A complimentary e-newsletter from Linda Miles for the professional dental community
For subscription (or unsubscription) details, as well as Miles & Associates contact information, please see the end of this newsletter.
Visit us at www.DentalManagementU.com
Welcome to my new and exciting e-newsletter Dynamic Data which will keep our many followers and clients informed of the changes in dental management, staff issues, & marketing strategies! As a bonus we will also keep you up to date with where and when you can attend the next Miles & Associates Seminar, or order our in-office materials.
Here’s hoping your first quarter of the new century has been a resounding success. If the first quarter figures did not live up to your expectations, ask your staff to assist you in learning why. The major reasons for a disappointing quarter include:
1. Weak hygiene department
2. Broken and failed appointments
3. Changes in staff three to six months ago
4. Lack of vision/no set goals
5. Absentee staff
6. Vacation of doctor(s) or staff
7. Professional burnout
8. Weak treatment planning
9. Scheduling mishaps (Too far scheduled with small procedures, no place to put the larger treatment plans)
If the first quarter exceeded your wildest expectations, I hope you have celebrated with your staff. It is important, to keep this momentum going, that you acknowledge the team’s input. It is also advisable to sit down over lunch and discuss the many reasons for this tremendous surge of productivity (a what went right session). Remember, behavior that is appreciated, is always repeated.
If you had a strong first quarter, multiply the quarterly production by 4. This is what your practice is on target to produce for the year. These are usually the reasons for a surge in productivity:
1. Six months before the surge began, what changed in the systems?
2. A change in systems or people usually creates a six months later surge
3. Did you have a fee increase?
4. Did you add more hygiene days?
5. Did you attend a seminar on practice growth or clinical excellence?
6. Did you add an associate or more doctor days?
7. Did you add additional staff as needed?
8. Have you and your hygienist(s) become more aware of early diagnosing of perio disease, & are you working closely with your periodontist?
9. Did you share each month’s increase with your team in the form of incentives?
10. Have your case presentation skills improved?
11. Are you delegating more chairside communication to your clinical team?
12. Have you developed strong scheduling and time management habits?
At Miles & Associates, we believe in monitoring the practice by statistics and team involvement. Numbers alone never empower the staff. Allowing them to become involved in Participative Management develops owner attitude rather than unionized thinking.
We are privileged to work with the best dental teams in North America because we select our clients carefully. We choose not to work with offices that have huge staff turnover or those that have had bad experiences with other consultants too numerous to mention. Why, because typically, there is so much excess baggage in those practices, they will become our 2% that God can’t please, so why are we trying?
We prefer to use our energies wisely and sincerely, and look forward to working with the same great practices for decades. What constitutes a good client office?
1. Dentists who have an open mind to change
2. Staff who are eager to learn & are supportive of change
3. Appreciative doctors and staff
4. Those who share what they learn with others in dentistry
5. Dentists who believe in quality dentistry
6. Those who treat others with dignity and respect
7. Those who are balanced in lifestyles (family oriented)
8. Dentists and staff who are enthusiastic and happy
9. Goal oriented offices that know there is always room for improvement
10. Dentists who enjoy sharing the growth with their staff
The following dialogue with a recent client office for questions & answers will hopefully be of value to you in your own practice.
1. Is there a suggested format for morning huddles, or some suggestions as to what should be covered?
Huddles should be conducted by the scheduling coordinator who calls on each person to present their daily chart audits in 1-2 minutes each. The doctor usually adds his ideas on the best place to work in an emergency that day if the allotted flex time for emergencies was filled yesterday. My clients like to start the day off with motivation, inspiration and fun, so I recommend one person reading an inspirational thought for the day (from one of the inspirational calendars you get at an office supply), another person reads a humorous message for the day or is responsible for a funny cartoon. The doctor then awards the employee of the day award (a gold pin made at the mall at Things Remembered shop) which says “Employee Of The Day”. When patients ask what it means, that person can proudly answer, “Someone in my office saw me go above and beyond my call of duty yesterday to make the office a better place for our patients or co-workers.” Patients really get into these types of recognition and take it back to their own place of business which is a great marketing tool for the office.
2. What salary do you suggest for a RDH? How is that structured?
Salaries for hygienists are typically by the day or week if they are full-time. The salary plus commission is an individual bonus which is ok, but I prefer a team incentive that the hygienist is on also. I believe that a person’s salary should never go up to attend CE, nor should their salary go down that week. Another reason to pay people for 52 weeks per year. What an employer loses in low morale is ten times what they pay in total salary.
3. How do you handle the situation when one person (staff on salary) is unable to attend work one day for whatever reason, and they do not have any sick days left and there is no work to be taken home?
Regarding how to pay employees sick pay or well bonus pay is easy on salary. If they have 4 personal days per year, 1 per quarter, they are paid 1 sick day that quarter & docked a day if they exceed the day per quarter allowance. Some offices buy back the unused 4 days in the employee’s anniversary month. This is called a “well bonus”. They also receive an extra $100 if all 4 days are unused. Well bonuses are far less expensive than sick days, as it costs hundreds of dollars per day if you are short staffed.
If you are not a client, and would like to become one of Miles & Associates’ superior practices, please call 1-800-922-0866 or email us at LLMiles@ix.netcom.com. Information on our current consulting plans can be accessed through our website at www.DentalManagementU.com
COMING SOON – SUNFUN SEMINARS FOR 2001
Make plans now to join our exciting 2001 SunFun Seminars in Cancun on January 17-21, 2001, or our 4-Day Western Caribbean Cruise on April 26-30, 2001. We plan to have sell-out crowds at both courses, so call our corporate office today to register you & your staff (1-800-922-0866).
Cancun has become the preferred land seminar site of all time. Our 4-Day Western Caribbean Cruise will be the most exciting event in our ten years of sailing. The good news, the seminar will take place while at sea, so no land excursions will be missed, and we have been able to contract a 4-day cruise for the price of a three day cruise!
We have also contracted with our travel agent for the rate per person to include airfare, all meals, hotel (the ship), and all entertainment (except for land excursions) at approximately $1,200 per person (this fee does not include seminar registration). A 25% deposit per person reserves your rooms in Cancun or the cabins of choice. Call Kathleen at Executive Travel today at 1-800-524-8466. The best rooms & cabins go quickly – call today!
REMEMBER: As clients of Miles & Associates, your tuition on all SunFun Seminars is always at a 50% reduction. Even if you were a client of record in the 80′s, the 50% courtesy still applies. Why? Because we want as many of our client offices to meet each other as possible at these functions. Call Annie or Suzanne at our corporate offices to register today (1-800-922-0866).
If you are not yet a personal client of one of our consultants you can still take advantage of the 50% courtesy by becoming a one year practice enhancement client before the end of 2000. Call today to reserve your two or three day in office visit by one of our consultants. Your investment is typically recouped ten times over in increased production the first twelve months.
Our consultants’ summer schedules are quickly filling, so call today. Don’t forget pediatric practices! We have our own Pediatric Consultant, Denise Holick, who receives rave reviews from pediatric dental offices.
MARKETING TIP OF THE MONTH
Would you like to add over $100,000 to the bottom line this year and make many patients thrilled with their whiter, brighter smile? Offer 2-for-1 whitening procedures each month until year’s end. These procedures that usually cost $395-$495 (home bleaching) are passive income, done by the second dental assistant in the doctor’s second chair.
With the 2-for-1 special, two friends, husband & wife, members of the bridal party, mother & daughter, or neighbors, can enjoy the reduced fee, have the procedure they want (but have postponed due to the fee).
Stop doing twelve procedures per year or month and do three per day, (48 per month in a 16 day month). At an average fee of $450 divided by two= $225, X 48 = $10,800 per month X 12 = $129,600. After the costs of goods, (whitening materials), this is a six figure profit! To encourage the staff to remind patients of this great service, I recommend having a bonus of 10% divided 5% for the cosmetic coordinator, and 5% divided among the rest of the team monthly as an incentive.
To make it even more fun and exciting, allow another 10% to go into the interest bearing trip kitty fund for taking the entire staff to a major meeting once per year and an annual fun retreat to plan next year’s business plan.
Also, don t forget that the best marketing plan is to have the dentist(s) and entire staff as walking advertisements for whitening. You can’t sell something you don t believe in enough to have yourself.
A great way to market whitening is statement stuffers, walk-out certificates given upon check-out, and offer to whiten the teeth of the beauty salon owners or one of their stylists in exchange for their before & after photos at each of the salons workstations. As clients have their hair cut, they will inquire about the photos. Your certificates or business cards can then be given by the stylists.
Until next month, remember what Dale Carnegie once said:
“SUCCESS IS GETTING WHAT YOU WANT HAPPINESS IS WANTING WHAT YOU GET”
- Linda
Please keep in mind that this newsletter is being offered FREE in response to your request for information. If you would like to unsubscribe to Dynamic Data please send an email to LLMiles@ix.netcom.com to let us know.
Miles & Associates’ corporate headquarters may be reached at 1-800-922-0866 or 757-498-0014 On the web at www.DentalManagementU.com Or via email at LLMiles@ix.netcom.com
Miles & Associates – May 2000
Tags: 2000, e-newsletter