In Dental School, they taught us the technical skills and manual dexterity necessary to effectively be a dentist. What they don’t spend a lot of time on is how to be a better boss, how to lead, how to delegate, how to hire and train employees, and how to market our practices. As small business owners, we often don’t have the training or manpower to provide effective leadership training or coaching for both ourselves and our staff. This article describes several habits, attitudes, training, and focus that can help a technical person to become a better leader, marketer, manager, and cheerleader for your team.
Be sure to take time to work “ON” your business and not just “IN” the business. This means, taking the time to strengthen your leadership and management skills. No one will look after your business if you don’t. The most successful dentists are ones who track results, acknowledge improvement, express gratitude, and lead by example. They describe their vision for the practice and work tirelessly towards that goal.
If you are spending money on MARKETING your practice, great! Have you analyzed what happens when people click on your ads or call your office? Are the calls being answered properly and the prospective patients being converted into clients? If not, are you tracking it, and why people DON’T schedule with your office? Did you spend money on a wonderful fancy website but it’s not producing the types of results you were hoping for? Have you looked at your ONLINE REPUTATION recently? These days, people check out reviews BEFORE they schedule. If you have poor reviews or only a couple from four years ago, the odds are a new prospect is more likely to go to the office that has at least a few dozen 4+ positive reviews on Google or YELP!
Many offices never even give the Doctor a chance to meet the patient because they either don’t answer the phones well, they aren’t available when the patient wants, or they may be turned away by the policies in your office. Do you put your newest, inexperienced person on the phone because you don’t think it’s that important of a position? Think gain. A great welcoming, warm voice on the phone can double or triple your conversion rate.
If you are having recurrent challenges in your business, give us a call, and let’s talk! We have helped hundreds of offices break through the roadblocks to success in their business. Click the CONTACT button at the top!