Are you struggling with patient no-shows that disrupt your dental practice’s schedule?

In this rerun episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy and Michael dive deep into practical strategies to minimize cancellations and improve patient attendance. The conversation kicks off with a focus on the art of clear communication, where they assert the power of personalized phone calls over cold automated messages. These personal touches not only confirm appointments but also strengthen the patient-practice bond, making each patient feel recognized and appreciated.

Moving beyond communication, Sandy and Michael explore the often-overlooked aspect of office efficiency, from managing personnel roles to implementing effective scheduling systems. They provide a candid critique of over-automation, pointing out how it can erode patient relations and lead to an uptick in unattended appointments. By sharing relatable anecdotes and actionable advice, Sandy illustrates the importance of addressing unconfirmed slots quickly and empathizing with patient concerns from the get-go. Wrapping up, the hosts offer a toolkit for handling broken appointments and stress the need for practices to take charge of their scheduling processes to foster efficiency and elevate patient care.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The significance of personalized communication over automated messages.
• The role of clear communication in reducing no-shows and cancellations.
• How to balance automation with personal patient relations.
• Effective appointment confirmation techniques that engage patients.
• Strategies for efficient schedule management, including personnel roles.
• Tips for promptly addressing unconfirmed appointments.
• Handling patient objections to decrease cancellations.
• Insights into maintaining a patient-first approach throughout the scheduling process.

Tune in now to transform your practice's appointment strategies and strengthen patient connections!

(This episode originally aired on Sep 06, 2023)

Sponsors:

Do you need a new website or marketing agency? Check out what DocSites can do for you: DocSites.com/landing-pages/ddb

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Front Desk Pro

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, we're exploring the dynamics of a healthy vendor-client relationship as Sandy delves into an inspiring conversation with Megan Lohman from Plan Forward. Together, they unlock the powerful components of successful partnerships, from the nuances of clear communication to fostering mutual respect. The duo emphasizes the importance of setting realistic expectations and maintaining open lines of communication to ensure vendor relationships become long-term, growth-oriented collaborations. Sandy further highlights the benefits of her Front Desk Pro seminars, a series promising transformative engagement for entire dental teams across the U.S., offering practical tools to enhance their practice management skills.

The discussion takes a practical turn as Megan shares valuable tips, rooted in personal experience, on navigating the challenges of vendor implementation while optimizing business efficiency. Sandy rounds off the episode by stressing the importance of a teamwork-driven approach, where practice leaders must transparently relay goals and expectations to their teams, ensuring seamless adoption of new services.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The key ingredients of a successful vendor-client relationship in dental practices.
• Tips for setting realistic expectations and maintaining fruitful communication with vendors.
• Strategies for viewing vendors as long-term business partners.
• Insights on the value of regular feedback and being open to change.
• Practical steps for improving vendor implementation and business efficiency.
• How effective team communication can enhance the adoption of new tools and services.

Listen in today to take your vendor relationships to new heights!

Sponsors:

Don’t just look ahead. Plan Forward. Discover the dental membership plan partner that empowers your entire office. Created by a team in your shoes. Find out more here, and be sure to mention Dental Drill Bits for a special offer! https://www.planforward.io/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Dentaltown

Events:

Businesses:

Burbank Dental Lab

Software:

Dentrix

Zoom

Terms:

KPIs - Key Performance Indicators

PMS - Practice Management Software

Imagine transforming the daily chaos in your practice into a streamlined and efficient operation. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Michael and Sandy tackle some of the most disruptive productivity killers facing dental practices today—late patients, broken appointments, no-shows, and cancellations. Sandy brings her expert perspective by emphasizing the necessity of a dedicated scheduler who can artfully manage appointments to minimize chaos and boost productivity. They delve into actionable strategies, such as enhancing patient education, solidifying financial arrangements, and enhancing verbal skills, all designed to ensure patients respect and honor their scheduled times.

As they unravel the complexities behind missed appointments, Sandy challenges common misconceptions, like the idea of penalizing patients, by shifting the focus towards proactive solutions and realistic production goals. Michael and Sandy create a warm and welcoming atmosphere, inviting you to reflect on your current practices and consider new approaches.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Effective strategies to minimize late arrivals and cancellations.
• The importance of having a dedicated appointment scheduler.
• Techniques for enhancing patient communication and financial arrangements.
• Insights into setting realistic production goals for dentists.
• Common misconceptions about penalizing patients for missed appointments.

Tune in now to discover the secrets to maintaining a productive dental practice!

Sponsors:

Do you need a new website or marketing agency? Check out what DocSites can do for you: https://www.DocSites.com/landing-pages/ddb/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Events:

Front Desk Pro - November 15, 2024 New Orleans, Louisiana (Use Code "Secret Sauce" at Checkout!)

Sauces:

RAO's

Establishments/Brands:

Costco

The-Ritz-Carlton

Uber

You may have heard this or possibly, some of you listening, may even think this way:  “we don’t have a production goal because we are patient focused”.

Knowing your income and taking care of patients are two different things. In this episode Sandy gives us the exact formula you need to boost your production. She also lets us know how patient care is woven into this. There is a way to reach production goals without the patient feeling like you are upselling or pushing treatment on them and Sandy let us know how to do this.

A great way to look at it is: “Production goals” are the food.. The type of food is patient care.

In this episode we dive into our Facebook group: Dental Gumbo and answer questions you have asked Sandy in the recent weeks.

Sandy answers and discusses these 3 main questions:

• How early to confirm appointments? 
• How do you deal with assistants or hygienists not showing up for work (slightest cold)? 
• How to present 3rd party financing as an option and favorite company?

Lately in the last week or two people are thinking ahead and what they’ll do differently in 2023. And we love it!

In this episode Sandy gives us 10 key principles we MUST upgrade or improve within our practice!

They are:

1. Low retention rate.
2. Too many broken appointments.
3. Bonus systems that don’t work. 
4. Poor Recare systems.
5. High accounts receivable balance. 
6. Low treatment acceptance. 
7. No marketing or poor marketing. 
8. Phones!! 
9. Too many people are falling into the “practice management of the month club”.
10. Doctors not setting performance expectations for their team. 

Listen to the episode to discover more details and strategies on how to improve each key element.

A lot of your employees are planning their whole Christmas around their Christmas bonus. However, is a Christmas bonus really necessary? How can you make this “bonus” work for you and how can you stop it if you don’t have the funds but feel the “need” to do it because you’ve done it in the past?!

Sandy gives us the instructions, script, and formula on what we need to do to be consistent with rewarding our team. She let’s us know how she doesn’t always agree with the Christmas bonus but has created a system on how this type of bonus can work for you and the practice.

Most dentists and especially practice owners, watch their money, and the decisions they make to KEEP money is causing missed opportunities and keeping the income down. Now, saving money is not a bad thing, that’s not what we are discussing here. We are talking about how often we step over dollars to pick up pennies.

In this episode Sandy gives us about 7 main reasons on where we stumble and mess up. These 7 reasons/ mistakes are causing an illusion that we are saving money, when in reality we are missing too many opportunities and hurting our potential and profits.

If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in Sandy’s Scheduling Academy, this is it!

Should you add 3-4% on the dental bill if people are going to use credit cards? The quick answer is “NO”! This can easily make your patient lose trust in you. Remember people don’t carry cash or checks as much anymore. More and more people are using credit cards. When you add the 3-4% on the patients bill, this is working against your internal marketing!

In this episode Sandy breaks down for us what we should do if our terminal/ credit card charges come with a fee and how we should present it to the patient. We also discuss other great alternatives that you should adopt now to easily get the money from the patient without hassle.

Did you know if your team is less than 10 employees, you more than likely should NOT have an office manager! Some practice owners put someone who has some dental experience in the front and name them an office manager. That is not the right thing to do. 

In this episode Sandy breaks down the real responsibilities of an Office Manager and when is it time to bring one on. We also discuss how promoting or having someone considered an “office manager” can actually cause more harm than good. We also discuss how to demote an office manager and discuss the proper script and terminology on how to do this.

There’s a shocking statistic that Sandy mentions in this episode which is: 1.6 million people are changing dentists and 25%-50% patients are lost over a 5 year period. This means we MUST work on our attrition, retaining these patients! 

In this episode Sandy tells us the 3 main reasons why we lose patients and how we can stop making these major mistakes. She also gives us a system on what our team should do to make sure our attrition rate is good. We also discuss and talk about scripts on what we should ask our patients to make sure their experience is always above and beyond!

You know what? You shouldn’t even call them “performance reviews” anymore! In this episode Sandy lets us know exactly what we should do with the “one on one” meetings we have with our team members. Meeting one on one with team members is always a good thing.

Sandy tells us how we should call them a “one on one” and bring the employee’s:

• Attendance record
• Statistics
• Ask them “how do you think it’s going”?
• Involve the whole team

She breaks each one of these things down and dives into specifics on how we should handle every point. Another good thing to keep in mind is we should never tie “one on ones” or performance reviews with raises! Listen to this episode to understand why!

Should you have working interviews? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Michael and Sandy unravel the complexities of hiring processes in dental practices that often fly under the radar. They take a closer look at the commonly used "working interviews" and reveal the legal pitfalls and inefficiencies often associated with them. But fear not, as they guide you through innovative strategies to better evaluate potential hires. With their expert advice, you'll learn how to navigate these challenges with ease and ensure your dentistry team is top-notch.

Get ready to transform your interview process into a sharp, strategic tool for hiring the best talent. Sandy introduces the game-changing idea of using detailed written tests to tap into candidates' problem-solving prowess, mathematical skills, and situational reactions. You'll discover the power of personalized interview questions and the subtle yet telling observations that body language provides. Plus, Sandy shares practical tactics on refining your interview techniques, crafting skill assessments, and ensuring every step aligns with legal standards.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The legal and functional drawbacks of typical "working interviews."
• Innovative strategies for effective candidate evaluation.
• The role of written tests in assessing key skills.
• How to interpret and leverage candidates' body language.
• Essential tactics for tailoring interview questions.
• Steps to ensure legal compliance throughout the hiring process.

Tune in now to revolutionize your practice’s hiring approach with proven strategies!

Sponsors:

Don’t just look ahead. Plan Forward. Discover the dental membership plan partner that empowers your entire office. Created by a team in your shoes. Find out more here, and be sure to mention Dental Drill Bits for a special offer! https://www.planforward.io/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Events:

CEDR HR Solutions

Equipment:

CEREC

Tests:

Wonderlic Test

If you haven’t heard “How to Handle “Inter-Office wars” which was the episode before this one, please go do so! It got so much feedback! Because of all the questions we received, Sandy decided to answer those questions and do a part two!

The 2 most popular things that people contacted Sandy after the previous episode was:

1. What to do if you are new to the office and you witness “inter-office wars”/ what do you do if you are a team member watching on the sidelines “inter-office war” happening? What should you do? 
2. Team members complaining to the doctor or gossiping to the doctor. Trying to get to the doctor on their side. 

In this episode Sandy dives deeper on these two scenarios and also shows you how to handle them from an employee perspective and a practice owner's perspective.

Are you experiencing gossip, negativity, conflicts between your team, dishonesty, and employees always shifting the blame to other employees? This episode will help! 

20% of all workers are unhappy with their jobs! This means that 80% are trying to get along with their workers and the other 20% are sabotaging that relationship! A lot of this dissatisfaction doesn’t have to do with the job itself, but it’s with the worker’s attitudes. 

One thing Sandy has observed over the decades of handling employee conflicts and “inter-office wars” is that the more organized a practice is, the more the agreements that are in place, the less “inter-office wars” happen! In this episode Sandy gives us the definition of what “inter-office wars” means, how this is occurring in many offices today (either the front office doesn't get along with the back office, or someone on the team keeps gossiping about another team member, etc.) and she tells us exactly how to handle it!

Nowadays there are lots of consultants out there. Specific consultants and consultants who try to cover everything under the sun. However, what is the ultimate goal of a consultant? In this episode Sandy gives us insight on this and what we MUST look out for, when it comes to bringing on a consultant.

Sandy tells us what questions we should ask before hiring the consultant, what their goal should be, how much productions should be going up, how the team should feel, what road-bumps the consultant may face, how can you tell you are getting a “cookie cutter” consultant, and what data they should have.

A consultant's goal is not to be hired and work for the practice forever, it's to work with the practice until the owner (and team) is completely satisfied with the results. Listen into this episode if you have EVER thought about hiring a practice management consultant.

“Quiet quitting” is nothing new, it just has a name now. According to a recent study: “Quiet Quitters” make up 50% of the US workforce! 32% are disengaged employees and 18% are the type of employees that go on social media and trash talk or display how they hate their employer. Why does “quiet quitting'' happen?

In this episode Sandy lets us know how we can identify these "quiet quitters" and what you should look for before it’s too late. These types of employees will kill your productivity and also drag down your team culture and ultimately hinder your growth. 

As you’re listening to this episode you may start to identify that you MAY have a “quiet quitter”. So listen to this episode to see how you can handle any “quiet quitting” situation.

Confirming appointments is one of the most important things that a scheduler does every single day. Confirming, when done the right way, assures the schedule will stay intact. 

In this episode Sandy breaks down the mistakes we tend to make when we “think” we have confirmed an appointment but in reality, we have not. A lot of the time we tend to send a text or reminder, but the reality is this is doing nothing most of the time. 

Listen in as we discuss the proper systems and protocols to truly confirm an appointment for a better schedule and a productive day.

Sandy was doing a mystery call for a practice and noticed a major issue… the practice didn’t answer her phone call… that’s how this episode came up!

There’s two main things we need to do if we want more new patients in our office.

1. Make sure there are absolutely NO barriers blocking the new patient from reaching you over the phone.
2. Make sure you take away every single barrier that’s stopping the new patient from walking through your door!

In this episode Sandy tells us ways we can improve and elevate our phone skills to ensure that these new patients are not only scheduling, but walking through your door and accepting treatment.

You know that one person who's always missing days, calling in, or maybe they save up time off and leave for a long time. Welp, there’s procedures and systems to prevent that and actually improve all of your employees' attendance! 

In this episode Sandy gives us 5 major steps that will improve attendance and help motivate employees to not miss a day!

1. Sit down with your team and talk about your core values. 
2. Create an attendance policy. 
3. Track when people miss work. 
4. Address these no-shows or last minute cancellations immediately!
5. Reward good behavior. 

Listen in as we dive deeper into each of these steps and provide a game plan!

Treatment planning starts much earlier than you expect. If you want your treatment acceptance percentage to increase you first have to know what to look for and then implement these specific actions to see results.

Sandy gives us the 10 bulletproof actions steps that will increase your treatment acceptance. One of the first steps is making sure you’re on top of your “Public Relations”. This is something that won’t get you instant results at the beginning but it is something that every practice owner should be thinking about because… your treatment acceptance starts with your reputation!

Listen in to hear the rest of the action steps so that you can increase your treatment acceptance this month!

There's nothing worse than seeing the schedule full the day before, or even the week before, then… once the productive day arrives… the schedule starts falling apart. Why is this happening?! Could it have been prevented?! What is killing this productive day!? A lot of us are unaware of how much productivity is being killed in the practice. Some of us are so used to these killers that we see it as a “norm” when it occurs. Anything that kills your productivity is NOT normal!

In this episode Sandy reveals the 5 most common productivity killers that happen in your practice every week. We discuss them and show you the difference between each one and how some play off of each other if you let it slide or handle it the wrong way. Then Sandy lets us know how we can prevent each of these 5 killers and what systems need to be in place today… to ensure that we are keeping the productivity in our office high.

When you're listening to this episode we want you to think about your accounts receivable balance. We want you to think about how many patients have accepted treatment, have received treatment, maybe only paid a portion of the whole treatment cost or not even a penny... and never came back.

This means the patient has committed premeditated fraud. How did this happen? Why does this continue to happen? How could we prevent this?

Sandy gives us a formula so you can have predictability with each of your patients & a formula on how to ensure your employee who handles your money will be trustworthy.

Puzzled by a sudden slowdown in your practice after a period of steady growth? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Michael and Sandy tackle this very dilemma, driven by a listener's concern about a drop in activity despite continuous marketing efforts. Sandy shines a light on the inevitable ebbs and flows of the dental business, detailing how peaks and valleys are quite common. While it's tempting to look at external factors, she emphasizes that the real key lies with internal operations—how well your team navigates daily tasks, engages with patients, and adheres to promotional schedules can make or break your growth momentum.

With unshakeable opinion and experience, both Michael and Sandy underscore the importance of a rock-solid front office, the urgency of consistent follow-ups, and impeccable communication. They delve into actionable strategies and best practices for maintaining top-notch performance, regardless of external fluctuations. By the end, Sandy empowers practice owners to reclaim the reins of their success, conveying that much of what determines business growth is within their control.

• Why your dental practice might experience sudden drops in activity despite ongoing marketing
• The significance of internal factors—appointment handling, teamwork, and consistent promotional efforts
• How urgent, organized front-office operations contribute to maintaining growth
• Methods for effective communication within a dental team to tackle periods of low activity
• Encouraging insights about controlling your practice's success through proactive management

Ready to turn unpredictable slowdowns into steady growth for your dental practice? Tune into today's conversation!

Sponsors:

Do you need a new website or marketing agency? Check out what DocSites can do for you: https://www.DocSites.com/landing-pages/ddb/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Marketing: 

Google Ads

People:

Taylor Swift

September has been widely known in dentistry as “Sucktember”. Everything seems to slow down, no shows are high, production is low, and the schedule seems to fall apart insanely fast. In fact, some of you even decide to take September off! DON’T!

In this episode Sandy breaks down the reason why we had a horrible September and how we can prevent “Sucktember '' from happening by doing these 5 steps today! The sooner you do it the better, and not only will this prevent your production from slowing down but it will also provide you with a “Rocktober” (Rocking October).

Key takeaways from this episode:

1. What do patients that "no-show" have in common.

2. Every practice needs an "appointment wrap up" process.

3. What to ask a patient in regards to following up with them.

4. What's the best script for confirmation calls.

5. What to do when presenting treatment plans to ensure a second visit.

We know how convenient it is to have your employee order supplies for you, deal with credit checks, and even order things on Amazon for you and handle any returns… but you need to be more aware of it. Why? 

Well, Sandy received a call about a situation the other day. And this isn’t the first instance an office has called her to see how they should handle it. This is common. The Office Manager had been using the practice’s Amazon account  to make purchases for her own birthday party, Christmas, etc. 

Sandy gives us 3 systems that most employees use to steal or establish fraud and she gives us the systems to prevent this. In our practice and in life, we want certainty, we want predictability, so it’s crucial you know what is going on in your practice and not depend solely on your employees' words.

When it comes down to it, there's basically two reasons why patients don’t pay: the first is dishonest patients, and Sandy gives us a breakdown on how to stop these type of patients to save us any headaches.

The second, and probably most important reason is: patients can get mad or upset with a situation. Your team can make patients mad or the patients can misunderstand and perceive something wrong. Patients who are mad or upset won’t pay. And when you initiate the collection procedure against the angry patient it gets them even more upset! So what can you do? Well, Sandy lets us know that when you deal with people it’s important to have really good people skills. Something we need to keep in mind is to communicate and acknowledge the patient and what they are saying. 

Sandy goes much further into detail on how we can handle upset patients who don’t want to pay and she gives us a script on what to say to find a patient's problem that will get them to pay!

Overall, when it comes to excelling at customer service, we need to build more and better relationships with our patients. Remember that our patients have a choice, they can either choose to continue to come to you, or move on at any moment. They can get their teeth cleaned and get turned off so fast or be highly impressed to the point they want to bring everyone they know to you. That’s the difference between average and exceptional customer service. 

In this episode Sandy tells us 10 strategies we need to be thinking about weekly, if not daily, to make sure we are providing exceptional customer service. There's 1.6 million people changing dentists…every month! Make sure you are one of the dentists that patients love and feel acknowledged and valued at. That is something you will notice fast about the first two strategies, how acknowledging your patient is crucial.

Listen to this episode and make sure you write down the 10 strategies somewhere visible, where your team can see it so they can use it as a checklist or reminder to apply these strategies daily.

If you’ve followed a recipe before, then you’ve followed a system. In this episode Sandy gives you the recipes to make sure you have a successful practice BEFORE you open your doors to the public. There are about 42 systems every single practice needs to have in place and Sandy discusses and dives deeper into each of them.

Now just having these systems is not enough, Sandy discusses how being consistent with them is crucial for success. Consistent action gives you predictability. These are the systems that her 2 million dollar solo practice’s implement and practice consistently. She discusses the systems we tend to leave out and the systems we make major mistakes on as well.

When does a day need to be saved?

When you’re not meeting your daily goals (which you should set daily goals). You can determine if you’re reaching your goal or not by mid-day. If you notice around the middle of the day, that you are behind or REAL far behind with your daily goals, then this episode will help you to apply strategies to reach those goals!

Sandy lets us know how there are so many missed opportunities because we are not looking or listening. Therefore she gives us 5 specific opportunities we need to look for (which you WILL find during the day) that will push you and your team through the finish line! From this point on, there shouldn’t be a reason for your team to not reach their daily goals.

In this episode we take on questions that you (our listeners) have for us! 

We answer these specific questions:

"I have a couple questions about 'The 4 Departments Every Front Office Needs.' When you say 1-18 people one person can run the front and then 19 you would have 2 people and then 32 you would have 3, does this include the office manager or would that be in addition to the OM? We have 4 days a week with 1 doctor and 2 full time hygienists and we have 1 day with 2 doctors and 2 full time hygienists. I have another question. I know you talk about checklists to hold people accountable. Do you recommend every person on the team have their own checklist?"

"What is the best way to prevent hygiene no shows?"

Is your A/R out of order?! Have you ever overcharged a patient for treatment, perhaps their insurance company covered for more than what was initially stated, so now your patient has credit? What do you do with that credit? Some practices let that credit accumulate. Some may even feel like they can keep it. You can’t and Sandy let’s us know why.

This is a hidden topic that not many practice owners talk about, but exists and can really set you back if you are not careful. Therefore it must be addressed! This is especially helpful if you are looking to buy or acquire a practice. Make sure you check the A/R reports and see if there are any patient credits.

In this episode Sandy gives us a system on how to minimize patient refunds. She also lets us know how to slowly start chipping away at it (if we have accumulated a large sum of patient credit). We discuss the script you must tell the patient, how to handle these situations, and who to let know in the practice and who should NOT be aware in your team.

Confirming patients for their appointment is one of the most important things your front office can do. It’s not an afterthought and it’s definitely not something you just call and wing. You need a recipe for this. Systems are a recipe.

When it comes to patient confirmations, it’s all about having good control.You need to decide how protocols should be approached and then analyze and see that your protocol/ system is producing the best results. So this leads to the ultimate question: is your confirmation process producing the best results?

In this episode Sandy breaks down this process and creates a system for us that has 7 main points, so this is going to be an episode where you really want to take notes! She also lets us know some bonus points and verbage we need to have when writing confirmations, texting confirmations, and calling for confirmations.

Imagine turning your practice into a thriving hub by simply tweaking your bonus structures for your office manager. This episode of Dental Drill Bits delves into the nuances of crafting successful bonus systems that align with your practice's financial goals. Michael and Sandy engage in an insightful discussion exploring profit-increasing bonuses versus flat raises, focusing on ensuring these incentives are both motivating and sustainable. Sandy advises on basing bonuses on collections instead of production for financial stability while offering strategies to set clear, transparent benchmarks to foster a win-win situation.

Listen in as Sandy introduces the concept of attendance-based bonuses designed to boost team morale and punctuality. She emphasizes that aiming for clarity before introducing any bonus structures is critical since such benefits can be challenging to retract once they're part of the system. Wrapping up on a practical note, Sandy underscores the importance of evaluating the financial impacts thoroughly.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• How to choose between profit-increasing bonuses and flat raises.
• Why basing bonuses on collections rather than production benefits your practice.
• Strategies for setting transparent and achievable benchmarks.
• The potential advantages of attendance-based bonuses for team morale.
• Important considerations for financial implications before implementing bonus plans.

Ready to refine your practice's bonus structure and watch your team thrive? Don't miss this episode!

Sponsors:

Don’t just look ahead. Plan Forward. Discover the dental membership plan partner that empowers your entire office. Created by a team in your shoes. Find out more here, and be sure to mention Dental Drill Bits for a special offer! https://www.planforward.io/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Dentaltown

Events:

The hardest part of practice ownership is the relationships, the people in our practice. In this episode Sandy helps us to understand and know how we can master these relationships.

There’s a few basic steps that most practice owners and people in general tend to overlook. One of the first steps is to hire the right people, acknowledge our employees when they do something good, recognize when things are not going well, and then learn to quickly handle the situation by confronting the person. This is just part of one step!

This means that systems and protocols must be in place, in order to  handle and create better relationships with people in your practice. We dive into more of this in this episode and reveal more steps with detail and instructions on how to implement them.

Sometimes new practice owners want to outsource insurance verification, billing, phones, and more… but is it really necessary?

In this episode Sandy Pardue lets us know the exact math and patients you must have in order to officially outsource or become more efficient in your practice. First, every single practice owner needs to know their overhead and understand that your “team” overhead is your largest percentage. Most practices get in trouble when they overpay their people/ team. This could happen due to outsourcing inappropriately. 

We discuss the only absolute times you MUST outsource, what would be ridiculous to outsource, and what needs to always stay in-house and how to make it all happen.

What if you are extremely fed up with an employee and you’re thinking “that’s it! I’m going to fire this person”. How should you do it? When is the best time and day to do this? Who should be there? What should you say?

In this episode Sandy breaks down the important steps you need to take before, during, and after firing an individual in your team who just isn’t performing the way you need them to. Something you MUST understand is that the individual you are intending to fire should NEVER be shocked or surprised that they are being let go. Sandy dives deeper on this and explains how “write-ups” prime you to fire someone which becomes easier to do in the long run.

We discuss specific examples and talk about tools you can utilize to help you with all of this.

If you’re not feeling the effects of inflation now, you will be in a couple of months! Save this episode because it will teach you how to “inflation proof” your practice!

Sandy Pardue lets us know about 10 specific steps we need to take in order to get lean and mean and control our practice through anything. The first step is: KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. You need to be hungry for your overhead percentage numbers at the beginning of the month, don’t just leave them to your accountant/ bookkeeper. Knowing your numbers are statistics in your practice, and statistics are meant for you to know where to make adjustments.

Listen in to hear the next steps and how to immediately implement them into your practice.

The reason most treatment plans fail is because we ignore objections

In this episode Sandy breaks down for us the 7 most common objections patients will give you and your team for not accepting treatment or going with treatment right away.

We figure out the psychology and thinking behind these objections and she lets us know the proper steps to take and what to say to overcome every single one of these objections. 

If you have had bad experiences with bonuses, that's probably because you or whoever implemented it, has put in the wrong type of bonuses for your team.

In this episode Sandy lets us know the best kind of bonus you can implement for your team and your hygienist. She breaks down where you are going to find the money for appropriate bonuses, the percentages, the one to implement first, how to divide it amongst your team, and to keep your team motivated.

We also discuss what you can do to "penalize" that one team member who probably would abuse a team bonus.

Does this sound familiar:

“We’ve had a lot of cancellations and I don’t want to pay my hygienist during down time”

Some of you may lean towards doing this. In fact, the hygienist may HATE this so your hygienist has to look or act busy so you won't deduct their pay.

Do NOT do this anymore! Your hygienist AND you (the practice owner) deserve a full schedule always. 

In this episode Sandy Pardue tells us exactly how to do this. Remember, hygienists want to see patients and they want a full schedule! It’s the practice that doesn’t put enough pressure, enough urgency, on the front office to fill that schedule.

Are you wasting your marketing dollars? Let’s face it, you are if you are either missing phone calls or letting new patient opportunities go through the phone.

In this episode Sandy lets you know exactly what barriers are coming up when it comes to answering the phone when a new patient calls and how we can break these barriers. She gives us 6 steps on how every single phone call should go. We also discuss what to say if someone asks “do you take my insurance” and what we should NOT be saying.

Sandy also gives us a bonus step towards the end!

Cross training can be beneficial… but only for a short, and we mean a very short period of time. There are about 6 major cons that cross training will produce in your practice. However, if you MUST cross train an employee than there are about 4 pros to cross training.

Sandy breaks down each individual pros and cons and the consequences that this can lead up to. We also clarify how some of this information HIGHLY depends on the stage of your practice (are you JUST starting out, open for many years, etc). 

We also discuss what to do if an employee is sick and someone needs to fill in for her position but just for a couple of days.

When we have no specific departments and roles than we have less accountability (almost none) and that creates a ton of inefficiencies. You don’t just want to throw up anyone at the front and hope your other front office shares their duties. You want to specifically give them departments.

In this episode Sandy shares with us exactly which person should be in which department based on their personality. She also lets us know which departments should work closer together than others, when is it time to add another team member on your team, and how you should monitor each team member.

We also discuss what to do if you only have 1 person in the front doing everything and how these departments will fit in.

How can you master the art of insurance collections and minimize outstanding claims? In today's episode, Michael and Sandy dive deep into the essentials of managing insurance collections with expert insights that can save your practice valuable time and resources. Sandy explains the critical importance of timely and consistent follow-up on insurance claims and recommends designating a specific day each week for this task to streamline operations.

Meticulous tracking of claims—whether using spreadsheets or software reports—and conducting follow-up every three weeks are essential strategies Sandy advocates for. Sandy warns about the pitfalls of outsourcing insurance management without proper oversight, emphasizing that understanding and smoothly handling these processes within your own practice can lead to tremendous benefits.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why timely and consistent follow-up on insurance claims is crucial
• Best practices for designating specific days for managing collections tasks
• The benefits of tracking claims meticulously using spreadsheets or software
• The recommended frequency for following up on claims
• What you need to know before considering outsourcing insurance management
• The significance of electronic payments in streamlining your practice operations

Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your practice's efficiency—tune in now!

Sponsors:

Do you need a new website or marketing agency? Check out what DocSites can do for you: https://www.DocSites.com/landing-pages/ddb/

Communities/Groups:

Dental Gumbo Group

Tools/Software:

Excel

Dentrix

Brands:

Five Guys

If you're not even aware of your treatment closing percentages... then that's the first thing you need to know TODAY!

Sandy Pardue breaks down the whole process on how we can get more "YES" from our patients. She gives us real life examples, steps, scripts, who is responsible for this on our team, and even deep quotes!

We also discuss what to do if someone says "NO".

Why does embezzlement happen and how does it begin? Most importantly, how can we catch it early or even prevent it from ever happening?!

In this episode Sandy breaks down the steps and systems we need to implement so that we can prevent any employee stealing from the practice.

We also discuss real life stories where Sandy discovered embezzlement and how they decided to handle it. We discuss the most common form/ type of embezzlement, the different forms, what to do if you catch an employee stealing, and more.

Do you feel like your best efforts are being undermined?  Do yu have someone in your team who is always going to you and complaining about others, pushing back on changes, procrastinating or coming up with excuses of why things are not done... but they are super nice about it all in front of you?

Sandy Pardue gives us 5 signs that show you have a "Sweet Saboteur" in your practice, someone who is almost toxic to your team, and she lets us know how to either change their behavior or get them out ASAP!

We also discuss how to clean up a toxic work environment and how often should we evaluate our team to make sure everyone is content and happy.