What if you can do the kind of dentistry that
you want to do? You can see the kind of patients
that you want to see and you do the type of treatment
that you want to do in an office that you love
with a team that you enjoy working with. To Dr.
Paul Henny, all of this is intentional and purposeful
and it will help you get more joy out of dentistry.
Welcome to Bite Size Dental Marketing. Today
we are talking... to someone special, Dr. Paul
Henny, a dentist with over 30 years of experience
and a deep focus on relationship -driven care
and behavioral dentistry. He's worked with thousands
of practices blending clinical expertise and
behavioral dentistry to create a patient -centered
environment where all those involved love the
dentistry that's being done. In this episode,
Dr. Henny shares how everything is part of the
patient journey, from the marketing that you're
doing to the team and how they interact with
the patients and how this impacts long -term
trust and treatment acceptance. Enjoy. I would
love for you to just start by telling us your
story of how you got into this and what led you
down this path. And thank you again so much for
being here with us today. Well, thank you for
having me. I am the son of a dentist and several
dentists in my family, including my brother and
my uncle and my father. And as a result, I kind
of went to dental school. It was sort of an idealized
version of what dentistry was. So dental school,
as everybody knows, is pretty reductionistic
and patients are there usually for... at the
dental school for treatment for financial reasons.
And it's not a very good example of real world,
what happens in real world of dentistry. So when
I got out of dental school and got into associate
positions and so forth, I was immediately impacted
by the struggle in the area of communication
and how difficult it was to get people to proceed
towards. proper care after I've diagnosed things
and recommended things. And I struggled with
that for a few years. I was concurrently teaching
at the University of Kentucky Dental School as
well, and I was enjoying teaching, but my private
practice experience was not all that fun. It's
not fun, as everybody knows, it's not fun to
work with people who really don't want to be
there or really don't want to take your recommendations.
in full or seriously. And so it's kind of a struggle.
It's a battle of wills. And I didn't really enjoy
that. I really thought that with my training
and professional degree and whatnot, that people
would treat me more maybe like a physician would
be treated. They would just, you know, take your
diagnosis and take your recommendations. But
there's a lot more psychology involved in dentistry,
as I learned very quickly. I, it was reaching
a point where I almost was very seriously thinking
about leaving dentistry. I'd gotten involved
in a side business. I'd opened up a gourmet kitchen
shop with a financial partner and we were having
a lot of success with it and having a lot of
fun. And I seriously was thinking about leaving
dentistry. Fortunately, at that time, I ran into
somebody that had trained at the Panky Institute.
which is a postgraduate training program here
in the States that teaches restorative dentistry
as well as what I would call behavioral dentistry.
And I was able to see a practice, a restorative
practice of a dentist who is doing basically
full mouth rehabilitations, aesthetic dentistry,
very advanced things. a waiting room of patients
who wanted to be there. It was all fee -for -service.
There was no insurance involved with it. And
it was a complete paradigm buster for me. I was
exposed to dentistry being practiced in a way
that I didn't even know existed. And I went on
to meet some other people, a very advanced level
orthodontist, who is doing maxillofacial development
in young children and teens. to help their midface
grow and avoid breathing problems later and extensive
braces later. So all these things happened to
me in the mid to late 1980s, and it put the thought
in my mind that I could actually practice dentistry
in a different way, work with patients in a more
relationship -driven way, work with people in
a more comprehensive way, and in a more health
-centered way. So that put me on the trail of
a lot of studies at the Pankey Institute and
many other places as well to develop my clinical
skill set to be able to function in that world.
I certainly didn't exit dental school with that
skill set. So the common barrier that dentists
will be confronted with roughly about that time
after they've gone to advanced education programs,
and that would be like Spear here or Kois here
or Panky Institute here or other places, is that
their skill set rises up, but their patient acceptance
rate of what they want to do does not follow
that up. So it leads to another level of frustration.
They see more, they can do more, but the patients
are not accepting what the dentist wants. want
to do for them. So they're kind of back to where
they were again, the same frustration. And that's
where developing the kind of what I would call
behavioral dentistry comes into play, understanding
how to work with people in more effective ways,
how to establish what I would call collaborative
relationships with patients, goal -oriented relationships
with patients so that they're not doing it for
me because I think it's what they need to do.
They're doing it for themselves. We've got to
be clear about who it is we're even trying to
market to in the beginning before we can build
this strategy that begins with marketing and
ends with congruent experiences over and over
and over again where their first impression is
confirmed. They come in, it's confirmed again.
They feel heard. They feel listened to. They
are offered the opportunity to participate. They
engage in that. They enjoy that. We do some work
together that's successful, on and on and on.
So it's a chain of events that supports a deeper
relationship, that builds deeper trust, and then
allows them to make more sophisticated decisions
in the area of dentistry. Dentists that are just
graduating and starting or building a practice,
people that have had their own practice for long,
people that are even thinking of being a dentist,
how should they think about... This is what dental
school is going to teach you, but this is what
Dr. Haney wants you to understand once you go
into the real world. Well, I would say, you know,
dental schools, and I don't think it matters
where it is in this world, dental schools don't
have enough time to really help you learn very
much about the behavioral side of dentistry.
That's why I wrote my book, to help people become
more aware of that piece of the equation. Your
father practiced dentistry at a different time.
It was much more slowed down. There was a lot
less technology. The overhead was a lot lower.
There was a lot less need to scale things up
to be profitable and so forth. So he just understood
from one human being to another, he understood
what it takes to be effective with people. That's
really not being taught in dental school. What's
being taught in dental school is all the digital
advancements, how to build a bigger practice,
see more people, how to down delegate. So the
end result of all of that is less and less contact
with the doctor and the patient, just like is
happening in medical offices here in the States.
The average medical doctor that works in a corporate
environment, and that's the vast majority of
them, is only allowed seven minutes with the
patient. Everything else is down delegated to
a scribe or somebody else that's taking blood
or whatever it is. So, you know, brief moments
with patients are not enough time to impart connection,
trust, or much the less any leadership role with
regard to philosophy of care. So that's what's
happening in dentistry. So we're at this very
interesting a paradoxical moment in dentistry.
We know more about root cause and prevention
than we ever have, but we don't have enough time
to talk to people about that, right? So we can't
execute on what we know and we get stuck in this
rut. And this is where dentists are so tremendously
frustrated is that they can't really execute
a true preventive centered mission because there
isn't time for it. And so the system itself tends
to be unhealthy for both doctors and patients
alike. The doctors feel unfulfilled and the patients
feel like they're on a conveyor belt. That's
the mismatch that's happening, or at least from
what I'm hearing. I know DSOs are having a big
impact on this. I know there's a big fight for
private dentistry and wanting to maintain the
hour -long consult sessions where I get to know
you and I understand you. But right now, Doc,
it doesn't seem like that's where dentistry is
going. It seems like, as you said, the faster
the better. Or do you disagree and you think
maybe there is a community that wants to bring
it back to the mission that you are on? Well,
I mean, the reality is that the market's been
fragmenting for a long time. It's just going
faster now. So this consolidation, corporatization,
and now third -party money, third -party investment
groups getting involved. That's kind of put it
all on steroids. But there has always been a
health -centered practice model within dentistry
for the last 40 or more years for the dentists
who understood it. And they were able to step
outside of the insurance -centered, money -centered,
procedure -centered philosophy and create something
that's much more valuable. Certain people want,
like the patient that I described to you earlier,
they seek it out. They're not getting their physical
or emotional or health needs properly addressed
at the locations they're going to, and they're
frustrated. So they're getting on the internet,
they're talking to their friends, they're looking
for alternatives. And people that understand,
dentists that understand this business model
can create a niche practice that's very, very
successful and profitable. And they don't have
to run around like a chicken with their head
cut off all day and just collapse at the end
of the day because they're physically and emotionally
exhausted. And do you think right now, is it
the majority of dentists that you're coming in
contact with or even just the scope of what you've
spoken about now that they're getting it wrong?
How many dentists are thinking about it in the
way? that you're saying. To me, it makes so much
sense. When I was researching Dr. Barclay's work,
I know that you've written on extensively the
three -phase adult education development, the
process, all of that. I read it and I'm like,
this makes perfect sense. Of course, this is
how you need to present treatment. Of course,
this is how you're going to convert that patient
into a long -life patient by understanding them
the psychology. Is it just that it... The money
is in the back of the mind? Is it that there's
not enough time? What have you found are dentists
and their teams struggling with in offices that
they're not able to implement this even if they've
wanted to? Well, in dentistry, the tail wags
the dog for the most part. The insurance industry
followed the money. And the vast majority of
dentists are compensated through... signing contracts
with insurance plans, which compensate them really
at levels that are insufficient to really cover
their overhead and certainly to spend any quality
time with people. So anytime that you sit down
with a patient for an hour, that's going to be
uncompensated to a large degree. So no matter
how big of a heart the dentist has, they were
only going to be able to do that for so long
before they give it up. And at the end of the
day, they have to be profitable to be able to
keep the doors open and take care of their family
and appropriately pay for their staff and facility
and all of that. So the way dentists are compensated
for the most part is driving the business model
that we see today. So it's a matter of chasing
the money that's on the table and then trying
to scale that up and industrialize it. And that's
what I was referring to. earlier about down delegation
and minimizing doctor contact with people so
that the only time the doctor's really with a
patient is when they're doing physical procedures
that they're getting paid for. Probably in multiple
rooms at the same time and they're just hopping
down the row and doing only things that a doctor
can do and everything else is down delegated
to somebody else. And the patient may be sedated
under nitrous oxide or something like that. So
they didn't even know what's going on. It's not
even a relationship at all. And they're not even
in a conscious enough state to have an intelligent
conversation about causes and effect and adjustments
that can be made to avoid this the next time
around or anything like that. So dentists are
becoming just industrialized workers, highly
skilled tradespeople. that are plugged into a
corporate machine. The corporation doesn't really
care whether you're there five years or not.
There's somebody else that just came out of dental
school that they'll plug in there. And the patients
don't have a continuous relationship with any
doctor. The staff is always turning over. And
it's creating a lot of apprehension and unhappiness.
And those situations are spinning out patients
that are going, is there another alternative?
This isn't working for me. I've got complicated
problems that are not being addressed. And so
that door is wide open. It has been for a long
time, but it takes a bit of preparation to be
able to be ready to receive that, to exploit
that and take advantage of it and help people
on a higher, more significant level. I was going
to say, especially on the high -end treatments,
if we start looking at full -arch cases, if we're
looking at complete smile makeovers, these type
of things. This is not a quick extraction. This
is not a filling that I'm doing or a cleaning.
I'm coming in there and I'm thinking with all
of my emotions. I'm thinking with every cent
that I have in my pocket because I'm about to
drop $30 ,000, $40 ,000 to spend on this. And
it needs to be the right person. And this is
a good segue, I guess, into let's say I come
to you and I say, Dr. Annie. I've listened to
this podcast. I'm a dentist and you're right.
What you're saying makes perfect sense. I want
to turn things around. I want to work against
this corporate dentistry style and I want to
figure out a way to be able to sell this high
treatment. When we go into the three -phase adult
education process and all of that, can you share
with our listeners that concept and what it means
to you and how that's a great step into... really
getting to a place where we are storytellers
and we are tapping into the emotions and the
psychology of our patients. Well, it really comes
down to individualizing the new patient experience
for each person beginning where they're at and
what they believe about where they're at. And
most people know very little about where they're
at as far as dental health goes. or the way things
are trending. So most people come to us with
a very low IQ, if you want to use the word, about
where they are or where they're going to end
up if they don't make significant changes. And
so traditionally, dentists are taught to just
bring them in, examine them, create a list of
problems, and then delegate somebody on their
team to give them the list. close the sale, if
you will. And then they get frustrated that only
40 % of the people want to do the whole thing
or want to argue about this or that or only do
what their insurance covers. And it's very backwards
in terms of how people learn, how people make
decisions, how the mind works, all that. In other
words, in dental school, we are not taught how
to make. sophisticated sales in dentistry when
you get involved in full mouth rehabilitations
and things like that my definition of beauty
or attractiveness might be very different than
yours or somebody else's or why i feel a certain
way about something is very important because
those are all motivators some people come in
because there's their spouse for instance has
been prompting them to do something about their
smile when, in fact, and this is common with
males, the female spouse might be pushing them
to do something about the appearance of their
teeth because they look horrible in photographs
every time they go to a big black tie event or
something. And the guy doesn't care. Males tend
to be a lot more focused on function and longevity
and things like that. I want to be able to eat
what I want to eat. I just, you know, I just
want to be able to keep my teeth my whole life
and I want to be able to eat what I want to eat.
How they look, that's kind of down farther on
the scale of importance to me. Where with majority
of women, how their teeth looks is a lot more
important because they pay attention to everything.
How every morning they're looking at their face
in a magnified mirror, every detail, they know
every detail about their appearance on down to
what they're wearing that day. and how they smell
that day. Men aren't in that space very much.
So it's important to understand what their motivations
are, what the thought is in their mind that's
brought them to you that day. It might just be
fear. It might be fear that they're going to
lose their teeth. It might be that they have
a friend that had their mouth restored and they
now want to do something similar to that. It's
all kinds of... possibilities but you're never
going to know until you develop a relationship
that's open and honest with the person and that
you're not bringing a lot of judgment into it
you're just having conversations with people
about what their dental health future could look
like and then as things progress now there are
all kinds of oral systemic connections we know
now that taking care of the mouth the health
of the mouth affects entire body. So there's
a whole nother new lane that's opened up that
creates a different kind of relationship or an
expanded relationship with patients as well.
But you've got to know each person on a deeper
level so that you can work together as a team.
If they've got complicated problems, that work
has got to be done in a highly coordinated fashion.
And it can't be centered around money on the
front end. It's got to be centered around what's
their vision for an optimal outcome for them.
And what kind of timetable is that on? So it's
a matter of creating a unique experience for
each person. So that's what three -phase adult
education is. First, learning together. Co -discovery
means learning with. So you structure your examination
process in a way that you slow down and share
the findings with the person at the time. that
you're examining them and you can use your control
cameras and other means to do that, photography.
And then you just share that information with
them and open up the conversation for questions
and thoughts. And then you take a leadership
role and share with them your thoughts about
how things are trending and what you've seen
happen in other people in that situation over
time with and without treatment and how they
feel about it. Both of those possibilities. And
if they show an indication towards maybe restoration
versus repair, then you can show them examples
of what that might look like. You can even have
them call patients of yours that have done that
to get an opinion of how they feel about it now.
You're the guide in the journey through it all.
They're the hero. Yes. Another way to think about
it is the clinical findings are only relevant
to the person if they're related to a goal that
they have or not. You know, a cracked tooth is
going to mean something different from one person
to the other. The person that's absolutely dead
set on keeping their teeth for the rest of their
life is going to react to that finding a lot
differently than a person that, eh, they're kind
of so -so about whether or not they want to keep
their teeth. They see all these ads on TV about
just having all their teeth taken out and having
a hybrid prosthesis put in there. And they're
thinking that, oh, that's the way to go. Natural
teeth are just a pain in the neck and I don't
want to do that anyways. Oftentimes what I will
say to patients is, you know, it really doesn't
matter what you decide to do. It doesn't affect
me very much what you decide to do. But what
I want you to do is whatever decision you make
and whatever we decide to do together, I want
you to be able to look back on it. 10 years from
now and say, I'm glad I did that. That was a
good decision. That was one of the best decisions
I've ever made. So I see myself in the beginning
as kind of like a tour guide, as you said. And
as being a tour guide, we're kind of building
up trust and honesty in the relationship. And
from there, once they show interest in making
some corrections or improvement, then I can assume
more of a put on a different hat and assume more
of a leadership role. And then at the end of
the day, I am the executor of it. I am the carpenter.
So I'm the surveyor. I'm the architect. At the
end of the day, I'm also the general contractor.
And so I'm putting on different hacks as I proceed
through the relationship as it evolves. And where
dentists get in trouble is they proceed into
the treatment aspect of the relationship too
quickly, particularly if their situation is complicated.
And they take the problems away from the person
rather than allowing them to own it and struggle
with it a little bit and participate in the solutions.
Because dentistry has become very easy to do
very, very fast now with milling machines and
scanners and all of these things. It's become
very easy to deliver care very, very quickly.
You can take a problem away from a patient and
give them to them and treat them in a very reductionistic
way. They have learned nothing about it. They'll
end up back in your office in a couple of years
with another tooth. Yeah, their perspective of
the problem has not matured at all. This comes
down to what's our purpose at the end of the
day. Is our purpose just to make as much money
as we can as fast as possible? Or do we have
a higher purpose than that? see our job as being
educators and leaders and facilitating health.
I love that you're saying that. There's two things
I want to come back to. The first is, it's okay
if you want to make money as a dentist. Of course
you do. It makes perfect sense. There's some
people that's only in it for the money and there's
some people that just has a heart and there's
a subset of you're making a lot of money because
you're doing a good job. And that to me, I feel
is more fulfilling in dentistry. If I look at
my dad's journey over the last three decades,
and from what you've shared with me too, is there
not an argument to be made that if you approach
dentistry in the way that you're saying now,
and you really put that time in to make it better,
that ultimately more money will come in than
if you do this plug and play type of cheap dentistry
and people just don't return? But pursuing the
heart of dentistry and what it was meant to be,
in my mind, ultimately will get you those big
production cases. It will get people to trust
you, to come back, to bring their family, to
bring their friends, which means that it's a
self -fulfilling prophecy at the end of the day.
Do you agree with that? Yeah, I absolutely agree
with that. You can go for the low -hanging fruit,
so to speak. that's covered on people's insurance
and scale it up and try to do that as fast as
possible and run around all day long until you're
about ready to collapse at the end of the day.
Or you can work with fewer people more effectively,
bigger treatment plans, more production per hour
and work fewer days per week and make more money.
It requires a different mindset, a different
practice structure, a different approach to the
way you come to know people and work with them
over time. It requires a different marketing
strategy, entirely different marketing strategy.
So it's a very different way of thinking about
dentistry. And the biggest problem that I have
today is all the young dentists tend to, they're
like lemmings. you know, see the same social
media sites. They talk to each other. They all
think the same. They don't even know there's
another way to practice. And it was very much
like my experience in the very beginning when
I was about ready to quit. And had I not gone
into that office that was completely different
experience for me on both the clinical and the
emotional and the financial levels, I, who knows,
I might've left dentistry had I not had that
moment. where my eyes were open to dentistry
could be very different and much more fulfilling
on both the spiritual and the financial level.
And I could slow down. I wouldn't have to be
pressed for time with people. I could sit down
and really get to know people and struggle with
them. And sometimes the problems that they're
having, somebody in their family is just diagnosed
with cancer or this or that, really know people
on that level so that they become part of your
family. So you can think of patients on a couple
different levels. You can have just kind of a
transactional relationship with them. I'll do
this and you'll pay me that. Or you can have
a relationship with them where they're really
a member of your practice on the philosophical
level. And the reason they're doing it isn't
centered around money or coverage. It's centered
around what they want and what they value. But
if you don't know what that is, you can't play
that game. You were saying earlier, you then
as a dentist need to play the carpenter. You're
the architect. You're the person that puts it
together at the end. But part of that is we need
the builders. We need the cement to be manufactured.
We need it to be painted at the end. You need
that massive team around you. And that saying
always of too many cooks in the kitchen, it spoils
it. It makes it difficult. And I know for a fact.
that, as you said, with the practice you mentioned
earlier, it almost felt like a bit of a circus.
And I can promise you probably that dentist was
trying to do their best, but they didn't have
that team that understood what they understood.
They didn't know how to run that practice. What
is your experience in, Doc, I heard what you
said on the podcast. I'm trying to do it, but
my team is not getting this. I don't understand
when I get to the patient treatment coordinator,
It's almost like there's a break in the link
and then the front desk is not, and by marketing
either is not, it seems like there's a mismatch.
How do you tie this together in your experience
to have that across the board? Well, I mean,
once you make the commitment to practice like
this, it's a comprehensive change that needs
to be made. If, for instance, last week, everybody
was money centric. Everybody, you know, you had
production meetings every morning at eight o
'clock and you wanted to produce X amount of
dollars by the close of the day at five. And
you needed to find X amount of treatment and
the patients that were coming in that day. And
then that will lead us up to a weekly goal that
leads us to a monthly goal that leads us to an
annual goal. All of the business structures are,
designed to work for that and support that goal
versus this week you're saying, all right, we're
giving that up. Now we're health -centered. We
want to know our patients on a deeper level.
We want to collaborate with them more effectively.
We want to time treatment in such a way that
they can afford it so they'll do the right thing
instead of the quick thing that's paid for by
somebody else. The employees that you have work
really well for model one, but they are not a
fit for model two. They are production workers,
not deeply interpersonal people. And this includes
hygienists and clinical staff and people that
answer the phone. Some people are very relational.
Some people are very empathetic. Some people
are not. Some people are very rigid. They are
really not interested in knowing the patient
very well, but they're very productive in the
first model. They get things done quickly. They're
effective. They make their bonuses because of
that. They're rewarded for it. You change your
practice model. Sometimes you need to change
your staff. Sometimes you need to change your
website. Sometimes you need to change your facility
so that it... It projects a different message.
I have a number of friends that have been very
successful in doing this practice model, and
their practice, their facility, each one of them
is unique. I have a friend who's a very, very
good painter, and he's won a number of national
awards. And he has his artwork all over the office.
It's not pictures of smiles or teeth or anything
like that. It's his artwork. And so people come
into that space and they immediately connect
the fact that this is a highly talented artist.
And that's what I want. That's the kind of person
I want working on my smile. Okay. I have another,
I have another close friend of mine that I wrote
about in the book that had with it very sophisticated
in his understanding of art and sculpture and
fabrics and all these things. and he developed
a very low -volume office that you would come
into, and every aspect of it, everything was
so well thought out and sophisticated because
he was in a very tony, upscale part of Washington,
D .C., where people had a lot of money, and they
were very worldly and well -traveled, and every
aspect of his office, the way he laid it out,
was a signal to that person that Charlie was
sophisticated to. And so the bottom line is to
create a practice that's an accurate reflection
of who you are. It's authentic. If you were to
come into my office, it would be a completely
different iteration of that, but I've designed
every bit of it just like the space I'm in right
now. So patients come in it. They love the office.
It's more like a home. They immediately ask almost
every time who designed it, and my team will
tell them that I did. So is that a good thing
or a bad thing? That's a good thing. They go,
this person's pretty sophisticated. They understand
aesthetics. They understand how to create quiet,
comfortable environments. This is a very different
experience for me. So there are all kinds of
levels that you can get involved in in terms
of designing this type of practice. But it all
starts with the emotional experience. You know,
am I safe? Do I feel this is part of my tribe?
You mentioned that work. Am I in tribe or out
tribe? Does the mission and purpose of this practice
align with what I want and who I am? Do I feel
heard? Do I feel like I get a voice in the decision
-making process? Am I being hurt or helped? All
these things. It builds from, like I said, the
very first impression on every little touch point
is a confirmation of their initial assumption
or it undermines it. And they become more cynical
and skeptical. How does that pattern pull through
from you and what you've seen from that initial
touch point of the marketing? making as an architect
your product of what you want people to understand?
And how does that work all the way through until
someone shakes your hand and says, Doc, thank
you so much for changing my life? Well, I think
the best way to think about it is every decision
that you make, whether it's the design of your
office, how your office smells, where your office
is located. What's the person's experience as
they're parking their car and walking in the
door? I've spent a number of years doing consulting
work, going into practices and seeing things.
One of the patterns that I saw very quickly was
most dentists get numb to what's going on around
them because they're focused on the problem of
the day or the problem of the moment. And me
coming into an environment as a consultant, I'm
seeing it fresh for the very first time. I'm
seeing the weeds in the parking lot. I'm seeing
the shrubs out front that aren't trimmed. I'm
seeing the windows that haven't been cleaned
in three years. I'm seeing the flies in the overhead
lights. I'm smelling the smell that they can't
smell anymore. I'm sitting in the waiting room
and I can hear the drills or whatever. Or I can
hear people. having private personal conversations.
I'm eavesdropping on private personal conversations
with something that's going on at the front desk.
I see all of that as a consultant. The dentist
usually can't see or smell or experience any
of that because they're focused on other things.
They blocked it out. The brain is like that.
The brain is lazy. It only pays attention to
things that are relevant right now. So sometimes
you need help with somebody. who's never been
there that understands this game to just look
at everything and just have a conversation with
you about hey did you notice that the sign outside
your front door is is uh the screw is loose and
it's like turned down and there's cobwebs in
there did you know that no i never saw that or
did you know did you know that you know if you
just look behind that that fake plant in your
waiting room there's a bunch of dead bugs back
there did you did you know that No, they never
go there because they're just trying to deal
with the crisis of the moment. The picture on
your website is not loading or the page is broken
when someone tries to click on it. All of those
things. All of those things. That collective.
So your brand image, as long as we're kind of
talking about marketing, your brand image is
an assumption that's creating an expectation.
All right. And that expectation will either be
supported. in advanced or it will be undercut.
And so is the experience, is every touch point
congruent with the image you're projecting, all
these beautiful pictures on your website and
your whatever you say about all the amazing things
that you can do? Is that what the experience
is when they come in the door or even drive in
the parking lot? Is that what they were expecting
to see? Is the tone and temperament of the person
answering the phone, is that what they were expecting
to hear? Was the interaction what they'd hoped
for all the way down the line? Was the processes
gentle and safe feeling and supportive and productive
as they'd hoped it would be? Or were you behind
schedule? You felt rushed. They didn't feel like
they were heard that day. Felt like they kind
of got hurt when you were giving them the injections
because you were in a hurry and behind schedule.
All those things, you know. build towards building
your brand in the direction that you want or
undercutting it and creating a brand image that
you're not even aware of as the dentist. So it
all fits together. It all fits together. Doc,
of course, you're busy with your own exciting
things. What do you have that you can share today
that if people want to learn more, how they can
do that? Well, you know, the very first thing
that a dentist needs to... be able to do if they
want to move in this direction they've got to
have a vision of what it is they're trying to
create and for me 30 plus years ago i wrote down
about 250 things about what i wanted my future
to be like what i wanted to be able to do the
kind of facility that i wanted to have the kind
of team that i wanted around me the kind of skill
set that i needed to have to do that the places
I wanted to study to be able to develop that
skill set. And I literally created a vision in
my mind of almost exactly the building and the
facility that I live in and work in every day.
I have a teaching facility downstairs. I have
office layouts exactly the way, everything is
exactly the way I like it and the way I want
it. Imagine if you could design everything the
way you wanted, how much better you would feel
about going to work every day. If everybody that
worked at your office was people that you liked
to be around and that you liked to help and liked
to develop. And imagine if almost every single
patient that came in the door every day was somebody
you really liked and looked forward to seeing
and talking to them and learning a little bit
more about what's happening with them. And then
trying to figure out if there's some way that
you can help them. Imagine that life. It's got
to get very specific and clear. And then you've
got to pursue your personal development wherever
you are. Everybody's starting in a different
place on both the clinical and behavioral and
even financial level. Some people aren't at a
place where they can take a lot of financial
risks. Other people are pretty stable there,
but a lot of other things aren't the way they
want them to be. So it's a very personalized
journey. just the way it is with each one of
your patients. So there's a lot of self -development
involved in that. As far as, you know, if you
want some sort of support and reinforcement for
that, I've got a Facebook page, the Bob Barkley
Study Club Facebook page. Just join that every
day. Every day I'll write about this or that
or give... you know, inspirational quotes that
support this mindset, right? And then this fall
in October 17th and 18th, we're having a workshop
here. It'd actually be in this room I'm sitting
in right now. This is a gourmet kitchen behind
me that I designed, but in front of me, the part
that you can't see is a space where we can have
about 40 people and do workshops that's open
to the mountains. So all this was in my mind
was to build a teaching facility, both at my
home, which I'm at right now, and my office.
And we could move around. If I needed to do clinical
things, I could do it at the office to teach.
If I needed to do more workshoppy, interpersonal
things, we could do it here. That's what we're
going to do this fall. Sorry, Doc, in what city
are you? So the listeners just know what city
you're in. Where I'm sitting right now is actually
in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, but
my office is down the mountain in Roanoke, Virginia,
which is 30 minutes from here. So we're going
to do two days on basically focused on co -discovery
and how to develop all these things we've been
talking about. How do we develop relationships
with people? And this particular workshop is
going to be focused on team members. So team
members are invited to join us and understand
their key role because sometimes the touch point
is in their room, in the hygienist room, when
the person finally is paying attention and asking
a really important question that allows you to
dive deeper and explore values and motivations.
And we're going to kind of work with team members
on that kind of thing. all these aspects on how
to build trust and collaborative relationships
and so forth. So I'm doing that in conjunction
with Janice Dupreté, who has been doing this
for 30 years. So a lot of veteran experience
at this with a lot of practices. So that's what
we're going to be doing next. And you can, the
Facebook page will announce these things as they
come up. The work that you're doing and everything
you're saying, fantastic. Thank you. And it was
an absolute privilege to speak with you today.
Well, thank you very much. This has been fun.
And if people have any questions, feel free to
email me. They can reach me at paulhennydds .com.
That's P -A -U -L -H -E -N -N -Y -D -D -S .com.
And I'd be happy to answer any questions that
you might have.