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Endo Mastery

Month: October 2024

Marketing Tip: Holiday gift giving

Gift giving is a well-established tradition for referral marketing. As the holiday season approaches, you should think about how gifts communicate your professional relationship with GPs and your appreciation for their referrals.

  

Keep in mind that the closer to the end of year that you give out gifts, the more likely those gifts will get added to a pile of other gifts received around the same time. Giving a gift earlier around Thanksgiving (and in keeping with the spirit of gratitude) often will make your efforts stand out more.

  

Here’s a fantastic website for business and team gift giving that is filled with suggestions. Whether you order from them or not, you are sure to find some top-notch creative gift ideas:

Getting past uncertainty in practice challenges

DEBRA MILLER

DIRECTOR OF COACHING

Uncertainty is the opposite of predictability, and endodontists are generally inclined toward the latter. Clinically, doctors strive for predictable outcomes. When it comes to the team and practice operations, predictability is also favored. For example, the schedule should be appointed consistently, and teams should follow standardized procedures that adhere to the doctor’s expectations.

  

When uncertainty comes in play, the perception is often that there is some level of risk involved. Risk perception can invoke wildly different responses. In urgent situations where you feel compelled to act and the stakes are high, you can experience an adrenaline response tied to the “flight or fight” impulse. It’s a survival instinct where you must either get through it or get away from it.

  

However, in less urgent situations, the response to risk and uncertainty is often avoidance and delay. A good example is when the doctor is feeling stressed and not enjoying the practice. Obviously, something needs to change because when it is your practice and your profession, spending the rest of your career in a state of stress is a recipe for exhaustion and burnout. But doctors often procrastinate taking action because they can’t pinpoint the exact cause of the stress, or an easy-to-implement solution. It’s usually a mixture of factors. As a result, faced with uncertainty like this, many doctors delay taking action and allow the problem to persist far longer than it should.

Management vs. leadership

As a practice owner, you are both the manager and leader of the practice. These are different skills that are often at odds with each other because they have different objectives.

  

The objective of the manager is to systematize daily operations and create predictable results at all levels. The objective of the leader is to make the business more successful, which requires innovation and growth. So, the manager aims to stamp out uncertainty while the leader aims to make changes that, by definition, cause some uncertainty in order to initiate growth to new levels.

  

Doctors are often much more comfortable in the manager role than the leader role … because questions that surround making changes in the practice lead to the perception of risk, which leads to delay or avoidance in taking definitive steps to move forward. Even when you know it is the right thing to do, uncertainty often makes you less inclined to invest in things that make progress toward your goals.

From comfort zone to growth zone

When I speak with doctors about practice coaching, some of them ask questions that tell me their inner manager is calling the shots. The manager mindset wants all the unknowns removed before making a commitment. Remember the manager’s goal is to perpetuate predictability. If things are good now, why risk it? As the well-known business book made clear, good is the enemy of great when “good” blocks innovation that will lead to “great”.

  

The consequence of an overruling manager mindset is that the practice settles around comfort zone, the team becomes entrenched at a certain level of performance, and resistance to change (and the perception of risk around change) increases. A manager can always find a reason to delay: “I’m too busy”, “My team isn’t ready”, “What if it doesn’t work?”, etc.

  

By comparison, a leader-driven practice focused on growth is always striving for improvement. It is open to positive changes and investing in the team and practice strategies that result in growth.

  

Great practice leaders understand that growth and innovation require taking on challenges that will naturally introduce some uncertainty. However, leaders are also confident in their practice foundation and their own history of overcoming past challenges effectively. That confidence is even more empowered when supported by an experienced practice coach.

 

So, who is dominating your inner dialogue about your practice? Is it the manager who wants to lock things down or the leader who wants to open things up to more opportunities and possibilities?

Practice Coaching: Frequently asked questions

Are there different coaching options or just one program?

Most doctors have practices that are the result of implementing a variety of self-taught management strategies and systems over the years. That results in a functioning practice, but rarely in an optimal practice.

  

Practice coaching is a single all-inclusive program focused on integrating and improving every aspect of the practice to a highly effective and professionalized level. Nothing is overlooked: administration, scheduling, marketing, finances, team dynamics, clinical efficiency and more. It’s comprehensive, thorough and completely customized to your goals, team and practice.

How soon will I see results when I begin coaching?

It depends on what you define as results. If you mean “improvement” then it is highly likely that you will start to see better results as soon as 4 to 6 weeks. If you mean “reach all goals”, then it usually takes longer for all the coaching strategies to be implemented and achieve full effect. Big goals (like doubling your income) obviously take longer than small goals.

 

Most doctors want their investment in coaching to be worthwhile, and we encourage doctors to articulate and strive for their ideal vision. For this reason, coaching is a 12-month commitment that can be renewed each year. That creates the framework so we can really dig in with your team, work closely with you, adapt and refine strategies and systems for your practice, and ensure everything is effectively generating the results needed to achieve your short and long-term goals.

How can I be certain my practice is ready for coaching?

Doctors often over-obsess about limitations they perceive in their practices and how it could diminish coaching success. However, we are experienced in working with every kind of practice and team challenge. Endo Mastery does not have any “red flags” that automatically disqualify a practice from coaching.

  

We can work with any endodontic practice at any stage. We have clients ranging from brand new startup practices by young doctors, to established mid-career doctors, to doctors approaching retirement. We have solo doctor and group practice clients, multi-location practices, practices with, without and planning for associates or transitions, etc. 

 

Plus, we offer a moneyback guarantee that your coaching investment will pay off by double. So, practice coaching really is a no-risk opportunity that every doctor can take advantage of.

Achieving career and family balance

CYNTHIA STAMATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Most people spend more time at work than they do on any other single activity except for sleeping. That means there is a lot of life that must happen in the time left over from practicing. If the practice takes so much time that it causes sacrifices in your family and life, the stress can take a huge toll.

 

Many endodontists, while recognizing that their practices are essential to earn a professional income, experience work/life pressure. Common symptoms that we often see in doctors who reach out to us for coaching include:

  • Not being able to leave at the end of the day with the team in order to complete reports and management tasks, or having to bring work home to do in the evenings.
  • Frequently missing family mealtime in the evenings, having little time to spend with children/family after work, and sometimes no time when getting home after children have gone to bed.
  • Feeling preoccupied about practice and team issues all the time, which interferes with being present and enjoying life outside the practice.
  • Stress over finances makes doctors feel trapped, pushes them to work more than they would like to, and limit vacation time to just a few weeks each year.
  • Persistent feelings of mental and/or physical exhaustion at the end of each day.

Female breadwinner syndrome

While all doctors can feel unbalanced in work/life factors, female doctors are more likely to experience imbalance more intensely, especially if they have children at home.

  

A 2023 Pew Research Study confirms what we always knew: in homes where both marital partners earn similar incomes and even when the female spouse is the primary breadwinner, women spend significantly more of their non-work time devoted to caregiving and housework than men.

  

Especially for mothers of young children, it sets up a potential work/family conflict between income roles vs. maternal roles. With even less time to unwind, de-stress and enjoy leisure than their male partners, female professionals can quickly feel overloaded and burnt out.

Winning the game of life

Regardless of personal vision and values, the fundamental mechanics of modern life come down to time and money. When we have both abundant time and abundant economics, we feel the liberty and flexibility to follow our passions and dreams.

 

Financial pressure is the #1 killer of our sense of self-directed choices. If doctors feel constrained or stressed financially, it is hard to escape the mindset that you need to be working even more and even harder. We must keep our economic engine running to fund the cashflow needs in our life.

  

What changes the work/life dilemma is when you learn how to be more successful in your practice while spending less time in your practice. With practice coaching, you can master a higher level of productivity and earn much more income in less time. That translates to fewer hours per day and fewer days per year while your income increases substantially.

  

Building a practice that supports your life without overwhelming your life is partly practice systems, partly team delegation, and partly marketing. Endo Mastery’s coaching strategies are specifically designed to achieve this goal: improved productivity with less stress and time for the doctor. We love when the doctor is the first to leave at the end of each day.

  

We call it effortless endodontics and creating a lifestyle practice that is free from work/life sacrifices. We can help any doctor on that journey to an incredible life. Contact us to discuss your goals. 

Preparing for the unexpected

DR. ACE GOERIG

OWNER & CO-FOUNDER

The images we are seeing this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene are disturbing. In one day, countless homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure that communities depend on were destroyed. It will take years to rebuild, but there is no way to fully restore the families of the over 200 lives taken by the storm. Our hearts go out to those devastated families dealing with sadness and grief for lost loved ones.

  

How quickly our peaceful happy lives can be uprooted by unexpected events. Certainly, natural disasters like a hurricane are among the most difficult to prepare for. Meteorologists speak of 100-year storms or 1000-year storms as being statistically inevitable, but we have no idea when they will actually happen.

  

Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, we are constantly warned that “the big one”—a massively destructive earthquake and tsunami that will swamp coastal cities like mine—could happen at any time. I don’t want to be overly ghoulish listing everything that can go wrong, and it’s important to remember that the odds of these events occurring can be extremely small.  

Preparation and self-reliance

We live in an interdependent and interconnected world. Our communities that surround us are as important to our lives as anything we do individually. Here are some things you can do to get through the storm as easily as possible:

  • Be insured

A good insurance agent will make sure your property (home and practice) is fully insured, along with business operations and your income, in case of an extended interruption. Keep in mind you may need to rely on your own financial resources in the short/medium-term if insurers are overwhelmed processing many claims.

  • Have a cache of cash

In many of the worst hurricane-hit areas, payment card networks have been knocked out of service. There are line ups for ATMs that are running out of cash. Have access to a private reserve of cash, either hidden somewhere or in a safe deposit box at your bank.

  • Have a family plan to get reunited

Many areas in North Carolina are currently without phone, cellular or internet services. There is no way for families to contact each other. Establish a central meeting place (your home, for example) where everyone makes their way safely if communications are disrupted.

  • Train for emergency first aid

If roads become impassable, emergency services cannot reach you. Ensure that you and every family member are trained in emergency first aid. Keep sufficient supplies on hand at all times.

  • Emergency food and clean water

Stores, restaurants and gas stations may be closed. Your regular water supply can be polluted or cut off. Always have a week’s worth of emergency rations and clean water stockpiled at your family’s meet up location for each person. Also keep in mind essentials like diapers, garbage bags, batteries, etc.

  • Family support

Have a plan for your family (or extended family if you choose) on how you will support them financially in case of an emergency or disaster. What if they lose their home or job? Medical costs? As a high-income earner, you will likely be who they turn to for help. What are you prepared to do and for whom?

  • Team support

Have a plan for your practice with procedures established in case of an emergency. How will you coordinate communications? Under what conditions do you expect them to report for work? If the practice must close for a period, will team members be paid or on unpaid furlough? If paid, for how long?

  • Patient support

An environmental disaster isn’t going to pause an oral health disaster for a patient in pain. How will you continue to provide emergency care? Keep in mind that patients may not have a means of payment if card networks are down and ATMs are depleted. How will patient policies be adjusted during these times? 

Maintaining your peace of mind

Honestly, you cannot prepare for every possible contingency, emergency or disruption to life. You can, however, prepare yourself to have the well of resources at hand so your decision-making in the moment is as easy as possible.

  

I have a saying I often use that goes: “It’s just another root canal.” It’s a lighthearted way of saying that greater financial success gives you more options. Decisions that you may have worried about at a lower level of finances become so much easier.

  

The last thing you want to be worried about in an emergency is money. You want to be able to do what needs to be done as quickly as possible. That is one more reason a highly profitable and successful practice is so important. It doesn’t just give you a great lifestyle and future in normal times; It gives you the financial flexibility to pivot, react, decide and move forward under all circumstances with confidence and certainty. That’s the definition of being prepared.

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