Great Interview Questions to Help You Hire the Right Person in Your Dental Practice

Great interview questions, also called “killer” questions, were the subject of a previously published article.  You can see that information by clicking here.  Here are 10 more essential questions to help you find the right person.

My comments to you appear after each question in square brackets [like this].

  1. What marketing strategies should the practice use to attract new patients? [This one is on the list of great interview questions because marketing is everyone’s job.  You should not expect someone to give you a complete marketing plan, but everyone who works in a dental office should have ideas about practice growth.
  2. How will you help implement these ideas? [You want to know how your prospective employee will help in this regard, not just give you advice.]
  3. What are you looking for in a boss? [If the person gives a bland answer such as “nice” or “fair,” probe more deeply.  How does the person define those terms?]
  4. What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you? [Interviews can be stressful.  This question is designed to lighten the tone and let you find out if the interviewee has a sense of humor.]
  5. Someone who has not decided on a career asks you about opportunities in dentistry. What would you tell that person?  What pros and cons would you bring up?  [Prepare to be enlightened.  This answer will reveal whether the interviewee is truly dedicated to the dental profession and whether they are an optimist or a pessimist.]
  6. What are your interpersonal strengths? [The word “interpersonal” is key. Someone might talk about a specific skills, such as organizational ability, which is commendable, but you want to know about interpersonal strengths.  You are looking for someone who can get along with many different personality types.]
  7. No one is perfect. What are your weaknesses?  [There are people who try to spin this answer.  Someone might say, “Sometimes I work too hard” or “I have a tendency to be a perfectionist.”  You are looking for an honest self-assessment.]
  8. Describe a high pressure situation related or unrelated or unrelated to dentistry that you dealt with in the past. How did you handle it?  [Dealing with stress is an important skill.  This answer to this question will be very revealing.]
  9. Who has been the most important person in your own self-development? [Most people have mentors, role models, heroes.  You want to know about these key people who helped shape the interviewee.]
  10. Why do you have a passion for dentistry? [Of all the great interview questions, this one may be the best.  It assumes that the person does indeed have a passion for dentistry.  Be wary of the person who searches in vain for an answer, or the person who describes their “passion” in very flat terms.]

Caution: Do not conduct an interview with a prospective employee without using this list of great interview questions.  You and your practice deserve the best, and this list is a valuable aid.

www.davidschwab.com

 

Five Ways News Releases Help Your Dental Practice

News releases help your dental practice in five major ways:

  1. News releases are a great way to boost your website search engine optimization (SEO). When a news release is published nationwide through a news distribution service, it will likely appear on the websites of various newspapers and television stations.  Your practice website URL is included as a link in the release, so you will have what are called “backlinks” to your website on those media sites.  Backlinks are very valuable for SEO because if your website is important enough to be included as a link on another website, then Google will rank your website higher for search purposes.   It does not matter if your release appears on a news website in another state.  It is true that if you are in Chicago you will not get patients from a local television news station’s website in Dallas, but Google is still likely to reward you for the link with a higher search engine ranking.
  2. The release may be picked up by your local media. It’s not a given, because competition for news release placement is strong, but a media outlet in your area could either choose to publish the release on its website or—best case scenario—contact you for an interview.  While you cannot expect your release to appear on page one of your local newspaper, the goal is to have it published on many media websites, and your local media outlets are logical targets.
  3. A professionally done release looks impressive. The release can be printed in PDF format.  You can frame it and put it on a wall, include it in patient information packets, or pass it out at health fairs.  Specialists can distribute the release to referring dentists.  You should also, of course, publish the electronic version on your own website.
  4. News releases have “legs,” which means that releases show up in Internet searches for a considerable period of time. I have written news releases for doctors and found them by doing a Google search for the doctor’s name eighteen months after distribution.  The more hits for your name or your practice’s name on Google, the better.  In addition, it is impressive when someone finds a news release about you on the Internet, because it makes you look important and newsworthy.
  5. The news release is searchable content on the Internet. If you practice in Nashville and the release is about your work with dental implants, for example, then someone may find your name because they are searching for “dental implants Nashville.”  The release pops up on a media website, you are positioned as the expert, and the release has a link to your practice website.

Opportunities for news release content abound.

You may have great material for news releases if:

  • You have won an award or received other recognition.
  • A new doctor has joined the practice.
  • You have opened or renovated a dental office.
  • You have lectured at a major dental meeting.
  • You have introduced a new treatment modality into your practice.
  • You are the first or only doctor in your area to incorporate certain equipment or modalities into your practice.
  • You have published an article in a scientific journal and you want to share the information with the public in laymen’s terms.

Writing and publishing news releases will require a degree of experience and expertise.  If you have an idea for a release or questions about the process and would like some guidance, please contact me.  Sending out a news release is a straightforward project that requires very little of the doctor’s time and has the potential to significantly benefit the practice.

www.davidschwab.com

Social Media Content–An Unlimited Source in Your Dental Practice

Social media content–as much as you’ll every need–is right in your own practice.  Your patients provide unlimited content for social media, because you tell their stories.  I write social media content for doctors as a turnkey service, but whether I write it or  you do it yourself, the stories from your practice are unique.

I always use an attention-getting headline.  Listed below are three excerpts (not the full blogs) of stories from three different practices that really grab the reader’s attention.  These constituent great social media content.

  1. “If you hurt me, doc, I’m going to throw  you out the window.”

A patient who was a professional football player came in to see me.  He had known that his upper teeth in particular were failing for a long time and also was told that he was losing them and that he would have to wear a denture.  He said that he just could not wear a denture because it was not in his personality and he was a tough guy.  In fact, he threatened to throw me out the window if I hurt him.  We are on the second floor with shatterproof glass, so I knew that was not going to be a pleasant experience.  [The blog ends with the story of how the patient was very happy with treatment.]

  1. Patient Too Embarrassed for Years for Photos Now Smiles for the Camera with Her Son

I had a patient had never had another picture taken with her then 13-year-old son after the day he was born.  She had only one picture taken when her son was born. She lacked confidence due to her dental issues, and she did not have any more pictures taken until, literally, the day that we delivered, not only her implants, but her immediate fixed teeth.

That was actually the first time in almost 13 years that she had a picture taken with her son.  I had no idea that we were making that kind of an impact.  I thought I was simply helping a woman who was having trouble chewing due to failing dentition.  The implant dentistry treatment gave her confidence and changed her life in more ways than one.

  1. “Wow!”  That’s What Patients Say After Dental Laser Treatment

The comment I get most often from patients after laser surgery is, “Wow!  It was so much easier than I expected.”  Patients tell me that they hardly have any discomfort.  They may take an over the counter product such as Motrin or Tylenol for two days at the most and then they report that they feel fine. 

As you can see from these examples, your social media content should be interesting and educational.  When the content is about your practice and your patients, it is customized and compelling.

davidschwab.com

 

How to Write Killer Content for Social Media

Wanted: killer content.  In my last blog I talked about how to fill up your blog “bucket” on your website with content and send that content out to social media.  (Click here to see that post.)  Here are some tips for writing killer social media content.

  1. Start with a compelling title.  If you are writing about dental implants, for example, here’s a sample title:  Dental implants Give Woman, 85, New Lease on Life Says Dallas Dentist Dr. John Smile.  The opening provides a success story in just a few words. There is an 85-year-old woman who is now very happy with dental implants, so the reader is thinking that, yes, older adults can have dental implants.
  2. Put key words in the title. “Dental implants” is a good choice.  Notice also that the phrase “Dallas dentist” is included.  Some people search for that exact term.  The doctor’s name is also included in the headline.  You want to be very visible on the web.  The more times your name is mentioned in a professional context, the better.
  3. Limit the title to no more than 70 characters, including spaces. There are different authorities who will give you a slightly lower or higher number, but 70 characters maximum for a blog title will work out fine.  If the title is longer, it will likely be cut off by the search engine results page (SERP).
  4. Make the blog interesting and informative. Here is an excerpt from the body of the blog:  “When I first met her, the patient was unhappy.  She could not eat the foods of her choice and she thought she was too old to have dental implant treatment.  Now that her dental implant treatment has been completed, she never stops smiling!  She eats all her favorite foods, she has a terrific smile, and she does not have to worry about traditional dentures that slip, click, or cause embarrassment.  She says she feels young again thanks to dental implants, and she certainly acts that way.”  Now that’s killer content!
  5. Include a link to your website at the end of the blog. Some people will click and be taken right to your website.  Your content is not only about your practice; it leads back to your practice.
  6. Use different authors. When I write blogs and social media content for dental practices, I interview not only the doctor, but team members as well.  The result is that there are blogs from the doctor and also some from the unique perspective of the team
  7. Include an image to make the blog post memorable.  An image helps give the blog credibility and may induce someone to spend extra time looking at your blog post and reading it.  A great site for finding free images is pexels.com.

In Part 3, I will discuss how to find a never-ending source of killer content for your blogs and social media accounts right in own practice.

www.davidschwab.com

How Blog and Social Media Content Boost SEO (Part 1)

Social media and blogs significantly help SEO.  A website that looks great but ranks on page two is akin to being exiled to Siberia; anything lower than page two and you might as well advertise your practice on Neptune.  So how to you get to and stay on page one of Google?

To keep up your rankings, you need to post a regular blog and then push that same content out to your social media accounts.

What is a blog?

The term “blog” is an amalgamation of two words: web and log.  Blog is an unfortunate term because it sounds like a Soviet housing project.  Linguistic prejudice aside, I can define a blog as an article written to inform.  Think of a regular newspaper column on sports or politics.  On the Internet, the columnist would be called a “blogger.”   Use your blog to as your personal column in your own publication (your website) to tell people what you do and invite them to come to your office so you can solve their dental problems.

How long is a blog?

Unlike newspaper columns that have rigid length requirements due to space considerations, a blog can be almost any length. However, Google wants blogs to be at least 300 words in length, because Google does not want to reward frequently blogging with higher search engine rankings if a blog is only one sentence long.  Some “long form” blogs are thousands of words in length and they can greatly help SEO, but those types of blogs will be discussed at another time.  For now, think 300 words.

What does the blog live?

The blog should be visible or at least accessible on your website.  It’s a simple matter for your webmaster to install a button that people can click to access your blog.   Blog hosting can be handled in many different ways.  Many blogs are hosted by WordPress, a service that makes posting very easy.  In fact, if you can copy and paste text in Microsoft Word, then you can figure out how to copy your article into WordPress to create a blog.

How does a blog help SEO?

Two ways.  First, by posting regularly (once a week or at least several times per month), you continually add new content to your website and that helps SEO.  Second, you can push the blog out to your social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter.  When someone clicks on the headline content on Facebook, for example, the entire blog opens.  If everything has been set up properly, the reader is actually now on your website, which of course means one more click.  Google gives you credit for lots of clicks because Google thinks your website must be important if it is drawing many visitors.

How do I find the time to write a blog?

Writing a blog can be time consuming.  Web developers are continually asking doctors for content, and doctors always say that they do not have time.  I have developed a blog and social media creation service.  I write all the content for an entire year based on a phone interview with the doctor and staff.  When this customized content is “in the bank,” so to speak, it is easy to grab a new ready-to-go blog each week and post it.  Problem solved.

If you prefer to write blogs yourself, I will discuss the elements of a good blog and give you tips in my next posting, Part 2.

www.davidschwab.com

 

Don’t Text and Drive (Your Dental Practice)

Dental procedures require focus.  You concentrate on the task at hand and you do not want to be interrupted.  However, when it comes to managing the practice, there is a tendency to multitask.  Many doctors grab a few minutes of desk time and then overload their circuits.  They text, read e-mails, go through their stacks of stuff, talk on the phone, and try to carry on a conversation with an employee and make management decisions.

What’s wrong with this picture?  In their illuminating book entitled The One Thing: The Surprising Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Gary Keller and Jay Papason point out the fallacy of multitasking.  It turns out that the brain, like any given computer, has a limited amount of computing capacity. When we multitask, we end up doing several things not nearly as well as we could do one thing.  Research shows that distractions are interruptions that slow us down, detract from the quality of work, and ultimately make tasks longer and harder to complete.  That’s why it’s dangerous to text and drive a vehicle, and why it’s also not good for the health of your practice for you to text or otherwise multitask while managing your business.

When management is just one more ball to juggle, it does not get the attention it deserves.  Decisions are rushed or delayed, employees do not get clear direction or feedback, and problems fester.  By attempting to do too much at one time, not enough time and energy are focused on the complex task of management.  The result is that small management problems are easily glossed over and until they grow into large problems that threaten employee morale and practice production.

There are two solutions.  First, management has to be a priority.  When you are making business decisions, you need the same clarity, focus, and sense of purpose that you bring to the task of establishing an accurate diagnosis for a patient.  Second, you need to have an office manager—even in a small practice—who handles administrative matters and calls your attention to important issues for decision making.

At any given time, the one management task that you are trying to accomplish is important.  Focus.  Give it your all.

www.davidschwab.com

Three Reasons Your Practice Will Grow in 2017

Your practice will grow in 2017 unless you lock the doors and put bars on the windows. Patients are going to demand dental services in the coming year for three very solid reasons.

Consumer Confidence. In late 2016, consumer confidence hit a 15-year high. This confidence index is a psychological snapshot. When people feel more optimistic about their economic well-being, they spend more money. When they spend more money, the economy grows. When the economy grows, people then feel even more confident and the cycle repeats. As Hamlet says, “as if increase of appetite had grown by what if fed on.”

Economic Vibrancy. The U.S. economy grew at 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2016, its best showing in two years. The country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9%, the first time this important measure has been below 5% since 2008. Because more people are working and the economy is growing, people have more money to spend on personal care such as dentistry. Your practice will grow in the coming year, because a rising tide raises all ships.

Demographic Destiny. Every day in the U.S., 10,000 people reach the age of 65. Many people in their 60’s are still working, or retiring and deciding to travel, dine out frequently, and spend money on themselves, especially for services that improve the quality of their lives. As these Baby Boomers continue to mightily influence the economy, the Millennials are on the cusp of their peak earning years. Larger than any other group and driving social media and consumer trends, the Millennials are starting families, buying houses, and becoming an increasingly important part of the dental population.

These factors are coming together to create a perfect storm for production growth in your practice in 2017. With the external factors all moving in the right direction, the challenge is to position yourself to take full advantage of these trends.

Throughout the coming year, I will be writing about how to ride the wave by seizing on trends, running the practice efficiently, motivating the team, and finding creative ways to tap into a growing market for your services.

Happy New Year!

 

www.davidschwab.com

New Team Training Video Series Available!

My new Team Training Video Series is now available!  The series consists of videos and written materials to help you implement proven practice management tips and concepts.  Here’s the link to all the info: Click here.

There are twelve videos, each about 15 minutes in length, where I cover topics such as:

  • Converting Internet Inquires into Patients
  • Using Social Media to Reach Millennials and More
  • Great Verbal Skills for the Dental Team
  • Secrets of Magnetic Practices that Attract New Patients

Watch each video and fill in the blanks in the accompanying handout.  Then have a great team meeting using the resource materials provided.

The videos are accessed through the Internet.  Team members can watch on their own smart phones, tablets, or the office computers.  Sign up, get the link, and you are all set.  Watch the videos whenever you want, in an order you want, and as many times as you want.

This series effectively gives you an entire year of team training meetings.  I set the stage in the videos and then you use the written materials to implement specific action steps.  It’s a practical, cookbook approach that also allows for team discussion.

These videos are also great to help bring a new team member up to speed or to get everyone on the team on the same page.  There just is no substitute for team training, and this series bridges the gap between my content-filled practice management seminars and putting tips into practice in your dental office.

Here’s the bottom line:  I really enjoy doing in-office consulting, but if you want me to virtual appear in your office once a month for an entire year, then this Team Training Video is an outstanding value, especially at the low, introductory price.

Best wishes to all for a great holiday season and a terrific 2017.  Click the link for all the info, an explanatory video,  and ordering information.  Click here now.

 

 

Three Things Never to Say to a Patient

Verbal skills in a dental office are very important. Here are three things never to say to a patient in your dental office:

1. We will be happy to make an appointment for your initial visit. The term “initial visit” sounds somewhere between bland and boring; it certainly does not communicate value. A better phrase is “comprehensive diagnostic evaluation.” Example: We can see you on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. for your comprehensive diagnostic evaluation. The doctor will conduct a thorough examination, including x-rays, and answer all your questions. Patients sometimes complain about the high cost to walk in the door. Let them know that their first visit is not just to get acquainted but that the doctor will use his or her skills to make a professional assessment of the patient’s oral health.

2. I know it’s expensive but we have a financing plan. The word “expensive” to some people carries a connotation of “over-priced.” A much better alternative: The proposed treatment will never be more conservative, more cost-effective, or less invasive than it is today. We work with an independent financing company that allows patients to spread out payments over time with a low interest rate. Banish the word “expensive” from your vocabulary because it makes communicating value for the dollar more difficult.

3. I’m new. Everyone has to start somewhere, but when you say that you are new, you are telling the patient not to listen to you because you are trainee and you have no idea what you are talking about—at least not yet. It’s better to say, let me check for you and then proceed with the conversation. If you have been in dentistry for many years but you are new to the practice, then you can say,I recently started working here and it’s a great practice, and I have a number of years of prior experience. If you have no prior experience, impress the patient with your great work ethic and commitment to customer service and do not be afraid to ask your colleagues for help, but do not emphasize your lack of experience to patients if you can avoid it.

By having verbal skills at the ready, you will avoid pitfalls.

www.davidschwab.com

Magnetic Dental Marketing to Attract New Patients

Magnetic dental marketing is all about attracting new patients.  You have walking billboards that frequently attract interest—your team.  Individuals who work in dental offices can turn inquiries into dental patients very easily by following some simple steps.

  1. When team members leave the office wearing clothing with the practice name and logo, they frequently attract attention.  “Where do you work?”  “Oh, is that a dental office?”  “I’ve heard of that dentist.”  These are questions people ask when they see a doctor’s name emblazoned on a shirt.
  2. If the person wants to end the conversation at that point, then that is their choice; but if the discussion goes further, then talk up the practice by giving your 15-second practice summary. Click here for my podcast on that topic.
  3. Offer the person who asked the question a business card and answer the questions that are posed.
  4. Ask them open questions to determine if they need a dentist. Many people will ask for advice about a dental problem and are eager to hear what you have to say.  If they need more information or you think could benefit from seeing the doctor, proceed to the next step.
  5. Ask for their business card. If they have one, that’s great; if not, give them another one of your cards and use this script:  “Please write your name and contact information on the back of this card.  If you like, I will have our office manager contact you to answer questions and help you make an appointment.”
  6. Tell the prospective patient that, if they prefer, they should call the office to make an appointment. Here’s the script:  “Call the office and mention my name.  Say that I said to get give you priority and get you in as soon as possible.”   Now the new patient has clout.  The patient can call the office and use your name to get special consideration.   You are using magnetic dental marketing to encourage someone to call the office.
  7. Make sure that everyone who answers the phone in the office knows that a team member has made a contact. The script is as follows:  “Yesterday I met a woman named Jane while I was out shopping.  If she calls, say that you have been expecting her call and that you will give her priority scheduling because she knows me.”

Note how each step makes the person feel important and enhances the likelihood that the person will call the office.  This is magnetic dental marketing.  Attracting new patients is all about seizing opportunities, making people feel special, and seeing the process through to the happy conclusion–a new patient on the books.

www.davidschwab.com