Habit 2 Begin with the End in Mind in Your Dental Practice

When you understand how the mind works, you can leverage this to create some amazing results within your dental practice. All things in life are created twice - first the mental creation then the physical creation comes next. Without first the mental creation, the physical one will never happen. This is something all dentists understand very well when it comes to clinical dentistry. When they look into a mouth, they all have a pretty good idea of what the outcome will look like. When it comes to the business side of the practice, this step often gets skipped, unfortunately. An example of the two creations would be with a building. The mental creation of your building is the architectural plans, the physical creation is the actual building. Everything in life is created this way.

I thought this article on Social Media might be helpful to all Dental Offices.    ~Darren Kaberna 

How to Run a Successful Social Media Sweepstakes

1. Adeel Vanthaliwala
   Published November 4, 2013 
   

Do you need a guide to ensure that you don’t miss the crucial elements of a successful sweepstakes promotion?Are you planning to run a social media sweepstakes to make your business stand out this holiday season?

Habit 1 Be Proactive Within Your Dental Practice

When looking at your dental practice you can choose to be Proactive in your approach or Reactive in how you handle things. Too often we tend allow the world around us to push us into Reactive behavior. This might sound silly and too superficial but how we respond in life is predetermined by how we think on a daily basis. Hence why the type of language we use and how we think is important. Let's explore more of what I am referring to.

The reason why this programing is important is when something happens to you in life, there is a very brief moment where you have the ability to respond before you see the outcome of that event. An example might be, you see a car accident. Immediately you have the ability to do a few things. Do you run over to the car and help, do you stay where you are and dial 911 or do you do nothing and just keep going about your business. We all have the ability to respond to everything in our lives, the question becomes, what do we choose. Another example I hear in dental offices all the time, "The economy stinks and because of that my business is struggling." I would argue that you are allowing the economy to negatively impact your business. Have you heard of the Lottery Curse? About 70% of people who win the lottery within 5 years declare bankruptcy. How in the world is it possible to take such a great problem and end in such tragedy? Poor decisions is the answer.  This is why I believe even with a tough economy you can make great decisions and have a positive outcome.

7 Habits for a Successful Dental Practice

There are several Habits that we will be discussing in the upcoming weeks based on Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." The Impact both Personally and Professionally will be profound within your dental office.

Your Dental Practice must be consistent in Communication, Time Management, and Leadership to be productive. Dr. Covey references two types of Ethics in his book. They are Character Ethics and Personality Ethics. In brief, Character relates to the core and Personality is on the outside. These are important to understand as your Dental Practice starts with YOU. As the Dentist, you are the owner of the Dental Practice. In many cases there are Associates. The Associates must also think as an Owner. The Character of a Leader must be derived from their core. Your Dental Practice will only produce in abundance if you are healthy. The overall state of your health and the Dental Practice is pertinent in order to maintain growth and development.

3 Most Important Things to Watch Within Your Dental Office

There a three areas of your Dental Practice that absolutely must be managed impeccably. By managing these areas you increase profitability. Most Dentists have a tendency to focus on New Patients in hopes of achieving the goal of profitability. In fact, having new patients is not always the resolution. The 3 most important systemic areas of your Dental Practice are: Cash Flow, Hygiene, and Case Acceptance. Let's discuss how each area impacts your profitability.

Cash Flow affects your Dental Practice in an imperative way. This area must be managed in a healthy manner. The adage from every business school is "Cash is King." Without great cash flow, not much else matters within a dental office. The two best places to examine the health of the dental practice from a cash flow perspective are, Outstanding Patient Balances and Outstanding Insurance Claims. This is where all of your cash flow comes from. Watch these reports regularly!!