Podcast

Ashley Keith is back for part 2 of her case study! (Missed part 1? Check out episode 87, Case Study: Untangling the Ball of Yarn.) After discussing building processes around positions, not people, Ashley moves on to developing 5-star experiences for both patients and team members. An example from her office: The team is stressed over prioritization of answering phones versus greeting live patients. Ashley’s solution? Move the phones with incoming calls to a back room!

In this episode, Ashley talks with Kiera about whether or not the idea worked, and how she utilized her tenured team during the transition.

Other talking points include getting some quick wins for your team after making a change, creating a “parking lot” list, and having team members fill in what’s missing for their positions.

Ashley Keith works as office manager for Keith + Associates Dentistry in the Kansas City Metro Area. Prior to her current position, she received a degree in marketing from...

Friend and Ryan, two dental students at the University of Kentucky, are curious about what they should know about billing! Kiera happily obliges, and in this episode, walks the two through how billing starts, where billing ends, and where the dentist should be attuned. Their conversation includes credentialing an office, maxing out insurance, and the best way to fill out narrative forms. Billing is a BEAST, but it’s totally helpful to understand as a dentist.

And don’t forget, the Dental A-Team has an entire billing course that explains the nitty-gritty in detail. Check it out over at www.TheDentalATeam.com!

Behind the Smiles’s Dr. Gina Dorfman talks with Kiera about a whole bunch of great topics in this episode, including teams keeping dentists happy and vice versa (hint: Doctors, if your team is disappointing you, it might be on you!); why doctors benefit from having a coach; and finding that perfect employee.

Kiera and Dr. Dorfman are also speaking at Voices of Dentistry in January 2020 — hear a sneak peek of their topics at this big event (which Kiera used to be a total fangirl at, by the way).

Remember, the Dental A-Team podcast is a FREE way to get your teams and doctors in the best ownership mindset, so make sure you’re staying up-to-date on all episodes, which can be found at www.TheDentalATeam.com.

This episode is overflowing with valuable information, tricks of the trade, and inspiring ideas! Kiera chats with Dr. Deren Flesher out of Oklahoma City about his four-year-old start-up practice, Royal Oak Family Dental. The two discuss the strides Dr. Flesher has made with…

• His office’s rotating schedule (hellooooo, three days off each week!)
• Assisted hygiene and a 10-30-20 practice
• Getting past the idea of being less busy and more productive
• His hygienist checklist
• Bonusing and membership plans
• An automated system to build the doctor-patient relationship (promo code for a discount here!)

A second conversation with Dr. Fisher will be coming soon, so stay tuned for more goodness! In the meantime, head over to www.TheDentalATeam.com.

Quarterly meetings are one of Kiera’s favorite things! In this quick episode, she shares an exercise she did with the elite Mastermind group of the Dental Success Institute. Those present were from all sorts of roles — dental assistants, treatment coordinators, schedulers, office managers, etc. — and Kiera had them write down the following:

• Dental practice’s core values
• One-, three-, and ten-year goals
• 10-15 minutes of brainstorming to meet those goals
• Graph of impact

Ultimately, you’re able to see what ideas are HIGH impact and LOW cost to meet your practice’s ultimate goals. It’s a pretty nifty magic trick, huh? Give this episode a listen to learn more, then head to www.TheDentalATeam.com to discover all sorts of trainings, events, and more podcast episodes.

Listening to the Dental A-Team Podcast is good. Very, very good.

Attending a live DAT event is even better!

Kiera and Tiffanie hosted their phone skills and scheduling event in Indiana, and shared the following tidbits with the group:

1. What it means to LEVEL UP! Whether you’re high energy or “cool as a sunset,” make sure you’re in your peak state when talking with clients.
2. Mark Costes' 3 E’s: Empathy, energy, and edification.
3. Don’t get stuck in patterns! Try mystery calls into your office and record the samples (Kiera uses Zoom; other options include the Weave phone system and Patient Prism for new patient-reviewed phone calls). Then learn from them.
4. Master scheduling with high productivity periods first thing in the morning and right after lunch.

Interested in more information about what went down at the event? Email [email protected] with questions or just to say hello! We love our fans!

Upcoming live events include:

November 7 in...

Quarter 3 of 2019 wasn’t great for Kiera. Why? She lost track of her intentions-- she was distracted and focused on majoring in minor things. Intentions are those big goals — becoming a better leader, taking more ownership in your practice, etc. — that you set and stick to to have a better life.

In this episode, Kiera challenges YOU to write down three intentions today to finish off 2019 strong. If we don’t set intentions and just go through life day-to-day, we lose track of where we want to go in life.

And if your intentions involve being a better part of your dental practice, check out The Dental A-Team training videos and use code “podcast” for a sweet deal.

This is ~the episode~ to listen to! Kiera shares a sneak peek into her world of words to use/not use when it comes to talking with patients. Utilizing the right words creates a world of yesses instead of nos! Some examples of phrases NOT to use:

• “Would you like to get scheduled for that?”
• “I can try...” or “Sure.”
• “But…”
• “Sorry, we’re out of network” or “No, we don’t take that.”
• “What time do you want to come in?” or “When would you like to schedule this?”
• “We require 48-hour notice for cancellations.”

What SHOULD you say? Kiera talks about the right words to use. Want an entire sheet of yes/no words? Email us at [email protected]! Other episodes to listen to with The Dental A-Team is episode #3, Don’t Break Up With Me - Controlling Cancellations. 

In this episode, Kiera shares her wisdom with Danielle and Friend, two dental students out of Kentucky who have a lot of great questions that need answering! Some of the topics discussed today...

• How can a dental student understand other positions in the office?
• What other dentistry topics should physician students look at aside from clinical?
• What are good Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you should have when first starting out?
• Best ways to go about creating efficiency in an office you’re new to?

One of the most exciting points Kiera shares is her plan to develop a Dental A-Team training for students to rotate through all dentistry positions. That way, dental students can really receive a comprehensive view of an office before they head into the thick of it.

Look out for other great conversations like this one at www.TheDentalATeam.com!

This inspirational episode is one you’ll want to have on repeat. Kiera teams up with Cheryl Cornelius out of San Antonio, Texas to talk about peeling away the barriers in your life. Cheryl and her husband paid off ~$830,000 debt (while parenting 8 children!!) by focusing in on what kind of life they wanted. Now, they enjoy an empowered life and Cheryl often shares their experience with dental students and dental graduates around the country.

Both Kiera and Cheryl encourage putting one foot in front of the other and climbing your mountain. What is your barrier — debt? Patients? Your business? Personal concerns? Something else? Take time today, 5 minutes even, and write down three things you want to change, and steps you can take to make that change.

Does that include becoming part of The Dental A-Team? Good. Start today at www.TheDentalATeam.com.