Orthotown October 2022 - 64

" Without
accountability,
training is purely
entertainment;
you won't see
improved results. "
yourself, and motivate your people to do
the same; and be intentional about following
through, sticking to it, and holding
yourself and your team accountable for the
desired result.
4. Fear your team
won't be interested.
You decide whether your team needs
to be better trained to improve business
results. Of course, you should tactfully
explain the rationale-training is not a refl
ection on them as poor performers, but
in the best interest of the patients and team
members to help grow the practice in new
and better ways-but they don't get to opt
out.
Frankly, you can't know whether they
will be interested in training until you
discuss the benefi ts with them. Give your
people some credit; those with the most
potential will jump at the opportunity to
learn new things, build their skills and better
serve patients. Those who push back
will show their true colors as not being interested
in helping to achieve goals, which
tells you they don't belong on the team.
5. Fear of change.
Even when one of the previous four
fears is specifi cally applicable to a situation,
fear of change is often the underlying
64 OCTOBER 2022 // orthotown.com
factor in play. Embracing change is challenging
for most people. But if you want
changed results and something better for
the practice, your patients and your family,
you're going to have to make some changes.
Focus on the positive outcomes you'll
get as you go through the discomfort of
change.
Instead of letting any of these fear factors
be an excuse for inaction, let the fear
of failure, the fear of plateauing, the fear
of declining profi ts and the fear of a lessthan-ideal
retirement be what drive you
forward. Everything you and your family
have and do in life is paid for through your
business. That should motivate you to put
intentional energy, effort and resources
into things that will most effectively allay
those fears.
Be world-class in your world
Most practice owners who don't train
their people know they should. Unfortunately,
too many of those who do don't
do it in a way that brings results, so they
give up on it because training seems not
to work.
Effective team training is the fastest,
most economical strategy to signifi cantly
boost your results. Recognize that training
is not your forte, though; orthodontics is.
Leveraging the expertise and experience
of someone with a track record of results
will ease all the fear factors associated with
training going into it and help you enjoy a
positive ROI coming out of it.
As a specialist who relies on referrals
from general dentists to get patients, you
may think your clinical expertise is all that
matters and that you don't have to be concerned
with the patient experience. After
all, once the patient agrees to a treatment
plan, you've got them locked in for the duration.
Make
no mistake: Their general dentist
will hear about you and your team. Just
because you don't have a competitor on every
corner doesn't mean you're the only option
in town. Your practice's performance
is a refl ection on the referring dentists as
well, so they will start referring elsewhere if
their patients aren't happy with their overall
experience, which falls largely on your
team to deliver.
Also, don't ignore the infl uence of social
media. Patients can easily share their
opinions online, which will certainly get
back to their dentists too. The comments
patients post are far more about their opinion
of your team and their experience overall
than about the quality of treatment they
received, and they are not swayed by the
technology or equipment that was used on
them. ■
http://www.orthotown.com
Orthotown October 2022

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