Here's when you might want to consider using a dental business coach:
When the seemingly relentless demands at the dental office and the burdens of a busy life take their toll, we tend to think that managing our time better will improve the situation. If we can just work faster, multitask more efficiently, things will be better, we think, as we buy the latest time management gadget or software.
However, as Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, authors of The Power of Full Engagement, explain, it is the skillful management of energy, not time, that most significantly affects high performance. Too often, we squander this valuable resource through energy-taxing habits—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual habits. Take this Self-Quiz to see how well you are managing your energy.
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I rely on sugary or carbohydrate-rich snacks for bursts of energy when I need an energetic pick-me-up.
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Life is an endless marathon to be endured; you just have to keep on running.
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I tend to do what feels immediately pressing and easier to accomplish rather than make intentional choices about how I spend my time and what matters most.
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I hate routines; they’re too much like being stuck in a rut. I prefer to be loose and spontaneous.
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I’m so busy I rarely have time to reflect on what I value most deeply.
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I seem to be stuck in overdrive; I feel like I’ve lost the ability to shift to any other gear.
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I work out (cardiovascular and weight training) irregularly, if at all.
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I regularly get less than six hours of sleep.
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I rarely take breaks; that way, I can get more done.
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When I take the time to notice, my breathing seems shallow; I seem to go a long time without taking a deep breath.
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Anxiety, frustration and overwhelm seem ever-present for me.
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When I’m under pressure, I easily become harsh or defensive with the dental staff or my kids.
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Things may be OK at the office but not at home. Unfortunately, quiet time with my spouse is not something I have devoted a lot of energy to recently.
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It’s been a long time since I’ve done something purely because it was enjoyable or felt good.
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Downtime is wasted time.
If you answered “true” to more than just a few of these statements, you’re probably not performing—or feeling—as well as you could be. If you would like to explore how to live in a way that enhances your energy, not depletes it, you could use a dental business coach who specializes in living from one's heart. Not all business coaches understand, value, and coach energy work. I subscribe to the notion that life is about joy and energy; the most joyful and energetic people win. Click on the button below, before you get distracted, so we can discuss how I can show you the time-tested secret to managing all the priorities you're now juggling.
High-performance teams have the mindset and the culture that good ideas are not the sole responsibility of the dentist, but rather of all team members. It takes a wise and strong dentist to defer to his staff for ideas on how the practice could improve production. Read on to find out how one dentist made powerful use of his staff’s insight …
I have a client who wanted to expand his marketing efforts to attract more patients and thus improve his daily production. However, at a meeting of his high-performance staff, the office manager spoke up and suggested that each staff member needed training on case presentation. Sure enough, when the dentist examined his own beliefs and behaviors, he realized that the roadblock to increased production was his own reluctance to emphasize to patients the importance of their committing to a treatment plan. The dentist was coming from an attitude of “the patient cannot afford it” rather than “if the patient does not get proper treatment then his/her oral and overall health will suffer.” So the team reviewed roles, practiced scripts and developed the “elegant handoff.” Case acceptance jumped markedly in the following weeks.
There is another message in this story: Give better service to your existing patients before you spend the money to go looking for new ones.
For brainstorming good ideas about practice improvement, who better to ask than the people who are involved in the ‘doing’ of the practice each day? Oftentimes you don’t need to look to an outside expert to improve what you are doing. If you have hired smart people who care about the practice and who feel that their ideas will be valued, let them tell you what the practice could be doing better and look to them for specific ideas on how to improve that area.
I have come across dentists who are not enjoying the success that they want in their business and personal life and cannot figure out why. As it often turns out they have deep-seated anger and may or may not be aware of it. This coaching lesson may not apply to everyone, but for those that have long-standing anger, these thoughts may prove insightful and powerful.
Anger at others is often rooted in anger at oneself.
This is true if we’ll just probe deeper and more honestly. Anger at oneself is being unforgiving of oneself. Forgive ourselves first and then, and only then, can we forgive others. But how do we forgive ourselves? We start by loving ourselves, by being pleased with whom we are, by not chastising ourselves for perceived mistakes made in the past, by acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes, and acknowledging that we are/were doing the best we can and that a happy successful life is not a game of perfect (to twist a book title by Bob Rotella.)
And while it might seem impossible to immediately switch to loving oneself and forgiving oneself for having made such bad decisions and choices in the past, it can be done.
Most people have a belief that if they “have” certain things like money, then, of course, they will “do ” (and feel) the “right” things and then they’ll “be” happy. In fact that’s not how your subconscious mind works. I have a psychologist friend who sees in her practice youngish dot-com millionaire patients, both husband and wife, who come to see her for counseling and therapy. Having money doesn’t make you happy.
You start with happy.
I recently attended a talk by Steve Chandler, renowned business coach, who expressed the thought that most little kids are truly happy from the inside-out. That is, until they’re conditioned by well-meaning (but clueless) parents that they must rely on someone else or something external to make them happy. Little girls are more susceptible than boys because “maybe your Prince Charming” will come, sweep you away, and then you’ll be happy. So we were born with happy within ourselves. But we lost that and now many of us believe that we must “have” first in order to “be” happy. As Neale Donald Walsch said in Conversations with God: “…havingness does not produce beingness, but the other way around.”
So how do you make yourself happy?
BE-DO-HAVE is the way to change.
There have been many trials and examples (like the basketball shooting trial cited by Maxwell Maltz (in Psycho-Cybernetics ) that prove that your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between real and imagined events. So first, imagine yourself being happy, over and over and over again. Then act as if you are happy and do the things that happy people do. Each night find five (different) things that acknowledge that you have abundance in your life to be grateful for and to be happy about. Soon you will have the rewards that happy people enjoy. So, instead of “Have-Do-Be,” shift your paradigm and begin with “Be-Do-Have.”
You might appreciate knowing that angry energy directed toward others or at oneself is energy that cannot be used in a positive way. Life should not be difficult; life is about positive energy and joy. Be gentle with yourself and be pleased with whom you are. Act from your loving heart, not from your critical mind. More success will come your way.
THE SITUATION: As a dentist operating a practice, why is it that you’ve done everything that you think you should this week–
- you continued to empower your team;
- you focused on getting just a few things accomplished
- you even had a major success performing a new procedure that your office has not previously offered, and
- you met your daily production goals except for one day.
Yet at the end of the week you go home feeling tired, alone, and frustrated?
Was it simply that a staff member failed to do something that you’ve repeatedly asked her to do or that another came to work almost an hour later than normal (but in time for the morning huddle)?
Why did all the good things that happened in your practice this past week get overshadowed by a few things that were less than perfect?
THE PROBLEM: You are frustrated because you want your staff to do EVERYTHING AT ONCE that you think should be done and it must be done your way. You are not satisfied when only the agreed-to highest priorities are done. You have such high standards for yourself and for your practice that anything less than 100% perfection in all areas simultaneously strikes you as “not good enough.” What I’ve observed is that perfectionist managers are chronically unhappy with their staff and with their own personal performance.
THE SOLUTION: Excellent leaders learn to focus on a few priority items at a time and help the staff perfect those first few. Outstanding CEO’s “prioritize their issues” and are satisfied with incremental mastery of a few essential items before moving on to the next issues. This approach is called “continuous improvement.”
And excellent leaders empower their staff by “letting go.” Effective leaders hire the right people, train them, and allow them to do their job. If you insist on controlling “every little thing” then you have not given up control of the jobs that your staff performs. It is no wonder you feel overworked. You are doing your job and you are doing their jobs too, if not physically, at least mentally when you feel like you must remind, scold, coerce, prod, etc. The paradox is–the tighter you attempt to control everything, the less control you have. What’s the result? The staff sees that they’ve disappointed you and everyone feels frustrated and exhausted. But excellent leaders convey a high level of trust that staff can do an excellent job, without micromanagement.
Focus on these characteristics of outstanding CEOs and you, as a leader, can rejoice in celebrating your “wins” instead of lamenting the less important issues.
Next, in Part 2, we’ll discuss the Critical 4 Steps that effective leaders follow
Why do some things that you try to do come easily and others are more difficult? What are the ingredients of success? All successful small business coaches or executive business coaches have their answer to this question.
For example, I exercise by running, doing the elliptical machine or riding my bicycle most every morning for 30 minutes–no compromises, rain or shine. Other goals that I set for myself may or may not get done. Why? There are 4 essential ingredients for goals to have achievable permanence:
- I’m convinced that 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise is the required activity to avoid another triple bypass surgery (My GOAL.)
- I’m fanatical about avoiding another triple bypass surgery
- Avoiding another triple bypass surgery is a goal of serious and painful consequences.
- I’ve done 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise most every morning for more than 30 days and it has become a habit.
Let’s apply this framework to another goal and see if these 4 principles will assure us of success.
GOAL: I will have a 30-minute “get-acquainted meeting” with someone in my target market three times a week to determine if my coaching them is a good fit for the two of us.
CONVINCED–I am convinced that having 30-minute sessions with 3 qualified prospects each week will lead to growing my business.
FANATICAL–I am fanatical about helping other people improve their life by building a business, which will provide them with purposeful activity and more cash;
SERIOUS and PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES–this goal of adding clients is the single most important thing I can do in my life to ensure that I achieve my life’s mission of helping dentists, a major life compass point for me. One aspect of my self-worth is embedded in this goal.
BECOME A HABIT–After 30 conversations in 10 weeks or less, I will have built a skilled process that ensures that I continue to deliver this essential habit.
Optional: announce to others your intention, so as to create accountability. It works for some but I’m ambivalent about relying on others to create one’s accountability, rather than being accountable to oneself.
So you try it. Do your goals have these 4 critical elements?
As a licensed small business coach and an executive business coach, I am meeting people these days who are out of work or business owners who are looking for more clients. If you are one of those folks, here are some suggestions (job-seekers first) that will elevate your game and have fun doing it.
If you are a person looking for a job, you need to have 5-6 low-cost job-finding strategies going on simultaneously.
- Your very first assignment is to find a qualified business coach to ensure that you are a master at expressing your uniqueness in what is called an Elevator Speech or your Unique Selling Proposition (USP.) Don’t waste networking opportunities by being ill-prepared.
- Develop a social media presence with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter and reconnect with colleagues and friends regarding your availability and what you’re looking for–be very specific about what you want and what your uniqueness is.
- Look for free Chamber of Commerce “Ribbon-Cutting” events (often at 5pm) where you can network with business owners while sampling hors d’oeuvres.
- See Toastmasters suggestion below.
- As a temporary measure, start your own part-time business–offering your expertise or your passion for free to the first taker and then start charging
- Go to the public library and sign on to Reference USA to research the industry, the zip code, and the company size information for candidate companies. Then use social media to find “inside” contacts that can introduce you to their job postings and/or provide introductions to hiring managers.
- Attend user-group meetings of software programs that you are familiar with or have used in the past and network.
- Attend meetings of professional organization (usually evening meetings) with which you would qualify and network.
If you are a business owner in need of more clients, go through a checklist of how many different ways that you use now to find customers. Business owners should have 10-12 low-cost strategies going on at all times.
- Your very first assignment is to find a qualified business coach to ensure that you are a master at expressing your uniqueness in what is called an Elevator Speech or your Unique Selling Proposition (USP.) Don’t waste networking opportunities by being ill-prepared.
- Introductions from your existing customers.
- Ask your vendors for other people that may need your services.
- Build strategic alliances with affiliate businesses to share customers.
- If your business is B2B, use Reference USA from your local library as a source of business demographic leads.
- Develop a cold calling campaign.
- Develop a targeted mailing piece.
- Introductions from your list of friends and acquaintances
- Website and SEO (search engine optimization)
- Join BNI networking groups.
- Join a Toastmasters group that meets weekly, to expand your circle of influence and develop speaking and leadership skills AND to have fun! (or Kiwanis, Elks, etc.).
- Join the chamber of commerce and have a booth at their business faire.
- Find someone who is schooled and certified in guerrilla marketing tactics–low cost, innovative, high-energy.
- Assemble a business council group of your target market.
- Brainstorm with your employees.
- Offer referral bonuses to others to bring you customers.
- Advertise on the radio.
- Find clients or customers for your friends or business associates and they will reciprocate if you are specific about your ideal client.
If you have questions about any of these suggestions, drop me a line or give me a call. I’m sure that time spent to master some of these skills will prove beneficial for the rest of your life. And many of them will be fun experiences as well. Good luck!
I serve baby boomers, as an Executive Business Coach for those who work for someone else and as Small Business Coach or on-line Business Coach for the self-employed. I work with people who are faced with losing their income. It is increasingly difficult for some business owners to find customers in this recession. It is increasingly difficult for the previously employed to find another job. And it also is increasingly scary for those folks facing retirement. I believe the problem is the same, regardless of whether you are self-employed or have worked for a company all your life.
When you are face-to-face with a loss of income, your initial response is often one of immediate panic and fear. “How will I survive financially?” The thought is terrifying of not having money for food, for college tuition for your kids, for doing the things that cost money. This predicament even evokes the fear that you’ll lose your car and your house. Nothing can be more debilitating than facing the prospect of becoming a homeless person. Even more terrifying is the shame that you project for yourself and your family as to how this new situation will reflect on you in the eyes of your friends and neighbors. Your self-image is shattered at the prospect of not finding another job, not having enough retirement funds, or not finding new customers for your business. So what can you do to break this endless cycle of not sleeping at night? And nighttime, when it’s dark, seems to make things even more terrifying than in the daytime. At least it was for me.
Your response centers on how you view your situation. Or more importantly, your solution centers on how you view your situation. You can make all this pain disappear. You can make life return to its previous glory or even make it more wonderful. It may not be precisely the same, but who cares if it’s better than it was before? At least it was for me.
When you reclaim your income or revive your business, there will be laughing and joyfulness and happiness and smiles all around. An enormous weight will have been lifted from your shoulders. You will walk around the neighborhood or your grandkids’ soccer games with your head high and a smile on your face. You will become the playful, engaging person that you were before. You will schedule vacations and buy birthday presents again; your credit card balances will shrink. And so on. At least it was for me.
So what can you do to turn your situation around? The action you must take is to acknowledge that it will be an easier journey if you have the support and guidance of someone else who previously has conquered this monster that’s now confronting you. Read pages 106 and 107 of The Secrets of a Millionaire Mind. Then call me and arrange for us to have a 60-minute no-obligation dialogue about your situation. Or just call me first; I have an extra copy of this New York Times’ best-selling book for you. With the insight in this book and a mentor beside you, your journey will be amazing! At least it was for me.
How do I know this will work for you? I don’t. But here’s what one lady said:
In the four months you’ve been my coach, I’ve gone from zero offices, zero clients, and zero marketing strategies to two offices, 12+ ongoing full-fee clients, several evaluations and brief therapy clients, and a strong and generative marketing presence. Calls are coming in regularly. Thank you Marty!
Call me and we’ll find out how I can serve you. (520)318-5596 or marty@bizpainpoint.com
In the middle of the night I decided to read a little of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. I picked up the NY Times best-selling book and absently turned to page 123 – “Wealth Principle #11: Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.”
Now there’s a prescription for a unique positioning of my coaching business! Wouldn’t that be wonderful to be paid for results of the people I coach? This concept will revolutionize coaching. Most people are reluctant to pay money when they have nothing to show for it. And that’s a wonderful guarantee.
Let’s look at numbers of a real-life example: Say I start coaching someone who has zero income in month #1 and I charge her nothing. Then after 4 months she has a gross income of $1,500 per week and a business expense bill of $1,500 per month. Her net income is $4,500 per month. She should be able to afford to pay me $500 per month. That would be 11% of her net or 8% of her gross. For me to earn $1,295/month (my going rate) I would need to help her net $11,800, sustained for 3 months.
Thus the compensation plan would state that if you have no business I will be paid nothing at the outset. Then I’m to be paid 10% of the incremental (since I started coaching her) net earnings averaged over 3 months. The assumption is that we have a QB P&L, B/S, and C/F statement in effect after the gross income reaches $2,500 per month.
Now a naysayer might say that what if the business owner never did her homework and had no financial results? I’d say I need to “fire” her and move on to clients who want to do the work and get the results. After all, what’s a better way to ensure that I’m always working with “raving fans?” And what if they fire me after they start earning the really big money? I’m always only 3 months behind their earnings so it’s not like my pay-for-performance has major lag-time built into it.
Bottom-line, I’d say this concept of pay-for-performance has the potential to be a very powerful “Irresistible Offer.” Thanks, Harv.
All my life I have fervently believed that the only way to true financial security and everlasting financial peace-of-mind is to be self-employed. But as an adult I never had the courage to strike out on my own.
As a youngster, I had no problem having my own businesses: I had a paper route when I was in the 4&5th grades until we moved out of the country and when I moved back to the United States for high school I started another paper route for two years; I was a baby-sitter for many years; I mowed lawns for neighbors every summer; and while in college I umpired men’s softball games. This was standard, traditional adolescent entrepreneurship. But when it came time for me to choose a profession for life’s work, it never occurred to me that I could earn a living with my own business. Why was that?
Why did I not feel that I could earn a living based on my wits? I suppose it was because I was too much in my head rather than in my heart. And more simply I really did not have a role model for free-lancing one’s financial fortunes. I knew no one that had started multiple business or even one.
Everyone I knew worked for “the man,” a company or the government. My Dad was career Air Force, my uncles all worked for the Service or for large corporations. Our neighbors, everywhere we had lived, were Air Force neighbors, so they weren’t role models for striking out on one’s own. And because the AF sent us to a new base every three years I never developed any really close relationships to my “townie” (who weren’t in the AF) friends’ parents . In high school most of those parents were farmers, not exactly role models for me.
So in my earliest years, having my own business was simply not a conscious thought. In hindsight, that was very unfortunate.
“What do you do?” I create jobs.
“How?” By helping baby boomers and biz owners solve problems.
“Tell me more…”
Baby boomers are frequently faced with the prospect of losing their job and either not having enough money or not having anything meaningful to do with their life. I help them understand that the power to earn more money or the ability to find something to do every day that really strikes a passionate chord lies within them. And I help them understand that I can guide them, as I have guided others:
- to identify their true calling,
- to develop a plan that will earn them money, and
- to coach them each week to execute that plan.
Likewise business owners often get stuck:
- with how to move their business to the next level, or
- with how to create better balance between their business and their personal life, or
- with how to find employees that don’t have to be corrected or motivated every day, or
- with how to have more cash at the end of the month.
With my 35 successful years in business and with my access to over 100 other collaborative business coaches across the country, I help business owners solve their problems and to have fun doing it.
In the process of baby boomers and business owners becoming more successful, enterprises are created and expanded and more jobs are created. Not only are new jobs created but I find that the existing jobs are restructured in such a way that the offices for the existing job-holders becomes a more enjoyable place to work. Businesses cannot thrive without the employees being energized to come to work rather than dreading another day at the office. Everyone wins in countless ways when businesses succeed!
So that’s what I do. And is it work? No, I do not consider that doing whatever one wants to do and doing it whenever one wants to, to be called “work.”
And what do you do? Do you dread doing what you do? Has it lost its freshness? Life is too short to be miserable. You do not necessarily have to abandon what you’re doing now. It may require nothing more than a different point of view to turn things around. I can give you that new point of view-guaranteed!