THE MILLIONAIRE DENTIST™

Changes in Dentistry Through the Years

EPISODE 108 TRANSCRIPTION

Announcer:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Millionaire Dentist Podcast brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances, and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers back at the Millionaire Dentist Podcast. On the back end of a little winter cold and sinus, so I might sound a little different, but getting better. In studio today, we have co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hey, how are you?

Casey Hiers:
And we also have special guest Christopher Howard. Christopher is helping us evangelize our message out in the desert. He lives in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He's in at our Carmel offices today and we wanted to get his take on dentistry. Thanks for joining us.

Christopher Howard:
Gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Where you excited to have to come here and bring your winter coat?

Christopher Howard:
I was going to say, anytime I can get out from the predictable weather of Phoenix in February to come out and see my friends in Indianapolis. I certainly would jump on that opportunity. Thank you so much.

Casey Hiers:
82 and sunny. And we bring him to 28 and we're sunny today, though.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, well-

Christopher Howard:
I had forgotten about the salt on the roads. So yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Well, when there was ice on the roads last week and so the salt remains and anyway, well, we're happy to have you, and for our listeners, Christopher has a rich experience with helping practice owners and been in the dentistry world for over 15 years. He's worked for traditional consulting firms that have helped in different ways. He's also worked for one of the premier education centers in dentistry as well. Has a very good bandwidth, but really, Christopher, I want you to tell us a little bit about what you've seen in dentistry over the years, how you've been able to help folks, and start from there.

Christopher Howard:
Absolutely. I was proud of really working with dentists. I think that they have a challenge. I remember a lot of times being on an airplane and someone asked, "What do you do for a living?" And I say, "I work with dental practice owners." And why is that so niche and any dentist out there knows that their practices and their business is absolutely unique to them. And the challenges are unique. So I always just felt a connection to try to help out in that world. As we discuss, dentists don't come out of their field with a lot of business knowledge. That they take their passion, whatever that was, with really wanting to know dentistry.

Christopher Howard:
I picked that up at the education center I was at, and there's doctors traveling across the nation to really improve their clinical skills to a level that it's just far, far beyond others and what they realize. And a lot of times when I spend time with them in the evenings and get to discuss with them, the practice of the business side was always the challenge. It was always the lack of motivation, those sort of things. You could see it, just the disparate, the passion that they would have talking about the tools and things. And then when they talked about the practice, it was always challenges with staff, challenges with money issues, income, those sorts of things.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Somebody brings up overhead and payroll, a lot of practice owners go, "Oh, excuse me, I'm going to go use the restroom." They don't want to talk about those things. Those are hard. Now, consulting traditional dental consultants. There's a lot of them out there, not all are created equal. Many of the folks we worked with, they have the thing in common where they've stroked the check and been underwhelmed, but there's good ones out there. I know you worked for a good one. What, in particular, when you were in the consulting world, how did you help practice owners specifically?

Christopher Howard:
It was really getting them the parts that they missed, leadership, being able to develop leadership within their practice. It's something very natural for dentists. That second year of dental school, if you pass that you can pass anything, and dentist owners have that sort of mentality. A lot of times, they're challenged with not seeing the staff have that same level of ownership. So what we would do is, obviously, find the right people, find the right motivation dynamics, and that would really change things. Doctor coming in with a staff that was really armed with a lot of talent and really supported by the doctor. You see that through the patients, see that through the visit. It's just, it creates a circle of love if you will.

Christopher Howard:
So on the other side of that, of course, all the challenges when you hear their side of, when I was at the teaching facility, the most common concern was just really feeling like there was a lot of work, a lot of effort, but where was the income? And where was this life that they were promised, promised themselves when they chose to go into dental school. So consulting would do a great job of picking, sometimes, some of the elements. We would do a really good job with this or that. But Casey, you mentioned you have a phrase, "You're holding all the cards." If you're a good magician, you have all 52.

Casey Hiers:
Well, if you want to play Poker, you want to play with all 52 cards, right?

Christopher Howard:
It doesn't make sense without it.

Casey Hiers:
That's right.

Christopher Howard:
And you realize missing that component, missing that is, actually, it is a miss across the board, because the doctors are not hitting these big elements. They stay mired in these smaller, smaller things that they may be either can handle or continue to try to handle. And they don't actually address the bigger picture. So I'm proud that we actually can get those conversations started.

Casey Hiers:
Jarrod, you're supposed to ask a really profound question at this point.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Christopher Howard:
I see it in his eyes. I'm ready.

Casey Hiers:
So if you had to compare the traditional consulting practice management and how that can enhance a practice and then fast forward to when you are at one of the premier education centers, talk about a little bit of the different, because there's a lot of needs that practice owners have, right? Talk about how one differentiates from the other, but yet the mindset might be the same for both. They just want to be better.

Christopher Howard:
Absolutely. These are overachievers, right? Everyone knows the dentist in the area; to their family, they are the provider. They're the stability, the rock. And then again, when they just don't have it on the business side, when there's that miss when there's just that, man, I really know millimeters. And I know all these bonding techniques and I really have that down, but there's something go... Why don't I have the income? What's going on with my checking account? Why was there this tax surprise from these people who are supposed to be helping me? We're missing all those sort of components. And let's be honest, that affects the relationships within the office, outside the office, those sort of things. When that is right, everything is right. When any of those pieces are missing, you sense it in some way.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's interesting, you said that. We've seen those practices, right? Where clinically they're fantastic. They have a pretty good team. The building looks really good. They have a case acceptance and they know how to answer phones and they know how to schedule, and they know how to do those things. And everybody thinks they're massively successful, but the practice owner knows, maybe they're not making what they should, saving what they should. They don't know how much they should have. Some folks we talk to don't even know what that looks like. Nobody has told them, you have this much. You'll have this much when you go to retire. You need this much, but you just painted that picture. There's so many areas that practice owners need help with. A lot of times, they get those fixed, but they look up and their dirty little secret is, they're still on skates a little bit when it comes to being that practice owner.

Christopher Howard:
So many hats, right? You really talk about a multimillion-dollar business. Those don't just have one C-level employee. You have a marketing person, you have an operations person, you have all those people dedicated with accountability and everything. And our doctors have to wear all those. And ultimately they have that accountability, right? There's no one else to them when they feel it, they feel it.

Casey Hiers:
Well, besides being a marketing wiz, Jarrod. A lot of practice owners I speak with, they say, Hey, I want to do marketing more patients more, more, more, more, more, but yet if your overhead is 78%, and if you're taking every insurance and you're only getting paid 60 cents on the dollar, more, more, more means almost a step back in some cases. So it's not just great marketing, that's a piece of it.

Christopher Howard:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
But you've got to have that comprehensive package together to be a massively successful top 1% in dentistry practice owner. And from your perspective, there's great marketing.

Christopher Howard:
For sure.

Casey Hiers:
You can have a great website. You can have good marketing within your practice, but if the nuts and bolts aren't there, what are you doing?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. If you're bringing in patients just to lose money, that's kind of-

Casey Hiers:
Well, you've heard me say this before, in that scenario, your team, your staff, they're getting paid. The patients, they're getting their dentistry. So who suffers? Again, it's the practice owner who suffers and it's good to get your practice management or your consulting, right? If you find the good ones, it's good to get education and learn new procedures. But ultimately, if your systems and processes aren't where they need to be, you alluded to it earlier, if dentistry's not what you thought it was, that's a problem.

Christopher Howard:
Well, there's that in the picture, there's that retirement, there's that thing that doctors have, that they're working for. We all have that, right? That's the white vacation or the time that we're going to spend with significant others that get you through those moments. And man, dentists have that all the time. And it's one date, right? And a lot of them are putting their heads in the sand in regards to what they're committing to saving, what they're actually working. And they're told by so many people that you just produce more, all your answers are solved. And at some point, I used to joke, the salespeople tell the doctors all the time, with just one more crown and you can do this. At some point, the dentist go, "Well, these crowns have to go into my income. I have to make some money on this."

Christopher Howard:
And it's all going to overhead. It's all going to this. And I'll tell you what, from a psychological standpoint, my psychology background comes in every once in a while. Dentists who aren't as profitable as they can be, that don't have that projection, that don't have the training, and that don't have that strategy put together in place. They struggle. And then it comes off; it manifests in a number of different ways. Staff can feel it, spouses can feel it, and so forth. And so when that's fixed, boy, it's, again, that cycle of positivity, and now they're mentoring and now they're helping others. And now they're doing things with the staff that they've never done before. It's that actualization that can really happen. So it's wonderful when a strategy comes together.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, I like that you're pointing at, how, if you're doing better, the staff morale is doing better as well. I think that's something a lot of times people don't think about is how people can pick up on your little nuances and things like that. People can read body language, and if you're feeling stressed and anger and stuff like that, it's just going to come off in the waves.

Christopher Howard:
I can deal with a lot knowing that I've got 12 to 15 million in retirement.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Christopher Howard:
Right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Christopher Howard:
There's-

Casey Hiers:
It's interesting when I've had these conversations and you hear people tell me is their biggest frustrations. I said, guess what? Your team or staff will not bother you near as much when you're making $750,000 a year. You know when you can retire and you have millions in the bank, all of a sudden, some of these little things, they just don't bug you as much, right? But again, when you're running a gun and winging it, no real direction, trying the best you can, overheads high, insurance is driving you nuts.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Every little thing will rock the boat.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, then it's just everything. And you're right. It's culture. It's your team. Everybody picks up on it. When we talk to practice owners, if we're reaching out to someone and talking to staff, it's interesting, "How's doc doing?" Busy, stressful, busy, stressful, right? You hear that so much. And they spend so much time on consulting, fixing one problem, or CE learning one new thing. But comprehensively, it's typically tax, income, retirement, overhead. Those buckets account for a lot of it. And unfortunately, consulting and practice management can help, but it's not going to move those needles. The CE can help because you're going to learn. But again, if you're learning procedures just to have insurance, not reimburse you because you don't have the business side of things right. That doesn't work either, right?

Casey Hiers:
It's like having good weapons, but you've got a bunch of ammunition, but you don't have a gun to shoot it. The ammunition doesn't do you any good? And a lot of practice owners spend a ton of money on ammunition, but they don't actually have a delivery system for the ammunition. And I think the same could be said with all there is to learn in dentistry out there. As a practice owner, ask yourself, is this going to help me make more money, save more money, reduce overhead, have a plan; because when that's right, then you can start to fan out. Unfortunately, they typically start from the outside, work themselves in.

Christopher Howard:
Casey, you're saying a lot there,

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. And they save themselves for last.

Christopher Howard:
Unfortunately, right. That's the demand is everyone else and, of course, the doctor gets what's leftover. That's not the way it's supposed to be.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Not at all.

Christopher Howard:
When we talk about the origin stories and the reason why a doctor got into this business and chose this, and in particular, there's a passion on that side. There's a passion to help people. And these practices that really have that self-actualization, you know what's a really nice byproduct of that? The patients are getting healthier as well.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Christopher Howard:
And so any element of making more money and being more successful and feeling guilty about that just goes right out the window, because the health and the care and the five-star reviews and all that comes around. And staff are sending you resumes because they want to be around your vibe. I mean, that's a world, again, that's what you chose. And I love it when I see it happen.

Casey Hiers:
Well, and we've touched on a lot here, right? And we've touched on consulting, practice management, CE education, all those things.

Christopher Howard:
Down memory lane.

Casey Hiers:
Little nostalgia. But honestly, what it comes down to as a practice owner, if your efforts doing what you're doing are going to lead you to five to $7 million in retirement. If there was a way to double that and not really change much, would you do it? Think about all the practice owners you know, if you proposed that question to them, what would most of them say?

Christopher Howard:
They would say yes, but the consulting side of me knows that the accountability and the work and so forth is not for everyone yet. But again, when they are, and they realize the power that comes with that. When they realize the power of the team that actually is aligned with them and understands the dental side of things. Yeah, it's really amazing. The results are exponential, if I would've guessed some time ago, I felt like I knew something was missing, right? We were missing that element of the finance; money, more money was coming in, production was happening. Where was that going? What was that being put for the future? Now I know the answer. I mean, it's two, three, four times more. We're seeing in results for these doctors. And again, without changing their pattern, their behavior, their natural swing path that they come in and the people that they work with, the dentistry that they want to do, if that can be done the same way and we can increase the results. Well, I'd be happy.

Casey Hiers:
Kumbaya. There we go. Hey, thanks for joining us. I just know you had a rich background in dentistry and while there's so many ways to zig and zag in dentistry, ultimately, it comes down to as a practice owner, how is this impacting me? How is this impacting my numbers work inside out? Meaning once you get those things right, all these broader, more ancillary issues, maybe they're not as hard. Maybe they're not as stressful

Christopher Howard:
Training the core, I like it.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Absolutely.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
More money sounds great.

Casey Hiers:
So profound.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Thank you.

Casey Hiers:
More money sounds great.

Christopher Howard:
Would you like it make more money or less money?

Casey Hiers:
Is that something that you would be interested in?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes. Is there a service for me?

Christopher Howard:
Thanks, guys.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Thanks.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. And thank you to you, the listener, for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist Podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice, go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why year after year, they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us and we'll see you next time.