Orthotown December 2024 - 34

and believe the best first impression is one of
" successful but generous. " Don't flaunt your forWhat
kind of leader are you?
Inspirational? Managerial? Democratic?
Visionary? There are as many different
styles of leadership as there are types
of people. Knowing your style will
decrease frustration and allow you to
hire compatible employees.
provide insights on your team's chemistry and
help resolve conflicts from incompatibilities.
Referral marketing
The first month I opened my practice, I had zero
new patients. The second month, we started a
family friend of my lone part-time assistant. That
entire first year, I had less than 25 starts, most
of which were either friends of my employee or
price shoppers who were sent to another office
but came to mine in search of a deal.
It took me a full year to get my first referring
dentist, while many of the others wouldn't even
let me past the front desk. Frustrated, I remembered
the words of my friend and mentor, Dr.
Sheldon Salins. " They want to meet you ... just
not right now. "
Dentists have their own businesses to worry
about and whom they refer to affects their own
reputations. When you don't have a reputation to
speak of, they have little incentive to take a risk
on you.
After you've been practicing for a few years,
this concept can work in your favor. Doctors will
be more open to a meeting. I'm going to describe
some methods I've used to harness this tailwind
for continued practice growth.
First impression bias
People tend to anchor on the first impression
they have of you. I've mulled it over extensively
tune, but don't hide it either.
People aren't drawn to mediocrity. They are
drawn to those who make them feel better about
themselves. Think of how to share your success
instead of merely demonstrating it. One of the
best examples of this is one of my oral surgeons.
We'll call him Evan. Evan drives not one but two
Porsches. He lives in a house that could have
been on MTV Cribs (am I dating myself?), eats
at fancy restaurants several times a week and
even has a whole closet devoted just to his highend
luggage collection. It would be easy to have
feelings of resentment or jealousy except for two
factors. First, he really is the best and hardest-working
surgeon I've encountered. Second, he
shares all of this with his friends. When I feel like
I share in his success, I want him to have more of
it. The same goes for our referring doctors. They
know that if we are the best at our craft, material
rewards will follow.
When a new patient needs a dentist, send
them to your best referrers first. When you have
a great quarter, celebrate by taking your doctors
out to a nice dinner or sporting event (pay for
the nice seats). Speaking of first impressions,
consider that even when a dentist isn't currently
referring to you, they know about you through
patients you share anyway. One of my best referral
relationships was obtained when the doctor
decided to stop doing ortho in-house and already
knew they wanted to work with me based on
the results of patients who we shared by chance.
Successful but generous, but also exceptional at
what you do is the winning first impression.
Seek out and foster genuine relationships
Don't try to " game " your dentists. Instead, seek
genuine connection. Friendship is when two
people see each other as extensions of themselves
and are therefore invested in each other's
success. To create such connection, consider the
following factors.
DECEMBER 2024 | 34 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
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Orthotown December 2024

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