Episode 663: Finding Your Gap

 Do you know how much of a gap there is between where you are today and where you want to be someday? In this episode, Kiera talks about identifying that gap in your practice. She breaks down your practice’s fundamentals: money, you, and systems/teams, and asks how systematized your practice is. Added bonus: All of this will be addressed in detail at the Dental A-Team Summit! Sign up to attend!

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Transcript:

0:00:00.7 Kiera Dent: Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And you guys, I hope you're loving today? Like I really do. I mean it's fun. I actually get a video with you guys now. I get to be there. So just imagine I'm giving you like a big hug guys, I've said that for years. I've literary podcasts for four years, guys, three episodes a week, 12 episodes a month. That's a lot of times to hit record. And so many times I've just wished that I could literally look you in the eyes and tell you that you are just doing better than you think you are, that you're really just truly loved. And honestly, to remind you that you are in the best profession you could ever be In. I know some days are hard. Some days are hard for me too, guys. Honestly, I don't always love it. I don't always love getting on the podcast. I don't always love having to figure out how to do this.

0:00:41.7 KD: I don't love being scared about like did I present that well? Did I explain that well? Sometimes I don't love having to get on coaching calls, but 95% of the time I freaking love it. I love getting on the podcast, I love talking to offices. I love helping offices realize that it actually can be easy. I love helping them see like this is where they wanna go and that you can actually do it. I love helping office like team members realize like, "Hey, you can elevate and grow too." Guys, I was a dental assistant. I don't know if you know that. I literally used to wear scrubs and suction. That was my job. Kiera Dent was a dental assistant and I loved it. I loved It so much. I used to work at a dental college and now we run a multi... We run this like massive, massive, massive, huge across the country consulting company where we get to serve and elevate and help practices reach their highest potential.

0:01:29.8 KD: Guys, it is truly a dream come true and it is so fun. So if this podcast has served you in any way, if you have laughed, if you've cried with me, if you've smiled, if you've implemented a tip, please do me a favor and go leave us a review. Scroll down to the bottom. Where's my phone? Okay guys, I'm gonna show you guys actually how to do this 'cause we're gonna be on here and I'm just gonna show you. So I'm gonna show you on and this is gonna get really uncomfortable for me. So here we go. Dental A Team podcast. Alright guys, I'm like feeling very uncomfortable right now 'cause I feel stressed doing this on video, okay? So, oh my gosh, you're gonna hear me, don't let me talk. Everybody's watching this live. Those of you not watching, you should go watch this. Okay? So what you do is you scroll down, there's about a bajillion episodes right here.

0:02:12.3 KD: This is where, and you go and you tap those five stars and it will actually leave a review. So it says rating added. If you want to re-leave a review, you come into this "See all" and right here. So let me go back. Don't worry guys, I have to see this. So on this "See all" right here, click "See all". And here's where it all is. You can see all of our reviews. We've got Robo Rebecca, last name Mendez. We've got, I don't even know how you say this, XCBWFKYX, whomever you are, please just like send me an email so I know who you are and why that's your username 'cause I dig it but I don't even know what it means. Okay, Julius Snyder DDS, Allison G123, MDYMMM1.

0:02:54.8 KD: These are all of them guys. So we just scroll, this is literally what I go and read in the middle of the night. So go on here and if you wanna write a review, which I would love, you can either just leave the five stars or you can click write a review. So it's pretty simple. You then just sit here, type, and then you hit send. So it can be anything, Love this podcast. It's been super helpful. Everybody should listen." Whatever you can do. Because guys, at the end of the day, my mission as to why I get on this podcast is for you and it is for the millions of dental people out there, to elevate them to higher heights, to bring positivity into the world of dentistry. Guys, I think that it can be hard, but I don't believe that life should have to be hard. I believe that life can actually be fun. I believe that we can work and have a great time and benefit and serve patients and have the best life doing it. So if you resonate with that, please share it with someone. Go leave us a review guys, because that's the only way that we can reach more people.

0:03:48.2 KD: I bring my best content, I bring the absolute very best content I possibly can for you guys. I think about you constantly. I have... Guys I'm gonna show you, you wanna see, do you wanna see what this looks like. On my phone, guys, today is like show and tell all, I literally have this little thing and it's called Podcast Topics. And this is where I have all of my ideas, all of the [chuckle] podcast ideas. Guys, it just keeps going, it just keeps going. Alright. That's where I think about you. That's where I put my ideas. That's where when I hear someone ask a question in a Facebook group, I write it down and I try to be the answer for you. That's where when you guys email in and say, "Hey Kiera, could you create this podcast for me and my team?" Of course, I will, because this podcast is for you. This podcast is to elevate you and to rise. So on that note, I wanna walk you guys through... By the way, thanks to all of you who've left reviews. Just know I'm giving you a huge hug. Like literally like get in here, let me give you a hug. Alright.

0:04:41.9 KD: So on that, I wanna teach you guys, how do you actually figure out? It's gonna be another tease, guys. Because if you haven't heard April 28th and 29th, we're doing our Dental A Teams virtual team Summit. Think of it as a team retreat. We're literally... We are working with your whole team. It's a hands-on workshop, two days, April 28th, full team day, 29th is Saturday where it's doctor and leadership team. It's gonna be all things doctor leadership, it's gonna be awesome. But today I wanted to teach you how do you actually identify your gaps between where you are today and your multimillion dollar goal. Now multimillion can get definitely skewed because I'm not talking about actual practice growth. Yes, I hope you get there to multiple millions, absolutely. If that's your goal, if that's your goal. But what this is, is how do you identify your gaps from where you are here today to where your goals are? And that's what I mean by multimillion. I try to put something so far out there that that's something that grows you, drives you. Some people might say, I wanna be from here to having six locations.

0:05:38.5 KD: Fantastic. That's what we're talking about. Or I'm here today and I wanna get to... I wanna serve 5,000 patients. Fantastic. Let's figure out a way to do it. So I wanna help you guys, no matter what your big goal is, that's why it's how to earn your multiple million dollar goal. It's not necessarily dollars, but what is that big hefty huge goal for you? This year's theme is the secrets of the multimillion dollar practice. And it's not just the tangible number, but it's the characteristic traits of very astute business leaders. It's the culture of these very elite teams. It's the growth and the production and the profitability of these practices. And so, here I wanna teach you guys, how do you actually figure out your gap between where you are today and where you are there. At the Summit guys, we're gonna go through this and the whole team's gonna work on it. And I'm so excited and we've built you this amazing little document, which I'm not gonna share. I'm saving that. I've been like sharing everything today.

0:06:33.3 KD: But really, what I wanna go through is we're actually gonna have offices go through at Summit where we are going through the 12 systems. If you didn't hear in November and December, Tiff and I really did a labor of love where we talked to you guys about the 12 systems that I believe make up a healthy thriving practice. And honestly, there are three areas that I focus on in business. First one is I call the MYS, My Systematized Practice, M-Y-S. Okay? M stands for Money, AKA profitability. Y stands for You as a person. How balanced are you with your dreams, your hopes, your relationships, all of that. S stands for Systems and team development. So what we're gonna actually do is we're gonna have practices go through and they're literally gonna fill out how they feel they're doing in their money or profitability category. So some sample questions are like, I understand my P&L and review it monthly. And you give yourself a rating on a one to 10. How are you doing on that? Partnership is something that I'm involved in and/or understand for profitable future endeavors.

0:07:30.7 KD: I set annual and quarterly goals for my practice, profitability and growth. So you're literally rating yourself. We have it kind of condensed so that way you can get a score and see how you're doing. Then we have the You portion, that's like I have set myself up financially for future stability. I have strong steady relationships in my life with my family and friends. I prioritize my mental and physical fitness. What's your number on those guys? Is it a one? Is it a two? Is it a three? 10 is like I'm crushing it, I'm knocking it out the park. None of us are probably a 10. For me If I were to say I prioritize my mental and physical fitness, hmm, that's like a four. I'm starting to do spin class. I about threw up last night in my spin class. I'll tell you more about that another time. Like legit guys and I'm clipped in. I don't even know how to get out these clips. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, what if I'm throwing up?" If you heard about my Bali Belly story on the plane throwing up for 10 hours with diarrhea nonstop, I'm still not quite comfortable with my inside guts from Bali Belly guys. Terrified.

0:08:23.6 KD: So yes, while I am working out, I would say I don't necessarily prioritize it. It's kind of like an afterthought, which is why I'd give myself a four. So that's in the You category. Then we have the practical systems. Practical systems, this is your practice systems. So for example, my doctor and dental assistant teams are calibrated providing expanded services to our patient. How calibrated is our doctor and dental assistant team? Are we like 10 out of 10, meaning our rooms are fully set, prepped, ready to go every single time, we're never missing anything. Or are they maybe not quite there? What about about my billing department, it's structured and maintains a 98% collection with less than a one month collection in AR? What's that? A one to 10? If you don't know, you better give yourself a zero. Goose egg that, okay. So we have you guys fill that out. This is how you're identifying the gap of those three areas that I believe are the practice fundamentals. So three areas. These are the three little pillars, money, you, systems and team development. It's my systematized practice, MYS, Money, You, Systems and team.

0:09:24.0 KD: So then, what we do from there is we're actually gonna walk you through the 12 systems that I believe make up every single practice. 'Cause what I wanted people to see is, "Alright, here's this overall, how do I feel like I'm doing in these three categories? Could there be more questions to it?" Absolutely. But I try to keep it condensed. You can add your own questions if you want to. Then we're gonna move on to, that's the money. Then there's the systems portion. Alright? And the you portion. So on the systems are 12 systems. We literally walk people through all 12 of these systems and give them a score of how systematized they are. The 12 systems, if you forgot, are management mastery and leadership, doctor optimization, billing with ease, five star patient experience, smooth sailing scheduling, maximized case acceptance, dynamite dental assistance, elevated hygiene, confident marketing, operations manual creation, practice profitability, and A Team hiring and onboarding.

0:10:17.1 KD: So within all of those systems, I feel like those are like system categories, right? So if I'm looking at it, I would think, "Okay, here are all the 12 pieces that make up a practice. What goes underneath each of those categories? And how systematized is my practice." It literally is gonna spit out a score for all the people coming to Summit and I cannot wait. And then we actually have an overhead section where you can actually fill in your overhead. So how is your practice profitability? And it's literally going to spit out a result for you. This is how you're going to figure out how your score is between where you are versus where you wanna be. And it's in a systematized way. And that's what I was the most excited about is how can I help people figure out their gap. If we don't ever measure, how do you ever know? You don't. It's just sitting there guessing. If I were to ask you right now, how's your financial status? "Mmm, I don't know. I think I'm doing good. I can buy whatever I want."

0:11:09.7 KD: But are you really a wise steward over it? I work with Dentist Advisors, literally they're my financial advisor, not just a partner, they're literally my financial advisor. They have a really cool app. Right now I can tell you today what my net worth is. Can you? Right now I can tell you what my overhead is on our business. Can you for yours? Right now I know exactly what my fixed costs are every single month. I know what my payroll expense is, I know what my supplies expense is. Like literally I see all the line items in my brain. I'm like, "Yep, I know that. I know that. I know this category is this amount." I know it. I also know where... And I've got a cadence to review all of my financials every single quarter. Do you? Then let's move on to the You part. Do you have a set way to know if you're checking in with your spouse or your significant other on a regular basis to feel if they feel loved or not? Do you take time to read and explore outside of dentistry? Do you have hobbies and friends? Do you have anything in that category?

0:12:05.4 KD: And if not, how can we elevate that? That one's hard. That one's not like a true systematized piece, but that's gonna show you the gap. And then the other gap is how systematized are you? People always say, "Kiera, I need a systematized practice." And I'm like, "I know, I know you do. Me too." Now I've got a way to actually help you measure and assess how systematized are you? What's your systematization rating? What is it? How systematized are you? Do you know under all those 12 categories, if you were to rate them on a one to 10 right now, where would you give yourself that number? And then what are you doing to actively improve? And that's what we're gonna do at Summit. We're literally gonna go through all of this. It's gonna be tangible, hands-on with the whole team. And then we're gonna have you guys actually create something outside of this. So it's going to make it real in your practice. It's going to give you a roadmap of where to go because I really do believe it is so fun to go to these Summits and get all hyped up, but then I come home and do nothing and I don't implement. That's why I love the Summit because it's in your practice with your team growing you guys and giving you a roadmap.

0:13:07.2 KD: Like literally I get to be in your practice with you. I get to be with your teams. And honestly, offices are telling me their teams love this. They love it because their team gets ramped up, amped up, they didn't have to do it. The doctors get excited because you guys are creating goals together and you're being coached on how to do it. I don't leave you out there willy-nilly. We give you tools, we give you systems, we send you a swag box. So you gotta have interactive time with us. We play music, we have lights going, we have a chat that's blowing up so you're learning from other people. It is beyond fun and I want you guys to be a part of it. And if nothing else today, I hope you looked at where your gap is. When it looks at Money, You, Systems and team, where are you the weakest, where are you the strongest?

0:13:48.0 KD: For me, it's funny. It's funny because it's financial. Why? 'Cause my identity oftentimes is attached to that. What's my weakest. You. I don't take time for myself, I don't prioritize myself. I don't prioritize my husband, I don't prioritize... Like guys, my freaking knees are rocked like a 90 year old woman and I'm like, "Uh, I don't need to work out. I can go do this." Why? Because I don't believe that that's gonna be as important. So I can either sit here and know. One, I can either not know. That's not even knowing. Two, I can figure out my gap and do nothing about it. Or three, I can know what's going on, see the gap and create a plan and execute on it. Where are you going to be? Are you in category one where you don't wanna know? Are you in category two where you know but you're not gonna do anything about it? Or three are you actually going to execute on it? One of my favorite quotes, it's literally sitting up in my kitchen, sitting there, sits on a wall, I stare at it every day. So I have this cute little sign and it says, "Always make time for the things that are most important in life."

0:14:44.4 KD: Okay. And I have a bunch of like little polaroids of like my family, my friends, people who come over, like it's my happiest board and in the middle. So like, "Okay, it's this board. I got all these little pictures of all these people." Always find time for the things that are... I think it's "Always find time for the things that make you happy in life." That's what the sign says. And then, I have literally magnet, there's a big sign on the bottom of it that says "Discipline equals freedom," it sits in my kitchen. Don't worry, I still eat candy. And I look at that board and I definitely judge myself. But discipline does equal freedom, guys. Discipline is where it's at. That execution piece, that... Like looking at the scorecard, looking to say, I'm not great with my finances and I'm gonna do something about it. That's what discipline is. And guys, if I can help you with the financial part, with the You balance or with your systems and team, that is what Dental A Team's about.

0:15:35.1 KD: All three of those areas are what we consult and coach on because I don't believe that without those three areas that you are fully whole or complete, I think you need them all. You need to know that you're profitable and you need to work on that so you can be confident as a business owner, you need to be balanced as you and take care of you because you are honestly the greatest asset in your business. And then three, you need to truly have systems that's reputable and a team that is your dream team, that A team. And if you can have those, there's nothing that's gonna stop you. So guys join us. I'd love to see you April 28th and 29th. If you're like "Kiera, I need more help than that," email us [email protected] or go on our website and book a call. I would love to talk to you, see if you're a candidate for consulting and it would be a great time. Guys, we're not scary. Teams love us. I get that question all the time. "Kiera, is my team gonna like you?" Guys We are team, we resonate with them. We get... That is our greatest strength, is we get teams on board with change because it's fun and it's easy.

0:16:32.1 KD: So if you want that, book a call. But at the least join us, find this gap, figure out what your gap is between where you are and where your ultimate multimillion dollar goal is. That's what I want you guys to do. And as always, guys, I can't wait to see you at Summit. It's gonna be fun. I actually get see your faces. So come on over the dentalateam.com/summit2023, I'll see you guys there. Be sure to join. It's gonna be awesome. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.