THE MILLIONAIRE DENTIST™

The ultimate podcast for dentists and specialists
apple podcast logo overcast logo spreaker logo pocketcasts logo tunein logo iTunes Logo google podcasts logo iheartradio logo

EPISODE 80: The State of Things

Casey and Jarrod sit down and discuss the current state of the dentistry world and how that applies to state meetings, associations, and conventions.

WANT TO STAY UP TO DATE? SUBSCRIBE TODAY

 

EPISODE 80 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 it again in the Millionaire Dentist podcast studios with cohost Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Hey. How you doing?

Casey Hiers:
Good, sir. Nice to see you.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Nice to see you. By the way, I'd like to point out that this is our 80th episode.

Casey Hiers:
Oh.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's pretty exciting. I like the fact that we had started recording a few minutes ago and Casey forgot the name of our own show.

Casey Hiers:
No. That's that's fake news. Fake news.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Fake news. Yeah. It's our 80th episode. That's pretty exciting. This is I think my 10th, or at least the 10th or 12th.

Casey Hiers:
I tell you what, the feedback that we've received from people in the dental community that we interact with, and our clients, and our clients' spouses, some of which are business owners, and attorneys, and different things though, unsolicited they'll tell us, "Hey. When I mow the grass, I listen to this." It's kind of fun. I almost forget we record it. We record it. We have some fun. We tackle some topics and then I forget about it. Then a lot of people tell us, "Hey, I kind of enjoy it. I like the 15, 18-minute scenario." Yeah. I'm glad you pointed that out.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
It's cool to step outside that vacuum of, "Oh no, no. People do listen to us."

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Yeah. We've got a great audience out there, so thank you. Let's zoom out. We do a lot of very specific topics and I thought we could just do one where we zoom out a little bit. What's going on in the world of dentistry here in the summer of 2021? I thought we'd touch on that for a little bit.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
I think that's a great idea. It's been mentioned several times throughout our different podcasts. Things are starting to get back to normal, I feel like. I think people are more willing to step out and be out. A lot of places have dropped their mask mandates and things like that. In particular, with our company and with you, you are finally, after over a year, able to step back out and start seeing people face to face. Have it be, is it a convention? Is it a dinner event? Is it a speaking event? As you're coming out there, and finally seeing people again, and finally getting to shake hands and press flesh, what are you seeing? What's coming back to you from owners out there?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. It's interesting. Our clients, and our listeners, and people we interact with all over the country, so very different geographically. We know that what's gone on in the last 15 to 16 months is, some of it is geographically very different, but we had the opportunity to go down to Florida for their dental convention, their dental conference, their state meeting. It was really, really great to see all the people together, high-fiving, hugging. The sheer joy, right?

Casey Hiers:
Different states and different organizations, they have to determine what's best for them. Risk reward and et cetera. For the state of Florida, they were sort of out in front, which I guess they have been during this time. They had their dental convention. Seeing that was fantastic. I don't like those terms of "back to normal" and all those things. We all use them. Right?

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But there truly was a sense of joy. There's an energy. There's a comradery when people get together. That was very evident from the CE. We presented two hours at a wonderful lecture for folks, obviously on the business side of dentistry. People are happy to learn. There was a lot of great CE. There was a lot of good social activity. There was a lot of companies and vendors with products. The common denominator was everybody was very happy to be together and there was a sense of gratefulness.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Without staring into a computer camera.

Casey Hiers:
Well, sure. One thing we all agreed on though, we're all Zoomed out. Everybody was grateful. Something they would have taken for granted three years ago, two years ago, now they said, "Wow, this is such a good time." From the state meeting of Florida, there was a lot of very good energy and excitement everywhere.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's really a great thing to hear. I think a lot of our listeners out there are excited to hear that too, because some of them may still be a little timid about getting back out there. Maybe they're not. Who knows? It's reassuring news to hear.

Casey Hiers:
From the study club and dental society side of things, there's a lot of differences. Some people have been meeting, are meeting. Others are enjoying a summer hiatus because they're not sure what they want to do. This is a lightning rod topic, but I can say a lot of dental societies and study clubs are inquiring and want us to come in. We can't present to everybody, but we do like to present to some study clubs and dental societies and some of those more local or regional groups.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
I get the idea of still being a little timid. Sometimes you just get used to what happened in the past year and a half. For example, at the grocery store, I still stand six feet from people, but that's just because I don't want to be around them.

Casey Hiers:
I was going to say, I wanted to make fun of you for ... But do you really want to be around those people?

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Exactly. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
You called your own shot. Well, and let's be honest, some of these study clubs, maybe it's the specialist who drew the short straw and they're the president of the group. They're hearing, "We want to meet. We don't want to meet." Sometimes it's just easier to not. Again, for us, the energy that we're seeing, the excitement that we're seeing, is very gratifying.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Now, you said you did the Florida convention, the state convention. From there, do you see your schedule filling out even more?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, yeah. Our schedule just for people wanting continuing education on a practice owner's guide to the business side of dentistry, we're jammed up. Actually flying to the Georgia dental meeting. Their state meeting is actually in Amelia Island, Florida.

Casey Hiers:
Doing their state meeting this week. Got a couple hours we're presenting as well, and lecturing to practice owners, and looking forward to that. It's an old farming term, "Make hay when the sun shines." Right? Make hay when the sun is shining. I think that's, for our listeners, they're producing a lot right now. I'm hearing record months. People are just really, really producing. Keep that up. We've learned there's ebb and flow to everything. People with CE and travel, they're starting to get more comfortable. Eat that up. I think we all learned the hard way, we're guaranteed nothing.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Anything can happen. I think, for some of those who are maybe not as comfortable traveling, that's okay. But for those that are, now's the time. Yeah, our schedule is very jammed up. We've got our internal events. We've got state meetings. We've got some national meetings. Then sprinkling in some study clubs and dental societies.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
When you got back on stage for that first time in Florida, was there any rust you had to shake off?

Casey Hiers:
Sure. A little bit. It's kind of fun, right? I don't know if our listeners played sports out there or performed. Anything, when you get a little bit of those butterflies that are good, that's exciting. That's the kind of juice that gets you going. Yeah. I don't think our listeners care about my personal feelings.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
I mean, I totally care.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. There was an excited juice to it, of getting up there, talking about a topic that's underserved in the dental community, and having it face-to-face, not via a computer where there's just no energy there. It was an absolute blast. Really enjoyed it. Again, so many practice owners, they need it and if they can find help sooner, it makes so much difference in their lives. The ones that see that it's just beautiful. Then you have the folks that haven't bought yet, but they're like, "When I buy, I need help. I don't have delusions of grandeur that I can produce, be the CEO, and actually run the business side as well."

Jarrod Bridgeman :
For our listeners who may not be familiar, maybe they're newer listeners, maybe they've never really talked to us before, could you give us a shortened blanket idea overview? You've mentioned this called the business side of dentistry, but what do you talk about? If they want to come, what should they kind of expect coming into a dinner event or a convention?

Casey Hiers:
They should expect to feel like they got metaphorically punched in the gut, because a lot of the areas that cause practice owners stress, challenge, or struggle, we address what those are. There's a reason why every practice owner doesn't have 54% overhead, why every practice owner isn't saving 80 to $100,000 a year for retirement. There's dozens of those areas. We tackle eight or 10 of them and help folks understand, when you start to add these up, it can cost you millions and millions of dollars over the course of your career, and hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Quantifying it seems to get people's attention.

Casey Hiers:
We like to touch on, why aren't you achieving what you can achieve? Let's go through these areas. What they can expect is to feel punched in the gut, because they typically say, "It's as if you looked at my QuickBooks, my profit and loss statement, my balance sheet, and understand my personal cashflow situation." Now, there's also those folks who are doing pretty good, but they say, "Could I be doing better?" They hear some of these areas and they say, "Those three, I'm not real good at."

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Even a 1% change can mean a lot of money.

Casey Hiers:
Oh, well no doubt. A lot of people that come in and they want the magic wand. They want me to give them a magic wand and Monday they go fix everything. What they will learn in our presentation is, number one, I'm not so arrogant to think I've got three magic bullets for everybody in the room. That's ridiculous. But there is no magic wand. These things take time. I like that question.

Casey Hiers:
What can they expect? To learn a lot, to get the tools to realize the areas they need fixed, understanding how much that's worth to them.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
And in a subject that, for everything I've heard, they spend very little time in school learning that part of the process.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Very little.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
It's either us or 15 more clinical CEs. I feel like ours might be a little more exciting.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, well that's the funny part.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Not to other thing.

Casey Hiers:
No. I'll talk to groups and they'll say, "We're strictly clinical CE." Typically, the dentist or specialist will say, "Man, I'm burned out on that. I love your topic. We need more of that." Then the same people will say, after a couple of years, "I'm tired of all the business, the things I want clinical." You cannot make everybody happy.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Well, for sure.

Casey Hiers:
We're viewed as there's a lot of clinical CE at an organization. Let's bring these folks in. It's something new. It's variety. It's different and it's needed. Yeah. People are getting together. People are having fun. Looking forward to the Georgia meeting. Again, just getting people together, the energy, the ideas. Now's the time.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Now's the time. We're launching a lot of these, what we're calling dinner and CE events, which to me sounds really exciting. I wish I could go because it sounds like they're all going to be at these really nice steakhouses and seafood places.

Casey Hiers:
Good venues. Yes.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Good venues. They don't send me out because they're like, "Man, you order too much." I get it. I get it. These people can reserve a ticket for them and their spouse. Then from there, they get with that a nice dinner with some drinks, comradery, and actual CE.

Casey Hiers:
I always joke, you guys are here for hopefully the right reasons, but some people are here to maybe enjoy a nice meal, others are here maybe to just get together with some of their peers in a smaller, upscale atmosphere, and some of you are here to learn about the business side of dentistry because you're an achiever and you want to be better. All of those are okay.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
What are some cities that are coming up? I know there's Dallas.

Casey Hiers:
Dallas. Denver. We're doing the Phoenix, Scottsdale area.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Yeah. Phoenix, Scottsdale, and then Birmingham, Alabama.

Casey Hiers:
Birmingham, Alabama. Yep.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's just our first four. We've got, I believe, what? Two a month, all around the country?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. We're going to do two or three a month. Kind of tour around. Again, it's kind of the best of the best coming together to learn, learn from each other, learn from experts, and ultimately achieve more.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
Do you know where I could go to get tickets?

Casey Hiers:
You take care of that.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's right. I do take care of that. If anybody has any questions, you can go to our website fourquadrantsadvisory.com. There are links to all four of those cities we mentioned available. If you are not in that area, but you know a good buddy that could use it out there-

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. I was going to say, we're going to do 15, 20, 25 of these in some of the geographies maybe you don't live at, but maybe you went to dental school with one of your buddies, and he's posting a picture of his Harley Davidson, hashtag blessed, on the internet and everybody thinks he's doing well.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
We have an events page with all stuff listed, that's actually officially in the books.

Casey Hiers:
We can all lower our overhead a little bit.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
A little bit. All right. I think that's all I've got for what's going on this summer so far.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. We're going to have a good time at these events. To our listeners, again, make hay when the sun is shining. Produce, produce, produce. Ultimately, get with your colleagues, friends in the dental world and learn something.

Jarrod Bridgeman :
That's right. Thank you.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. 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.