Welcoming a dental coach into your practice is not signalling defeat by any means, it is a sound decision that will take the pressure off and give you an objective perspective of your practice and routes for change if needed.
As the practice leader, there are some signals that you should pay attention to, that are likely directing you to the need to have a coach in your practice. These would include:
- Your practice numbers are either remaining the same or they are declining. If your practice numbers are remaining the same, then you have begun losing money already. Everything has gone up in price, your staff base has likely grown and yet your production is remaining the same. If your numbers are declining then you know you are in trouble, there are a million and one excuses you can rationalize this with, yet the result is the same. The only excuse for declining revenue is if you have personally taken your foot off the gas in your own chair because of medical or emotional reasons. If you have taken your foot off the gas for some reason then you will need to find ways to grow the practice around your own production.We are now living in a world where growth must occur to keep your business moving forward, keeping your office growing at the same rate can signal time for a coach in your office.
- Every day in the office feels like frustration after frustration. Everyone is following their own sets of rules, you feel that customer service has decreased, you have lost control because of the current dental staffing shortages and whenever you ask what is happening all you hear back are excuses.
- Every morning you dread going into work because you feel like you are spinning your wheels and you begin to wonder if this is what feeling burned out is. The idea of making change is overwhelming so you keep riding the hamster wheel hoping against hope that something will change.
If any of these points strike a chord with you then it is time to see what a coach can do for you. A coach should first listen to you discuss your concerns about your practice and then come perform an assessment of all of the systems in your practice. This will provide you with a detailed report of the effectiveness and efficiency within your practice as well as your performance against the industry norm.
When a coach is in your office you can expect an updating of your policies and protocols, one on one training for your team and a Return on Investment (ROI). Coaching can feel expensive, most coaches are willing to be paid monthly so that the ROI will be covering their fees plus improve any areas of the practice that you have decided to make changes in. Each dental office is unique and the coaching you should be receiving should be customized and different from other dental offices as well.
As they say, the first step is always the hardest, making the decision to send an inquiry email, click on “Learn More” or dialling the phone can be difficult and then everything after that should be simple! Let your coach worry about improving your practice while you get back to enjoying dentistry and building patient relationships.