Dentistry is a field that doesn't need much talking up. It is traditionally seen as a desirable field for employment. The only profession that's considered better than being a dentist is being a software developer. In fact, out of the top 100 professions ranked by their desirability, three out of the top ten have something to do with the dental field.
While there are lots of things in dentistry itself that make it a rewarding profession-helping people, getting respect, practicing with creativity, and so on-there's another side to dentistry that makes it extremely attractive. It's concerned with the money dentists can make and the ability to be one's own boss and choose one's coworkers.
That's the business side of dentistry, and its appeal affects people's lives. The one problem with it however, is that dentists aren't typically trained in business concepts or theory. Simply put, there's a gap between the clinical training that's necessary to make a great dentist, and the business-financial, marketing, administerial, managerial-training that's necessary to run a great practice.
Bridging that gap is the expertise of Nathan Jeal and Bao-Tran Nguyen, a dentist power couple who have gone through the acquisition, growth, and sales process of dental practices several times over. If there's a situation that can happen on the business side of a dental practice, they've seen it. Thanks to Fast Growth Practice, their business vessel for training and helping dentists optimize their growth experiences, Nathan and Bao-Tran can show dentists the specific areas they can address to improve the business side of their practice.
Marketing plays an important role in it. The focus is on authority marketing, which helps dentists position themselves locally and regionally as the expert and solution provider of choice.
One of the biggest outcomes of good authority marketing is the building of trust between the dentists and the prospective patients. It's only one of the pieces of the puzzle and it will not suffice on its own to establish the necessary level of trust, but it lays a pretty good foundation for subsequent work. In other words, it's great if the dentist can attract patients by demonstrating competence and trustworthiness.
This type of marketing, which banks on establishing authority, can also help dentists shine in another key area: case acceptance. Improving case acceptance is all about removing the barriers that are preventing the patient from signing up for the treatment, and the lack of trust in the dentist is one of the key barriers.
Another barrier, and this is something Nathan and Bao-Tran underline a lot, happens when dentists misunderstand their patients' priorities. Patients certainly come for advice however it pays to listen closely for what they expect and value. There is no "one size fits all" approach to patient care and seeking to understand patients' motivation first is truly the key.
The dentist's ability to understand their patients' wants will determine what happens next. The patient is likely to walk away if they are confused, overwhelmed with information or don't feel like their concerns are heard. According to Bao-Tran, "the case acceptance rate will suffer, but even worse is that the patient will suffer, too, until they find a dentist who is able to convey the right mix of empathy and confidence."
On the other hand, a dentist who follows a framework to help their patients verbalize frustrations and presents them with options which relieve them, will establish trust much more easily. With that barrier down, the dentist will have a much better shot at helping the people who are looking for solutions -- and at the same time improving case acceptance and growing their business.
It doesn't stop there. Trust goes hand in hand with accountability, and there's nothing like accountability to set workplace relationships on solid ground. It has to go both ways, however. Dentists need to be accountable to their staff, and their staff need to be accountable to the practice and to their employer.
Growing a successful practice takes a multidisciplinary approach that draws on concepts and theory from business, marketing, sales, and communication. Those who master these concepts will find bridging the gap between being a good dentist and having a good practice much more predictable. With the right coaches and training, it doesn't have to be that hard, either.
