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You have a dental practice you’ve built from the ground up. It’s going well, and you’re ready to add on to your operation, but how do you get there?

 

Dr. Mark Costes owns ten practices, is the founder of an extensive network of dental assistant schools across the U.S., and travels the world to educate dentists on how to reach their full potential.

 

He created his coaching company, Dental Success Institute to help dentists increase their revenue while working in their passion. He’s also a fellow podcaster over at Dentalpreneur.

 

Whether you’re ready to take your business to a multi-operation, or just want to hear what it takes from someone who’s currently doing it, you’ll want to listen very closely to today’s episode because you’re in for at least three major eye-openers.

 

Time-Stamped Show Notes

1:10 Opening Announcement: I’ll be attending the Dental Practice Solutions’ Event Friday, June 23, 2017, in San Diego. The event is a course on how to build a profitable dental business, and they’ll teach you simple tools you can implement to maximize the potential of your practice. Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS and Doug Fettig, MBA, CPA will be there with expert tips on growing your dental business. I’ll be podcasting at the event, so come and say hi!

4:13 Introduction. Mark gives us his background of his first business as a lunch truck caterer and how it took him three years and 21 attempts to get into dental school. He also talks about his practices, the Dental Success Institute, and his Dentalpreneur podcast.

7:16 Mark talks about how he had to overcome learning disabilities and restructure how he absorbs information to push through to success.

9:45 How his lunch catering truck experience far outweighed an MBA school program in terms of learning business knowledge.

10:35 How his first business taught him tenacity, grit, and how to stick to it.

12:07 Finding Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich at the age of 16 was a turning point that sent him on a journey of personal development, finance, and entrepreneurship.

13:57 Why reaching his goal of a million dollars profit did not make him happy and why he sold the majority of his practices.

16:42 How he created the Dental Assisting School Company to earn passive income.

17:28 The idea caught on with other dentists and now has 186 school locations in 40 states.

17:50 Having systems in place makes life less chaotic, even though he has much more happening today than in the past.

18:19 Talks about systemization and gives valuable 8-Point Patient Experience system.

19:28 Mark talks about being very intentional with finances.

20:22 Why the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber is like Mark’s bible.

22:46 Discusses staff-dependence vs. system-dependence and which one you want to have.

24:20 The one thing Mark would never do again: Duplicate a location without systems in place and without getting overhead down to 50% or less.

27:57 Why some people are successful at having multiple practices, and some are not.

29:00 How to find good employees and how to determine whether you have a staff problem or a leadership issue.

31:23 Why you should limit negative people and surround yourself with positivity.

32:40 Mark talks morning routines and mentions Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning, and Hal’s guest appearance on Mark’s 6-Figure Side Gig Podcast.

36:32 Closing

37:06 Afterthoughts: Mark’s morning routines are very intriguing. What is your morning routine? Do you wake up and rush to work or do you practice things like meditation in the morning? I want to hear.

Have you considered how your team members influence customer satisfaction and affect your bottom line? If your dental assistant is unhappy, it can reflect on your entire practice, costing you sales and tarnishing your reputation.

 

Can a dental assistant affect your profit? The answer is a resounding yes.

 

Today’s guest is someone who understands the role of dental assistants, and how they can make or break your practice.

 

Kevin Henry is the co-founder of Ignite DA, an online community that enlightens, engages, and empowers dental assistants to help them have better careers.

 

Tune in to this week’s episode to find out how to create a dream team that will make customers smile and increase your bottom line.

 

Today’s Resource: The Dental Insurance Skills Training Course

In this week’s episode I want to shareTeresa Duncan of Odyssey Management, Inc. Teresa and her team are dedicated to educating you and your employees about dental insurance. They will bring everyone up to speed on everything from terminology and benefits to effective patient conversations and how to deal with claims. Is everyone on your team knowledgeable about dental insurance? If not, you might want to enroll in Teresa’s exclusive 4-hour course.

Enter the discount code, dentalmarketer50 to get $50 off the Dental Insurance Skills Training Course!

 

 

Time-Stamped Show Notes

1:00 Which book should I read next: Zero to One by Peter Thiel or E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber? Message me on Instagram and let me know!

1:52 Learn about today’s sponsor, Teresa Duncan, and the Dental Insurance Skills Training Course.

4:35 Introduction of today’s guest, Kevin Henry

6:06 An interesting background of Kevin’s career from Managing Editor of Dental Economics Magazine to co-founder of Ignite DA and how he loves his current project.

7:15 Kevin discusses his 2016 partnership with Dr. David Rice, the sister-company, Ignite DDS, and the goals of raising up young dentists and dental assistants.

10:20 The entire team needs to know your numbers in the office to know how to meet the goal.

11:50 What to do if you’re afraid to share your sales numbers with your team.

13:25 How to get your team invested in the success of your business.

14:20 A discussion on mutual respect.

15:05 How to address issues before the customer senses the discord.

15:35 How to create a safe-zone for employees to talk about ideas.

17:17 Addressing the “Me” Culture.

20:10 Creating a solid mission statement for your company’s culture.

22:26 How to deal with employees that drag everyone else down.

23:30 The one thing dentists should not be open about when talking to employees.

26:37 Are you doing a good job of accompanying patients from the back office to the front office after the appointment?

27:30 How to stop the high turnover rate of dental assistants.

32:50 What Ignite DA does to bring dentists and their assistants together successfully.

35:28 What you know (or don’t) about state requirements will either get you into trouble or grow your profit. Go to DANB for dental assistant state laws.

39:00 Closing

 

3 Ways to Develop a Dental Practice Culture that Thrives

 

Run your practice like a business. It’s stressful for everyone involved when your profit is slipping, and your customer will probably sense it too. Your business is not only about you, the dentist, but about the dental assistant, the hygienist, and the front office too. If everyone is aware sales are dropping, they will be more inclined to pull together and help as a team.

Welcome to the third installation of The Making of SMILE & CO.! Being a business owner can be astronomically difficult, especially when expensive dental equipment is taken into account and the practice is built completely from scratch. Join Michael Arias as he speaks with Dr. Ashley Joves about the hands-on creation of her dream practice.

 

Today’s Sponsor

Dr. Anissa Holmes specializes in helping dentists market their practices through Facebook. After using Facebook to boost her second dental startup into a multi million-dollar company, she decided to help other dentists achieve the same results. Take her live masterclass, FBIGNITE and learn how to use Facebook to exponentially grow your business! Learn more about what Dr. Holmes offers on her website, deliveringwow.

Use the link to receive $100.00 OFF 

 

Time-Stamped Show Notes

[0:01] — Michael tells us about Dr. Anissa Holmes and her revolutionary Facebook masterclass for dentists.

[0:51] — A quick recap about Dr. Ashley Joves and her journey to create a revolutionary dental practice from scratch.

[2:01] — Although countless people believe that emotions should never play a role in business, factors such as emotional intelligence can help us succeed.

[3:13] — According to inc.com, there is no such thing as a purely logical decision; our emotional intuition will always play a role.

[4:09] — Ashley describes her opinion about the role of emotions in business.

[5:45] — “I’ve been doing a lot of the not-sexy stuff,” Ashley says. In other words: paperwork, emails, 300+ messages…

[7:00] — Ashley uses Wells Fargo to cover particular fees, such as wiring fees.

[9:15] — After changing the name of her practice from SMILEBAR to SMILE & CO., Ashley paid a total of $1,200. “You couldn’t just hit backspace on your keyboard three times?” Ashley wonders. She suggests checking whether the name of your future company has already been trademarked before sending it in for official approval.

[14:45] — Plenty of backend costs and processes have taken a major tole on Ashley’s sleep and emotions.

[15:50] — “A good dental chair can enhance the patient experience.” According to First Impressions, comfort is one of the most important factors of customer satisfaction, given your practice itself is well-designed.

[20:30] — Demographic work is important for making major decisions about your practice.

[23:45] — While on maternity leave, Ashley lacked solid income and lost backing from banks. Her husband earned a higher income and potential income, helping her obtain the bank resources she needed. Ashley chose Wells Fargo because they reached out to her with advice: to prepare a business plan before asking banks for money, which also causes different banks to compete for you.

[32:19] — Michael talks more about Dr. Anissa Holmes’s Facebook Ignite!

[37:50] — Michael speaks with Ryan about how he managed to work with Ashley under such fantastic rates.

[43:20] — “Student loan debt is one of the better debts to have,” Ryan says. The monthly payment is nothing compared to the return of your practice.

[51:20] — Ryan highlights the benefits of working with an industry-specific lender.

[53:00] — Find Ryan at this website! With a few clicks you can find somebody like Ryan in your area.

[53:30] — Ashley used the Breakaway Startup Series to guide her “dentagraphics” journey. They will provide a fantastic report about where you should place your practice based on information you plug in!

[1:03:06] — Although you may never find the perfect location for your practice, Ashley believes that simply showing your face at local events and community locations will send you a long way.

[1:06:00] — “I plan to give my cell phone number to my patients,” Ashley says.

Reviews, reviews, and reviews! The one thing that can make or break ( or at least put a HUGE dent into your practice) your dental practice. Some times we obsess too much over reviews and sometimes we care too little about patient reviews. Well, we are here to tell you that they are EXTREMELY important and should be strived for every single day! In this episode we talk all about reviews and how it may be easy to ask for them in the moment, or even throw a prize winning contest for the best review BUT are you attacking every single possibility out there? Listen as we mention many methods and scripts on how to increase your Yelp, Google, Facebook,or even your own websites reviews!

 

We also dive into the myths we hear on a day to day basis about Yelp (or other third party websites), myths like: "Is it true that you have to pay Yelp to get the negative reviews down?" We talk about what is a good goals to set in order to start seeing some real BIG major changes in your new patient flow and overall practice's credibility and reputation, because if you have a bad reputation in your community, then you need to combat this immediately... or move!

 

Stuart Faught has been in dentistry for quite some time now and started off as an employee in Dentrix, from that point on he made many connections with dentists, specialists, and consultants. Time after time, many successful consultants told him reviews played a key and major role when it cam to increasing the success in a dental practice. Not too long after that, Stuart left Dentrix and started his journey with Patient Snap! Automated systems often send too many texts and bother patients.  Only you and your staff know when patients want to receive correspondence and how.  When this opportunity does present itself, it needs to be simple.  From your personalized Patient Snap dashboard, you can simply enter your patients phone number that you already have on file and our system will automatically generate links to your most valuable review sites:  Google, Yelp & Your own website.

 

SUPPORTERS/ SPONSORS:

AND.... for $100.00 OFF FB IGNITE CLICK THIS WHOLE SENTENCE! 

Go take a look at FB IGNITE and thank them for supporting the show BUT also take a look and see how easy it is to attract new patients through Facebook with this new course.

Dr. Anissa Holmes will LITERALLY be by your side the whole time! So click the link above or below to look at more information, testimonials, videos, and see if this is something you want!

FB IGNITE DENTAL FACEBOOK MASTERCLASS

or visit: www.deliveringwow.com/tdm

 

STUART FAUGHT'S LINKS:

Patient Snap Website

Stuart Faught's Linkedin

 

THE DENTAL MARKETER LINKS:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM (you can talk to me more 1 on 1 here)

Sometimes we feel like we have tried everything to motivate our employees, and by everything that just may mean incentives OR it may mean that you REALLY did try everything. If that is the case and your team member or employee is still lacking that motivation or they just can't seem to perform their best than DO NOT WORRY...because we got you covered! Keith let's us know what really matters and how to convert these B player employees into A players.

 

This episode is jam packed with so much wonderful information that, honestly, no one seems to talk about.... but should! We break down the "top line" and the "bottom line". This is SO important to keep in mind because you always want to manage the "top line" and not obsess about the "bottom line", most times dentist and business owners tend to do it backwards! We also break down the definition of a good team member and why you need to have this definition in writing and engraved into your dental practice's culture! Keith and I also, of course, discuss how to deal with employees who are NOT performing their best as well.

 

 

Keith is actually one of the pioneers of Invisalign! Which I think is SO fascinating and he tells us a brief history of his time their when it was just starting up!

Keith started his career in dentistry back in 1994 as a Sales Representative for Brasseler USA where he spent 6 years until he transitioned over to Align Technology, Inc. (makers of Invisalign®). Align Technology was a very exciting position for him,  getting to usher in a revolutionary product and a new technology for straightening teeth. Keith became a Regional Manager in 2007 and that is where he found his love of coaching and leadership. He always envisioned himself as a coach and when it happened, it made a huge impact in his world and for the company.

 

Keith is Co-Founder and CEO of Dental Team Finder. He has led teams in Sales & Marketing and has been in the dental industry for over 20 years. He has lectured in the dental and orthodontic fields and has been a contributor to many articles and studies in his tenure with Brasseler USA and Align Technology. Keith is a student of Leadership and believes that this endeavor is a journey, not a destination.

 

 

SUPPORTERS/ SPONSORS:

AND.... for $100.00 OFF FB IGNITE CLICK THIS WHOLE SENTENCE! 

Go take a look at FB IGNITE and thank them for supporting the show BUT also take a look and see how easy it is to attract new patients through Facebook with this new course.

Dr. Anissa Holmes will LITERALLY be by your side the whole time! So click the link above or below to look at more information, testimonials, videos, and see if this is something you want!

FB IGNITE DENTAL FACEBOOK MASTERCLASS

or visit: www.deliveringwow.com/tdm

 

KEITH MCLACHAN'S LINKS:

Dental Team Finder Website

Dental Team Finder Facebook

 

THE DENTAL MARKETER LINKS:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM (you can talk to me more 1 on 1 here)

Inevitably, life is filled to the brim with victorious highs and disappointing lows. Whether we lack the will to throw aside our covers in the morning or feel tempted to skip a daily gym session, each of us must summon the motivation and courage to press forward. Of course, this challenge is particularly difficult for those who want to build success from scratch. Join in as Michael speaks with Dr. Ashley Joves about her in-the-works dental practice, SMILE & CO. From worrisome health complications to inspiring community efforts, Ashley’s revolutionary journey is sure to inspire the entrepreneur and warrior in all of us.

 

Time-Stamped Show Notes

[2:50] — Michael emphasizes the challenges that come with starting something from scratch and recaps events from episode 1.

[03:51] — Ashley tells us about her meeting with Taryn Grows from the Folsom Chamber of Commerce in a local coffee shop. Taryn has helped her connect with the Folsom community and network with other small business-owners.

[6:40] — When asked how she views Chambers of Commerce, Ashley responds with, “As a startup, I think it’s a little too early to close doors on potential clients.”

[9:16] — The trenching and framing of SMILE & CO. has been completed! Now Ashley and her team are deciding where to place electrical outlets and other amenities. Her walls will be built from frosted glass for an open feel without sacrificing privacy.

[11:25] — In order to preserve a beautiful open buttress and high ceilings, Ashley will most likely use scrim to reinforce her building and hold insulation in place. Her contractor recommends the sturdy material for a wide range of projects.

[12:45] — Ashley receives an impromptu call from her contractor, Dave. Listen in on their conversation!

[14:03] — Michael reminds us about the members of Ashley’s team.

[17:03] — More about Ashley’s awesome team…

[24:45] — Ashley and her team were blown away by the look of the exposed ceiling. Unfortunately, hiding wires and piping when the walls are built with glass is both challenging and massively expensive.

[26:54] — Unbeknownst to her, Ashley’s team removed one of the glass walls and replaced it with a regular wall. Although they have yet to complete the incorrect well, Ashley is upset about the change.

[30:00] — Ashley hopes to install cabinets from IKEA instead of a custom company. That way, she can both save money and enjoy a modern design.

[30:42] — A truss system is an “arrangement of wooden or steel support beams configured in a triangle-shape.” The design is strong, simple, inexpensive, and easy to construct.

[32:00] — If Ashley had known how awesome and cool-looking truss systems are, in addition to the industrial theme she later decided to focus on, she wouldn't have installed recessive/can lights.

[34:02] — “I have been struggling health-wise,” Ashley admits. Her journey has been exhausting and has taken a major tole on her mental and physical health. Her “health nut” brother has convinced her to take a few steps away from her project and focus more carefully on her health.

[36:32] — According to com, personal health is the fifth-most important factor in building a successful practice. “Your business can’t run without you,” Michael insists.

[37:19] — When pursuing a goal or starting a business, make sure to set aside time for friends and family. Maintaining healthy relationships outside of work will help you nurture a healthy perspective and keep you energized.

[37:35] — “I cared too much everyone else’s opinions,” Ashley says. In the end, she decided instead to form decisions based on her happiness and the success of her practice.

[38:35] — #AdviceAlert: “Prioritize,” Ashley says. “If you have a lot of stuff you have to do, you really have to organize and write them down,

Here is episode 62! Here I interview the wonderful Dr. Eric Studley. In this episode we really dissect the marketing practices and tactics that have worked in the past and continue to work and what is popular now that we should NOT be doing at all. Too many times we spent too much time trying to figure out the most innovative and dramatic way to attract a new patient, which can be okay but to a limit, sometimes we spend too much time on this and then realize we spent so much money trying to see what sticks that we passed up really good tactics and techniques; or what the case is sometimes is, we let go of what has always worked for the community and demographic.

 

We also discuss how having a team that LOVES what they do is essential. It's not just "important" anymore but it is crucial and essential. You should be able to have trust in your team, so much trust that if you didn't have to have them "clock-in" and "clock-out" you know they would still strive to perform their absolute best and stay the necessary hours to get the work done.

 

Dr. Eric S. Studley is a renowned speaker in the Dental Community, Dr. Studley has lectured throughout the country on the subjects of Ethics, Insurance Planning, Case Acceptance, Ergonomics, Risk and Practice Management.

Dr. Studley is licensed throughout the USA and represents all major insurance companies.

Associate Clinical Professor at New York University College of Dentistry

G.P. Director in the Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care

Director of Practice Management at the dental school responsible for development and presentation of practice management skills to dental students

Director of Ergonomics

Speaker for the American Dental Association’s Practice Management Program

Has published articles in dental journals

A member of O.K.U. (Dental National Honor Society)

2/2009 Co-authored a Practice Management Textbook for new dentists – Titled “Dental Practice – Get in the Game”

 

 

DR. ERIC STUDLEY'S LINKS:

Dr. Eric Studley's Insurance Website

Email: [email protected]

Doccupations Website

 

THE DENTAL MARKETER LINKS:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM (you can talk to me more 1 on 1 here)

Dr. Ashley Joves is building her own dental practice, SMILE & CO., from scratch. For weeks she has been recording and publicly broadcasting her experience all over the internet. The journey has been difficult, rewarding, and revolutionary all at once. Although the path has been tough so far, she is determined to create the startup of her dreams. Join Dr. Ashley Joves and Michael Arias as they document the whole entire process of creating a dental practice, the areas to watch out for, and the emotional connotations of being a female entrepreneur.

 

Time-Stamped Show Notes

[0:40] — Michael reminds us about Ashley Joves and her departure from working as an associate to creating her dream practice from scratch.

[01:43] — Ashley describes what has happened since episode 58. Her permits were accepted while she was attending a dental convention in Vegas.

[3:25] — Ashley discusses Dave Olsen, her wonderful contractor, in addition to how she found a contractor and how she began the processes of building her own practice.

[4:10] — The life of a contractor: With information found on chron.com, Michael explains how contractors bid for jobs. The process involves investigating the project, pricing out materials, comparing the project with past work, working out licensing and other factors, and presenting the resulting estimate to the potential client.

[06:50] — Check out markupandprofit.com to calculate how much you should pay for a contractor. Michael suggests that you shouldn’t go cheap or choose contractors based on price.

[8:33] — Ashley describes her building and some pricing factors involved in building her practice.

[10:32] — “Every day,” Ashley responded when asked whether she questions the scope of what she’s doing.

[12:30] — “A lot of the time, you don’t what kind of patient base you’re getting.” There’s definitely a lot of risk involved in startups.

[13:10] — Learn about how Ashley found her dream building!

[15:00] — #DoYourResearch: Cole Sweatt, Ashley’s real estate broker from tricommercial, has fantastic experience and skills. His client list and affiliations are also impressive. Always research before you hire!

[16:52] — Ashley and Michael discuss what happens between hiring a contractor and demolition day.

[18:00] — Te average debt for dental school students is $350,00+. An NYU graduate, Ashley is trying to accrue as much of her debt as possible with the help of State Farm.

[19:05] — Michael emphasizes the importance of due diligence, or, he puts it, “The stuff you don’t think about.”

[20:00] — Ashley cancelled her escrow because she wanted to invest more in her escrow account. Learn about her experience with soft deadlines and negotiating with a frustrated agent.

[24:00] — With her S Corporation, Ashley is officially the president of her company.

[25:00] — Ashley spent around $15,000 just for due diligence.

[26:04] — Ashley describes her experience finding and working with her designer, Tami Teel, who is a regular contributor to HGTV.

[28:00] — Don’t forget about IT work! Tim VanDermyden will be working with Ashley on her practice.

[29:29] — You can teach yourself how to do anything on YouTube! Ashley created her own Wordpress site and figured out more just by using the internet.

[30:20] — Now that we’re all caught up, Ashley describes the “trenching” process that was happening at the time of the podcast interview.

[31:55] — “If you are thinking about doing a startup, this is a must,” Ashley promises as she discusses breakaway seminars and saving money during the process.

[33:55] — “You have to find a balance between what you want, what you need, and efficiency.”

[36:15] — Ashley discusses using IKEA products in dental practices. There are definitely pros and cons.

It’s episode 61! This episode has been brought to you buy Stream Dental Staffing Solutions, actually…. This episode is with one of the founders of Stream Dental Staffing Solutions; Samantha Leonard. In this episode we stress the importance of having the right team in your practice! We all know it is important to have the right staff, but do you know what the right staff is? Is your practice full of A players or B and C players? What if your employee has all the right features EXCEPT for one maybe small, but important feature that they lack?

 

Listen to this episode as Samantha teaches you how to dissect and over-analyze everything when building the perfect team for your dental practice. Also she shares with us two major pieces of advice, one good for your dental practice, and the other, good for life!

 

 

Samantha has been in the Dental industry for ten years. During this time period, she has accomplished a great deal in the first decade of her career. Graduating with honors from the Dental Assisting program at SAIT, she then went on to complete her Orthodontic module shortly thereafter.

She has worked every role, worn every hat and mastered all the traits that eventually lead her to become a Practice Manager with a well respected and world-renown Orthodontist, Dr. Sam Daher. Together, they started and built a multi-million dollar practice from scratch. She is now the Operational Manager for all four Orthostyle locations.

 

Samantha’s personal mission is to “help you find your ‘dream job’ faster!” She understands how vital it is to work in an environment that promotes and nourishes personal growth and development. Her managerial experience has helped her appreciate and identify the negative effect of a wrong hire and the adverse impact on team dynamic, quality of customer service, lost time and wasted money.

 

Please don’t forget to download the FREE book: 20 THINGS MOST DENTAL PROFESSIONALS MISS WHEN HIRING A NEW EMPLOYEE.

Let this be your new guide to finding the right person for your perfect team!

 

SAMANTHA LEONARD’S LINKS:

Stream Dental Staffing Solutions Website

FREE BOOK: 20 Things Most Dental Professionals Miss When Hiring A New Employee.

Stream Dental Staffing Solutions FACEBOOK

 

THE DENTAL MARKETER LINKS:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM (you can talk to me more 1 on 1 here)

THE NEW SERIES STARTS: May 12, 2017.