Episode 527: Building the Perfect Day Schedule

Question: Is the perfect day schedule an illusion?

Kiera is joined by Tiff, aka Spiffy Tiffy, to talk about making that perfect day schedule (because YES it’s possible!). The three steps to getting there:

1. Understand what you want your schedule to feel like

2. Know how long procedures will take you

3. Have a daily goal

These three points build you a scaffolding for your day, which you can fill in easily from there.

Episode resources:

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Transcript:

0:00:05.6 Kiera Dent: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Dental A-Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I could help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A-teams. Welcome to the Dental A-Team podcast.

[music]

0:00:51.3 KD: Hello, Dental A-Team listeners. This is Kiera, and guess who I've got today? The one and only Tiff, Tiffanie Trader, Tiff-Tiff, T to the iff, whatever you wanna call her. She's back, she's honestly been with me since pretty much day one. Tiff, how are you doing today?

0:01:06.8 Tiffanie Trader: Oh, I'm so good. I love all my nicknames.

[laughter]

0:01:10.0 TT: They make me happy.

[laughter]

0:01:11.9 KD: Has anybody called you Tiffy in your life pre-DAT?

0:01:14.9 TT: Oh, yeah.

0:01:15.8 KD: Okay.

0:01:17.2 TT: My grandma called me Tiffy.

0:01:18.1 KD: That's right.

0:01:18.2 TT: She's my favourite person of all time, and she was the one who called me Tiffy. So my grandma and my grandpa. Yeah, so it's very special and near and dear to my heart.

0:01:26.4 KD: Tiff and I, believe it or not, I think we're twins. We just happened to get born a year apart. So we kinda came down the chute a year apart from each other, but reality is, Tiff, I really think that we are... We have been destined since day one to be together. I think I wanna upgrade your nickname though to Spiffy Tiffy. So if you guys agree that Tiff's name should be Spiffy Tiffy, please be sure, email in [email protected]. Sissy, I think we should definitely have a poll about this and have our listeners figure out if Tiff's updated nickname should be Spiffy Tiffy. Tiff, how do you feel about that... [laughter]

0:02:01.5 TT: You know what? I think this is the perfect podcast content. If nothing else, if we only accomplish this today, why not?

0:02:09.8 KD: I mean, I hope Tiff dies after me, but if not, I have fully planned to put Efficient Spiffy Tiffy on your tombstone for you. I'm gonna do that for you.

[laughter]

0:02:22.1 TT: Done.

0:02:22.5 KD: And I think it actually rolls right in today's topic, because honestly, if you've never met Tiff, you absolutely must meet her for a few things. One, she's probably the most loving, giving person you will ever meet. Two, she will always make you smile. It doesn't matter what kind of day, even when she's upset, she still will giggle and have the best smile throughout it all. And three, she is the most efficient human I've ever met, which is gonna tie perfectly into how to have a perfect day schedule today, Tiff. So I felt I wanted to bring you on the podcast, one, because I love podcasting with you, but two, if anybody can have a perfect day schedule, it's Spiffy Tiffy on the podcast.

[laughter]

0:02:58.5 TT: Oh, that's taking forever.

0:03:00.1 KD: It is. I'm planning to get podcast shirts with Spiffy Tiffy and K-Dawg. I don't know. I feel like I need a better one, but I feel Spiffy Tiffy is gonna be a perfect, perfect t-shirt coming your way. I mean, your birthday is on... Our birthdays are coming, so who knows? We'll maybe make one, but let's talk about perfect day scheduling, Tiff. What are some tips you've got, some ideas on how to truly... Is it actually possible to have a perfect day schedule?

0:03:23.3 TT: Yeah, 100%. I think number one, you have to understand what you want your schedule to look like and to feel like. And I think if we go into it and we're just trying to slam together something that flows better, feels more efficient, but we're like, "Nah, I'm still not real happy with it," it's not gonna work. So you've gotta figure out what kind of a day do you want to have. For me personally, I like to have what I call really easy days. I like life to be easy. That does not mean that there's not hard work and that things aren't hard, it just means that I do everything in the most efficient, easy way I possibly can. So for me, for instance, for my calls, I like to have my morning mornings and then my afternoons, more free and available to do projects, to do things. If I've got things going on with Brody, I can have a little bit more flexibility there. I can have just a little bit more easily transitionable time in those hours. So all of my calls, I try to get done in the middle of the day, which usually hits most lunch hours for our practices anyway, so it works out really, really stinking well most days. The reason that I do that is because I can bust out all of that hard in an easy way. So I think of it like...

0:04:46.9 KD: That's honestly why you're the most-loved consultant, Tiff, 'cause you just said, "I like an easy schedule." And I'm sure everyone's ears perked up like, "Hey, me too." And you point out it's hard, while also being very easy. So keep going, you were on a roll. Keep going.

0:05:00.6 TT: Yeah, I like to think of it like a root canal. I think that a root canal is probably a difficult procedure for your brain. I'm thinking a dentist, it's a lot of brain power, it's lot of intricate, it's a lot of fingers twisting those little files, things like that. If I were to sit and do a root canal, what time and day would I want to do it? I can tell you right now, my brain at the end of the day is exhausted. Whether I've done calls all day or not, by like 3:00 PM, I'm not at my best. So I know I need to get everything that's gonna take brain power done before that 3:00 PM spot. Also, caveat, I think this is why we should siesta in America, but that's just my opinion.

0:05:41.8 KD: I agree, I concur. Spiffy Tiffy on the siesta, I think it's gonna work out really good.

[laughter]

0:05:47.8 TT: I think that we would be way more effective, but that's okay. So I think, okay, if I'm a dentist and I'm doing a root canal, I'm probably gonna do it in the morning or just after lunch. Still probably not, you're digesting, you've gotta think about things like that as well. When do you have the most energy? So I'm probably not going to put a root canal at 4:00 PM And I'm, as a team member, probably not gonna put a root canal at 4:00 PM for a couple of different reasons. Patient experience, number one, length of time that it's gonna take, it will be faster if doctors are at their prime, and my doctor's happiness and satisfaction. I don't want an angry doctor. I don't wanna be working with a cranky doctor, and I know that I get cranky if things aren't efficient, if they're not working well. So I like to look at things like that. Secondary, so you're always gonna look at what do you want your day to look like, how do you want to feel at the of your day and then reverse engineer it. Secondary, it's gonna be how long do procedures actually take you, so how long is it going to take you to complete each thing that you need to get done for your patients if you're doing implants, if you're doing crowns, bridges, dentures, fillings, fill-ins.

0:06:58.6 TT: What are the timeframes that it takes so that we can take those timings and manipulate a schedule to get a certain dollar amount in a day while also following how you want your day to look, how you want it to feel. So I know if I need to get an $8000 a day and it takes X amount of time for each procedure, I could get two to three crowns in a day, fill in some sealants and leave some room for emergencies as well, and hit that $8000 day if I schedule appropriately. So how do you want your day to feel, what do you wanna feel like at the end of the day is probably a more appropriate question, how long do your procedures take you, and then what's your daily goal? From there, you can really take the procedures that you do frequently and build a schedule around it. Now, if you're a general practitioner who does maybe 10 implants, eight to 10 implants a quarter, probably don't build into everyday an implant spot. While they do have a high dollar amount procedure-wise, you're not doing enough for that to make sense, so maybe pick two days a month where you've got a couple of implant spots and you can hone in and focus in on those. You're gonna wanna pay more attention to the procedures that you're doing every single day, like your crowns, bridges, fillings, things like that.

[music]

0:08:26.4 KD: Hello Dental A Team listeners, what would it take for you guys to just completely and utterly change your practice? Truly, if you think about it, because for me, I know oftentimes, it's just having somebody right by my side pushing me along, holding me accountable, having somebody to spin ideas off of, and honestly, that's all it takes most of the time first to go from good to great. Usually it's taking the knowledge that we learn and actually executing it, that's why I would love to invite you to join our Platinum Virtual, where we do a coaching call, a Zoom team training, we invite you to our community and we just really dive deep with you. We're that partner right by you to help you go from good to great. So if you're wanting to join, take your practice to the next level, and you know it's time for you to implement, execute and go to that next level, email us [email protected], and I would be so excited to welcome you as our newest Platinum Virtual member, can't wait to see you there.

0:09:23.4 KD: Yeah, and I think Tiff you brought up some really, really, really good points through this. I think the idea is there's an illusion of what a perfect day actually looks like, but it's actually you knowing yourself best. I am an early morning, so my calls usually start at 6:00 AM, [chuckle] and I'm usually done and toast by about 12, 1 o'clock and I do really well doing projects and just other things, and then same 3 o'clock, I did worry Tiff when you said that we're gonna have clients calling in back, what, my call's at 3:00? You're not your best. I think this could toughen your day.

[chuckle]

0:09:58.5 KD: Guys, don't worry, just like patients, we still always deliver. But the bottom line is, there is no perfect day it is what your perfect day is, and I think when you actually take all those things you listed off, Tiff of where are my best, how much time does it take me? How much do I wanna be producing? It's crazy how easy you can build a schedule, I just... I literally just did this with an office yesterday, where we sat there and they've been struggling to hit their goal, they've been wanting to get perfect scheduling into their schedule, and we sat there and I can get their associate doctor to hit goal, new doctor, so don't think they're going like crazy down with three patients today. Three, that's it, and then you can fill in the rest of it with additional appointments, but if they will literally stick to that and it's easy...

0:10:43.4 KD: There's an 8 o'clock, a 1 o'clock and an 11 o'clock appointment, that's it. And we are hitting their goal. I've got another doctor, he's got a much higher goal and in about five patients in that day, we're able to get him to the goal he wanted to hit, so it doesn't take a lot of patients and it doesn't take a lot of procedures, I don't think people realise, and Tiff I think you wanna have so much fun with this, it doesn't actually take a lot of procedures to make up the production you want. Dentistry is a great, great, great, great way to fill your schedule, it's not hard to get to the levels you wanna be and give the patient the most awesome experience. I personally never put limited exams after 3 o'clock, I'm not doing hard production at the end of the day because I want my whole team to get out of there on time as well. So I really agree... Tiff, I love when I ask the question like is it actually true to have a perfect day schedule and you're like "Absolutely," because I think people make this harder than it needs to be, they feel it has to be oh, I have to have every moment blocked out, but the bottom line is no, just have a nice scaffolding structure and stick by it. You and I see things very differently, and I think we're learning that in our company that not everyone sees the schedule the exact same way, but I think for you and I, we are very much...

0:11:53.8 KD: If we're gonna be here, let's bust it out, let's hit it hard and be done in our day, rather than having it be a meagre all the way down and just be this stop and go all day long, like let's get to a rhythm, let's hit our day hard, let's start our mornings off productive, let's go through our day, let's give our patients the best experience, and then let's have a easy chill at the end of the day and move on. So I think the only last piece on this is people... I hear this all the time. Well, Tiff, that sounds super great and I really would love to do a root canal in the morning, I'd love to do a crown after that, I'd love to do a crown and be down done at 2 o'clock and just do crowns and dentures, but you don't know my patients. Kiera is always annoying and she wants to do her crowns at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, what do I do for her 'cause we have to serve our patients, so we don't... Doctor doesn't wanna do crowns, but Kiera wants to do crowns at 4 o'clock, Tiff you just don't understand my patients. This works for you, but it doesn't work for me. What are your thoughts 'cause I know you have an answer, you giggle, I giggle all the time [chuckle] 'cause I'm like, "Oh, okay," what would you say to that office?

0:12:52.4 TT: So I think it's all in the wording, and I think it's all in the verbiage and the care that we give to the patients. I think that it comes down to relationship, and I truly believe with everything that I have, that if the patients are receiving the type of treatment, the type of relationship that they deserve, they'll do anything, people will manipulate their own schedule to fit what they find to be important, so nail appointments and different... Different situations in their personal life, they're manipulating those to fit into their schedule. Why is yours different? I also look at, "Okay, well, if I'm gonna take my kids to the orthodontist, well the the orthodontist only places brackets on certain days, at certain times, only changes out wires at certain days, at certain times. They're able to do it, and an orthodontist largely sees kids. And I hear all the time, "Well, the kids are in school, parents won't take them out." Well, they do for ortho, so why aren't they for this crown that this kid needs? What are we doing differently is that we're not sticking to our boundaries, we're not holding our boundaries, and we're allowing them to slide. Most of the time I hear offices say, "Okay, fantastic, do you wanna get this scheduled?"

[chuckle]

0:14:04.3 TT: "Oh you do? Fantastic." That's super shocking with the way I asked you and...

[laughter]

0:14:09.3 TT: When do you wanna come in for that? And they say, "Well, actually, I'm off work every Friday. I'd be great if I could come in at 4:00 PM" "Oh, unfortunately, we're not open on Friday." Well, don't allow them to make that choice. So you give them, I like Kiera's version, she says. "chocolate, vanilla, choose." So, you give them a "chocolate, vanilla, choose," and you say, "Okay, fantastic. For this procedure, my doctor actually performs them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which day is best for you? Thursday is great. Do you prefer morning or afternoon? I can do an 8: O0 AM or a 1:00 PM for that crown. Which one do you choose?" A "chocolate, vanilla, choose." If you leave them the sky, they're gonna choose anything. If you leave them this vast open space of choices, they're gonna choose whatever they want. If you give them the choices that are applicable to their procedure, to what they need in your practice, they're gonna choose from one of those. And if your patient says, "I can't do either of those," we go from there and we have a conversation.

0:15:02.7 KD: Totally. And Tiff, it's kind of fun to have worked with you as long... I'm like, "You're right, I used to talk about that. That was like Wendy's versus Baskin Robbins." What's Well it's way easier to choose, chocolate or vanilla ice cream, rather than, "Do you want chocolate, vanilla, rocky road, milky way?" "I don't know, I can't decide, that's too many choices. And, it also sets you up for patients to be upset with you.

0:15:24.5 TT: Yeah, exactly.

0:15:25.0 KD: I think, Tiff, it's absolutely brilliant. And this is how you do it, don't offer a time you don't have. Also, it's super important, like you said, let's take a crown in the morning and the afternoon, so we always have those available. And it's really like, "Doctor loves to do their crowns early in the morning, so let's reserve an 8:00 AM for you. Oh, that doesn't work for you? Dang it, they're really... " I'm just kidding, don't say they're bad in the afternoon, guys.

[laughter]

0:15:45.3 KD: Do not say that. But the bottom line is, I personally think the way to have a perfect day schedule is by verbiage. It's set these blocks up of exactly what you want, and then don't be afraid to tell your patients where we want them to go, because we have to remember that just because it's great for our practice doesn't mean we're neglecting our patients. It means we're actually giving our patients the most incredible experience, because our schedule is actually gonna flow. No patient wants to come in for a root canal doctor at 4 o'clock when you're exhausted and you're not thinking about it and you perf out the side, nobody wants that. What that they do want is there doctor to be top notch, ready to go, and having a flow. And us doing that and telling our patients where we basically want them to go, still giving them the choices, like you said, "chocolate, vanilla, choose, morning or afternoon, 8:00 AM or 1:00 PM Those are going to help them out. You really can have a perfect day schedule.

0:16:34.3 KD: So I would say, I know people get uncomfortable, so just a quick recap, number one, doctors, figure out where when you would actually like to do procedures. Next, how long does it take you to do procedures? Next, how much do you would actually produce? Get those three things dialed in, and then let's build a perfect day schedule. Then, team, let's practice. What do we say to these objections? Kiera, the 4 o'clock angry patient, how do we get her to want to do an 8 o'clock or a 1 o'clock appointment? Bottom line is, guys, at Wendy's, I don't ask them, "Do you actually have a... I'd like a bubble gum or a cotton candy frosty." The answer's no, if they don't have it, it's not offered. So I'm not going to be asking for it. If we give them an 8 o'clock or 1 o'clock, 'cause this is when our doctor does crowns, they will choose within that because those are the choices available. The whole schedule is not available to them, and we have to remember that is actually giving our patients the best experience. So Tiff, I love spiffy Tiffy, I love efficient Tiff.

[chuckle]

0:17:27.1 KD: I love the fact that you do it with so much ease, and I think that that's my biggest takeaway is this is the way to have actually an easy practice, easy patient experience, easy productive schedule, in a very flowing way. Tiff, always love podcasting with you, and I just appreciate you personally and professionally, of what you give our clients, and also what you give to the podcast family as well.

0:17:47.5 TT: Thank you, I love it. I get so excited to podcast with you, so thanks for having me on, and I can't wait 'til till the next time.

0:17:54.4 KD: Absolutely. Alright guys, go get that perfect day schedule and wait, wait for next time. Spiffy Tiffy will be back on the [chuckle] pod. And as always, guys, thanks so much for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

[music]

0:18:09.3 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.