The Trifecta of Dental Practice Success
Yes, 31-occlusal and 18-buccal have been treated – composite resin and sealant, respectively.
Certainly that’s a successful outcome for one patient, but what about the entire dental practice? Hundreds of cases like these, plus dozens of larger cases each year, add up to a profitable, financially stable practice.
However, true practice success extends well beyond its financial soundness.
Practice success requires the following:
- Loyal Team and Patients +
- Strong ROI from Marketing and Treatment Coordination Efforts =
- Stable Finances and Deep Personal Fulfillment
This three point model is the foundational support to the dental practice, like a tripod for a camera. When the dentist ensures that all three legs or all three parts are strong, the practice is wildly successful.
Here’s how to ensure a successful dental practice.
Loyal Team and Patients
Acquiring loyalty from your team and patients simply comes down to leadership.
Anyone in the practice can be a leader, but true leadership starts at the top. The dentist must set forth a clear vision and overall goal for the dental practice. He or she must regularly communicate and inspire the team.
True leadership begins when every team member steps up to become a leader. A team of leaders:
- Has a shared practice vision
- Is passionate about a common goal
- Develops ideas to reach that goal
- Sees how the practice helps them fulfill their personal goals
- Offers solutions to problems
- Are individually indispensable to the practice
- Are insatiably positive
- Extend genuine respect to others around them
- Are natural caregivers
When each team member of the practice is a leader, everyone is empowered to deliver dentistry that creates loyal patients. Patients flock to practices that are passionate about dental care and maintain a high level of energy.
This brings us to the second leg in the trifecta…
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Strong ROI from Marketing and Treatment Coordination Efforts
High quality, properly functioning internal systems and processes like marketing strategies and treatment coordination standards allow the practice to work for you giving you more time to focus on patient care.
Marketing strategies attract potential patients, and treatment coordination standards ensure that the potential patient becomes a new patient who stays with the practice. A strong return on investment (ROI) only occurs when marketing and treatment coordination efforts line up.
For the marketing strategy, survey the patient base to determine what marketing techniques get attention and what messages resonate.
Here are few survey questions to start:
- What are we doing well?
- How do we differ from other dental practices?
- What types of dental practice marketing do you pay attention to? (Website, online ads, direct mail, etc.)
Answers to these questions will help the dental practice construct proper marketing strategies with the right message and media. The message should reflect the respondents’ answers regarding what the practice does well and how it differs. Only market across the media that grabs your community’s attention.
It is also important to ask the right questions for optimal treatment coordination standards.
Here are a handful of key questions, inspired by the book Being Mortal:
- What is your understanding of your situation?
- Do you understand the possible outcome if we proceed with treatment? What is that outcome?
- What course of action is best for you?
- If money was not a concern, how would you proceed?
- Revisit these questions with patients regularly for maximum effectiveness. This will strengthen the practice’s ROI from marketing and team efforts.
And with that, we go to the third leg in the trifecta…
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Stable Finances and Deep Personal Fulfillment
When the team and patient base are loyal and the marketing strategies and treatment coordination standards are producing strong returns, the practice finances stabilize and production and profitability rise.
More importantly, personal fulfillment deepens. We all know the phrase ‘money doesn’t buy happiness,’ but it does make life easier. With stable practice finances, the dentist can pay off liabilities, fund practice growth, hire the right staff, give to philanthropic causes, and enjoy time off away from the practice.
Now that’s fulfilling!
At LenDRgroup Consulting, our team cares about the long-term success of your healthcare practice. We spend time getting to know you and your business in order to customize our practice financing and business consulting services to meet the needs of your practice and your career.
Our lending platform consists of 300+ dental and healthcare-specific lenders and was developed with the purpose of helping dentists, veterinarians, and physicians. Let us help you achieve practice ownership and eliminate your practice financing obstacles!
To date, we have helped hundreds of healthcare professionals just like you start, expand, and grow their practices. LenDRgroup Consulting recognizes and understands your business needs and can help you avoid costly mistakes. So, let’s get started.
Contact us today for a consultation.