OM Ep. 131: Building Your Practice Dream Team Part 2 – Drafting A Winning Team

Jill Allen: Hi there, Jill Allen from Jill Allen and Associates here. And we are back with part two of our three part podcast series, building Your Practice Dream Team. In this podcast, we talk about how you can draft the winning team for your practice. This is one you are not gonna wanna miss. Now, don't forget to head on over to ortho marketing dot.

Forward slash Dream team after the episode to grab your free worksheet so you can implement these strategies in your practice. Ortho marketing.com.

Dean Steinman: 360 degree Digital Marketing solutions for your

Jill Allen: practice.

Dean Steinman: Hello, everybody out there on Podcast Land. This is Dean Steinman from Ortho Market. And we are back with another podcast for you, and I am so excited to have back with me, Jill Allen from Jill Allen and Associates. We're back with our podcast series. This is part two of our three part series, building Your Practice Dream Team.

And in this episode here, we're gonna talk about how you could draft your winning team for your practice. And once again, don't. To head over to marketing.com/dream team after this amazing episode, and then grab your free worksheet so you can implement some of the great things that Jill's gonna talk about.

So with that said, Jill, how are you today, my dear?

Jill Allen: I am doing great. It's a, it's a beautiful day and I am just super excited to be talking about one of my favorite things, and that's building dream teams in an orthodontic practice.

Dean Steinman: There you go. So, you know, when I'm, listen, I'm a sports fan. When I hear the word dream team, I think of the dream team of Michael Jordan and Magic Dunson and blah, blah, blah, the greatest basketball team ever assembled.

So let's talk about that. When it comes to building a dream team for your practice, what does that consist of? What, who is the starting five? You know, in basketball, you've got your, your perfect team of your center and your forwards and your guards. So ideally what is the perfect scenario? For a dream team, if somebody had to fill in the blanks and say, here are the X many people that you need for your practice.

You know, who are they and what actually back up, what are they ?

Jill Allen: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So I think, you know when, when we answer this question, and I think this is a. You know, just, just a really good thing to be talking about, especially now where we're at in 2022, and I really think we're seeing a lot of changes in our, in our orthodontic industry and what the landscape looks like within our offices.

You know, I, I originally go back and think about, you know, what are those. Core positions that we need in our office. And I'm definitely seeing that you know, offices are maybe scaling back and scaling down their teams to really get just those team players in place and those, those dream team members.

So when I think about it, I would say, you know, we definitely. Core front office position or that you know, that, that core I like to call it still the, the traditional name communications coordinator. I think every office needs a treatment coordinator. Somebody that is there advocating for the patient and the doctor and, you know, really helping you know, patients say yes to treatment.

Of course, I think we need our core. Clinical team members we may not need as many as we used to need but we definitely need those, especially as our treatment modalities are changing. Of course, a lot of offices still have those financial coordinators in place, but we are definitely starting to see that we are outsourcing that position more and more within our office and then, You know, e every, every once in a while we're gonna also see teams that have office managers in place.

So I really feel like those are kind of our core or our key players on, on our dream team and our orthodontic offices. And of course, one more that we could see is, is our, you know, is our marketing coordinator. And that's also somebody that, you know, like, like for you and you know, your company with ortho marketing, a lot of times offices are like, gosh, I really want experts doing that.

So that's another one of those roles that I'm seeing that are starting to be outsourced a little bit as well.

Dean Steinman: Oh, that's, that's great. So, As a business owner myself, it's very hard to find the right staff person. And then even more difficult is to keep them and get them on board. Yes. So let's talk about different ways to find dream team members.

You know, Why don't you, you know, walk somebody say, so somebody is starting a practice or they're expanding and they want to bring on a, you know, a, a TC or an office manager or whatever. It's, let's talk about tc cuz as you're right, that's probably the one of the most important, you know, appointments of your team there.

So what are some resources, some ways that somebody should actually even start looking to find. A right, you know, person for that. They just put an ad up online, you know, do, do people do, is it something that they, they even want people to see that they're looking to hire somebody? Is it should be, should this be on either down low or what?

So, you know, let's talk about that. So resources where, yeah, where should somebody go first and foremost to try to find. the right

Jill Allen: person. Yeah. So, you know, the fir the first thing I think and I'm gonna just back it up even before we're putting it online or before we're starting to look, is I think we really need to assess what do you need in your practice and what do you need this employee to look like?

Because we, you know, I, I, I feel like, you know, gone are the days where we. Do the office shuffle and oh, we've got, we're down a person. So we just shuffle somebody into that spot and then, you know, come to realize that, ah, they didn't really have the skillset that we need. Right? Mm-hmm. . And, you know, and I th I think that's, that's what it's about in this, you know, building your dream team is first, making sure you understand the skillset that you're looking for.

And you know, one, the, the worksheet that, that we're gonna have you know, that, that people. Download kind of talks about those soft skills. So taking an inventory of what you're looking for within it, within the position. So once you've, you've taken inventory and you understand what is it that you're gonna need, then I think move into your question, how do we go about this?

I think number one, we just have to underst. Everybody in is in a position right now of looking for a new employee.

Dean Steinman: That's before that. Let's back up one, one bit. Sorry to cut you off there. So what, what are the two things that you should be looking at to determine if you do need A, if you, a, need a tc, and B, if you need a new tc.

Jill Allen: Yeah. Yeah. So I think that you know, again, going back to assessing if somebody is in that position, assessing that skillset and saying, are they doing what I need them to do within this position? So do they have the skills that I'm looking for? So I'm just gonna give you a couple examples of what, what I look for in treatment coordinators.

Okay. Are they active listeners? Are they organized, are they knowledgeable of the position or can they be taught the knowledge that's needed? Are they of, are they motivated? Because, you know, one of the big things that we've got, you know, in our treatment coordinators is we don't want them to just make friends with our patients.

We actually want them to help us get patients to say yes to treatment. So are they motivated to move somebody to a Yes. Do they have a good verbal or written. Communication skillset. I think that's super important. Are they confident? You know, there's nothing worse than having a TC in, in a position or having somebody, you know, moving somebody around in the office.

Like, oh, they're friendly, but they aren't confident. They don't know how to talk about money. They're afraid to, you know you know, talk about down payments and monthlys and they don't wanna hurt somebody's feelings and they tell 'em they need to actually pay for treatment. You know, so, you know, looking.

That skillset, I think, you know, and, and, and understanding that I think will definitely help.

Dean Steinman: Well, TC in, in, you know, layman terms is almost a salesperson, you know, they're selling

Jill Allen: your services. Yeah. We need to not be afraid to say that it is sales. Sales is not. Bad word, . Okay.

Dean Steinman: And is there any limitations on compensation when it comes to a salesperson?

Can, can a TC get commissioned or they have to get bonuses based on it? There's no, is there certain limitations on on a compensation level? For a practice because there's nothing better than putting their carrot out there and saying, you know, the more you help us, more business that comes in, the more money you make.

That's what salespeople do. The harder they work, the more business they bring in, the more mo the more money they work they make. So are there any limitations from a, a legal standpoint of, you know, getting somebody a commission? Is it, is it not fee splitting? Is it commission? So how does that. Yeah,

Jill Allen: so I haven't heard in, in all my years that there's anything to do with law in regard to that.

So I don't think we have to worry about that. But I definitely feel like there is a difference in a startup practice and an existing practice and what a doctor can actually financially. Forward. So I think in a startup practice, our goal is about growth and, you know, the TC should be helping us every step of the way.

And, you know, we may not have room for profit sharing yet, where when we get to a certain you know, dollar amount within a practice or a certain level where a doctor is able to profit share. Maybe with this position, but maybe it's not just with this position. It could be within the whole office too. I think that that is something that can be a real motivating factor.

You know, as, as far as how we set up you know you know, how, how we pay this employee now. . One thing that I always feel like as, as a consultant and I coach my doctors on is we always need a baseline. And I think that's good for everybody. We need to know what our goals are and what our baseline is that we have to hit.

And then if we're above that and pushing past that that's really where I feel like those those bonuses can become really helpful and, and can really become motivators as. Great.

Dean Steinman: All right. So now let's, you know, let's go forward. So now you realize that you do need a, a, a, a TC or, you know, a lot of our, my clients act as a TC themselves, they still don't.

Yeah. You know, you know delegate and if any of you guys out there need some type of motivation Quick tangent here. Read the book, the Four Hour Work Week. I read that book by Tim Ferris and it helped me realize that I can't do everything. Okay? I delegate and it changed my business, changed my life, being realized that I can't doing, can't do everything.

So if you are a, you know, a orthodontist, dentist, practice owner, and you are also acting as your own t. Think about it, is that the best use of your skills, your time versus not? And you know, think about potentially bringing somebody on. So now to you realize that you do need a tc, what's they do? How, what's the next step from there?

Jill Allen: Yeah. Yeah. So I feel like right now, and again, you know, this is where we're at within our industry. I, you know, I'm, I'm definitely feeling. Indeed is a great place to run ads. There's, there's lots of, you know, different, you know, companies out there, but I feel like my clients tend to get the best out of running Indeed ads.

And what I really like about a company like that is we can actually do a skills assessment test prior to actually even reviewing resumes. And, you know, I, I try and teach my, you know, my doctors. The interview process starts with them following directions. So if you put a skills assessment test out there and somebody sends you a resume and sends you everything, but they don't do the one thing that you ask them to do, take the skills assessment test number one, in my opinion, they've failed because we need them to follow directions, right?

So did they do the assessment? Does it. Within the skillset that we're looking for secondarily you know, when, when I'm coaching my docs and my, my team members on reviewing resumes, you know, does what they just sent into you, does it? Fit what you're looking for. So again, you took that time to assess you know, d is this person a potential?

And I always tell my teams, rate your resumes in one, two, and three. So number one would be anybody who fits everything that I'm looking for. Number two would be anybody who. You know, maybe checks, you know, three of the five boxes, number threes. Don't even waste your time with them. They're, they're, you know, you may get 70 resumes in, but really only 10 of them are number ones, or maybe 10 of them are number twos and probably only five of them are number ones.

And I think, you know, that's something, something that we need to remember is employee. That are applying for jobs may not even physically be looking at your ad. They may have a bot running that as well for them. So you don't wanna waste your time on somebody who isn't really paying attention to what you're looking for.

Dean Steinman: what's the number one? Let's talk about a TCS Persec perspective. What's the number one thing you should look at on their resume from e experience? Do you want somebody that that is sales experience or somebody with orthodontic experience? Because the odds of you finding those two, it's gonna be pretty slim.

Jill Allen: It's kinda like a unicorn out there. Yeah, that's right.

Dean Steinman: So if you were to choose one, somebody that, that worked for a practice, you know, understands the industry, or two, has been a great salesperson, they've never could have sold cars for who, who knows. You know, what's the what, which, which way would you look to.

To you know, to say that's somebody that I want to talk to, to get them to rank as a one, because that unicorn is gonna be hard to find, you know? Yeah. So what, what, what skillset would you say is number one, importance?

Jill Allen: Sure. I think if, if it were just comparing those two, I would probably go with somebody who's got sales experience.

Okay. And then secondarily, and maybe not secondarily, maybe in in the same level personality, is this somebody that I would wanna sit across the desk from and say yes to treatment with? Because again, sales, the, the, you know, some people with sales may not have the personality either that you're looking for.

Is there personality gonna fit the culture, like we talked about in Podcast one, is it. Fit you know, the culture of, of my practice as well. So I think there's a little balance there, but I'm always about personality and then skillset because you can't teach personality.

Dean Steinman: Right. Well, let's just back up one more time.

I mentioned before as, as, as as resources. So you mentioned. You know, indeed. And I've used indeed many, many times. I always have have ads running there, always looking for quality people, but sometimes it, it just gets stale and you can't run the same thing over again with the same people. So besides, you know, indeed, should they just be looking at other, you know, job boards piercing it there, or looking at should they be talking to colleagues, looking for recruiters?

What other options can people look at if they just, you know, are not getting the right people through in.

Jill Allen: Yeah, and, and I wish I had the magic answer here, Dean. I, you know, I think. There comes a point where you kind of have to try everything putting it out in your office, letting people know you're looking for the next team member.

Maybe you've got patients that are coming in that could fit that bill. Or maybe they know somebody. I think using your social networks to put it out there that you're looking for a new team member. Definitely, you know, talking to colleagues. You know, could, could also be a be an option too. What I do not find and have not found works well anymore is you know, putting it up on dental boards or, you know, different things like that.

I just, I just don't feel like that's where, where people are looking for employment anymore. I think that, you know, that that's just kind of an older way of doing it. So so I, I, I think keeping it as social as you can with your social. Outlets and networks is probably the best, the best thing you can do.

And, and then if you've got an office that's you know, that, that you're willing to let your patients know. I mean, gosh, you guys see between, you know, 50 and a hundred patients a day. Somebody's gotta know somebody. And if they like the culture and they like your office, they're gonna be like, ah, I've got this great office that I go to and they're hiring.

Jenny, you should go check 'em out. Right? Like, make it right, make it easy, make it accessible. And I don't think we need to hide it under, you know, we need to feel bad that we're looking for somebody. Doggone it, everybody's looking for somebody. We just need that right person to fall into our laps.

Dean Steinman: Now let's talk about, you know, an office manager.

I'd say probably half of my, my practices have an office manager that's been there since Betsy Ross. Okay. . It's been there since before. You know, the, the advent of electricity and, you know, , you get used to somebody who'd been there, but you know, how do you determine now, okay, it's time to make a change.

Even though you know, you know, Mary Lou has been here for 20, 30 years, it's time we do that there. So how do you, and people are gonna be scared to do that, to make a change. You get used to somebody running your practice forever, but you know, these people are, are probably, are not gonna have the, the skills that you need to.

In the market these days in order to stand out. So what should they do? As far as if they do have somebody and, and now they need to move on? Gotta be careful as, as well, cuz you know, if you got somebody there that has to do age discrimination and this and that, so that's an HR issue. Yeah, of course.

So let's talk about that as a scenario. So a practice as a, you know, office manager and she's been there for 25 years, you know, and what are, and they realize, okay, it is time to make a change. Okay. A how do they determine that if it's time to make a change from the office manager and B, what do they do to make that change?

And worry about as far as an HR issue as well.

Jill Allen: Yeah. So, gosh, that's, that's, that's a really tough and sensitive subject to, you know, get into and to make those decisions. I think the first thing, and I really feel this way with every position in the practice, but if we're talking about an office manager, I think the first thing that a doctor needs to do is really assess.

Are they helping me move forward with my business or are they holding me back? Are we stuck in the past? You know, and, and am I dragging a sale as I'm trying to push forward and change, you know, maybe the way my practice is, or I'm trying to ramp it up to get it ready, you know, so that maybe, you know, I retire in another 10 years or, you know what, whatever.

Whatever that, you know, looks like. So I think that they ha that they have to really do first some self-assessment on is this person, person helping or hurting me in, in, in my practice? And that's, that's tough, especially if you've had long-term relationships with somebody. You know, sometimes we know our team members more than we know our family members.

Right. You know, so it's, it can be kind of like going through a divorce a little bit when, you know, if, if you have to, you know, change out that position. But secondarily, I want, you know, everyone to really think about too, is this still a position I need in my office? Because I, you know, I kind of stand on the fence of do we need office managers?

I don't know, some offices made, depending upon how big they are. Some may not. You know, because again, you know, the, the office manager of the past, you know, I've been in this industry 30 years now, you know, was doing our bookkeeping and you know, you know, all these things that now we're outsourcing, so do we really need that role?

Or do we need to maybe empower the team members that are in our office to become leads or kind of take on that role and they may or may not actually need to replace, replace that position, but I think it first starts with assessing, are they helping or hurting me? And I think you can do that honestly, when you take the emotion out of it, and I know this is.

with anybody in your practice? Is this person helping or hurting me? Are they helping me move in the direction of my dreams and my goals? Or are they holding on to, you know, the past and living, living practice life in the rear view mirror?

Dean Steinman: Right. Smart. You know, you're right. And, and what's one thing you could check off to determine.

If this person, it could be from, you know an assistant or a walkthrough office manager, whatever, what's one thing they should, you know, how do they even know if they're helping or hurting? Cuz you might be. So people get complacent. They're like, wow, I could go on vacation and know that my office will be taken care of and blah, blah blah.

Cause this person here. But you're right, you, you with the ad of, of technologies and everything being virtual. , you know, bookkeeping, billing automation, you know, scheduling, a lot of the stuff is done through, you know, AI and through the web and whatever it is. So how much do you need an office manager? Or, but you probably need somebody in place as far as, you know, an assistant or whatever.

But again, what's one thing that you c that somebody could look at? I dunno if it's a pure analytical number or if it's emotional to determine if somebody's helping you or, or, or.

Jill Allen: Yeah, I think I, I think it's hard to look at it financially. But let's, let's talk about it emotionally. Are y you know, are, are you constantly in conflict?

with your office manager or, or an employee, you know, are you spending more time thinking about them outside of work than you know, than than you should? And I don't mean that on like a, you know, a a, a relationship component of it. I'm just talking about, you know, are you going home frustrated or frazzled or feeling like every time you have an encounter with.

It's, it's not moving in the right direction. Or every time you bring up a new idea, you're shot down in your own practice about, you know, hey, I wanna move us. You know, let's say we're a more established practice, maybe, you know, I wanna, I wanna change our operating system. I wanna move us to paperless. I want to bring on a marketing company and really, Up our, our online you know, ads to bring in new patients.

I wanna bring in virtual consults, you know, all these things. And if you're constantly getting conflict, conflict, conflict, I think that that needs to be a little bit of a wake up call. That, that maybe it's, it's time for change, you know, and, and sometimes, , we love people, but we gotta send them away with love.

You know, like there was a great time and they met a need in our practice that we needed. But times are changing, practices are changing, removing in different directions, and sometimes they aren't ready. And that's okay too. You know, I was just talking to a doctor this last week and they had a, a, a, a team member that had been with the practice for a long time.

And, you know, I, I think it was great because she was able to actually, I'm, I'm just not on board with where we're going. It's not that it's a bad thing, they just weren't, you know, they were comfortable with where they were for a long time and just weren't, weren't on board with where things were going.

And it was good for everybody to part on good terms. And I think, I think sometimes we just have to make those hard decisions.

Dean Steinman: Right. What is one bit of advice? You should, somebody's thinking of it, but they really don't know what to do. They really done in the, in the hiring, firing part mode before, yeah, before the practice is growing or got stagnant?

Either or. What's. , one thing they should do if they don't know what to do there's a consultant like you available as a one-off just to consult with them and just to analyze what they have. Should they be, you know, what options do people have in order to do it If they're stuck in saying, yeah, I think I do, but I'm not really sure.

you know, and I wanna speak to somebody. What should they, what should they do?

Jill Allen: Yeah, for sure. Well, definitely that's something that we do here at Jill Allen and Associates. And they would, they would meet with me. And, you know, I, I kind of call them you know, coaching, you know consultant coaching calls and, and sometimes.

You just need somebody to talk to and, you know, kind of help you play, play it out, and talk it out and reassure you that you're gonna be able to move forward. Or, you know, somebody's there to kind of, you know, get, get your back as you step away from one person and maybe, or maybe not bring somebody else in.

So I definitely think within our industry we've got some. Even besides me, you know, there's, there's great consultants out there. But that's, that's definitely something that, that we do in our company. And, and it's, it's great because a lot of docs really take advantage of that. You know, you can get a lot of advice from Facebook and online study groups and all these different things, but.

Sometimes you may not wanna share all of that or be that vulnerable out there to maybe your peers. And, you know, sometimes it's nice to just, you know, it's, it's almost like a you know you know, meeting with a, oh my gosh, I just lost you know, meeting with a, you know, a mentor or somebody that can, you know, that can just kind.

Help, help you through that.

Dean Steinman: Same way I did it, the same thing. I've got a, a, a coach and I, you know, the work with and if, if I, I don't know everything, you know, I'm smart and I've realized that I'm. Don't know everything. It took a while to figure that out. , you think you do, but you don't, and to work with an expert is really important.

And we do that for a lot of practices. Well, they just might not wanna, you know, go all in and have us do all the marketing, but they, but they need us to consult with them on. On new technologies and how to ask for, how to, to make tos or how to, you know, do this or that, or how to get referrals and, you know, so it's, it's smart guys out there to search, search out a expert like Jill.

And to use that, her for the experience that she has and the guidance because, you know, you don't see the forest of the trees. Okay. And that's so difficult to do. And that's where somebody who is an expert in an industry or can't help you out, like just mentioned. You know, see, can look and see what's going on in the marketing part for your practice versus things that you see cuz you're right in the middle of it.

The same thing with, with your staff and your practice. You might not be able to see the big picture because you're so stuck in the, in the middle of it there. Yeah. So, you know, to use a consultant is so, so important. Yeah,

Jill Allen: and if I could just add something too, I really feel like, you know, the stigma, I think for a long time, you know, in the past, you know, our, our, the mindset was I will figure it out.

I will do this all on my own and I'm a better doctor, or I'm a better owner if I do it all on my own. And, and I just think, you know, nowadays the stigma, there's nothing. There's no big deal about asking for help. And honestly, I would , I would say that asking for help help makes you a stronger person because you do realize that you can't do it all yourself.

E

Dean Steinman: Exactly. So Jill, we're gonna wrap this thing up in a few minutes, so Now, you know, this here is part two of a three part series. Yes. You know, as far and now the, you know, drafting the dream team of finding the, the right staff is so important. So what, you know in, you know, in wrapping it up from this section here, what's one bit of advice that.

Person who's listening to this should do right now after hearing this, besides obviously going to, you know, the link that I mentioned before which is very, very important to do, and you could really go there and download our you know, work, work worksheet here. And again, that'll, that link will be in the bottom of the the, the, the notes here.

So besides the downloading the worksheet and filling that out what's one bit of advice that you could give someone?

Jill Allen: You know, I would, I would just say as, as we're kind of thinking about our dream team, as you know, really taking time to assess who's on your team. Are they there because they're helping or hurting you, and are they helping move you forward towards your goals?

And if you find that you are holding on to somebody, Just because of longevity or just because you don't want to have to make a change or go through, you know, that, that just, just really, you know, think about this and and, and know that right now lots of people are making changes and sometimes it's just better to, to dive in and do that if you have to.

And, you know, really focus. You know, setting up your dream team so that you can, so that you can hit your goals in this next year, in the years to come.

Dean Steinman: Excellent. Great. All right, Joel. Thanks so much. Uh, Once again guys, thanks so much for listening. Look forward to Through the next podcast. But Jill, you'll hear part three of our series here.

Once again, don't forget to go over to author marketing.com/dream team to get this in incre incredible downloadable check checklist for your practice to see what you have available here. We'd love to hear from, you'd love to see if you have, anybody has any questions or comments or, or thoughts about what it was like for you when you went to hire somebody or, or you didn't know what to do and, and all of a sudden how it opened up your life for you?

So change is good. Change is important. I mentioned this many, many times. If you don't adapt, You're gonna die. You have to change, you have to be able to take things to the next level from technology. Practices that don't embrace technology are gonna be left behind. Practices that don't invest in advertising and marketing will definitely be left behind practices.

Don't invest in a consultant to help guide you will be left behind. So these are the, you know, unfortunately you gotta spend money to make money and things, you know, and, you know, from a marketing perspective, we're in a pay to play world now. You have to, you have to pay Facebook, Google. Instagram, in order to be seen, you have no choice.

You've gotta have an advertising budget. Typically, you know, you gotta spend 10% of your sales as some, as a number to use as a barometer, you know, for advertising. And the same thing with, with, with, with you know, payroll. You know, there should be a certain percentage of your revenue that should go towards that.

And, you know, Shaw could walk you through that and, and have any questions there. But you know, this was very great. I really appreciate this time we spent together. Everybody. Thanks so much for listening. Stay tuned soon for part three and everybody out in podcast. Be safe. Hope you have a great summer of 2020.

Enjoy. Life is too short. Keep smiling. And Jill, thanks so much for everything. I appreciate it and everybody out there, be safe and reach out to Jill with any questions you have. And Jill, once again, if somebody wanted to reach you, what should, how should they do? So,

Jill Allen: They can go to my website@www.practiceresults.com and fill out a form.

Contact me and you'll be hooked right into my Calendly link and you will be having a call very quickly with me. So that's a great way to contact.

Dean Steinman: Excellent. All right. Thanks so much, Jill. Appreciate it and everybody be safe and happy. Smiles

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