The Economy
The state of the economy is on most dentists' minds lately. Makes me wonder why some dentists also have trouble during a booming economy. Oh well, that's a story for another day. Now I'm not saying a worsening economy doesn't impact your dental practice - it does. But just like the weather and the time of the year you can't control the economy. Speaking of the time of the year have you ever had patients say:
November: "With the holidays coming up I'll need to get back to you after the first of the year."
February: "I'm still paying off the Christmas bills."
April: "I need to pay my taxes first."
June: "Sorry but I just booked a trip to Disneyland."
September: "The roof needs replacement and I'm still paying off the summer vacation."
November: "With the holidays coming up I'll need to get back to you after the first of the year."
Urrrrrr!
Now back to the economy: Since you can't control it, don't worry about it. Put your attention on what you can control. And what you can control is how well trained you and your staff are. The more the economy impacts a practice, the more important it is that you and your dental staff become expert at doing your jobs.
It's not a matter of working harder and harder and using more and more effort. It's a matter of learning the correct dental management procedures and techniques.
And for the patient who always has an excuse for not proceeding with their treatment? The answer to the problem is simple. You must create value for the dental treatment with the patient. You're competing against holidays, vacations and new tires for the car. If the patient doesn't place value on the treatment then you may as well "forget about it".
If you don't know how to easily create value for the treatment the answer to that is also simple: take our free dental practice management analysis here.
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