Running a dental practice is many things: challenging, demanding, rewarding… and stressful. But what if I told you that you could dramatically reduce the stress you experience on a daily basis simply by changing the way you approach managing your practice? Well, you can. What’s the secret? One word: systems. Creating and implementing systems for managing your practice removes uncertainty, inefficiency, and ultimately stress. Systems allow you to stop “reinventing the wheel” each day, and instead focus on simply executing. Here are three areas that systemization is particularly helpful:
1) Relationship management. It’s important to maintain a relationship with your patients so you connect on a personal level as well as professional. Defined systems will free up your staff to focus more on relationship building than procedural accuracy during that treatment day. We have found that many times our patients will give us the benefit of the doubt if there is ever a situation that doesn’t have an ideal outcome. You need to establish your role in your patient’s life as their trusted advisor and let your staff become their friend in the practice. That way your patient will always see your practice in a good light and you will form bonds that won’t be so easily broken over time. This is also the number one way to get those precious direct patient referrals that we all covet.
2) Marketing. Marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming and time-consuming. Take the time to come up with a one-year plan of action—and then simply execute. Whether it’s direct mail, social media, newspaper ads, or all of the above… create a schedule, and assign a member of your team to execute.
3) Daily operations. There are hundreds of minor details that must be addressed each day in order to run a successful practice. These details include everything from switching on the lights in the morning to answering the phone to greeting patients when they enter your office. If there is no system for ensuring that each of these details is taken care of, the result is chaos. On the other hand, if you take the time to assign each detail to the appropriate member of your team, you’ll never have to worry about important tasks or functions being lost in the shuffle.
The key to eliminating stress, inefficiency, and inconsistency from your practice is to establish systems for all key operations – from marketing, to finance, to customer service. These systems will ensure that critical responsibilities are fulfilled—allowing you to relax and focus on simply doing your job each day. If you’d like to learn more about this process, please get in touch with me today!