Dental Unscripted

Nice. Welcome to Dental Unscripted. Where Mike Dinsio and Paula Quinn break down the practice ownership journey, one episode at a time. Starting up, buying, and running a successful dental practice. All right. All right. Welcome back, guys, to another episode of Dental Unscripted. I am one of your hosts today, Michael Dinsio, one of the founders at Next Level Consultants. And we also have the pleasure of having Miss Paula Quinn, my partner. Hi. How's it going? Hi. Did you see me dancing down here? I was like jamming to the beat. To that beat. It is a pretty good beat. I know. It gets the juices flowing. Well, hey guys, we got a good episode today. It's about taming the wild. And no, we're not talking about Paula's hair. What we are talking about is team members. And team members can be crazy, wild, fun, challenging, stressful, all the things. We're going to just talk about some of the things that we do to help team stay focused, stay accountable, results-driven, ownership mentality, fun stuff like that. We have a few of our wild... Our wild children are wild team members on here. Yeah, we should. We should. Maybe they'll maybe they will chime in since they didn't chime in on the last episode. Guys, if you're listening, ladies, you know who your wild ones are. You know who you are and you need to participate to the program today. All right. Well, before we get too, too far, I got some housekeeping. If you are watching our program on dental unscripted, this is dental unscripted. If you're watching, if you're watching and listening on startup unscripted or dental acquisition unscripted, you need to get over to this channel, which is the real channel, the new channel that we will be continuing our program on, um, This is gonna be the only one. We are shutting those other two programs down and going all in on this one. So Dental Unscripted, it's a navy blue kind of turquoise with a tooth, big shocker. We got a tooth in our logo, everybody does on these podcasts. So please join, subscribe, review us, all the things. The other thing you'll notice in my background is our partner, newest partner and sponsor to today's episode, Candid Pro. You all have heard of aligners and clear aligner therapy. There's a lot of choices out there, but we specifically partnered with Candid because of a lot of things. So before we get into it, I'm going to read a little thing that they wrote up for us because it's way better than I could ever do here. So Candid Pro is a clear aligner system built for general dentists. I know a lot of folks who are coming out of dental school and are interested in profitable therapies like aligners, but they aren't always confident enough to jump right into it. And that's so true. Paul and I could talk to you guys about all that. Like a lot of our clients are very concerned about clinical and the risks and all the things. But one of the reasons is is the things that they're doing. And so with Candid Pro, you'll get a U.S. based licensed orthodontist reviewing and approving all of your treatment plans with no additional cost. And I think and Paula thinks that's huge. It's a huge value. Um, and, uh, I think it will deliver great outcomes also because you're a friend of me and miss Paula here. Um, you do get a special offer. Now I'm going to say guys, guys and gals, this is actually a really good offer. Okay. So you're probably hearing a lot of good offers out there with other different programs and stuff. This is actually a really good one. You get And you get gold, I think, tier for six months. So you got a very short window, six months, but you get an incredible deal. So check out the link below in the description to get that deal. And I think you guys should check it out. I really do. It's a great program. Anyways, without further ado, let's get into it. Taming the wild, not your crooked teeth, but team members. Taming the Wild. So I'd love, we're just going to kind of freeform this because to be honest with you, that's how unscripted this program is. It's very unscripted. I was like, don't we always freeform? Yeah, we always do. And I think it's what you all want. we don't prepare much other than we know what we want to talk about. And this could go anywhere. But I think one of the, not I think, I know, one of the number one things our clients would say is the hardest part about running a business is not... clear the the clinical aspect it's not the um it's not the business even though the business can be challenging it's the team right it's the team and I think a lot of folks hire us to help them help us with helping them help me help you help me help you tame the wild and so paula um would you agree to that I think you would it's the team right when you owned no No, I'm just kidding. Yes. It was a very difficult guest on the, no, I mean, co-hosting. Definitely the team. What was so hard when you owned like legitimately, like why, why was it hard to deal, work with team and get them to do all the things? Well, I think, you know, you're a business owner and this is your entire livelihood. Um, You know, a lot of times the extra money comes to you. So you're you're obviously the more you make, the more you get to take home is your business. I think that it's your blood, sweat and tears. And then you've got people working for you. They get the same amount of money hourly that they get, whether they. Hmm. kick it out of the park or their status quo. It's a job. So the trick is, you know, and they've got a life. And so, and, you know, some of the, you know, I've been around for a long time. So a lot of people in the workforce have a little bit different work ethic than some of, you know, other generations. And so you find that, you know, coming in late or being on your cell phone or, you know, whatever that might be, um, is can take priority over the job. And I think that especially since COVID things have changed too, where, um, A lot more things are done online. So people are thinking, oh, do I really need a nine to five? I can do this. I can do that. I can dabble. I can, you know, so the whole there's like a whole mind shift of work ethics and different things and what people want in today's world and how they want to make money. So you're dealing with that. And so it just makes it. really hard to get them ignited and passionate and at least half of where you are when it comes to driving the business. So I think that's the hard part. And then the bigger your office is, the more personalities you have. And I joked about this before, but there is typically women in a dental practice. And we are typically the, you know, take care of the children and the household and different things. So when we're in the workforce, it's like our mind is in different places. So I think it's just human nature, right? And I think it's such a small business that the owner is, the person running the business is the owner. So we're sitting here thinking, oh my gosh, this is great. This is our business, we're gonna make money and we're gonna serve as patients and like, let's all get passionate. And they're like, all right. So it's the people, absolutely. It is. And, and what's, what's interesting is like, I mean, to say, to say that all that, like in one way is like your, your work, you're giving the keys to your, your baby, right. For twenty eight dollars an hour, someone making twenty eight. Or twenty dollars an hour. You're in Seattle. I am sitting in Washington. So, yeah, it's twenty eight. So, I mean, even even more shocking for me to hear that because you're right. Twenty dollars is like. I mean, I'm not going to say it's McDonald wages, but I am going to say that like the job force, the folks that are applying are trying to better themselves from the service industry, from driving Ubers, from like and we're literally just kind of letting them run our business. And then we get mad and then we get mad. Sorry, we get mad. that they're not, they care as much as we do. Well, and let's talk about like, it's a small business. The taxes, the overhead is outrageous. So, you know, I'm not saying every practice, it depends on the practice. So team, I'm on forums all the time on Facebook and they're like, we don't get benefits. And this is the first time a hygienist has ever gotten benefits and blah, blah, blah. And yeah, there are a lot of great things, but dentists can barely with, especially if they're a fee or a, I'm sorry, not a fee for service, if they're a fee provider if they accept dental insurance in their practice I mean it's highway robbery and so they're sitting here getting I won't say the word over on this end and then on this end and there's nothing more than they probably want to take care of their employees but small businesses are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to making money taking all the risk and then also trying to pay and make yeah team happy, any small business. I mean, we know, we know we're small business. I'm saying any small business. It's like, it looks like when you're a million dollar business that you're probably taking home five hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand or three hundred thousand. And it's just not always the case. It's a million dollar business. The dentist could be making one hundred fifty thousand, which, by the way, they have student loans. They have a home. They have Practice loans. They have their wife or significant other, I should say, kids, you know, all those things. One hundred fifty thousand isn't a lot of money for someone in California or Washington. Yeah. Or any or people who are still paying off loans and trying to hear they go into this. I'm a doctor and it's like. That's right. But are you? No, I'm just kidding. No, no, you are. But but you don't have a. Are you getting paid like one? Exactly. So I guess that kind of so so that tees it up for today's discussion is like that's the problem. That's the problem. And I follow Gary Vanderchuck. He talks a lot about this. Owners, get your head straight. Get your head straight when you're working with your team. What does he mean by that? I know, but tell our audience what he means by that. Just appreciate the fact that they're never going to be an owner. And you can do all the things, but they're never going to be you. And you should run your business. And you should care more. And you should have... this gray hair that, that I have. And like that, that's you, you own the business. People aren't going to do it for you. Like they do help you. And you do every once in a while. And I think that is great. And also in the other hand, again, rock and a hard place. You do have some people, team members that innately just don't, Almost care as much as you do. And those are, those people are worth gold, but they're rare, right? That, that ownership mentality that I will do anything for you. Yeah. You know, And that's great, but that's not – that's an exception. And that's an amazing exception if you find that, but it's not – It is. It is. And, yeah, no, look, we just did an episode not too long ago about, like – what, why, you know, where am I going with this? I just lost my train of thought, but like essentially like getting your team on board and help and them helping you accomplish the things you're trying to do. Like you have to step up and you have to own and you have to hold them accountable and run your business. and and you just expecting them to to drive is is is not going to work out super well so um I don't know I rambled there because I literally lost my train of thought but so how how do we get the most out of our team paula like I there are so many things that we could probably talk this could be literally an hour conversation but yeah when when you when you are trying to get team members to change or to do a belief shift, a shift, how, what's your thoughts? I mean, what, where, where do you start with that kind of challenge in an office of getting, getting them to shift their brains and getting them to think about things like an owner? Yeah. Well, I'm not going to brag, but I'm going to brag for a minute. I think Me personally, I'm going to shift to how we as next level get that to happen or as a coach. But I do think one advantage I have is I have been a team member for. Thirty five years I have owned. And so I have a perspective or something that I can bring from both aspects that not everyone can bring. So I think I can put myself in the team member's shoes. I can put myself in the owner's shoes. And have empathy or sympathy on both sides and relate and relate. So I think being relatable is really helpful as a coach. I think how do we actually do it is we have different systems, different things that we put in place that I really think helps team members get on board. And I think the one thing we try to come in as collaborators, they have a lot of knowledge, they know their practice hopefully better than anyone, And we tap into that. Now it doesn't mean that their system or way is the right way, but I think coming in from understanding of let's take what you're doing and not completely change it, but let's enhance it. And that's actually systematize it. So, you know, one thing we like to do is, is get team agreements. We like to make sure that anything we're doing, it's like, are you on board or are you not? Because I think that when I'm told to do something, I might do it if I like it. If I don't, I'm like, okay, sure. People walk away, I go back to the same old, same old. I think of it's, hey, give us some of your ideas. What do you think is great? How do you want to behave and be for your patients, for your team members? Now we're collaborating and now it's their idea And then I can take that idea and run with it and I can enhance it. I can tweak it and I can create a system around those so that things don't fall through the cracks and stuff. So I think team agreements are a big one is bringing them on board with what you're doing, getting their buy-in. I love that. I think it starts there because a lot of consultants come in, and I don't want to make this about consulting, but even let's just say you guys, you dentists, you come in, you own the practice, and you just start barking what you want to do and what needs to happen. It's my vision, right? It's my vision. My vision, and that's fine. You got to have your own vision for sure. But they come in, consultants, dentists, new owners, and they're just like, this is what we're doing, and this is the way. And without buy-in... that's just not gonna work out super well. You're probably gonna turn some people over quickly, and that's what we've seen. And I think I liked where you were going, Paula, with this, because I think I was reading your mind here. If you don't have a system, I think this is where you're heading because getting agreements is great. And that's the start. But the next part of that after you get their buy-in is really a system, right? Because if you don't have a system, you can't hold them accountable, right? Without a system, there is nothing to hold someone accountable to. So that's one of the first things that job descriptions and all the things, right? If everybody's just kind of doing it, You can't hold just doing it accountable, right? At all. You have to have a system first, and then once the system's in place, then that's when the accountability begins. I mean, you work a lot with our teams on systems, Paula, really quick. And I see Nicole chimed in. That's great. We'll get to that here in a second. But what's the one thing, like, not the one thing, but what are some things in the dental offices, Paula, that you see... a lot of non or not very good systems in the, in the atypical practice that you walk into day one. because we do practice analysis all the time and there's always systems broken what's like some of the more common systems that break oh my gosh the number one is insurance verification eligibility like do we do we really know what this patient owes do we really know how to present this treatment plan are we prepared with this treatment plan uh you know just really how to How to utilize insurance, maximize insurance, understand insurance. However, you work for the dentist, not the insurance company. So how to verbalize that to still get what you want done, but help assist the patient along the way with accuracy and preparedness. I mean, that is literally number one. It trickles all the way to the front, to the back. and I think Nicole's thing is great where it's creating a system where, cause that was kind of what we're talking about. Understands the role is empowered to meet expectations. It's that transparency. So what a, what a system does, it creates transparency for both the team member and the doctor. So like you said, when someone falls short of it, we know where it happened. Cause there's a, there's a repeat process. There's a process. And it's like, you know, let's say that, You know, patients upset about, you know, we charge them for something we shouldn't have or quoted them wrong. We start like if the if the if getting the eligibility and entering it correctly and letting the practice management system work for you isn't happening. Everything else is a domino effect from there. That's right. That's right. Because that is the system. That is the process. That is the system. Paul is mentioning a comment that came in from Facebook. It's one of our coaches, Nicole. She says, I think as a consultant, it's about creating a system, all caps, where everyone understands their role and is empowered. All caps. All caps, empowered to meet expectations. And it is. That's exactly what we're talking about is systems. But then the empowerment part is also important also. Well, that's what that system does is because if I know the job role, I know how to do it. And I know where doctor or we want to go with it. I'm empowered. I don't need to feel insecure about my job. I don't feel the need to feel nervous that I'm not going to do something correct with a patient I barely even need to go to doctor because I understand the system that's where the empowerment comes in is I can rock at my job now I know what doctor expects I know the system I know the processes I have all the tools and I I really they're the only way I'm gonna mess up is we're human I I have a bad day like something small, but it should be small and rare, rare. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, exactly. I mean, I love that. And, and again, back to where we started in the, in the meet, the meeting or the meeting, the podcast where like you have the, as an owner, you have to like, Get involved. You can't just be the dentist anymore like an associate. So getting involved and noticing that the insurance process treatment planning is not accurate. So dig in, fix the system systems created. Now, as the owner, the mom and dad, we talked about beginning the conversation. Now you have to hold them accountable and over and over and over again until it becomes. a culture. And that's kind of where we're heading is like this culture. And is culture a real thing is my question here. And it is. Paula, you always say culture eats strategy for breakfast. Yes. Culture eats strategy. I knew you were going to say I didn't know if you were going to say I wasn't sure. But it's true. And what do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? Um, you can have all the strategy in the world and all the systems in the world. But if, if you don't have the buy-in from your team, they're going to, they're just going to throw that in the trash. And you're going to think you've got all these systems in place. They're unhappy at work. They don't get along with someone. They're not buying in. They're going to trash that. You're going to do what they want to do. Um, even though it's all your little SOPs are right there, it's written down. It should be foolproof. You've got to... which is where we're going with culture is we do a lot of work on this. And I think that setting your team up for success, I think most people want to help people. Most people want to impress. Most people want to make their bosses happy. They want to make their team members happy. So I think that as long as they feel appreciated, as long as they feel heard, like anything is possible. And so, I mean, some ways we do, oh, I don't even, you know, are we still, do you want me to move on? Because I feel like I- No, this is great. I'm not the boss. You're the real boss. Everybody knows you're the real boss. We're talking about is culture a real thing and apps a stinking loony. I've swore on the program many times. You've been doing startup and acquisition for a long time. This is only like my third thing with you. I mean, the F words will... You're still warming up to the crowd. I'm new. I don't... you know I'm I'm trying to behave um no I I I think it is a I I think that the thing the thing that a lot of owners miss on is without accountability it I I think without accountability it's hard to create a culture and here's what I mean by that like If you don't hold your team accountable, the culture isn't to do something. So for example, if creating a seven star customer experience, how do you get to get that culture? How do you get to that? Well, that's the standard. You hold people accountable to it over and over and over and over and over and over and over. until that becomes the culture of your entire practice. And if someone doesn't fit that culture, you weed them out. But the only way you would do that is if, is by holding them accountable over and over and over and over until you get so sick of telling the same person over and again, Hey dude, but it's, but it starts before then. And we kind of touch on this with team agreements and you said, yeah, that's one thing, but I think it's, you know, our core values, we've done this with next level is, um, people, they say you hire and fire by core values. So if someone doesn't fit those core values, they aren't, it's not the right culture. So I think number one agreements as a team, we all agree to something. Now I can hold you accountable. I think we talk about core values. What can we, what are, what can we be okay with? And what are we like? Absolutely. No, you cross this boundary. You're gone. I think that's it. I think then the transparency comes with The job descriptions, like what am I supposed to do? When? How? What do you expect of me? Because I you can if I don't know, I'm going to fail you every time. I've got to you have to tell me it's got to be written. I've got to be able to practice it. So it's got to be repeatable, transparent to other people. So they're not judging me. And and then I've got to be able to practice that and become proficient in it. And that's where we talk a lot about setting goals. The team has to know the goals. Doctors are so afraid to share money and goals. Team, eat that up. Dude, they do. Eat it up. they so do like every time we just came off of annual planning and jan uh and it's still january we just did annual planning this month is what I meant to say and I was about to say I did say last month and annual planning is one of my most favorite times because we get to declare all the things that we want to do with Goals we want to meet. How did you do last year? Let's what do we want to strive for? So and every single time we do that with a new client, the office's eyes are open. And they say, thank you. Right. They always say thank you to Paul and I. And I'm just like, Hey doc, is this an aha moment for you? Because we gave them numbers and they're starving. They're, they're starving for this information. And you were so afraid to share it. If you don't share your goals by numbers, how are they going to help you get there? How, how, um, Nicole should have been on the program today. She's on fire right now on Facebook. She said, create a growth mindset culture, transparency in business operations, which we just talked about. Align incentives with ownership mindset, like profit sharing anyone? Yeah. uh accountability a thousand times over and and without declaring goals and and you can't get to profit sharing programs and and and uh we we implement those all the time so Yeah, no, I look, this is such a big topic and so hard to do. How could you simplify this, Paula? Like just like someone that's just kind of getting into this stuff. They're brand new owners. You know, they don't have us coaching them on. Where do you where do you begin? I think like where do you even start with this stuff? All this is a lot. You know, it takes me back and this is a little off, but on it takes me back where a doctor we coach didn't want the team to know they didn't know what they were talking about. they would have us tell them everything and then they would deliver it because they were so afraid that their team would think they were inept you know and I I think you know there's so much I gotta like let me take this in and say it and then you can paraphrase it if you need to yeah I think it start it does you you do need to be vulnerable with your team and I'm not saying you have to be like cry and like give them your messiness. Yeah. Don't be weird. Yeah. I'm saying be vulnerable to know that, Hey, I have hired a team because I need all of you experts to help me grow. I, I need your help. Um, here's what I'm thinking. Here's my vision. What are some ideas of how we can get there together? Again, that's the buy-in. That's the agreement. That's using their expertise. Even if they're a brand new young baby team, they still have some ideas. You don't have to use them all, but you can let them be heard and feel respected. So I think number one is is be vulnerable. I think number two is get the buy in. I think number three is creating the repeatable systems and expectations and job descriptions and and the transparency. I think setting goals, learning tools, I think always working on your business, not just in it. You've got to take the time to stop. and meet with your team. It's crazy in a dental practice, crazy. We need to set aside a couple hours a month to sit down as a team and talk. And the first couple might be like, why the heck did we do this? But give it a chance. Make sure it's not a bitch session. Make sure it's a you know, it's, it's about solutions and, and how to move forward. I think, I think the last thing I'll say is appreciate your team and the way they want to be appreciated. We do an exercise to learn that appreciation, learn the behavior styles. And I think it's really talking to people in the way they like to be talked to. It's appreciating them because it's, the exercise we do is most people leave, they don't leave over money, they leave over appreciation. So I think you have to be part of the culture. And I joked the other day, I said something to you, I sweep the floor too. I think a lot of it is, You're not here and they're here. It's you're all in this. It's too small of a business to be that. Yeah. I'm not saying there's not a higher hierarchy. I'm not saying that you're not the boss. I'm saying you're still in this together. Yeah. And I mean, that's. Yeah. No, no, that I think that was beautiful in the way you kind of worked together. Work through that folks. I would challenge you to literally back this episode up about five minutes and get your pen out and literally listen to make again on this show. Well, yeah, drop the mic. Exactly. Just literally go through each step and each step is kind of hard to do. And it's it's quite frankly, a body of work. We work with a lot of newer owners. I was going to say younger owners. It's not really true. Newer owners. And this is the hardest thing is we said in the beginning of this program. It's the team. Team's the hardest thing. And so what you put in is what you get out. And if you're not putting in the time, like Paula said, to work on those things and go through that process, your team will treat this like a J-O-B. We always get our clients coming back pissed that they didn't show up or they didn't work through their lunch or they didn't maybe... give a big more heads up on sick or their kid issue with the childcare. And, and they're just like always frustrated that these, these employees, not partners, uh, are disappointing does it helps make them partners it's right it's right it's all these things makes them partners they they um and and then I ask like how much time did you put into agreements and systems and um getting buy-in and touching base and sharing your goals and with like and the answer is always not enough I'm like why are we even having this conversation you just want me to Listen, or do you want a solution? And the solution is to literally do all this. And, um, yeah, no, I, I, uh, you mentioned, you mentioned new, newer, newer owners, newer owners. Yeah. But I mean, that's the, that's a pitfall of a newer owner, but I do think our seasoned owners are honestly checked out of the business and they're just letting the team run it and they don't even know how it's performing until they know. It went until they feel it. We go in so many offices that have been in ownership for, you know, five, ten years and they have no idea there's, you know, one hundred thousand dollars sitting on the table. They have no idea the front office isn't collecting up front. They have no idea their cancellation no show is out of control. They only know it if they feel it. Right. I know that sounds weird, but all of a sudden they either don't have money or they're like, holy cow, my hygienist has been sitting around for three hours today. Like it's it takes something drastic for them to be like, whoa, is this not right? And then when we start digging in, it's like, dude, this is out of control. Yeah. So or. Not dude. I guess a girl can be a dude too. Dude. I've been saying dude a lot to everybody. Yeah. You know, I don't identify. New words, bro. Bro. Bro. That's too young. I don't know how to say bro. Bro. Or bra? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know how to say it. I'm not cool like that. If I try to pull that stuff off and people look at me like, yeah, I can't do that. Just dude. Yeah. Dude, Where's My Car? Wasn't that a movie? That was Bill and Ted's Excellent. Bill and Ted. Oh, my God. Everybody on this program does not know Bill and Ted's Excellent. What was it? Adventure. Adventure. Check it out. Go to YouTube and watch that, not this program. I hope it's worth it. It's totally worth it. Well, gosh, like I said, jam-packed episode today. Lots of stuff to discuss there. There's books, there's things, there's all kinds of stuff. Start there, guys. Start there in ownership. It'll pay itself off tenfold. Most offices can't get to the next level without mastering this. It's a fact. You will plateau. You cannot get past wherever you're at without that. you know because because because culture that's right paul is doing a pac-man thing for those that are listening um well they can't see well they can but if they log on and subscribe to youtube and follow us on there but most people All right. Well, again, thanks so much, Paula, for helping me on the program here. But before we head out, let's turn back to our friends. Candid behind me. Candid Pro clear liners. We've we got you guys this amazing offer right out of the gate. You guys get tier tier gold gold tier pricing for six months. I mean, it's huge for new. It's called the new provider bundle. um if you're looking for a more profitable clear liner solution this is exactly what you need check out the link below um and all I would ask is you check them out there's a lot of options and these guys should be one of them for you so without further do subscribe like do a google review or whatever We love you guys and we appreciate all of your support. And if you ever need help with consulting, buyer rep, startup, just general practice management, hygiene, front office, credentialing, billing, all the things we do, please reach out and just have a conversation. If we can't do it, we'll refer you to someone that's better at us in other ways. So. Okay. I guess that wraps up another episode. Thanks again, Paula. Talk to you guys soon. Thank you, Michael. Bye. Thanks for everyone who participated. Yes. Nicole specifically. Shout out. All right, guys. See ya. Thanks for listening. Let us know how you like the show. 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