The Cheeky Dentist Show: Recent Episodes
Dr. Rachel Hall
Create a rewarding, profitable, fun dental practice while living the life you’ve envisioned with systems that build teams and fortunes.
Real world, no nonsense, straight talk that works. Rachel is systematic, candid and insightful, helping you create the practice you deserve and lifestyle you love.
Over half of all dentists find it difficult to take time off, and it’s over 75% for practice owners. Many dentists work through and do not take regular holidays or time off. That is just horrifying – a dentist who doesn’t take holidays is going to be tired, mentally stressed and less productive than one who does. In this episode of The Cheeky Dentist Show I share my key strategies to taking holidays that work for you and your dental practice. Listen now to discover why holidays are so important to be a successful dentist.
As dentists we are going to face highs and lows, tough times that challenge us and feel like they may break us. The problem arises when we constantly feel overwhelmed, stressed and unable to cope and motivate ourselves. This is when we need to stop and get real about how we are feeling and start to address where changes can be made. I suffered from burnout during my career and despite all my best efforts and coping mechanisms there were times I came close to throwing in the towel and walking away from dentistry and life. So in this show I share how I went form a burnout dentist to one who has fun and how you can make that happen too.
What do kayaking and dentistry have in common? Well after a recent kayaking adventure with my family I discovered there are a lot of lessons learn form kayaking that can be applied to dentistry and life. Listen to the show and discover what these lessons are and how you can use them to take your dental practice to the next level.
What instead of selling dentistry to our patients we are helping them? Helping them to be free of dental disease, helping them to be out of pain, helping them to improve their smile, helping them on the road to better health, helping them to keep their teeth. And in return for this help they pay you for your time and expertise. You are helping NOT selling!!! So here are some Cheeky Dentist tips to support you to be more confident and at ease with your sales process.
So how do you improve your work life balance, especially if you are struggling to make enough money in your practice to cover your bills? Well firstly you have to change the way you work to be able to be more productive and effective, to have a team that backs you and helps you to run your office and to master all aspects of your business. Here are some steps you can take to improve your work life balance.
Yes I know we are not all born leaders, when we went to dental school it was because we wanted to help people and we didn’t envisage ourself being business people, managers and team leaders. The good thing about leadership is it is something you can learn and develop so as to become a better and more inspirational leader to those around you. So what can you do to improve your leadership skills?
I don’t think as dentists we should settle for making ends meet we deserve to not only have a practice we enjoy but to be paid accordingly for our skills, care and expertise. I can help you take charge of your finances so you can start enjoying your dentistry and your life again. In this episode, I’m going to share some tips with you to help you take back the reigns of your finances and be more in control of your money.
Do you feel like all you ever do is work, do you feel like your appointment book controls you? Do you wish you had more time to do the things you want to do and not just the things you need to do? Here’s some simple tips that can help you take back your time and what you do with it. And some of them even allow you to have a life outside of the dental practice and have fun!!!
Here are my tips and advice for systemising your office, having a team that knows exactly what to do and how to do it. This will free up your time and your headspace to focus on delivering dentistry and managing your team. And check out the free training https://www.dentalogic.biz/ where I teach you how to systemise your practice without having to be the one to do all the work.
Discover how self-compassion and being more understanding of yourself makes you a better person and better equipped to handle you life, your team, and your dentistry as you learn how to deal with your emotions, reactions and stresses that trigger you to rather than ended up frustrated, angry or miserable.
Having the right team will support you to be able to focus on your dentistry while they take care of the day to day in the office. Having team players who are professional and who share in your vision and your goals is the key for taking your practice from good to great and building a great reputation and loyal patients who recommend you to their friends and family. In this show I share my tips and tools to having a top class team and a great work environment.
A strong, clear vision for your dental office, makes it hard to get nudged off course, as you notice immediately when things aren’t how you want them to be. Sharing your vision regularly with your team helps you to know what is healthy for your business and what is not. It allows you to instantly recognise when ‘decay’ has set in. Having a clear vision steers you back on track and holds everything together so that you and your dental office can function really well. In this show I share tips to help you develop your vision and explore your why so you can have the dental practice you’d always dreamed of.
Put yourself in your patients’ shoes - they are often feeling nervous and anxious and going to be in some level of discomfort and very vulnerable. How you and your team are with them and how you make them feel will determine whether they keep coming back to you or not. If you can make them feel valued and special they will keep coming back to you. Here are some of my simple tips that you can use in your office to improve your customer service, wow your patients and turn them into raving fans.
Marketing or advertising your dental office does not need to be costly or time consuming. But without it, it will be costing you money, if people don’t know you exist and what you offer then you are wasting opportunities to bring in new patients to your office. Let’s look at how to improve your marketing and get it laser focused to bring you the type of patients you want and need.
In this episode Dr Rachel Hall The Cheeky Dentist explores: * How can we take this situation and come out on top * What opportunities are there for you practice * What approach do we need to take to generate new dental patients * How to plan for the worst case scenario so you always have a plan A, B and C * What you can do to stand out from the crowd * Pivoting your practice
As dentist we have amazing attention to detail and that’s what makes you so great as clinician. But that attention to detail may be getting in your way when it comes to being the CEO and owner of your dental business. In this episode I explain why its important to zoom out and look at the bigger picture when it comes to running your dental practice.
Today I’m going to share the 8 top mistakes I see dentists making when it comes to running their practice as a business. And yes I will admit I’ve made a few of these errors in my time too. I’ll also tell you how to avoid them so you can save time, money and a a whole lot of stress.
If you don’t want a stressful chaotic dental practice then you must get organised, systemised, communicate well, have a plan and an ideal day vision and then to the best of your ability work as a team to make that happen. In this episode of The Cheeky Dentist Show I’ll guide you through the steps to create a dental practice that is calm and fun to work in.
To get to and through dental school you were an over achiever you knew how to study and work hard get it all done and then some. But this pushing and over reaching can carry on through out your dental career and lead to burnout. Burnout is serious - in this episode I talk about how dentists end up with burnout and how to prevent it before it happens.
Happiness is an inside job. You are totally in charge of how you feel and how you either respond or react to life. If you can work on feeling more at one with yourself inside this will have a great impact on your life and your dental office. Listen to the show to find out what I mean.
I want to ask what lights you up, what makes you feel on fire, like your life has purpose and meaning. I want you to stop being a dentist for a moment and consider what is freedom for you and how your dental practice can work to support you have that life...
One of the biggest complaints that I hear from dentists is their team won’t follow and the biggest complaint I hear from the team is that they lack leadership and direction from their dentist. Doctor is stressed and doing too much, the team want more time with the doctor and a plan of action as they want to do more and take on extra responsibility. How can we turn this lose/lose situation from blaming each other to one where it is a win/win for the dental office and the patients?
Whether you work well over a 40 hour work week, have young children under your feet, are having to orchestrate both of these worlds, or are overwhelmed with something totally different, how do you know when too much is too much?
Many managers, business owners and dentists think leadership begins with others. Leadership is about others but it actually begins with you. If things aren’t going as you hoped, look at yourself. The answer begins with you, not others. Humility rules! Let me share 4 ways to be a better leader and dental boss.
As dentists our jobs require us to regularly perform the same set of tasks. While routine allows us to master skills or become experts, it can also hinder our growth and our willingness to try something new. As a business owner and a coach, I spend the majority of my time thinking about business strategy and how I can add more value to my patients and clients. I think about where are we going this year (and next year)? How are we going to get there?
No of us one likes to hear the word "no." Being rejected feels awful and eventually it seems easier to only present the small obvious stuff to get the yes rather than risking another no. The issue with this is, you can trick yourself that you have a great case acceptance rate when in truth 10’s of 1000’s of dollars in undiagnosed and undiscussed dentistry is walking out the door... Let me share 5 proven ways to get more patients saying yes to more dentistry.
I believe you must focus on four aspects of your dental practice to improve production, team morale, your ability to lead and provide a patient experience that works – and works consistently every time. The Four Foundations of Dental Practice are: Leadership, Strategy, Systems, Culture, Values, and Fun! I share why in this episode.
Dentists we need a well-trained team to take our practices to the next level. And here comes another big issue because you’re so busy drilling teeth and managing the business you have little to no time to train your team. This is one of the main reasons dental practices fail to reach their full potential. So what’s the solution? Listen to find out.
You need to see yourself as a million dollar dentist and believe it is possible. And to do so you must change what you are doing day to day because the behaviours that you’re acting upon today are not enough to get you where you want to go.
What are your top 3 desires for your dental practice? What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months? Where would you like to be in 3 years, 10 years? Do your goals move you toward your bigger picture on they on track with your vision and plans?
In life I don’t do things that I don’t enjoy and I focus on the things that give me satisfaction… So why do things differently in our career or dental office. Working in a way that is dissatisfying and doing things we are not very skilled at is a recipe for stress and unhappiness. Listen to this week's episode to get my four keys to being a happy dentist.
We are going to take a look at your current habits to see what’s working and what’s holding you back. I’ll uncover the habits of successful people and brainstorm ways to introduce these into your life and why you need to if you want to have a profitable dental practice.
There are more dental offices than ever before and with the rise of the corporate giants its hard to compete when you are essentially a one man band small business. In this show I’ll expose the 6 biggest challenges dentists face in business and how to overcome them: 1. Cashflow 2. Tiredness 3. Finding and retaining profitable patients 4. Motivating employees 5. Overheads 6. Staying current
In this episode I share what you can do to shift the way you think that will lead to massive growth and change in you practice.
How can you make you practice more successful and make your life easier? This is a simple and straightforward strategy but one that gives incredible leverage. And this is where you get to use you team rather than carry your team especially if you feel your team is making your life harder.
Let’s look at how having a fixed mindset vs being able to make a mindshift can transform the way you do dentistry, lead your team, make decision for your business and reach success.
In this episode I share some tips I’ve learned that build trust and rapport really quickly that you can apply to your new patient exams and case presentations and see your case acceptance improve by nailing the first few seconds of meeting your patient.
Empty holes in your schedule, not enough patients saying yes to treatment?? Want to see growth in your dental practice?? Then let’s talk about how to 10x Your Case Acceptance Increasing your case acceptance and treatment Planning skills is ‘the’, fastest way to grow your practice, and that’s what I believe in helping dentists do!
After nearly 27 years in dentistry, I have learned a few things that have been able to accelerate my dental practice and allow me to have a great life. Here are six lessons that I would like to share with you.
Action creates momentum that leads to success. Expand your horizons, surround yourself with successful people. Passion creates energy. Make decisions and then take action. Be patient to get results and keep doing what you need to do.
New Patients Is That Really The Answer To Being A Successful Dentist? I was just thinking, what does it take to be successful at dentistry and look, if you ask a lot of people, ask a lot of coaches or you read articles or dental business books, they just talk about focusing on getting more new patients.
Hitting Your Dentistry Goals Starts With Your Big WHY I am going to give you some tools, tips and techniques to enable you to take your dental office from good to great. To help you hit your goals in dentistry.
Dental boss procrastination is killing your dental practice… We look at the to do list and we know we have stuff that needs to get done, important stuff, stuff that matters. And yet procrastination takes over, in its many forms and guises.
I have a confession to make, I’m an addict – that’s right I have a consuming addiction that tends to get out of control. I am a serial offender – I can’t get enough – I just love books!
I used to and some days I still want to, even now, especially when things are tough… Here I was hiding in my office, my desk was pilled up with charts, bills and letters I needed to deal with. All I wanted to do was lock my door and put a big do not disturb sign up. I was just spent!! Can you relate?
Do you know how your phone is answered or how your team greets new patients? Are your marketing dollars being wasted at Hello? Is your customer service (lack of) putting off patients before they have even met you Doctor?
Before you start any dental marketing campaign or engage a marketing company at great expense there are some things you need to know first.
If I told you there was a way to become more efficient, more productive, increase team engagement and retention, have happy satisfied patients and have more freedom – would you want to know what it is?
As dentists we are obsessed by getting more new patients and new patient numbers and with good reason…. For our practices to grow we need new clients coming through the doors and into our chairs and be performing more new patient exams.
In this episode I will share what numbers to track and what areas of your dental practice and new patient experience you need to hone in on so you can be more productive and profitable.
Are you micromanaging the life out of your dental practice?
Being a control freak and trying to do and manage everything in your practice is bad for morale, your stress levels and your business.
In this episode I get very real and raw - yes I was a micromanager, I think I held the world record for it - I’m not going to hold my punches and tell you exactly why dentists need to micromanage their team and their business and why you need to stop!!!
I’ll share how to let go and allow your team to grow and feel empowered so your dental practice can go to the next level, so you can get your sanity and your life back.
Learn how to manage and lead from trust and not fear.
We all face the same challenges in business and in our dental practices. That means there are solutions that can help you improve your practice and your case acceptance.
Fear of failure, getting it wrong, looking stupid, being successful - are these getting in the way of you living your life on your terms.
In this episode, I explore the business side of dentistry in many of my episodes but are business skills all that stand between your success or failure in dental practice.
What’s the importance of:
- Goals and team effort
- Personal growth
- Clear expectations and accountability
- Praise and appreciation
Business know how + great leadership = dental practice success
Your team is like the heart of your business. If the arteries get blocked with poor attitudes, bad behaviors, laziness or incompetency the heart gets damaged and causes pain, which needs immediate attention.
In this episode I share:
- Why the right team will support you to focus on your dentistry while they take care of the day to day in the office.
- How A grade team players helps build a great reputation and loyal patients who recommend you to their friends and family.
- How to spot your A players
- What to do about toxic team members
- How to hire and fire for a team of 10’s
Episode 6
How to increase profit and production in dentistry
Money is not the root of all evil. For your business to be successful you need consistent, reliable cashflow and profits.
What are you financial goals?
What is your break even point
Do you understand your overheads
Stop and think about what will more income provide for your practice, your team and your lifestyle. Now let’s get you there...
I’ll show you how to:
- Make a plan and reverse engineer your goal so you get results.
- Set daily, weekly and monthly production goals
- Book your schedule to make it happen
Profit and dentistry can go hand in hand and you can still be a good person.
Episode 5 Self-belief will take you from knowing what to do to actually doing it. The difference between people who get results and those that don’t is that they believe in themselves and the process so they are motivated and willing to get on with it. I can give you tons of information and advice but you’ll never put it into practice if you don’t believe it will work for you. Let’s uncover your belief systems around yourself, money, your dental practice, the work or service you provide, your team and your patients? How can you change your beliefs and how can you make a rapid shift in your business? You need to believe in yourself and your practice; you need to set the example so your team will follow you. Its time to get out of the comfort zone to become the type of leader you need to be if you are to succeed, be happy and have a life outside of your dental office. What is the price of staying in your comfort zone – how much is it costing you in dollars, how much time is it costing you, how much energy and effort are you spending, how much is it costing your health and your family?
Episode 4
Dentists, Do You Secretly Hate Dentistry?
Watch out I’m going to get real and raw and hit some home truths:
- Is your dental practice a toxic work place?
- Is being a dentist sucking the life out of you?
- Are you stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed and resenting your job?
- Do you secretly hate being a dentist?
- These are the things we don’t openly discuss but they are real, they affect us all at some point or stage in our dental practice ownership journey.
Discover how to identify the warning signs that you are being eroded by your work and what you can do to turn it around.
It’s time to get really honest and in touch with how you are feeling.
You have a choice, it’s up to you – you can stay stuck or start over.
Episode 3
Why You Must Have Systems In Dentistry
Systems may seem boring or like a lot of hard work but without systems you are going to have stress and chaos in your dental practice everyday. And I don’t want you to be stressed, I want you to have fun!
Episode 2
How to get new patients from the phone to the dental chair
In this episode discover what takes a caller from the phone to the dental chair and what is it that sets practices apart.
Episode 1 This is my intro episode to the Cheeky Dentist Podcast.
Create a rewarding, profitable, fun dental practice while living the life you’ve envisioned with systems that build teams and fortunes.
Real world, no-nonsense, straight talk that works. Rachel is systematic, candid and insightful, helping you create the practice you deserve and lifestyle you love.