Accelerate My Practice Blog

You've been wondering what kind of transformations AMP can do, not only for your dental office and dental team, but for you personally. Hear it from someone who once stood where you are standing right now, Mark Thoreson talks about his experience with the AMP team! 


I know you. You're a dentist. You like things just so. You create systems and hire people that reflect your goals and vision. You attract patients that match your attitude. Your standards are high, right? How often do you take a vacation? Twice or thrice a year, I'd guess. Even the best team needs a break sometimes. There's stress in them there chairs! That awesome team of yours even gets on your case at times. Where do you go? Same old, same old: Junket to Vegas, hop to Hawaii, visit the 'outlaws'? Ever go somewhere you've never been, following someone you've just met – based on their grinning promise that your destination is the most awesome place ever, where the coolest people live and do the most amazing things? That requires risk. That's walking barefoot through a dark room carpeted with Legos. Stepping out of that comfy, easy little playpen you call a normal life. And do it by choice? Hmmm? Sounds nutty. What if you didn't ask for it? What if you were faced with choosing between this risk and what you know to be even more difficult and/or fearful? What if the suggestion was given to you by a stranger? A freakin' SALESMAN? Whoa. Shields UP, Mr. Sulu!

You have just found the perfect employee to join your dental team, how do you move forward with training them in your dental office? Where do we start in this process? How do we trust and delegate?


Our first take in hiring is to clone ourselves when in actuality, we should hire our weaknesses. Hire to address your own weaknesses so you can delegate what you don’t like to do to someone that does! Delegation is the key. Do you trust enough to delegate?  If you do it all as the employer, you have a job. If you delegate and trust, you have an empowered team that will do for you well beyond your expectations. 

Do you desire to micromanage your business disallowing empowerment amongst your team members? If you delegate your weaknesses, then verify the results, you will create accountability amongst your team and results for yourself. Without delegation and trust, you will be doing it all when your passionate team members are there to build your business. Tap into their resources!

Everyone on your dental team has at some point thought about getting fired. Why does this thought run through our heads? It is unmatched expectations within the practice? How can you NOT get Fired?

Let’s start by saying that AMP is not a firing squad.  In fact we’d like nothing more than to empower each and every one of you to perform at a higher level than you ever have before.  To do this we must start with a question “Who the heck are you and why should I care?” Answering this question is of utmost importance for the leaders of our teams because unclear or even unverbalized expectations can be the source of many doctor and team member issues.  Without a clear understanding of why you’re asking your team to do what you’re asking them to do, there will be continual problems with performance.   

It's our job to provide Dentists' with the information needed to increase their dental case acceptance. Every once in awhile doctors will come across the big case, our first priority is answering any and all questions that the patient may have, our second priority is closing the case with patient cofidence! Take a look at how AMP role plays a Big case in Dental Case Acceptance. 

What do you do when a new patient comes to you and they haven't been in for many years? First, take them back for a consult and take time to discuss their case and explain to them that due to the time they’ve taken to come back in you have concerns about their decay and  explain the options! In previous episodes we’ve talked about the importance in tapping into the emotions of a patient. In this case you may ask, "You're only 41 and the decay that is being presented here needs to be taken care of. Now understanding expenses may be a concern, how do you feel about dentures?" Give them a worst case scenario, it will prompt then to ask for additional options.   

What are some challenges in the hygiene department? One is how do we keep the patients scheduled for their hygiene appointments! Doing hygiene role-play in the office will help your team prepare new ways to keep patients on the books!