5 Steps To Maximize Your Practice
Written by: Scott J. Manning, MBA
If you’ve been running at the status quo, it’s time to think bigger and maximize your practice—and it doesn’t need to be difficult. You just need to make a choice.
Will you have a “greater than” practice that focuses on a bigger vision of comprehensive care to help patients achieve optimal health fast? Or will you have a “less than” practice where you take the path of least resistance, insurance dictates how you provide care, and you own a mindset of scarcity?
You know which choice leads to true freedom and success. And it’s not just about changing the way you think—it’s about transforming your leadership, operations, and patient experience in several steps:
1. Maximize the Way You Think
Stop focusing on minimums and setting daily goal numbers as finish lines instead of starting points. This is minimal thinking, which leads to average results—and no one wants average results. They just keep you from achieving more. Minimal thinking keeps you at the status quo… just surviving and not thriving.
Instead, think bigger. Your daily goals should be the baseline. You want to surpass them.
Also, know that you have the chance to do more with every patient interaction. Develop a comprehensive treatment plan for their overall health instead of just “checking the boxes” for each patient’s office visit. Your case presentation should look at all the possibilities—not just insurance coverage.
The shift to maximum thinking changes everything. With abundance in mind for every decision, your team will start operating differently and thinking about the highest level of service they can provide for the best patient outcomes. This mindset shift is what takes you from a struggling, volume-based practice to one that is profitable and successful.
2. Maximize Diagnosis
This is where it gets real. Instead of minimizing a diagnosis by focusing on “a couple of issues that need to be fixed” or “what the patient’s insurance will cover,” maximize. Change your thought process to discuss the best way to optimize the patient’s overall health and what’s possible for them.
This is a huge shift. Your practice now focuses on the maximum health opportunity instead of minimum repair. It’s about purposely diagnosing what’s best for the patient instead of worrying about insurance acceptance or what’s easiest.
You stop fixing problems and start transforming the health of patients. You don’t wait for them to ask about their next treatment because you’re showing them what’s possible for their future health. This way, you remove the constraints of insurance and small-minded thinking and give patients a bigger vision of what their health can be.
It’s liberating—for you and your patients—and you’ll see case acceptance skyrocket because they say “Yes!” to longevity, confidence, health… and more.
3. Maximize Team Speak
Once you shift your mindset, it’s time to get your team to apply it, too. Every member of your team sets a specific tone. Ensure that they are speaking maximums, not minimums.
Instead of having your front desk team members ask about simple cleanings, checkups, insurance coverage, and whether there are additional issues to address, they need to focus on maximums. For example, they might say:
- “The doctor focuses on your overall health, which includes optimizing your smile and well-being.”
- “Let’s schedule your initial visit so we can begin to map out the best plan for your long-term health.”
- “With our process, patients feel more confident, healthier, and enjoy a lifetime of best smiles.”
Your hygienists, assistants, treatment coordinators, and other clinical team members also need to transform the way they speak. Instead of pointing out problems, insurance coverage, and minimal treatment, they should educate patients about the possibilities for their overall health, present opportunities, and make it easy for patients to say “Yes!” to treatments for a bigger and healthier future.
When all your team members speak the same language of possibility, transformation, and complete health, your entire practice will shift in a positive direction. Patients see it, feel it, and invest in it.
4. Maximize Speed Instead of Visits
Another key shift to become a “greater than” practice is to stop selling visits—and start selling speed. Patients do not want to return for repetitive treatment visits with a slow, drawn-out process. They want comprehensive care with maximum impact, delivered efficiently—so offer it to them!
Focus on helping patients experience full health faster by bundling treatments into fewer visits and eliminating barriers or unnecessary delays. The patients who invest in themselves and want results are the best patients. They value what you provide and commit to long-term care. So, if you deliver results comprehensively, quickly, and with maximum value, you’ll attract and retain the best patient base possible.
5. Maximize Possibility Thinking
“Less than” practices think about limits—what insurance won’t cover, what patients won’t do, and what obstacles exist. “Greater than” practices think about possibilities—what patients’ overall health could look like and what they can achieve in the future.
Remember: practices don’t get stuck because of economic conditions, industry trends, or insurance. They get stuck because of a “less than” mindset.
Start every day focusing on maximum opportunity instead of daily struggles, and your practice will change. Diagnose, present, and speak to patients from a possibility mindset, and you will transform case acceptance. Train your team to think bigger—not smaller—and your practice will thrive.
It’s Time to Take Your Practice to the Max!
Right now, will you decide to be “greater than,” focus on complete opportunity, and sell patients on transformation? Or will you limit the possibilities of what they can achieve for overall health—and where you can take your practice?
The “greater than” mindset is about much more than your practice and providing value to patients. It’s about your life. To obtain maximum freedom, impact, and profit, it’s time to leave the status quo and think bolder, bigger, and without limitations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Recognized by thousands of dentists across North America, Scott Manning is an accomplished author (his book The Dental Practice Shift is the #1 most requested in dentistry) and a highly sought-after public speaker. For nearly two decades, he has dedicated his life to inspiring and motivating dentists worldwide to create wealth- and lifestyle-based practices. When he’s not sharing his positive message around the globe, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his beloved wife, Kristen, and daughter, Saylor. To learn more, visit https://dentalsuccesstoday.com.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Evgeniy Sarafanov/Shutterstock.com.
