FlossBites: Behind the Scenes of FlossNYC

We've been out of town for a while dealing with some family stuff, but we're back! Last time we talked, we were looking to hire a billing coordinator. Good news! We did it! Normally we use Indeed to hire because we like their tools, but we were getting frustrated with how SO MANY OF THEM WOULD LIE about their dental experience. It was crazy, we'd get all these people with retail experience at Macy's and Sleepy's and others with irrelevant experience. Frustrating, to say the least. So we took the advice of one of Ragini's friends: He puts a link in the job post that asks them a whole set of very specific questions with actual scenarios. This allows him to see how they would handle these situations. So we created a survey in Typeform. We asked candidates to calculate copays and write sample emails given a set of circumstances. This was a great way to not only gather specific information about the candidates, but also weed out the ones that were too lazy to carefully read our post. This saved us a tremendous amount of time. We received 215 applications in two days, but 209 were garbage. Only 6 filled out the survey and of those, we liked 3. We emailed those three and two replied. We did phone interviews and then working interviews and made our selection. I highly recommend doing this to make your job posts more effective and gather most of the information you need without any effort! Episode Show Notes: 00:12 - Catchup: we were in the process of hiring 00:19 - We HIRED someone! 00:27 - Hiring hack we learned 00:43 - Indeed.com allows you ask questions 00:58 - People tend to lie on questions 01:17 - Hundreds of applications with no relevant experience 01:36 - Waste of time to even look through them 01:46 - Ragini's friend shared a hiring tip 02:03 - Link to survey in job post 02:12 - Good for two reasons 02:27 - Automatically weeds people out 02:48 - We created an application with Typeform 03:03 - Asked candidates to calculate co-pays 03:20 - Extracted so much info without wasting time 03:33 - From 215 applicants - we whittled it down to 3! 04:24 - We'll use this for all hiring in the future 04:40 - Great way to bypass irrelevant candidates

Last week, someone referred an associate dentist to us. But we didn't need another dentist at our practice, at least not yet. But Ragini decided to meet her and feel her out. Turns out she was great! She's a couple years out of school, has real compassion and might be a great culture fit at FlossNYC. As we talked about it more, we realized that we have some big things coming up that could warrant having an associate dentist coming on board. At some point, we want to start a family, so having another dentist would allow Ragini to take a comfortable maternity. We're also looking at purchasing another practice so having another set of hands would be huge for us to keep FlossNYC running smoothly. While we don't need her right away, our long term goals will definitely require another dentist. So we decided to give it a try and hire her on a part time basis for 1 day a week. We hemmed and hawed about it for a while, but then realized that it's not permanent. If it's not working out, we can terminate the arrangement. But trying her out allows us to increase the number of options we have available. It also helps move us towards our long term goals. We're excited to welcome her to our team and explore how she can help us grow the practice! Episode Show Notes: 00:04 - Dentist Referral 00:15 - But we don't need one... 00:35 - Decided to meet her anyway 00:36 - She was GREAT! 00:52 - But what about the future? 01:00 - Starting a family, buying a new practice 01:40 - Taking the plunge - hiring her part time 01:57 - Learning - this moves us towards our LT goals 02:26 - LT goals aren't always obvious 02:44 - Want to establish mentor/mentee relationship

As we've mentioned, we cancelled all our DMO insurance plans because the reimbursement rate was too low for us. So the terminations will be going into effect soon and we've been informing our patients through an automated campaign to allow them to click a button and update their records. It's a great way to make the process less manual. That's the good news... The bad news, is that our new patient rate has dropped pretty substantially since we dropped the plans. We feel it's the right thing to do - long term, because right now, we're working too hard for far too little money. But while we're still confident in our decision, it never feels good to see your new patient count drop. Our plan is to use our Dental Membership plan to drive growth. I had an idea to appeal to small businesses that might not have dental benefits for their employees. This would be an inexpensive way for the companies to provide a perk for their staff and give them access to discounts at a high-end dental practice. There are tons of shared working spaces all over the city that house thousands of companies. So I'm going to reach out to them to see how I could advertise or host an event to get these types of companies interested. Episode Show Notes: 00:04 - Termination Notice from DMO plans 00:10 - Emailed patients with options 00:40 - Automated links to update our records 00:48 - New Patients rate is lower now 01:02 - Scary but a good trade-off 01:15 - Want to increase patients through FlossClub 01:44 - Appeal to small businesses via co-working spaces 02:23 - Co-working spaces may have some ideas as well

So Ragini and I were excited to be invited to an exclusive rooftop dinner party in Brooklyn. Farm to table, tour of the gardens - all that stuff. A no brainer, right? So you can imagine our horror to find out it's on a Tuesday at 3 PM. What to do? We had to take a long, hard look in the mirror... Actually, it wasn't that hard. We decided to go. Autonomy means lots of things to different people. But when it comes to Practice Ownership, one of the lesser-known benefits is the ability to give back to yourself. It's not just about production and cash flow - it's about being able to take advantage of being your own boss. Episode Show Notes: 00:02 - Exclusive Invite 00:20 - BUT... 00:36 - The practice enables us to attend 01:00 - Metrics on ownership assessment surveys 01:14 - Autonomy wins by far 01:23 - Traditional definitions of autonomy 02:30 - Lesser-known benefits 03:14 - Not ALWAYS about production 03:41 - Let the practice give BACK to you

I let TWO people down this week! And while I hate disappointing people, it was instructive and also helped me clarify my thoughts around being disagreeable and what it really means. Being agreeable all the time means you are putting others' before yourself. Nothing wrong with that - in the SHORT TERM. But if you're doing that ALL the time, then you're probably falling short of your potential. Sometimes it's necessary to put yourself first to move forward - just be prepared to disappoint. But knowing that I'm prioritizing myself eases that pain. 00:13 - I'm a disappointment on two fronts 00:35 - Disappointment #1 01:25 - Breaking the news 02:00 - Her perspective vs ours 02:28 - Disappointment #2 03:20 - May not have been an easy way out 04:05 - Unwritten social contract 04:35 - Breaking down disappointment 04:55 - Agreeable people are taking a backseat 05:40 - Letting people down is prioritizing YOU

Certainty is something we're all looking for. But the truth is - it DOES NOT EXIST. It's just a lie we tell ourselves based on prior experiences. For future situations, we can NEVER be certain. That's what makes being an entrepreneur so scary. And things that are scary can paralyze you from learning more and realizing real opportunity. Once you see how ownership allows you to pull levers and affect real change, it's intoxicating. But you don't have to go ALL IN. You can dip your toe in and start learning piece by piece. This helps ease you into being comfortable with risk and uncertainty. And that's when you win. Episode Show Notes: 00:10 - Recap of consulting calls 00:22 - Fear of Failure is a recurring concept 00:33 - Certainty is a complete fiction 01:15 - My FlossClub uncertainty 02:00 - Certainty isn't in the idea... 02:36 - Steve Jobs' certainties 03:25 - Elon Musk's certainties 04:43 - Practice Ownership is not walking the plank 05:22 - Prove or disprove the idea 05:39 - Envision the success 06:16 - Understand the process

There's only a few days left for our 20% off promotion. Definitely take advantage if you're interested! August is my starting block for the year. I use it to get ahead while everyone else is getting the last bit of sun out of summer. And I wanted to make you an offer... If you want to do a 20-min consult with me to talk about your fears or next steps in Practice Ownership, I'm going to make myself available after Labor Day to anyone and everyone that wants it. Click the link below to schedule a call with me. There's no cost or obligation - I just want to help you conquer your fears that are holding you back. https://calendly.com/flossnycpracticeblueprint/consult Fears are a funny thing. We all have them and they hold us back from getting where we want to go. I've been taking the advice from Nassim Nicholas Taleb who wrote Anti-Fragile. It talks about how systems that are anti-fragile (or durable) have the element of risk built in. Instead of trying to avoid risk, designers of systems should tackle it head on. This allows you to plan for problems and randomness that are inevitable anyway. By planning for this, fears reduce and you can start living as if you weren't afraid. https://flossnycpracticeblueprint.com Episode Show Notes: 00:04 - 20% off promotion ends in a few days 00:27 - Most common fears from aspiring practice owners 00:49 - My offer to help... 01:52 - My August secret to get ahead 03:19 - Conquering your fears with Anti-Fragility 03:43 - Embracing risk as an inevitability 04:16 - Approaching problems with risk as an assumption 04:29 - Problems we anticipated with our 2nd practice purchase 05:08 - Decision tree for risks we encountered 05:39 - What if you weren't afraid? 06:00 - Planning for contigencies vs a negative attitude 06:40 - Our failure at practice purchases and home purchases 08:00 - We're growing...

I've already written about organizational debt before so you'd think I would have been more prepared for the situation that came up this week! Oh well, always learning... One of our staff members is going back to school and it revealed some inefficiencies that we weren't paying attention to. They're hard to find on your own, but if you keep good processes in place, you can avoid them from flaring up constantly. This one educated us about the importance of improved operations manuals. Don't forget about our 20% off promo code for Practice Blueprint products this month. https://flossnycpracticeblueprint.com Episode Show Notes: 00:12 - What I learned 00:28 - Staff issues 01:15 - Staff training wasn't occurring as planned 02:03 - Organizational Debt - small problems that bubble to the top 02:37 - Solution: Improve our onboarding process 02:55 - Write their own manuals 03:02 - Add videos as well - no guessing 03:30 - Have a library of training content 03:53 - Reminder of our discount through August

What are some of your life goals? Is owning a practice one of them? Because if so, let me STOP YOU RIGHT THERE. A practice is NOT a life goal. It's an ENABLER for your REAL life goals. For instance, maybe you want to travel 4 times a year, or pay off all your debt, or see your family more... Once you set your goals and reduce them to the smallest parts, then you'll realize that TIME and MONEY are generally the solution to achieving them. I'm not going to lie, figuring our your life goals isn't always easy. The good news is you've already done the much more difficult work: you're already an expert at dentistry and have hard skills in a well-paying occupation. Now you just need to figure out how to maximize the time and money you get out of it. Lucky for you, we've built a program that does JUST THAT. https://flossnycpracticeblueprint.com Episode Show Notes: 00:03 - Reminder about 20% Promo 00:30 - Practice Ownership is NOT A GOAL 00:47 - It's an enabler like money 01:06 - Time or Money... 01:25 - You already have deep skills 01:42 - Set goals first 01:50 - The goals Ragini and I set 02:30 - Practice provided time and money to achieve our goals 02:50 - Ask why - distill your goals - reduce the fraction 03:20 - Don't focus on the enablers

Due to our emergency last week, we had to be out of the office and we let our staff steer the ship for the week. We were pretty nervous about it, but they did a killer job! They provided care for our patients, generated revenue, collected payments and we were able to focus on ourselves. It also made us realize how much Practice Ownership provides outside of just income and lifestyle. In this emergency situation, we were able to keep the office running and continue paying ourselves! This is just ANOTHER reason why we're so hell-bent on helping others become Practice Owners.  If you're even THINKING about Practice Ownership, NOW is the time. And here's why:  We're about to launch the 2018 version of Practice Blueprint. We've added additional content and made it even easier to follow. We also streamlined our product plans to make it more flexible and practical depending on where you are in the process. And through August, we're offering a DISCOUNT to all our FlossBites members as a thank you for hanging with us! Check out the episode for the discount code and let us help you impact your career and lifestyle in ways you can't even imagine! 2018 Practice Blueprint Info: https://flossnycpracticeblueprint.com Episode Show Notes: 00:15 - Left office in staff's hands last week 00:24 - Staff picked up everything - we checked out 00:46 - Thanks to the staff for helping us out 00:59 - Staff allowed us to deal with our situation 02:05 - BIG NEWS on Practice Blueprint Soft Launch 02:30 - Simplified product offering (Monthly and All-In plans) 03:45 - Discount and Promo Code

We're looking at options for a patient referral gift especially since we've just started our membership plan. We used to give out the best brownies in the world, but we wanted to see if there was something that would have more wow factor... Does your office give any kind of referral gifts or even thank yous? I'd love to hear what's working.

Short episode: Personal tragedy struck this week and we weren't able to go into the office. Luckily, our team picked up everything. They were able to keep treating our patients and keep the office running smoothly with minimal intervention. I've never been prouder of what we've built.

It's easy to think you can just be anything you want to be. But I call BULLSHIT. You're a CERTAIN kind of person. You can improve certain skills with practice, but you don't have infinite potential. Rather than thinking you can do anything or be anyone, try being a little creative and hack the system. I share one of my biggest personal weaknesses and explain how I get around it. Episode Show Notes: 00:13 - You can improve, but not infinitely 00:30 - Mentors are great to aspire to but... 00:59 - You're a CERTAIN KIND OF PERSON 01:10 - My huge weakness of meeting people 02:20 - Hacking my weakness 03:08 - Get to know yourself better 03:37 - Be creative 04:32 - Don't be too hard on yourself 05:35 - Encouragement only goes so far 05:44 - New launch of Practice Blueprint 06:33 - Please share your own struggles!

I wanted to give a few updates that relate to previous episodes and some new developments. In this episode, I cover our new receptionist, the FlossClub membership plan we're offering to our patients, more info on how we dropped the DMO plans, how we found out our fees were too low, and a new segment, where I share something I learned last week. Episode Show Notes: 00:05 - We hired a receptionist! 00:47 - We're almost ready to launch FlossClub (see link) 01:43 - Subscriber question: How did we drop the DMO plans? 02:16 - Letting our patients know 03:20 - Our fees were TOO LOW by almost 50% 04:27 - What I learned this week - Manage your staff WITH your staff 05:20 - Are passions found or developed? 07:33 - Your own staff can help create the relationships if you interact References: Front Office Rocks https://frontofficerocks.com/ Our FlossClub Membership Plan Website http://www.flossnyc.com/flossclub-info FairHealth Consumer Site https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/estimate-costs/step-2

Our Dental Membership plan is almost ready for launch and we wanted to share some insight into why we did it and how it works. The main reason we felt we needed to create this was because we were getting inundated with patients who had DMO insurance. This was problematic because they ended up taking so many slots in our already packed schedule. This created a major revenue problem that we needed to fix quickly. But we were trying to solve the wrong problem. We needed to take our own advice and REDUCE THE FRACTION. So we did it and realized that we could offer a much better solution to these patients. We worked with our attorney to draft up the legal contracting, I built the page and payement systems and voila, our plan was born. Episode Show Notes: 00:16 - Huge influx of patients but revenue didn't match 01:00 - Basics of DMO insurance 01:33 - No skin in the game for DMOs 02:17 - What do we do? Initial ideas... 02:38 - REDUCE THE FRACTION! 03:04 - A better idea... 03:35 - How does it work? 04:03 - The plan in the wild 04:50 - Create predictable cash flow 05:09 - Slow to start 05:55 - Could all patients move over? 06:20 - Plan specifics 06:45 - Complete transparency 07:04 - Specialist partners 08:15 - Signup in the office before treatment 08:55 - Have you started a dental membership plan?

So it's been a crazy week of ad placing and interview scheduling in an attempt to replace our receptionist that just quit on us. The good news: the prospects have been surprisingly good and we were able to find some seemingly qualified candidates in the first round of interviews. Typically, we post the ad, do a phone interview, and then do a working interview where they work all day to make sure they jive with the rest of the staff. I wanted to share my process and some tools we use to find and weed people out quickly. This can be extremely time consuming unless you have some tools that save you time. I also share my thoughts on candidate ambition and on-boarding. 00:42 - Successful working interview candidate on first try! 01:25 - Our process of hiring 01:46 - The importance of phone interviews 02:26 - Easy way to schedule your interviews 04:00 - Career aspirations of our candidate 04:11 - My philsophy on lifers for a receptionist 05:07 - Onboarding is crucial with this philosophy 05:40 - Remove the trauma of staff replacements Tools: Indeed: indeed.com Calendly: calendly.com

On Monday, our receptionist quit and gave us two weeks. And this after we talked to him and told him we need MORE than two weeks. While he's not required to give us more, it really put us in a bind and pissed us off. We're implementing a lot of changes right now so stability was key for the summer. Ragini and I talk about our frustrations as we drive back from our weekend vacation. We'll clean this up later, but right now we just want to complain... Episode Show Notes: 00:09 - Sudden departure of our receptionist 00:35 - Short notices hurt 00:59 - Mutual respect was lacking 01:58 - Gave him an opportunity 02:36 - The shit that got me mad 03:06 - Temporary help is VERY temporary 03:27 - Still jarring even though we were prepared 03:52 - The dream is the lifer 04:10 - Positives of the experience 04:26 - Next steps for his replacement 04:30 - Indeed.com has great tools for hiring 05:10 - Quick overview of our hiring process

It's pretty remarkable. Every few months I get stuck when I'm working on my projects. I'm moving along and then BAM - I lose my motivation. Sometimes the work gets complicated or convoluted. Sometimes it requires too much creative energy. All I know is, it happens regularly. And it's annoying as hell. I love learning about psychology, so I started researching what others do and found some unintuitive ways to approach motivation. For instance, one method called for DOING first, and letting motivation follow. Huh. I was obviously skeptical, but then I tried it. Episode Show Notes: 00:20 - Procrastination instead of working 01:22 - "Do the Actual Thing" 01:56 - Practice actually counts as doing something 02:22 - The iterations of the Like button on Facebook 03:27 - The iteration of Instagram portrayals 04:50 - "Act yourself into a feeling" 05:40 - My struggles with my projects 07:00 - Et tu? References: The Moment You Finally Change by Kris Gage https://bit.ly/2IzoH0t Feeling by Doing by Ben Hardy: https://bit.ly/2NsNiYp

What does the invention of windshield wipers have to do with trying to solve our DMO plan problems? NOTHING. Actually, that's not true. I think we can all agree that windshield wipers are a great invention. The problem is that they were solving the WRONG problem. We did that at the practice when we were trying to figure out how to handle the low reimbursement DMO patients. They were clogging our schedule and reducing our revenues. So we needed a new approach and it wasn't simply increasing fees or having dedicated DMO days... Episode Show Notes: 00:36 - The INVENTION of the windshield wiper 00:52 - The ITERATION of the windshield wiper 01:23 - What is the real issue you're trying to solve? 02:00 - Solving problems faster 02:20 - Intro to Reducing the fraction 02:50 - Why Reducing the fraction can save you time? 02:55 - Our fraction is our DMO patient problem 03:20 - Chasing the wrong problems at FlossNYC 03:44 - Intro of Dental Membership Plan 04:10 - Provides better service which is our main issue References: Everything That Scares Us About Autonomous Cars Is In Windshield Wipers by Mitch Turck https://bit.ly/2JqWcU0

Often when we're trying to motivate or train our staff, we focus on the best performer. But running a practice is a team sport rather than an individual one. You need all your employees performing well because no ONE employee is going to seal the win. Worse still is that bad performers have more impact on your business than the good ones, so focus your energy there for better and more impactful results. Also in this episode, a quick update on the new staff meeting agendas we set up and how it's working so far... Episode Show Notes: 00:12 - Worst employees vs best employees 01:00 - Team management in basketball vs soccer 02:00 - Dental practices are like soccer teams 02:40 - Strongest link is most tempting 02:55 - Spend time with the weakest link 03:44 - Part 2 - Update on the new staff meeting flow 05:06 - More productive and less blame - jury is still out...  ​​​​​​​​​​​​ References: Revisionist History Podcast-My Little Hundred Million https://feeds.megaphone.fm/revisionisthistory