Dr. Tarun “T-Bone” Agarwal is here today. T-Bone is a dentist, a podcast host, and passionate about helping other dentists turn their practice into a business. In this episode, we talk about the importance of planning ahead of time for the following year and writing down your goals and aspirations.
T-Bone shares his wisdom from over 20 years experience and building a practice from scratch. We talk about the importance of clarity, and T-Bone shares the three key focus areas of patients, team, and clinical skills to go further faster. He shares tips on helping your team grow and you scale by learning to replace yourself. This episode is packed with so much knowledge that we had to split it up in two parts. Enjoy!
You can find T-Bone here:
T-Bone Speaks Dentistry Podcast
Show Notes:
[02:51] T-Bone lost his father-in-law last year and it put a damper on the year. They still grew, but it wasn't his best year.
[03:22] The first step to moving forward is reflecting on the past.
[03:39] T-Bone didn't set goals or plan out his 2018. He feels that this lack of planning showed.
[03:55] He's actually a big believer in sitting down and writing out goals. This year he went to a seminar about planning out your goals for the year.
[04:35] T-Bone was here in town for the seminar and decided to stop by the office for the podcast.
[04:57] It's not only important to write out your goals. It's important to share your goals and have accountability.
[05:14] Last week Sully and his office took half a day to recap what has happened in the past year of 2018.
[05:50] It's important for the owner of the business to recap before he recaps with the team.
[07:53] It's a good idea to map out what you are going to say before you discuss it with your team.
[09:14] For T-Bone, 2018 was a non clarity year. If you don't have clarity you're going to be in trouble.
[10:33] T-Bone makes the same resolution every year. That is to eat healthy and lose weight.
[10:58] He feels that the best time to plan for the following year is in September and October, so that you really have time to set the stage.
[14:10] To get further faster, you have to focus on your patients. You have to focus on your team. You have to focus on your clinical skills.
[14:42] With patients you have to address their time, their fears, and their money.
[15:12] Do more in one visit, make your dentistry last longer, and make appointments more convenient.
[15:42] T-Bone's office is going to go to a 7:00 to 7:00 schedule.
[18:26] Do something different to be there for the patients.
[19:13] The easiest way to address fear is to offer sedation in your practice. Nitrous Oxide, oral sedation, or more advanced sedation.
[22:47] Good old-fashioned TLC also helps address fear.
[23:05] Money boils down to price vs affordability.
[25:02] Affordability is about offering payment plans versus the price of the procedures.
[25:48] Step two is addressing your team and how you lead your team.
[26:17] Teach your team to learn how to replace themselves. Teach your team to know the score. Teach your team to own the space.
[26:38] Replacing yourself is about personal growth. If you train a replacement, you are able to move up.
[32:19] When you understand what's going on in your team members lives, then you can formulate a plan with those person.
[33:18] Just listen and avoid the advice monster.
[34:03] Ask questions to get them to get to your advice.
[37:56] Number two is about knowing the score. Be specific with your team members about their role and how you want them to grow.
[41:28] Ease people into new roles.
[45:06] Owning your space is about knowing everything that happens in your operatory.
[46:46] People want ownership and leadership. Make certain jobs certain people's responsibilities.
[47:30] Teach people to replace themselves, so they can advance. Know the score and specific things about your part of the practice. Teach people to own their space.
[50:31] Superstars get different treatment but everyone gets treated fairly.
[50:49] Clinical diversity. To get further faster focus on three areas of your professional life.
[51:31] We have to make a progression beyond dental school dentistry.
[52:02] The top five services are perio, hygiene, restorations, extractions, and endo. A practice is moved to a level two practice by implementing the bottom 5 procedures which are socket grafting, implants, ortho, sleep, and sedation.
[52:54] Implement the bottom five procedures at a high level.
[54:23] T-Bones goal for 2020 is to replace himself and only do the procedures he wants to do.
[56:39] It's so critical for young dentists to start to write down their goals.
[59:26] It's never too late to get started and clarify your goals.
[01:00:50] Learning is key and it should never stop.
As always thanks so much for listening! If you like the show we would love for you to review the show on iTunes as well as spread the word! If you have any questions or want to get in touch, shoot me an email at millennialdentist@gmail.com.
Links and Resources:
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