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    • Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2015 06 Carnation 1
    1. Practice Management
    2. Practice Management Tips

    Tuesday Tip from Pride Institute: Keep your dental team informed about practice trends

    June 23, 2015
    Your dental team will perform better whent hey know what's going on in your practice. Patients want to keep coming to your office when they feel valued and included. Today's tip will guide you in making this a reality.

    Even as savvy doctors hold their “office trends” meetings on a monthly basis, they often omit what I call the “so what?” part of information sharing.

    Poorly run office trends meetings sound like this: “Here are our numbers. This was our goal, and this is what we hit. We did OK here and here, but we didn’t do so well here and here and here and here. So we really need to get better, OK?”

    You need to let your team know what the numbers mean! A great trends meeting focuses on what the metrics actually mean to the practice and to each team. Look at each number and tell its story. Stay curious with the team. Ask them what they think caused the outcome and if the outcome was positive, how to repeat it. If the numbers don’t look so good, the discussion should focus on how to strive for a better outcome next time.

    Another thing to remember—beware of “blame-storming.” Remember, you’re in a relationship with your team and your numbers. If there’s blame and public shame, you’ll shut down the possibility of improvement. If you were in a relationship with a person who placed blame all the time, you’d stop sharing anything with that person. So stay positive, stay curious, and explore.

    And your patients? They make all the difference, don’t they? Now is a great time to remind them that you appreciate who they are, and then to actually ask them to send friends and family to your practice. Note that asking is a verb, an action word. You can’t just say, “We’re accepting new patients” and expect referrals.

    Now for a quick thought for the rest of the summer—offer a carnation to every patient during the hot summer months. Women will take them home or place them on their desks at work. Men tend to take the flowers to their partners. Either way, it gives everyone something to talk about, and that something is you!

    This is your year! Make it better by reviewing and exploring your metrics, involving your team in their own bright future, and making your patients feel like valued members of your practice.

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    Tuesday Tips from Pride Institute are provided weekly on their Facebook page as well as in this column in DentistryIQ. To ensure you don’t miss any of Pride Institute’s proven methods to take your practice to the next level, visit prideinstitute.com, and like them on Facebook.