Dental Unscripted | Getting into Ownership and Practice Management Insights

00:05
Welcome to Dental Unscripted.

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where Mike Dinsio and Paula Quinn break down the practice ownership journey, one episode at a time.

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Starting up, buying, and running a successful dental practice.

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All right. All right. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of dental unscripted. Um, as you all know, my name is Michael Dinsio and I also have my co-pilot Paula Quinn. She is here helping me beat up every vendor and professional in the industry. Now I'm joking. We totally joking. Uh, there's no beating up. This is just great, uh, good old information. And, uh, we, love doing this some, uh,

01:06
housekeeping real quick. If you're if you're watching or listening to this program on acquisition unscripted, uh or startup unscripted, please jump over to dental inscripted. We're managing these, these programs and trying to keep it to one program. There's still a lot of you uh following those those other uh podcasts. And, and we'd like for you to jump over to dental inscripted. So please follow and subscribe that one.

01:32
Um, but without further ado, let's just jump right into it. Uh, I'm excited cause I get to interview a mentor and friend that I've known forever. I know when I first got into bank of America, Phil showed me the ropes. That's how far back this relationship goes. Um, I even followed him into some other, uh, things and, um this guy's a smart dude has been doing it way longer than me. And so I'm excited to learn from him today.

02:00
So without further ado, I'm gonna introduce Phil Hoover with Western practice sales. What's up, Phil? How you doing, buddy? Doing well, Mike. And I haven't done that way longer than you a little bit longer, my friend. Well, your knowledge feels like it's way longer, but I appreciate it. It's it's it's a pleasure having a program. It's stupid that you haven't done this yet. I've had a lot of our old friends and partners that have gone into different

02:27
directions in their career from B of A to whatever else. And here you are one of the owners and partners over at Western Practice. We interviewed Tim, like, I don't know, three, four years ago. That was a great episode during Shark Week. And Tim represented well as a shark for the acquisition unscripted Shark Week. But today we're going to break down LOIs. As I feel like it's a good topic to cover, because there's a lot of questions around

02:57
What's the process? What's the timing of it? What does it mean? Is it binding? What players need to be in place? How do I make these decisions? And of course, I could have had the program with Paula as she's gone through the process a couple times herself. So Paula's on the show to bring us some, you know, more boots on ground experience. ah But I also wanted the other side, which is the seller side. So you got a buyer's agent, someone that's gone through this and a seller's agent. So we got a nice panel.

03:27
to discuss LOIs, but real quick, Phil, are you and what's Western Practice Sales? Real quick. Thanks, Mike. Thanks for having me on. Phil Hoover. I've been in the dental industry for 20 years, a little bit longer than actually I've been in banking and finance for the majority of that. I had the opportunity to work with Tim in the last few years and take over the Western Practice Sales arm here. And we are a dental broker based out of Northern California, myself and

03:56
We have four other brokers on our team and we service Northern California and really all of California. And we are one of the largest, not the largest brokerage here in Northern California. So a lot of experience on my table, on my team. few of my brokers have been in the business for 40 some years. Myself and my partner, we have three ex-dentists on staff, along with myself that's been in the industry for 20 years plus. And we're excited.

04:26
Keep growing, keep going. Yeah, yeah. And your transaction numbers are insane. You guys process and transition a lot of practices. So you see the good, the bad, the ugly. And I think today we can touch on some of the ugly, right? Like I think we should all learn from some of the things that don't go super well. We can celebrate the ones that are just smooth sailing. so,

04:54
With the topic of LOI, um Phil, like in your mind, how important is an LOI to the whole entire process? Because it's, it sets the tone for the entire process. And it's a very scary thing for both sides, seller and buyer. It's scary for both. And I think the LOI sets the entire tone. Do you agree? And what's your take on just the LOI in general?

05:24
Yeah, there's benefits to both sides when an LOI is brought to the table. You know, we're talking at that point in time, we're talking about the transition. We're talking about the exit strategy with the seller and the entry strategy with the buyer. And it's really when the rubber hits the road and it shows that there's no commitment from both sides of the fence, right? And

05:47
When we get to the point where there's enough information on the table where a buyer can do and make an educated decision on the next steps, that's that myself and my seller have done a good job of relaying information and data to market that shows that our valuation is proper, correct? And it shows that the buying community is recognizing what we're selling and holds it valuable.

06:16
you know, just having an LOI and having the conversation about it just really sets the stage for what's about to happen next. And that is trying to set up a smooth transition for the buyer and seller to build a relationship to get to closing table and the transition at the end. And without good communication on the front end, starting with new intelligence into the LOI, you know, it can get rocky and there's some, you know, hurdles that need be explored.

06:46
when we're entering into that LOI stage. I mean, Paula, like from a buyer's perspective, do you remember making your offer? How did you feel going into that situation? I think that'll key up a really uh important discussion point because I, you know, Phil, you talk to the sellers and you know exactly how they feel into that process. Paula's the buyer.

07:14
It's extra. It's probably extra for Paula because she's a hygienist. So there's a little extra stress on a non dental owner. But how did you feel going into an LOI? And how did you do you remember like any main things about that? If Yeah, I think I you feel like it all needs to be ironed out before you submit that because you're afraid it's so binding like

07:42
you're stuck and then you, you don't, you haven't seen under the hood and you don't know all this stuff except, know, what's in the prospectus. So it's scary cause you, you feel like, what if I get in there and this isn't right or this isn't right or they're lying about this. And then how do I get out of this? You know, so it does, it does, it is pretty scary. Um, now that I've been through it, which I'm sure is what Phil will talk about, you know,

08:10
and and but it doesn't feel like that when you're a you feel like you're like this is your last ditch effort to get all of that you know how are the counts receivable being handled how So many, so many questions. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I remember it being scary and I felt like I was doing something that I really wasn't didn't know for sure. oh

08:36
what it was going to turn out to be. it was nerve wracking. It's almost like, you know, like buying a house, I guess, is different. But it's, like you're committing before you know, know, and then so and then from the seller's perspective, Phil, like, why is it? What's it mean to them? And what's it feel like to them? Because I can, I think I know what you're gonna say, but

09:04
when you have your conversations with sellers about LOI and they're going through that process and you're trying to coach them through that process, where's their head at? It's over, let's do it, good, let's go. The reality of it is it's just beginning. And that's where the conversation with me and my coaching to the seller on the front end, it's not over.

09:29
the we are going to look the nuts and bolts of the deal, nuts and bolts of the practice and it might get uncomfortable. And I preface all of our sellers that there's going be some tough conversations ahead. And rightfully so, you know, a young doctor is going to put their career and a lot of money on the line in order to make this happen. So, you know, expect that to happen. You know, that that seller's relief, though, Mike, I tell you, it's they are ecstatic.

09:59
And think the buyer, because they got an off or because they got an offer or they're ready to go. They're ready. They're ready. They're ready. Hey, Phil, did we lose you buddy? Little bit. Yeah. I think it's, uh, I think, I think where he's going with that is that like, to your point, Paul, it's like, uh, they think it's already over there. They're excited. They got an offer, but the journey of it is just, is just gonna.

10:27
going to be a really long, long uh episode or journey. I, know, it's, it's interesting when when practice brokers um come back, like, are you did you get come back though? No. Oh, there is. I see him moving. I know it's it's every once in a while. um Yeah, okay. We're just was just kind of taking that if you don't have any professionals uh involved.

10:57
it's hard to manage buyers and sellers expectations without professionals. You know what mean? Like, can you, I know that buyers are so emotional about this, that they do need help, whether it's a CPA or maybe a friend or colleague, helping them through that journey. The seller needs that just as much as the buyer. I think we've got you, Phil. You can, you can pop in and finish your comment there.

11:27
No, maybe. Oh, there he is. Yeah. He's, he's, he's losing it. Why don't you, why don't we ping him to leave? then, yeah, I mean, I would say, you know, I think the biggest difference for me being a buyer and a seller, because eventually I was a seller, I would say was like, I feel like I got a great product here.

11:51
Like this is because you own the practice and it's your baby. Now I own it. It's my blood, and tears that have gone. Don't call my baby ugly. Yeah. I mean, this is my baby now. You know, before I was I was about to, you know, buy somebody's baby. Now someone's buying my baby and my baby's perfect. You know what I mean? Yeah. So then it's like an insult when someone's like, what about this? And what about this? Where as a buyer, I was doing the same thing. You know what I mean? Yeah. You back though?

12:19
I missed a lot of that, but I think I know where you're going. I apologize for that. Well, Paula just jumped in as a seller and yeah, so I think Michael what Michael what you asked him something about. Well, just like as a just that they're excited to get an offer and the value of it and they're ready for it to be done. And here's the buyer thinking that their life is about to be imploded because they're not sure what they got into.

12:47
which is why professionals are so important to be part of this process. Right. And I think the key to that moment in time is to capitalize on the positive energy from both parties. And I think that's where we really need to, as professionals, work together to build on that positive energy instead of saying, okay, what's next and saying, let's dig deeper and pick you apart. It's more of, okay, let's come together, work together.

13:15
to find out maybe some of these holes, because everyone knows they're there and we're going to find them. So let's just work together to put them all on the table and get to the finish line and get to the finish line holding hands and not driving a wedge between us. And that's the one thing that I think we're seeing in today's market, Mike and Paul is, know, once that letter of intent is executed and brought to the table, defenses start going up.

13:43
And we gotta just watch that. We gotta watch our delivery at that point in time.

13:49
I think that's, I think that's beautiful. I think that's exactly right. We keep coming back to this idea of binding non-binding. The truth is, is it's non-binding, but there is a good faith element to it. And we wanted to touch on that. so it's non-binding legally. You can get out if you want to get out, get out on both sides. Um, but there is this like good faith thing. And Phil, I'd love to ask you this question from a good faith slash non-binding. kind of

14:16
They're kind of one thing. If you think about it, there's a good faith that you're moving forward, but at the same time you can get out. So what are your thoughts about that? Yeah. I have your contract right in front of me. have mine on the computer here, Michael, and they're both very simple. You want to get out, you get out. It's done. That's it. Yeah. You know, the reality of it is, is that the seller's expectations at the time that a letter of intent is executed, they feel that the deal is done.

14:47
And at that point, we want to A, take the practice off the market and spend our time with that buyer and to find a way to, in good faith, come to the finish line. So we are willing to use all of our efforts in order to complete the transaction with the one individual that we have in place to buy that has the letter of intent.

15:14
Now you had mentioned and we have talked about before, you there are other opportunities when there's multiple offers and that's when, you know, we need to absolutely discuss, you know, their, the buyer's expectations and their reality of getting to the finish line. And that's where you and the professional team on the buyer side, that communication line is so important to understand where we're going in the next, if we accept your offer, you know, where are we at?

15:44
And I think that's very important. Yeah, I, I do too. I, I think, I think like, what we what we didn't cover, because I don't want to take this down due diligence episode, I want to stay right here with the LOI. think what we didn't cover was what's the appropriate amount of information for a buyer

16:11
to get to make this scary decision, Paula, scary decision, because you want to know everything you want to know the membership plan details you want to earn, you want to know what the fee schedules are you want to understand all this stuff because you feel like once I sign this I'm locked. ah And then the seller is already making vacation plans just because they got an offer. So it's like these two extremes, which is really funny. But like what

16:40
You know, I think there is a science and well, I know there's a science evaluation. I do it every day and Phil does it every day. Oh, in your mind, Phil, why do you think some information upfront makes sense and more detail later makes sense? Not all of it right at right in the terms of a broker's perspective and the dentist is going to do the dentistry.

17:06
So the focus prior to LOI is can I do the dentistry? And that's where the focus should be. That should be on practice analysis reports. That should be on production analysis reports. And looking at if the doctor is able to handle the dental work, if there's any specialty work that's being done, anything that's out of their comfort zone and how they would address that.

17:32
going forward or if it needs to be addressed is and then the add-ons of looking at maybe I can imply some ortho or perio or some other opportunity on the front end. And that all comes from analysis reports. Then on the back and while that same is still going, you need to look at the basic financials, the P &Ls and tax returns. And I think two years of P &Ls and tax returns is more than enough to understand the cashflow and the revenue stream.

18:02
and all the details that it takes to make sure that the practice works for you financially. So, you know, it can be very basic. And then of course you need the performer prospectus. It gives a lay of the land in terms of equipment and that detail and the least detail. But the key component is can the dentist do the dentistry? And is there opportunity to continue that success going forward? That's where I would hang my hat on.

18:32
Yeah, I, I think that's right. I even on the buyer side, and then I'll throw it over to Paula too, if she's got any objections to that. But I agree. I think I think to make an offer, you need to know what the historicals are, as far as how much money I can expect to make. And that should be pretty clear. I should know what that is. um In my mind, it's

19:01
you know, hey, this is what you made. If I did everything you did, that's what I'll make. Now, of course, there's different situations with shell purchases or, you know, practices that didn't perform super well. And then all of a sudden assets become part of that. But we're talking about hitting it right down the fairway dental practices, know, bread and butter practice doing 800 throwing off a decent amount of income, you should be able to know exactly how much that business makes.

19:29
And you should be able to tell if you can do that dentistry to Phil's point. So that is really it at that point. It's really about where I'm going to struggle and what holes like Phil said, what holes are there that I need to fill to make it better. But I mean, Paula, you talk, uh, that's it. I think you can come up with a very good value and make a solid offer based on that. Paula did.

19:59
you look at you look at lots of practices with me on the back end during the due diligence. um Oftentimes, you're not part of that, that that valuation process. But I mean, I can't think of too many offices that we've helped, where we found some explosion of different information that blew up the deal. Maybe it happened once twice. But right, I mean, it's usually about what the doctor I actually even look at their their

20:30
their gaps as opportunity for the new doc. To me, it's always like, this is good news. They do one crown every month and then we we get to do one daily. You know what I mean? it's, my red flags are like Phil said, can you do the dentistry and maybe is the dentistry all done? There are full mouth reconstruction doctors out there that.

20:57
that's not saying there's not dentistry because we're all getting new patients and you can, you can pivot the practice. So even that's not a immediate no, but it's, it's, those are probably the scary ones, right? If there's lots of procedures or huge, oh a big part of the practice that's doing something you can't do, or maybe it's like you're a little worried that all the dentistry could be almost done. It's not going to be on a bread and butter doctor ever, but a full mouth reconstruction doctor.

21:26
you you might have that worrisome. um But I think all the other things are doable if you know. And I like the way Phil just put it, because for me, he's right. That stuff, I just wanna know. It's not gonna make or break me buying the practice. It's just, I need to know that stuff. I don't wanna come in day one and no one told me there was a membership and I'm doing free cleanings left and right, you know?

21:52
That's, that's the stuff that sucks. And, and we had a brief conversation right before we went live and I got into the due diligence before I realized it was all LOI. And that's the stuff I was talking about to fill, but no, I a hundred percent agree. It's, it's the profitability, you know, and then can you do the dentistry and it's let's go, you know, I can figure out the rest. It could be a team thing. could be a system thing. could be a like, Hey, we just, it's all opportunity. would like.

22:21
to kick this over to Phil if he's got still good connection here on. smiled. Perfect. When you're a broker and you get one buyer that wants the whole due diligence package upfront before they make an offer. Oh, I want to say something about that. And then another buyer who's just kind of like you send the prospectus over and

22:47
they know how much they're going to make and they've spent the time looking at the production reports. And they're like, yep, I can do this. What's that like for the, for the broker? Because the seller, they're not thinking anything. They're thinking, I'll take, they're, they're not being picky choosy, but to a broker, your whole job is to be picky choosy. So what walk us through kind of like that psychology or whatever. Money is money. People are people, right?

23:15
And when you present a case to the doctor, most of the time, money over character, character wins. And the money is typically not a big different differential between 10 or 20 grand is not going to make a difference. Maybe $100,000 convinces somebody. And that's the people that are throwing it and they're going to look the other way. Give me the practice and get out of the way. That is still out there. That still exists. Right.

23:45
When you have that practice that's in a desirable location and you do talk to eight or 10 convinced buyers that they want to take it to the next stage and they want to put a letter of intent in, we're collecting resumes and we're having interviews with the seller. And then it's about character. It's about who's going to fit that practice the best. And you know, that's a great problem to have, right? And you know what? We might not bet a thousand.

24:15
when it comes down to that, because everything, you know, maybe there's something unforeseen that we don't know buyer or seller, but, know, Michael, think, you know, I think character in these doctors and these sellers eyes, once that sizzle of, good, I got an offer. I'm going to go to Hawaii next week and retire. Once that sizzle kind of fades away after a week, then they realize, man, this is still a lot of work. got to, I got to coach this buyer. got to coach you, Phil and coach you, Mike.

24:44
to get this thing to the next level and the next phase so I can retire. you know, it does make a difference. And that's the information we try to relay to our sellers is like, you know, we got to pay attention to who we're accepting the offer from too, Mike. And sometimes it's not all about the money. Paul, you had a question or a comment that you wrote down. Yeah, it was, it was a comment and it's a little ways back, but you know,

25:14
And I'm just going to throw that out as a perspective. You guys are calling this you had it up there, LOI and good faith or however you had that. And I would say, have you ever taken into consideration both of you because you're representing the seller and the buyer? Like good faith to me is different than what's good faith to maybe Michael. And when I'm going into an LOI or when I was going to my LOI, should say

25:42
I'm also feel like I'm, am putting my good faith on the line. I'm telling this doctor, Hey seller, I'm ready to buy. And this is, I'm in, I'm in 99 % unless something crazy happens. So maybe that's why some people are a little more detailed upfront because you know, my word is my word. And if, and if I'm giving you my word and then I get in there and there's like,

26:07
this and that and it may not be the dentistry thing and it may not be a productivity thing but it's just a lot of stuff garbage you know I mean maybe I'm thinking that I don't want to do this I don't want to have to this is a lot more work than I anticipated you know it isn't my dream practice or what have you now I'm backing out so I can see somebody maybe being a little more detailed

26:33
I like that because I like that but well there's no there's no but I like that but but but Phil Phil and I will both say it's okay to find something that kills the deal kill it quick though and don't just drag it out you can make an offer based on this information and I like that you bring this up because the listeners are probably thinking exactly what you're saying

27:01
So I'm speaking right to the listeners and I'm saying, look, the profitability and your ability to do the dentistry is all we need to feel good about making an offer. But if we get in and it's a shit show, to your point, yeah, we get out, but we got to get out quick so that we don't drag the seller through the mud. And I think that's what Phil's, I don't know, Phil, I'd like for you to jump in, like, fast nose are better than long nose, right?

27:29
And if there is a discovery, moment where you can get out quick, absolutely. Time is money. And we're seeing this now on every practice that we have. We come out with a new listing, a new opportunity. And that first month, that opportunity is hot. And if we get it under contract in that first 30 to 45 days, and it sits on the sidelines for another 30 to 45 days because we're in this due diligence phase,

27:56
And then now it's been three or four months and it comes back. We lose value, we lose time, we lose a lot of things that the seller was banking on that, you know, maybe fault of my own, maybe fault of buyer, maybe whatever, but that faster know within those first 30 to 45 days is super important. I think that's okay. We're saying, obviously you're going to say this because we're on a podcast, but you're saying truly.

28:23
If I signed an LLI, came in a buyer kind of first day I walk in, I look through a things and I'm like, you know what? I'm just not getting that gut feeling. You'd be pretty okay with that. If I kind of did it fast, if I drug it out, that's where it gets frustrating. It's like I drag out the LLI, I drag out the due diligence. Then I'm like, nah.

28:49
That's where the frustra you're absolutely right. A and Paula, we've had the a lot of deals. We've had on deals in hot markets a that there's that individu that they ask and the to do the transaction, we to Right? And we do o them up prior to making a we take that offer, we kno

29:18
And the same with the seller. I'm not going to take two offers and execute both of them and run the two trains parallel to one another. Just not going to do that. It's not fair to you. It's not fair to the seller. It's not fair to either of the buyers. So when we choose which train track we're going to ride, we got to make sure that we got as close to clear sailing as we can. And you're right, Paul. If it's going to come off the tracks, get it off the track soon.

29:47
And because most of that stuff, we want to have interviews with the seller. We want to have the go to the office meeting and poke at everything, make, make sure things work and really dig in there right away. And a lot of the hesitation we have though is, is really from buyers to do that because they don't understand the financial information that they're getting well enough to say I'm all in. And because I think we give them too much.

30:14
And that's that's the I think if we dial that back a little bit and go focus on the dentistry, then that they can absorb that they understand that the young the young buyer understands that if I give a buyer a tax reform from 2020 and ask them what the depreciation schedule is, they don't know you know, don't have a clue. Right? You and I know we might have one. Now you're you're you're you're exactly you're exactly right. have one that would know.

30:42
Well, chat cheap, he knows everything. um I look, I'm right there. I think I think that's the key is is like, a quick a quick no is is okay. I've had buyers come back to me and say, Well, I don't want to screw this up. I don't want to screw this up with with Phil on a future deal. And I think that's that's wisdom. Because if they're into a deal with you, Phil, and I'm the buyer rep, and you're the selling sellers rep,

31:13
And here we are executed LOI and we're two weeks into this due diligence process. They're like, I don't like this practice. Um, I think that's okay if they got out quick, you know, and they wouldn't screw that up with you and they would, they would, you know, for good reasons, they're out that you would still work with them on another deal. But, um, I think if you did, if you did that over and over again, that might be a different story. Um,

31:40
But I do think that there's something to be said for the two tracks and you're picking the right horse. I've had that one thing about Western that I feel like is a little unique about other brokers is you do give access to the seller fairly quickly. You do give the buyer more access than what a lot of brokers give on the front end. You guys actually won't accept an LOI unless the buyers looked at the practice.

32:09
ah You do give access to the sellers fairly quickly. In some cases, maybe they're even showing their own practice. That's not common. so sometimes brokers, and we need to be careful because this program is not about Western practice sales. It's about all brokers. Sometimes they do withhold a lot of information. And so that's an interesting flavor to this this topic as well. Mike and know, and Paul, you guys are great at this. And when when we're getting when we're seeing some hesitancy, right?

32:38
I rather know why. I'm not gonna fight you to say you should do it because X, Y, Z. No, just tell me why and what you're seeing. And then I can address that for the next person, the next setback. Cause the practice is going to sell. And it may not sell to you, Mike, it may not sell to Paula, but the next person up, I want to present it in the light that it does sell. And if I'm missing something and it comes up in our conversation, by all means, I'm putting it on the table and it's the next man up, woman up is gonna take a look at it.

33:09
Yeah, it reminds me of underwriting, right? Phil back in the day, if you you if you submitted a deal that was sloppy, and the underwriter found the problem, you're screwed. But if you put it all on the table and told the underwriter, hey, this is a problem. And I've addressed this the underwriter be like, Oh, that's many years ago, Mike, I don't like the underwriters, uh You don't want to bring the you know, don't want to those cobwebs off. But it is true. I think

33:36
it as a general theme, as we kind of put a bow on this thing is, is I think the buyers do need to hear what's wrong with the practice. I appreciate your energy comment, like let's build on the energy. But I do think that some some buyers do need to hear what's ugly about the deal sometimes to make them run to close. And I don't know if that's at the LOI stage. I don't know if that's at the due diligence stage.

34:05
But sometimes they need to talk to, you know, they need to talk through the ugly first. um I guess that's the only other thing is, Phil, at what point do you bring up that ugly? Is it in the prospectus? Is it on the call? Is it at the office when they're touring it? When do you discuss the ugly? You know, in every eye, it's different. Every eye, there is a different set up. You know, what they're looking for is different than the next person up, right? So that comes in discovery of knowing the individual and

34:34
You know, the ugly could be a $10,000 month lease. You know, there's nothing I can do about that. You know, I'll do my best to help, but that's pretty ugly, right? But the other one might be the guys do an Invisalign, that's 20 % of the production. To me, that's a good thing, but to Paul, it may not be because Invisalign scares them and they don't want to do the trays. You know, just, I don't know the ugly either to that individual. Now, if you're telling me that hygiene is only 10 % of collections,

35:03
Well, that's a conversation I'm going have on the front end before they make an offer. That needs to be disclosed. That will be in my perspective. That will be shown because that is evident. Right. What does that mean then on the back end? there, is the, the doctor, there's no new patients. Does he, is he mining everything he's getting out of every single patient that he has. And the same token, if you got a practice that has a thousand profies and it's only doing 600 in collections, that thing should be doing a million, two, a million, four. Like, so.

35:33
The good, the bad, the ugly, it's the eye of beholder, right?

35:38
think that's so true. I think that's so true. Well, well, well answered is uh if you threw all the ugly down on your prospectus. It might not be the smartest play because that could be a benefit to someone else. So to say I think that puts you right in the brokers uh mindframe with this because uh sometimes the buyers might be thinking that they're holding out but the truth is is they don't they just don't know you very well. um And so

36:08
I think having conversations and working through that. Any advice then, Phil, on what a buyer could do to get on your radar, to catch your attention, to tell you about them, to help that transition? What's the last little bit of feedback before we shut this thing down? Absolutely, Mike and Paul, thank you again for having me. It's been a pleasure. And the one thing I would tell you is...

36:35
our young buyers, we try to coach them to get in front of people like yourself, Mike and Paula. And if they can get in front of the next level, and the next level is going to give them a touch with the bank. And they have these educated decisions or discussions on how to take the next step. We are finding we're spending a lot of our time educating on what is the process. We're getting a lot of buyers that just don't understand the process. They don't understand what they should be doing before they put in an offer.

37:04
And I think getting that those buyers referred back to you and you managing them with, know, your banking referrals and what have you. That's where they really need to start. That way they're educated coming in and they know how to swing the bat.

37:22
Yeah, I love that. love that. Paula last last minute comments on on this. uh Yeah, I know. I mean, I feel like I just kind of learned some things too, which is great. You're always interesting, Paula, because you bought one and you sold and so you've been on both sides of the fence and whenever our clients are

37:43
kind of digging in on stuff that doesn't matter. I love when you pull out the seller perspective. ah And that that's always invaluable. um So thank you guys both for the time, the honesty, the direct the directness. I think this is going to really help a lot of our clients. Maybe buyers that are calling Western practice sales, you can send this episode just to help them get their head straight before they go into that process. Because I think it really can help them.

38:12
navigate this with more confidence, less scary and you know, we all got a job to do. But I think I'll end it with this by saying, um no one wants a bad transition. The practice broker definitely doesn't want a bad transition. The banks don't want a bad transition, the buyer rep most certainly doesn't want one. So if we can all figure out how to navigate with the least amount of risk, I think that's a win for everybody. So

38:47
With that being said, let's shut it down on today's episode. Thanks again. Make sure you like, subscribe, follow Dental Unscripted uh and we'll be publishing some more stuff later on next month. All right. Talk to you soon guys. Bye.

39:13
Thanks for listening. Let us know how you like the Rate us on Apple and Spotify. Subscribe and follow for more.