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Bulletproof Dental Practice

Dentistry is evolving - Is your practice BULLETPROOF? Marketing. Systems. Leadership. Proven strategies to grow your practice with co-hosts Dr. Peter Boulden and Dr. Craig Spodak.
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Now displaying: August, 2018
Aug 30, 2018

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit on October 12-13th 2018 in Atlanta!

 

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 79

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guests: Tyler Yim and other students from Temple University

 

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

 

Questions:

  • What is the most valuable resource you use when you were learning how to run a successful business and still use today?
    • YouTube is a great learning source.
    • Don’t be afraid to take risks. Failure is a great way to learn.
    • Look to textbooks for dental education and model successful retail businesses for business education.
    • Podcasts are another great resource.
    • Look for CE outside the realm of dentistry.
  • Did you utilize coaches and consultants as you were growing?
    • Craig is a huge Tony Robbins fan. Suggests looking outside of dentistry.
    • Pete and Craig share a coach to hold each other accountable.
    • You never want to get to the point where you think you’ve figured it out and don’t have to learn anymore.
    • Look for a coach outside of dentistry, more in business.
  • Knowing what you know now about DSO’s, how would you change your business model?
    • There is a lot of runway for awesome, quality practices. Whatever model you ultimately choose just be sure you shoot to be the BEST you can be.
    • Consumers are expecting a lot. It’s very hard to do alone and solo as a new dentist. There’s safety in numbers.
    • The future for dental specialty is concerning, particularly because of disruption from technology. The future belongs to the super GP.
    • It’ll be easier to have larger offices in a wider geographic area.
  • What do you recommend to new grads as far as overcoming obstacles?
    • Work for someone for a couple years instead of starting a practice right away. Very few licensed dentists are ready to go right out and kill it on their own.
    • GPR’s are valuable.
  • What would be the most ideal pathway for getting the largest scope and the most experience at the fastest amount of time?
    • Surgical GPR’s are a good investment.
    • Immerse yourself as much as possible in technology.
    • Learn all you can about occlusion, as it’s the basis for everything.
    • Invest in CE.
    • Study public speaking and body language.
    • To be awesome you have to have clinical excellence and good rapport with patients.
  • How does the future of dentistry look with having associates as employees vs offering ownership?
    • Most corporations do not care if you work there for 2 years and then take off. They plan that into their business model. Look for long term alignment and ownership.
    • The ownership mentality is something you must have. Do not join a practice if you’re not looking to be there long term.
  • Focus on having one great practice vs. a lot of mediocre ones. Don’t scale too quickly.
  • Have you experimented with influencer marketing on social media like Instagram?
    • Influencer marketing is the most underpriced attention out there.
    • It’s hard to utilize because you may not know how to source those influences in your community.
  • Would you start an Instagram page while in school? Would you buy a domain name for SEO purposes?
    • Yes, develop your own brand RIGHT NOW. Buy the domain but don’t try to start building SEO currency. Develop yourself as dentist first, then when practice is open work on promoting your brand.
    • Start a dental relevant Facebook page and dental relevant Instagram page.
  • How do you pitch to specialists? How do you get them to work for you?
    • You can’t build anything part-time. Figure out how to work together to keep them full-time at your practice.
  • Are there are certain specialties that will be protected against consolidation and/or corporate takeover?
    • Whoever owns the patient owns the life cycle of the money. It’ll be very hard as a specialist to own that patient.
    • The price disparity between general UCR and specialist UCR will collapse.
  • Who do you look to – outside of dentistry – for marketing ideas?
    • Storytelling marketing is key.
    • Inspiration can come from anywhere. Take cues from other retail businesses; Starbucks, Apple, etc.

 

References:

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Delivering Happiness by Jim Hsieh

Built to Sell by John Warrillow

T Bone Speaks Dentistry

Dental Hacks Podcast

Dr. Paul Homoly

Toastmasters

The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini

Chris Ramsey

Donald Miller

Gary Vaynerchuk

Tony Robbins

 

Tweetables:

The speed of your mistakes dictates the speed of your learning. - Dr. Craig Spodak

Your speed of innovation is going to be equal to the speed of your success. – Dr. Craig Spodak

The cheapest marketing strategy ever… CARE. – Gary V

Peer pressure makes everybody better. – Dr. Craig Spodak

If you don’t make it easy for patients to do business with you, someone else will. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Aug 23, 2018

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit on October 12-13th 2018 in Atlanta!

 

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 78

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Trevor Maurer, President and CEO of Smile Source

 

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Smile Source is not a DSO, it’s an affiliation of great dental practices.
  • When presented with 4 logos,15% of consumers would choose services from “Dr. John Smith.”
  • “Monarch Dental, Dr. John Smith” has a 22% preference.
  • “Dr. John Smith, a Member of ABC Associates” has a 27% preference.
  • “Smile Source, Dr. John Smith” has a 37% preference.
  • Practice names do matter. Any affiliation above “Dr. John Smith” will carry significant weight.
  • Fewer than 10% of current grads want to own a practice. That percentage goes up significantly after a few years practicing.
  • When choosing a practice name, Trevor recommends having the dentist’s name in it somewhere as a sub-brand but have an affiliation with something much larger.
  • Smile Source’s research favors a sub-brand doctor name. The doctor’s name adds community connection, while the main brand associates with something larger, with benefits.
  • When a patient asks for a brand by name, the doctor gave it to them 87% of the time.
  • However, patients only ask for specific brand names 4% of the time.
  • Branding is great, but don’t be bullied by brands.
  • The greatest fear in dentistry right now is fear of corporate takeover.
  • Corporate is targeting schools because they’re not getting the talent they want from established market.
  • Private equity is pouring money into the market right now, and for the time being it’s good for everyone.
  • Money is making good returns, the labor pool is interested in the message, and there’s a gender shift.
  • You used to be able to get by opening a dental office with a “place to sit and a place to spit,” now you need so much technology and HR experts.
  • You don’t need to go corporate to get that kind of help. Smile Source helps the little guy win.
  • Smile Source has resources to allow dentists to work together to pool their resources, you get the benefits of larger practices while still being individually owned.
  • The majority of practices in the country are part of the traditional cottage industry.
  • Private practitioners need to recognize that most patients want extended hours.
  • 21% of dentists are part of a group or DSO.
  • The right time to bring in an associate is when you have the best time, money, and energy.
  • You’ll find people who have just come out of dental school. They’ll need to understand their production might be low to start and they have to hustle to make themselves valuable to the practice.
  • Finding an associate is all about finding the right relationship for your practice.

 

References:

Built to Sell by John Warrillow

 

Tweetables:

Patients are consumers before they’re patients. – Trevor Maurer

Stay committed to the process of growing. – Dr. Peter Boulden

If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, then the end is near. – Jack Welch

Aug 16, 2018

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit on October 12-13th 2018 in Atlanta!

 

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 77

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Reese Harper, DentistAdvisors.com

 

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

 

Key Takeaways:

  • There are big differences between fee-based and fee-only financial advisors.
    • People assume “fee-based” means you only charge fees, but advisors who say they are fee-based generally also take commissions.
  • Bad financial advice comes from product salespeople who get paid commissions. Good advice generally comes from people who get paid for their time, or percentage against an investment account.
  • Make sure your financial advisor is disclosing ALL FEES UP FRONT.
  • Everyone who is commission based have a strong conflict of interest. They are incentivized for pushing products that may not be in your best financial interest.
  • Your financial advisor should be a registered investment advisor, and an independent, fee-only fiduciary, and nothing else.
  • If your broker/dealer/advisor is spending a lot of money on you it is a red flag.
  • The more you learn about finance the more you’ll know the current financial market model is crazy.
  • For dentists who have “found money,” the first & best thing you should do is invest it in your business.
  • Dentistry is an amazing career, but there’s a huge barrier to entry.
  • Use your money to work toward at least a 20% operating margin beyond your production.
  • If your practice is good and doesn’t need investment, you can use your money to:
    • Build businesses
    • Buy liquid assets (minimum 6 months of living expenses) (cash, mutual funds, anything you can pull out that isn’t tied up)
    • Work on retirement plans
    • Buy real estate
  • To be a serious investor you have to take risk. In order to take risk you have to be liquid.
  • Pay attention to your debt-to-income ratio.
  • In a calendar year, do you have more than 20% of your gross income left over? If you’re not accumulating 20-25% liquidity every year you haven’t earned the luxury to reduce your debt on an accelerated basis.
  • Your income can only go to:
    • Savings
    • Spending
    • Debt
    • Taxes
  • The ratio of your income mix dictates what you can do.
  • It’s more important to get into the right working situation than it is to pay down your student loan debt.
  • Not everyone is cut out to be a practice owner. There are a lot of benefits to being an associate, and you don’t have to be an owner to max your earnings.
  • There is a correlation between income and ownership. Owners tend to make more, but that’s because 30% of owners manage their practices really well and are killing it. 70% of owners really struggle, to the point where it’s probably a wash whether they should be an owner or not.
  • If you’re smart, your first associate hire will cut your income. As an owner you have to go through periods where you make less than you would as an associate.
  • You have to have a net worth that is about 30x your annual spending in order for work to be optional.
  • Dentists don’t invest their liquid assets aggressively enough. They’re too conservative, and it costs millions of dollars over a 25-year career.
  • The 3-factor model says investments grow more than average because they are:
    • Smaller vs. bigger
    • High value companies vs. high-growth
    • High quality & profitably vs. low-profitability
  • Run if your CFP is telling you to get out of the market now because a correction is coming.
  • You know you’re too conservative if your investments didn’t beat the S&P return.
  • Your investments can earn 10-13% every year if you invest wisely.
  • Keep tuning in to Bulletproof Dental Practice podcasts for the next interview with Reese!

 

References:

Fama–French three-factor model

 

Tweetables:

It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. – Upton Sinclair

The things that drive owners are not always financial. – Reese Harper
No business tries to pay down debt as their first goal. – Reese Harper

Money is an emotional thing, it’s not logical. – Dr. Craig Spodak

As long as you’re loving what you do and you’re not oppressed by it, that is freedom. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Aug 9, 2018

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit on October 12-13th 2018 in Atlanta!

 

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 76

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Elijah Desmond, Driven Dental Marketing & Smiles At Sea

 

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

 

Key Takeaways:

  • The next Smiles At Sea cruise is in September, then there’s another in March.
  • Changing someone’s smile will often change their whole life.
  • Focus on life-changing moments.
  • Finances are the #1 impediment to enrollment. Team mindset is #2, #3 is contact rate.
  • Your team can develop mindsets about certain types of people that lead to not giving 100% for every patient every time.
  • Go into treatment presentation with he mindset that EVERYONE offers opportunity.
  • Offer multiple financing options so the highest number of patients can accept treatment.
    • CareCredit is the go-to.
  • Marketing is useless if your contact rate is low. Potential patients want information NOW.
  • Consumers expect convenience for EVERYTHING.
  • If you treat people with empathy they’ll think you’re the best dentist ever.
  • Personal referrals are everything.
  • Social media is for engagement. It’s the modern-day word of mouth, on steroids.
  • The number of reviews – and the frequency – are both important.
  • Dentists should not be spending all their time doing consults.
  • Offer a minimum of 2 implant options.

 

References:

Every Day a Friday by Joel Osteen

Lead Owl

Bulletproof Summit 2018

Proceed Finance

 

Tweetables:

Treat everyone with empathy. – Dr. Peter Boulden

Every dental professional should be an educator. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Change someone’s life and they’ll be a walking billboard for you. – Elijah Desmond

Aug 2, 2018

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit on October 12-13th 2018 in Atlanta!

 

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 75

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Reposted From: Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

 

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Statistics show that if new dentists work in a DSO for more than two years, the statistic probability is they’ll stay there for 7-10.
  • About 70-80% of new dentists who go into DSO’s right after school will leave within two years.
  • When everyone is pulling on the rope at the same time it creates better team alignment.
  • People are always the biggest stressor in businesses. You’re always one employee away from starting the whole process over.
  • Storybook leadership isn’t the most effective leadership. Real leaders come in all shapes, sizes, and styles.
  • Patients are looking for experience. If your team is disengaged your results won’t be as good. Create a raving team and your patients will follow suit.
  • The American public is dumbed down to think that if it’s legal, it’s always safe. People are waking up to the reality that you have to be discernable with your consumerism.
  • For marketing, craft a story that’s compelling enough to talk about. Make yourself worthy of being talked about and treat that as your marketing plan.
  • Focus on net patient growth. You have to differentiate yourself.
  • Business is innovation. You need to flip everything on its head and create a value proposition that’s unlike everyone else’s.
  • Realize that patients are grasping at value. They don’t understand the quality of your work, they judge you based on how you treat them and how your office looks.
  • All-Star Smiles provides dental care services to children in need throughout the U.S.

 

References:

Uncomplicate Business by Howard Farran

All Star Smiles

 

Tweetables:

Real leadership is putting other people’s needs above yourself. – Dr. Craig Spodak

The best leaders are the ones you don’t even feel. – Dr. Craig Spodak

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. – Lao Tzu

Your patients can feel loved if your team doesn’t feel supported. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Give people a reason beyond your dentistry to like you more. – Dr. Craig Spodak

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