The Dr. Oz Defense Plan

What does Dr. Oz know about dentistry? Apparently not much! But you do!

Most of dentistry has just about had it with Dr. Oz. The television doctor personality continues to disseminate misleading dental information like dental x-rays cause thyroid cancer and recommending that patients negotiate with their dentist for lower fees. I am sure there will be more.

With a daily show to produce, I am sure there is a back room of producers working tirelessly to come up with something they think people will find of interest. Sometimes these producers get desperate.

If you get riled up about Dr. Oz, consider the following thoughts and actions:

1. Much of what is produced on this show is created by front line producers who are not too deep into facts. They are trying to be creative. Sometimes they are more creative than they are factual.

2. The target audience for the Dr. Oz Show is older women of the 60 year old plus variety. Not very many other people have the time to watch his show which airs during the work day. Unless you are a die-hard follower and you TiVO his show, the market is relatively limited.

3. Take a proactive stance. Keep an eye on anything that comes out in the media about dentistry. Be the local authority and set the record straight. Have information in your practice about what the truth really is about things that may have been broadcast or printed in the national media. Your patients will appreciate your being up-to-date and addressing what is going on today.

4. Negotiate fees? Why don’t you suggest people do that with their physician Dr. Oz? Oh, that’s because most physicians have no clue what they charge for anything. They have lost total control of their business model. I think Oz and his fellow physicians that lost their way from the “Emerald City” are just jealous!

5. Need a response for the occasional patient that wants to negotiate fees? “Mrs. Jones, we carefully set our fees once and explain them to our patients so we would never have to apologize for the quality of our work.” Everyone knows that you get what you pay for.

6. Get focused on what is working, not on what is not working. The effect that someone like Dr. Oz has on the whole market is minimal. When you get one or two comments from patients about things that sound related, it is easy to think it is a bigger problem than it really is. Focus on the patients that get it. Don’t give the small minority of patients more share of your mind than they deserve.

With that, I am off to Kansas…the real place Dorothy lived. After all, the whole “Oz” thing and the “Emerald City” were a dream, not reality. Remember? We should all treat Dr. Oz the same way.

How Do You Compete?

At our recent Crown Council Annual Event in Las Vegas, I highlighted some businesses worth emulating. One of my favorites is the Donut Stop in Amarrillo, Texas. Founders, Rose Martha and Jim Cates provide a great case study on how to stay competitive.

Their story is well-known in Amarillo. The hometown chain (Donut Stop) was put on notice when Krispy Kreme announced their entry into Amarrillo. Jim immediately packed his bags and went on a tour of Krispy Kreme locations around the country to see what they did well and what they did not do well. He returned with the data and they formed a new strategy.

In short, The Donut Stop attacked with what they did well that Krispy Kreme could not do at all. They accentuated their assets that were difficult to duplicate. The strategy was so successful that Krispy Kreme soon left town.

The mistake in “competition” is trying to outdo the other by doing what they do a little better. The Donut Stop didn’t even try to compete with Kripsy Kreme head to head. They looked for the differences and capitalized on them.

So the next time you are tempted to copy the office down the street and try to do what they do, but just a little better, STOP! Look for the things you do that the competition does not do and accentuate those assets that are difficult to duplicate. You’ll have a better chance of standing out from the rest and customers will beat a path to your door.

Secrets from your local optometrist

I spoke to a large group of optometrists this week from Cleinman Performance Partners. Cleinman is the “Crown Council” of optometry.

What optometrists and dentists have in common is the

“face space.” When it comes to first impressions, the first two things people notice are the eyes and the teeth. While the health of the eyes is a patient’s concern when they see an optometrist, they also want to know how their eye sight will make them look to others. Especially with women, who make up the majority of the optometry market, an eye lens prescription is permission to accessorize!

What happens in optometry is what is happening in dentistry every day. While most people are concerned about the health of their mouth and their teeth, they also want to know that their smile is going to look good.

As you expand your market share of the “face space,” consider your local independent optometrist. Working together to cross market your services just makes sense. Most people interested in improving the appearance of their teeth will be interested in their eyes. The opposite is also true.

For an introduction to a top independent optometrist in your area, e-mail your request to Answers@TotalPatientSerice.com We will work with the Cleinman team to get you introduced and connected so you can begin working together for the better health and appearance of the “face space” of the patients in your market.

“But It Doesn’t Hurt…”

You have probably lost count of the times patients have responded this way to the diagnosis of periodontal disease. Human nature and how patients have been trained in medicine dictates that there is ONLY something wrong when it hurts. After all, for years the first question the physician asks a patient has been “what are your symptoms” or “where does it hurt?”

Moving patients from a “fix what is broken” mentality to a “prevent it from getting broken in the first place” is a tall order in dentistry. So before you hear the, “But it doesn’t hurt” objection one more time, here are 2 tips to implement immediately to help your patients make the shift from “hurt” to “health.”

1. Watch how you present the problem in the first place. Instead of TELLING a patient they have a problem, ASK the patient, “How long have you had this infection?” Then let the patient respond. Just by virtue of how you present the problem, the patient will take more ownership of his or her condition.

2. Watch how you respond. If they say, “It does not hurt,” you can respond by saying, “I am always amazed how an infection this serious never hurts until it is too late. In fact, in dentistry we call this condition the silent killer of teeth because it rarely hurts until it is too late to save the teeth.”

Don’t miss the next opportunity to have your team experience the next revolution in the treatment of periodontal disease on March 30-31, 2012 in Dallas, TX as Dr. Tommy Nabors and members of our ToPS team present “No More Dental Hygiene – Secrets of Oral Health and Periodontal Therapy.” In this two-day program, you’ll discover a whole new perio program that has turned Dr. Nabor’s perio department into a million dollar treatment center. It will transform your practice. Bust most importantly, it will transform the lives of your patients.

For more information on the March course, call 1-877-399-8677 or e-mail: Answers@TotalPatientService.com

Do I have to?

There are a lot of things in life that catch us saying to ourselves “Do I have to?” That list would include: taking out the garbage, working out, cleaning the garage, doing your taxes, etc., etc., etc.

Staying on the path of success requires just that…staying on the path! Keeping everything going in the direction it is supposed to go is one of the biggest accomplishments and tasks that there is.

Over the last twenty-two years, we have worked with thousands of dental practices around the world. While it would be nice if working on the practice once would fix it forever, it is a journey, not a destination.

With that in mind, we just launched one of the most useful tools we think you will find to keep your entire team on the path of success. It is called “The Skill of the Week.” On a regular basis, we will be releasing a short on-line video featuring an essential case acceptance skill that the entire team needs to master and keep mastered. You can watch individually or as a team. There are exercises and implementation suggestions as well. Staying on track with the skill of the week will keep the entire team engaged in the things that you need to do to be successful every day with patients.

The Skill of the Week is produced by the Total Patient Service Institute and made available through the Crown Council (www.CrownCouncil.info)

Crown Council members have immediate access at www.CrownCouncil.org. Others can contact us at 1-877-399-8677 or Answers@TotalPatientService.com for immediate access.

Its just one more resource to help you make your practice ToPS!

A Habit for 2012 Success

I spent some time this week with a group of dental students from all over the world at the Alpha Omega International Dental Convention. We discussed the Common Denominator of Success - the things that make dentists and professionals in general successful.

Among the many factors that create the Common Denominator of Success is habit. One of those habits is setting and reaching goals. For over 20 years, I have asked 4 basic questions that are the standard for staying on track with goals. Ask yourself how closely you adhere to these 4 questions:

1. Do you have goals?

2. Are your goals written down?

3. Do you review your goals every day?

4. Do you keep them with you or have them in a place where you can see them every day?

There is some magic in being able to answer all of those questions with a “yes.”

Several years ago I was speaking at the gathering of three high schools in New Braunfels, Texas when I asked all of those 4 questions to the graduating seniors. There was only one student who was able to answer all four questions with a “yes.” Upon further inquiry, he shared that his father had taught him this goal setting system when he was in middle school. As a result, he set his sights high and was able to take state in track and get a full ride scholarship to the university of his choice. There are more stories like that than I could ever have time to write.

There is some magic in making a decision and sticking with it until it has been accomplished. The biggest step is the first step -- decide and then write it down.

Have a Happy New Year as you decide, write, review and accomplish in 2012.

Which side of the fence?

Have you ever had a moment when you were very grateful for past decisions you made because of the position it has put you in now, that you never anticipated?

I have thought many times over the last couple of years, how grateful every dentist should be that he or she chose dentistry as a profession, instead of medicine and its related cousins, for the pure fact that dentistry continues to allow you the independence and freedom to practice how you want, where you want, and charge what you want without government

intervention.

This fact was brought to my attention this week as I sat with many of the top leaders of the optometry world. Optometry is stuck in the middle of the healthcare battle with private insurance on one side and government healthcare on the other. If optometry has its way, it will go the way of the rest of medicine and be part of the total healthcare equation with government involvement. Why? Because government reimbursement for eye care services is more favorable than private insurance…for now. No telling what it will be in the future. With the future so fuzzy in terms of government’s long-term involvement in healthcare, it is a tough decision to make because of all of the future unknowns.

But for dentistry, staying independent and out of the government healthcare debate is a good place to be. Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Protect the freedom of the profession.