Dedicated to helping doctors and their team have an office that is not only highly productive and fun but one that allows them to consistently exceed patient expectations.
Whether your practice is crazy busy or super slow – now is your opportunity to make it be your best September ever!
The marketing (growth) ideas that I am sharing with you for September will help you reactivate and reappoint patients, attract more new patients, build relationships within the community, as well as exceed your current patients’ expectations. With the ultimate goal of helping you to have more fun and less stress at work.
Dental Marketing Tips and Ideas for September 2021 (Practice Management & Leaderships Ideas Coming Soon!)
Theme: Fall in Love with a Beautiful & Healthy Smile
Focus: Preventive & Cosmetic Services
Giving-Away – Drawing for a Fall Themed Gift Basket / Patients can enter the drawing by leaving a review on Google and/or Facebook, referring their friends & family, and for coming in for their appts in September.
Patient Appreciation Gift Idea:
International Clean Hands Week is the 19th -25th – Give away little bottles of hand sanitizer with a tag or label that says, “Hands down we have the best patients in town!” Be sure your office name is included on the label.
Local Business Marketing Opportunity:
September is National Honey Month: Give away little jars of honey with a label or tag that says, for example, “Thank you for Bee-ing an Awesome Neighbor!” OR to your referring offices, you can say” Your Referrals Are Sweet As Honey – Thank you!”
Mouthguard Day: 6th – Share dental health tips about how to protect your smile while playing sports. Consider offering a mouthguard clinic for your local school sports teams.
September is National Fruit & Veggie Month – You could do a quick Facebook live video and/or post content to your social media platforms all about Nutritious School Snack Options. Perhaps, you could even create a cute, simple hand-out for your patients with a list of nutritious snack options and surprisingly unhealthy snacks.
Social Media Post Content Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of September:
World Alzheimer’s Month
Bacon Day: 5th Banana Day: 11th
Grandparent’s Day: 12th
Bright Pink Lipstick Day: 17th Talk Like a Pirate Day: 19th
First Day of Fall: 22nd
Family Health and Fitness Day USA: 25 Women’s Health & Fitness Day: 29
Do you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month? I would love and truly appreciate it for you to please leave me a review/recommendation here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Thank you!
Wishing you all the healthiest and happiest September!
Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Are you receiving my complimentary Dental Practice Management and Marketing Ideas via your email each month? If not, please follow today or send me (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea.
“There is no way that the quality of patient care and experiences will exceed the quality of the people who provide it.”
It’s true if you want your patients to consistently have great experiences, accept your treatment recommendations, and refer their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to you – it takes a quality, happy, and productive team. Of course, though, it starts with you!
Set the Example – Treat your employees how you would like them to treat your best patient!
If you want to see a positive change in your practice, you must consistently lead by example… be the change. It starts at the top. You set the tone for the day, make certain that it’s a happy & productive one. This includes any employee in a management position – if you have employees complaining about your office manager, take it seriously. A toxic office manager will destroy your practice over time, at the very least, cause a staff turnover nightmare. In fact, any employee that is toxic to your vision, to your team, and/or your patients…needs to go. It’s not easy to make the decision to terminate someone’s employment, yet absolutely necessary if you want to improve your practice. It’s been said that “what you allow you encourage.” Once you make the decision to no longer tolerate or allow the poor behavior and attitudes in your practice, you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Communication – “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
Job Expectations & Job Responsibilities – What are the performance expectations for your team? Does each employee clearly understand their role in the practice?
Hello, Good Morning! – Make it a point to greet your fellow team members every morning. Let people know that you see them and acknowledge them with a hello.
Thank you – Express your appreciation. Saying thank you improves your office, your health, and the patient’s experience.
Commendation – Commend your employees when you catch them doing something “right”. Commendation boosts morale. Applaud & reward the behavior and actions that you want to see more of. Simply thanking your team at the end of the day goes a long way in making them feel appreciated.
Creativity – Host “Brainstorm Sessions” with prizes for creative marketing ideas, solutions to improve office efficiency, welcome more new patients, patient retention, and how to have more fun as a team.
Accountability – “Great teammates hold each other accountable to the high standards and excellence their culture expects and demands.” – Jon Gordon
Work Space / Office Appearance – “Clutter in your physical surroundings will clutter your mind and spirit.”
Clutter represents indecision. Decide to get rid of the office clutter!
Staff Lounge / Lunchroom – What does your breakroom/lounge look like? Is it a space that you can relax in and enjoy? Consider cleaning it up, organizing, re-decorating, and stocking with healthy snacks and beverages for the team.
Work Hard, Have Fun, Create Beautiful Smiles.
Have FUN! – You spend far too much time together at work to not have some fun too! Create a fun and stress-free environment with Team Building Activities and Events!
Here are some ideas to get you started…
In Office Fun: Potluck lunch, Send an Ice Cream or Coffee Truck to the office, Carry out lunch (team choice), Crafts, Games, & Puzzles. Turn the music up and dance. Make little appreciation gifts that you can give out to your patients at their appointments.
Healthier Teams – How about team exercise/yoga classes? Or Monday morning breakfast smoothies? Or walks outside during breaks.
Fun with Social Media – Utilize your social media pages and your Google My Business page to show your patients and potential patients what a fun office you have.
Videos – post fun team videos on your office social media pages.
Employee Work Anniversaries – Celebrate employee work anniversaries and post pictures to your social media pages.
Pictures – take fun/silly pictures with the team and your patients to share on social media, your website, and in newsletters.
Fun Dress Up/Theme Days –
What: Decorate the office, team dresses up, small prize giveaways and snacks.
Book Club – Purchase team building/self-improvement books for your team. During your monthly team meetings or at your daily huddle discuss portions of the book. Consider purchasing electronic devices such as a Kindle Fire for each employee and download books that can be discussed during a “book club team meeting”.
Check out Dental Office Leadership, Management, Marketing, and Team Building Book Recommendations here from Betty’s Bookshelf
If you have some favorites that you think I should add to my list, feel free to shoot me a message at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com – Thank you.
Incentives/Rewards – Sometimes unexpected rewards work better than expected monthly bonuses for reaching goals. Every office is different, so if you have something that is working well for you and your team continue doing it. However, if you would like some reward/incentive ideas for reaching daily/weekly/monthly production, collection, new patient, service/product, social media, and other goals but want to keep the rewards unexpected or more spontaneous, here you go…
In addition to simple, yet appreciated, thank you cards; Spa Gift Card, Good Ol’ Cash, Lunch/Breakfast, Purse/Tote bag, Gift Baskets, Plants/Flowers, Jewelry, Movie/Theater Gift Cards, Tickets to Sporting Event/Concert, Amusement Park tickets, Restaurant gift card, Gas cards and Car Wash Gift Cards.
Outside the office Fun: (depending on your location and current pandemic restrictions/cautions)Bowling, Painting Party, Shopping, Dinner, Cooking Class, Wally Ball, Sporting Event, Spa, Escape Room, Field Day (Team up with other offices), Concert, Skating, Batting Cages, Mini Golf, Pottery Class, Theater, Pool party, Skiing, Nature hike/walk, Etc.
Continuing Education – Continuing education, not just for the providers but for the entire team is a wonderful way to ensure practice growth. Not to mention, it’s a great team-building experience, one that will give you a happier and motivated team. You can do this with in-office training, webinars, lunch and learns, and seminars/classes outside of the office.
Consider incorporating a dental continuing education class with a fun event, for example, CPR Course and Pool Party.
Regular Team Training – Don’t hold back in this area! Investin your team. Thoroughly train any new employees on your practice goals, systems, software, telephone skills, dental procedures, protocols, etc. However, training isn’t just for your new employees, everyone in the office needs regular training.
Is there a chance you might have some new dental equipment or training manuals just sitting on the shelf, collecting dust? It’s most likely because your team didn’t understand or appreciate the why and the how. Knowing why and how this new idea, technique, equipment, or procedure works, benefits the patient, the team, and the office is critical to enthused implementation.
Community Involvement – Visit the local farmers market, art/street fairs, Races/Run/Walk for-a-cause, Fundraisers, Parades, Etc. Be active in your community. Pass out freebies imprinted with your office information to the people attending these community events. Be sure to take pictures of you and your team out and about in the community and share to your social media pages and website.
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” ~ Dale Carnegie
It is my wish that these ideas and tips will help you and your team experience greater happiness at work. If you have any other ideas or things that have worked well in your office, I would love to hear about them. If you have any questions or concerns about what you’ve read today, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Did you enjoy these tips and ideas? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK – Thank you!!!
Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!
“Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’.” ~ Alfred Tennyson (happier & healthier!)
December is a great time to find and create opportunities for growth in the New Year. Make your action plan for any wanted and needed improvements to your office including setting your production, collection, treatment, continuing education, and new patient goals for the new year.
While you’re at it – think seriously about any troubles, concerns and problems that occurred during the year that you do not want to repeat in the new year. What problems would you like to see solved? Take steps to make any needed changes or improvements.
“I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.” – Alfred Tennyson
Be sure to consider and reflect upon all the things that went well too. Celebrate your successes and wins!
Note: For Dental Marketing Tips and Ideas for January 2021 Visit HERE
Practice Management Tips and Ideas
Insurance Renewals – Many of your patients’ dental insurance maximums renew on January 1st. Reach out to your patients with a friendly reminder of their renewed benefits and to schedule them to come in for their hygiene visit or unscheduled treatment with the doctor. Share insurance renewal reminders on your social media pages, too.
Unscheduled Patients – It doesn’t do any good to have active patients if they’re not scheduled for a future appointment. Make plans to reach out to all your unscheduled patients and invite them to schedule an appointment for their hygiene visit or if they have unscheduled treatment plans.
Friends, do you know how many of your active patients have a future appointment and how many do not? Do you know how many new patients you are welcoming into the practice AND how many patients you’re losing each month? To help you get that data quickly, like within minutes – if your PMS is either Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental you can request a complimentary, no-obligation practice data snapshot here: Game-Changing Awareness from Dental Intelligence – Within minutes we’ll identify your practice’s strengths and uncover hidden opportunities. I am happy to assist you with this at no charge and with absolutely no obligation to do anything further with me.
Leadership Tips & Ideas
National Clean Off Your Desk Day: 11th – Clutter represents indecision. Decide to get rid of the clutter! That includes any sticky notes attached to computer monitors, coats/sweaters hanging on the backs of chairs and fast-food drink containers sitting out on the counters.
National Bagel Day: 15th – Surprise your team and bring in bagels for breakfast 😊
Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Wishing you all a healthy and happy start to 2021!
Do you enjoy the dental leadership, management, and marketing tips and ideas that I share each month? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK
Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!
How do you feel about monthly team meetings? Do you avoid them? Do you feel like they’re a waste of time? If you do, you’re not alone. In fact, I may have heard a few doctors say they’d rather… go to the dentist than conduct a team meeting. 😉 Sorry, that was bad. It is true though that many people have had enough bad meetings that they dread team meetings to the point of not having them at all.
Why are regular team meetings so important? Because when conducted effectively they help to keep the team all on the same page and working toward the same goals and mission which leads to success. Isn’t that what we all want?
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
Which reminds me – in addition to monthly team meetings, daily huddles are critical to having more productive, happier, and less stressful work-days. If you’re not holding daily huddles or if you need some ideas to help them be more effective please visit here: Dental Office Morning Huddle Agenda Tips and Ideas
Some offices choose to conduct more frequent team meetings and/or weekly department meetings and that is totally fine but knowing that so many offices are not regularly conducting monthly meetings or not even yearly meetings – we’re taking baby steps here by recommending they get started with monthly team meetings.
Here are some tips and ideas to help you conduct effective monthly meetings.
Schedule – Schedule your monthly team meetings well in advance. If we don’t reserve some time each month for the meetings life tends to get in the way and crowd out any opportunities to meet as a team.
How much time should you reserve? Ideally, one and a half to a two-hour block of time but if you can’t spare that much time to start, reserve one hour.
Assigned Leader – Rotate who leads the monthly meetings so it isn’t always the same person. There is no reason for the meetings to only be conducted by the doctor or the office manager. Give everyone on the team the opportunity to take the lead on this.
Preparation – Post the date of the next team meeting as well as an agenda sheet. Encourage the team to add to the agenda. All team members should arrive at the meeting on time and prepared to contribute.
At the start of the meeting record:
Today’s Date:
Team Member’s Present:
The meeting note-taker is:
Meeting time-keeper is:
Who will pass notes to team members not present:
Next months meeting will be conducted by:
TO BE CONSIDERED
Open with Positive Comments & Commendation (2-5 minutes)
Each employee must contribute a positive comment/experience about someone or something in the office.
Role Play / Training (5 minutes) – Topic Suggestions: Telephones, Treatment Plans, Financial Presentations, Hand-Off, New Product/Service, Etc.
Agenda Items (15 minutes) Topic, Name of Person, the Estimated time needed to discuss
Note: If you see that there is an agenda item written down to be discussed at your next team meeting and it is something that can be handled prior to the meeting or it is something that needs to be addressed with an individual employee please don’t save it for the team meeting – take care of it now.
Growth – Ideas for Improvement (5 minutes)
Potential Stumbling Blocks – Concerns (remember to bring a solution with your concern) (5 minutes)
Numbers – Goals Vs How We’re Doing (5 minutes)
Production
Production Per Visit
Collections
Pre Appointment Percentage
Reviews
New Patients
Daily Open Chair Time
What’s Going On – Office News/ Office Happenings (2 minutes)
Marketing & Relationship Building – Marketing Status & Upcoming Plans (5 minutes)
Action Items – What? Who? When? What is the Action Item? Who is responsible for making sure it happens? When will it be completed or is it ongoing?
Have you ever decided to implement a new idea and nothing ever happens with it? Most often this is because the expectations weren’t clearly defined and no one was assigned to see it through to completion. We must work together to gently hold each other accountable for accomplishing the action items.
Meeting Conclusion – Closing Commendation & Positive/Happy Video or Quote – each month a different team member is assigned to contribute the next meeting’s positive/happy quote or video.
A few more tips and ideas…
Atmosphere – The atmosphere for these meetings should be warm and welcoming. This is a safe space where team members aren’t afraid to share their thoughts and ideas.
Stay in Control and on Topic – If you find that the team is going off-topic or a subject is taking longer to discuss than planned, please either bring everyone back on track and/or move that subject/topic to be discussed at a later date. It is all too easy to lose control if we are over-discussing a topic because we don’t have 100% agreement from all team members… that’s not likely to happen so make a decision and move on.
Employee Conduct – Everyone not only arrives at the meeting on time, but they are also prepared to contribute. Cell phones should be put on silent and away. We respect the person talking by not talking over them, not interrupting them or whispering to another employee. Oh, and this isn’t the time to catch a quick nap.
The start of the new year is the perfect time to create a new habit for the team – regular monthly team meetings! If you have questions or concerns about monthly team meetings – please reach out to me. I’m happy to help.
What are your practice goals for 2020? I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Are you receiving my free Dental Leadership, Practice Management, and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please follow today or send me (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea.
