Should You Hire a Dental Consultant for Practice Growth

You have likely heard this question a dozen times or more. You've possibly even asked yourself this question. I know I have asked myself this question for our practice even though I used to be a dental consultant. The truth is, it is a difficult decision to make. We know our practices better than anyone! Our patients love our patient experience that we provide! This is exactly how I felt until recently. I'm going to let you in a little experience that started the shift in my thought process.

My Background

Let me share a little bit of my background so you know where I am coming from. I was a competitive swimmer and gymnast growing up, so I have always been in pretty good shape. During college I was the mascot for our university, coached gymnastics and started bodybuilding. I have never been out of shape, and I was typically the person who people would go to for fitness advice. Recently, I have decided to enter into my first physique competition, so I hired a trainer and a nutritionist. When I would tell people this, they looked at me like I was crazy. Several people asked me why I needed a trainer or a nutritionist because I already knew so much about fitness. It was hard to explain to people.

l have tried to reach a certain level of fitness for years, but somehow I always seemed to hover at about 10% body fat and 210 lbs at 5'11" tall. Fast forward four months of working with my trainer and I have managed to get down to about 6% body fat at about 202 lbs. If you do the math on that, I haven't lost any of the muscle mass that I have worked for the last 12 years to gain. So how did this change happen in such a short time?

Accountability - Simply knowing that I am going to meet with my trainer to take measurements on a weekly basis helps me do a lot of the things that I already knew I should be doing, but sometimes let myself get a little bit too relaxed on.

Fear of Loss - Sometimes the fear of missing out is a great motivator. I was investing a lot of money into working with my trainer, and I surely didn't want that to go to waste, so I stuck to the things he told me to do.

Accomplishment - As I saw changes start to happen, it became easier for me to stick to things. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love lifting weights, but I despise cardio! I literally had to talk myself out of giving up on the stair master every day when I was starting out, but as I accomplished it day after day, it got easier for me to do.

Outside Perspective - Sometimes knowing the most about yourself, or your practice for that matter, can be a negative thing. Even athletes who are the best in the entire world at what they do have coaches for this very reason. My trainer started telling me to do things that I definitely would not have done as he took measurements week after week. I figured that since I was paying him, and had seen some of his other clients that were in excellent shape, I should at least give it a shot. Sure enough, he was right, and my method probably would have kept me at 10% body fat where my body is comfortable.

I want to speak a little bit more to that last point. I recently interviewed Dr. Kyle Triggs who is the owner of Alaska Dental Associates in Anchorage, Alaska for an article that I wrote in Dental Products Report. Dr. Triggs has been practicing for over 30 years and offered some sage advice on practice growth, but the thing that stood out to me the most from our interview is the way he explained working with Gary Takacs who is an excellent coach and consultant. He described already feeling like he was providing an amazing patient experience, but that when Gary came in, his whole world got turned on its head. This resulted in making a number of changes to his patient experience which he later explains was a huge factor in his growth.

This was exactly my experience in hiring a trainer. I felt as though I was in good shape, and most people would tell me that I was, but my trainer flipped my world on its head. Those changes were hard to make for me, but I have never had these kinds of results in the 12 years that I have been a recreational bodybuilder.

Conclusion

If you are looking to grow your practice in a way that you never have before, it is time to do something that you have never done before. You know the definition of insanity from Albert Einstein right? If you are ready to change and grow, find a consultant and implement what they say. Take it from someone who has done a lot of pride swallowing over the past few months, you will probably have to swallow your pride and just trust in the system. If you picked a consultant with a good track record and you implement things correctly, you will be happy with the outcome!