News and Articles Archive
Link here to information from Jay and Kate about achieving your goals.

News Stories
2008 Star of the North Dental Convention
Hiring Great Talent
AADPA Annual Meeting	Telephone Tact
The Art and Science of Coaching	HIPAA Letter
Dress For Sucess: Your Office

Articles
Peak Performance	Team Compensation
Why Use a Consultant	Attitude and Communication
Communication and Credibility

The American Academy of Dental Practice Administration recently held their 48th annual meeting at Henderson, Nevada at the Hyatt Regency Resort. The AADPA is a national organization of dentists and team members from all over the country and Canada dedicated to improving dental practice management. Jay presented a Lunch and Learn session along with other speakers from around the country. His topic was. "Entrepreneurial Team Compensation Systems: Risk and Reward for Personal Engagement In Practice profitability for Each Team Member." Jay used his 30+ years of experience coaching dental teams to advise dentists and team members, who were present, on how you promote team members into the business of the practice. His unique approach to team compensation brings the doctor and team together on the same side of the fence all pulling in the same direction in order to achieve an outcome. Jay's compensation system solves the problem of keeping good people in the practice by helping them become entrepreneurially engaged in achieving profit, not only production. He has been doing this for over 15 years. Both doctors and team members report heightened levels of energy at the office as well as more cohesive teams who are motivated to move their practice to the next level

The Art and Science of Coaching Jay White recently attended a 3 day seminar entitled "The Art and Science of Coaching" that was sponsored by Mary Osborne and Joan Underscheutz.. At left is a picture of Jay with Mary Osborne and Joan Underscheutz. Mary Osborne teaches the subject at the Pankey Institute, is a practicing hygienist and has her own consulting firm in Seattle. She travels widely and is well known for her insights on patient and staff communications. Joan Undersheutz, is a psychologist who works with dental teams and has insights on how to understand others in the workplace. The Key Idea presented was: • In order to coach another person or group, it is important to get their permission and to set personal boundaries. Participants role-played this step and worked on coaching styles, which are an outgrowth of the coach’s communications skills. The skill of listening is an incredibly important part of the mix because absorbing the nuances of tone, word speed, facial movements, voice volume, etc. are all part of understanding the best way to coach another person. Jay is planning on bringing these techniques into his work with clients, whether the task is with conflict in the office or facilitating new ideas that will help offices rise to their next level of development. Interestingly enough, the event was a short walk from the "Pikes Place Fish Market" which is featured in the now famous video series. Jay uses that video series to work with his clients, so it was valuable to visit the market and speak with the fishmongers. The characters in the video really do work there, and they certainly are “characters” according to Jay. There isn't a day that goes by that they don't have someone ask about the video and comment on how it’s affected their life or business. In fact while Jay was at the counter (buying fish!!!!), several other customers told their story about the video. The fishmongers at Pikes Place have received so much attention that they are now coming out with their own book on how they became world famous. Check out the picture of Jay with his fish (yes, they were throwing it) and yes, there were crowds of people standing by for the entertainment.

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Dressed for Success: You and Your Office

By Kate Fitzgerald

Have you ever seen your office through a prospective client’s eye? Probably not since you came in for an interview and that may have been a few years.

Walk in the front door. Is the entryway clean and uncluttered? Sit down in the reception room. Is the future in good condition and unsoiled? Are the magazines current, untattered, and orderly?

It may be time for a little early spring cleaning, starting with you:

1. Project the image of the practice through your own appearance. Dress in the office so you are comfortable with your appearance. You can’t project confidence to clients if your clothes make you feel awkward.

Make sure each team member feels comfortable enough to tell another team member (including the doctor) if they have bad breath, dandruff, food between the teeth, a stain on their shirt, etc. You must have a relationship with everyone in the office in which they feel they can tell each other how to improve their appearance if something is wrong. It’s better to learn from each other than from a client.

Don’t contradict your image. Do you think an overweight physician who smokes takes his own prevention advice seriously? Would you think any professional who dresses as if s/he was on vacation takes his/her work seriously? On the other hand, would you think a well-dressed attorney could represent you well in court and make a good impression on jurists?

2. Design your office to appeal to patients. Furnish your office as least as well as your clients furnish their homes. People like to feel that their dentist, a professional, is at least as successful as they are, if not more so.

Plan your office for the clients you serve. Practices that cater to children are usually furnished differently than those that cater to adults. Practices that attract primarily older clients usually use calm, quiet colors and chairs with sturdy arms and firm backs that are easy to get out of.

Amuse your clients in interesting ways. Most offices stock popular magazines and these should not be overlooked. However, go beyond the obvious and make yourself special. Here are some suggestions:

A. Subscribe to unusual magazines on special topics: art, wildlife, music, science, gourmet foods, cars, photography, computers, tennis. Keep current issues only. It’s a poor reflection on you to have issues more than a few months old.

B. Subscribe to newsletters. Clients waiting may enjoy reading newsletters on tax avoidance, pets, antiques, literature, management, crafts, cooking, boating, skiing, scuba diving, public speaking. Find the appropriate newsletters on-line or at your local library.

C. Picture books on subjects like animals, cities, movies, and celebrities.

D. Subscribe to a foreign newspaper or periodical.

E. Some practices keep recipe books in the reception area along with blank recipe cards and pens so clients can copy their favorites.

F. Consider large print books if you have elderly clients.

3. Play music. Many studies have suggested playing soothing music in your reception area can help relax clients. Music also projects your image. Consider the different images that could be projected by an office that plays Bach or Mozart versus one that plays current popular music. Or an office that plays country and western versus one that plays jazz. Whatever music you play:

A. Play it softly as background music.

B. Turn off the music from time to time to give everyone a rest.

C. Consider letting clients choose their own music.

4. Design the lighting to project your image. Some suggestions:

D. Use soft, warm, incandescent lighting in areas where client comfort is crucial – the reception area, the doctor’s office, the client coordinator’s office.

E. Use fluorescent lighting where strong light is needed – the lab, work stations, etc. It is colder than incandescent lighting but provides more uniform light.

F. Combine fluorescent and incandescent lights in your business area. Use the incandescent general lighting to give warmth and fluorescent task lighting at workstations.

5. Use colors to improve team productivity and client comfort. The most successful office color scheme is at least two colors and not more than four.

A. Repeat one color or combination of colors throughout all the rooms. This will make your office feel coordinated and harmonious.

B. Choose low maintenance colors. For walls, medium tones of any light colors are easiest to keep looking clean. The hardest wall color to maintain is flat white. It scuffs and soils fast.

C. Choose commercial quality carpet in multicolors such as tweeds or small patterns to mask stains. Use tile for heavy traffic areas.

Consider the emotions various colors elicit:

A. Blue is soothing, relaxing and good for high stress office areas such as treatment or examination rooms.

B. Red is warm, stimulating and effective as an accent.

C. Yellow is uplifting and cheerful. Don’t use too much yellow in your business area – overuse can cause eyestrain.

D. Orange stimulates some people but depresses others. It is best when combined with calm colors such as beige or brown.

E. Green is cheerful and cool. Caution: some tones of green provide negative reactions and should be avoided. Pale green may induce fear as it is thought of as institutional because it is used in hospitals, schools, and government buildings.

F. Brown is conservative and overuse may depress clients. Best used with stimulating colors such as orange.

G. Purple is exciting and often makes you feel you’re creative and different.

H. Tan/beige is calm and quiet. It is a versatile color that can project a formal, informal, traditional, or modern image depending on how you use it and with what other colors.

I. Gray is cool, quiet, urbane, but can seem austere if used alone. Good when combined with red, orange, purple, and other stimulating colors.

The following combinations of color have psychological effects:

A. Tan, brown, rust warm, soothing, contemporary

B. Red, orange, yellow very stimulating

C. Black, gray, white cool, sophisticated, modern

D. Blue, turquoise, beige calm

E. Purple, pink warm, stimulating, feminine

F. Green, white cheerful, cool

G. Burgundy, white legal, crisp, rich

Suppose the office looks good and only needs a bit of sprucing up. Or maybe your team and clients just need a little something different. Following is a potpourri of ideas:

1. Rearrange the furniture in your reception area from time to time to give it a fresh look. Try changing paintings, photos, and posters.

2. Decorate the office with seasonal decorations. The team can work on this collectively or trade off on the various holidays or seasons.

3. Wrap prizes for children or hang them from a “goodie tree” and let the child pick the package they like best. You could do this for adults as well.

4. Have a supply of plastic, disposable (and colorful!) rain costs, hats, and/or umbrellas to offer clients on a rainy day.

5. Display team photos or family photos of your recent happenings, vacations, and trips to enhance the human touch in the reception area. The key word here is recent; be sure to change the photos periodically.

Make your office relaxed and welcoming keeping your clients in mind and you’ll enjoy coming to work every day as well.

Telephone Tact

By Kate Fitzgerald

There goes the phone again. You’ve already got one person on hold and there’s a patient standing at your desk waiting to check in. You’re glad for everyone’s interest, but how well do callers to your office know that? Does the phone ring a dozen times before you answer it? Are you too rushed to be pleasant? Is someone left on “eternal hold” while you attend to other calls?

That ringing phone may be inconvenient for you sometimes, but without it, your practice wouldn’t be in operation. Every call is important. The way you and your staff handle yourselves on the phone determines how efficiently you can run your practice and excel with those who do business with you.

You spend good money to get people to dial your practice’s phone number, thanks to your Yellow Pages listing, your stationery, marketing efforts, and perhaps, your website. “All that money is wasted if you don’t make sure the caller’s possible first contact with your business is favorable,” says Dee Sanford of Sanford & Associates, a customer service-consulting firm in San Diego, Calif. “So be careful who you let answer the phone. Choose employees who care about your business and can convey that to those who call.”

It may take some training. “Don’t assume staff will be professional and courteous over the phone if you don’t teach them how – even if it takes only 10 minutes,” says Nancy Friedman, president of The Telephone “Doctor,” a customer service training company headquartered in St. Louis, MO.

Tips for telephone tact

From the minute you answer the phone until you hang up, everything you say and do influences how the caller perceives your practice. Therefore, make sure you do the following:

1. Put on a happy face. Before you answer, smile. Doing so either reinforces your already-positive mood or manufactures one for you. Remember, you’re glad that person called, so let him/her know that. Make it easy for him/her to want to do business with you.

2. Be prompt. When you answer the phone by the first or second ring, you communicate enthusiasm, efficiency, and professionalism. Sure, sometimes you’re so busy you just can’t jump to the phone, but don’t let more than a few rings go by before somebody answers it.

3. Speak properly. The caller will form an impression about you and your practice from not only your words, but your voice as well. Therefore, don’t rush or mumble your words; speak slowly and clearly. Also, avoid a monotonous tone; put some life in your voice by varying the inflection.

4. Identify yourself. Don’t wait for the caller to ask if s/he dialed the right number. Begin with a buffer of “Hello” or “Good morning,” followed by your practice name, then say your own name, preceded by “This is _____,” since people tend to remember the last thing they hear.

5. Offer help. After your name, say the words, “How can I help you?” When you use the word “how,” the person focuses more on why they’re calling, so you can both get to the point more quickly.

6. Be pleasant. Never be too busy to be nice. Being busy does not give you carte blanche to be rude. Neither does being in a bad mood. The caller doesn’t care that you were stuck with a parking ticket on lunch while you were frantically running errands during your lunch hour.
7. Be enthusiastic. When you are, it’s often contagious. The caller feels excited about interacting and doing business with you and the practice and believes that you’re interested in his/her reason for contacting you. Show your eagerness to talk to and help the caller when you use an upbeat tone of voice and words that show you care.

8. Listen actively. Probe the caller with comments that reflect his or her words, such as “I understand what you mean,” or “You seem to feel pretty strongly about this.” Paraphrase the caller’s words to assure him/her that you’re listening and understanding what the caller is saying. Keep a pen and scratch paper by the phone so you can take notes. Also make sure you have new patient and emergency forms available so you get all the pertinent information. J. White and Associates has samples of these.

9. Keep the caller talking. Use open-ended questions to encourage more information from the person. The more you know about the caller and what s/he wants, the more opportunities for helping him/her fulfill his/her needs. For the dissatisfied person calling with an angry complaint, let him/her express it. This will calm the person down and provide you with valuable information to serve him/her better.

10. Show interest. The caller has dialed the number of your practice, not just any dental office. If the person doesn’t already know s/he wants to do business with you, then the caller’s at least considering it. Return his/her interest in your practice with some of your own toward his/her needs.

It doesn’t end here. The caller wants to know that the positive interaction s/he experienced on the phone will be replicated when s/he comes into your office. You not only want to make a good first impression over the phone, but carry that impression into every interaction you have with the person.

Every time you answer the phone, it’s an opportunity to build rapport with a potential or loyal patient. As a member of your dental team, one of your goals is to develop effective relationships with the people with whom you interact. Without them -- or proper telephone etiquette – where would your practice be?