3 Ways to Bolster the Growth of Your Dental Practice.

Growing a dental practice takes a village and then some. Every dental entrepreneur undergoes a process of trial and error to find the right people, the right dental practice business tactics, and the right workflow. Increasing dental practice success requires a combination of skills, strategies, and perseverance.

There are going to be plenty of setbacks on the journey and many pivots along the way. But with hard work and motivation, you can set your dental practice on a path of continual growth. The ride to success is a rollercoaster, and there’s no straight path to the top. By taking the right measures, however, you can make sure that you’re prepared to hurdle the obstacles that come your way.

That’s why, for this week’s blog post, I want to help you stay prepared. As promised, here are three dental practice growth strategies to bolster the growth of your dental practice and improve dental team performance.

1. Implement business tactics you’ve learned through CE—and get your team on board with those new dental practice business tactics.

When we go to CE classes, it’s easy to get excited about the new content we learn. When we’re leaving a conference, we know that implementing the new tactics we’ve acquired will be a no-brainer. However, once we actually return, we find it’s easier said than done. What seemed great in theory might be a headache in actuality. That, or we throw the workbook in the filing cabinet, forget about it, and never see it again.

However, perhaps worse than being stressed about implementing new dental practice business tactics or forgetting about them altogether is the strategy of slapping a plan down on our team members desk and saying, “I want to do this” before walking away. First off, that approach offers very little direction. Second off, you’re not setting yourself up for a calibrated effort.

If you want to make substantial change within any department of your practice, it takes more than having an idea of what you want to do—it takes a mindset. And that mindset needs to be shared by everyone involved in the efforts. You need to all be on the same page with what philosophy you’re taking to work toward an objective before you can take the steps to get there. And the more CE you want to implement, the more training and calibration you’ll need—much like a bigger engine requires more gas.

So, make sure you implement the tactics you’ve learned in CE. And, when implementing these dental practice growth strategies, go a step beyond to educate your team on the importance of implementing the new strategies you’ve picked up. That way, everyone is on board with your vision for increasing dental practice success.

2. If you work with associate dentists, do what you can to set them up for success.

Every team has A-players, not-so-great performers, and everything in between. And, oftentimes, skill level boils down to a matter of experience. A hygienist with four years under their belt is going to be much more efficient and knowledgeable than someone fresh out of hygiene school. The same goes for dental assistants or front desk team members; the longer you’ve been in the game, the more you know how to play it.

So, if you’re practicing alongside other dentists, give them the most experienced hygienists and dental assistants. This is a key aspect of effective dental practice management. If you give them inexperienced team members who keep dropping the ball, they’re bound to either up and leave or have a tough time meeting productivity goals.

Have an important conversation with them about their expectations, too. If they’re getting paid less than they desire or working more hours than they want to, they’ll be unhappy. That means they’ll be unhappy, and an unhappy dentist isn’t a productive dentist—or a dentist who wants to find a different practice to work at. Improving dental team performance is crucial for increasing dental practice success.

3. Don’t hold onto bad hires.

The entrepreneurial life is all about embracing change. And, if we acquire a new office, we’re often working with people who have been there for years. Unfortunately, many of these people can be stuck in their ways and not willing to embrace the change you’re bringing to the plate. The same goes for hiring somebody who worked at a practice before yours and wants to keep doing things they way they’re used to. Either way, being resistant to change is really going to hinder the growth of your dental practice. It’s going to present a plethora of obstacles when trying to pursue your vision.

Personality differences are inevitable. While it’s ideal to have a healthy culture, you don’t necessarily have to get along with your team like two peas in a pod—so long as efficiency doesn’t suffer as a result of those personality differences. However, there are some non-negotiables that aren’t easy to overcome. Perhaps you have a hygienist who doesn’t want to present treatment to patients and isn’t willing to do anything more than clean teeth. Maybe they simply don’t do their job as well as they should and reduce the overall productivity of your dental practice. If you can’t work around those differences and empower them to be better employees, then it may be time to look for a hygienist who can fit your standards.

Obviously, this advice goes beyond your hygienist. If you have a dental assistant who consistently messes up no matter how many times you “reeducate” them, then they’re a bad hire to hold onto. If you have a front desk team member who gets snarky with your patients and can’t build good relationships, then you shouldn’t pay them to handle phone calls and schedule patients. So, make sure you have a good staff who can handle your demands. This is crucial to improve dental team performance and implement effective dental practice growth strategies.

The entrepreneurial journey requires perseverance.

A dental practice is a business that needs to be taken care of with the same diligence and discipline as any other business. The practice needs to be managed with a lot of care and hard work. With a concentrated effort and the right dental practice business tactics in place, you can ensure your dental practice grows in a sustainable way.

I run a community full of dental professionals just like you. So, join the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook group and reach out! People from all across the globe will be happy to tell you about what they make sure they’re doing right in order to increase dental practice success and implement effective dental practice management techniques. By sharing experiences and strategies, we can all contribute to improving dental team performance and achieving our goals for dental practice growth.