Blog | Dental Blog - Ashley Latter

The Most Dangerous Number in Business is The Number One

Ashley Latter, the author of Don’t Wait for the Tooth Fairy and You Are Worth It (Feel Comfortable Communicating your Fees & Achieve the Income your Services Deserve) shares why relying on one of anything in your practice is the most dangerous place to be. If I were to ask you what, in your opinion, is the most dangerous … Continue reading The Most Dangerous Number in Business is The Number One

Winners and Losers

If you are reading this can I both thank and congratulate you. Most of you are probably preparing to open your doors to the public again and getting back to what you love to do. I know from speaking and coaching hundreds of dentists over the last three months, you are really looking forward to … Continue reading Winners and Losers

Patients will buy when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell to them

Let me ask you a question? Have you made a significant purchase in your life recently, but took a while to make this purchase? You may have been thinking of purchasing for a while, but you were just not quite ready. Maybe you were doing a lot of research, visiting different shops or researching varies … Continue reading Patients will buy when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell to them

The most dangerous number in business is?

Like most people last week, I was upset to see the demise of the airline Flybe and the impact this will have on their employees and the UK economy. As a note, I had a flight booked with them in June where I was delivering a course in Cornwall. I watched the news and listened … Continue reading The most dangerous number in business is?

ORTHODONTIC CONFERENCE WITH ASHLEY LATTER, RICHARD JONES AND CHRIS BARROW

We are now less than a month away from one of the most important, relevant and essential Orthodontic Conferences of the last few years which takes place in the Cotswolds on the 9 and 10 May 2019. These are two days where you can immerse yourself with essential sales and marketing strategies that will not … Continue reading ORTHODONTIC CONFERENCE WITH ASHLEY LATTER, RICHARD JONES AND CHRIS BARROW

Refer a friend

Do you want to know what is the most effective, yet underused referral strategy? Simply ask for them. After teaching dentists and their teams for over 22 years I have discovered that there are many different reasons as to why they don’t ask for referrals. However, one thing I have come to realise is that … Continue reading Refer a friend

More lessons learnt from Lands End to John O’Groats

It is now four weeks since I reached John O’Groats, together with Chris Barrow, Sheila Scott, Les Jones and Simon Tucker, cycling 993 miles from Lands End. If you live outside the UK, we cycled from one end of the UK to the other. The ride took two weeks and although it was incredibly challenging … Continue reading More lessons learnt from Lands End to John O’Groats

Make things happen

I hope you are having a great summer. I have just returned from a 12 day holiday in Greece with my family and we had a fantastic time. I loved just sitting on the beach, reading books and enjoying long meals spending real quality time with Grace and my two girls Enrica and Martina. We … Continue reading Make things happen

SETTING FEES

After working in the dental industry for the last 23 years, I have discovered that there is one major issue that holds back growth, and it is that many dental practices operate in the dark when it comes to setting fees.
Dentists regularly guess at what they should be charging and give ballpark prices. When it comes to research, that usually means looking at what the competition nearby is doing and then undercutting them slightly. That just does not make sense as it leads to smaller profit margins and jeopardizing the future.
It is time to shed some light on the mysterious and elusive topic of pricing. Here are a few things you should know

IMPLEMENT THIS ONE IDEA TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ENQUIRIES TO YOUR PRACTICE

Asking your patients if they will do a video can be uncomfortable, but the more you do ask, the easier it will become, I promise it will become more comfortable the more you ask. However, just consider the benefits of having these videos.

Make it a mission in your practice to ask for video testimonials at the end of treatment, I think you will be surprised how many will do them for you. Put them on your website and have them ready to show patients on an iPad or computer.

THE TOP THREE REASONS WHY NHS DENTISTS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SELL PRIVATE OPTIONS

Most dentists want to increase their private income, maybe they have been on the latest technical course, but they do not communicate the benefits of the treatment to the patient in a way that excites them and therefore the kit from the course is still in the box

TIME TO THINK DIFFERENTLY

During the last 25 years, I have personally delivered more than 24,000 hours of business training to the dental market, all over the world. I have delivered these programmes in practices and in venues. During this time, I have discovered what the brilliant practices do and they have a very common thread – they are all very proactive. I have also discovered that they do things a little differently to other practices, so here are five off-the-wall strategies to help grow your turnover and profits.

LEARN WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT FOR YOU

We appreciate that your time is valuable and not everyone can afford to take two days off work, sometimes three with travel to attend my two day Ethical Sales and Communication Programme.

With this in mind we are delighted to introduce to you The NEW Ethical Sales and Communication Online Programme with a special offer. We have 20 voucher codes to give away….

MAKE YOUR TEAM MEETINGS MORE PRODUCTIVE

Everybody loves a juggler! The precise and skillful way in which they can keep all those balls in the air, without even appearing to break sweat; it can be mesmerising to watch.

In many ways, practice managers, are the jugglers of the dental profession, moving from task to task, dealing with each individual issue, focused and dedicated to resolving every challenge, without ever dropping a single ball.

Top class communication skills are crucial in order to maximise results from team meetings and encourage your team come up with ideas to take your practice to the next level. Here are five easy steps to make your meetings more productive.

HOW TO SELL MORE CONSUMABLES

When I visit dental practices in the UK, I am often surprised that many of these practices don’t make a better effort in selling their consumables and oral health products. I regularly see half hearted, shabby displays, with empty shelves, often very dusty. When I ask at reception how are the consumable sales going, I get an unenthusiastic answer and the classic line, “We cannot compete with Tesco and Asda”. Let’s be honest who can? But if that is the mind-set of the practice, then we might as well give up now.
Did you know though that you could actually be sitting on a potential gold mine?

HOW TO DEAL WITH A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT

Although no one likes receiving a complaint, they present you with an opportunity to identify and rectify specific problems with your current systems or service. They can also help you to develop your relationship with your patient, by allowing you to demonstrate that you value their business by taking their concerns seriously and dealing with their complaint. So believe it or not, they are good for business. It gives you an opportunity to become a hero; however, it also means that if you don’t deal with it effectively, you can become a villain

HOW TO BE A GOOD LEADER TO YOUR TEAM

One of the biggest challenges a leader faces is influencing their team, getting the best out of them and of course getting them to do jobs willingly with a smile on their face.

How many times have you ever woken up in the middle of the night thinking about a difficult team member or how you can sell an idea to the dentist? If this is you, then don’t worry you are not on your own. There are probably hundreds of Practice Managers up and down the country facing the same challenges.

TURN MORE ENQUIRES INTO APPOINTMENTS

Have you ever considered how much a new Patient is worth to your Practice? In fact have you ever had the discussion at a team meeting to discuss this all so important question?

If you have heard me speak, or maybe read some of my previous articles you will know that a new patient enquiry to your Practice could be worth at least £5,000. If a new patient joins your Practice, maybe joins your plan and sticks around for ten years, has a little bit of treatment, they will probably spend that amount with you. That does not include any referrals that they may also introduce to the Practice.

Without doubt the Reception Team are the most important people within the Dental Practice. They are the first point of contact when a patient either telephones or visits.

Here are seven simple tips to help Receptionists deal with new enquiries to ensure they are most productive and profitable.

DO YOU KNOW THE COST OF BRINGING IN A NEW PATIENT TO YOUR DOOR?

Do you know your numbers? Not knowing them leaves us in the dark – not a great place to be in business. Knowing them gives you an immediate advantage; it enables us to invest money in the right areas and often significantly increase what we can spend in bringing in new clients

THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK IN A COSMETIC CONSULTATION

Which three questions can you ask in a cosmetic consultation to help you build incredible trust with your patients and have more patients saying YES to your treatment plans?

When you are presenting a cosmetic treatment plan to a patient, they are buying your treatment plan based on emotion and they back up their decision based on logic. If you want them to proceed with your treatment plan, then you must deliver it to them in an emotional way. Many dentists find this challenging as they are technical people by nature and often like to talk about features of their services. It’s not what the patients are interested in.