Podcast

No one likes to have awkward, hard conversations, right?! Wrong! Kiera does! And in this episode, she walks you through five steps for having those discussions with your team members. Her most recent example is from an awesome office that’s struggling with morale (think backbiting and gossiping). The doctor made the fatal mistake of giving empowerment without accountability, which led to entitlement.
To be a part of an effective team, you musn’t people-please! It’s time to say what needs to be said. Here are Kiera’s tips to do just that:

1. Set the intention of how you want the conversation to go beforehand.
2. Say all the things holding you back from having this uncomfortable conversation. (Example: “I don’t want you to think you’re a bad employee, I just want to have a simple conversation.”)
3. Spend 10 seconds identifying the problem, then 10 minutes coming up with solutions.
4. Have the person recap what they heard to make sure your words...

Fact #1 about Kiera Dent: She travels a lot. And because of all the cramped airplanes, she’s been dealing with knee and hip pain. The journey of her pursuing physical therapy for this pain resulted in some major eye opening experiences that every dental office (and medical care provider) should be aware of.

Experience #1: Right out of the gate, Kiera’s physical therapist planted the seed of appointments being too expensive. This made Kiera question how often she wanted to come in and pay, even though she originally didn’t care about price.

Experience #2: Cancellation policy and putting the blame on the patient. Kiera called ahead to see if the office could fill her appointment slot, noting she hadn’t received her recommended exercises after the previous appointment. Instead of apologizing for a lack of customer service, the woman on the phone jumped down Kiera’s throat.

So that begs the question, what’s going on in YOUR practice that might need...

Ahh, the age-old question: Is it possible to be a nice office manager while still holding people accountable? In this episode, Kiera says yes! It’s easy to understand why so many people assume holding people to their word turns you into an evil, nagging boss, but there’s a reality to both sides of it.

Kiera suggests such ideas as being crystal clear with your expectations, following through on your own tasks, and practicing your word ninja ways. Remember, you, as a supervisor, need to be on your team members’ side, but you can’t want them to succeed more than they want themselves to succeed; it takes two to tango.

Inspire a culture of accountability and solutions! Don’t lower your practice’s standards to meet someone’s need for mediocrity.

Lastly, listeners, don’t forget to send in your questions or episode topic requests to Kiera (hello@thedentalateam.com)! Thanks to the faithful listener who reached out to Kiera with today’s...

Kiera is car-casting! Join her for her drive as she talks about bonuses, something she gets asked about ~a ton~. Do bonuses actually work? What’s the best way to implement them, etc. First up, do NOT make a bonus some unattainable prize; make it something someone can get when they go above and beyond their duties. Creating a bonus as a ratio means it’s forever making your team work harder at being better.

At a loss of what to do? Have no fear. Kiera discusses her ideas for setting up a bonus system, what to avoid, and even the math behind it all. To name a few...

1. Be sure your practice is in profitable mode
2. See how much your bonus should be based on profit numbers
3. Implement plan but let team know expectations

Bonuses should be fun and a celebration of success! Don’t forget that. More at www.TheDentalATeam.com.

Kiera sits down with Debbie Dodson, practice director for Castle Peak Dentistry with Dr. Summer Kassmel, to talk about dental office mergers! Debbie has been involved with two mergers in the past couple of years, and she discusses tricks of the trade. The BIGGEST thing you can do is to be patient with the transition. From her experience, Kiera says planning and remembering every little thing to educate, remember, and reorganize usually takes about three months to settle — hence the 3-month shakeout. But there are tangible tips in the meantime:

1. Prep software in advance
2. Re-hire merging team members, help them to understand your practice’s core values
3. Build a 30/60/90-day checklist of what to expect when merging
4. Honor new team members’ commitments to patients

Debbie and Kiera’s conversation also inspired some work to be done over at The Dental A-Team. Stay tuned in for a future merger checklist at www.TheDentalATeam.com!

There are a lot of dental practices out there. How does YOURS stand out? In this quick episode, Kiera talks you through how to create a marketing statement for your practice, something quick and snappy people can remember you by. Some examples from a marketing business, “We write words that sell anything,” and a honey business, “Honey on tap directly from your beehive.” There’s even The Dental A-Team’s tagline (still a work in progress): The Dental A-Team, We Build Systems, You Build Wealth.

A good place to start brainstorming for your own practice is filling in this sentence: We are the _______ of _______ in _______. For example, We Are the Einsteins of Dental Team Training. Kiera shares a bunch of ideas, and invites you to create your own! You’re even welcome to share your own ideas on the Dental A-Team Facebook or Instagram pages!

Oh, and are you interested in coaching calls with Kiera or one of her rockstar team members? Check out the...

This episode is a quickie, but it has oh-so-much valuable information! Kiera talks having accountability and delegation in your practice. She gets the question a lot: How do I keep people accountable?! The answer? Turn ‘shoulds’ into ‘musts’! Does your team know they MUST submit their KPIs to you every Friday?

Holding people accountable also means not complicating things. Have your team help you water down your demands into bite-sized pieces. Pick three things for your team members to be accountable for each week (and make them a must!). This is a challenge for everyone, and can be implemented not just in the office, but in everyday lives. Take on Kiera’s challenge to improve your accountability today!

Looking for other tips to improve your practice. We’ve got a ton over at www.TheDentalATeam.com.

Kiera finally shares her Tony Robbins experience! This episode is all about personal development and how Kiera became a better version of herself during a five-day event with Tony. She talks about her own fears as a business owner, and why she was THIS CLOSE to walking out of the event.

The biggest takeaways? Surround yourself with people who compliment you. Maybe you’re not a leader, maybe you’re not an entrepreneur, but you are someone who has a great set of skills that other people need. Learn to bend the world around you and the momentum will change your life.

The better version of you is going to be a better dentist. Doctor. Biller. Hygienist. Office Manager. Whatever. Become a better version by visiting www.TheDentalATeam.com.

First she talked about upping fluoride acceptance.

Then she walked us through doctor calibration.

NOW Kristen Shepherd is back to chat increasing hygiene production. Doctors, owners, are you wary about sharing production numbers and office goals with your team? Kristen talks with Kiera about why you shouldn’t be, and the teamwork that comes out of being transparent. She also shares her secret when it comes to have a mindset dedicated to your patients’ well-being. Such tips include…

• Put starting/ending production goals on your schedule every single day
• Look for fluoride opportunities
• Convert same-day SRPs without compromising patient care
• Discuss financial arrangements in morning huddle

Kiera said it best when she shared her wish for tons of Kristen clones! Kristen is a wonderful hygienist to emulate, and she’ll surely be back on the podcast soon enough. If you haven’t heard her other episodes, check out 92: 37% to 97% Fluoride Acceptance in Just 3...

Kiera does a quick deep-dive into one of her practices that she’s worked with for about a year now, and has visited three times. When she first arrived, culture wasn’t great, accountability wasn’t 100%, and there were some management issues. Now, after her third visit, this practice has FLOURISHED — increased profitability, increased production, 400 Google reviews, 75 new patients each month (and retained!), increased morale.... Here’s what the team did:

1. Instead of firing, gave staff opportunity to rise
2. Held people accountable
3. Aligned executive team
4. Practice-wide book club (don’t knock it ‘til you try it!)

Ultimately, the practice WANTED to be better, so they became better. They were hungry for success. Are you interested in having Kiera autopsy your practice? Are you hungry enough to make changes today? Email hello@thedentalateam.com right now!