Dying for Dentistry — and — Little Things result in Big Gains

Friday, March 19, 2010
Dying for Dentistry

Our man, Matt, heroically tried to make his consulting appointment on January 7th and got caught in a snowstorm in Southwestern Minnesota.

At 10:30 in the morning, he was told by the Highway Patrol they probably wouldn’t get to him until late at night or even the next day.

However, miraculously, his wife rescued him from 160 miles away. It was a Google rescue. Go to our About Us page to watch the story that aired on Fox 9 News on February 10th.

Little Things = Big Gains

When we take a close look at practices that are experiencing good growth, we sometimes find that growth is generated by or can be explained by significant big events such as: adding an associate, a new facility or extensive remodeling, a significant Continuing Education event, or change for the better in personnel.

These dramatic events can change the chemistry or capacity of a practice, the motivation of the Doctor and/or the team and result in growth.

Staff wages are the major overhead item, so it certainly makes sense to go slow with raises if your practice isn’t growing. I’ve often said that the staff’s compensation should be linked to how the practice does, not just to the economy or the consumer price index (which by the way was up 1.8% in 2009).

However, we find that most of the time growth comes from a number of small improvements that cumulatively have a large effect. This is what management is all about…catching every little bit of wind you can in your sails.

I’ve provided a number of examples in our latest newsletter, our February Bulletin.

’til next time…

Posted by Bill Rossi at 5:34 PM
Labels: Advanced Practice Management, Bill Rossi, Dental Consultant, dying for dentistry, Matt Lahn, Staff management