Inevitably it will happen. You will get “busy” before you get “free”. When things start going well and you achieve the double-over-double increases that happen when the right systems and execution are put in place you will begin first to make more money quickly.
Your patients will accept larger treatment plans and you will not have adjusted the flow of patients yet. Seeing the same number as you were before but now making them more valuable and thus requiring more treatment time.
Yes, I know, every Dentist’s dream.
It stays a dream because most Dentists don’t believe it can be reality and therefore do nothing to make a change – they do ‘more’ to get ‘more’ of the same but never make adjustments to get something ‘different’ by doing something ‘different’.
So, once you see this happening and your goal is not to get busier rather just more profitable. You want your hours worth more and then you want fewer hours, or at least you want fewer patients in those hours.
Instead of 10-15-20 or more Patients per day to get to your number you want 3-7 maybe maximum.
Of course this is not for everyone, some are going all the way for volume and that’s just fine. It is also a different model and strategy altogether.
It’s crazy to me that a Dentist Owner thinks they can bring in a Dentist Associate and manage them the same way they manage themselves…go ahead…laugh…I know you don’t really even manage yourself…that’s my point, exactly.
Or they even expect them to produce or keep up with them.
Nope. The owner mentality is a different mindset, different breed altogether.
Back to the topic…
There are 3 things you can do immediately to get back control of your busy jammed to the max, too many patients for the production daily schedule.
One.
The obvious, schedule control.
You weight your schedule and only allow so many things to happen on any given day. You manage by the numbers and your preferences not by the time.
Let me say that again – MANAGE BY THE PRODUCTION not by the TIME.
You don’t have to fill the blank space just because it’s open. You don’t have to see more patients just because they are waiting in line. You will also have to expand your blocks of time to be worth more money.
So the first place I take someone who isn’t use to it is $1,000/hour. That’s an easy bench mark to focus on and there is a laundry list of ways to get there.
Then $1,500, then $2,000, then your half day being worth $10,000.
We start by a few hours a day, a few days a month and so on and so forth.
This is called Schedule Control. It’s a fun game to plan.
Step 2 is Screening of Patients.
Basically deciding who goes where and why.
I always expect someone to lock in place the times they want to see new patients, if you are growing to a bigger practice you can open up a column for new patients only and have the team to support that.
If you are going for a lifestyle blueprint then you will begin screening out, scheduling out, and possibly even requiring a “deposit” to visit for your New Patients.
You can also create two or even three paths for different types of New Patients. This is how I fill Associates schedules like a sponge and how we elevate and multiply a Dentists schedule to maximum profit – we see only a certain “maturity” of patient.
More on that another time.
Again, this is ONE type of model with many choices. You get to decide, I’m not telling you what YOU should do just how to do THIS if you determine that’s what you want.
Lastly, at least for today, item number 3.
You have to take more time off, more time to relax, you must force yourself to delegate and get away.
One of my most successful clients every quarter we make a list of everything he is doing, using his time for, and so on and so forth and we bullet point it out and then we circle the ONE or TWO or THREE things he loves to do and we get rid of everything else.
Rinse and repeat.
This keeps you happy, healthy, balanced, and time for those you love and those things you enjoy outside of dentistry.
Let go so you can keep climbing up.
Have fun with these 3 things. They are amazingly powerful and anything is possible when you use your creativity and prosperity mindset to believe … put it in motion and let the magic happen.
Usually it’s your viewpoint or perspective or lack of letting go of enough to let things happen the way you want them to that gets in your way.
Hey. Tomorrow is a new day. Just decide.
