Academy of Comprehensive Esthetics Tampa 2011 Conference on Social Media & Marketing for Dentistry

Slated for April 1st and 2nd, 2011, there are just a few weeks left to sign up. Can you afford to miss it?

If You Build It, They Will Come

Today’s marketing environment has changed dramatically. It’s gone viral, to say the least. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs are the hubs of social media and you can use them to leverage your practice, solidify your brand, and grow your patient base. If you’re not in the social media game, you’re simply not reaching your full potential.

A Social Platform

The benefits of social media marketing:

• Access is easy and inexpensive –anyone with the Internet can be a part of social media
• Increase communication that fosters brand awareness and better customer service
• Your patients become your mouthpiece by sharing information with their social networks
• Create content that attracts attention and generates buzz
• Centralize information and share new developments

For more information, or to sign up, visit ACE 2011 Conference on Social Media & Marketing for Dentistry.

Enter Dr. Mayer Levitt, President and owner of Jodena Consulting, a firm that provides vital support and solutions to dental practices nationwide. Dr. Levitt spent nearly 30 years managing his now 12 chair dental practices before becoming a consultant, and during his last seven years in private practice, he balanced both consulting and practice management. Dr. Levitt knows the business of being a dentist and has worked with over 525 practices on everything from creating profitable hygiene departments, to practice transitions and helping doctors optimize their efficiency and effectiveness.

Dr. Levitt graciously allowed us to pick his brain about practice management today, and to let us in on a few secrets:

DB: As a dentist, what was the hardest thing about managing your own practice?
Dr. Levitt: Unquestionably, finding and keeping a talented, caring, customer service oriented staff. It’s still the biggest problem for dental practices now.

DB: What are some of the worst mistakes a dentist can make when managing his or her practice?
Dr. Levitt: Micromanaging the staff and not allowing them to grow and learn from their mistakes is a big misstep. Also, failure to think outside of the box and stifling creativity is an issue. Sometimes you simply have to leave your comfort zone and remain open to a different approach. If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get what you’ve always gotten.

DB: What’s the latest piece of advice you’re giving to your clients?
Dr. Levitt: Get going with Internet marketing. It’s an absolute must if you want your practice to remain competitive. You have to have a great website as well as a social media presence. Google is king!

Dr. Levitt also let us in on another secret. Since he is no longer practicing dentistry, he doesn’t get the satisfaction of seeing patients relieved of pain and happy with their smiles. Now he gets his kicks seeing his clients become more successful as they grow their practices. For more great practice management advice, visit Dr. Levitt’s blog. Be sure to sign up for the Jodena blog RSS Feed to receive lots of consistent, practical advice delivered right to you email (you’ll receive a FeedBurner notice via email, so be sure to confirm after signing up). To learn more about Dr. Levitt and Jodena Consulting, visit his website at www.jodena.com.

DDSMac, LLC was born when a group of dentists who had a common goal –to grow their practices using the best technology available –met on the Internet Dental Forum. For them, Mac was the clear choice. However, they soon found there were extremely limited choices in the dental software department. Something had to be done! Work immediately began on a practice management software program for use on the Mac platform. Now MaxDent Pro is officially on the market.

The front desk, and the schedule, is the hub of any dental practice. A Mac-native solution, MaxDent Pro is built around the scheduler. Created by dentists, for dentists, MaxDent Pro boasts intuitive navigation with powerful tools. These are just a few of the features:

• Reports, reports, reports! Information is crucial, and MaxDent pro is loaded with reports, including A/R monthly statements, daily activity, insurance aging, and more.
• Prescription printing and a full drug database come standard.
• E-claims and digital document storage help move your office closer to your paperless goals.
• A “smile reminder” feature allows you to set up appointment reminders, birthday messages, and much more, via email, text, and other electronic services.
• Fully HIPAA compliant.

MaxDent Pro is offering a free, fully functional demo that’s downloadable to one machine and holds up to 75 patients. Go to www.maxdentpro.com to sign up for your free download copy and take it for a test drive.

With much debate in dental circles on whether or not to Web 2.0, Dr. Dalin, a St. Louis dentist, said in his article that he strongly believed in walking the walk, not just talking the talk. And so, using his own website as a case study, Dr. Dalin dove right into a re-skin of his old, stagnant website, hiring TNT Dental to lead the SEO charge. He also gave the go ahead to optimize his new site into a mobile friendly format for display on smart phones, such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Droid mobile devices.

Besides being more visually appealing, what is Dr. Dalin’s goal with the new website? According to his article, it’s to place higher in search engine rankings, drive new traffic to his site, generate leads that will become new patient conversions, as well as keep his existing patients consistently engaged. Dr. Dalin also plans a series of follow up articles to appear in DE magazine over the coming months chronicling his website’s success. We’re certainly eager to see the results!

View Dr. Dalin’s new website, read his article about embracing dental search engine optimization, and then tell us what you think.

Does this scenario sound like something that’s happened at your practice? You’re probably nodding your head, “Yes”. Anyone who has handled a dental emergency call knows that patients are not consistent in describing their symptoms, their pain, and can often be uncooperative wondering why they are being peppered with questions when they are in such acute discomfort. Dentists listening to an emergency patient’s symptoms chairside have the benefit of diagnostic tools, as well as years of clinical experience and education, to help determine the condition that’s causing the problem. However, your front office team, who has limited, or no clinical training, relies on asking the emergency call a set of pre-selected questions to determine when they should be scheduled into the day. No matter how well you have trained your team, it’s just not an accurate system.

Now there is a better way to repair the disconnect that so often arises between patient, team, dentist, and schedule during dental emergencies: a new dental software program called Crumb’s Cranium. Developed by New York Dentist, Dr. Donald Crumb, Crumb’s Cranium is a simple scheduling tool that “thinks” like a dentist. Easily downloaded and installed on any PC in less than 30 minutes, Crumb’s Cranium works alongside your existing dental software and helps your front office team by:

• Recognizing the most common reasons for dental patients to call your office with an emergency
• Providing simplified, logical sequencing of diagnostic information questions for effective triage and prioritizing of emergencies
• Providing scheduling recommendations, clinical impressions, and a printout system to prepare the dentist and clinical team for the emergency appointment

Crumb’s Cranium streamlines your dental emergency management, smoothes over the scheduling conflicts dental emergencies tend to create, reduces stress, and allows you to spend the time with your patients that they need and deserve. Best of all, it requires virtually no dental knowledge, minimal computer skills, and becomes a great training tool for the team members who handle dental emergency calls. To learn more about Crumb’s Cranium, how it can improve the day-to-day operations of your practice, and receive a free, 30-day trial, visit www.crumbscranium.com .

About Dr. Crumb: Since 1976, Dr. Crumb has practiced quality dentistry for patients in and around Syracuse, New York. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1971, achieved his DDS at New York University College of Dentistry in 1975, and completed a post-doctoral residency at Northwestern University in 1976. He believes strongly in giving back to his community for all that it has given him and has been an attending dentist on the clinical staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center since 1977.

What does Frank Sinatra have to do with your practice? Follow his lead and you may see your case acceptance numbers rise dramatically. Using the Sinatra Principle, Ken Runkle presents 4 Proven Steps to increasing case acceptance that will have more patients saying “Yes!” right away.

Read the entire article.

Listen to the companion audio portion at The Paragon Podcast.

It’s all about the apps.

Fact: In only nine months, iPod app downloads topped one billion.

What is an app?

App is short for application. A website app is a downloadable version of a website that’s completely user friendly on a cell phone that has Internet capability.

Dr. Lance Timmerman of Seattle has a custom website with TNT Dental. The website features email contact forms, a blog by Dr. Timmerman, video introductions by the dentist, a before-and-after gallery, and many other cutting-edge features that promote conversion – turning web visitors into active patients.

Always on top of state-of-the-art marketing trends, Dr. Timmerman now has a practice website application from TNT.mobile.

Check it out:

Want a TNT.mobile app of your own?

It’s simple. Just call TNT Dental at 877-868-4932 for details. TNT Dental is your Internet marketing partner, and the folks there are anxious to take your practice to the next level!

Video testimonials seem real.

In the post “Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work,” Holly Buchanan of Future Now tells us that testimonials hurt your marketing strategy if people don’t think they’re real.

How’s this for “real?” Dr. Harry Chambers of Oregon, a Gresham dentist, has a great example of video testimonials on his website by TNT Dental. The videos depict his real patients in his real practice telling their real stories.

Video testimonials can answer the right questions.

At www.yesmediaworks.com, The Video Marketing Blog tells us that the best video testimonials are case studies, which, in a causal form, is the style Dr. Chambers instituted on his Gresham dentistry website. The patients in his testimonials answered key questions that the viewer (the potential patient) wanted answered. Like, for instance, What problems did Dr. Chambers’ patient have with his or her mouth? What were the obstacles that kept him or her from solving the problems? How did Dr. Chambers address and correct the problem? Was the patient satisfied?

Video testimonials show and tell.

In your college writing courses, you probably heard “show, don’t tell.” Want better advice? Do both. Video testimonials tell the whole story – right from the patient’s mouth. A viewer feels like he’s sitting in your office, chatting it up with one of your very pleased patients. He feels a connection to the person on his computer screen and, according to studies, over 70% of the time, people believe online reviews or testimonials about services and products.

Let’s look at Dr. Chambers’ videos again. The featured patients are your average American folks who needed a dentist in Gresham, Oregon to solve their problems. They aren’t rich. They aren’t famous… and neither are your patients. Video testimonials seem friendly and genuine – because they are.

So how can you get video testimonials?

You have a few options here. First, you can record the videos yourself, or train someone on your staff to do it for you. Dr. Larry Emmott offers great tips on his blog here.

If you don’t want to hassle with buying equipment, you could use a service, like VSling by Smile Reminder.

And if you really don’t want ANY hassle, hire a videographer and have an after-hours party – a wine tasting or hors d’oeuvres event – during the video shoot. Invite your favorite patients as honorees and enjoy yourself while someone else shoots the video. Simply have your videographer clean up the videos and send them to your web company for inclusion on your site. It can be that simple.

If your practice is not doubling every ten years, you may have missed opportunities along the way.  How much have missed opportunities cost you?  Where would your practice be today if you had seized a few more opportunities over the last few years? Ken Runkle has uncovered 5 Rules related to the high cost of missed opportunities.  Learn them now and empower your practice to take advantage of opportunities for substantial growth today.

Download the pdf here:

MissedOpportunities

Visit the Paragon Blog!

“Every team works best when the members of the team have clearly defined and understood roles. Some do one thing, others do another. One isn’t better or more important than the other, just different. When teams operate out of their strengths and in their roles, they win”.  These are the words of famous American motivational coach, Chris Widener.  And they are never truer than in the business of dentistry.

We are all very aware of the economic downturn we are facing today and likely feeling the effect in our own businesses.  Many practices are reporting a higher than usual cancellation rate and a plummeting case acceptance rate.  What can we do to combat this trend?

Do we lower our fees?  Do we cut back on our quality? Those two go hand in hand.  Most dental practices have devoted much time and thought into establishing a fee schedule to enable them to deliver only the best quality of care.  So you cannot sacrifice one without the other.  So, this certainly cannot be the answer!

Do we cut back on staff? Possibly part of the answer does lie within the realm of employee compensation, but let’s not be too quick to judge.  What is our number one, greatest asset?  The answer is people!  So, let’s examine this aspect of our organization a little more.  Here are some of the ways we can increase effectiveness and thereby enhance overall practice success through better utilization and management of our employees:

• Honestly and objectively assess each job description, to see if changes can be made to increase employee efficiency and effectiveness.
• Evaluate practice systems to determine if changes need to be made to eliminate redundancy or unnecessary busy work which drains productivity and decreases efficiency.
• Evaluate each team member’s current effectiveness in their given role, and do not hesitate to re-structure positions to emphasize strengths of current team members to increase overall practice productivity.
• Periodically conduct employee performance evaluations, keeping them brief and to the point.
• Communicate corrective feedback clearly and concisely.
• Do not apologize or accept excuses for unsatisfactory performance.
• Set exact parameters and monitor results.
• Offer continuing education to continually improve employee’s knowledge and skills to empower them to produce the desired results.
• “Don’t send your ducks to eagle school.  Good people are found, not changed.  They can change themselves, but you cannot change them.  Hire motivated people. Don’t hire people and try to motivate them.  It won’t work.” ……Jim Rohn (motivational coach)

Do we become more lenient in extending credit? I would venture to say that would be financial suicide given the climbing rate of unemployment, not to mention the other aspects of our failing economy.  Recently I had the opportunity to witness a scenario in which a patient who was in for their recall appointment was refusing to have x-rays taken.  Automatically, the first words out of the hygienist’s mouth were “If you can make payments would you then be able to have the x-rays taken?”  Not once did she stop to explain to that patient why the x-rays were needed.  She just assumed it was the money.  Money is the most common smoke screen used by patients.  Frequently it is not even about the money.  Usually it is a lack of value.  Patients have to understand the benefits of services before they want to pay for them.  Wouldn’t you?

Remember these words:  “No” doesn’t always mean no.  Sometimes it means “know”.  We need to provide more information to create the value for the services we are offering.  Only then will patients accept our recommendations.

Remember we must be more than “order takers”.  We must really be with our patients.  We must listen to them, and really hear what they are saying.  Before we make a recommendation, we must be sure they understand the benefit to them.  We also have to perfect our verbal skills to ensure we are communicating in a way that will produce our desired result and positively impact practice success.

Bottom line: Get back to basics.  Common sense will never fail you!

Written by Elaine Dickson,
Insurance Specialist & Instructor
© 2010 Warschaw Learning Institute
www.WarschawLearningInstitute.com

The article also features a downloadable pdf of a testimonial questionnaire for your patients – free! Don’t miss out on this valuable information – it’s a quick read you can’t afford to miss.

• 5 Mistakes that Cost You Thousands
• Dental Assistants & Case Acceptance
• Fewer Teeth Linked to Heart Disease
• Healthcare Reform and Dentistry
• Journal of an Out-of-Work Hygienist
• MacPractice for the iPad
• The Going Rate for a Baby Tooth
• Tomorrow’s Hot Careers: Dental Hygiene

Go to www.facebook.com/dentalblogs and request friendship right now, so tomorrow you can have your finger on the latest dentistry news!

Have you started hearing new objections?  Are you hearing more objections about money?  Are more concerns circling around fear for the future when it comes to healthcare coverage?  These are not times to sidestep and avoid the unavoidable.  These are also not times to back away from presenting the best possible care to your patients because you are afraid to hear no – again.  What it is time for is a Back to Basics approach on patient care and case presentation.  Here is where you can start.

In a recent report by the ADA, it was stated that 51.6% of adults stated they would be more likely to visit the dentist if the dentist had a friendlier and more caring attitude.  This is saying that over HALF of those surveyed would come to see YOU, doctor, if you had better customer service!  If you could increase your new patient flow simply by improving your customer service skills, wouldn’t that be a healthy place to put your energy in your business?

This same ADA report states that only 34% of those surveyed listed money as a deciding factor on whether or not to visit the dentist.  What that tells me is over two thirds of your patient base is most likely saying yes or no to treatment based on obstacles OTHER than money – which is great news!  This means you can help get your patients to say yes by tried and true methods that have worked in dental practices for years.

There are three ways you can see immediate improvement in your case acceptance.  They aren’t necessarily simple, but if you work at these three areas, you may find your patients are more prepped and ready to say YES and less likely to come to you with walls of objections.

1. Pre-heat your case presentations with effective telephone and written communication.  Your business team and treatment coordinators hold an incredible amount of power in their hands because they are representing you over the telephone, especially when dealing with new patients.  How they respond to questions, how they speak to the patients, how they communicate what is to be expected in upcoming visits, all help to build that patient’s expectations of what they are going to experience during their time with you.
2. Take the time to work out the kinks in your telephone technique, as well as your welcome packets.  Work on scripts, practice on each other, record phone calls and listen back to find what needs work.  As for the welcome packets, look through your materials and make sure they are reflecting the most professional and the clearest version of your practice and your services as possible.  These are just a few ways to strengthen this gateway into your practice and to strengthen your relationships with your patients.
3. Develop a solid, professional case presentation protocol for your practice.  This involves everything from the initial phone call, to gathering of clinical data, to the presentation itself.  A successful, streamlined case presentation system in a dental practice involves each and every member of the team.  And you always have to bring your best.  You are only as good as your weakest link.
4. Follow up!  You may find you are having more “I’ll think about it” responses.  This means that you most likely have more dentistry sitting in your charts waiting to be done than you ever imagined.  Instead of wishing for more and more new patients to fill the void in your production – market from within!  In your patient family you have established relationships, trust built up from years of working together and an inexpensive opportunity to educate and motivate case after case.  Check your scheduled patients’ diagnosed dentistry every week.  Make note of this in your morning meetings.  Establish a protocol for every hygiene appointment to involve the use of intra oral cameras and create time in these appointments to educate your patients on dentistry diagnosed but untreated – while they are a captive audience, in your dental chair.  This gives you the opportunity to tap into their decision making senses, both auditory AND visual, and create that need and want so they are more likely to say yes!

Now is the time to persevere.  Work on those weak links in your case presentation system.  Focus on improving your customer service skills – starting with where it all begins – the telephone.  And, never give up, which means – follow up.  Those that continue to improve and continue to build their patient relationships will find that when the dust settles, their practices will be stronger and better than ever.

For an article on Cathy Jameson’s Six Steps to Successful Case Presentation, visit the Jameson website at www.jamesonmanagement.com.

For dentists, the first point of reference in advertising guidelines should always be the state board’s regulations. The Texas Dental Association, for instance, does not allow dentists to use testimonials in advertising. Other state dental boards regulate issues like statements of superiority, promising predictable results, and use of misleading statements.

Once your advertisement or website passes through the state board’s filter of regulations, consult the FTC guidelines. New policies prohibit promises of atypical results in testimonials, even with a disclaimer; revealing material connections with endorsers; and even on talk shows and in social media, celebrities have to tell people if they’re being paid for the endorsements they discuss.

These days, with online communities like Facebook and Yelp!, dentists who want to boost their advertising often look for testimonials from their patients. Demandforce and other marketing companies for dentists provide a service to acquire and post testimonials from current patients. Not a bad idea if you don’t know the rules and don’t have the time.

For video testimonials, the new guidelines could mean that you’ll need to script the patient testimonials prior to shooting or edit the videos for compliance before use.

A set of guides are available online to make the “16 C.F.R. Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” a little easier for you to digest. Get the scoop here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.

Thanks to Dr. Tom Hedge for providing video coverage of select vendor booths at the Chicago Midwinter Dental Conference!

The 2009 study analyzed more than 1 million households and compared the behavior of patients who chose CareCredit as a financial resource, to those using cash, credit cards or another method of payment. The study found, over the five-year period following their initial CareCredit transaction, patients with CareCredit were more loyal and more likely to accept treatment recommended by their dentist, investing 44% more in their oral health (as measured in dollar value) and visiting the practice 25% more often. This study supports the 2005 ADCPA Report that CareCredit increases practice production an average of 25.3%.

ADCPA 2009 Study Key Findings:

• In the initial year the CareCredit account was opened, patients accepted 282% more recommended dental services and visited the practice 62% more often.
• In the following five years, patients with CareCredit accepted 44% more recommended dental services and visited the practice 25% more often.

“The ADCPA works with dentists on a daily basis and we’ve always hypothesized that CareCredit positively impacts patient behavior,” said Rick Willeford, President of the ADCPA. “This study analyzed a significant sample size – over 1 million patients – and was able to quantify the positive impact over a 5 year period. CareCredit’s revolving line of credit provides an ongoing financial resource for patients that positively affects their behavior in the dental office. They visit the practice more often and accept more dentistry, demonstrating their loyalty to the practice in clear, quantifiable ways.”

“There are many reasons why a patient may not accept their doctor’s treatment recommendations, including their personal financial situation. The ADCPA study verifies that when you give patients a flexible financial resource, it’s easier for the patient to accept care and fit dentistry into their lifestyle and budget,” stated Dave Fasoli, President of CareCredit.

About the ADCPA: The ADCPA is a national association of accounting firms that specialize in meeting the unique needs of the dental practice. For more information on the ADCPA, visit www.adcpa.org.

About CareCredit: For more than 20 years, CareCredit has been making it easy for patients to get the dentistry they need and want. Today, CareCredit is at work in more than 125,000 practices in the nation and has been used by over 8 million patients. CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by most state and national dental associations, including ADA Business ResourcesSM*, AGD, AAOMS, and AAP, and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants. For more information on CareCredit, call 1-800-300-3046 ext. 4519 or visit www.carecredit.com to view the full study report.

*ADA is a registered trademark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business Resources is a service mark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business Resources is a program brought to you by ADA Business Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Dental Association.

MEDIA RELEASE February 17, 2010

New Digital Music Service Designed Just For Dental Practices
Boulder, CO – Dental offices now have a better alternative for their in-office music. Custom Channels, a company that creates custom on-line and on-premise radio stations for nationally known brands, has launched Smile Radio – a music service specifically designed for dental practices.

Smile Radio includes multiple channels of professionally programmed, continuously updated music handpicked to enhance the sound and atmosphere of dental offices. Smile Radio channels are broadcast directly to dental practices via the Internet and received on a specially designed streaming receiver.

Custom Channels’ co-president Dave Rahn said, “A number of my dentist friends really had a hard time finding a good music solution for their dental office. Many used FM or satellite radio, or their own iPods or CDs – but found each had serious drawbacks. We created Smile Radio to address their concerns about lack of variety, song repetition, inappropriate songs, commercials and interruptions.”

Dr. Anil Idiculla of Park Meadows Orthodontics in Denver said, “The power of music is highly underrated in today’s offices. It affects your patients, your team members, and more importantly, your daily productivity. With the numerous choices of music options out there already, it can be very overwhelming to decide what the best option is to achieve this goal. Smile Radio is the total package… current music, extensive playlists, and customization. It can take your office to the next level.”

Founded by 30-year broadcast radio veterans Dave Rahn and John Bradley, Custom Channels creates and manages custom music channels for local and national brands including Floyd’s 99 Barbershops, Whole Foods Market, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cost Plus World Market, Clearwire, and numerous broadcast radio stations. Smile Radio is the company’s entrée into providing specialized music channels designed for the dental and medical professions.

Smile Radio costs $39.95 per month and includes all required ASCAP, BMI and SESAC music performance licenses. A 30-day risk free trial is offered to customers who sign up through their website at http://www.smile-radio.com. Dentists can preview all the music channels on the Smile Radio website.

Contact for more information: John Bradley – john @ CustomChannels.net 303.444.7700

Do you have a strategic plan for your dental business in 2010? Most businesses that don’t have a plan fail to become successful. Don’t enter into a new decade blindly…make sure you have a plan.

Have you ever heard the saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”? Well this holds true for your dental business as well. You can not start a business and proceed blindly and just expect that everything will work out and you will achieve great success. It rarely will happen that way. Each year, in the very beginning of each year you need to sit down outside the regular dental office atmosphere and make a plan. This plan needs to include the entire team. It starts your practice off on the “right tooth”. Well, it is one way to keep you in the black.

Don’t set yourself up for failure

Without a plan you won’t know which way to progress, you won’t know what you need to do or where you should be when the day begins; let alone another year ends. The entire team will be confused about what you are working towards. What happens next? What happens in most cases is a loss of focus on the interest of the business of dentistry and loss of motivation to get where you need to go.

Would you take a journey somewhere you’ve never traveled without a road map? Of course you wouldn’t. Not if you want to successfully reach your destination. In the year 2010 you most likely have a sophisticated device such as a GPS to guide you directly to your destination.

Considering this, do you think you could successfully reach the goal in your dental business without a strategic plan?

If you are going to put your time and money into something, you don’t want to set yourself up for failure; rather you want to ensure your success.

Have an annual plan to ensure your success

When you have a plan, you will create direction for yourself and the entire team who follows your lead. You will now understand what you need to accomplish your tasks and move to the next step.

You don’t have to do this on your own. As the year ends many consulting/business firms are offering discounts to guide you to plan effectively, to travel in the right direction and end at the pot of gold.

Once you have a plan in place, you won’t have to guess what you should do next, as you will already know. You won’t spend your time wondering and waiting for success to come, only to be disappointed and clueless as to where you went wrong. I’m not saying that just any business strategic plan is going to ensure you success, but having a plan in place will significantly improve your chances!

Be prepared
This is your business…your lively hood. Having a well thought out business plan will also reduce your stress as you move along.

If you’ve ever been a parent or a babysitter of a young infant or toddler, you will know that if you go on an outing with a carefully packed diaper bag, you will feel a lot less stressed than if you just threw some things together right before you left. What if you forgot something? What if you forgot something important like diapers, bottles for formula, or the baby food?

While you are away trying to enjoy yourself your mind may constantly be stressed, trying to think if you have forgotten anything. Not a good way to run an outing at the park… or your business. Find yourself some business plan opportunities and get started!

Have all your cards in place and you will give yourself the best chance possible to be successful.

January is almost here and if you don’t have your annual strategic planning meeting on the calendar, now is the time to schedule that for you and the entire team. I want to suggest that it be held outside of your office. Make it a fun event for the entire team. There needs to be an organized agenda but make it fun, be concise and yet directive about what needs to be accomplished. Be sure to address what has been accomplished in the past year and decade as well.(Remember we begin a new decade on January 1, 2010!!) At this important meeting make it known to the team when you plan to have the office closed in 2010, holidays for the office, vacation requests and annual review dates for each team member need to be set or suggested at the least. This is just a short list to get you started on the “right tooth” when 2010 begins.

“If you don’t know where you are going; any road can take you there. Be sure to have your map in hand as you begin 2010!”

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
May you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010!

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS
Founder: Dental Practice Solutions