Latest / My Dental Playbook / 039 $293K to $610K… What They Fixed First

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039 $293K to $610K… What They Fixed First · My Dental Playbook

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: We had done 293 collections.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not our best year by any means.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: And this year done 610.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I ran it.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: So you basically went from about$100,000 to$200,000 in collections.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: You doubled it.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: We went from$112 a month average last year to$200,000 this year.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're up 600% on profit.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode of My Dental Playbook.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your co-host, Gary Bird.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Along with my friend Dr.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Blake Hamblin, we dive deep into his office to see how he's going to take over the world.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: He's having a good time and uh really growing.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: But today we actually brought on some special friends that we've been working with in our mastermind group.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm super excited to have this conversation because you guys have cracked the code of how to grow quickly.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Dr.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Whitney and her husband Steve, uh, the first meeting we met with your husband and uh in our mastermind group, and then you jumped on, you were sick, and then you jumped in the next meeting.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: And at the end of the show, I want to tell everybody this.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the show, they're gonna share their actual growth numbers.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: And uh this is really, really exciting.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: I actually haven't got to see these, and I'm I'm stoked about this.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now, you guys are in a hyper competitive market, like hyper, hyper competitive.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: I would say has to be top three or four in the country.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: You're in Phoenix, Arizona.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's uh moving there to retire.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: My mom just moved to Arizona to retire.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um also Dennis moved there because of that.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's sunny, uh, it does get a little bit hot.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: But outside of that, it's a great area.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the things uh that I noticed about you guys, and Dr.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: Blake actually mentioned this before we hit record, there's really there's a bunch of changes that you made, but there were like four pillars that we're gonna go over that you changed that really transformed your practice in just a couple months.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: But the thing that Dr.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Blake called out was your speed to change.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: And Dr.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: Blake, can you just really quickly explain why that's such an important in from your point of view?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I I am guilty of this often.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like I want so many things to be perfect, and they're just not.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so I wait, wait, wait, and then time passes, and then you forget about the idea, you forget to implement the thing, and you lost, right?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I think what Steve and Whitney have done so well is take what we talk about in the mastermind, make it their own, and then take it and run with it.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: And and don't don't wait to make it perfect.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Implement it, see what happens, and then fix the problems on the back end.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I've loved watching you guys do.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, it's just been incredible.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: Every time we get on the call, you guys are so excited about the new, the new thing, the new problem that has come up.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: And so it's fun to see.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love that.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, all right.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: So you guys ready to jump into this?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Any comments, any questions?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: No, all right, awesome.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go through these pillars.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: So, one of the biggest things that we've noticed about growth is that you need, it's really important in dentistry that you have dentist.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's super important, right?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so you guys had an associate already, but things just weren't like clicking perfectly.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Great associate, great skill level, all those kind of things.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: But there were some missing elements.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So, could you walk through the changes that you made around your um associate and how you changed the patient flow?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it might be a little bit different than how you know most offices are operating.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: But for us, I really love sitting down with the patient, going through the comprehensive exam, um, coming up with comprehensive treatment plans, not just like that one-tooth in that moment, but big picture, what are we looking at?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, we'll address their needs first, but we're gonna talk about the overall kind of plan at the beginning.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of know what the road looks like.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so for him, that's not he he just he loves talking to the patients, he loves getting to know them.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we found that that was a uh more of a strong suit for me, whereas he's very clinically skilled, very fast, um, just does an awesome job clinically.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we started um switching it up.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I brought the idea to him of like, hey, do you care if I do all the comprehensive exams and then we'll kind of split up the work and I'll you know fill your schedule with those?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he was a little apprehensive at first because it, you know, is not typically what you hear, but he was like, Yeah, let's try it.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm I'm on board, let's see what happens.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just been it's been amazing.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen massive growth out.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen instead of just maybe treating the limited exam for just a limited problem, we're seeing them kind of coming back and doing bigger treatment.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so overall the acceptance is just higher.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And they're getting kind of all their needs met versus just one and then disappearing for a while.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we see them a few years later.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's just allowed us to kind of build the practice a little bit in his schedule and my schedule, which has been awesome.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Dr.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Blake, so this is something that you actually worked through in your office as well.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: So you gave him like the blueprint.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is this what's your opinion on this?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Is this something that's just not common in dental for whatever reason and something that needs to be more adopted, or is it something that's common and uh we just don't hear about it much?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: Uh no, I I I think it's more of a philosophy thing.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh in my in my opinion, a lot of times the practice owner is probably the best closer.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: And there can be different, there can be different situations that arise.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: But in from what I've seen from practices around the country, is the the practice center closes the best.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so if you close the vest, then that's where you should spend most of your time.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: There's less value in you prepping a crown when you could go treatment plan for more, right?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so um I I think some of it comes from the unwillingness of providers to have those tough conversations.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I know that probably wasn't a super fun conversation to have, and it probably was a little bit awkward, you know, talking to another another human and saying, like, hey, because because the way that I would have probably approached that conversation, I would have been afraid that I would have hurt their feelings, that they weren't that they weren't good enough to do the exams, and that that's just not the point.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: The point is that you wanted your your practice to succeed, you want him to succeed.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and all it takes is just uh extreme vulnerability um and really good leadership.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so I think you you guys have nailed it.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I I wish more practices did this, you know.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I talked to a buddy the other day about having this exact problem.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I mentioned, like, hey, maybe we consider that, and it it's just really hard to get providers to understand that this isn't eat or be eaten world.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's it's like you truly do want to see your colleague succeed, right?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what makes your practice so beautiful and so successful.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: And um until a practice can get there, I think they'll be stuck in that world of uh I have to do every exam because if I don't do it, then it's not gonna get put on my schedule or this, that, and the other.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: And you're just like, no, I close the best, your crowns are great.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Why don't you put this crowd?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: No, he trusted that I had his interest in heart and that the office.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so he kind of took a leap of faith and was like, all right, let's see what happens.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's been rewarding for both of us.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: You have to trust each other.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: You what you did is you guys all created a win-win-win environment where you're winning as the business owner, the doctor associate is winning because now they're doing more treatment, so they're making more money, and the patient's winning overall because now they understand what the treatment is, they feel comfortable doing it, and it's it's creating a win for all.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the associates learning along the way, too.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's the other thing I've learned about Dr.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: Blake's model.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: Is like, this isn't just like this is how we're gonna do it forever.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, you're learning along the way.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: So that's I'm excited about the growth opportunities there.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's talk through the other thing that you guys did is you started to market more, you started to get more new patients in, which was awesome, but then you ran into a restraint around your schedule.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: Walk us through what happened with your schedule and what changes you made.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and Dr.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hamlin's been awesome helping with that because and I always stick to what he he keeps saying, like create the problem first, because I used to not implement things because I was thinking of all the problems that might pop up.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I was trying to plan for all those.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, just go for it and then solve it when you get there.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why we're excited about the mastermind meetings, because usually we've we've, you know, got a hiccup or something that's going on.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But for us, the schedule, we started seeing, you know, we went from probably 35, 40 new patients a month to 70 to 90 new patients a month pretty rapidly, a couple months.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so for us and our staff, who we love and are amazing, they were kind of like, This what do we do with all these, you know, patients?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so figuring out how to navigate the schedule.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it was almost like some days the schedule was so busy but not productive.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we just had all these appointments, but like we were all just burnt out, tired, and we're like, well, that really wasn't that productive a day because I was rushing maybe the comp exams, didn't have as much time as I wanted.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So he proposed the idea of actually just having one um production column for me, one production column for our associate, and then our two hygiene um rooms, and then an overflow room that he and I shared for like our consults and um emergency exams, things like that.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And when I first proposed the idea to the staff, they thought that was not going to work, but it actually is working really, really well because it's more streamlined in what we're doing.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we know when those emergencies can come in, we know um when the comp exam appointments are gonna be, and we purposely make sure we don't have something overlapping so I could take the time I need with that.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's actually we're still hitting numbers.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: The big fear was like, you know, would we still hit our production goals?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: But we're we're producing more in those blocks.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So they're bigger blocks, but he's doing more comprehensive treatment.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so he may hit his daily goal in the first couple, you know, hours of that block.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we just have bigger production blocks and then kind of the overflow, which seems to work.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: What what I love most about that is it's actually scalable.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like you can do something with that.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: At a certain point, when you're doing it the way that you were doing it, you run out of space.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, and you you can't do anything different.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: And this, you you've learned the art of do more and less time, which is what everybody wants to do, right?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I love about that whole process is like taking what's broken, saying, okay, this sounds backwards, like this shouldn't work, right?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_03: But it it does so many things.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: So your comp exams are way better because you have more time to do them.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: You see less patients, so there's less churn on the business, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: There's less churn on the uh assistants, the front office, the other providers.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: And everybody, like you mentioned at the very beginning, like everybody wins with this.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody feels better, is less burnt out, has less stress throughout the day, has less stress at the end of the day, you have less things that fall through the cracks uh because people are busy.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's just a better way, but it's so scary.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm sure you were like, oh my gosh, what am I doing?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: How can I not see four four patients at one time, right?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: And it just works.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And telling the staff, like, oh, well, we're actually gonna still see the same number of new patients, but we're gonna block a whole column, you know, and they're like, What?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: But it allows two assistants to run that over a full column, and you know, it just is streamlined so much better.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now we have room for growth for additional hygiene, which is awesome because we're always like, How are we gonna navigate this?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's been great.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: That is so awesome.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: And then so for the listeners, because I know people are gonna go, Well, what did you just say?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: And how did you do that?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: I have a link down below for you guys.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: We've Dr.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Blake's already documented this whole process.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we have that down below if anybody wants it.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's the exact process that he shared with you guys.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: So go check that out.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: It will help you, I promise.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it's only 500 bucks just playing, it's free.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: So let's talk about training because that was the next step that you guys ran into.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: So you had a bottleneck with phones, and then you had a bottleneck with your TC.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Can you walk through what training you went through with them and the what impact that brought?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, if you want to speak to it a little bit, we did, we hired like kind of a coach to help us a little bit with that.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: We stole some of your stuff, Gary.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Gary, how to communicate.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: It was what we were running into is because we're we're largely fee for service, but we do take some PPO insurance as well, but we don't take all of it.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so patients would call, do you take my insurance?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just, no, we don't.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're out of network.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then okay, they'd hang up.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we're like, how do we navigate that conversation?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes what they're calling about, their insurance isn't even going to cover anyway.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, there's just so many nuances to the insurance or how we were trying to figure out how do we navigate that insurance conversation without misleading the patient, without them feeling like we were just tricking them to get them to come in.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: We just want to figure out a way, okay, how do we talk to them?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: But really, once you start talking to them and they have a different experience when you're answering the phone, they feel like you care, you're actually asking them questions.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes by the end of it, if it wasn't that we were in network and we didn't maybe have that conversation at the very end, they're like, well, I had such a great experience, I want to come anyway, right?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um just learning how to navigate that conversation to answer that question eventually, but just don't answer it straight out of the gate and figure out what they're coming in for because you know, we do TMJ stuff.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, their insurance isn't gonna cover it, most likely anyway.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we and they don't know that.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: So just figuring out why they're calling, what the need actually is, and then digging in a little bit deeper has made a huge difference.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, having a treatment coordinator in the back end too can close the cases, which I'm sure we'll kind of dive into too.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, so I'll put some of the phone scripting down below too, since you mentioned it.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so we have that down below.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then what is so I remember with the TC, you you were kind of trying to figure out do we hire somebody outside of dental, inside of dental, and we we kind of went back and forth, and there's different options, different ways to do that and be successful.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: What did you guys end up doing?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then how did you get them up to speed like really quick?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know the second you you you got more new patients, you got them in, you got the doctor on board, you got everything flowing really nicely, but then all of a sudden it's like, uh-oh, people aren't buying treatment.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: So what do we do?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we we did interview in and out.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she is she is from the dental field, but just finding someone that can connect with your patients, I feel like is huge.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so she's she's very personable, she's very outgoing, patients like her.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then uh taking your advice on implementing cherry has been the biggest game changer for our practice.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it used to be when we did full mouth rehabs, big surgical cases, we would present third-party financing, but that was really it.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: We never really did anything else.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and now we present Are you leading with cherry like at the beginning of every every chat?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: So walk, walk me through that because there is a fee that you got to pay for that, and now you're gonna run everybody through it, and there's all these fees, like yes.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I go back to what Dr.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hamill and I talked about early on.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think I mentioned the fees, and I was like, well, what rate?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what do you?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, we just want the treatment through the door.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm not paying attention necessarily to the fee that I'm paying there.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been my philosophy is like, let's just get the treatment through the door, right?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's meet these patients where they're at.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been such a game changer for the patients.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: We have patients who already know the treatment they need because they've been to three different offices, but they can't afford it.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're like, well, did anyone talk to you about charity or third-party financing?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, no.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so once we do, they just do the treatment with us, whether we're the same price, maybe more expensive, it doesn't matter because they can finally afford it.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we've just started going in, whether it's a filling, because I mean, it's a tight time for everybody.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, even a few hundred bucks is less.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like the sum of them, it's like, well, it's 10 bucks a month, you know?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so for us, yeah, there is a fee, but the the amount of growth we've seen and the amount of profitability that the practice has increased, that fee is negligible.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's yeah, it's negative, yeah, it doesn't matter.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really good.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure Dr.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: Blake has something to say, but I want to call one thing out.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Dr.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Blake, you're in like a hyper competitive market in Houston, dentist everywhere.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: You guys, Steve and Whitney, you guys are in a competitive market, like just super hyper competitive, but you guys both did one thing that is similar that really makes you different than everybody else.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: And as the marketing guy, I just have to call this out.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: You get people in quickly, and then you give them options on how to pay.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now, a lot of times people don't pay attention to that in the dental industry.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: They just think like, oh, it's fine.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: They can wait three, four weeks.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: No, those people end up somewhere else.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: And if you can get them in quickly and help them figure out financing, it's a competitive advantage in any market.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter in New York, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, wherever you're at, LA, if you can do those two things, all of a sudden you're different than everybody else around you.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: And the patients just are like, this is great.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: Might as well do the dentistry while I'm here.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the coolest uh side effects of all of that is is the how the patients react to it, right?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: They they genuinely feel this sense of like support and help, and like, wow, like they're thanking us, you know, and and I think that may be something we didn't necessarily expect or even really think about, you know, that would have that type of uh byproduct.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, when you're when you're offering the ability to split up expensive treatment over many, many payments, um immediately, they don't even see it as an expense, but they see it as like this huge amount of stress lifted off of them.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: How am I gonna come up with two or three or five or ten thousand dollars versus I can swing 150 bucks a month?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's a that's a cell phone bill.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it really unlocks uh even an emotional aspect w on the patient side of things, and they're just kind of like, whoa, thank you.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: That is this is amazing.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: You guys are awesome.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was I was just gonna say it it uh you you're trading a really complex problem for dentists for a really easy problem to solve.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: So like I spend two and a half years trying to figure out how do I get a human being to find our practice and walk through the door.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like that was that was literally the only problem I felt like I had in my practice.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like overhead was good, team was great.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: It was just like I can't get people through the door.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then the crazy thing was was I was unwilling to spend 10% or 5% of whatever someone was gonna pay me to do the dentistry because I didn't want to pay the fee.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I wanted all these patients to come through the door and then not have a way for them to do dentistry.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so like I finally got to the problem, and I think or to the to the point to where I was like, I would rather the problem be, oh my gosh, the amount of fees that I'm paying to Cherry is so astronomical high, because then you can tailor it back.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: What a problem to have.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, everyone's saying yes to dentistry.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: What are we gonna do?
• 19:13
  unknown: Right.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's great, great problem.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Create the problem.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: And this, and again, I just wanted further our listeners, and Cherry is a sponsor, the links down below.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: You can get special pricing and things like that, but just use financing, get people into it, get them to saying yes to treatment.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: All of a sudden it changes your practice.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody I've seen do this increases their collections month one by 30%.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And other dentists don't want to do it.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, no, I don't want to do it.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it's literally a not, it doesn't just work, it's a competitive advantage.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: It'll keep the patients around.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: They've never experienced this in a dental office before.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: They just haven't.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's huge.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: So let's I want to go into your guys' numbers now.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you guys haven't shared these with even me.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm super excited.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think you guys have been on our mastermind for four months, um, three, four months, something like that.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, real quickly, before you share like the numbers that you have written down, just quickly share like how many docs, how many hygienists, how many ops in network with how many insurance, just the normal questions that dentists always ask about like before you share your numbers.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we have uh five main ops.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: We had a sixth op that we didn't use a lot because honestly, there weren't enough patients now.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's used all the time.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we currently have one full-time and we have one part-time.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's something we've been working with, you guys.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we're actually interviewing to hire a new hygienist.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, hygiene.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we have one, we'll have two full-time and one three days a week.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: We have two docs, uh, four assistants, and then we have our two uh a front office manager and treatment coordinator.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: What was the other question you asked me?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh in network, you said you're in network with a couple of insurances.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we do the connection dental network plan.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so everybody that's enveloped in there, and that's it.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't take Delta Dental, which is a huge one around here.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we dropped them a few years ago.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we do we take anyone within the connection network.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're about 70% fee for service out of out of network.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: All right, let's hear those numbers.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one of the things I was looking at was just um last year's first quarter versus this year's first quarter.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then I did print a report that's just since we've been working with you guys.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: But so last year at this time, we had done 293 um in collections.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it was not not our best year by any means.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this year for the first couple we've done six um oh six ten.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: That is so cool.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Since we started working with you guys, yeah, I ran it.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um we So you basically went from about a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand dollars in collections.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: You doubled it.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't you uh did you hire anybody like or did you largely do that with the same team?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Just the truth coordinator, though.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: Just the TC.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: So you didn't have it.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we So so when we when we come down to Phoenix and we go to dinner, it's on you, all right?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are you guys.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: We are you something, yeah.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you have a set of yeah, we went from 112 a month average last year to uh 200,000.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: So okay, so like profitability too.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes you see the numbers, but then it's like, oh, overhead skyrocketed.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're up 600% on profit.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: So then we get it to keep the same team we've just brought in on it.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I I want to know because this is where automatically where my brain goes.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: It drives my team and my wife crazy.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, okay, what's next?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: What are we doing now?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: What are we gonna do?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, next steps.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we need work, room.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll we'll chat about it in the mastermind on Friday.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I think for us, increasing patient retention is next priority, just making sure the back door is closed and those people are coming back, and then uh just needing more space for the growths.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so probably building out next year to to kind of accommodate and bring on more people.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's so awesome.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: If you're not in our mastermind, go check it out.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's$299 a month.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: Literally, we're just Dr.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Blake and I love talking with other offices, and you guys have been amazing because you show up once a month for the last four months and you implement, and then you come back to the next meeting and you go, Oh, I got a new problem.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: And you guys have just been like a joy to work with, and you guys are crushing it in a really competitive market.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for coming on on here and sharing this journey.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: I know you don't have anything to benefit by coming on here, you're just sharing the truth of like what's hard, how you fixed it, and and I really believe that that helps a lot of people.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you guys for doing that.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for offering it.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you guys.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: If you don't mind, I've actually got one more question.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: I think you guys, what I've been impressed with with you guys is that you're able to sort through the mud really, really well.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like you every week you come with what is actually like the biggest problem, not not just a problem.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like, for example, when Gary asked you what's next, you knew exactly where you're going.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: Can you share with everybody like your process of how you're doing that?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I I know I've been there, can be there at different times.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how are you getting rid of all the noise and saying this is the one thing?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like, we recently did a podcast about like intensity as a strategy, right?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: And like, how are you just laser focusing on the problem and then solving it and going to the next one and the next one and the next one?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think just we work together really well.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he has an engineering background, so he's very analytical.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: So um getting to practice by numbers has been huge for us.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: That really breaks it down for us, or we can see where is the biggest problem.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think that was always the hardest part.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we felt like we were really close to growing, but we couldn't figure out one was wrong.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we literally just picked the first, what we thought was the biggest problem and started solving it.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: But kind of to your point, as you're growing, the problems present themselves pretty obviously, the next roadblock.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's just kind of taking each roadblock as it comes and solving it, not just pushing it to the side and then kind of moving on to the next.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: But for us, it's looking for where we're bleeding out the most, right?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like where is the biggest number that doesn't make sense?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's off by the most.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's other little things that we'll want to get to, but you know, when we look at patient retention, we just see that that number is low, but patients have a great experience.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we're like, all right, we got to dig into what's happening.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Why aren't we booking them?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I think for us it's really just getting into the numbers and the data and seeing which one seems the most off and starting there and and then working on it until we fix it.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what are the what are the biggest needle movers?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: What are the biggest revenue drivers?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, patient flow, um, you know, making sure schedule is full, it's it's it's optimized, you know, we're utilizing it to its its fullest extent and you know, making sure that, you know, as like Whitney said, as we as we solve the problems, that the new ones will arise, but you know, which which one has the biggest impact on on the revenue for the business?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Tackle that one and then go on, you know, to the next one and and keep solving them until hopefully one day we'll catch you, Doctor.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: We we'll get to the point where we're at uh handy dentistry.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm down for it.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I'm here for.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome, guys.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm really excited to see your next leg of growth and to be a part of that.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I'll just say it while we're recording.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking forward to doing another one with you when you start doing uh like three to four hundred thousand dollars a month.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: I am stoked about that.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be very soon.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: We'll give you like a month or two to get there.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, guys.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for coming on.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: I really appreciate it.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks guys.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thank you guys.