The a life saying, “what got you here won’t get you there” has been a pretty good truism for a long time and under the current realities it has become a bottom line fact for where dentists stand with what they face for the coming 20 years of practice….
I’ve talked before about average being over for the middle classes in the U.S. Those not moving beyond average are no longer on the right side of economics in the global age. It is what it is….
For professionals (you) this moving beyond average means not simply an elevation of clinical skills above average BUT of very key critical business skills that include everything from administrative and leadership skill to promotion and marketing…..
We’ve just existed a 70 year period where growth in the profession was “always” happening. Along the way, we bought into a lot of variations of “always.”
It was “always” like this. This is “always” did things. Here’s waht you “always” do. There’s a real problem with the word “always.”
Language and logic students have an aversion to always because they understand it creates real issues with constructing not just sentences but logical arguments that can stand up in writing, law, and relationships be they personal or business.
As a profession we drank the “always” kool-aid of what we thought was predictable when it came to economical what was expected to happen for the “average” dentist in the business of practice without a lot of effort.
We had a short list of “always” trends which contributed to our 70 year run of gradual economic growth for average practitioners being average at everything.
Those “always” trends got us to 2007 and contributed to a profession wide general consensus that they were trends that would always with with us and continue to get us there “forever.” Now, after a post-recession stagnant period never seen in recorded economic history, most dentists wait for the :”always” trends to return while all the data says it’s not happening. In other words, what got us here ain’t getting us there……
So what were the trends that got us to through the good ole’ days before the recession to end all recessions hit and awakened us to a new reality?
The “golden economic age” for average dentists was fundamentally driven by the following 5 MAJOR factors:
#1. Disease demographics. Those born B.F. (before Fluoride) needed LOTS of dentistry on an ongoing basis. FYI. B.F. patients are entering the R.I.P. cycle of life which greatly diminishes their dental needs.
#2. Rapid expansion of general population greatly outpacing provider number increases.
#3. Rising household incomes (even when adjusted for inflation) equaled always increasing expenditures on elective services such as dentistry.
#4. Employers adding on dental benefit packages during the peak of the economic boom meaning FREE money to dentists.
#5. Higher paying jobs routinely available if one was willing to work contributing to the purchase of more elective services over time.
Anyone with even a cursory reading of demographic, job, and economic data likely sees potential problems with 4 of the things above that brought us……those with a basic cursory knowledge of dental disease trends related to flouride will also see a potential issue with item #1.
Hardly anyone thinks or even takes actual time to think these days. For that fact, I’ll return to all 5 items next week so it’s spelled out in black and white to limit the cognitive challenges a few will have with understanding.
Now….Is growth still possible for dental practices? Absolutely, in fact, those making very deliberate choices are doing just that. Those with the correct thinking on dealing with the 5 trends still have amazing futures in the profession because even more incredible technology is always in the pipeline.
Here’s an example of what happens based on one’s decisions……
“Dear Colleague,
After about 1 year to the day of studying Big Case Marketing (Master Dentist Academy Principels), we launched our first print ad campaign in two local newspapers.
We had done some external advertising before, poorly organized, and to nobodies surprise, it was not a success.
With our new, better educated and better planned campaign, we had over 100 calls in the first 2 weeks.
Yesterday we had our first Free Consult day, and scheduled 6 cases at $30,000.00 each.
I can hardly believe it, even as I type it.
We are still learning and modifying our process, but we would never had reached this level of success without the training my Team and I got through Big Case Marketing (Private Consulting & Maximum Case Acceptance System).
I’m just back from a visit to Dr. Rod Strickland’s hands-on Facelift Denture course in Savannah, Georgia.
This technique when 1) clinically performed well, 2) marketed well, and 3) sold astutely (all three are a MUST) is a true category killer.
This ONE procedure could support an entire very low overhead minimalist style practice–onced again if 1, 2, and 3 are all present.
What I mean by minimal is 1 Doctor plus 2 staff. (1 of the staff doing nothing besides answering the phone, selling, and taking cash/checks/swiping plastic).
His course has been selling out for a long time with many approaching him to take it on the road, make it HUGE at one of the teaching facilities out west, etc. but Savannah is a nice place in all respects so why bother making it complicated. As word continues to spread, he can simply increase the fee to match demand. After seeing the presentation, Rod’s course is easily “worth” 50-100% more than the fee he currently charges.
Even for our Academy Member doctor’s who already understand and perform a good esthetic removable procedure, I’m recommending that they ALL take this course not only to potentially improve upon their technique but to gain the right to use Rod’s trademarked process as a very unique positioning tool in the marketplace.
Using what they’ve learned in our Programs (Elite or Maximum Case Acceptance), they can out-market and out-sell any competitor (and help far more patients than their competitors) with access to Rod’s MESSAGE.
The clinical concept is simple: get your vertical and centric correct, really understand anterior denture esthetics, add in some physiologic concepts related to musculature, ridge change with time, set the framework for success with patient management, break a few “sacred cows” of classic denture teaching along the way, while charging an appropriate fee and you have a wonderful procedure not just for denture patients silently suffering in misery but a winner for the economics in the practice no matter how you view production.
Most dentists give up on removable prosthetics shortly after graduation simply because the technique taught in dental schools is outdated and doesn’t work.
Been in those shoes. My a-ha moment came via a West Coast teaching course put on by Geneva dental in the 90′s that changed how I looked at removable for my entire practice career but I digress…..
In Savannah, I gave a brief introduction of what we do at the Master Dentists Academy and BCM, specificially with making sure the practice is equipped to do this kind of advanced procedure especially when it comes to ethically selling. The truth even more so in today’s economy is that “dentistry (especially things that aren’t free) doesn’t sell itself.”
[FYI: For those going through Rod's course who also take our online training in ethical selling, they get some special attention from me over all his other attendee's for how to market the procedure and they get direct tools and directions, how to's etc.....]
Here’s the harsh truth for most of those who sojourned to Georgia for the course.
Without direct modification in the state of affairs related to selling in the practice MOST won’t be doing many (or any) Facelift Denture procedures, since those cases (the chorus again) really won’t sell themselves. Even those who do find a few of cases will still have siginficant problems with creating the selling steps to get fee’s of $7K, $10K, $14K, or $19K depending on the patient’s situation/needs/wants.
Rod shares with attending doctors what he does with marketing/selling for a few hours during the weekend–the problem with that kind of teaching of marketing/selling is that it’s like Picasso trying to explain how he learned to paint. It’s impossible to recount 20 years of learning and trial and error in a few minutes. He can describe the gestalt or whole but not the hundreds of steps/do’s/don’ts that go into where he stands today selling his cases. With clinical dentistry, we all have a foundation that allows us wit a few hours of lecture to reasonably duplicate what was conveyed (as long as you do the procedure fairly soon afterwards!). With the non-clinical, there’s minimal or zero foundation so an hour or two of marketing/selling at a clinical lectures is akin to trying to learn mandarin in an afternoon. Not going to happen…..
Some more observations for you to learn from at this course include:
NONE in the course were new to advanced training. They’ve been to a lot of courses improving their clinical skills and the majority admit/agree that they have a harder time selling beyond the insurance limit or some really low ceiling just above that ($5K being a fairly common limit).
Sound familiar? Probably.
90% of those attending were there to create revenue from the procedure (as wish)–they have and are getting all the training—BUT….most can’t (won’t) do anything beyond learning the clinical steps taught to actually make that desire reality.
BIG DISCONNECT from what’s required on the steps outside of the clinical procedure to make the wishes (more profit) into reality (marketing/selling something that no one else in my location has–this particular method of denture).
The sad thing is the missing pieces of the puzzle related to elective procedures are KNOWN and can be predictably dispensed anywhere on the planet thanks to the internet.
We do it with BOTH marketing and with ethical selling via online distribution so there is simply no excuse. You still have to travel for Rod’s training–you don’t need to travel for any of our training or strategies. Simply plug-in. Run ads. Get calls. Do more of the dentistry you enjoy.
Sell your dentistry by a systematic set of steps and patients choose better and you are more efficient with your time. Everyone wins….
My last thought on Facelift Dentures is this–it’s one of the rare procedures (the others being certain types of implants, certain types of ortho, and certain types of sedation) that create enough of a unique message to allow you to find those who NEED, WANT, HAVE means or will FIND means for this type of dentistry (at whatever fee you would like) to carry the practice through all economic uncertainty which includes the current state where the average value in the workplace of most patients you serve and traditionaly have served is going down and as a result buying less of a lot of stuff (including dentistry).
In the meantime, check our Dr. Strickland’s course. The next one is probably already sold out.
In the meantime, get going with at least online training in how to ethically sell because, make no bones about it, your future, like it or not, does directly depend on whether the message of selling better is taken to heart. Is it?
Dental CE is great. It’s the path that unlocks all kinds of ways to serve your patients better IF it’s thought through. Most dentists don’t think anything through carefully regardless of whether it’s CE or not. That’s the simple truth–wish it wasn’t but it is what it is.
When it comes to CE, most dentists really don’t understand what they are paying for, getting, or will ever use based on the structure they have back in their in-practice systems and their chosen level of leadership. Yes, better leaders do far MORE dentistry. Lousy leaders do one tooth dentistry even with massive CE levels.
Ultimately, there are only two types of CE. One is world class handing the doctor tools that are quite valuable (if the tools get to be used) and there’s all the rest. Most in the profession choose “all the rest” as a default option and their skill levels show it.
Examples of “world class” courses include those conducted by Kois, Misch, Spear, LVI, etc. If you aren’t taking courses at that level, then you’re better served not traveling at all and simply doing all your CE online and at the most minimal cost since the ability to learn something well enough to put it into clinical use via a lesser level of training (not world class) is nearly impossible.
Now that the bar has been set, for those considering or in the midst of pursuing “world class,” let’s look at the economic costs of attending such to set the tone for how important other aspects unrelated to the actual course are to make up for the investment.
As I believe that Kois’ Treatment Planning I course all by itself would transform the entire profession (The ADA should buy it on DVD and send it to every practicing dentist) let’s talk specifically about the cost of attendance for that particualr course.
Here’s the breakdown for a dentist in Knoxville traveling to Seattle for the 3 day course:
$280 Current airfare (cheap in the rainy/crappy winter time of year)
$650 Hotel with taxes
$150 Food/sundries
$5395 Course fee
$2000 Minimum opportunity cost (no income for two days out of clinic)
$6475 MINIMUM total cost. If you like flying direct, first class, staying at better hotels, or have a greater minimum opportunity cost when you are away from work, you can adjust the minimum total cost appropriately.
It’s expensive AND it’s valuable when the doctor’s leadership, ability to promote, and team and doctor ability to ethically and systematically sell are all in place as a part of taking such a course.
In fact, only when those 3 planets are aligned does it make sense to put resources of this magnitude into play. John has NINE courses……you can do the math.
Knowing the minimum total cost on this, it’s amazing that the first step on the path to better clinical skills isn’t one in which a foundation of ethical selling for elective services is laid first. Everything taught in world class courses are elective and mostly outside the reimbursement systems. In other words, you have to find the patient who needs/wants and then discuss treatment in ways that make sense for buying.
In an age, where online education exists for such a thing (solid, ethical, selling foundations)…….one either gets smart on this or stays really DUMB….