Invisalign Alignment

There has been a lot of chatter this week about Align Technology’s new requirements for Invisalign providers of a minimum of 10 cases a year and 10- hours of CE. I made some comments on the Crown Council Forum about this topic this week, but I would like to add a few things here about your practice and about Align.

How should you react? This is clearly a moment to take an objective look at your practice. If you have a procedure that you are doing less than once a month, are you really serious about it? It probably is not worth it to you or your practice to do Invisalign anyway if you are not going to do it that often. So just bag it and refer your cases to…the orthodontist.

Then on the other hand, maybe this is an opportunity to get serious about doing more Invisalign cases. Rethink your attitude about it and your approach. Like most everything, it is a matter of focus. If Invisalign treatment is part of your philosophy of care, then get serious about promoting it and do more of it.

Re-examine where you stand and make a decision. Whichever way you go, it will be a good move for your practice. You will ether do more Invisalign treatment which will be good for your patients and good for your practice, or you will not do any at all, which will free you up to get more focused on the things about which you are really passionate. Just make a decision.

Now about the company…Align Technology.

If you want a great example of how NOT to deal with your customers, you’re seeing it with the example of this company. Let’s put things in perspective. Imagine sending a form letter out to your entire patient base (including those you had just seen recently face-to-face) to let them know that they are no longer welcome in your practice unless they come every 6 months without fail and complete at least 80% of their outstanding treatment. You would never do something like – ever, unless you were so arrogant and out of touch with reality that you routinely made it a point to upset your patients and run people off.

If you wanted to raise the standards, any rational person would start by talking face-to-face with its best customers to explain what was coming, give them an action plan to be successful with the new standards, and then give them some lead to time get up to speed. They would also set up a different class or provider…”beginners” and “select.” The beginners would be provided with special services to help them get above the 10 cases a year mark and would be given a goal time to do that. The select providers would be given VIP services because they are doing more than 10 cases a year. In other words, they would do everything they could to help their clients be successful and communicate it in such a way that the client felt supported, appreciated, and encouraged to do better. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. But from what most people tell me, it is very “aligned” with the actions of the past with this organization.

There is also a great opportunity here for completing technology to rush into the market with the competitive advantage of great customer service and philosophy of “partnering” with their clients for success. With the right ingredients, a company like this would take the industry by storm and practitioners would flock to it. It is only a matter time before it happens. A market will only put up with an arrogant provider for so long before it responds with a better option. That is the beauty of a competitive market-based economy.

So, start making some decisions about the direction of your practice. The time is right. Thanks to Align Technologies, they are giving you a great opportunity to do that. Let’s thank them for that. In the meantime, if you have an idea for a competitive product, get some good customer service behind it and go for it! There are going to be plenty of angry dentists out there who will jump on board just for spite!

No More New Patients!

We are looking forward to the Crown Council Annual Event in Las Vegas, February 5-7, 2009. (www.CCAnnualEvent.com) On Thursday, I will be facilitating a first of its kind session with our ToPS Team centred around a tried and true method for team work and team communication that promises to change the way your interact with your team. Get ready to think differently, act differently and interact in a whole new way that will positively change the results you achieve with your team.

On Saturday I will be presenting a workshop entitled "No More New Patients!" In this one session, you will discover the unspoken secret of which many are not aware that is eating away at your new patient efforts. In order for the preactice to really progress, it must be stopped NOW! Come discover the benefits and the increase in production and profits that results when you know what to look for and how to really manage your practice for REAL growth, not just activity.

We hope you will join us in Feburary. For more information, just go to www.CCAnnualEvent.com. Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!

Give me a break

A well-known dental magazine announced this week an "Economic Impact Survey" wherein they are inviting dentists from around the country to submit their answers to some questions to determine the impact the economy is having on their practices. Survey data will then be compiled and offered to the dental industry at large. Translation: "Will all the loser dentists who are sitting around with nothing to do please take a survey detailing their sorry status so we can accumulate their 'data' and infect the entire industry with a 'woe is me' report on how the 'down' economy is to blame for their poor results." If you have the time to fill out the survey, you must not be doing much in your practice. Get the picture? Give me a break!*

It is human nature to want to blame poor results on factors outside of ones self. It is easier to take the victim role rendering ones self helpless because of "uncontrollable, outside forces," than it is to wake up, be proactive, and make something happen. You decide: Will you act or be acted upon?

So, if you want to be a loser, go ahead and take the loser's "Economic Impact Survey" and then read about your sorry state in the report that comes back. If you think you feel bad now, just wait until you read about yourself in print! Surely we have better things to do than to drag each other down with the doom and gloom that results from inactivity.

A better use of time might be to take a survey of your own. Sit down with your team and brainstorm all the ways that you can take advantage of a market left wide open by your fellow dentists that have gone into retreat because they believe in a bad economy. The playing field is clearing. The losers are in retreat leaving more room for the real winners to succeed.

The choice is yours. To let the economy "impact" your practice or for your practice to have an impact on the economy. Our survey says...winners make an impact.

* For your FREE copy of "How to Thrive in a 'down' Economy," the 12 page special report with ideas on how you and your team can succeed despite the negative news in the media, just give the Total Patient Service Institute a call at 1-877-399-8677 or e-mail Answers@TotalPatientService.com.

Be a Rookie

I’m just back from presenting at the ADA Conference on the New Dentist. It was a great day filled with the enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge that the young dentists from all over the country brought to the meeting.

As I looked out over the audience, I was reminded of the attributes of a ROOKIE: Eager, enthusiastic, hard working, positive-minded, optimistic, and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. About a year ago, I spent a day with Jerry Rice, most recently of “Dancing with the Stars” fame and the NFL before that. Jerry shared that if there was any one attribute that helped him in professional football, it was that he took on the attitude of a rookie each season no matter how successful he had been the season before. In other words, he tried out for his position every year, just as if he were a rookie again.

No matter your tenure in the profession, it might be time to go back and be a rookie again. Adopt those attributes. “Try out” for your position again. If you were hiring for your position, would you hire you based on your current performance? One of my favorite quotes from author Brian Tracy says, “What kind of company would my company be if everyone in it were just like me?” Do you exemplify the positive attributes of a rookie? Do those attributes positively influence your entire team?

So go ahead. Be a rookie again. It will be good for your practice and good for your team. After all, if you don’t, someone will eventually come along in your market that will want your position more that you do, will be willing to work for it, and will probably get it!

Who's The Mother?

With Mother’s Day just a week away, I have to admit that rarely a day goes by without thinking of something Mom has taught me. One of her favorite sayings is “Inch my inch life is a cinch, but by the mile life is a trial.” Or how about “A job worth doing is worth doing well.” Mom is also a big believer in what I have come to call the 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt be dependable!”

Understanding dependability is knowing the difference between responsibility and accountability. Responsibility is being able to respond. Accountability is being willing to give final account of the results in a specific area. Everyone on a team can be responsible, but one person needs to be accountable for each specific result. For example, everyone is responsible for attracting and looking for new patients, but one person needs to be accountable for the overall marketing plan and making sure everyone fulfills their responsibility.

Being accountable is what I like to call being the “Mother.” Mothers are the most accountable people there are. That’s why I like to say that every practice needs a “Mother” for every important result. A marketing mother. A scheduling mother. An infection control mother. Every important result needs a “mother.”

If you have ever become frustrated because of things in the office that just don’t get done, consider giving those specific results a “mother,” or a team member who is accountable for that end result. Everyone else can be responsible for helping, but the “mother” is accountable.

Thanks Mom for teaching me dependability and for being the model of accountability. You really know what it means to be a mother at home and the traits of being a “mother” at the office too!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Stop Cancellations

One of the three basic building blocks of the ToP Team Strategy is “The Score Board.”  ToP teams know when they are winning and how the score is kept.  The score is more than just tracking production and collections.  It includes all types of “player” and “team” stats that contribute to the overall success of the practice.

One number, of many, that we track is the number of cancellations and no shows that accumulate throughout the month.  When you track that number on a daily basis, it is a wake up call to get back on track with the ToPS “Stop Cancellations” protocol.

One sure fire way to keep that number down is to prevent new patient cancellations by having the doctor call every new patient before that patient comes in for the first visit.  That’s right, the doctor is going to call the patient and say:

“Mrs. Jones, this is Dr. Amazing calling about your first appointment in our office that is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 AM.  I am just calling to welcome you to our practice and let you know that we are looking forward to meeting you.  If there is anything we can do to make your visit more comfortable, you are welcome to give us a call before you come in.  Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 10.”

The impact of this call is huge in the mind of the patient.  It is unusual, unexpected and very memorable.  It has also been statistically proven to dramatically reduce new patient no-shows and cancellations.

So, if you are sick and tired of the hole in the schedule that new patients leave when they no-show or cancel, go back to something that works.  Just try it for a week or two.  Track your results and see if your new patient no-shows and cancellations don’t go down.