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

At the end of September we enter the last quarter of 2000. Is your practice on track for at least a 15% increase over 1999? Most practices increase fees by 6-7% annually. Another 6-7% increase should come from improved efficiency, effective scheduling, reduced broken and changed appointments, better teamwork, and higher degrees of case acceptance through improved communication with patients.

Have you planned your 2001 Office Retreat of morning learning sessions with afternoons off? It’s fun to celebrate the success of 2000 while setting goals for 2001. Many dental professionals are so busy working in their practices, they don’t have time to work on their practices. Retreats offer a revitalization of commitment, enthusiasm, teamwork, and pride in the profession of dentistry for dentists and staff.

Going to an off-site resort area for two or three days is a great way to be very creative. In 2001, our team of consultants will host retreats in various resort areas. Each week-long session will allow each consultant to work with three practices in one of our pre-arranged locations, or you may bring the consultant to your selected location. Request either Monday and Tuesday mornings, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, or Friday and Saturday morning. Call 800.922.0866 for more information and dates. We firmly believe that happy, well-trained staff are more productive and stay with their careers longer.

We are happy to report that more than 300 people are registered for the April 2001 Western Caribbean Cruise in the first 90 days of marketing! Our sincere thanks to Care Credit, our sponsor for this SunFun Seminar as well as Cancun in January. For those in our readership who have not yet registered, call our staff today for the team-building seminars of the century.

We have had a great response for our Virtual Classrooms. All Practice Administrators who wish to register for the 8 weeks of Monday night telebridge classes should call Annie, Christy, or Lee to get their names on the list. Class begins mid- November. Networking is the best way to learn valuable insight into the joys and challenges of practices just like yours.

CLIENT OF THE MONTH

Monthly, we will begin highlighting a Client of the Month. This is a practice we have enjoyed working with over the past years. Our Practice of the Month Award for September goes to a very special client office in Tuscaloosa, AL. Dr. Robert Davis, Dr. John Marshall and Dr. Del Shoffner. My first visit to Dr. Davis’ solo practice was in 1987. I have had the pleasure of watching this practice grow from a one-doctor practice to a fine group of professionals. If I could pin-point three reasons for their tremendous success, they would be:

1) Love of the profession and keeping in tune with changes.
2) A highly skilled team of committed dentists and staff.
3) Dr. Bob Davis’ sense of pride and leadership ability. Also, his desire to bring out the best in his co-workers.

It is always good to revisit each practice for reassessing and new goals. Keeping in touch through monthly monitors and conference calls continues to be a source of enjoyment and excitement.

MARKETING TIP OF THE MONTH

One of the highlights of this past month was hearing from Michele at Dr. Chris Cooley’s practice in the Memphis area. His staff went one step further than the toothbrush baskets idea I have shared with many clients. They targeted the local schools and delivered baskets with imprinted toothbrushes and floss, erasers, crayons, pencils, and a 6” ruler with the phrase, “How does your smile measure up?” Way to go, Dr. Chris and Staff!

It isn’t too soon to start adding to your monthly statements, the following phrase, “Avoid the end of the year Insurance rush, call today to maximize your employee dental benefits.” Patients love the fact you wish to help them. The insurance companies aren’t too keen on assisting patients in maximizing their employee benefits, but what else is new??

One of the highlights of September will be that Don and I will be hosting Dr. Don Wallace and his wife Heather from New Zealand. Don and Heather were our hosts in N.Z. 2 years ago. Their picturesque practice overlooks a beautiful lake there in New Zealand.

Don and I are also looking forward to my 4th speaking tour to N.Z. and Australia this Fall. My client, Dr. Deanne Blazek and her husband, Dr. Larry Hetzel from Wisconsin will be meeting us in Brisbane. Our Speaking Consulting Network friends, Kathy Metaxes and Dr. Denis Cosgrove, will be on hand in Perth. We sincerely thank our dear friend and host, Ruth Port of Port Laboratory, Sydney, for the invitation to return to our many friends and followers down under.

Last, but not least, my sincere thanks to my own super staff for making 2000 a fantastic year thus far. Our consultants are exceptionally busy, my calendar for 2001 is nearly filled to capacity, and we are starting to organize 2002! The world of dentistry gets better each decade.

Please keep in mind that this newsletter is being offered FREE in response to your request for information. If you wold like to unsubscribe to Dynamic Date please send us an email to let us know.

Miles & Associates’ corporate headquarters may be reached at 800.922.0866, or 757.498.0014. On the web at www.DentalManagementU.com, or via email at LLMiles@ix.netcom.com.

Miles & Associates – September 2000

Miles & Associates 4356 Bonney Road Suite 2-103 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452

757-498-0014 757-498-0290 FAX 800-922-0866 Toll-free www.DentalManagementU.com

A complimentary e-newsletter from Linda Miles for the professional dental community.

For subscription (or unsubscription ) details, as well as Miles and Associates contact information, please see the end of this newsletter.

Visit us at www.DentalManagementU.com

Welcome to the second edition of our exciting e-newsletter, Dynamic Data. Our mission is to bring each office the latest in ideas, questions & answers, staff issues, and marketing. By request from many of our followers in the past 22 years, we will include an updated itinerary in each issue.

Our happenings the past month include: The 4th Annual LLM Speaking/Consulting Network in Las Vegas with close to 50 people in attendance. Mr. Bill Brooks, CEO of a multi-million dollar speaking/consulting business was our featured speaker. Dr. Paul Homoly was a guest speaker on platform skills, along with Dr. Chuck Parker, who shared with the group the concepts of Virtual Classrooms.

SCN was started in 1996 to assist independent speakers and consultants in the formation or acceleration of their own speaking/consulting businesses. The field of speaking and consulting in the dental industry is in demand more each year as dentists realize that management of their practices is as much an art and science as clinical dentistry. SCN 2001 is slated for Hilton Head Island, Friday & Saturday, June 1-2. The advanced course for those who have attended at least two of the basic SCN s will be Monday & Tuesday, June 4-5, also at the Crowne Plaza Resort, Hilton Head, SC. Register now for 12 monthly payments automatically deducted from your credit card on the 10th of each month from now until May 10, 2001.

Also, in the month of April, I accompanied one of my top clients to Jamaica for their annual Follow-Up Consultation in the form of a RETREAT IN PARADISE. Upon arrival we had dinner that evening. On the first morning, I individually interviewed the staff poolside, then met with the dentist. The second morning we held a four hour team meeting to talk about the strengths, weaknesses, and new goals of the practice. Each afternoon and evening was free time, but the all-inclusive resort made it fun to spend much of the down-time visiting and relaxing at the beach or pool. As I floated on a yellow raft in the turquoise pool, overlooking the ocean on that cloudless Sunday morning, I realized I may never be able to consult in a regular setting again! I have spoken with our travel agency, the resort near Montego Bay, and my consultants about doing this again next year. We are all available to spend a week in Montego Bay next February 12-17, 2001. We will work with 4 offices Monday & Tuesday morning, another 4 offices Wednesday & Thursday morning, and another 4 offices Friday & Saturday morning from 8AM-12PM. Call Annie Seela at the corporate office at 1-800-922-0866 to arrange your Follow-Up Consultation. We will gather the same practice stats, schedules, doctor and staff questionnaires, etc. We look forward to working in paradise with 12 client offices next February.

How are your numbers for the first half of 2000? Our consultants, Anne Knouse, FL; Vicki Turner, TX; and Denise Holick, NJ, (PEDO), are all reporting huge improvements in their clients net and gross incomes. Our clients are having their best year ever. More importantly, their staff members are happy, have initiative, and are supporting each other as true team players throughout the day! Ask any dentist what they cherish most – right at the top of each list is staff who work in harmony.

MARKETING TIP OF THE MONTH:

Our clients who have decided to become distinctive in their type of practice and the deliverance of total comprehensive and cosmetic care (rather than the short break and fix appointments) have developed a marketing plan. With the plan must come the % of budget to be spent on marketing each month (most businesses spend 7-9%, I would be happy with 2-3% in dentistry as a start). The practice must then appoint a Director of Marketing within the existing staff, or hire a part-time marketing person for 2-4 hours per week. If this is an existing staff person, they should work on marketing during the practice s 2 hours per week of non-patient time. As outlined in my new Dental Business Video Series, this is the most productive 8 hours per month. Internal marketing involves decor, customer service and gifts of appreciation for patients, (Patient Pleasers). Each patient that leaves the office on the designated Appreciation Day is presented with an inexpensive gift with the doctor s name and telephone number. These can be visors, water bottle holders, travel toothbrush and floss kits, emergency kits with a sample of aspirin, band aids, floss, stim -u-dents, etc. Some practices go to the Dollar Store and purchase useful gifts to place in the adult toy box for each patient at completion of their appointments. Anything that makes the patient talk favorably about their dental experience is the key.

Some of our clients have attended a Practice Builder Seminar and report that their marketing programs are quite effective. For more information call Practice Builders at 1-800-679-1200. Having the right stationery, logo, business and recare cards is a must.

I am in the process of putting together small groups of scheduling coordinators, financial coordinators, assistants, hygienists, and office administrators for 8 hours of Virtual Classrooms every Monday evening or every other week for 16 weeks duration. If you are interested in joining, please e-mail me at LLMiles @ix.netcom.com. Classes will begin in August or September. When we held our last classroom, many dentists asked, “How can I compensate my staff to belong to your classes by phone other than pay their phone bill for the calls?” My answer is, when the doctor is away at a class or on vacation, give the employee(s) who participate(s) a day off with pay to cover the 8 hours of classrooms by phone. Even if the employee is not home, they can still call the restricted number one hour per week or every other week for their class with other top people in dentistry who share their joys and frustrations. The fee per person for Virtual Classroom is $750 for 8 classrooms. The doctor will more than re-coup the entire investment with the first hour, the other seven weeks will be icing on the cake for furthering each participants communications skills in reducing broken and changed appointments, collections, setting up financial arrangements, customer service, etc.

While DISTANCE LEARNING is the wave of the future, nothing takes the place of attending the seminars live with the entire team. For a complete list of our upcoming seminars, our Cancun SunFun and Western Caribbean Cruise, see our web-site itinerary. Both courses are filling up fast with one office bringing a total of 40 people, including spouses!

If your Hygiene Department is not 1/3 of your total volume, we recommend a consultant specifically for hygiene efficiency. I reviewed the program by Tammy Allen, RDH of Texas, one of this years SCN attendees, (second year). Her program, from infancy to golden age is one of the best in dentistry. Tammy can be reached at 1-800-934-5558.

Until next month, my new Power Thought Cards (a gift from SCN attendee, Sue Geraghty in North Dakota), says:

“EACH AGE HAS IT’S OWN SPECIAL JOYS AND EXPERIENCES. I AM ALWAYS THE PERFECT AGE FOR WHERE I AM IN LIFE”

and

“THIS IS A NEW DAY, ONE THAT I HAVE NEVER LIVED BEFORE. I STAY IN THE NOW AND ENJOY EACH AND EVERY MOMENT”

Thanks, Sue!

Sincerely, Linda L. Miles, CEO

Please keep in mind this newsletter is being offered complimentary in response to the many requests to stay in touch with our clients and followers. If you wish to unsubscribe to Dynamic Data please send an e-mail message 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. Fax us at 757-498-0290. On the web at www.DentalManagementU.com Or via email at LLMiles@ix.netcom.com

Miles & Associates – June 2000