On a recent night, I was sitting in my hotel room in Seattle and had just spent the day reading. As I flipped through the channels, looking for something to listen to in the background as I continued to work through most of the night, I came across “Cadillac Man” featuring Robin Williams. I had seen the movie many years ago and hadn’t really given it a second thought since. As I watched (thankfully having caught it in the first few minutes) I was surprised that I never realized how many real business lessons were in front of my eyes. Naturally, when I sat down, I was watching TV more than I was working, but I found myself thinking about how the operations of a car dealership and the operations of a dental office are uncannily similar.
I never thought, nor DARE I compare a professional dental office to what most people mislabel as “shoddy car dealers”. Are there some bad apples, sure. But there are also rotten apple dentists. For the most part, people in any business, whether it’s dentistry, car sales, restaurants, or even airlines, are professional and courteous people whose true goal is to help people and provide them with a pleasant experience.
Our goal at the dental office is to provide a high level of care and an incredible experience to our patients while providing them with the treatment they desperately need. The same is true at a car dealership. Salespeople (and women) want to give us a great experience buying a car we really need. Just as you wouldn’t expect a dentist to tell a patient they need a crown when they actually need a 1-surface filling, you’d expect a professional salesperson not to send a person out to find a minivan headed for a 2-seater sports car. . Are there vendors who will try? Of course. But there are also dentists who would give it a try! Remember that one rotten apple does NOT spoil the bunch. Also, please note that I am NOT suggesting in any way that we become “hard sell” offices and shove dentistry literally down people’s throats. There is a way that the business of dentistry and the practice of dentistry can work together.
So as I sat and watched this movie, I started to think about what we could learn from this. I was surprised that the most important thing in the car dealership is the goal. We talk all the time about having goals, writing down your goals, sharing your goals, and all the advice we give and receive all the time. But what are we in the dental office doing to track those goals and put them in front of our eyes in plain language every day so they remain a priority? In car dealerships they have “La Junta”. In fact, it’s something I’ve been doing with clients for years and never realized where I got the idea from.
So your goals are defined in some way. Maybe it’s production, maybe collections, and maybe even patients seen in a day, a week, or a month. There is a lot of important information that we generate that we ARE EXPECTED to review every day. End of day reports, production reports, new patient numbers, billing, etc. So how do we REALLY use that information to compare actual numbers to target numbers and identify areas for improvement to help us consistently hit those targets? Use “The Board”. In the office of dentists / office managers must be “The Board”. A large dry-erase board divided in such a way that target numbers and actual numbers can be compared in an instant. We use one in my office and I can tell you it takes about 5 minutes a day to update, but the information provided is priceless. People are in and out all day, looking at numbers, and it generates a fair amount of discussion about what we can do to improve, what happened on the days that we didn’t hit our goals, and what we can do to make sure those things are not met. don’t happen again I love my board. The staff love it, too, as they can quickly and easily see which days have met their goal and which days have not.
Please remember, if you don’t have goals, GET THEM. If you have goals in your head, get them out and write them down. A goal that is not written is simply a dream. Don’t waste time chasing dreams, spend that time and effort to achieve your goals. I watched poor Robin Williams run in and out of that manager’s office looking at the whiteboard, reviewing what everyone else had done, using it as motivation for his own behavior. Sure, he had a certain inner spark and was a terrific salesperson, but the added motivation of seeing others perform in front of his eyes was enough to make sure he used EVERY tool in his arsenal to close deals and help people out there. in his own way to say yes to that new car.
Just as you used every tool at your disposal to close deals, so should we. Are you really using all the tools in your arsenal to help patients see how important treatment really is? You owe it to your patients to give them the care they NEED AND DESERVE. Whether they realize it or not, you are helping them. How many times have you told a patient that a crown will help prolong the life of that tooth, but they refuse to listen? Then a week, a month or a year later that tooth breaks and now it has to be extracted. Saving $1,000 now can cost thousands later. Then they get mad at you because you “never told them” this could happen. Of course yes. You know it, I know it and they know it. But isn’t it easier to blame you than themselves? Of course it is. So you really owe it to your patients to help them understand and get the treatment they really need!
Do you use your intraoral camera regularly, and by that I mean every day? Are you showing your patients that fissure, chip or cavity up close and personal? Put it on the TV screen and make it 27 inches wide. That will wake anyone up! Are you presenting the cases correctly and to the best of your ability? Are you giving many options or just the best option? I am NEVER a fan of good, better, better dentistry. Why would anyone want to be good when they could be the best? Present properly and make sure the patient knows that this is absolutely the best option and that you are the best dentist to do it. Help that patient make the right choice by using all the tools she has to properly educate him. Use the camera. Use creative financing options (like Care-Credit). Use pre-approval tools so you can present the treatment plan and say that not only can we provide you with the best dental care, but we also make it easy to pay with convenient payments.
These are the tools you have at your disposal. We are lucky. Car dealerships are at the mercy of manufacturers and banks who decide when to run special offers on ZERO PERCENT financing. We have access to it ALL THE TIME. We’re so lucky! You know what happens when GM runs 0% financing for a 60-month special? Because sales go up. So what if you presented your patients with that option? I guarantee that your closing rate will increase.
Finally, and quite possibly the most important thing your office can do is FOLLOW UP with your patients. When you present a treatment and the patient doesn’t schedule right away, follow up with them. Try pre-approval for financing if you haven’t already. Have your assistant or hygienist call them and ask if they had any questions about the treatment plan. Obviously, if they understood how truly important this treatment is, they would not be holding it back. We must have done something wrong. We missed something somewhere. Find out what it was, fix it, and schedule.
Many dentists feel they seem too “salesy” if the office calls to follow up and schedule treatment. I’ll tell you, this is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard and if you’re not doing it, you need to start IMMEDIATELY. Yes, you are a dental practice and your primary focus is the treatment of patients. Treat them, but remember that you are also a dental business whose primary goal is to stay in business so the practice can continue to help patients! One can never exist without the other and it is very important to remember that. Don’t be afraid to close deals. That treatment will help your patients to have a healthier mouth, a healthier life and a better smile. This truly is a WIN WIN situation for everyone involved and should be viewed as such every time.
Getting your business and practice on the same page is easy. Create, monitor, share and achieve your goals. Use all the tools at your disposal to create amazing treatment plan presentations. Probably most importantly, follow up on patients who don’t close “IN PLACE”. They need this treat to stay healthy and happy, and you must do everything you can to help them get it!