Peter Irvine is the co-founder of Gloria Jeans Coffee franchise and he was on the team that launched McDonald’s in Australia. Peter has over 40 years experience in business at a high profile management level.
In this episode, Peter and I explore business success from his decades of experience. If you’re looking for advice on how to move into a true business management model, this episode is for you.
In this episode we discuss:
03:00 Building a successful franchise chain in Australia (and lesson you can learn from that)
09:45 Why you should have a vision for your business if you want it to be successful
12:30 Vision statements to avoid
14:00 Keys for dealing with setbacks
17:30 How to effectively manage staff to grow your business
25:30 Finding the low hanging fruit in your business to instantly boost sales
31:00 Peter’s success tips
34:00 How to get off the tools and move into true business ownership
41:20 Unlock the secret habit Peter has that contributes to his success
47:00 How to stay competitive in a growing market
There’s a lot of talk about resilience these days.
We hear about it in personal and professional spheres.
Kids are taught it in schools.
And it’s a popular topic in business circles.
Why is that?
Don’t we intrinsically know how to be resilient?
It seems not.
While we each have the potential in us to develop resilience, it remains potential unless we develop resilience skills through experience.
Thankfully, we don’t often need to look for opportunities to hone those skills.
Despite our best laid plans, life has a neat way of throwing curveballs. And that’s when we have the opportunity to choose.
Whether we’ll be defeated by the setback or whether we’ll use it to pave the way to success and become resilient?
Making resilience part of our everyday business survival arsenal is simple, but not easy.
Let’s look at how to master the art.
Reflect When Life’s Turned Upside
In business as in life, we can have clear plans, with every detail finessed, but here’s what I’ve noticed.
Just when you think you’ve got it nailed, something comes along and changes the state of play.
It’s the life equivalent of an intercepted pass that leads to a winning try for the opposition in the footy grand final.
Not what you had planned.
Significant challenging events turn life upside down. They do that because they’re meant to.
In the early aftermath, we might find we feel feeling dazed, confused and disappointed. In many instances, a complete rethink on our approach might be needed.
If you’re on the planet, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced at least one event like this.
Fortunately, there’s an upside.
Anyone who’s worked through the challenge and made it out the other side will tell you: the seed of their current success was buried (often deeply) in that ‘setback’.
That’s why it’s important to resist the urge to reboot immediately and launch straight back into business and life. Take time to reflect instead.
Unless you allow space to integrate the experience, there’s a good chance you’ll miss the lesson.
It’s also likely you’ll bypass the opportunity to develop your resilience muscle.
Make a Choice
Resilience is frequently forged in the working through, and emergence from, a challenge.
And there are few better platforms than business on which the resilience muscle can be built.
Whether it’s a financial, team or operational challenge, the approach remains the same.
As business owners and leaders, we have the opportunity to exercise the greatest power there is: the power to choose.
We can succumb to disappointment and let ourselves feel miserable.
Or we can acknowledge the challenge, look for the lesson, integrate it, and move forward, wiser and more resilient.
The irony is, challenge is where the resilience muscle is developed. It doesn’t happen when life’s going swimmingly. It needs setbacks to grow.
If you’re wanting to cultivate resilience, make a choice to accept the challenge.
Look Forward, Not Backward
There’s a funny little saying, “Look forward, not backward. You’re not going that way.”
That forward focus is what will help build resilience, regardless of the challenge on your plate.
Consider the significance of proportions in your car’s windscreen and rear vision mirror.
The windscreen is large and provides a clear view of where you’re going.
By stark contrast, the rearview mirror offers narrow vision of what’s behind.
A great analogy for how we can choose to see life, we can apply the windscreen/rearview mirror approach with every challenge, big or small.
We can do that by looking forward to the potential and possibilities, strengthened with insights and lessons from what’s past.
Build Your Resilience Toolkit
Although significant life changing events are one way we can build resilience, the little things in life can provide the same learning ground.
As dental business owners and operators, we’re given ample opportunities to build our resilience muscle.
Quite literally, there are challenges for us every single day.
That’s business ownership.
If we’re not in the mindset or habit of being resilient, we can very quickly become overwhelmed and unproductive.
She also shared her go-to actions for managing through any challenge that arises:
Focus on the here and now – It would be easy to let negative thinking take over, and while you might feel temporarily relieved, doing this long term won’t build resilience. Focusing on what’s right in front of you, rather than catastrophizing, will allow you to implement a more effective solution.
Say thank you – When tough times happen, say thank you. It may seem counter intuitive to express gratitude for the challenge you’re facing, but appreciation is a great salve. It also helps reframe your thinking about the challenge. Opening the pathway to a different perception, more creative solutions frequently follow.
Look for the lesson – Challenges offer the greatest opportunities for learning and improving, if we choose to look for them. By discovering the lesson, we’re less likely to repeat the mistake again.
Think about who you can help – While it’s great you’ve learned from a challenge, consider whether others might benefit from your wisdom too. Sharing your story with professional peers, your team, and even friends, can help them avoid the same pitfalls.
Switch Off
I said right up front, building resilience is simple, but not easy.
The same goes for this next tip: switch off.
How easy is it to stay connected to 24/7 technology, but remain disconnected from the priorities that enhance our business and wellbeing?
Being ‘on’ all the time is stressful and exhausting.
And it definitely doesn’t strengthen the resilience muscle.
On the contrary, we’re more likely to react rather than respond, always less than ideal when people are involved.
Switching off means distraction-free time – when you’re working and when you’re not.
Quality sleep, putting your phone on flight mode for chunks of time, and using social media for work, are just some ways to help switch off. Find what works for you and stick with it.
You’ll find with fewer distractions, you’re more effective – and more resilient.
Focus On Critical Drivers
Regularly shared with my coaching clients, here’s a tip worth repeating daily: focus on critical drivers.
That means focus on actions that create the biggest difference and most momentum.
It’s all too easy to be distracted by ‘the next big shiny thing’ – another opportunity, course or marketing tool – and lose sight of what you’ve identified as important for you and your business.
With a clear understanding of your critical drivers, it becomes much easier to focus efforts and realise outcomes.
Because we’re always more likely to cut ourselves slack than not, it pays to have a coach or mentor to stick to those priorities you’ve identified.
Acting as guide, they can do double duty as an accountability partner too, ensuring you do what you’ve committed to.
Final Words
Although there are those who’ve mastered resilience, most of us are a work in progress.
Challenges offer up perfectly timed opportunities to develop resilience skills – exactly what we need at a specific moment in time.
Rather than wish the challenge away, look for ways to muscle up and turn your setback into business success.
Stacey Copas has not let a devastating accident that left her a quadriplegic and dependent on a wheelchair at 12 years old slow her down. Instead she picked up the pace and has used her life experience and personal philosophies to become Australia’s leading keynote speaker and facilitator on resilience and turning adversity into an asset, delivering keynote speeches, training, consulting and coaching to organisations such as Telstra, South East Water and CSIRO.
In this episode you’ll discover:
How to be a better business owner through developing resilience
Tested and tried methods for practicing resilience
How to prioritise in your business
Tips for supporting yourself through setbacks
And much more.
Episode Breakdown
At…
3:10 We explore Stacey’s story
8:45 How to frame the past and future
11:00 Stacey shares her tips for how to shift your mental state when you experience a set back
14:15 Why resilience is a skill
16:30 We chat about resilience and the younger generation
18:30 How technology affects business owners’ lives negatively
23:30 How to prioritise for success
28:00 Stacey 3 top tips for building resilience during tough times
Working with Google AdWords can feel a bit like walking in quick sand.
Just when you think you’ve got it nailed, something changes.
Confusing and frustrating at the same time, it’s any wonder we’re asking ourselves:
“How does a busy dentist make Google AdWords part of their dental business marketing strategy…and make it work?”
Great question.
It’s one we’ll go some way to solve by measuring the value of Google AdWords.
Google AdWords Belong In Your Marketing Toolkit
Regardless of how advanced your business marketing is, one thing is clear. Google AdWords will be part of the plan at some point.
Although pay-per-click marketing costs are rising, it doesn’t mean it’s not viable.
On the contrary, if costs are rising, it’s a sign that something is working well.
Rising costs also mean we dentists need to be more strategic about how we use Google AdWords. That’s just smart business.
More than just putting an ad up and hoping for the best, like anything we do for our business, great outcomes require critical thinking and a plan.
Plan Your Google AdWords
When creating any plan for Google AdWords, it’s essential to put yourself in the mind of the customer.
Think how they’d think.
Consider what they’re feeling.
Put yourself in their shoes.
Your aim is to create a seamless search experience for your potential customers.
When you do that, developing a Google AdWords strategy is more targeted and effective.
Optimise Pages, Especially For Mobile
There are general web pages and there are specific landing pages and they don’t do the same thing.
Think of it like this:
You have two people. One is looking to book an appointment with a suburban dentist. Another wants information about implants.
Two vastly requirements that demand two different approaches in terms of Google AdWords.
For the patient searching for a dentist, you might direct them to the home page of your website.
Ideally optimised for mobile, this would allow the patient to call directly. Ultimately, that’s the name of the game with Google AdWords – to get your phone to ring.
And the implant patient?
You could send them to the implant page on your website. You might even have a dedicated implant landing page with information and an opt in facility.
Treat a landing page like a standalone mini website that has all the information on one page.
A page like this gets in the mind of the customer.
It acknowledges their pain and presents the solution. It also gives them the opportunity to buy above and below the fold.
The goal? A seamless user experience where everything’s in one place.
It’s worth noting here that increasingly more ads will be viewed on mobile devices. That means optimising ads for mobile is a must in your Google AdWords’ strategy.
Consider this not just from a placement perspective, but from a content perspective as well.
Smart copy targeted to pain points rather than aspirations will hit the mark more often. That means better conversions and ROI.
Avoid Costly Google AdWord Mistakes
There’s no doubt Google AdWords is technical. Sometimes, deceptively so.
Knowing everything there is to know is way beyond the time any practising dentist has available to devote to the task.
That said, it’s important to know enough to avoid costly mistakes.
One of the classic mistakes people make is combining a search campaign with a display campaign.
Rather than using Google AdWords’ default setting, create a “search-only” campaign, which is not the default setting.
Another common mistake to avoid is to set up your search for keyword match types.
Rather than rely on Google AdWords’ default setting – called a “broad match” – refine your keyword match search.
Know Your Google AdWord Return On Investment
I’ve heard a lot of dentists complain that the return on investment (ROI) on their Google AdWords’ campaign just isn’t there.
Maybe they’re right.
But maybe they didn’t have some critical things in place either.
Particularly if you haven’t refined your keyword match search, there’s a very good chance you’re click-through rate is not great.
A less than ideal user experience usually follows.
The upshot? A bad quality score means a higher cost per click.
Often, this leads to throwing good money after bad – and a perception that Google AdWords just isn’t worth it.
Work At It
Google AdWords is not a set-and-forget affair.
Just like the rest of your marketing activities, it needs to be managed.
This is especially so if you’ve engaged an external provider’s help.
It’s easy to leave the mechanics to someone else, and this is appropriate to a point.
But it doesn’t mean you’re not involved at all.
Staying informed about what Google is doing and how you’ll respond is part of Google AdWords.
Importantly, this helps avoid wasted time, effort and valuable marketing budget.
If you’re working with a Google AdWords expert, be prepared to ask questions.
Do you own your Google AdWords account?
Do you own your analytics account?
What access do others have to your accounts?
What data will be presented to you?
Will they explain it? Or will you be left to work it out on your own?
Rather than handing it over fully, see it as an area you need to know enough about, and gather and analyse the information.
Final Words
Google AdWords is definitely worth the investment if you approach it strategically.
If you invest, be smart about it. Don’t set and forget, but work at it.
Refine your approach, rather than rely on default settings.
Optimise for mobile and be smart with your words.
Planning to make Google AdWords part of your plan for 2018? Let’s talk about it.
There are just a couple of days before our final workshop for 2017. Join us at Masterplan 2018: Preparing to Win , which will be held in Brisbane on 23-24 November.
It’s the perfect time to get strategise about Google AdWords and optimise your business for the coming year.
Ilana Wechsler is the founder and director of Green Arrow Digital.
Ilana is a former Data Analyst, turned PPC expert.
She has worked at many of the global financial institutions but switched careers many years ago when she finally gave in to her passion for PPC, IT and entrepreneurship. She is truly passionate about working closely with her clients and helping them achieve their business goals by helping them grow their businesses online.
Ilana lives in Sydney with her husband and 3 children.
In this episode we chat about:
Whether Adwords is still a viable marketing tool
Effective Adwords strategies
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Hacks for getting your Adwords converting
Tips for crafting effective ads
What questions you should be asking your Adwords provider
Stress is something we all face purely as a function of living on the planet.
Managed well, a healthy level of stress helps us grow.
Poorly managed, we can find ourselves veering off course.
Unmanaged, and we can quickly find life turns upside down.
I’m not a believer in silver bullets, but I do believe in mastery of fundamentals.
Mastering fundamentals that help us survive – and thrive – through stress, can make a world of difference.
Not only limited to personal wellbeing, the benefits extend to life and business as a dentist too.
Use this Ultimate Dentist Checklist for Thriving Under Stress to keep you balanced and on track for the end of year busy-ness and beyond.
#1 Become Friendly With Your Stress Response
Like many habits, our default reaction to stress is unconscious. A result of experience, programming and our unique filters, our default reaction is not always healthy.
For some it could be anxiety; for others, an immediate need to fix things.
The first step towards more a constructive stress response is awareness.
By becoming aware of, or ‘friendly’ with what we do habitually, we can identify potential areas for constructive change.
#2 Step Back
A reminder shared by podcast guest, Dr Linda Wilson, the idea of taking a step back is essential for surviving through stress.
Stepping back allows perspective, space, and new information to emerge.
Being able to step back requires a presence of mind that is virtually inaccessible while we’re stressed.
So how do we step back when we’re feeling stressed?
Go back to #1 on the checklist.
By becoming aware that we’re stressed in the first place – and seeing that response – we create the best chance of being able to step back.
#3 Accept Differences
Every individual’s response to stress is different.
In a purely practical way, this means, no two people will respond to a situation in the same way.
Although this points to differences, it’s also the opportunity to practice acceptance.
From that position, we can be more understanding and less judgmental. And this will always lead to better outcomes – for you and the others involved; especially when stress is involved.
#4 Stay Curious
It could be my coaching mindset, but I’m a fan of the maxim ‘stay curious’.
Curiosity in the realm of surviving stress means creating space.
In the words of Dr Linda Wilson it requires we ‘stay in the question’.
We can do this by observing our thoughts, emotions and reactions in any situation.
Rather than judging or assuming we know the answer, by staying in the question we allow possibilities.
I know that when I do this, the field of possibility expands. By contrast, when I don’t, the options available to me are limited.
#5 Count Your Stress Costs
Any calculation of the cost of stress should include the physical, emotional and psychological costs.
While it may not be possible to eliminate all stress in business or life, calculating the real costs can be helpful.
Apart from identifying the sources of stress, it can be a useful exercise for identifying your limits.
Too much stress and we burn out; too little, and we get comfortable and don’t grow.
The key is finding a manageable balance between the two that allows you to thrive.
#6 Get Creative
Have you ever tried to be creative when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed?
I have. It doesn’t work.
Going hand in hand with #1 and #2 on my checklist, getting creative is a surefire way for being creative. But it doesn’t happen when you’re stressed.
Science tells us when we’re stressed, the creative and generative part of the brain shuts down. We actually prevent solutions from showing up.
My tip? Slow down and step back.
Not always easy when you’re in the thick of things, but essential if you want to reduce your stress – and get creative.
#7 Get Back To Basics
So often the source of our stress is a result of disconnection.
Caught up in the whirlwind of business and life, we forget about just being.
We lose sight of things that are important to us. Relationships with those we care about, staying true to ourselves, taking time out.
The antidote is simple, but not easy: a return to the basics and what’s important to us, as individuals.
Using our own values and yardstick as the guide, it’s much easier to focus on our priorities.
For me, it comes back to that mastery of those fundamentals I mentioned at the beginning.
Get the basics right and a lot of the other ‘stuff’ often falls into place.
#8 Switch Off
The 24/7 nature of the world driven by technology makes it incredibly difficult to switch off.
But switching off is essential to reducing stress and thriving.
Over-stimulating your mind with unhelpful content can have negative consequences.
Make a commitment to switch off at least once a day and notice the difference to how you feel.
#9 Take Good Care
We each need reminders to take good care of ourselves; professionals like dentists, especially so.
Clinical practice requires we extend personal care to each patient. Personal lives that include family and friends often demand the same.
If I was to admit to you that amongst all this caring, I’ve found myself left short, I don’t think you’d be surprised.
You’d be even less surprised to know there are thousands of dentists just like me out there.
Taking good self-care is a vital step for any dentist wanting to navigate stress more effectively.
Some would say, it’s the most important step.
We’ve all heard the ‘fit your own gas mask first’ analogy, so schedule in some regular self-care time today.
#10 Take Regular Time Out
Both science and various wisdom traditions indicate that regular time out – mentally and physically has huge benefits for us.
In this arena, it’s important to find what works for you and the sky’s the limit when it comes to choice.
Meditation has been shown to be effective for slowing incessant thought, but if meditation isn’t your thing, there are other options.
Consider listening to beautiful music, spending time in your favourite natural setting, or just making time to be creative.
Any practice that allows you to slow your thinking – will help manage stress.
#11 Outsource
There are few things that will drag a person down like trying to ‘do everything’.
As a dentist running a business and balancing life, it’s impossible to do it all without stress becoming a rate limiting factor.
By knowing your values and strengths, you can gradually delegate tasks that can be better handled by someone else.
An initially daunting prospect, outsourcing wisely can make the life of a dental business owner more manageable – and enjoyable.
Final Words
As the end of year approaches and the pace of life accelerates, we can easily slip into habits that don’t serve us.
To stay balanced and calm, keep this checklist handy.
Implement one or two tips and notice the difference they make.
Want to set up your practice to thrive next year? You can do that at our final 2017 workshop – Masterplan 2018: Preparing to Win – which will be held in Brisbane on 23-24 November. It’s the perfect way to refine your moves and drive business success in the year ahead. We’d love to see you there.
I am joined by Dr Linda Wilson with tips for stressing less in your business.
As the year races towards the end, it can feel like as our to-do list builds up, so does our stress levels. As the business owner, it’s imperative that you look after yourself so that your business and team to make sure productivity and morale doesn’t decline.
Dr Linda Wilson has qualifications in both Education and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She works with individuals to find positive ways to manage anxiety, stress and a range of other issues.
In this episode we discuss:
How not jumping to conclusions is a powerful skill when managing team members
Breaking down the stress responses that we have
The huge cost of stress to business and to the individuals in that business
Tips for creating balance in your life
Meditation and mindfulness to improve business for entrepreneurs
Every dental business owner serious about growth will be hungry for new ideas to grow and scale their practice.
I’m no exception.
One rich source of new ideas is the lessons learned and shared by ‘compatriot’ entrepreneurs – those who’ve done it tough in the trenches of business and life.
It is especially fascinating when those lessons are learned in other industries.
A recent peak into the business of mega event management with Chris Robb revealed surprising insights.
Not least of these was a handful of smart moves we dental business owners can learn from.
Here’s my take on how to do that.
#1 Harness Adversity
We’re each shaped by our experiences, some of us more so than others.
For entrepreneurs, those experiences may have included early signs of business savvy. Perhaps it even showed up as forays into business as kids.
It’s why Chris Robb’s story about his first entrepreneurial venture resonated with me.
As a Zimbabwean farmer’s son growing up during the War of Independence, life was tough.
Daily checks for landmines on the road to school were routine.
Although survival was a daily challenge, it didn’t stop Chris harnessing adversity for good.
Now responsible for coordination of mega sporting events like Cycle Asia and the Singapore Marathon, the resilience gained early still works for him.
Unbelievably, it was within the environment that he operated his own vegetable stall.
His purpose? To fund the running shoes and spikes he needed for athletics training as an aspiring runner.
Lessons learned from this initial business venture taught him the power of two questions.
“What is this trying to teach me?” and “How will this setback help me do better?”
Critical at the time of any ‘failure’, asking these questions provides essential clues for personal and business growth.
It’s said better outcomes are contingent upon asking better questions. Don’t let yourself off the hook and avoid hard questions.
As dental business owners, better questions offer the chance to harness adversity when it inevitably arises.
Over time, it also means we can draw on the resilience and strength gained to create the business we’ve envisioned.
#2 Plan Ahead
Mega events don’t happen by accident.
The result of months, even years, of detailed planning, dental business owners can learn a lot from this smart move.
Far beyond the scale applied in dental practice, mega events take planning to a new dimension.
Often involving the training of thousands of people and precision risk management, it’s easy to see how things could go wrong ‘on the day’.
What has Chris learned from this experience?
Things do go wrong.
But it’s the response that counts, and responding well means relying on the plan.
How does this apply to smart dental practice?
Be sure to have a plan for your business.
Embrace the detail. Train your team. Encourage initiative.
From the world of mega events, one lesson practice owners should take on board one hundred percent is: planning pays off.
#3 Train Up
I’ve already mentioned training, but I want to explore it further.
As we make the shift from dentist to dental business owner, there’s some letting go that occurs.
While conscious to a degree, for many of us, letting go can be a challenge.
We look for perfection.
We establish systems and processes.
And we micromanage our people.
In doing so, there’s great potential for us to get in the way of success.
The key to side-stepping this fatal flaw to business growth is training.
Few ways will create more leverage in your dental business than training your team.
For greatest success, training should occur via different learning pathways.
Core professional skills is a must, but so too are scenario planning, role playing and on-the-ground practice.
Together, these different training vehicles empower your people.
Their performance may not be perfect (think more like 70 to 80 percent). However, you can be guaranteed strengthened business capacity to deliver.
Mega events demand a detailed training regimen and we can learn from that.
Looking for leverage? Be sure to incorporate a training schedule in your 2018 plan.
#4 Press Pause
With the typical pace of life and business accelerating, you’d be forgiven for rarely pressing pause.
We’re conditioned to do more, thinking this is somehow better than slowing down or pausing to reflect.
In a Zen-like kind of way, pausing, or doing nothing, at pivotal times is a game-changer.
Slowing down provides space for intelligent response, not knee-jerk reaction.
Certainly this is my own business experience.
More than once I’ve reacted too quickly, thinking I had to ‘do something’.
With hindsight, I’ve discovered how rushing in doesn’t serve me. In my hurry to fix things, it’s been necessary to track back over the issue and double handle it.
Had I paused, even briefly, I could have saved myself time, energy, and in many cases, a few dollars too.
Emergencies aside (and even these can be planned for), there are few situations where a pause – no matter how brief – can make a beneficial difference.
If pausing works in the world of mega events, it can work in dental business too.
#5 Be Purposeful
Behind many mega sporting events are causes that go beyond personal and financial gain.
Impacting many millions beyond the participants, Chris says the purpose behind the event has always been the greatest reward.
We know earning dollars is a necessary part of living on the planet. As a practice owner, it can keep us up at night.
But it’s the deeper purpose to our work and business that really creates substance and meaning – and drives us through the day.
We can ask “How can I make a bigger buck?”, but it won’t sustain us like asking, “How can I make more of a difference?”.
Be clear about your purpose and the impact you want to make. It will pay you.
Final Thoughts
You may never run a marathon, cycle a cross-country endurance ride, or make the Olympics. That’s okay.
As dental business owners, we’re not necessarily participants in these mega events, but we can definitely be students of them.
Apply and integrate these smart moves to work your business and life to greater advantage.
And there’s no need to wait either. You can move things along at our final 2017 workshop – Masterplan 2018: Preparing to Win – which will be held in Brisbane on 23-24 November. It’s the perfect way to refine your moves and drive business success in the year ahead.
Chris Robb is the author of the book ‘Mass Participation Sports Events’, a highly sought after International Speaker and CEO of Mass Participation Asia.
Chris’ life reads like the pages of a novel. His amazing journey has allowed him to impact the lives of millions of people by creating and delivering mass participation sports events across three continents.
While there have been countless highlights, including working on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and recently, meeting Sir Richard Branson at his home on Necker Island, Chris came from humble beginnings, growing up poor on a farm in Zimbabwe.
It has always been Chris’ belief that our greatest opportunity to grow and learn comes from times of extreme pressure.
Along the way, he discovered that events he initially perceived as “disasters”, were in fact gifts. These significant moments taught Chris the valuable lessons he needed to be successful in business, and what he could do to help other businesses achieve success.
His first business was started with a few thousand dollars, six months after emigrating to Australia. The business grew into a multi-million-dollar international company which was then sold to IRONMAN.
He has been at the helm of some of the biggest mass events, including the Singapore Marathon, with 65,000 participants.
In this episode we discuss:
The art of resilience
Working with teams to pull off ambitious projects
Tips for managing a crisis
Why you should be empowering your team members
How to manage risk proactively
Tips to correctly identify the correct problem to tackle
The idea of an inspiring dental business brand may seem foreign to we dentists.
After all, professional training and practice primes us to shy away from the spotlight.
But what if I told you being front and centre is essential to creating a great dental business brand?
Creating a great brand is not just the domain of big companies and flashy start-ups.
More than ever, it belongs to any business that aims for authority, leadership and success – in any industry.
As dentists, we’re trained to be methodical, careful, precise. Perfect for patient care.
However, building a great brand requires another skill set.
Let’s dive in and see what that looks like.
Make It Personal
While it might feel challenging, creating a great business brand needs a big dose of personality. Yours.
This kind of ‘getting out there’ is uncomfortable for most humans. We’re not all naturally Kardashian in our approach to branding.
For many dentists, who resist the ‘entrepreneur’ tag, it can even feel like it’s just not how dentistry is done.
We’re more likely to hide behind our practice brand, rather than stand out front of it.
While difficult to appreciate and to do, that is what’s needed.
How do we go about it? Badly, at first.
In my book Retention, I share the story of how I first started to create better connections with my patients. Specifically, when I first started asking for referrals.
Initially, it was hard. Like most dentists, I was averse to the idea of actually asking patients to refer their family and friends.
My first attempts were horrible. I felt like I was acting (although I was being completely genuine).
But gradually, over time, my confidence improved. I got better at it. Then it was natural for me. Through practice, I’d mastered the art of asking.
Feedback from patients helped and it quickly became clear we both benefitted from my more personal approach.
I even found patients were happy to share their relationship with our business among people they cared about.
What’s the moral here?
Your initial attempts at personalising your brand – and being more personal – may not be gold class.
That doesn’t matter. What does matter is you have a go. And then keep going.
Over time, your patients, who eventually become your tribe, will associate that personality with your business brand.
Use Inspiration
People love to do business with people they’re inspired by. And that includes dentists too.
Inspiration is key to creating a great business brand.
Powerful in ways that marketing can never be, inspiration can be learned and created.
This goes against the commonly held belief that inspiration is something done by other people. Think mega sports stars and high profile business people.
As the owner of your business, you’re perfectly positioned to inspire your patients, team and community.
You can do this with real stories and creative content designed to help and serve your audience.
In the world of dentistry, we’re pretty much in uncharted territory here.
The flip side? It’s opportunity – to make your business, your brand, your practice different and stand out.
There is ample scope within the boundaries of good dental practice for bringing personality, fun and the wow factor to your audience.
Yes, you’re a dentist, but you can inspire too.
Find authentic stories about your practice, patients, team, community or anything that inspires you personally. Then share widely.
Before long, you’ll be more than a dentist. You’ll be an inspiration too.
Create Experiences
We can all relate to the negative customer experience. Why?
Because we’ve all had at least one. Maybe we’ve had a few.
The benefit of these less than ideal experiences is we learn how great ones stick with us.
Imagine your business creating a dental experience that was happily and surprisingly unforgettable?
Doing dentistry this way requires an element of performance.
Much like the entertainer who ‘puts on a show’, a great dental business brand requires you do this too.
Delivered genuinely, bringing performance to your practice will make your business brand stand out.
Rather than only doing dentistry, you shift gears to deliver exceptional patient experiences.
Getting good at this requires practice. Mastering it takes patience and persistence.
I wouldn’t be the only person who’d made a wish on ‘silver bullet’ solution only to find no such thing existed.
To create a great dental business brand, we need to be patient – with ourselves mostly, but with the journey too.
Hone Communication Skills
I’ve already shared how my early attempts are better communication lacked finesse.
Fortunately, my stubbornness and persistence got me through any roadblock to doing better.
Even though my style was clunky at first, I worked at it.
Focused on artful communication, I realised honing my communication skills needed more from me.
Yes, it required using the right words, telling good stories and making the experience fun.
It also meant working on the unseen aspects of communication – my tone, pitch and feeling. It even meant getting comfortable with ‘the pause’.
Dentists are uniquely positioned in the lives of their patients. Seeing them regularly, often over many years, we build trust and relationships.
In the midst of building a practice, it’s vital to remember our patients are people too. Just like us, they have hopes, fears and aspirations.
As such, the connections made are important. And it’s upon us to learn and understand the human condition. Through understanding, connections are made.
Connections build followers. Followers build great brands.
Do it Anyway
Our natural tendency for perfection when it comes to patient care can sometimes stop us from acting.
We wait until everything is just so – and then we do it.
The problem is ‘just so’ hardly ever happens.
And that’s why I recommend doing it (whatever it is) before you’re ready.
My ‘prolific beats perfect’ mantra applies here.
Creating a great dental business brand is about you as the business owner doing your best work in all areas. Getting to that ‘best work’ level requires practice, persistence and patience.
In the process of getting to mastery, we evolve and change. So does our business brand – it shifts from good to great too.
Final Words…
To be truly successful in practice, it’s no longer enough just to do dentistry.
It now requires so much more. It requires that we think of our business and ourselves as a brand.
Although uncomfortable at first, it’s a small price to pay for the dividend yield – a great dental business brand we can profitably grow and scale.
