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Blow the Roof off Usual and Customary Dentistry, Part II
By Dr. Tom “The Gems Guy” Orent
HOW TO BUILD AN IRON WALL AROUND YOUR NEW PATIENTS
If you’ve not yet read Part I, I’d recommend going back to the October 2018 issue now and reading the cover article before you read this. Doing so will help you get the most out of the Gem and your practice. In the last issue, I talked about the exodus of new patients running out my back door. It began (not coincidentally) shortly after I finished one of the major well-known continuums in which they teach us to diagnose, plan, and discuss everything we see when first meeting new patients. I’ve heard from dozens of our members who’ve experienced the same issue. These advanced restorative and occlusion courses teach us how to perform amazing clinical dentistry. But they don’t prepare us for the real world … what happens when we tell an asymptomatic new patient she needs $20,000, $30,000, or even $50,000 in dentistry when all she thought she needed was “a cleaning and a checkup.” WHICH NEW PATIENTS ARE LIKELY TO ACCEPT RECOMMENDED CARE … EVEN WHEN THEY MUST REACH DEEP INTO THEIR WALLETS TO PAY FOR THAT CARE? If your new patient presents with teeth #8 and #9 fractured in half and bleeding from the pulp … if she tells you that she has an important meeting at work late this afternoon … how difficult is it to get acceptance of #8 and #9 endo, core (or flexible fiber post, etc.), and crowns? The answer is that your patient isn’t leaving your office until you perform the endo and at least get the provisional crowns in place … almost irrespective of the fee. But what if your new patient has no symptoms, just moved from the next state, and tells you she liked her hometown dentist of 25 years … and that he told her six months ago everything was fine? Meanwhile, upon exam, you see a mouth full of decades-old large amalgams with wide-open margins. How do you think she’ll react during her first visit to your practice if you tell her everything you see and recommend the best possible restorative care? What will she say if you suggest $20,000 of inlays, onlays, and crowns? After all, you’re only telling her what you see
and what you truly believe to be in her best interests. Heck, clearly her hometown dentist wasn’t doing her any favors by not telling her she needed this care. Right? If you’re in the 1 percent of superhuman dentists who have the gift and ability to meet brand-new asymptomatic patients and convince them of the need for extensive major restorative care, stop reading and go on to the next article. But if you’re a mere mortal dentist like the rest of us, what I’m about to reveal might very well radically improve your new patient retention and acceptance of best-option, long-term rehabilitative care. This Gem will help you maximize both your patients’ health and your dental practice revenue. TELL ‘EMWHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR AND THEY’LL STAY WITH YOU. BUT … IS IT ETHICAL (EVEN CREDIBLE?) NOT TO TELL THEMWHAT WE SEE?
In Part I, I alluded to the results of the Mercedes study, in which they determined it takes six positive interactions before a new client,
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customer, or patient is ready and willing to pay big dollars out-of-pocket. Granted, not every “interaction” must be an office visit. Perhaps their first “positive interaction” is an excellent first experience with your team member booking the new patient exam. We’re focusing on your typical “bread and butter” new patient. Nothing broken, no abscesses. No pain. This is the asymptomatic patient with a mouth full of needed care but NO CLUE there’s even a single problem. During the new patient exam, you’re still five positive interactions shy of being able to consistently get a positive response to recommendations for costly extensive care. What do they want (perhaps even expect ) to hear? “Everything’s just fine! See you in six months.” No, that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t recommend any care to your brand-new asymptomatic patients. But there are limits to what they’ll accept. If you routinely exceed those limits, you’ll dramatically reduce the number of new patients who stay and become patients for life. And no, it’s neither ethical nor credible to tell them everything’s just fine, and then try to convince them otherwise six months or a year down the road. But there is a way you can avoid telling them about everything you see and actually help them accept all of your recommendations for care down the road. WHAT’S THE MISSING INGREDIENT WITH NEW PATIENTS? WHY IS IT MORE LIKELY THAT A RECALL PATIENT WILL ACCEPT CARE? The (hopefully) obvious answer is relationship. Over time, we build a relationship with our patients. With relationship comes trust. When patients trust us, they are far more likely to stay with us and accept recommendations for care. The asymptomatic patient must rely solely upon trust to make the decision to accept care to correct problems they were entirely unaware of. So, what can (should) your treatment plan be for the asymptomatic new patient in order to ensure you retain them long enough to actually have the opportunity to render the care you believe they need? No, I’m not recommending you hurt your longer-term existing patients! But you do have some deposits in the forgiveness bank with patients you’ve been treating for years. Mr. Jones has been coming to you for five years. You’ve done a couple of root canals, a few crowns, and several fillings. He’s always been happy with you, your care, and your practice. He presents today for an onlay on tooth #30. You give him a mandibular block and (unfortunately) hit something just right (or wrong) and he startles in pain from the injection. Of course, you apologize and take great care to ensure his comfort for the remainder of the visit. He’s not leaving your practice for one bad block. Contrast this with your brand-new patient, Mrs. Smith, who presents for an MOD composite on #19. The block seemed to go just fine and the patient seemed comfortable … until your bur plunged deep down into dentin … at which point Mrs. Smith literally jumped out of your chair. She wasn’t profoundly numb. Given that this was her first experience with you as her doctor, there’s a fair chance her first experience with you may also be her last. 3 RULES TO ENSURE MAXIMUM RETENTION OF ASYMPTOMATIC NEW PATIENTS 1. Don’t Hurt ‘Em!
Bottom line … you must take extra care to ensure the 100 percent absolute comfort of new patients in your practice.
2. Don’t Take Much of Their Money.
It’s fine to plan and perform a few simple fillings, perio phase I if needed … perhaps even whitening, if they ask. There is no exact number, but if your new asymptomatic patient is asked to pay $1,000 or more out-of- pocket, in my opinion, it’s too much. Remember that we’re speaking specifically of a new patient who presents to your practice with the assumption that “Everything’s okay … I just need a cleaning and checkup.” The lower you keep the out-of-pocket, the better, with $999 being about the upper limit. This rule goes hand in hand with Rule 2 above. If your new asymptomatic patient comes in for an exam, a prophy, a few fillings, and even perio phase I, that’s right around the upper limit of the time commitment I’d ask them to make. The fewer visits, the better. If you’ve been treatment planning and recommending everything you see on patients with whom you have yet to build relationship and trust … follow these three rules and watch your new patient retention measurably improve starting tomorrow. If you were to perform your exam and give them the impression that this (short little treatment plan) was the only needed care, it would not be ethical. Furthermore, trying to convince them six months or a year down the road of the need for much more expensive care would not be credible. So how can you maximize new (asymptomatic) patient retention and do so ethically and remain credible in your new patients’ eyes? It’s actually quite simple. It’s all in what you say and when you say it. Consider their cleaning, perio phase I if needed, small fillings, and whitening if desired as their “phase I treatment plan.” But it’s critical that you not mention those words to the patient until the right time. If you were to sit down at the start of your new patient exam and say, “Hi Betty, I’m going to develop a plan for the first phase (or phase I) of your care,” then it’s obvious there’s more to come. You don’t want her fretting throughout the exam that you may be about to recommend more extensive (expensive) treatment than the easy, quick, simple (and painless) plan you’re discussing. You’ve completed the exam and discussion regarding your first phase plan (though you’ve not called it by those words ... yet). Betty is happy, since she believes it’s going to be quick and relatively inexpensive. You’re not “one of those dentists” looking to buy a new car with her mouth. She’s happy and she LIKES you. When it’s time to say goodbye, Betty is sitting up, you’re readying to leave the room … and you turn back to her, as if it’s an afterthought … “Betty, I noticed you’ve had quite a number of old mercury silver fillings on your back teeth.” Allow her a moment to respond. She’ll probably start off just by acknowledging it or by telling you that most of those were placed many years ago. 3. Don’t Take Much of Their Time. HOW IS THIS ETHICAL? ALMOST AS IF IT’S AN AFTERTHOUGHT
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“And you’re not experiencing any problems? No pain or other issues with those teeth?” Remember that since we’re discussing the asymptomatic patient, by definition, we know she’s not experiencing any issues with those teeth. Virtually 100 percent of the time, she’ll respond, “Why no, they’re just fine.” But now she’s concerned that you might just recommend that she replace the fillings — or worse, replace them with crowns. She’s waiting for the “other shoe to drop.” “Excellent. Glad to hear they’re comfortable. I’ve made a note in your chart. After we’ve completed your first phase of care …” (this is the first time I use the words “first phase”) “… at some point in the not- too-distant future, I’d like to have you back for a more complete and thorough evaluation of those back teeth, just to be sure we don’t miss anything important.” Although the concept and verbal skills are quite simple, it took me years to come up with them. But it was like flipping a switch. Turning on a lightbulb. Once I cut and polished this Gem, I was able to retain the vast majority of new patients from that day on.
be performing a phase II examination. Now here’s the ironic thing about all of this …
IT’S EXACTLY WHAT THEY TAUGHT US IN DENTAL SCHOOL!
Think back to dental school. Other than emergencies (abscesses, gross caries, etc.), for the majority of new patients, we were required to bring them through phase I perio prior to planning any major restorative care! Get them through phase I perio. Bring their periodontal health into great shape. Re-evaluate their perio health, and only then were we allowed to plan and perform crown and bridge restorative care. Stay tuned for Part III of this series when we discuss when to perform that first major restorative exam and how to gain maximum acceptance of your very best lifetime dentistry.
“Together we are dedicated to improving the health and longevity of 3,000,000 people, one smile at a time.”
P.S. Stay tuned for the next GoldMine UnderGround Team Training Toolkit video, Episode 054, “Maximum New Patient Retention, 20/20/20” to be released prior to Thanksgiving
I’ve made them aware (and I did make notes about it in their chart) that we’ve only planned a first phase of care, and that “down the road” we’ll
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March 14 - 16, 2019 Join Elizabeth & Tom for your Gems Family Members’ Spring Retreat, Atlanta, GA!
KEYNOTE: “How to Turn Dental Sleep Medicine into a 6-Figure Profit Center Instead of a Hobby!”
Dr. Kent Smith is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and American Sleep and Breathing Academy and is President of the American Sleep and Breathing Academy. In 2007, he was asked to start a sleep curriculum at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and in 2012, he was the first in Texas to be award- ed a Dental Sleep Medicine Facility Accreditation. He runs two sleep practices in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and has been speaking on many topics related to sleep both nationally and internationally for the last 15 years.
“Gems Family Members’ Spring Retreat, Special Events & Mastermind Strategy Sessions” We have a VERY LIMITED Room Block. You will not be turned away from the Retreat, but You MAY BE LOCKED OUT of our Block UNLESS You Register IMMEDIATELY! OUR Block is just $149/night, while the event hotel RATE for our dates is as much as $259/night! Gems Family members REGISTER TODAY! Join us for this potentially LIFE-CHANGING event. Arrive on Planet Gems Atlanta, Georgia, at anytime Wednesday 3/13/19. Program begins Thursday morning 3/14/19 and ends 5pm Saturday 3/16/19. Tuition includes Breakfast and lunch each day and Friday pm Dinner. Doctors, spouses and team members are invited. Exclusive GG12 Coaching member Reunion Dinner Thursday night. COURSE OBJECTIVES: Following this presentation participants will have a working knowledge of how best to communicate sleep apnea issues with patients’ physicians, know how to build a dental team best-able to manage their sleep apnea practice, and how to make sleep apnea services a professionally and financially rewarding part of their practices. 1. The one hire you need to move the needle to build sleep medicine in your practice 2. The trick to making more from Medicare than any other insurance plan 3. The most common mistake you MUST AVOID when communicating with Physicians 4. How to identify the low hanging fruit in your own patient base 5. A powerful new use for your existing patient communication software 6. How to make more money with your technology than it costs to pay for it 7. How to BOOST YOUR INCOME using a sleep physician you will never actually meet 8. Working toward a debit card you can use for personal expenses, just by making appliances for your patients
"7 Secrets to Double Implant Sales in 30 Days!" Dr. Jeff Anzalone, Board Certified Periodontist, GG12 Certified Coach
• #1 surprisingly easy crazy effective way to increase your implant sales & increase your practice value without ever lifting a finger. • How to use the psychological triggers of "Ethical Influence" to motivate patients to accept your recommendations for implants • How to magically transform an ordinary office phone into an IMPLANT SELLING MACHINE! • • 7 keys to create your own evergreen implant in-office public seminars to skyrocket new implant patient flow. In-office presentations are EASY, FUN, and result in highly motivated new patients! • • Secrets of Social media to attract new implant patients ready to accept and schedule care • How to leverage Google to increase your implant production • Learn the #1 way to get your patients to send you a seemingly endless flow of new implant patient referrals! COURSE OBJECTIVES: Following this presentation participants will leave with a robust set of tools for internal and external market- ing of implants in the general and prosthodontic practice… and will possess a working knowledge of the use of psychology in patient communications, specific to helping patients make the best and most informed choices regarding dental implants. “Team Motivation: Essential Techniques Guaranteed to Enhance Cooperation, Eliminate Drama, and Exponentially Increase Productivity.” Tom Rich, MBA, Senior Practice Analyst • #1 habit to ensure proper prioritization of effort and participation among the team
• 7 free/inexpensive communication and planning tools no practice can afford to be without • The 3 biggest pitfalls of motivation and how to avoid them • • The 3 most powerful ways of instantly inducing fun and camaraderie • The $40 strategy proven to break the vicious cycle of back-biting and in-fighting • The top-secret, black-belt persuasion technique so effective it should be illegal (but it’s not!!)
"Breakthrough System Transforms that Boring Office Meeting Into an Adventure-Filled Curiously Profitable Highlight of Your Week!” Ira Hirsch, GG12 Certified Coach COURSE OBJECTIVES: This presentation will teach attendees how to create an atmosphere of cooperation and support specific to how dental practice team members work together to achieve common goals and to support the practice vision. Participants will learn employee motivation techniques are to be avoided and which have been proven effective and should be adopted.
• Discover the 3 most critical components you need when creating your staff meeting agenda. • Unwrap the secret team meeting formula to determine how much time to give to each topic. • Discover how to craft your opening statement to ensure INTENDED RESULTS from every staff meeting. • • This mysterious (nearly addictive) incentive helps keep your team members ENGAGED and CONTRIBUTING during every meeting. • Discover the one tool Chet Holmes taught Fortune 100 Businesses guaranteed to elicit participation and an endless stream of ideas from each and every team member • Do this one thing to make dental practice issues vanish into thin air.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This presentation will prepare attendees to craft weekly team meetings which become the highlight of the week instead of an event to be avoided at all costs. Participants will learn the tools with which team meetings can become both fun and highly productive for team members and owner doctors alike.
• Wednesday Evening 3/13/19 - Arrive • Thursday Morning 3/14/19 – Keynote Dr. Kent Smith • Thursday Afternoon 3/14/19 - GG12 Coaches' Presentations • Thursday Night 3/14/19 - GG12 Coaching Members Reunion Dinner • Friday 3/15/19 Retreat Mastermind Sessions • Friday 3/15/19 Gems Family Retreat Dinner • Saturday 3/16/19 All Day Retreat Mastermind Sessions
What our Gems Family Members Are Saying About the Retreats I have been part of other dental groups and you have attracted a very kind, empathetic, and successful group. I have been practicing for 29 years and these three days were a real eye opener. You should be proud of a job well done and I can tell the group is full of quality growth because of your leadership. Thanks for the great hospitality from you and Elizabeth. Dr. Michael Bjornbak, Sherman Oaks, CA We are already putting 3 or 4 of the big ideas into play this week ! Really gave us some good time for me and my Office Manager to focus and get some things done! A+++! From the bottom of our hearts thank you so much for a great meeting and your hospitality! Dr. Sean Tarpenning, Eau Claire, WI The Gems Retreat was fantastic. Everyone learned so much and we have already begun to start putting things in place as to what we want to accomplish. I think this was the first meeting that I have ever been to where dentists were so eager to share what was working for them as well as what was not . It is great to see everyone working together to promote better dentistry all over the map. Linda Donley & Dr. James Donley, North Muskegon, MI
Register NOW for Your Gems Family Members’ Retreat, Spring 2019
STEP 1: Complete contact & attendee information requested below
Primary Doctor Attending:_________________________________________________ Spouse Attending: _________________________ Additional Doctors Attending:_______________________________________________________________________________________ Team Members Attending __________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________ State:_______ Primary Doctor’s Cell Phone:_______________________________ Email Address for Confirmation Email ____________________________________________ Today’s Date ____________________
STEP 2: Fill in the five yellow cells
GG12 Other GIC
Gold Member Full Fee
Gold Register 12/16/18 to 1/15/19
Gold Register by 12/15/18
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Platinum Register 12/16/18 to 1/15/19
Platinum Register by 12/15/18
Line Totals
Fill in # of Doctors and # of Non-Docs then Enter Total For Docs & Team Based Upon Your Membership Level and the Date by Which You Register
#
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NC* $1497 NC* $1297
$1197
$997 $797
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$597 $ $397 $ Total $
$997
Non-Doctor Team & Spouse
____ Thursday Keynote and GG12 Certified Coaches Presentations ____ Thursday Evening GG12 REUNION CELEBRATION Dinner ____ Friday GG12 Doctor and Spouse Mastermind Session ____ Friday GG12 Team Members’ BREAKOUT Mastermind Session ____ Friday Evening Gems Family Retreat Dinner ____ Saturday Gems Family Members’ Doctor & Spouse Mastermind Session ____ Saturday Gems Family Team Members’ BREAKOUT Mastermind Session STEP 3: Enter into each line, the TOTAL NUMBER attending EACH event
Please enter any special dietary needs here ____________________________________________________________ Upon registration, your tuition will be charged to your credit card on file. After registering for the event, you will receive a confirmation which will include a link to book your room(s) in the event hotel at our group rate if space within the Gems group block remains available. *GG12 & GG12 Alumni Members credit card will be charged a $200.00 REFUNDABLE Deposit, to help us properly plan for meals and retreat space. The FULL $200 will be REFUNDED the week after you ATTEND the retreat (or if you Cancel 30 days Prior to event)
STEP 4: Fax completed form back (or see other registration options below)
In “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill introduced us to the power of the mastermind. The amazing synergistic power of the whole is far greater than the sum of the individual parts. Members will have a chance to present the one HUGE BREAKTHROUGH that has helped their practice to achieve enormous gains in profitability, and the one BIGGEST CONCERN/PROBLEM with which they’d like the group’s input. I have been a participant in business mastermind sessions for the last 16 years. I can point to multiple times when that participation led me to changes or improvements that have been directly responsible for making me a multi-millionaire. This portion of our Gems Family Retreat should prove to be a very powerful and profitable benefit of your Gems Insiders’ Circle Membership.
Presented by Dr. Tom Orent, Gems Insiders’ Circle & 1000 Gems Seminars SM Complete & Fax this Form to: 1-508-879-2468 OR REGISTER ONLINE at www.InsidersCircle.com Click on the ATLANTA 2019 Banner at top left of home page or Call 1-888-880-GEMS (4367) Outside USA & Canada 001-508-872-0066
Approved PACE Program Provider FAGD/MAGD credit. Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial board of dentistry or AGD endorsement . The current term of approval extends from 1/1/2018 to 12/31/2021. Provider ID #210991
WEB FORM IC SITE & PORTAL
Sucking Sound Coming From Your Hygiene Teams Production '
As a Senior Practice Analyst, I look at a lot of dental practices. Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: a massive hole in hygiene production. The worst part is that most doctors don’t even know it’s happening. Almost every dentist is blind to it. Granted, it’s not your fault. It’s not exactly something you can look at the schedule and see. This is so often overlooked and secretly destructive because it can’t be seen on the schedule at all. Worse still, the busier your hygiene team, the more likely your practice is suffering. If you look at an average practice, you’ll see there are 1,500–2,000 active patients (those who have had at least one appointment over the past 18 months) per doctor. Unless you specialize in pediatric dentistry, the mix is usually made up of 75–85 percent adults (over 18 years old), with the remainder coming from patients’ children. This means most practices have 1,150–1,700 adult patients. On the surface, this looks perfectly healthy … except when you start to look at the numbers behind the numbers. Practices will typically have a 1.1–1.5 multiple between adult patients and adult prophies per year. The above average will yield 1,265–1,725 (1.1 x 1,150 to 1.5 x 1,150) to 1,870–2,550 (1.1 x 1,700 or 1.5 x 1,700) adult prophies every 12 months. While most dentists are happy with this level of performance, it’s less than half of what could or should be happening in your hygiene department (with respect to number of prophies … not even taking into account the underdiagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease). Bare minimum, adult patients should be seen twice a year (a completely arbitrary number introduced into society by Pepsodent’s marketing). The reality is that there are 29 classifications of patients who would live healthier and potentially even longer lives if seen on three-month
hygiene recall (perio patients, smokers, diabetic patients, ortho patients, and patients with a family history of TIA, stroke, or heart disease, just to name a few). These classifications are compounded by the statistics reported in JADA regarding the prevalence of periodontitis in adult patients (e.g., 47.2 percent of all adults over the age of 30 suffer from chronic periodontitis). It’s rare that a patient should only be seen twice a year. In fact, if you’re not recommending that your patients receive more frequent cleanings (and in some instances, periodontal treatment), you may be committing dental malpractice. For the complete list of classifications of patients who would benefit greatly from more frequent recall, go to InsidersCircle.com and enter ”29 Classifications” into the SEARCH box, then choose “29 Classifications of Your Patients That MUST Be on 3-Month Hygiene Recall.” All that aside, the biggest reason why you want to keep patients coming back to see your hygienists 2–4 times a year is simple: It serves the mutual best interests of your patients’ health and your practice. Hygiene is the gateway to dentistry. In other words, the more patients your hygienists see, the more you’ll have patients who end up in the doctor’s chair. More importantly, each time you see that patient, it’s another opportunity to speak with them about needed care and get them scheduled for it. In order to maximize hygiene recall — and as a result, help your patients achieve their best possible long-term health and longevity — use the “How to Double Hygiene Recall” team training and watch your entire practice revenue skyrocket! Go to InsidersCircle.com Site Map Goldmine Underground Team Training Toolkit 009 “How to Double Your Hygiene Recall.”
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“What should my hygienist do during downtime?” The knee-jerk reaction is to have them do busywork, but Certified GG12 Coach Lisa Weber takes a different approach. She developed a list of 36 different tasks hygienists should perform in the event of cancellations, no-shows, or other downtime. Before you get too excited about the possibility of maximizing productivity, your team needs to have the proper mindset. Unless the individual players take ownership, our “teams” fall short of maximizing productivity. Regardless of their role in the practice, everyone should be expected to contribute to duties outside the norm (aka “job description”). Many of these duties can be performed by the entire staff, not just hygienists. When you truly work as a team, no one should have the attitude of “That’s not my job.” 36 Hygiene RDH Downtime Duties When There’s “Nothing to Do”
should be to get the patient on the phone. Even if it’s just for the exam and films, getting them in for the remainder of the appointment still gives you the opportunity to best serve the patient and your practice. 2. If an AWOL patient can’t come in for their scheduled appointment, see if they can come in later if there’s an opening in today’s schedule. 3. Fill any other openings in the hygienist’s schedule for the day. The top priority is to keep all chairs filled TODAY. 4. Check the doctor’s schedule and try to fill any openings for the day. 5. Check tomorrow’s schedule and fill any openings in both the hygienist’s and the doctor’s schedules. Only after your RDHs have pursued every option to fill chairs for today and tomorrow should they move on to other downtime tasks. Ensuring there is never an open chair should always be the primary focus. Remember … TIME is a nonrenewable precious resource! These are just a few of the ways you can make sure your team uses their time effectively. For the remaining 31 Gems that can ensure a productive practice, head on over to InsidersCircle.com. Click on “Site Map,” and under “Additional Resources” you’ll find “Super Hygiene Toolkit.” From there, scroll down to the documents at the bottom of the page, and you’ll find “Hygiene RDH Downtime Duties —When There’s Nothing to Do.”
36 HYGIENE RDHDOWNTIME DUTIESWHEN THERE’S “NOTHING TODO!”
1. An hour a day of lost time for a hygienist costs a practice over $60,000 per year. In the event of a cancellation, the hygienist’s first priority
Gems Insiders’ Circle™GIC Family Member Quarterly Q&A Webinars : Four times each year, I’m available in the evening for up to 90 minutes to answer your questions about any topics of your choice regarding dental practice management. Gems Insiders’ Circle™GIC Family Member Quarterly ‘Global Mastermind’ Webinars : Four times each year, I moderate as our Gems Family members get together in a virtual mastermind meeting to share and brainstorm. Topics include: 1. What’s working so well for you that every other Gems Family member’s got to know about it, and 2. What challenges you’re facing for which you’d like input from your peers, one or more of whom have likely already walked the path before you and may have solutions they could share. November 14: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT — GG12 90-Minute Team Training Webinar November 16: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT — GG12 Office Hours November 21: 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EDT — GIC Family Members’ Quarterly 90-Minute Q&A Webinar November 29: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT — GG12 Office Hours
your practice and your life, head on over to InsidersCircle.com and click the retreat banner in the top left corner. Doctors and teammembers often tell us they have never experienced anything like our retreats in all their years attending dental continuing education. Experience it for yourself and form a lifelong bond with other Gems family members. Register now! For the latest up-to-date information about what’s happening on Planet Gems, go to InsidersCircle.com and click on “Calendar” (menu bar, top left of homepage). If you have questions, please contact your Personal Gems Concierge or call 1-888-880-GEMS (4367). 90-Minute GG12 Team Training Webinars : GG12 Team Training Toolkit Dental Practice Transformation members, please block out this monthly program on your calendar. These occur just once each month, but they could easily be the most important 90 minutes you and your entire team will invest. GG12 Office Hours : Twice each month, my office door is open for your visits. This is an optional opportunity for GG12 doctors and teams to reach me directly with questions about dental practice management.
“Turning dental sleep medicine into a 6-figure profit center instead of a hobby!” will be our keynote half-day presentation by Dr. Kent Smith this spring when Gems Family members gather together for our … Spring 2019 Mastermind Events, Presentations, & Retreat, Atlanta, Georgia March 14–16, 2019 . ALL Gems Family Members, mark the dates on your calendar TODAY! If you’re ready to experience a transformative time for
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places in the schedule during which he/she could handle a WHALYA. Some practices take it to the next level and have their staff wear earpieces so that adjustment on the fly can happen in real time.
Here’s actual data from three of our member practices who recently used the WHALYA challenge form:
• • •
Practice A: $1,800 per week Practice B: $1,548 per week Practice C: $2,052 per week
If you extrapolate the data over 50 weeks (taking two off for good behavior, as Dr. Orent would say), that’s an average of about $100,000 per year straight to the bottom line. The best part is that it’s guaranteed to make you (far) more productive. There’s no risk of the patient missing the appointment because they are already in the chair.
How to Create Happier Patients and Make More Money With WHALYAs! The most effective dental practice systems allow room for improvisation when the results of such action will benefit both your patients and your bottom line. WHALYAs are a perfect example. What are WHALYAS? Mrs. Jones presents for dental treatment or a prophy and re-examination. During the visit, you find a couple smaller issues. WHALYA is just a way of saying “While ya’ here, we could take care of that for you now, and save you a trip back!” WHALYAS to fit into today’s schedule could be a simple 10–15-minute procedure or even a straightforward crown prep and temp. You are limited only by your imagination and the logistics of fitting Mrs. Jones into your restorative schedule … right now. Picture yourself going into a mechanic’s shop to get your oil changed. Your car is already on the lift, and they notice you have a dirty air filter. Do they schedule you for a separate visit to replace that? No, they just add it to the service. As the owner of the car, you’re thankful because your mechanic is saving you from an additional return trip. The shop also benefits. It’s the ultimate win-win. Your practice has the same opportunities every day. How can you best capitalize on WHALYAS? The most critical part of deploying a WHALYA correctly is to make sure it’s appropriately scheduled. It takes a team effort from the office to understand how to work these into the doctor’s daily operations. Most everyone has emergency time carved into their schedule — Dr. Orent built in 30 minutes before lunch and 30 minutes before closing. On the days you don’t have emergency patients, you can use this built-in emergency time to add an easy procedure. Or perhaps you receive a last-minute cancellation. And even if you don’t have obvious “open” time … still see if there is a way to fit in a WHALYA here and there throughout your day. Time is one of the few resources you cannot ever replenish. In business, time is money. If you’re going to improvise the doctor’s schedule for a WHALYA, a certain level of communication is required to make sure the process goes smoothly. Most teams have morning huddles for 10–15 minutes (if not, you SHOULD!). Huddles provide a perfect opportunity for everyone to see the schedule for the day and prepare for potential WHALYAs. During every morning huddle, the doctor should routinely point out two or three By Ira Hirsch, Certified GG12 Coach
WHAT PROCEDURES MAKE FOR A GREAT WHALYA?
ANY treatment or service that can be done (or even started*) TODAY instead of at the next visit.
• • •
Fillings
Simple extractions
Whitening
• Inlays/onlays/crowns ... *even if you can’t complete every step (e.g., if you can’t get to the point of an impression but could get the buildup and a temporary crown placed) • Sealants • Initial records for Invisalign • EVEN a 10-UNIT BRIDGE!!!** ** How the heck can you start a 10-unit bridge in 10 or 20 minutes when you would normally schedule hours? Simple ... Your TEAM members can take pre-op photographs of the existing natural teeth ... AND pre-op ALGINATE IMPRESSIONS to pour up study models from which ... “Mrs. Jones, we’ll be using these impressions to pour up stone or plaster models on which we’ll be making your provisional (temp) bridge ... so at your next visit, when we begin preparation of the teeth, you’ll leave with a beautiful smile all ready to go ... for the time while we’re waiting on the lab to create the porcelain bridge.” We ROUTINELY used this strategy for bridges ... It gets PRODUCTION on the books started TODAY ... it allows us to get the FINANCES worked out and a large deposit (or full prepay!) done TODAY ... and most importantly, it gets COMMITMENT from the patients (financially) and 99 percent ELIMINATES the possibility of the patient failing the long prep appointment ... ‘cause they’ve already PAID a huge chunk of the bridge!
For more information, GG12 Coaching Members are encouraged to watch the GG12 Team Training Toolkit, 013 “Massive Cash Hidden in WHALYAS!”
6 InsidersCircle.com | 1-888-880-GEMS (4367)
Fastest, Easiest New Patient Magnet … Billboards! Rock River Dental Says, ‘Deploy Billboards!’ By Dr. Leslie Showalter
I’ve been a member of the Gems Family for over three years now, and I have to say it’s been an unbelievable experience. I love collaborating to use the resources that apply directly to our practice. Our results speak for themselves. We’ve increased our revenue every year since joining, and our team is more invested in the practice than ever. When you’re operating in a small town as we do, you have to get creative with your marketing. Most would interpret that as “I need to find the sleekest way to increase new patient flow,” but in actuality, we had to go a much more traditional route. Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, is a city of 12,000 people between Madison and Milwaukee. Much of the traffic that goes through our streets is from people traveling to those locations, but since our practice is on the outskirts of town, many people who live here didn’t know we existed. We knew this problem needed to be solved, and when we heard Dr. Orent mention billboards, our ears perked up. We started with one billboard with the simple objective of pointing locals to our practice. Literally. The first billboard was about half a mile away and told everyone where to look. It didn’t take long for patients to take notice, and we started to see more traffic as a result. I even heard, “Oh yeah! I’ve seen your face on that billboard.” Not too long after the first billboard went up, the company that manages them called us and asked about one 15 minutes outside of town. They were having some trouble filling the space, so they offered it to us for half price, and we took it. The process was very easy for us as a staff. We emailed our Gems Concierge and told them we were putting up a new billboard. The company that rents the ad space helped with the design, and Dr. Orent
assisted with the ad copy and layout. Once we had a final mock-up, I sent it back to Dr. Orent and he tweaked a few parts. He was more than willing to help with ideas and make sure we got the most out of our investment.
The results:
CAMPAIGN 1
Months Ran Cost/Month Total Cost New Patients Revenue Net Total
Billboard 1
35
$495
$16,602 32
$75,143 $58,541
Billboard 2
23
$249
$5,976 11
$13,957 $7,981
CAMPAIGN 2
Months Ran Cost/Month Total Cost New Patients Revenue Net Total
Billboard 1
6
$495
$2,970 15
$18,451 $15,481
Billboard 2
6
$249
$1,494 3
$6,846 $5,352
Between the two billboards, we’ve paid $27,042.00 over the last 3 1/2 years. Not including secondary referrals, we’ve generated revenue of $114,397.00. After accounting for the ad costs and assuming that variable expenses to treat were roughly 15 percent (lab, office, and dental supply), our net profit was roughly $70,000.00. The GG12 tracking form gives us a great framework in which we’re able to compile specific data that helps us track new patient numbers, ad costs, and production from the new billboards (and any other ad sources). In addition to considerable tangible benefits, we’ve also seen a massive increase in overall exposure. People know where our practice is and who we are.
When you factor in the assistance from the Gems team, the bottom line increase, and the mass exposure, your next question shouldn’t be “Do I
Continued on page 8 ...
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Gems Inside
5. Recently Unearthed on Planet Gems
1. How to Build an Iron Wall Around Your New Patients and Retain Them for Life
6. How to Create Happier Patients and Make More Money With WHALYAs!
4. Sucking Sound Coming From Your Hygiene Team’s Production
7. How Billboards Added $114,397 to Our Practice
... continued f rom page 7
need a billboard?” but rather “Where and how fast can I get one?” For the answer to that question, contact your Certified GG12 Coach.
Finally, you can improve the number of new patients from ALL sources simply by picking up your phone live and scheduling appointments for new patients when THEY call and not just when your team happens to be at the office. Over 26 percent of your prospective new patients call to inquire before work, after work, nights, weekends, and holidays … when nobody answers your phones. My Ultimate Phone Concierge company can answer and SCHEDULE NEW PATIENTS for you when your team is unable to pick up the phone. www.UltimatePhoneConcierge.com
Note from the Gems Guy: First, HUGE KUDOS to Leslie for testing and deploying several billboard advertisements. Billboards are one of the easiest (just about no work!) and fastest ways to bring new patients into your practice. If you’ve been on Planet Gems for a while, then you’ve heard me say we’d like to be able to acquire new dental patients for an average of roughly $250 per acquisition, across all media. Leslie invested $27,000 in billboards, from which she acquired 61 new patients, for an acquisition cost of $440 each. Since this number is higher than we’d like, it’s important to look at the ROI. $115,000/27,000 = 4.3:1. In the first year, we hope minimally for 3:1. In years 2, 3, and beyond, we’d like to see at least 5:1 ROI. All in all, Leslie is getting a decent result … but I’d like to see even better results in the future:
A) Drop the new patient acquisition cost down to $350 or less, and
B) An ROI in the first year of 4:1 or even 5:1. To continue to improve results on this campaign, I would recommend testing different ad copy, special offers, etc.
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