The mindset of a dentist, especially that of a practice owner, is different from every other field out there. Casey and Jarrod discuss the ins and outs of how dentists think and why Four Quadrants understands them so well.
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 Hires:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers back at The Millionaire Dentist Podcast in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hey, how are you?
Casey Hires:
What's the good word?
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Bird, right?
Casey Hires:
So original.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Bird is the word. I love Back to the Beach. It was a great movie. Casey, so here in a couple days, you'll be going to the HED convention. That's probably not the right name for it, but whatever. You're the one that is going. This will be at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Florida.
Casey Hires:
Bingo.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Bingo. Big thing. You're going to be speaking there, which I hear you're excellent at.
Casey Hires:
The subject matters much more impressive than anything that I do.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right. That's right. So if you're going to be there, by the way, keep an eye out. We'll be having on Thursday, you have a cabana by the pool, poolside cabana that you're going to be hanging out at and talking to people and chit-chatting and really helping dentists out. Aren't you?
Casey Hires:
Yeah. I think what we all got together and decided, Hey, let's make it casual. Our subject matters are not casual.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
Right. It's tough. It's sensitive. It's personal. So yeah, we're going to have a cabana at the pool and going to meet a lot of people and have some nice conversations. And,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
I think what'll be nice about that is if you're the type of listener, the type of person who sometimes gets embarrassed or doesn't want to ask a question that seems personal in front of a room full of people, they'll have that chance to kind of get a little bit of one-on-one time with you.
Casey Hires:
Yeah. We'll have some mocktails and cocktails, so,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hey. All right.
Casey Hires:
It'll be fun.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Nice. Saying that you're going to be there, you're going to be talking to these people one-on-one, that kind of would, I could assume that you would know a lot about dentists, about dental people and what's in their heads and what their psyche is. Right.
Casey Hires:
I don't want to give myself that much credit.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay.
Casey Hires:
But as a patient, like as a child and a young adult, you go to your health professional and you think that they are on this pedestal.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
Right. That they've made it. They're a doctor. They're amazing. And then I have conversations with them and the psychology of a dentist, guess what? They're human. They're just like you and me. Right. I mean, they are. And they have a lot of the same frustrations, stressors, challenges that we all have. They just happen to be achievers that are really good at dentistry that solve problems and help people.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
I would say that initial shock of that, of you learning more about them, especially early on in your career here, it's comparable to when you're a child, you're at the grocery store, and all of a sudden, there's your school teacher. You're like, oh, you're a real person. Why are you not in where you're supposed to be?
Casey Hires:
Well, yeah. Or you get older and you see that your school teacher's mugshot, maybe then that kind of,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
Takes him off the pedestal.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right.
Casey Hires:
But no, you're right. I get the opportunity to peek behind the curtain, and have those conversations. The psychology of a dentist, like what they think and feel and all of those things. So you want to dive into that today?
Jarrod Bridgeman:
When you started doing this and you started to learn how dentists operate and all that, what was the first thing that kind of stood out to you? What was the thing that you're like, this is a very major throwline throughout this industry?
Casey Hires:
When I was talking with practice owners and just trying to ask questions and understand where they're coming from, that's where the learning took place, where I hear from them that time and money. Right. All the frustrations, challenges, or stressors. Even if they're making very good money and have successful practices, they still have those challenges and frustrations. So it was interesting for me to see a practice owner, like with the masses or whatever, almost posing as one person.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
And then when I speak with all of these thousands, at this point of practice owners, realizing that a lot of them are posing in public like so many people do.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
But ultimately they have a lot of insecurities. They have a lot of fears. Right. They're typically not super confrontational. Right. I'm painting broad strokes here. Typically, nice. They like to help people. They're nice people. They're nonconfrontational but boy, they've got a lot of questions and uncertainty that too often don't come out over the course of a career, or it takes a while for those things to come out.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
How long does it take for someone to open up to you in this kind of way? I mean, excuse the pun but, is it like pulling teeth?
Casey Hires:
You went there. Huh.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
I did.
Casey Hires:
I mean, it's not so much about open up to me, it's timing about when they're ready. So for better or for worse, there's a lot of things that can occur where a practice owner looks up and goes, it's not supposed to be like this. I've worked too hard. I've got the debt and all the schooling and this is it. Right. And the spouse is going, Hey, you're a dentist. This is it? Like, why are we so stressed out? And so it's more of the timing when practice owners are ready to have an honest conversation.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Does that play into pride?
Casey Hires:
People ask from a firm's perspective who our competitors, our competitors are pride apathy. Right. Or other negative adjectives. Right. But yeah, pride can get in the way. So again, when their timing's right, it's really just me asking some questions and shutting up and ultimately a practice owner getting into the things that they didn't think they wanted to talk about. But boy, once you start pulling that thread,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
Oh, it's all connected.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
It's all connected. Because think about this. So many practice owners they're stressed. Right. They've got patients. Most of them are good. They only remember the ones that are not. So their patients can stress them out. Their employees are trying to get more money or not showing up for work. And so that's this big bucket and you've got family and spouse and why are you doing QuickBooks at night? Or why do we get this massive tax surprise? Or why can't we go to the Mediterranean for three weeks?
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
There's no, well, there's no production for three weeks. So that's a lot coming at somebody that, how do people view a dentist? They're not the scary dentist, like in the 50s anymore. Technology has made us a happy places, fun places. I mean, I've always enjoyed going to the dentist. I don't remember not liking, going to the dentist.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
No. And you're right. Like a lot of people still, it's a misconception. I mean, yes. Again, they make good money. It may not be the money they should be making, but other people outside of that seem to think that they're just automatically rich, rich people.
Casey Hires:
Excellent point. Because others view them as the successful doctor that has it all figured out. Sometimes that can influence them to, again, pose. It's not really a negative term. It's just human nature of,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
They're almost posing to be the person that everybody views them at. Right.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
The business owner, the leader, the boss, the doctor. And so they're going through the motions with that feeling. They can't show weakness.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
Because they have to be okay for everybody else to be okay, because they have all that responsibility on their shoulders, that's crushing. So when the timing's right for somebody to be open to that conversation, to your point within seven minutes, if I'm asking a real question that gets to the issues and shut up, I know I talk a lot on the podcast.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's all right.
Casey Hires:
But ultimately no, you start pulling that thread and we're getting into a lot of emotion, but ultimately it's coming back to all the things that are on the shoulders of a practice owner.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's a good thing to be passionate about your practice and your patients and your team and even the numbers that you have, but you still want to pull out the emotion when you can when it comes to decisions. Right.
Casey Hires:
Ooh. Yeah. Data-driven decisions. Most people I talked to when I asked them, walk me through, when you bought that piece of equipment or brought on an associate or built a new practice, how did you make that decision? And after two minutes of explanation, they almost connect their own dot and go I just kind of followed instinct. I don't know.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
That's frightening.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
And we've talked about this, but the big ticket decisions that are made that practice owners are making that affect a lot of people, they're not using complete or correct data to use them. They're sort of winging it.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well and buying something on a whim or an impulse like that is different when you're a target.
Casey Hires:
Yeah. We like to talk about all those $5,000 decisions, right? All the $5,000 decisions as a practice owner that you make, how many are right. How many are wrong. If they were all perfect, how could that be better? But yeah, there's a lot of stress. And besides patients and employees and a spouse, and this can be somebody making 400,000 in dentistry or making 1.3 million in dentistry, or, but they feel like they're on an island a little bit. And you've heard me say this a lot, but they're walking alone. Right. They're on an island, however, you want to say it. When it comes down to these real personal issues that matter and we like to say, stop walking alone, walk with a team. Right.
That's what we do with our clients. We grab their hand and they have a team. They don't have to walk alone anymore, but what's it go back to? The chemical, mental makeup of a practice owner being the one who provides solutions, being the leader, being the one that provides, being the boss, being... And so their counterintuitive and you have to have a high emotional IQ to understand it, have the awareness of it, and at least be willing to do something about it or investigate it instead of just continuing to do what you've done because it's kind of worked and Hey, I'm doing better than most.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, and to that point, you also just can't throw money towards a team and not have the drive to improve yourself.
Casey Hires:
Yeah. No, and that's again, it comes down to all these decisions. Practice owners have so many decisions to make that they're making a loan with very little data. They're just going on instinct.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
What keeps them alone? Why is the dentist feeling so alone?
Casey Hires:
Because nobody can do it as good as they can. And in a lot of respects in their life, they're not wrong. Right. They, I mean, our clients are smart, high-achieving people. And so many things, others have let them down with whatever service provider or, you know what I mean? And so that's a big one. Sometimes it's just not knowing there's another way. Right. We talk about piece mailing. I have an accountant and I have a financial advisor and I have this consultant, but they don't talk.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
And so,
Jarrod Bridgeman:
So that's like feeling alone in a party. You have all these people around you.
Casey Hires:
And you just think that status quo, well, everybody does it this way. Right. So and dentists are creatures like that. If three dentists down the street have this piece of equipment, I have to have it.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
Right. Well, if everybody I know has the same setup that I do, then I guess I'm okay. And so it's very much like that group think sometimes. And because firms like ours or how our structure is rare, people might not understand it, but again, the pride or embarrassment of I've got to seek out help.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
So in terms of that help, what are some of the things that we do here at Four Quadrants or things that we can help alleviate with that?
Casey Hires:
Well, I'd like that question because I was also going to bring up the stock market. How many listeners out there are a little stressed or frustrated because the stock market's taken ups and downs? And I mean, what we do is we have a plan for each and every client that is incredibly custom, that many are saving 100, $150,000 a year. Well, guess what that plan means. We're not going to be uber risky in the stock market like most practice owners are. They don't even know their mix of investments and what they're doing. They're trying to play catch up. They're trying whatever it is.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
And so what we do that is different is make sure there's a custom plan that focuses on capturing more, saving more, eliminating mistakes. But in times like this, we're not going to be overly risky in a stock market.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Because we have a team of people that follow and know the stock market, not just, oh, my uncle Frank told me that this one stock's about to pick up today.
Casey Hires:
Unfortunately, a lot of people in the investing world are not going to make any money if every dollar is not being invested. And I'm tiptoeing around, we're not giving investment advice on this podcast. Our firm gives investment advice to our clients.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Correct.
Casey Hires:
Right. But we're not giving it on this podcast, but generally speaking, if there's nowhere to hide, then let's not be risky.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.
Casey Hires:
And so having those conversations, because most people in the investment world, they're not going to make their money and how they need to do things.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Because there's a difference between, oh, we have some fun money that you want to play with in the market versus your 401k.
Casey Hires:
Yeah, absolutely. And back to your original question, how we do things different, again, our clients don't walk alone, they have a team and some of the most personal life occurrences that happen with them or their spouse or their kids or whoever it is, they have a team that knows. I mean, we have clients who tell us, they're expecting before they tell their parents.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.
Casey Hires:
I mean, it's that kind of relationship. And so as a practice owner, how empowering would it have to be, to have a relationship like that where you're not walking alone, but again, it's back to what prevents us from happening mindset. Can you be coachable? Can you take constructive criticism? What do we always say? You don't need to pay our firm to not take our advice.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.
Casey Hires:
Right. But all of those things, it's like a salmon flowing against the current, all those things a practice owner is facing. And so the default is they don't do anything. They don't do anything different. They just keep doing what they're doing. And too many times they're practicing longer than need to practice. Right. Like for example, an oral surgeon, maybe an oral surgeon can retire earlier. They make more in most cases. Well, if you want to retire at 60, but you can retire at 53 with five million more dollars and you would have doing it the old way. Wouldn't you want to do that?
Jarrod Bridgeman:
How does that affect their work-life balance? Are they having to work 12-hour days? Are they coming in and working five days a week, 12-hour days to put away that money.
Casey Hires:
When I'm talking to potential clients and we're vetting each other, because we vet our people we invite to the firm. When we get into results and average benchmarks and things that we're able to do, the joke is, and you're not going to have to work more. You're not going to have to eat ramen noodles. Spouses are always worried. Spouses of practice owners are always worried we're going to put you on a budget. That's not the case. This isn't about reducing lifestyle. We're not a world-class firm because of that. But work-life balance is very important. And if anything, we're monitoring burnout, we're trying to figure out ways that they can get their schedule down to three days. Right. Maybe three and a half days instead of four or five or God forbid somebody's working some Saturdays like we'll get rid of that real quick.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep. Yep.
Casey Hires:
But yeah, you hit on it. Work-life balance is important. And Jarrod, for some listening out there again, maybe you need to send this to some of your friends in your study club or your dental society because ultimately some folks are going to go, wow. They kind of have us pegged and it's not a lot of fun to have to admit faults. Practice owners work to get the right team in their office.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes.
Casey Hires:
They need to work as hard to get the right external team helping them as well. But again, Hey to some of our listeners, we want to broaden this podcast. Send it to your friends in your dental society and your study club, different folks that want to hear it. Ultimately we are here to help people. We're here to help practice owners have more, make more, save more, have less stress. And that makes our firm world-class.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure does. And we'll be out visiting other places. Besides the AGD will be in Schaumburg, Illinois at the end of September at the Topgolf facility. If you'd like to come to that, go to fourquadrantsadvisory.com/events. Casey, you'll be at that one, right?
Casey Hires:
Bingo.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.
Casey Hires:
Hitting bombs.
Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hitting bombs, baby.
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.
