Dentaltown March 2022 - 64

" No news is good news "
couldn't be further from the
truth when it comes to patient
satisfaction. Just because no
one is complaining-or you
think they aren't-doesn't mean
everything is fine.
Removing the phones from the front desk eliminates
the biggest bottleneck that impedes practice growth.
Train the team how to deliver a superior experience
in the office and on the phone; in addition, separate
responsibilities and accountabilities for results (that is,
separate increased referrals from new patient generation).
You may be surprised how quickly the practice will grow
to the point of needing to implement Discovery No. 2
to add capacity.
DISCOVERY 2: CONVERT THE DOCTOR'S
OFFICE INTO A TREATMENT ROOM
I often get pushback on this initially because every
doctor thinks they need an office at their office. Even
when I do the math to prove an additional treatment
room could be worth $30,000 or $40,000 a month or
more in additional revenue-or $360,000 to $480,000
a year-they have a hard time imagining how they
could live without one.
Next, we delve into what's in their office and
how it gets used. The answers are virtually
the same for almost every doctor:
* It looks more like an attic, cluttered
with stacks of items begging to be purged.
If these papers are important, they need
to be organized and filed appropriately.
Move it all to your office manager's desk, and delegate
the task of making it useful to the business. Or give
another team member a special project opportunity.
* Office clutter is a stark reminder of everything
you haven't done; instead of providing inspiration
or relaxation, being in there increases your stress
level. This makes your office an unhealthy and
unproductive place to be.
* Most team members think the doctor uses the
office as a hiding place from patients and team
members-hardly a desirable leadership behavior.
* Doctors use the computer throughout the day
mainly for personal business (same with the
phone, if there's one in there), checking email
and playing games. We coach clients to have
an office at their home and to establish a daily
routine of taking care of personal business before
going into work. You can be more focused while
at home and eliminate the distractions that keep
you from being fully present for your patients
and team when you get to work.
Your practice makes all of its money in your treatment
rooms. If growth is stagnating because you, your associates
and your hygienists have maxed out your ability to see
patients, you cannot get back on a growth trajectory
without another treatment room. If you have years left
on your lease, that's no excuse to make a poor financial
decision, which is to do nothing.
Discover what your growth could be
To remove the biggest bottleneck in your business,
remove the phones from the front desk. Then engineer
the entire experience around the patients-those in
the office and those on the phone. As you grow with
additional new patients and referrals, don't let the lack
of treatment rooms become a new bottleneck. Do the
math to discover the additional income you should
expect from another treatment room, then put your
personal office space to far more valuable use. n
64 MARCH 2022 // dentaltown.com
http://www.dentaltown.com
Dentaltown March 2022

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