

And so I would invite each of you, if you're thinking about it, if there's consultants that are there that jive with you, check, I gave you guys a way to interview a consultant, to look for them. Do you vibe with them? Have they been there? Have they done that successfully? Have they done it successfully in your shoes? Do they understand your practice? Do they understand your team dynamics? We work all across the nation. We work in rural towns. work in...

 

the heart of DC, we've got consultants from all over the board, we've got doctors on our our ambassador team that help us with doctor issues, we've got an incredible thriving doctor community that works and helps each other, we have brilliant people that have MBAs and different pieces in business, we have hygienists, we've got dental assistants, we've got regional managers, so the plethora of knowledge within our consulting is insane and so being able to be a part of that community where your questions get answered on a 24-7 basis.

 

We have direct access to consultants who know how to grow you and your practice. We're able to truly grow and grow with everybody that's around you and you're around like-minded people because I believe that proximity is power. And when you're around people that are thriving and you're around people that are succeeding and you're able to pick their brains and be able to learn from them, that's how we elevate. I purposely joined Tony Robbins highest level of consulting because I wanted to be around those people. And what's crazy is every time I'm around them, I grow and evolve to the next level because they share tips with me.

 

They inspire me. I ask them how they're doing things and they share. And that's what we've created for dentists. So if you want to be a part of it, I'd love to have you reach out. [email protected]. Go on our website, TheDentalATeam.com, book a call, whatever it is. But whatever you choose to do this year, invest in you. Invest and commit that 2025 is not going to be happenstance success. It's going to be guaranteed success. Let's find a way to get you that guaranteed success. And whether it's us, another consulting company, another ROI,

 

I don't care what you choose, but make sure you do something different to ensure success for 2025 rather than hope for it. These are three ways that a consultant can help you go from thriving to even higher or from surviving to thriving, whatever end of the spectrum you're on, whatever it is, there's a solution for you. I think check our egos. It's hard. It's hard to ask for help, but it's one of the greatest things. And once you enter the world, you realize no one's there to judge, especially in Dental A Team. My rules are no judgment. Come as you are, show up, add more value.

 

Kiera Dent (25:20.566)

and make sure that you're committed to getting success and that we don't give excuses. If that's who you are, come, come and be a part of it. I'd love to have you. And if I can help in any way, always reach out. [email protected]. This is your life. This is your practice. Your team needs you. You need you. Your patients need you and you deserve the best of the best. So go for it. Let's make 2025 the best it can be. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.