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June 2023 Dental Practice Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas
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June 2023 Dental Practice Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas

Hello Friends,

Here are some practice management reminders, leadership, and team-building ideas that can easily be implemented during the month of June. (Don’t wait until the end of the second quarter of the year to evaluate if your and your team’s daily actions are in harmony with your practice vision and mission. )

For Marketing, Social Media Content, and Practice Growth Ideas for June Visit: June 2023 Marketing Ideas

Leadership & Team Building & Appreciation Idea

Practice improvement and growth start with you and your team! Remember, there is no way that the quality of patient care and experiences will exceed the quality of the people who provide it.

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” –Napolean Hill

 

Invest in your team – Thoroughly train your employees (new & old) on your practice goals, systems, expectations, software, telephone skills, dental procedures, protocols, etc.  Include regular continuing education – you can do this with in-office training, webinars, lunch and learns, and seminars/classes outside of the office.

Doughnut Day or Donut Day: June 2nd – Bring in donuts for the team!

 

 

Recess at Work day is June 15th – Get outside for a few minutes with your team for some fresh air. If you can’t all get outside, open the windows, and turn up the radio.  How about a sweet treat to enjoy during “recess”? (ex: ice cream, frozen drink, etc.)

Practice Management Reminders & Ideas

Unscheduled Patients – Now is a great time to reach out to your unscheduled patients both active and inactive patients. Why? Because for your patients to smile healthy they need to schedule the treatment you’ve diagnosed and to come in regularly for their hygiene continuing care appointments.

Some questions to consider:

  • Of your active patients (seen in the last 18 months) how many have a next appointment scheduled and how many do not?
  • What systems are in place to ensure the team is staying in touch with your unscheduled patients?
  • How many patients left the practice this year?
  • What can you do together as a team to retain more patients by consistently exceeding their expectations?
  • What can you do together as a team to help more patients say yes to your very best care? Remember, When your patients are healthy – the practice is healthy.

Knowing your practice numbers and doing something with what you know about those numbers is key to growing and improving your practice. Numbers tell a story. Numbers tell you if your practice is healthy or unhealthy.

Reviews & Recommendations – Ask your patients to please review your office on Google and recommend you on Facebook. Don’t simply rely on third-party companies to do this for you. It’s so simple (& free) to invite your patients to do this for you.

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.”  ― Mother Teresa

 

 

Practice Owners, 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.

As always, wishing you all a happy and productive month!

Please... If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice –  I would truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

Dental Marketing and Practice Growth Ideas September 2022
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Dental Marketing and Practice Growth Ideas September 2022

Hello Friends,

For many dental offices, September can be a slower month. Even for some of the offices that start the month with a full schedule report that as the month progresses the schedule tends to fall apart. There could be many different reasons why this happens every September. Perhaps for some, it is because families are still adjusting to the back-to-school schedules and don’t want to bother adding a visit to the dentist to their already too-hectic days or it could be because you and your team expect September to be a slow month and that there isn’t anything you can do about it. Whatever the reason, it hurts to have holes in the schedule. Yet, I have some offices that tell me September is always a great month for the schedules and production. I want you all to have that experience – full, healthy, and productive schedules.

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.

September 2022 Dental Marketing and Practice Growth Tips & Ideas

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.

For offices that offer Clear Aligners/ Invisalign: September is Self-Improvement Month – “If you’re an adult who has been putting off having your teeth straightened because you don’t want to endure the discomfort and the unsightly metal construction of traditional braces, we’re pleased to offer clear aligners – an “invisible” orthodontic alternative.”

Local Business Marketing (Relationship Building) 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 “Our Neighbors are Sweet as Honey!”

Here are a couple of examples… (From King Dental and Dr. Bruyere’s office)

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.

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 Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of September – what do your Facebook, Instagram, and Google pages look like? If you’re not keeping them up to date with fresh photos and content you’re missing out on some great opportunities to engage with your active patients, your inactive patients, and your potential patients in the community.

National Cheese Month  

Whole Grains Month

Random Acts of Kindness Day or Be Kind Day: 1 

World Coconut Day: 2 

Grandparent’s Day: 10 


International Chocolate Day: 13 

Autumn (Autumnal Equinox): 23

National Coffee Day: 29 

Family Health and Fitness Day USA: 30 

So there you have it, some fun practice growth ideas for the month of September. Please, be sure to stay in touch with me and keep me updated on any of the ideas that you use. If you have some thoughts on how to take these suggestions to the next level or just ways to improve on them I want to hear from you!

Here are some additional tips and ideas to help you enjoy full, healthy, and productive schedules. 12 Tips To Help You Fill Holes In Your Dental Schedules with Productive Appointments

If you appreciate and enjoy the complimentary ideas and content that I share each month  – I would LOVE for you to PLEASE take a quick minute to leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook. Simply click the following links:    GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK Thank you so much!!

Are you receiving 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. This way, you won’t miss a single idea! Feel free to email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will make sure you receive an invitation to follow my monthly ideas.

Wishing you all the healthiest and happiest September!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

Before you go, would you kindly do something for me? I would LOVE for you to PLEASE leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook. Simply click the following links:    GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK Thank you so much!!

Why Dental Marketing Matters
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Why Dental Marketing Matters

Hello Friends,

What is dental marketing? Do you need to market your practice? Does dental marketing even matter?

Oftentimes, dentists will proudly tell me that they don’t do any marketing in their practice and that they don’t need to market because they’re still growing with new patients each month. Others invest quite a bit of money to attract new patients to their practice. And some, tell me they need to start marketing because their office isn’t growing as they need it to.

It’s clear to me that people define what marketing is and why they would need it or not need it in different ways – in fact, here are a few dictionary definitions of marketing that I found:

“the act or process of buying and selling in a market.”

“The strategic functions involved in identifying and appealing to particular groups of consumers, often including activities such as advertising, branding, pricing, and sales.”

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as, “the activity, set of instructions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

From these definitions, we can see that marketing your practice involves so much more than just spending money on advertising. And the offices that tell me they have never done any marketing have been marketing their practice without even realizing it was marketing that they were doing to retain their patients and attract new patients. Why do I say this?

Everything that you do, everything that the patient (and potential patient) sees, hears & feels is a form of marketing. Everything you do or don’t do, matters.

Marketing your dental practice is like planting seeds. Some seeds sprout right away, others may take a while. You may have written some seeds off as a loss and when you least expect it, there it sprouts and produces beautiful results. And some may sprout where you don’t even remember planting.

” If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not.  Speak then to me.”~ William Shakespeare

What are your marketing seeds? Marketing Seeds Include (but are not limited to):

  • Current Patients/Referrals
  • Social Media Platforms
  • Google My Business
  • Online Reviews
  • Direct Mail
  • Patient Appreciation Gifts
  • Staying in Touch with your Patients
  • The Patient Experience
  • Digital Marketing (Website, SEO, Emails, Mobile Devices, Google, Etc.)
  • Your Brand / Culture
  • Community/Charity Involvement
  • Local Business Partnerships
  • You and Your Team
  • Office Appearance (Inside and Outside)
  • Office Systems and Protocols

Take some time today and think about what you are sowing & producing.

Look at your practice through the eyes of your patients and potential patients.

Look closely at yourself, your team, the exterior, and interior of your building, all office systems, your lab, sterilization procedures, website & social media sites, marketing materials, marketing programs and the patient experience. Weeds can sneak in very easily if you don’t work to prevent them or if you ignore them when they are small.

Be wary of these two especially dangerous weeds: Poor telephone call systems and poor team member attitudes. See How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone & Happy Team

Examine your referral sources & patient retention numbers, this will be a key indicator as to the quality & quantity of the seeds you and your team are planting.

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. 

Who is referring the new patients and who isn’t? And why? Are you known as the go-to dental expert in the community? If not, why?

Do you provide your patients with a consistent & quality experience over the telephone? What about during & after their visit? Are you exceeding their expectations?

Are you and your team members involved in the community? Are you tracking, acknowledging, and rewarding those that refer to you? 

Again, everything matters! 

Don’t give up and please, don’t ignore any of the areas we’ve talked about – you might not see results right away but seeds are being planted, impressions are being made. You never know where and when they will take root and bloom!

Bring in some fresh eyes if you need to, ones that will see, hear & feel what you are missing, and ones that will give you the push and help to get rid of any weeds and plant seeds of greatness daily & consistently!

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.

When considering your office needs and marketing plans, remember to…

  • Know Your Target Audience
  • Set Goals 
  • Create a monthly marketing calendar
  • Track all your marketing efforts. What’s working? What needs improvement? What needs to be eliminated?

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

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

 

Dental Employee Negativity and Conflict Resolution Tips and Ideas
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Dental Employee Negativity and Conflict Resolution Tips and Ideas

Hello Friends,

Have you ever experienced the headache of dealing with a negative employee/co-worker or one that seems to always stir up conflict? Maybe you’re dealing with this happening now in your office.

As much as we may not want to talk about it or hope the “problem” will just go away – this is a topic that should be discussed with the offender(s) and as a team.

Why? Conflict & Negativity Happens! Make a plan and an agreement as to how all office conflict and negativity will be addressed and resolved.

Betty Hayden Consulting Dental Team Conflict Resolution

Steps to deal with office conflict:

  1. Calm down and talk with the other person. (Don’t go to anyone else to discuss the conflict.)
  2. Attack the problem, not the person. Focus on behaviors and events.
  3. Listen carefully – listen to understand and not to be understood.
  4. Brainstorm solutions with a focus on the future, what it will take to move forward.
  5. Celebrate your Success.

For additional ideas visit Forbes.com for 5- Keys to Dealing with Workplace Conflict. 

dental coaching dental office teams

To manage conflict and negativity, Excellent Communication is Essential.

Communication  –

  • Job descriptions and expectations must be clearly defined. This is a great time to ask every team member to write a list of their job description and responsibilities. Have them indicate next to each task how often it is done (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, varies, etc.). This will help you determine if and when and by whom these tasks are being accomplished. You might find some important tasks are not being done at all or not often enough and so on.

  • Team Meetings/Morning Huddles are essential for a happy and smooth workday. Visit HERE for some tips on how you can have a successful morning huddle.

  • Address quickly any needed discipline or correction, don’t wait for a staff meeting to address these problems. Instead, meet one on one with the offender.

  • Avoid office negativity, it’s toxic and will infect your team – Rather, focus on and share positive experiences.
  • Your team must know the why, what, and how of your vision. They may know the what and the how but not the why, oftentimes, this is why employees are there just to collect a paycheck. Talk about what you believe and attract those who believe what you believe. People buy the why not the what.
  • Positive Gossip Only! The entire team agrees to stop gossip. Refuse to listen to it. Rather, encourage the person to go directly to the other person they have an issue or complaint about. Unless of course, they can let it go and move on.
  • Acknowledge good behavior and actions. Reward the behavior that you want to see more of. Your team needs to hear how they’re doing and shown appreciation for what they’re doing right.

How to have the best dental team

In addition to communication, Proper Training is Imperative–  Don’t hold back in this area! Invest in 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. This leads me to the next point…

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. Think about this, your administrative team is the first and last impression made on each and every one of your patients. This includes potential patients that call your office. Certainly, you want to have the very best training and education for not only your clinical team but your administrative team too. You can do this with in-office training, webinars, lunch and learns, and seminars/classes outside of the office.

 

Betty Hayden Consulting Dental Coach

It is my wish that these ideas and tips will help you and your team experience greater happiness at work without unnecessary negative conflict. If you have any questions or concerns about what you’ve read today or would like to set up a complimentary telephone consultation to learn how I can help your office grow and succeed through coaching, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review 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 and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest