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.

Who is in your Kitchen Cabinet?

In 1831 President Andrew Jackson dismissed five of the eight people in his official cabinet. Many accused the president of being overly influenced by what they called the president’s “kitchen cabinet” or close friends who advised the president informally behind the scenes. Since that time, “kitchen cabinet” has been the term that describes the “real” advisors that the president relies on the most that have the most influence.

We just spent the last few days in the ToPS “kitchen” at our Annual Planning Round Table where dentists met for most of the time in groups of 8 to 10 with specific discussion topics and practice problems to solve. They each served as the other’s “kitchen cabinet.”

The ToPS Round Table meetings have become one of the most valued assets participating dentist have. A sounding board of objective peers who are willing to share their own experience, gives the participant a broader base of options to chose from as they develop their future plans. As they say, “Two heads are better than one!”

Join us for our next ToPS Round Table on June 14-16, 2012 where we will help you assemble a kitchen cabinet of your own that may be the key to your future success.

For more information on the ToPS Round Table, give the ToPS team a call at 1-877-399-8677.

A “Thanks” to Build Your Business…

It seems like everywhere I go in the country there are those who cannot resist talking about the “economy.” It seems to be the best excuse for why their business is not doing well.

Blaming the “economy” is just one more way to “live in lack.” It is the constant counting of all the things one does not have. And the more “lack” you see, the more “lack” you get. It makes you feel miserable and then you make everyone around you feel miserable as you talk about… "the economy.”

Consider instead a study pioneered by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough highlighted in the New York Times this week and detailed in Dr. Emmons book entitled Thanks! In their study, they asked a group of people to keep a journal of things for which they felt grateful. After two months, the journal keepers felt happier, more optimistic, had fewer physical problems, and spent more time exercising than did their counter-parts in the control group who did not keep a gratitude journal. The gratitude group also got better quality sleep at night!

It is funny how we sometimes need science to validate what we already know deep down to be true. Having an attitude of gratitude is a better way to live and leads to a better quality of life in every area, compared to living a life of lack.

So as you kicked off your holiday season with Thanksgiving, make giving thanks a regular habit. You’ll feel better and it will make the people around you feel better too!

Acres of Diamonds

I have known Dr. Tim and Kathy Droege from Breese, IL for nearly 16 years. They have a thriving practice in their rural farming community of 3,200 people. Kathy grew up there and the two of them met at a nearby University. They started a practice from scratch 25 years ago after being told that there was not enough dentistry for them to do there.

This week, I had the opportunity to go to Breese for the first time and film an upcoming Crown Council “Practice of the Month” feature.* Despite what the Droege’s were told 25 years ago, they have built one of the finest practices in America. By understanding their patients, offering exceptional service, and offering dental services that are not available for miles, they have become THE practice not only in their town, but THE practice for miles around.

The Droege’s remind me of “Acres of Diamonds” popularized years ago by Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University. The story is about a farmer who sold his farm to go in search of diamonds. He searched all over the world for years only to die broke and discouraged. Meanwhile, the buyer of his farm discovered one of the largest diamond mines in history on the same land the first farmer had sold to him. What the first farmer looked for all over the world was sitting right under his feet.

The Droege’s found their diamond mine right under their feet in Breese, IL. There’s nothing magic about Breese – they made the magic happen there.
What is sitting right under your feet that you may be gazing for off in the distance? There is no magic out there. You make the magic happen…right where you are. If it can be done in Breese, IL – it can be done anywhere! So start digging – right where you are!

* Make sure to catch the full presentation of the Crown Council Practice of the Month featuring the Droege’s practice coming soon on www.CrownCouncil.org.

Compensation

While in Toronto this week speaking at the Toronto Academy of Dentistry, we discussed The Law of Compensation which says: Help people get more of what they want and less of what they don’t want and you won’t have to worry about what you want.”

I believe that any business or person that benefits from the patronage of the people in any type of community has an obligation to give back to that community in some way.

As an example of that principle, I was delighted to invite Will to the stage in Toronto. Will is a twenty-one year old young man who has benefited from the services of “About Face,” a charitable organization in Toronto that helps children correct cleft pallet, hair lip, and other facial issues. Not only has Will’s quality of life improved by the surgical and counseling services of “About Face,” but he has chosen to donate a portion of his time back to the organization to help other kids who are now going through the same process. Will received, and now he’s giving back.

Translate that law into everyday business practice and we find that 67% of consumers choose to do business with an organization that is involved in some type of cause related marking over the competition. Cause related marking is where you are involved in some type of charitable cause or activity.

Recently, our own Smiles for Life Foundation (www.SmilesForLife.org) surpassed the huge milestone of having raised and donated $30 million to children’s charities around the world. Millions of children have benefited from the efforts of Crown Council dental teams who raise the money each year by whitening patients’ teeth who in turn make a charitable donation. It is a win-win for everyone.

If you have never been involved with Smiles for Life, now is the time to sign up for the campaign that starts in the spring of 2012. For more information on how you can get involved, log on to www.MySmilesForLife.com or call the Crown Council at 1-800-CROWN-58. If you have done Smiles for Life before, now is the time to start planning a successful campaign.

A well-known verse in the Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Those who practice dentistry have been given a lot. And so, we need to give back.

Join us in the upcoming Smiles for Life campaign as we do good by giving back.

Options and Odds

The Natural Law of Options says that the more options I have to choose from as a consumer, the less likely I am to make a decision. That’s why presenting patients with too many treatment options for THEM to choose from only creates confusion and inaction.

But consider this twist: the more options YOU have to draw from to provide a solution that fits your patient’s exact situation, the greater the odds that you are going to hear a “Yes.” For example, the greater your clinical skills, the more you are prepared to provide the exact treatment the patient needs instead of having to refer it out.

Consider the same principle in financial arrangements. How many different ways do you have for patients to pay for treatment? The more alternatives you have prepared, the greater the odds are that you will have something you can present that will fit their exact financial situation.

Take a moment right now and think or write down all of the different financial options you have available for your patients. How many do you have? Three or four? When I ask people to go through this exercise, I usually get a list like this: Cash, check, credit card or some type of patient financing. (We recommend that you have at least three forms of third-party financing available…not just one.)

So if your patient can’t pay for it today, they don’t have enough credit on a credit card and they don’t qualify for third party financing, you and your patient are out of luck, right? Right…if those are all the options you can provide them.

But, what would happen if you had 10, 20, or even 50 different options at your disposal that you could use to find a solution to their specific financial situation? What would your odds be now? I think you would agree that they would significantly increase.

If you want to significantly increase your odds of financial arrangement success, join us for a special Crown Council webinar “50 Ways to Pay” on Monday, November 14 at noon Central where Total Patient Service Practice Advisor Tanya Bailey and myself will review 50 different ways that patients have paid for treatment. It will include an update on the latest developments from some of the top third party finance programs as well creative ways you may have never thought of for patients to pay for treatment.

If you have not already received an email invitation to register for the webinar, contact us today via e-mail: Answers@TotalPatientSerice.com or call 1-877-399-8677 today for more information. It will be a valuable hour packed with financial options that will significantly increase your odds of success.

Outrageous

One of my mentors is Scott Gross, author of Positively Outrageous Service and a library of other great books. Scott and I were neighbors (kind of) during the ten years that I lived in the Texas Hill Country. I lived in Hunt, Texas and he lived in Center Point!

I was reminded of Scott this week as I sat down at a Chili’s in Goshen, IN the night before doing a presentation to the local dental society. I was with Stuart from the Crown Council and as our server, Stephanie approached with a welcoming smile, I told her that Stuart had come all the way across the country especially for some of Chili’s delicious chips and salsa. She grinned and said she would make sure to take care of his request. In a few minutes she came back with not one, but two baskets of chips and salsa; a regular size basket for me and a JUMBO size basket with two cups of salsa for Stuart!

Later as she brought our check at the end of the meal, she included two large bags of chips to take with us with two containers of salsa and thanked us for coming in. Naturally, we left a BIG tip.

Stephanie exemplified the three ingredients that my mentor Scott Gross likes to call Positively Outrageous Service:

1. Random,

2. Unexpected,

3. Out of proportion to the circumstance.

Just by listening and responding in an “extra mile” fashion, Stephanie gave us an “Outrageous” experience that put a smile on our faces and had us talking for days…in fact, I am still talking about it!

So, find something “outrageous” to do today…Positively Outrageous. It will put a smile on your client, customer or patient’s face and have them talking about you for days!