Dental practice building starts with team building

As a dentist in private practice for more than 18 years, I know that successful practice building starts with team building. Keeping staff members informed about the latest innovations, making patients feel important, and showing gratitude for team members’ great work are all significant ways to grow your business.

Empower your teamMy practice-building mantra is “Hire, Train, Trust, Praise.” Dentists set their practice up for success by hiring staff with great potential, training them to succeed, trusting their judgment, and praising their accomplishments. In order to ensure you are hiring the best possible staff, I recommend taking a candidate’s attitude, personality, and personal hygiene habits into account. It is important for all team members to have complimentary, positive personalities.

An important part of empowering your team is to make sure that both you and your team members stay up-to-date with the latest dental innovations by holding regular meetings to share updates and interesting findings. Remember, positive communication is key to success of a practice.

You can also train your team to talk about your services. Because hygienists and front office staff have the most face time with patients, keeping them informed is key to spreading the word about your office’s services. With training, team members will become more confident and enthusiastic, and will have a truer sense of their importance in the practice. Everyone should feel like they’re a crucial component to the office’s success.

Indescribable satisfactionIt’s important that patients feel like their health is your priority. If I can get patients something that will make them comfortable and save them money, I’ve done my job. This in turn generates rave reviews and referrals to patients’ friends and family for similar satisfactory treatment. As an example, in surveying my audiences, I found a consensus among attendees: a very low percentage (2% to 5%) of patients truly floss. I use this information to recommend products that will help patients pay more attention to their oral hygiene without adding too much extra effort to their daily routine. For example, in my practice, patients are very receptive and enthusiastic about using Philips Sonicare AirFloss Pro because it effectively helps reduce gingivitis and improve gum health in just one minute.

If you can create one effective change for each patient, it can create a cascading event of subsequent health changes. When patients experience the positive rewards of fresher breath and whiter, cleaner teeth, this can positively motivate them to think about eating healthier. This change can then lead to patients’ increase in exercise and subsequent weight loss.

It’s important to recognize team members as more than just an assistant, hygienist, or front desk person; they’re all health-care providers. Discuss the positive changes that you and your team have influenced at staff meetings. Your team truly makes a difference in the lives of patients. Sometimes, in the business of the day or when a practice is under financial strain, it’s easy to forget the positive influence that your practice offers. Make sure your team knows how crucial they are to the practice success and to patients’ well being.

Job well doneBecause having a great relationship with coworkers is the key to job satisfaction and team building, I host regular socials and holiday gatherings to foster these connections. In addition, I provide team members with small gifts to thank them for their hard work. By recognizing good work and focusing on the positive each day, your team, practice, and patients will all benefit and experience an indescribable satisfaction.

Source: http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2015/10/dental-practice-building-starts-with-team-building.html

In other dental news: Aurident's  3D dental scanners offer superior quality for both model and impression scanning. The Optimet DS 6000 Scanner uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans. The DSi 6000 Impression & Model Scanner overcomes the limitation of other scanners by accurately scanning impressions and models where other scanners have difficulty.