Episode 821: It’s Not Too Late to Gain Momentum in 2024

 Can you say for certain that all of your practice’s ducks are in a row? Kiera’s here with an urgent suggestion to use momentum now to smooth out all the systems and teams in your office now to be ready for the inevitable unexpected moments.

Dental A-Team’s Practice Momentum walks practices through monthly tasks to make sure everything is planned out for peace of mind.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.65)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kira. And oh my goodness, guys, I'm so excited to be podcasting with you today. I always love a good podcast day and I hope you do too. Today is the day for us to really just jam and jive. I am so pumped. You guys, tis the season for 2024. How are you doing? How is life going for you? Are you having the best year? Is it kind of a struggle? How was last year? Are you guys learning from it? Are you taking things into place?

We had a really awesome free webinar in Dental A Team on Friday and it was so cool because what we did is we talked about how to gain momentum in 2024. So I hope you guys came to it. And today I just kind of wanted to dive into a couple of those items just so you guys know, like let's go through what we even talked about for that momentum. As always, thanks so much for being here. Thanks for being a part of our Dental A Team family. And if you guys have yet to go leave a review, subscribe, download, all those different things.

is the season, go do it please. It helps us tremendously stay as the top dental podcast. And I truly do believe that we are on a mission to positively impact the world of dentistry, change lives. You guys have been a part of it. I'm so grateful you're here. But really, let me help you guys get some master momentum in 2024. So I really loved like when we started the presentation now, and I'm not going to go through all of it. I'm just going to give you a couple highlights from it, a few tactical things that you guys can take right now. But one of the biggest things was like,

Remember when we were little and we had those like marble things, they were like all hanging on some like fishing line is what it honestly looked like to me. I'm sure it was better than fishing line, but that's what it felt like to me. And we had it to where they would, uh, it was like there were the marbles and you pulled one and it would like swing back and forth. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Those of you who are watching the video, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, but for those listening, I hope I explained it, but really like that's momentum, right? Sometimes it takes like that extra effort to pull it up and then let it go.

and then it can knock through the rest. And also I thought like, if those marbles, I don't know if you guys remember, but like when they'd get all tangled and jumbled, it was a lot harder to have it actually be great. It was a lot harder for it to get the space that it needed to be. It was harder for it to like, they wouldn't move. Like it was very clunky. And so I thought about practices this way and how often do we have like our systems in a row, our team in a row?

Kiera Dent (02:18.498)

things are really just put together for us. Like, do we actually have that going on for us or is it a little funny? And so that's really what I wanted you guys to think about today is what is the momentum and do I have that momentum and are my ducks, my systems, my team in a row or are we kind of all jumbled together like those wires get jumbled because when we get that momentum, we get that surge, which is every day, it's the listening to podcasts. Will that momentum actually carry through my team or is it actually going to be away from my team?

So I wanted you guys just to think about that and to think about like, oh, all right, is this something like, what does that look like? And so what we did was we actually had you guys do an audit of 2023 and just looking at our production and our collections year to date compared to 2023, thinking of how much time do we spend in the chair compared to how much time we wanted to spend in the chair, how many vacations we took versus how many we wish we would have taken, how is the stress level at the office compared to what we would like it to be?

I understand owning a dental practice, running a dental practice, there is a level of stress that's just going to be a part of our lives. But do we actually need to have that day in, day out? How can we make it even better? And so thinking about like, could I reduce the stress of what was causing my stress and really boiling that down. And so I want you guys to do a brain dump. I did not do this on our master momentum presentation, but I want you guys to just do a brain dump of what causes your stress right now. And this can be for team members, it can be owners.

what causes the bulk of your stress? Is it hiring? Is it team members? Is it having to do things that you really don't enjoy doing? Like what is causing that stress for you? And I really want you to boil it down because so often when we actually will audit and assess and do that audit of our practice and our lives, we're able to find the simple things that will move us forward. So right now, what's causing the stress? I know every time I do this, I'm able to see, wow, it's my marketing department or it's my front office department or it's the lack of having leadership in my practice.

or it's the, my schedule is empty and I don't feel like I've got new patients coming in or our case acceptance isn't as high and our schedule is not as full as we'd like it to be or I don't have a hygienist and it's really hard to find a hygienist or I am so maxed to capacity in our practice that I don't even have the space or the bandwidth to be able to add on more. But yeah, I've got all these patients needing treatment. All those things really can cause stress. What if it's your personal life? Any of those things like this is where stress comes from.

Kiera Dent (04:42.018)

But if we can identify it and boil it down, we really can actually move it forward. It's to me that's like untangling the wires of the momentum. So that way as like the next wave crashes and the next one hits us, we have that momentum that like accelerates us forward as opposed to pulling us downward. So I want you guys to really, really hone into that and audit it and see, and then like thinking about your systems, what about your systems? How are those systems going for you?

We have, like you guys have heard, the 12 systems in our company of just seeing it. And they follow the months of the year. So right now we're doing leadership and ownership for January, in January. Accountability and culture in February. Marketing plan and really knowing who we're marketing to in March. And billing. The patient journey in April. Tracking results in May. Production per hour. And having that really, really awesome case acceptance.

excuse me, a full schedule, smooth schedule. Then we have diagnosing and closing in June. July is reputation management. And in those two months, we also talk about hygienist and dental assistants. Then we have quality control for you guys. Moving right along. Then we have in October, time management and delegation. November is productive meetings. And December is fulfillment and hiring and onboarding. We also throw in there the operations manual, but for you just to kind of go through those 12 systems and to see.

Where are we at? Where are we like killing it and crushing it? And where are maybe we being crushed by it? And it's just crazy because when we'll actually do these audits, like I said, figure out where the stress is, figure out where the pieces are, we're able to then make the changes. And so for me, I like to do this at least once a quarter. Go through, look at my systems, where are we crushing it? Where are we getting crushed? What's causing my stress? Sometimes I do this a little bit more often and if I'm more stressed. And then really diving into what do I wanna do? What's the one thing to tackle?

because what I found is so many people just fail to start and they don't dive into this. And so we're actually working on all the urgent things as opposed to the important things or the things like, I wanted to break down the word important for you a little more of the things that will actually move the business forward. The big hard things like to me, those are the hard boulders that I just need to move to be able to get my business to go. That can be employee manuals, that can be operations manuals, that can be hiring and onboarding and setting up a really good onboarding process.

Kiera Dent (07:03.354)

I know for us, we feel like you guys, we've done so many things in Dental A Team. We really have grown so many different pieces. And what I found though is that we, we have to go to the 2.0 and the 3.0 and the 4.0 level. It's never like check mark, we're done. We're good to go for the rest of time. It's we have got to make sure that we're constantly evolving, constantly moving it forward. Otherwise it's just gonna be a piece where we're not there. We're not ever able to move forward because

I think so often I felt in business that once I did something, it was done. I don't know if any of you can relate to me, but I got my operations manual. It's done. I hired my team. It's done. But what I realized is business is fluid. Just like a river is never full, right? It keeps flowing. Just like momentum is now we can't capture it. We can't capture love. We can't capture fulfillment. We can't capture success. It's a flowing river.

And therefore we need to constantly be feeding it. We need to be adapting it. We need to be changing. You get new team members. That means we've got to evolve our systems. We get new people on our practice. We expand the economy changes. It's never a one and done. And so as we quarterly assess, you're then better able to prepare. You're better able to plan. And I feel like as visionaries and as leaders of our practices, our job is to be looking down the line. What's gonna be hitting us in the next three months, six months, nine months, 12 months? And what do I need to be doing today?

So when that wave comes or that change comes or that exciting thing happens, we're ready for it. Now we can't prepare for the unexpected or can we? Like someone quits and turns over. You could be prepared because you could have systems in place. You could have onboarding. For me, I believe every team member is temporary. I get the awesome opportunity to work with them for such, for a space in time. And that's my time with them, but it's not permanent and it's not forever. And I never take that for granted. This is something where we really have to dive into it and boil it down.

Because if we realize that we realize every team member's temporary, I hope and pray every one of dental team members are with us for the next five, 10, 15 years, but that's not a reality. And if I'm willing to actually face reality and say like each of these, like, I feel like it's like children, they're not with their parents for life, but they're loaned to us for so long. You guys might disagree. Some of you who have adult children might say like, no, Kira they're actually with you for life. But the reality is they're only loaned to us. Just like I believe our teams are loaned to us to love, to grow, to evolve, to expand.

Kiera Dent (09:24.694)

but who knows how long they'll be with us. So can we prepare for those unexpected moments? The answer is yes. Teams will turn over. Patients will stop coming. Production will be down. Our systems will go out of date, just like styles go out of date. So how can we get that cadence in place and how can we prepare? To me, this is the definition of momentum. It's momentum because you're preparing for that momentum and you're constantly thinking ahead and you're strategizing and you're moving forward. That way you can really, really

enhance and make sure it's put together. So as a team, as a leadership team, this is why I love getting master momentum for the year. This is why I loved you guys getting that is because thinking about it, where am I tangled? Where are my wires tangled? And what do I need to be doing right now? Is it that I need to hire an onboard? Is it that I need to build the systems? Like if you've had a team for the last two, three, five years and you don't have an operations manual done, I am giving you a nice warning that you need to get it done and you need to have those systems written down. We have an operations manual and dental team.

We have a ton of systems. There's a lot of different things that you can do to prepare that doesn't require a lot of work on your part. Have you prepared your compliance, your OSHA, your HIPAA? Are we prepared? Because again, think of these things and I don't like to live in doom and gloom. I like to live in what could be my worst case scenario and how do I prepare for that today? So that way when it does come or if it does come, I'm prepared and it's not this like, oh, I was taken by surprise. We hear about it. You roll and look at any Facebook feed, any Facebook group and you'll see these are the things that stress dentists out.

These are the things that cause teams to really struggle. These are the things like, could you prepare? I hope and pray my husband never dies and I hope and pray that we never get divorced. But guess what? Divorce is the number one cause of a fail, like dental practices like that is a huge stressor on practices. So what could we do? Like plan it. I know it's not fun to talk about these things, but planning and preparing will allow you to have the momentum and then you know what's going to happen if that worst case scenario hits. I would rather plan for my worst case scenario.

then pretend like it's never going to happen and then be surprised and try and scramble and pick up the pieces. And I don't know if you guys are that way, but that's how I like to live. My husband and I have a plan. If we get divorced, what happens to dental A team? I've got to know that and I've got to know what happens. And it's also the fear is more so removed. It's not completely eliminated, but it's lessened when we actually know what's going to happen. There's no stress. Can I be preparing for my taxes? Can I talk to my CPA and get a better plan in place for it?

Kiera Dent (11:51.554)

So much of what we do in the dental office, the stress is caused by the unknown and it's by us not forecasting ahead, making small steps and strides. Because sometimes when I hear this, I'm like, wow, everything's not going well. It's the small steps and strides, which is why I like to break it down by months. I really think that the analogy of eating a whole elephant feels so cheesy, because I'm like, who on earth is going to ever eat a full elephant? Like that just seems ludicrous to me. But it is relevant today of thinking like, our practice is this ginormous.

elephant running a business as a ginormous elephant, how do I bite size this up to make sure that I'm actually making progress as opposed to just staring at it, hoping that I never ever have to like face it and actually eat this elephant. So for your practice, I would really encourage you guys to break it down. That's why I have the 12 systems on a monthly thing. Like let's just do one or two items, check it off, move along, come back to it. It's never going to go away. People always say, Kara, I want to get my practice on autopilot. And I'm here to like,

pop a little pin in that and say, bottom line is that's not usually real. It's not. Practices don't go on autopilot because life doesn't go on autopilot. Things don't stay the same. And if they did, we'd get bored. And so we have to be preparing for it. We can get a lot of things on autopilot. We can get systems in place to where, no matter who comes into our practice, we do the same thing consistently, but it's never going to be on autopilot. And so that's why this 12 month checklist is one of the most beautiful things I could ever offer you.

to where every single month it's just, let me chip away at one or two items or let me at least make a to-do list so that way when this big fire's put out, I know exactly my one, two, three, four, five priorities that will move the business forward. It's just needing to have that plan. And so I love it. I love that we've created a program called Practice Momentum as well, where you literally get to come in and every month we go through the 12 systems and we give you a little checklist and we have a group so we can take care of the urgent things.

but give you those most important things to check it off. So if you can do it on your own, fantastic, do it. I gave you the 12 systems, I told you how to audit it, I told you how to like one or two things, chip it away, take it to your team meetings with you. And if you really struggle like I do, join us, call us, hello at thedenaliateam.com. We'll happily talk to you and see if this is a good fit for you. But I just love thinking of 12 months. I know I'm constantly assessing all the aspects of my practice. I don't have to be afraid. No, I'm not gonna get it done overnight.

Kiera Dent (14:08.15)

but I do have a plan in place to stay organized, to stay consistent and to get the momentum and not have all of my strings tangled all the time, to reduce my stress and to increase my happiness. And that's what I'm ultimately all here for. So guys, go get the momentum you deserve, untangle the strings, take the small step. One step today is going to make a better tomorrow. So whatever it is, do it now. There's a quote right here by Michael Landon that says, whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows.

And I just think about like, let's make our practices incredible. Let's plan for those what if moments. Let's plan for worst case scenarios and hope and live in best case scenarios. That way the fear is gone. The happiness is there. And guys, I'm here for you. Dental A team is here for you. We have made it to where we can serve more offices. So if you're looking and you're like, oh, I wondered about this, reach out.

It's very affordable. I wanted it to be a no brainer product for you because I want so many offices to have this guaranteed checklist, move myself along, feel organized, feel confident. Teams do it, doctors do it. It's a team and doctor. We still are doing the same thing. So we're training the teams and we're training the doctors. So come and join us. There is CE. Hello at thedentaleateam.com. Guys, get the master momentum you deserve. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental Elite Team Podcast.