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 74

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Shiven Gandhi, Atlanta Dental Spa

Key Takeaways:

• Right now, Instagram is everything.
• You’re either a consumer or a producer.
• The more you can get your mind around the fact that you’re a digital marketing company that does dentistry, the better your message will be amplified.
• The more attention you can get, the better off you’ll be.
• Ask yourself what kind of content you can put out that will attract the type of person you want to bring in.
• Don’t focus on creating content, focus on documenting. By doing that you have genuine stories, people will want to tune in to learn or because they are intrigued.
  • Take photos, take videos, whatever you can put together.
  • Write on your photos. Label things. Draw arrows. Make them engaging.
• Storytelling marketing is the future. Make your patient the hero, and yourself the guide.
• The emotional story and the journey is everything. It resonates and draws emotion.
• Instagram has 3 major components; the feed, stories, and live.
  • Live is easiest to do but is also the most intimidating.
• Make it simple – and doable. Do something as simple as verbally documenting a case.
• If you’re not comfortable documenting yourself it would be very beneficial to find someone who is excellent at helping to create and manage content.
• People don’t want to see static ads. They want to see content that is engaging or helps them be better at what they want to do.
• It’s not about how many followers you have. It’s about the engagement.
• You never know which posts will have the most engagement. Just keep consistently putting content out.
• Hashtags:
  • If you have a hashtag associated with your post, that’s how your post populates in the algorithm.
  • Instagram will allow you to post up to 30 hashtags.
  • Have broad hashtags to pull you into certain arenas, then have very specific ones so you can find your post directly.
  • Hashtags are used primarily for search.
  • You can search hashtags on Google.
• Social media is hard, because people tune out – and unfollow – anyone who they don’t want to see. It’s hard to be relevant and put out content that people want to see.
• When you start a page, decide what you want your aesthetic to be. Do you want a theme? Do you want certain types of photos? Do you want your posts in a specific cadence? Decide before you start and use that as a guideline for your content.
• The cost to advertise on Facebook and Instagram is cheap, compared to Google AdWords.
• Social influencers are huge. If you can get the right person to post on their page with their story about YOU, it can be amazing for your business.

References:

Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

ownR Magazine

Dental Influencers Alliance 2018 Conference

Tweetables:

You most likely have content, you just don’t share it. – Dr. Shiven Gandhi

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 73

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Thor Conklin, Founder & CEO of Peak Performance Group

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Before you can fix your business, you must decide first where you want to go.
• You have to figure out what’s getting in the way of your success, and what are the lynchpins to solving your problems.
  • It’s generally stopping or removing something rather than adding something.
• Often, what we want most in life is what’s most painful for us to get.
• Gratitude is one of the biggest and best ways to improve your fulfillment.
• It’s about getting back to what’s really important to you.
• Meditation and gratitude should be the first things you do in the morning.
• Try writing everything down that you’re stressed about. You’ll already feel less stressed. Put on your calendar a reminder to spend 20 minutes to work on taking an action to move one of those things forward.
• When doing something you hate, fake liking it and it’ll get easier. You can physiologically fool your body.
• People who want to stay pissed, will stay pissed. Just stay away from them.
• Every top performer has a pre-event ritual. They set their body, their intention, and their mind before they walk in.
• Take a deep breath and put a smile on your face. Set yourself before starting.
• 80-90% of communication is non-verbal.
• Focus on your mental fitness.
• Doing something physical helps break bad mental patterns. Get your bad energy out physically.
• Try to make your life as streamlined as possible. Clutter in your life tends to slow you down.
• Schedule time to allow yourself creative thinking time.
• High performers have a default of “no.” Know what your overall mission is and say “no” to anything that doesn’t serve that purpose.
• Figure out what your lane is going to be. Pick that lane and go deep.

References:

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Muze

Tweetables:

People confuse happiness with fulfillment. – Thor Conklin

The only way to combat stress is action. – Thor Conklin

Your emotions do not dictate your physiology, your physiology dictates your emotions – Thor Conklin

Anytime you want to change your emotional state, simply change your physical state. – Thor Conklin

Every “yes” is a “no” to something else. – Thor Conklin

Don’t start running until you know where you’re going. – Thor Conklin

You achieve more when you’re happily achieving, then when you’re achieving to be happy. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Figure out what your lane is going to be. Pick that lane and go deep. – Thor Conklin

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 72

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Jairek Robbins

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• 80% of workers feel stress on the job, 50% say they need help learning how to manage stress. This equates to 300B annually that it’s costing companies in the US.
• Job stress leads to accidents, lost work time, lack of productivity, etc.
• As a business, job stress is expensive.
• Lack of sleep breaks you down mentally and physically.
• To optimize sleep, look into various plants, blackout curtains, monitoring, and increasing movement during the day.
• No sleep monitoring device is perfect.
• Aim for perpetual movement vs short, intense workout bursts.
• Think about ways you force yourself to walk more in your office, even if it means redesigning your office layout.
• Get outside early in the morning to get great vitamin D from sun exposure.
• Blue light from electronics at night hampers sleep.
• Short morning routine to be a super-human version of yourself:
  • First thing in the morning, start with a clear mind. Do a short meditation and/or breath practice.
  • From there, go straight to the shower and take a 3-minute ice-cold shower. This will activate your adrenal glands. Ease into it! If you want to activate fat burning you can alternate between 20 seconds of hot and cold water.
• Sign up for Jairek’s Udemy course @ discounted rate of $29.99:

References:

Live It!: Achieve Success by Living with Purpose by Jairek Robbins

Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson

Ben Greenfield

f.lux

Muse

Spire

Mel Robbins

The Complete Guide to Activating High Peformance by Jairek Robbins

Viome

Bulletproof Coffee

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 71

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Brian Colao, Dykema

Key Takeaways:

• Dentistry is undergoing a great evolution and a great consolidation.
• There’s also massive disruption within the workspace of dentistry.
• There’s a lot of fear out there, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
• A big part of the fear is lack of information. If you can understand what the changes are, why they’re happening, and what the legal options are, there is no reason to fear change.
• DSO’s allow dentist owners to sell their practice to the whole world, not just to another dentist in your state.
• If you’re a solo office, you don’t necessarily need to be a DSO. If you plan to grow and are looking for the largest buyout possible then a DSO setup will be a great benefit.
• After 3 offices you’ll generally see more favorable tax treatment under the new code. Check with your CPA for specifics on your practice.
• A lot of specialists are forming DSO’s as well.
• GP DSO’s are buying specialists as well.
• As the whole market starts to consolidate to DSO’s, strictly referral-based services will start to lose market share.
• Technology is making specialty procedures a lot more doable for general dentists.
• The next 3-4 years will include a lot of consolidation, but right now there’s room for everyone at the table.
• After 5-10 years the marketplace may change, and some opportunities won’t be there anymore.
• Seeing 14-15x offers will most likely become less common over the next couple years. Brian predicts 6-7x offers will be the norm.
• There is tremendous demand from private equity to buy dental practices.
• There is a bit of a gold rush in the dental industry; there’s high demand and low supply.
• Don’t give in to FOMO; sell when it’s the right time for you.
• For organizations under 5 offices, it costs around $20,000-$25,000 to set up a DSO.
• For restructuring DSO’s, 8 out of 10 times Dykema can rework the original DSO into a better structure.
• Dykema’s 5th Annual Definitive Conference for Dental Service Organizations is coming up July 18th-20th.
  • Register NOW with and use code “BulletProof” to receive discounted registration for $350!

References:

Private Equity is Pouring Money Into a Dental Empire

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 70

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Drew Byrnes, The FFS Dentist Podcast

Key Takeaways:

• FFS Practices take courage and planning.
• The first one is the hardest. You’ve already got your proof of concept.
• It’s super important if you’re a FFS practice to really make sure you’re creating an experience.
• Your online reviews are the truest barometer of who you really are.
• Marketing should be fun, especially on social media.
• Recessions are hard to weather but also offer great opportunities for growth.
• Always be auditing for the patient experience.
• Create your culture and make sure you hire the right people for the right job.
• Your team has to come first. Treat them like your family. Support them and they will support you.
• Don’t let anyone who is toxic come into your business; patients or team.
• Marketing is a big factor of growing your practice. Effective marketing amplifies your office culture and experience.
• Don’t spend a lot of money on fancy print ads. The bang for the buck isn’t there.
• Have a bulletproof patient experience process in place BEFORE you spend money on marketing.
• Reach out to any influencers you can find and offer them free services in exchange for them posting about you on social media. Have them publicize their experience about your practice.
• Master attention-based marketing. Find out how to get in front of people on their phones.
• The more you capture someone’s eyeballs the more you’ll capture their conversion.
• There’s no such thing as coasting. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.

References:

Voices of Dentistry

Under Armour Protect This House

Bulletproof Summit 2018

Tweetables:

The difference between success and failure is typically one more day. – Dr. Peter Boulden

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 69

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• A lot of general dentistry practices see a slump in the summertime. Kids are off school so parents focus more on their dental care.
• Boulden predicts what is done in March will predict business for April, May, and June.
• Cycles happen and they are normal.
• Oral surgeons tend to have busy months, so take advantage of those procedures.
• During downturns pay attention to pre-appointment rates. What % of your patients are leaving with another appointment scheduled? If you’re in the 90% range you have an iconic practice.
• Pre-appointment rates have the highest correlated number for profitability and overall practice size.
• Have your providers with high pre-appointment rates train those who are lower on how they do it.
• Also look at your revenue per patient and work on growing that number.
• Focus on the # of visits, avg production per patient per visit, and profit rate.
• Only 11% of what can be maximized on dental insurance is being used.
• Marketing isn’t print ads anymore; it’s influencer marketing, spending on patients, social media, etc. Focus your dollars on where people’s attention is.
• Today it takes about 20 impressions of an ad before people choose to act.
• Influencer marketing is currently very low-priced attention.
• Authentic testimonial videos are GOLD.
• Videos don’t have to be super-well produced. People respect unpolished testimonials and often weight them as more authentic.
• Find a dental advocate who wants success for you. Bounce your ideas off them and share tips and tricks.

References:

Dental Intel

Tribute

Spodak Jeff’s Reaction

Tweetables:

Use pain as a motivator. – Dr. Craig Spodak

You get what you focus on. – Dr. Peter Boulden

Influence is the difference. – Dr. Craig Spodak

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 68

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Kyle Stanley, DSD, Speaker, Lecturer, Dental Expert

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• The Lip Factor – Dr. Stanley’s concepts regarding moving lips if needed.
• The lower third of the face has to be involved with smile designing.
• Dentists have a great opportunity to partner with plastic surgeons to create exceptional results for patients looking for facial changes.
• Oral surgery programs should include two roads; hospital and private practice.
• Bone sets the tone, but tissue is the issue.
• DSO mania is helping super high-end practices by differentiating them from “normal” dental offices.
• Rogue dentists can get away with terrible treatment in a way that medical doctors cannot. Dentists have to get away from what was being taught in the 70’s.
• Always over-communicate with your patients so they can’t ever feel you haven’t shared all education with them.
• If you give your patient a proper education, you’ll never regret it.
• Dentist are 500x more likely to commit suicide than the general public.
• Stress is a real killer. A lot of dentist’s stress is related to dental school costs, practice acquisition, and the enormous pressure of debt.
• Dentistry doesn’t do enough to change patient behavior and manage expectations.
• If we can put less pressure on ourselves we can be more open with our patients, it creates less stress and is a better patient experience.

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 67

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Gregg May, 10X Dental

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• The obstacles we overcome make us who we are.
• When times are tough it’s really easy to isolate. Seek out another dentist who you can talk with and commiserate with.
• The 10X Dental group is designed to fuse experience from old-school dentist with passion and new technology from younger, up-and-coming dentists.
• When dentists get challenged they tend to revert back to dental terminology. You’ve got to talk in plain English. Always use patient-friendly language.
• 10X Dental Group is also about sharing leadership skills.
• Accountability is key. You need people to hold you to the fire.
• Mastermind Groups are great for finding like-minded people to relate to and share best practices.
• Sometimes “more” can make you really unhappy.
• There’s more to running a dental office than ever before, not least of which is creating office culture.
• The bigger you get the larger the expectations of you are.

References:

The Power of NOW by Eckhart Tolle

Tweetables:

We all crave context. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Don’t resent the process. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Real happiness is in the solving of problems. – Dr. Craig Spodak

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. - Jim Rohn

It’s not the “what’s next,” it’s the “what’s now.” – Dr. Gregg May

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 66

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Jesse Green, Dentist, Author, Founder of Savvy Dentist Podcast and Practice Max

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Adding more new patients to your practice will highlight the problems in your office.
• Success is all about making sure there’s net growth. You can’t just work to get new patients without making sure you’re taking care of your existing ones.
• Make sure you have leadership in charge, not just in place.
• Following systems allows for consistency but you can’t overdo systems, there should be some amount of flexibility.
• Create frameworks for conversations with patients, instead of scripts.
• The best strategy for retention is relationships. “Don’t be a dickhead.”
• Having regular communication with your team and understanding what they want from you is the best way to retain your team members.
• Make sure all decisions have a triple win: your business wins, the patient wins, and the team member wins.
• If you can have alignment about the goal for the team then you’re moving in the right direction.
• Every time you have staff turnover you’ll have a dip in productivity.
• There’s a sweet spot for profitability. Bigger is not always better. Pay more attention to profitability than size.
• In Australia, 4-5 chairs in a practice is a sweet spot. It’s small enough to manage, you can make it very profitable, and you can replicate it more easily.
• You have to understand your positioning in the marketplace; whether you’re volume, boutique, etc.
• Convenience is critical.
• There are three ways to increase revenue:
  • See more patients (marketing, how do you get more out of your chair, etc.)
  • See those patients more frequently
  • Increase the average dollar spend per patient
• Small changes in those categories compound across your practice.
• Marketing Three R’s:
  • Recruit new patients
  • Retain existing patients
  • Reactivate people who might have fallen off the bandwagon
• The things that move the needle most are “critical drivers.” What activities are your team doing that produce the best results? Focus on those activities.
  • Ask for referrals
  • Ask for Google reviews
  • Multiply the booking
  • Focus on presenting x number of treatments per day, from there you’ll have the conversions you’re looking for
  • Morning huddles, productive staff meetings
• Proposed treatment vs. enrolled treatment (acceptance rate) – shoot for 80-85%.
  • Depending on your preferences, that acceptance rate can be closer to 66%.
• Net profit: including salary of principal, your net profit should be around 20%.
• Everything is about the cash flow.

References:

Retention: How to Plug the #1 Profit Leak in Your Dental Practice by Dr. Jesse Green

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 65

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Scott Leune, Founder & CEO of Breakaway Practice & Dental Whale

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Most DSO’s don’t allow for the dentist to work with them to continue growing their business.
• Breakaway Practice provides DSO infrastructure to provide partnership and value for practice owners.
• Breakaway Practice wants to take the best from corporate infrastructure has today and make it available to a private dentist through a partnership.
• Traditional DSO’s are a great benefit for new grads who want guaranteed salary with a lot of CE and ability to move around the country.
• Practice sale strategy all depends on the specific wants and needs of the selling dentist.
• Most Breakaway dentists are entrepreneurs who want multiple locations.
• 7 out of 8 practices should not be purchased by someone who wants to own multiple locations.
• Invest in training, coaching, and learning if you’re interested in owning multiple locations. It’s a lot of hard work and isn’t for most people.
• To get a really high EBITDA multiple you must own lots of locations with a ton of infrastructure and a solid path to continue rapid growth.
• Leune has found there’s a tipping point at 11 days being booked out, profits start going down and no-shows start going up.
• Once you’re at that tipping point you have a problem and must fix whatever is holding back the schedule.
• January-March are the best months of the year for acquiring new patients, cost-wise. August is also good. Worst times for marketing are December, April-May, and September.
• Dentists need to strive for both clinical AND business excellency.
• Specialists are in the hardest position right now, as GP’s are taking over more and more of their business.
• If you’re doing what you love and making a good amount of money, perhaps there’s no reason to change or do anything different. Not everyone has to be the CEO.
• If you do what’s right for the patient, create a really good value-based practice, and have a good following there’s plenty of room for you to be successful in the future.
• Figure out the “why” first so you don’t end up going down the wrong path. Once you’re clear in your decision making, decisions aren’t that hard.

Tweetables:

Innovation comes from pain, and not giving up. – Dr. Scott Leune

It’s so much easier to make a decision when there’s purpose behind it. – Dr. Scott Leune

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 63

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Mark Costes, Founder of Dental Success Institute

Key Takeaways:

• There’s no one right model for setting up a dental practice, it must be tailored to the owner’s goals and the specific geographic area.
• Boulden predicts the rise of the “Super GP,” a dentist who has skills and training to do more services than they have traditionally. Less will be referred out.
• Technology is allowing a wider range of dentists to practice a wider range of skills.
• “The grass is greener” is always psychology.
• Most dentists don’t have a business. If you’re not making more than 30% as dentist owner then it’s a glorified job.

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 62

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Uche Odiatu, keynote speaker, author, wellness expert

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Uche integrates total health wellness within his busy dental practice.
• Probiotics are now acknowledged by mainstream medicine.
  • Probiotics are live organisms that supplement your diet. If you’re eating the right food you don’t need probiotics, but up to 90% of people are not eating the right food.
• Probiotics have been proven to prevent sickness in trails with extreme athletes, so their benefits for anyone with a stressed immune system can benefit.
• 85% of CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies exercise 3-4 times per week. 15% of the average North American population exercises.
• Fit people have an attenuated response to stress.
• Keeping up with regular exercise helps your body and mind slow down.
• The goal of exercise isn’t to get in shape, it’s to change your life and stay there.
• Find successful people to model yourself after.
• The lack of serotonin causes depression. 90% of serotonin is made in your gut, from food.
• The fundamental, #1 food for your body is fiber.
• Exercise is an independent factor that affects your gut flora. It balances and brings homeostasis to every one of your neurotransmitters.
• To get smarter, exercise and eat fiber.
• If you want to lead you need to do things to increase energy, have abundant thinking, and have good reaction to stress.
• You can’t buy great physical condition. Its an expression to the world of your standard for your body.
• Morning routines are key for setting a great tone for your day.
• Comparing yourself with others is not good, being grateful for what you have is important.
• One thing you can do to start improving your life is to act on one thing you heard that resonated with you. Celebrate, don’t analyze.

References:

Align Probiotic Supplement

The Mind-Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer

The Microbiome Solution by Robynne Chutkan MD

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

Exercise – When Less is More with HIIT!!! By Dr. Uche Odiatu

Tweetables:

Time flies for people who aren’t paying attention. – Dr. Uche Odiatu

The quality of your life depends on the quality of your communication. – Tony Robbins

No one is an overnight success. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Gratitude is the master emotion. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Comparison is the thief of joy. – Theodore Roosevelt

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 61

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Garrett Gunderson, author & founder of Wealth Factory

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Wealth Factory is a personal wealth management company with a specialized focus for entrepreneurs in dentistry.
• Garrett co-authored a new book, called “5 Day Weekend.” Look for it on shelves everywhere!
• “The 4 Hour Workweek” is more about outsourcing and frugality. “5 Day Weekend” focuses more on keeping more of the money you make, learning to make more money as an individual, growing your money, and investing back in yourself.
• Dentists got screwed with the new tax change because they’re service-based professionals. Dentists won’t get the pass-through deduction.
• Two major things when it comes to taxes:
  • You should have an accountant to get tax deductions. The biggest way to save tax is to reclassify your income which comes from attorneys. If your attorney isn’t a tax attorney, you will be spending too much money.
  • Every three years you should get a different set of eyes on your taxes. You have three years to amend.
    • If you’ve done any R&D or domestic production. This includes CEREC manufacturing, training, software research, etc. These deductions are additional money you could be leaving on the table.
    • Do a cost segregation on any property you own.
  • Saving tens of thousands of dollars on taxes is like ten years of investing.
  • The two main factors of income reclassification are:
    • How can you take your active income and classify it as passive income?
      • You’ve created unique processes and intellectual property. Set up a separate company as an intellectual property company. Then pay that company 15% to use that proprietary intellectual property.
    • How do you take ordinary income and classify it as capital gains income?
      • Create captive insurance agencies. If you do it right, you can put money in pre-tax and create various insurance protections to sell back to your practice. The money taken out is considered capital gains and has better tax benefits.
      • You can ensure actual business risks. If you can’t sock away $300,000 it’s not worth doing.
    • You can drop your tax rate to 4% if you choose to live in Puerto Rico for at least 4 months of the year and be outside the US for at least 6 months.
    • If you have a company event at your home or personal property you can pay yourself rent without claiming it as income.
    • LLC’s that hold real estate that is rented out to your practice count as reclassification of income and have valuable tax incentives.
    • There’s no reason to be overpaying on taxes when it’s legal and ethical to avoid paying certain things.
    • Wealth Factory acts as your personal financial quarterback, and 93% of their clients save significant amounts of money by working with them.
    • Two ideas about 401k’s:
      • Everyone should look at a charitable remainder trust. You can create tax deductions when you sell assets.
      • Even better, look at converting 401k’s to a Roth plan. You have to pay tax when you convert, but if you use a structured annuity where it’s valued at half of the actual 401k. You’ll get a guaranteed future income stream.
    • Make sure you build up enough liquidity. People overemphasize investing and underemphasize saving.
    • You’ll be ahead of 90% of other dentists by learning how to hire bad-ass people, building liquidity, and owning a building.

References:

5 Day Weekend by By Nik Halik & Garrett Gunderson

Killing Sacred Cows by Garrett Gunderson

Bard Press

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

America’s Best 401k

Tweetables:

Automatically save and deliberately invest. – Garrett Gunderson

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 60

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Debra Englehardt-Nash

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Private practice dentistry is NOT going to go away.
• We must learn how to stop commoditizing our patients. Instead we should learn to value appreciation of our patients.
• Passionate dentists make great leaders. They create the vision and enlist the help of a supportive team to put that vision in action.
• When a new patient calls start out asking “inspirational” questions, instead of asking about insurance first. Listen to what the patient wants.
• Help your team and patients understand how fees are based:
  • Skill required to do it right
  • Time it takes to do it well
  • Materials used so treatment endures
• Dentistry used to be all about efficiency, now it’s all about experience.
• Thoughtful approaches take longer, but you end up with a better result.
• Pre-collect for appointments. It takes the stress off collecting at the end of the appointment and eliminates no-shows.
• There’s room for all kinds of dentistry, you just have to decide where you want to be.
• Success is a meandering stream, it’s not a direct line. The business of dentistry is hard work.
• Consultants are facilitators to help the leader be the difference in the practice.
• Listening to webinars and podcasts is important, but they can’t replace in-person trainings and meetings.
• Toil is good for you.
• Successful people don’t act as victims, they address their own actions that led to where they are.
• Catastrophes give perspective and help you redirect.
• You don’t have a lot of time to establish trust, so you better do it quickly.
• Ask for your patient’s permission before you start offering treatment options.
• 70% of the reason why patients don’t follow through with treatment is because the treatment wasn’t explained well enough and they were released too soon to talk about money and they weren’t ready to commit.
• Dentists often settle for way too little when choosing members of their team.
• Olympics are won by 1/10th of a second. That extra 10th of a second could be that one thing that moves you forward faster.

References:

American Academy of Dental Practice

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Tweetables:

It’s the head of the fish that always smells first. – Benjamin Franklin

People who get frozen in fear will never get a win. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

You have to believe to be believed. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

Whether you’ve spent $400 or $4000, if you’re not happy you’ve spent too much. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

Change your modalities and you might get a different result. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

The dentist’s fear is holding back dentistry. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

Life’s too short to be unhappy. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

Happiness is in the solving of problems, not in the absence of them. – Dr. Craig Spodak

If you’re going to ask your team to be a cheerleader, you better give them something to cheer about. – Debra Englehardt-Nash

The chokehold on any business is always the psychology and skill set of the owner. – Dr. Craig Spodak

The culmination of many small successes is a massive win. – Dr. Craig Spodak

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 59

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Darren Shaw, owner of Whitespark

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Google has been ramping up their local SEO features so they can improve their local ad sales.
  • Google posts are new and allow you to push out more content. They expire weekly so you need to stay current with new content.
  • Google Q&A allows you to address some of the most frequent FAQ’s right in google search.
  • Google Insights show who has clicked through to your website, who has called you, etc.
  • Engagement metrics are real. The more engagement you get with your google content the better you will show up in search. Add videos, posts, attributes, etc.
• What makes up a good local search strategy?

1. Get your Google & Google My Business listings are correct.
   1. Make sure your primary category is accurately reflecting what you do.
2. Citations are your online business listings on Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.
   1. Make sure these are all accurate.
   2. Make sure there are as many out there as possible. Shoot for 80+ listings.
3. Reviews are super important for ranking and conversion benefits.
   1. If you are doing a review ask, coax a little bit to mention the specific service they had. Those keywords really help you rank better for those terms in local SEO.
4. Website in local search comes down to how much content you have. Basic blurbs will not help you rank.
   1. Make sure you build out your content.
5. Links help with local search as well. This is often done through sponsorships, community outreach and support. These are easy ways to get other sites to link to you.
   1. Local sponsorships are one of the best ways to get local links.
   2. To find: search in google: “intitle:sponsors ‘YOUR CITY’”, will give you a whole list of local sponsors.
   3. Vendors are also usually high-authority links. Find vendors of yours who list their local customers and find a way to get a link listed on their site.

• Yelp continues to be a challenge for many small businesses.
  • You’re not allowed to ask for reviews. Yelp wants all reviews to come in naturally.
  • It’s also of no value to ask for Yelp reviews. Their filters are very strict, only active Yelp users will have reviews that are shown.
  • Yelp actively endorses a check-in offer, which is a GREAT way to bypass Yelp’s “don’t ask” policy. Any patient who checks in and takes you up on the offer will be encouraged to leave a review. Put the check-in offer on Google posts, send via email, put up a sign, promote as much as you can. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.
  • Another Yelp hack – make a new Gmail account, take your entire patient email list and put it into that Gmail contact list, then run through “find my friends” on Yelp, and it’ll tell you who is active.
• Facebook allows you to create custom segments by uploading your existing patient list.
  • Promote new services, show them what’s new, etc.
• Website is a great opportunity to keep adding detailed content.
• Video is important. Talk about your services and upload on your website, YouTube, social media, etc.
• Google local pack – these are the top results that show up at the right side of the page when you search for a local business.
  • It went from 10 businesses, to 7, now it’s 3.
  • It doesn’t exist within an entire city anymore. Google filters based on the proximity of the searcher. You’ll generally show up within 5-10 miles of your business.
  • The way to slightly break out of the proximity search is to buy local pack ads.
  • Google guarantees some home repair related industries.
    • The listings are paid for and business who participate must be screened.
  • Another opportunity to rank organically is to build out city/neighborhood pages on your website.
    • Build a page on your site that talks about local neighborhoods and how your office has helped with patients in that area. This helps draw in organic ranking results from outside your 10-mile radius. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.

References:

Steady Demand

Whitespark Local Citation Finder

Whitespark Reputation Builder

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 58

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Tarun Agarwal, owner/dentist Raleigh Dental Arts, owner T-Bone Speaks

Watch the full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Make sure you’re not being oversold by predatory companies offering horrible insurance and investment planning.
• Review your estate plans every couple years.
• It’s not about how rich or poor you are, it’s about preventing your loved ones from inheriting a storm.
• The cost of maintaining a healthy office is significantly higher than it was 15 years ago.
• We should be shooting for profitability in the 10-20% ballpark.
• Profitability should be based on all your normal expenses, plus the following:
  • Each dentist (including yourself) should be paid as an associate
  • Build in an escrow dollar or percentage amount (2-3%) for future improvements, renovations, and technology gains
  • Interest amount (5%) on capital put into the practice
• “All things under one roof” – medical and dental – is the future of dentistry. Cottage industry offices as we know them will be displaced in certain environments.
• Approximately 80% of offices are solo dentists. The believe is within 10 years this number will drop to closer to 50%.
• If you’re going to stop practicing within the next 10 years you’ll probably be fine. If you’re planning to practice longer than that you will get hit by these changes.
• Put away money on an annual basis to cover renovations.
• Make sure you’re getting fulfillment in your professional life, as well as in personal.
• If you design your business around you and make yourself happy, others around you will be happy as well.
• Focus on outcomes, not goals.
• People aren’t doing enough live training. The magic is being around people and interacting with others.

References:

Creative Planning

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

Tweetables:

“Life’s ultimate ROI is fulfillment and happiness.” – Dr. Craig Spodak

“What makes people happy is progress.” – Dr. Craig Spodak

“Focus on outcomes, not goals.” – Dr. Tarun Agarwal

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 57

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dan DelMain, owner of DelMain Analytics

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• DelMain Analytics is a full-service digital marketing agency.
• It’s no longer possible to gamify your way to a great digital marketing strategy.
• Google is humanizing their search engine more and more to reward sites who are giving value to consumers.
• It’s all about creating the best user experience.
• The amount of advertising noise is staggering. Voice search is a much more targeted way to search out information.
• Voice search is evolving into longer conversations.
• Evolution of internet platforms has been: desktops – laptops – mobile phones – mobile phone voice search – home devices
• Evolution of SEO has been 7-pack to 3-pack to 1-pack
• Who are the players in voice search?
  • Siri – Apple
  • Google Assistant – Google
  • Cortana – Microsoft
  • Alexa – Amazon
• What are people searching for?

• • conversational - what is the cost of Invisalign?
  • proximity - dentist near me
  • hours of operation 
  • insurances accepted
• 1 in 5 queries on Google are voice searches
• Chrome is also pushing search traffic to security-rich sites
• How to optimize your site for voice search
  1. mobile friendly/responsive
  2. answer FAQ type questions on the website
  3. claiming Google My Business profile
  4. online reputation
  5. social signals/social media
  6. schema markup
• Contact DelMain Analytics and mention Bulletproof Dental Practice, Dan will have a 30-45 phone chat with you and share any tidbits he can recommend!

References:

Google Mobile Friendly Tool

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 56

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Elijah Desmond

Watch full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• There is a commonality in all successful people. It’s hunger for more.
• If you aren’t making mistakes or haven’t made one in the last year, you are playing it too safe.
• Elijah Desmond runs a Facebook page called Trapped in an Op for those professionals who want to venture from the traditional clinical setting in dentistry.
• The main issue dental teams are suffering from is drama. Either you have the wrong people or the wrong culture in the office.
• If you are lacking alignment how can you work well as a team?

1. Everyone is a consultant these days.
   1. Business owners are more self conscious than ever with social media outlets being readily available with information.
   2. Stop listening to everyone else. Focus on your goals and what you want out of your career.
2. There is currently a changing of hands. The older generation is passing the baton and a new generation of influencers is rising.
3. What is the reason why you entered in this profession?
   1. For most, the number one reason to be in this profession is to make people smile.
   2. Focusing on the big picture and changing lives
4. What is your hygienist supposed to do?
   1. Focus on complete oral health
   2. Don’t brush off hygiene checks this is where treatment is converted! You have already established a connection with these patients. They more likely to agree to recommended treatment with the help of your hygiene team.
   3. Dental Intel will track which Doctor/Hygienist work best together in converting over treatment.

• Mention Bulletproof Dental Practice and sign up for Dental Intel w/no activation fee.

Tweetables:

“Magic is hard work.” – Dr. Craig Spodak

“Motivation and determination without procrastination is the key to success.” – Elijah Desmond

“The way you get to the top is by helping other people get there too.” – Dr. Craig Spodak

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 55

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Key Takeaways:

• Four Pillars of a Bullet Proof Dental Practice

1. Vision and Leadership
   1. As a leader/owner of the practice you set the tone
   2. You must give your team a road map
   3. Be intentional in explaining your goals to your team
   4. Make a descriptive vision
   5. Self-managing teams
2. Team and Culture
   1. Culture is a foundation of a lot of our marketing
   2. When your team is happy they are more resourceful
   3. Happiness is good for business. Money is the lagging indicator of creating an exceptional experience and exceptional dentistry.
   4. Daylight is very important to incorporate in healthcare environments. It affects mood and purchasing decisions.
3. Marketing and Reputation
   1. The average person has 318 friends on social media
   2. Make sure you are getting mentions
   3. Use Hootsuite for tracking all social media channels
   4. Facebook is not a form of push advertising
   5. Keep your ratio healthy with your posts (funny vs before/after pictures)
   6. Seek out social influencers! Accounts that have more than 300,000 followers.
4. Systems and Metrics
   1. New patients that visit each month
   2. Average dollar amount per visit
   3. True practice growth- how much did we grow this month?

• Click HERE to sign up for Podium w/no activation fees!

References:

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hseih

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor

Tweetables:

“Be the leader you wish you had.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.” Dr. Craig Spodak

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 54

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guests: Alan Mead, Dental Hacks Podcast / Brian Colao, Dykema Law Firm

Key Takeaways:

• Should you have a DSO?
• If you don’t have a DSO and you’re a doctor owned practice, who can you sell to? You can only sell to other licensed dentists in your state, and that’s a very narrow, deflated market that is getting smaller every day. If you have a DSO your market is the world.
• A DSO deal with established DSO might pay 5-7x EBITDA and is a low-risk deal.
• A private equity deal will require ongoing involvement, and is higher risk, so may pay very high single digits to double digits.
• Private equity deals are performance based.
• There’s an evolution and consolidation in the dental marketplace. The evolution is from doctor owned single practices to DSO’s. The market is being flooded with private equity funds as it allows non-dentists to make money in the marketplace.
• The market saturation of DSO’s is about 10%. There is a lot of runway, and the industry is very fragmented. This means that saturation is a ton of value left to harness in the dental market.
• Seek out education about how the market is changing so you can react and best position your organization.
• Ten years from now there will be very limited opportunity for solo practitioners. If you have eyes set on being a solo practitioner, you need to understand the transition and have a plan. Only the rock star practitioners will thrive on their own.
• Patients are becoming more and more demanding. Consumers don’t really care who owns their dental office.
• DSO’s are in the third generation of progression.
• The highest valuation in the DSO industry is Deca Dental. 18.2x!
• DSO’s are trying to implement one-stop shopping. There’s a lot of upside as a practitioner in working within a one-stop shop style practice.
• It’s not just corporate DSO’s looking to get into the dental marketplace, existing industry suppliers are finding ways to reach consumers directly.

References:

The Cleveland Clinic Way by Tony Cosgrove

Tweetables:

“Peer pressure makes dentists better.” Dr. Craig Spodak

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 53

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Steven Rasner

Watch the full interview video by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Email Dr. Steven Rasner at drrasner@aol.com, with request to SEND ALL THE STUFF!
• There is hope and prosperity of ownership.
• Oral sedation has the capacity to expand your practice very quickly.
• You can easily market oral sedation.
• The triad for a successful office- oral sedation, extractions and implants.
• Why oral sedation is better? People automatically assume that can’t handle the cost associated with IV sedation.
• One key to a successful practice- Preforming a comprehensive exam on every patient!
• 6 things I would do if I started over on Monday:

1. Financial discipline straight out of dental school. Invest in yourself early on.
   1. Start by taking 1 CE course every quarter and 1 continuum every year.
   2. 95% of dentists cannot retire at age 65 and sustain themselves
2. Seek out successful mentors. This exposes you to other dentist as a resource.
3. Most important protocol for new patient’s is phone verbiage.
   1. It doesn’t cost to be nice. You want your patients to feel a “Cheers atmosphere” where everyone knows your name.
   2. When taking a new patient phone call, you want them to invest in:
      1. seeing an out of network provider
      2. getting their significant other to come to the appointment
      3. paying up front

4. Willingness to do morning meetings with team members to review old balances, new patients, any special needs and special events on your schedule.
5. Embrace your community.
6. Treatment plan your life. Remember to ask yourself: Am I happy living my life the way I'm doing it?
   1. Balance your life. Keep living like a dental student when you're out as a dentist.

• Next open course with Dr. Rasner May 4th-5th http://realizingthedream.com/courses

References:

Realizing the Dream

Tweetables:

“You do what you learn.” Dr. Steven Rasner

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 52

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Michael Apa, Partner Rosenthal Apa Group, Founder Apa Aesthetic in Dubai

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about our upcoming book release and the Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Watch the full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• Apa travels back and forth from New York City to Dubai, focusing on creating amazing cosmetic cases.
• The small details in dentistry are best answered by people who are doing it in and out every day.
• Apa figured out how to take a lot of time in planning and prep, so the design and implementation of a case works PERFECTLY with no complications.
• After so many cases Dr. Apa’s team now works like a symphony.
• To have such high output you must have the driving passion and dedication.
• For Dr. Apa the work itself, and seeing patient’s reaction is very rewarding. When you do so much dentistry, you start amassing an audience of people who help to continue propelling you forward.
• Achievement is a drug that keeps high performers going strong, wanting to do more and more.
• In dentistry we draw a small box around what we think is the profession, but you can really do anything you want to do.
• Dentistry lately seems to be focused on the negative; insurance, corporations, debt, etc.
• Younger dentists are searching out more positive messages.
• You can’t listen to what is coming down the pipeline, you must find your own will and your own way.
• Take what everyone says to you, take it in, and exhale and stay true to what YOU want to accomplish.
• People in the US have a much higher knowledge about what is possible in dentistry. Other areas of the world have great opportunity to educate and train the population – and dentists – on what is possible.
• To feel the level of passion Dr. Apa has, you must be able to reach the general public. The best way to get patients of any quantity is to reach them where their attention is: social media.

References:

Apa Beauty

Tweetables:

“Achievement is a drug that keeps high performers going strong, wanting to do more and more.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“Dentistry is a snowflake, you can express your vision however you want.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“Don’t let anybody tell you what you can and can’t do.” Dr. Michael Apa

“Listening to your patients is the best education.” Dr. Michael Apa

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 51

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Blake McClellan, CEO and co-founder of Implant Compare

Watch the full video of the interview by clicking here!

Text ‘bulletproof’ to 345345 to stay in the know about upcoming book release and Bulletproof Summit in fall 2018!

Key Takeaways:

• Implant Compare live-streams dental education and surgeries.
• We’re just now discovering the great many capabilities of blockchain, and how it can be applied to everyday life.
• It’s the algorithm behind bitcoin that is the most powerful.
• This episode is not investment advice.
• Bitcoin is a byproduct of a blockchain. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that is decentralized. Every time a transaction happens it’s added to the block. Essentially, it’s an ecosystem of a network of computers that validate every transaction.
• Decentralizing this process creates a lot more complexity and provides protection against data attacks.
• Blockchains aren’t just currency, every different algorithm has different applications.
• The other benefit of using blockchain as currency is it keeps everybody honest.
• Blockchain is a very fast rapid way to move data in a highly encrypted way.
• One major benefit of blockchain in dentistry is potential to develop, fast, highly confidential ways to transfer patient files. Applications could also be built to allow practices to share servers & hardware.
• Phase 2 of blockchain will be around identity management and logistics.
• The technology is still emerging, and we’re seeing big companies entering the development space.

References:

Pro Med Sales

Vital Signs Technologies

Patientory

Dentacoin

Ethereum

Ripple

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 50

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Eric Rea, CEO of Podium

Watch the full video of the interview by clicking here! 

Key Takeaways:

• Podium is a reputation management platform, helping to significantly boost your practice’s online reviews, and Podium has funding invested from Google.
• Podium focused on creating a great experience for the patient. This helps boost conversion rates and gets you more & better reviews.
• Reviews are made simple, and are targeted to platforms that are most popular with the user and the practice.
• Podium has access to parts of Google’s API that other competitors don’t, which gives them unique access into how their review system works.
• Recentness of reviews is important to Google’s algorithm so it’s key to continue getting rave reviews from your patients.
• User generated content (reviews, social media postings from patients, etc) is a way better predictor of your SEO rank than how many links you have to your website.
• Google Local Guides carry more weight than other reviewers.
• To comply with Yelp’s policies of not asking for reviews on their platform, Podium does not solicit reviews for Yelp.
• The most important platforms for dentists to pay attention to are Instagram/Facebook, Snapchat, and Google. These are the platforms where people spend their time, and they’re all working to integrate other features to become unique ecosystems.
• Reviews have shifted the marketing equation, you can’t fake real people talking about you online.
• Video reviews are important for the future, but they’re really hard to sift through. Review platforms haven’t gotten to a place where they make video reviews possible or easy.
• Voice-activated devices are also key to future marketing. Imagine giving your review to Siri or Alexa!
• Podiums software will scale and change based on future development from Google.
• 90% of reputation management companies are NOT recommended by the review platform sites.
• Making experiences seamless is how companies thrive.
• Podium is working on a communication platform that allows offices to connect with patients and make communication seamless.
• Click HERE to sign up for Podium w/no activation fees!

References:

What yelp’s crackdown on review collection means for your business (and why we stopped collecting yelp reviews over a year ago)

Whitespark

Tweetables:

“Consumers are conditioned to always look at reviews.” Dr. Peter Boulden

“Focus on creating an experience for the patient that you would want to have yourself.” Eric Rea

“Dentists who take care of their craft and take care of the details are the ones who will succeed.” Eric Rea

“If you’re providing massive value, you deserve to be successful.” Dr. Craig

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 49

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Dr. Christian Coachman, founder of Digital Smile Design (DSD)

Watch the full video of the interview by clicking here!

Key Takeaways:

• The world is moving at a very rapid pace, and it’s each of our responsibility to roll with the change and grow to meet the expanding demands of our patients.
• Millennials aren’t looking for great products, they’re looking for great experiences.
• Marketing in dentistry has changed. People now expect a story of what they’re going to experience.
• You can no longer rely solely on being the best at doing dentistry, you’ve got to be able to connect with patients and show them what’s in it for them.
• Being good and doing decent dentistry is an obligation, but is not the only thing you need to do to be successful.
• The human brain has evolved to listen to stories.
• Make your patient the hero and the guide.
• The first step in telling your story is to open the communication channels and connect with the emotional side of people’s brains.
• There are 3 stages to presenting treatment plans with patients; gaining emotional permission, discussing problems, then explaining treatment plan.
• The DSD concept is about everything to be understood in regard to running a successful practice.
• DSD focuses on process within patient’s 1st and 2nd appointments; intake, analysis, smile design, treatment planning, treatment presentation, case acceptance, online marketing, and more.
• Dentists who want to own and operate their own practices are going to need to develop business and marketing skills, because your primary competitor will be a corporation.
• In order to change and grow with the business of dentistry, first we need awareness about what is coming.
• Then DSD educations about four moments; design, plan, sell, and perform.

References:

Digital Smile Design

Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller

Tweetables:

“The good guys in dentistry are focused on adding value for patients.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“Change is always a constant, growth is optional.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“This is a great moment for ambitious people.” Dr. Christian Coachman

“Millennials aren’t looking for great products, they’re looking for great experiences.” Dr. Christian Coachman

“Storytelling is the biggest skill for this new era.” Dr. Christian Coachman

“There’s a point of diminishing returns when it comes to just learning the clinical.” Dr. Peter Boulden

“If the patient doesn’t see what’s in it for them – you lose.” Dr. Peter Boulden

“When we do dentistry right, we’re helping people.” Dr. Craig Spodak

“Everything happens slowly until it’s sudden.” Dr. Craig Spodak