A year ago last summer two dentists in the same town, just blocks from each other, hired two different practice management consultants to help them move beyond the plateau they found themselves stuck on.

Today one has an extremely profitable, high volume, cash-rich practice. It's generating a good constant cash flow daily and the doctor never has to worry about a lack of new patients. His practice has grown by leaps and bounds.

The other dentist is in a different condition. He works long hours just to stay even. He's plagued by cash flow "emergencies" almost weekly. Missed appointments are a constant source of headaches. His attempts to market his practice result in a waste of money. He has a high accounts receivable.

One dentist was smart enough to learn effective marketing techniques to produce an abundance of new patients and get them on full fee-for-service treatment programs. The other guy just used "common sense" to build his practice.

I have nothing against common sense. But imagine if you just used your "common sense" to treat patients, instead of using the dental techniques you learned in dental school. You would have a lot of patients in pain!