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Howard Speaks: Keep Your Eye on the Ball by Dr. Howard Farran

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Categories: Practice Management, HR and Accounting;
Howard Speaks: Keep Your Eye on the Ball 

by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, publisher, Dentaltown magazine

Most of us practice in such a competitive market, there’s probably another dental office right down the street—maybe even just a few suites down in the same building, if you’re in a larger city or a professional complex! The nearest practice to Today’s Dental, for example, is only 0.3 miles away, which is practically close enough that we could wave to each other from our parking lots.

I pass that other practice every time I need to hop on the freeway, and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve glanced over while I was driving by to see how many cars were in the parking lot. I’d never deny the opportunity to satisfy a little curiosity about how your peers are doing—in fact, I think it’s psychologically healthy!—but I think it’s way more important for dentists to, as our elementary school teachers put it, keep our eyes focused on our own work.


Focus on yourself first
With an estimated 8 billion people on Earth this year, there will always be other dental practices. So you should look at competition more like a golf match than a boxing match.

In golf, I spend 95% of my time working on my own game; I don’t care what anyone else is doing. In dentistry, you should be focused on doing the absolute best in your own practice, instead of on “beating the other guy.” Why? Sometimes you learn that you simply can’t prevail over a competitor. They might have a cost advantage, for example, and you’re never going to win by chasing the low-cost market; that’s a race to the bottom.

But you can and should watch and learn from other dentists, and be inspired to make changes in how you practice. If you refuse to do molar endo but the dentist down the street performs it, for example, whose practice is doing a larger number of more profitable procedures, and who’s turning away high-dollar patients?

(When it’s time to develop and hone those molar endo skills, your first stop should be Dentaltown’s online message boards and continuing education courses. Our community was founded on the principle that no dentist has to practice alone, and on Dentaltown you’ll find expert peers sharing their stories and case studies, their wins and losses, their tips and suggestions, and CE courses and curricula designed to make you a better dentist!)


Pay attention to traffic
Every dental practice has a front door and a back door. You can’t spend all your time focused only on how many patients are walking in your front door; you have to keep your eye on how many patients are leaving out your back door on their way to feed and grow your competitors—and why. Again, the main concern isn’t your competitors; it’s why your patients aren’t coming back!

At Today’s Dental, I asked all my new patients why they quit going to their last dentist, because I didn’t want to repeat the issues their previous dentist did, if I could prevent it. And if a patient of mine didn’t come back, I called to ask why. As much as I need to know why a patient left my competitor’s office to see me, I need to know why a patient chose to leave my office to go feed a competitor.

Some patients aren’t going to be perfect fits for your practice, and that’s fine! But if during these calls you discover a trend or habit that’s driving away more than one or two patients, you’ll be better prepared to analyze the possible causes and whether the issue is worth fixing. The knowledge is worth the discomfort if it helps you improve how you and the team deliver great service to patients.


Earn some SWOT equity
I recommend every dental practice owner do a SWOT analysis on their practice and their closest competitors. This examination of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats is a perfect team exercise; bring in your management team and, within the four squares of the SWOT analysis chart (Fig. 1), write down each company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It’s a fantastic mental exercise, and gives clarity to the team.
Howard Speaks: Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Fig. 1


Years ago, for example, I discovered there was a dentist in my community who focused entirely on the Medicare/Medicaid business and who had a much lower cost structure because he used low-cost, entry-level employees. I couldn’t compete in the Medicare business because I employed a team of long-term employees who were highly trained and knowledgeable, so I decided to give up the Medicare segment of my customer base. Another dentist in my area focused 40 hours per week primarily on the cosmetic end of dentistry. But because we’re in suburban Phoenix—not Scottsdale, not Beverly Hills—I opted to focus on my demographics and providing good, solid, no-frills family dentistry.

Doing a SWOT analysis of everyone competing in your market helps direct your focus. If you try to be all things to all people, you’ll be nothing to no one and eventually you’ll go out of business.

Then, once you’ve discovered your sweet spot, put in the time to master it! Business success is a marathon, not a sprint, and you won’t be able to achieve that success if you give up early. Take more than just the required number of CE courses per year. Post your challenges and questions on Dentaltown’s online message boards, where your peers who’ve found success across the globe can help you find the best way to improve.

It’s all yours for the taking if you’re willing to put in the effort!


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