The Business of Dentistry Podcast

Nigel Jones, Sales and Marketing Director at Practice Plan, shares the results of the latest NHS Confidence Monitor survey. He explains what the survey asked and looks at the contrast between the responses from NHS and private dentists. Nigel refers directly to the results, you can access them here

What you’ll hear today:

• An overview of the results
• What the results could mean for the future of the profession
• Nigel’s reflections on the current feeling within the profession

Who should listen:

• All dental professionals working in NHS dentistry or private practice

Zahid chats to Nigel Jones about the way young dentists view dentistry. They discuss the ongoing changes within the profession and what they think the future might hold for the newest generation of dentists.

What you’ll hear:

• The key challenges facing young dentists
• How being a young dentist now differs from previous generations
• The impact of technology and social media on both patients and dentists today
• How well university prepares graduates for practical dentistry

Who should listen:

• Dental students and newly qualified dentists interested in peer views
• Dental professionals who would like a better understanding of their younger peers

Ashley Latter explains why obtaining referrals is the easiest way of growing your patient numbers and shares his expert advice on how to discuss this with your current patients.

What you’ll hear:

• Common reasons that prevent dentists from asking for referrals and how to overcome them
• The three main benefits of asking for referrals
• A basic script to help you open conversations with your patients
• How to utilise the law of reciprocation

Who should listen:

• Dentists who want to grow their patient base
• New dentists who are building their patient base

Digital marketing expert Myke Woollett explains the basis of marketing metrics for a typical dental practice. He discusses the reasons why you should think about marketing metrics and shares easy to implement advice about where to start.

What you’ll hear:

• The relevance of marketing metrics in your Practice
• How buyer behaviour impacts on your bottom-line growth
• Advice about the best way to manage enquiries

Who should listen:

• Business owners who want to increase bottom line growth
• Practice managers who would like to convert more enquiries
• Anyone who would like a better understanding of buyer behaviour

Colin Campbell shares his views on leadership in a dental practice. He explains how leadership through example setting leads to a development of the team who will go above and beyond what is normally expected and in turn respect the leader of the organisation in times of difficulty.

What you’ll hear:

• The difference between leadership and management
• Principles of transformational leadership in a relaxed context
• The benefits of this style of leadership for your team

Who should listen:

• Anyone responsible for team motivation.
• Team leaders looking to improve internal communication
• Anyone who aspires to progress in their career towards a role in leadership

About Colin Campbell:

Business Coach Chris Barrow explains how you can encourage your existing patients to be advocates for your practice on social media, and how this can provide a cost effective alternative to paid digital advertising.

What you’ll hear:

• The types of posts that work best on social media
• The difference between advertising and marketing
• Who to enrol in digital advocacy, when to involve them and how ‘MRCREST’ can help
• How to choose the members of your team who will champion this.

Stephen Hudson discusses the increased anxiety and fear of complaints within the dental profession in relation to his book, ‘The dentists survival guide’.

What you’ll hear:

• The factors that influenced the creation of the book
• Why the profession are so worried about litigation
• What can be done to reduce this fear

Who should listen:

• All dental professionals
• Dental students

Ashley Latter explains the reasons why many dentists find it difficult to discuss fees with patients. He suggests easy to implement ways to overcome these difficulties and illustrates what can happen if you don’t.

What you’ll hear:

• Why Dentists find talking fees challenging
• Reasons why 90% of patients don’t buy on price
• The danger to your nett profit by reducing the fees in your head 
• How to feel more comfortable discussing fees with self confidence

Who should listen:

• Young dentists new to discussing fees
• All dentists who want to become more comfortable discussing fees

Thomas Coates explains the different types of NHS contract, who can hold them and how they can be transferred or sold. He also considers what happens when someone decides to give up an NHS contract.  

What you’ll hear:

• The difference between a PDS and a GDS contract
• How NHS contracts are bought and sold and their popularity in the market
• How to cease providing NHS dental services

Who should listen:

• Dentists considering buying an NHS contract
• NHS dentists considering a move to private dentistry
• NHS dentists considering retirement

Business Coach Carol Groombridge explains why it’s important to take a step back and look at your practice as a patient would. Sometimes the little things that you don’t notice can be the things that make a huge difference to your patients.

What you’ll hear:

• The importance of the patient experience and the factors that contribute to that
• Examples of the little things that can reflect badly upon the practice
• How taking a patient view of the practice can make a huge difference

Who should listen:

• Anyone wanting to provide the best possible patient experience
• The full dental team