We ask BIG QUESTIONS that are often tough and difficult to ask…so why bother?

As they say, the solution to the problem rarely comes from the same level of thinking that created the problem.

If you have a problem with ‘recalls’ for example that may seem to be todays priority and there are some practical things to do, and they’ll be done, but have you also considered as a management and leadership team what you really need to do to retain loyal and motivated patients? Answer those questions and suddenly the specifics of the recall system will take on a different identity.

I am highlighting the huge gap between the typical day to day ‘problems’ that get elevated to the leadership and management team, and what is sitting underneath and what really created the problem in the first place.

Put it another way, it doesn’t matter what the ‘every little helps’ supermarket does, how many times they try to tempt me back with some money off voucher, or even whatever their current marketing message is, they will always be the supermarket of the last resort for me. This is because I have seen what they do to their suppliers and frankly I don’t care much for their values… for me they have more of a PR issue, not a marketing issue, rather like dentistry has with many of those that don’t attend regularly.

After 12 years of asking the big questions, whilst the list of unspoken truths in a dental practice can be long, these are some of the most common;

● There is no accountability
● Not understanding the numbers or measuring enough stuff
● Massive inefficiencies but too busy to do anything about them
● Recruitment problems are actually leadership issues
● Marketing problems are really reputational issues
● People in positions of privilege that are out of control
● There are bottlenecks in our practice that you cannot distill down to a single word

Don’t get distracted in the short term by the current issues, you’ll find a way, but take time out to ask what are the unspoken truths about your dental practice?