The Dentistry Awards

The 4th of December is not too far way now and I for one cannot wait!!

Many of my clients and dental friends have been shortlisted for awards, and the night is going to be a celebration of everybody’s hard work that has taken place in 2009.

I was nominated by one of my clients for outstanding achievement.

This was great to hear and I am very happy to be shortlisted and be a part of the fun. There is tough competetion with likes of “Dr Bob” in my group but it is the taking part that counts.

I will keep you posted on all the winners and of those who are taking part!!

Laura

Testimonal

Dear Laura

Thank you so much for your training.

I have to say when we first talked I was not sure if it was going to make a difference but I have been proved so wrong just looking at the figures.

The revenue has gone up by 61% and work is much less stressful for me and so much easier!

The conversion rate has gone up which is amazing as I didn’t think we could get this any higher.

Thank you Laura – your training is very professional, extremely good and an amazingly good return on investment as the numbers show

Thank you for all your time spent over the phone too, assessing what kind of training would be suitable for the practice, and thank you for your follow up and constant contact and approach.

I have to say any one looking to increase the revenue generated by their business and looking for a more stress free work life you have to consider Laura Horton Consulting.

Thank you once again

Nadim Majid

Lifestyle Dental

Praise

How do you motivate your team? Before answering this question there is always  a long pause!

Most people feel that to motivate our teams we must pay them well.

However, I found in the past that most people are motivated by praise.

Spending 5 minutes with each team member on a one to one basis, informing them of everything they have done well in the past week and setting goals for the next week is an invaluable task to undertake.

But if a team member does something that you would measure as outstanding you must tell them there and then.

When you praise someone it is important not to say ” You performed A B and C very well this week, the goal for next week is to push D to the next level”. It is better to go into detail about A B and C. What was it that was performed so well?

We work in a customer focussed profession and therefore it would be good to descibe to your team member that their body language, tone of voice etc was very good. Then ask them what their goals for the following week will be and if you agree go for it!

Praise is the key to motivation - not necessarily improving a team members bank balance!

Laura

Knowing your numbers

It is a breath of fresh air when one of my clients contacts me to tell me how his conversion rate is up to 82% and income has increased by 60% within one month of using a Treatment Coordinator.

Obviously he is very pleased, and so am I, as I know what this role can do for a practice. For me though it is wonderful to be presenated with this information on the last day of the month, without me having to email him and chase him to find out the figures!!

So what do you look at each month? You should be aware of your conversion rates and the amount that the average NP is spending. You should be looking at where the NP’s are coming from too. What is working and what is not. Why? Because if something is working do more of it!!

So start today – look at October and see what happened in your practice last month.

Have fun

Laura

Roadworks and mentors

Living in Hertfordshire I often view the M25 as my second home, and the M4 has been this way of late as well.

Last week on a journey to a practice in total I drove through 12 sets of raodworks – I kid you not!

Getting from A to B is becoming more difficult  – I am having to find different routes to get me to B (often without my friendly tom tom).

When new clients contact me they are stuck at A. The goals and desires for their businesses are not clicking into place - examples are patient care and systems. My new clients contact me and are asking for help.

It should not be embarrassing for you to admit that you are struggling to get from A to B.

If you need help getting to B there is one thing you can do – ask for help. Just like I do when I when I need a short cut (god bless the M40 and A404). How did I know about this short cut? I asked for help, in fact I always do for anything that I possibly can. Thats not to say I always action the advice I am given, I simply take the best bits from each person!

Success comes when we ask for help, successful leaders can get to B. Leaders have mentors.

Who’s your mentor that stops the roadworks from disrupting your journey?

Laura