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Managed care insurance and doc-in-the-box DSOs are rapidly turning our dental profession into a commodity business. Low fee DSOs and the infestation of network reduced-fee insurance plans are making it tougher for us (private practice GP dentists) to earn a fair profit. Tougher but not impossible. How can a solo practitioner GP dentist grow and prosper today? Build relationships and referrals by creating an experience your patients will never forget. Deliver service they’ll rave about to their friends and co-workers. Nobody on the planet does service and experience better than Disney. Vance Morris is a Walt Disney World Resort Management Alumni, having spent 10 years as a leader in the Resorts. It was at the Contemporary that Vance got his crowning achievement, Designing, Opening and Operating Chef Mickey’s, Disney’s flagship Character Dining Experience. After leaving Disney he utilized his skills to rescue or improve many of America’s companies and government agencies. His clients included Legal Seafood, Tyson, NASA, Rain Forest Café, Compass Group, The Executive Office of the President of the United States, The Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He runs the only Disney Service & Direct Response Marketing business on the planet. Here he coaches companies to create Disney Style Service Systems and then monetizes them through direct response marketing. He is also the GKIC Reigning Marketer of the Year. During this podcast interview Vance reveals exactly how you can incorporate Disney-style “magic” to bring your service and patient experience to the next level and beyond. Don’t miss this interview! Links in this Episode: www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast  Get your FREE copy of my Amazon best-seller book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES! www.7SimpleSentences.com/podcast

If there was a single EASY GEM you could deploy which requires only 30 seconds of your time, costs little or nothing, and GUARANTEES a measurable reduction in new patient no-shows and an increase in case acceptance... wouldn't you want to do this for every new patient? How can you ensure that every new patient entering your practice enjoys a case of the "warm fuzzies?!" If building your practice and your income is a priority (as well it should be) then understanding the MATH behind each "Gem" you deploy is an important piece of the puzzle. In this Gems Podcast, I'm going to reveal a 30-second verbal skill to reduce your new patient 1st visit failed appointments and increase acceptance of recommended care. Links in this Episode: www.SlyDial.com This App allows you to use your cell phone to call your new patients' cell and go directly to voicemail. Very handy when you want to leave them a warm fuzzy "New Patient Welcome" message without actually speaking with them. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

This is a story about a Nun. Her name was Sister Denesita. What if you could unearth a seldom-tapped deep (nearly endless) source of potential new team members... a source filled with people EAGER to WORK... willing and ABLE to learn just about anything you require of them.  And just what if these folks were HAPPY to work for wages the likes of which you've not seen in dentistry since light cured composites were invented? Well, there IS such a source and very likely nearby your practice. Once I discovered this unpolished "Gem" I continued to draw time and again from this abundant well. I found them to be excited to work with us, passionate about and adept at learning. These were some of the best and brightest team members with whom I had the pleasure of working in my practices. Not only will you enjoy having these folks with you but your existing team members are guaranteed to WELCOME them with OPEN ARMS! www.InsidersCircle.com Gems Family members… for complete details on the “How to Double Hygiene Recall” strategy, go to the members’ website, www.InsidersCircle.com then click on the SITE Map top left, then GoldMine UnderGround Team Training Toolkit, 009. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month).  www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast  Get your FREE copy of my book, "Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine" (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

For some people, it’s a pie in the sky number they wish they could achieve… but likely can only dream of. But for many dentists, a 1-million-dollar retirement nest egg would leave you WOEFULLY SHORT of being able to enjoy a comfortable retirement. I'll never forget what Hugh told me nearly two decades ago. Hugh Doherty is one of the very few dentists who also hold the title CFP... Certified Financial Planner. Hugh told me that 95% of dentists will NEVER RETIRE to the same level of financial comfort they enjoyed while they had an active income from dental practice. How could that be? We invest our hearts and souls into helping patients. Why is it that only 5% of us have achieved a level of financial security affording us a "comfortable" retirement... one in which we are able to maintain the same (or better) standard of living as we enjoyed during our working years? When I turned 38 years-old I had over a million dollars... in debt... was in the middle of a divorce, and nearly lost my practice and my home. At age 46 I sold my two practices and was fortunate to be in the 5% who never had to work again, unless I chose to. Is $1,000,000 enough for a comfortable retirement? How can you ensure you and your family will be in the fortunate 5% when the day comes? How Much Is Enough? Of course, this number will vary greatly. This episode is meant to get you thinking about what you'll need… and get you MOTIVATED to take ACTION to MAP OUT and get on the path to your own comfortable retirement. Links in this Episode: www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Unfortunately, one of the questions I get from Gem's Family members more and more often is how to respond to a terrible review left by an irate patient. The internet presents awesome opportunity. It can help us in so many ways. But it also has the power to cause massive rapid damage if you let it. In the old days if a patient was ripping mad at a dentist the old adage was, "A happy patient will tell a friend and an unhappy patient will tell 10 friends." Even 10 people hearing how terribly you treated for Mrs. Jones was cause for concern. Today an unhappy patient can tell hundreds if not thousands through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and beyond. And then there's Yelp and Google! Should you respond to the review at all?  Although there may be instances in which you are better off not responding, in most cases it's in your best interest to respond if it's done correctly. Of course, if you respond in such a manner that gives readers the feeling that you lack empathy and understanding for your patient's situation and concerns, it will be worse than not responding at all. Prior to posting your response you should run it by your attorney. Be sure your attorney is aware that time is of the essence. The sooner you can craft and post an appropriate response to a bad review the better off you will be. The PRIMARY REASON you are posting your response is for DAMAGE CONTROL. Your response is written for the benefit of: 1. Your EXISTING patients who may happen upon the bad review and wonder about YOUR side of the story, and 2. PROSPECTIVE new patients who don't know you from Adam... and are considering coming to your practice. There are 4 Critical Elements of an Effective Response In this episode you'll discover all 4... Links in this Episode Gems Family members, go to the Gems members' website, www.InsidersCircle.com and search "082 COUNTERMEASURES TO NEUTRALIZE BAD ONLINE REVIEWS". You'll find my video team training plus the actual responses I wrote... a response from which you can "SWIPE" the next time you are faced with a terrible online review. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Whether you have just a few openings left in doctor's schedule for January or you're "wide open" right now, here is a PROVEN EFFECTIVE way to FILL your chair and come out of the gate smokin' this January... it won't cost you a penny and will take almost no time at all... Listen to the podcast and then design your flyer (or Gems Family members may just swipe the already "Done-For-You" flyer I wrote). Once you’ve written and designed your flyer, then using some of the same text from the flyer, craft a couple of emails you can email blast to all of your patients and prospects.  Here’s the timing of the 3-STEP campaign… STEP 1. Blast the first email mid to late December, each year. STEP 2. Mail the full-color flyer about the same time you blast the 1st email. Mail one flyer to every household with a patient who has visited your practice in the last 18 to 24 months. STEP 3. Blast the 2nd (slightly different but same idea) email about 7 to 10 days after email #1 ANYTIME you create a multi-media internal marketing blitz to promote a specific treatment or service, in addition to the printed flyers you mail, be sure to print up enough flyers to HAND to all of your patients who visit the office during at least the next 3 months. And, of course, your team should wear the buttons which match the flyer and are designed to start conversations with the right patients who truly do have an interest in the topic you’re highlighting. I have created 36 different GoldRush Patient Motivator Modules. Sedation, Invisalign, Implants, Use-It-Or-Lose-It, end of the year remaining insurance benefits reminder, Worn Enamel, Root Sensitivity and dozens more. All come with pre-written emails, flyers, and buttons.  The module that alerts patients to there newly found WINDFALL of insurance money available each January is GoldRush Patient Motivator Module 34. Links in this Episode Gems Family members, to access either of this GoldRush… or any of the 36 modules, go to the Gems Members’ site… www.InsidersCircle.com and click on the SITE MAP at the top left.  You’ll find GOLDRUSH PATIENT MOTIVATOR SYSTEM not quite ½ way down the left-hand column of the SITE MAP. Download the emails and flyers then let your Personal Gems Concierge know which module you’re about to deploy and how many team member buttons you’d like to go along with the emails and flyers. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

It's (beyond) time to fight back. Ask your business staff how much of their VALUABLE TIME IS WASTED by dental insurance carriers deploying DELIBERATE BULLYING TACTICS. It's beyond time to fight back.  Being put on hold and left there for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, even more... only to be disconnected requiring calling back in and starting all over again. Told they never received claims for which you have PROOF of receipt. Forced to resubmit supporting documents which were already submitted with the original claim. Denied benefits or drastically reduced even though the pre-determination (which you shouldn't have wasted your time sending in the first place) indicated they were going to pay or pay much more. Calling again and again, asking for supervisors or resubmitting what you've already sent in are INEFFECTIVE means to battle the bullying. But there IS a proven-effective way to get them to listen AND to measurably REDUCE their TACTICS of TORTURE. When Ben used tip #4, which I reveal in this podcast… when he deployed this Gem with Aetna and United Healthcare while he was managing a large 10 doctor group practice in Arizona, he got a PERSONAL REPLY from the CEO's of Aetna and United Healthcare APOLOGIZING... plus a list of names and contact info for provider relations managers who could and would help him if ever experiencing such terrible bullying tactics again. Links in this Episode Gems Family members you can view or download Ben's entire strategy at www.InsidersCircle.com enter "Insurance Bullying" into the search bar. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Imagine if there were a "Magic Phrase of Marketing..." a short easy sentence your team could learn in less than 30 seconds and deploy today... one sentence which could increase your new patient flow by as much as 15% per year. This Magic Phrase exists and will cost you absolutely nothing... Your team member, Jill, is on the phone with a new patient, Betty. Jill did a great job. Said all the right things and did so with a smile on her face and a delightfully positive attitude. She wraps up the call by thanking Betty for calling, reassuring her that she's going to love Dr. Smith and the entire team, and reconfirming the day, date and time. She even remembered to use Dr. Cialdini's principle of commitment and consistency in order to measurably increase the likelihood that Betty will call if she needs to change the appointment. BUT WAIT!  Add one more sentence and you will ADD 10% TO 15% MORE NEW PATIENTS this year and every year until the day you retire... Links in this Episode If your team uses a "New Patient Phone Slip" to ensure consistency when speaking with prospective new patients on the phone (and they should be using one!) be sure to add just one more question (revealed during this podcast) at the bottom and you will measurably increase your new patient flow. Gems Family members, if you’d like to view and/or copy my new patient phone slip, go to the members’ website, www.InsidersCircle.com  and enter New Patient Phone Slip into the search bar. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES! Magic Gem Adds More New Patients Undiagnosed high blood pressure of which the patient is entirely unaware, can lead to a stroke or heart attack in unsuspecting hypertensives. Undiagnosed periodontal disease can cause bone loss, tooth loss, and worse, systemic infection which can lead to serious medical complications. What does that have to do with new patient flow? A LOT. You may not be risking your health, but you are most certainly risking your wealth. Most dentists are unaware that 26.7% of your prospective new patients call your office when you are unable to pick up the phone. After looking at data from over 100,000 inbound calls to dental practices, I found more than 1/4 of your prospective new patients were calling before work, nights, weekends, holidays and even while you were open but your team was straight out busy… and unable to answer one more line. How much do you lose when you miss one new patient call? The average new patient in a general dental practice spends $4,800 (ALV or "Average Lifetime Value"). If you only missed one new patient per month, you're losing $57,600.00 per year. Sadly, most practices are missing out on multiples of that. The good news is that my Ultimate Phone Concierge (UPC) PHONE SCHEDULING TEAM can step in and answer the calls your in-office team is currently missing, early morning, after work, nights, weekends, holidays and more. Because that's all my team does, we have a (much) higher prospect on the phone to new patient in your chair close rate than even your most excellent team members. I'm SO CONFIDENT you'll LOVE your phone concierge that I'll do it for FREE... If you've never experienced UPC before, try Ultimate Phone Concierge for 30 days. We'll take ALL the risk, you take NONE. If you're not thrilled with our service let us know after 30 days and we'll refund every penny you paid. Of course, you'll keep the new patients we scheduled during the times your team couldn't answer! To be clear, we are not an answering service!  Our primary focus is SCHEDULING NEW PATIENTS who call when YOU can’t or won’t answer your phones. This special 30-day ZERO RISK full money back Ultimate Phone Concierge offer is available only to the first 97 dentists who email with the subject, Phone Concierge 30 days, zero-risk…  with the subject, Phone Concierge 30 days, zero-risk. Then, in the body of the email, just mention that you heard about The Ultimate Phone Concierge on my podcast, episode 14. Looking forward to helping you add more new patients, grow your practice and your revenues, have a little more fun and make a lot more money!

My team knew I preferred not to be interrupted while treating a patient. When Izabel buzzed I knew there was something wrong. She began, "Dr. Orent, there's a man here to see you. Says he is an investigator from the Massachusetts State Licensing Board... the Board of Registration in Dentistry. He showed me his badge. Says he wants access... to all of our patient records." His visit was without warning. Unannounced. I had no idea why he was at my front desk. What I did know was that it's never good news. I told Izabel to tell him I'd be right out. Told my patient I was going to give him a short break... rest his jaw... then headed for the front desk. His name was Vincent, though he introduced himself as "Investigator Smith" (not his real last name). He was wearing a dark gray suit. Showed me his badge. As he had explained to Izabel, he was sent by BORID (The Massachusetts State Board of Registration in Dentistry) as part of an investigation. He was polite, but all business. He advised me that he would be with us for the better part of the day (now there's an oxymoron... I didn't see how having him with us would make that the better part of any day). And so it began. He pulled bunches of charts from the wall, spread them out on the desk, and began reading. When he finished that batch, he'd put them back and pull the next. I went back to patient care. From time to time I'd peak out front. He was in my office no less than 6 hours. One time while at the front, I casually asked him what he was looking for. Why was he in my office? Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). If you’ve never been a Gems Family Platinum member, then I’d like to invite you, AS MY GIFT… to join our Gems FAMILY…  take a FREE 6-week TEST DRIVE of Gems Family Platinum membership. Six weeks FREE. You’ll enjoy ALL the benefits of Gems Family Platinum membership… The usual $497 monthly membership fee will be WAIVED until week 7. You may cancel at ANY time. Gems Family Platinum membership is always month to month.  ZERO commitment beyond the month you’re in. For a LIMITED TIME… if you take advantage of this offer right now, you’ll pay only $6, a one-time shipping fee. Your first 6 weeks are FREE. www.GemsAreEasy.com/PODCAST13 to read all about and get your FREE 6-WEEK TEST DRIVE... then click the JOIN PLATINUM button. www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Have you ever attended a weekend CE course, come back all excited to apply what you learned at the course... only to be thwarted by that Monday morning back to the same old grind routine? Feels like getting the wind knocked out of you. There’s a SIMPLE SOLUTION to ensure that upon your return you and your team take full advantage of all that you've learned at any seminar, course or continuum. I received the following question from one of my Gems family Members, Dr. Andrew G. Tom, I will be taking a course on sedation on Friday and I wanted to get your advice on how to make the most out of the effort.  I have taken CE before where I get really pumped up about the concepts and ideas and on Monday morning it's back to the same old routine.  I am taking my Hygienist and lead assistant with me.  How do we hit the ground running with this (and any) CE course so that we implement it right away and never look back? Thanks! Andrew Elizabeth and I have often marveled at the fact that it's not that we don't know the answers to the questions... it goes deeper than that... it's often that we didn't even know which questions to ask.  I’ll share with you exactly what I told Andrew. In this episode, you'll discover my FIVE-CRUCIAL KEY, PLAN OF ATTACK, which, if implemented, will ensure maximum results from just about any Gem you’d like to deploy. Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

SPOILER ALERT. The KEY to Your UNLIMITED POTENTIAL may Just be a KEY you’re not ready, willing or able to accept. On the other hand… for those who are willing to accept the concept I reveal in this episode… all of your dreams may be possible. You've invested more money, time, blood, sweat and tears into your practice than most could imagine. What have you got to show for it? If you're like many dentists, the answer is not nearly enough. You've worked really hard and have a loyal following of patients and a solid team. Yet there always seems to be too much month left at the end of the money. At our Gems Family Members' Disney World Retreat, one of the doctors shared an insightful observation as to why the doctors to his right and left were experiencing exponential growth in their practices while his had remained flatlined for 7 years. In fact, he told us that immediately following the last recession his revenues had dropped more than 20%, then remained in a steady rut. Upon first blush he thought to himself that the reason (for his lack of growth) was patient demographics. Or maybe it was the difference in available quality staff in his area. Or that he was in a small town and they were in big cities. Or just maybe, he said... Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Have you ever tried to figure out why many patients fail to schedule recommended (and sorely needed) treatment? Recently I spoke with Fred, a general dentist in practice for 37 years. He's given this issue a lot of thought. Fact is Fred pretty much NAILED the WHY. Fred figured out why many patients don't take action. Why they allow things to get worse. Dental diseases are progressive. Even though Fred put his finger on the WHY... he had yet to discover the "HOW." How to present best option care in a manner that A) Consistently increases the likelihood of acceptance by the patient B) Solves the ETHICAL (and potentially LEGAL) DILEMMA of offering only best option care. Fred and Many Dentists Follow a Surefire Recipe for Case Rejection Whether or not he was aware of the marketing research, Fred identified and understood of one of the most common reasons patients don't move forward with recommended care. Too many options. For 37 years he'd done as instructed in dental school and had been offering most patients at least three options. Kind of a "good, better, best." On the surface that approach makes good sense. Let patients know that there are several options. While speaking with his Gems Coach he revealed a deep frustration with this approach. By the time patients sat through the 3rd option their eyes glazed over and they became paralyzed with CONFUSION. He hit the nail on the head. Confused patients don't schedule care. Is it Ethical to Offer ONLY Best-Option Care? All too often dentists and dental team members recommend care based more upon what insurance will cover than what they believe to be the very best possible care. In this episode, I'll share my philosophy of care, an approach which ensures that the majority of your patients will receive only that which you feel is best for their long-term health. Links in this Episode If you are a Gems Family Member and would like access to my four-step team training system for your hygienists on how to sell best-option quadrant dentistry, go to www.InsidersCircle.com. At the top left, Click on the SITE MAP, then choose GoldMine UnderGround Team Training Toolkit Episode 4, HOW TO SELL QUADRANT BEST-OPTION DENTISTRY. www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

You walk on eggshells beating around the bush rather than speaking to her directly. There are systems and strategies you'd love to try in YOUR practice but you hesitate to ask for her help for fear of her knee-jerk emotion-sucking NEGATIVE ATTITUDE. Or maybe it's not that black and white. She has a positive attitude, patients love her, and she's been with you forever. Fact is she even says "yes" when you ask her to do stuff. But weeks or months later you realize that little or none of what you requested got done. There are the "A-Team" players who are go-getters, passionate about their work, and 110% ON BOARD helping YOU step-by-step, turn your vision into reality. Then there are those with whom you SUFFER. People who WILL NEVER help you achieve your dreams. If you have one or more team members who don't belong in your practice, it's NOT COSTING YOU tens of thousands of dollars each year. From 20 years of one-on-one coaching with hundreds doctors in my Elite GG12 Dental Practice Transformation program and working with thousands of doctors in our Gems Insiders' Circle, I can assure you that your loss associated with carrying a single team member who is on the wrong bus... is in the SIX FIGURE range. One of the most difficult parts of your job as practice owner is firing an employee. Emotionally wrenching. You agonize over the decision and more often than not you make no decision at all. No decision IS a decision. You live day to day with the feeling that you could do better. You’ve put far too much time, effort, sweat, blood and soul (let alone MONEY!) into your dental practice. It's time to take a closer look and determine who's "ALL IN!" "A-Team" players deserve to be surrounded by other "A-Team" players. Nothing less. In this episode you'll discover the NINE CRITICAL SIGNS IT'S TIME TO FIRE AN EMPLOYEE... Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

What could possibly be more traumatic than having your dental practice burn to the ground? How 'bout learning that the only computer backups were lost along with everything else in the fire. Worse than that... TRUE Story… though not his real name, Dr. Bob's trusted office manager of 19 years was the one who threw the backups back into the building... right after she set the fire! When Mindy, a Certified Fraud Examiner, first told me that story I thought I'd heard the worst possible embezzlement story. Turns out she had many that were equally shocking and a few with even worse consequences. It's most often your least expected most trusted team member crossing the line to the dark side (stealing from you). One dentist I know personally lost $300,000.00 over a period of years before he realized a penny was missing. Over 50% of dentists have been or will be embezzled. In this episode, you'll discover a checklist of RED FLAG WARNING SIGNS of embezzlement and the PREVENTION STEPS you must take in order to minimize your risk. There is no way to guarantee you won't be embezzled, but the Gems in this episode are an excellent start to ensure you're doing what you must about it. Embezzlement Prevention? Be Prepared... Links in this Episode If you are a Gems Family member take advantage of the MUST SEE webinar Mindy, a Certified Fraud Examiner did for our Gems Family Doctors… go to www.InsidersCircle.com click on the SITE map. Choose Gems Insiders Circle Webinars, Episode 66, titled, “Embezzlement Horror Stories And How NOT to Become the Next Victim!” www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

What do a bakery and your hygiene schedule have in common that could easily turn a weak falling apart middle of the day hygiene schedule into a highly profitable cash generating machine? Is Your Practice Suffering from Either of these Profit-Sucking Problems? Your hygiene schedule is solid at the beginning of the day. Things looked great at 8:00 am. But it's all downhill from there! Two or three call just minutes before their appointments (that may make them feel better but it for sure doesn't help you one iota!) Others don't even have the decency to call. They simply NO-SHOW. Worse than the first option above, you're no longer able to keep the middle of the day full even at the opening bell. Right from the start, you know in advance you're about to lose your shirt in hygiene more days than you'd care to count. Traditional Hygiene Scheduling = Salmon Swimming Upstream Have you ever taken a close look at which hygiene hours are by far the easiest to fill? Not coincidentally those same hours are the least likely to become no-shows and last-minute cancellations. Sure, it's easy. Early morning and late afternoon/evening appointments. And why is that? It's 'cause our patients fear leaving work in the middle of the day for routine hygiene appointment could result in the LOSS of THEIR JOBS. Bottom line is they may have been willing initially to "accommodate" you and schedule into the middle of the day... but many of them are unwilling to actually SHOW UP for middle of the day appointments. Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Think this could never happen to you? That was Frank's attitude as well. Until the day a Federal Judge sentenced him to three years in "Club Fed" (Federal Prison). The scary part of Frank's story is that the first line he crossed was a line crossed by thousands and thousands of dentists every day. Could be happening in YOUR office... and it may be happening without your knowledge. Either way, it would be worth a five-minute informal meeting with your team. Today. Trying to Make a Decent Living Shouldn't Be Against the Law Frank (not his real name) was a general dentist. The first "line" he crossed related to a pattern of fraudulent insurance claims. In this episode, you'll discover a few of the things some dentists do that could result in (potentially severe) legal consequences... Links in this Episode Wanna know how you can FIGHT BACK against INSURANCE COMPANY BULLYING? If you’re a Gems Family member go to www.InsidersCircle.com and in the search bar at the top right, enter the words, “Insurance bullying.” Open and read, “Insurance Bullying and How to Fight Back!” www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!

Bill has been with you as a patient just a little over a year. He originally found your practice by your web site. Had some minor perio issues which you've resolved through scaling and root planing visits. He has faithfully followed the three-month recall intervals you recommended. He's an upper-level executive with a local Fortune 500 computer software company. Super sharp guy. Really nice guy. The kind you wish you had many many more of in your practice. Last week, at Bill's request, you presented a cosmetic makeover treatment plan including fee and financial options. Bill said he'd like to give it a week to think about it and rescheduled for a second consultation today. After some small talk, Bill says... "Doc, I've got to level with you. I like you and your team and I'm sure you'll do a great job with my veneers. But I'm a businessman first, and this is going to be a significant investment. If you could find a way to give me a break off the fee you quoted me last week, I'd seriously consider having you do the work..." To Discount or Not to Discount Your Fees Last week one of my Gems Insiders' Circle members ran into a similar situation. He ended up giving the patient 20% off… because according to the doc… he was pretty sure the patient would have gone down the street to the first dentist who would discount fees upon request. Our Gems Family member wanted to know if I‘d have handled it any differently. I asked if he had he ever done this for any other patients?  Yep. In fact, it was becoming somewhat of a routine and he was concerned. Intentionally or not, we are training our patients what to expect and how to behave within our practices. When Bill asks you if you can do any better than the quoted fee and you respond by reducing the fee, you can be darned sure that Bill will be asking (and rightfully expecting) a discount the next time he needs treatment in your practice. Next year when Bill's wife, Mary, decides she too wants veneers, you can be certain Mary will hold you to the discounted fees you offered Bill. Then there's the issue of Bill and Mary's coworkers and friends. Don't think for a moment that when Mary tells Cindy at work about you, that she won't also tell her to ASK FOR A DISCOUNT. In this episode, you'll discover an alternative to discounting your fees. A paradigm shift in handling this age-old question. A strategy which results in a win-win for your patient and your practice. If you are a Gems Family member, ask your Personal Gems Concierge to schedule a call with your entire team to review this strategy so that the next time you’re asked… and you will be asked… you’ll know exactly what to say, with confidence, in order to keep your patient and perform the treatment without discounting your fee. Links in this Episode www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast  Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month). www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener). PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!