Monday Dental Practice Optimization

Welcome to
Dental Practice Optimization!

Trivia Question❓

What is the recommended annual marketing budget for a dental practice as a percentage of revenue?

Answer at the bottom of the newsletter

Dan Kennedy has been one of the leading, if not the very best, marketing and business strategists of the last fifty years. I have been a student and follower of Dan for nearly twenty of those years. His writings have proven invaluable to me and my client's businesses.

Leadership is key in driving change and improving your practice’s performance. One effective strategy is to 'pull the weeds,' which involves a deliberate review of your practice's people and processes to identify areas for change and improvement. Any area where you would assign a grade lower than a B+ is a potential opportunity for growth. This is the challenging yet empowering work of a leader.

Over my more than four decades of working with the dental profession, I've found that the most common 'weed' is staff members performing at average to below-average levels with no consequence or accountability. This not only affects their own performance but also demotivates your top performers. The old cliché that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link holds true, highlighting the importance of addressing underperformance. It's not just about weeding out the underperformers but also about nurturing a culture of accountability and high performance.

Eliyahu Goldratt, an Israeli engineer, wrote a seminal business text, “The Goal.” In it, he introduced the theory of constraints. The theory's central premise is that any process can only move at the speed of its slowest point, or “constraint.” While he focused on manufacturing businesses, this is equally true for service businesses. He argued that eliminating the constraining chokepoints is the best route to improved performance.

The logic is simple and compelling: if you eliminate weakness, then, by definition, you increase strength. This brings us back to Kennedy's suggestion that we pull the weeds.

Think about your own practice—where you are and where you want to go. What are the constraints that exist? Get busy pulling the weeds and fast-track to improved performance.