Chris Barrow’s Blog

Just spent the whole working day with a man and wife dental team who are proposing to create a new private practice in 18 months from now.

We created:

• a 12-month cash flow forecast for year 4 and
• a 36-month cash flow forecast for years 1 through 3
• an analysis of seed capital required to get to the opening day
• an analysis of initial investment, lease finance and maximum bank borrowing
• a decision as to whether the practice will be hygienist-centred, care-nurse centred or dentist-centred
• an outline organisational chart for years 1, 2 and 3
• a set of goals for the next 90 days

All of this before even the geographical location has been confirmed.Â

I’ve spent most of my day with my head in their Excel – and my brain is swimming.

But it has been great fun and we have laughed as we have worked together.

This is business coaching at its best.

Now I’m ready for a couple of days rest.

Have a good weekend dear reader.

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One of the many features I admired at Richard Fretwell’s “Guidepost” dental practice, north of Newcastle, is the array of business cards in the patient lounge.

Richard is a member of the local Business Network International chapter – and this is how he is fulfilling his commitment to advertise the services of his fellow BNI entreprenuers.

“Givers gain” is the BNI motto – and I bet he gets lots of patient referrals.

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On the subject of hourly rates – why do dentists insist on communicating compensation for team members using hourly rates?

If you tell me my hourly rate is £7.00, £10.00, £30.00 – it makes me feel as if I am temporary labour – likely to be replaced or expected to move on.

If you tell me my salary is £10,000, £15,000 or £20,000 per annum – it makes me feel as if I have a career.

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Finally – we hear on the media today that hospital consultants have been granted a 22.8% payrise in the last 12 months by their Primary Care Trusts.

Any dental principals enjoyed the same?

How’s about team members?

And did you put your prices up 22.8% in the last year?

Morning all
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Arrived back in Falmouth last night at 10.45pm after a 5.5 hour drive from Doncaster. Fantastic days with clients in Newcastle and Doncaster.
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This morning I’m typically trashed (the driving at night kills me) and all set to write an ezine BUT:
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There are 77 emails this morning to add to the 20 or so I didn’t get to yesterday.
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So the dilemma is:
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1.   Write the ezine or
2.   Catch up with emails before I attend my own management meeting and I meet with clients for dinner tonight and a full day of coaching tomorrow.
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My heart says that I have to address the client/team emails so that I don’t arrive at the weekend with a back-log.
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My head says get the ezine out because you haven’t written one for over 10 days.
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Maybe we are reaching a point where I have to delegate the construction of the ezine?
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Maybe send individual snippets of content as they arise – and write a personal reflections once a week – then have a team member who collates, constructs and passes to Kim Black for issue?
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I’m running out of time!!
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Thoughts?
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A surgery in a dental practice is an income generation unit (IGU).

In a taxi firm an IGU is a taxi.

In a train company an IGU is a train.

In a restaurant an IGU is a table.

In a cinema an IGU is a seat.

In a serviced office centre, an IGU is an office.

In a financial planner’s business and IGU is a desk, a chair, a telephone and a web connection.

If an IGU is laying idle that’s a bad business decision.

So when a client emails me to tell me that a surgery in their practice is empty, I don’t care what the reason is. The client has an IGU producing no income. That’s bad business.

The fact that the existing dental associate or hygienist can only use the surgery a limited number of days each week for personal or professional reasons – is bad business.

It means the owner’s family, the support team and the customers are having to do more and pay extra to support the under-utilisation of the IGU.

So get it utilised – fast.

I just wanted to say thank you for a great day, I’ve come home with the sort of buzz that I had after the 4 workshops of the core programmes but better because not only have I had some inspirational coaching from you both, I’ve also had some great conversationslast night and – during the day – with the other MMGers which has given me ideas. I can see that it is already going to build our network of friends too.

Monday finds Simon and I in Birmingham, meeting with our Mastermind Group of dental principals.

The focus for the morning was a detailed discussion of the steps in the financial management process:

1. Analysis of Key Performance Indicators – comparison with group and national averages – monitering against internal history;
2. Personal cash flow forecasting;
3. Professional cash flow forecasting;
4. Pricing – by scientific level hourly rate, scientific zoned hourly rate or emotional reference to market conditions;
5. Productivity – measured by average daily yield per income generator;
6. Personal productivity by reference to Patient Journey and selling skills;
7. Associate and hygienist productivity and
8. System productivity – are you delivering the service in the most productive way?

A fascinating conversation that revealed a lack of action on the part of most clients – even though they have attended the DBS core programme and own the various Excel templates we have developed.

Why haven’t they done enough analysis?

“I haven’t got the time.”

“I don’t understand why I’m doing it.”

“I don’t want to upset the patients/staff/associates/hygienists.”

So I had to do quite a bit of work on explaining the difference between profit and super-profit – between income and wealth. As usual, there was a focus on associate profitability and the use of our template to facilitate a conversation.

In the afternoon we concluded by introducing the Kolbe profiling system.

Every member of the group had taken the on-line assessment before the meeting and sent their profile to us.

Simon summarised the system and it’s uses and we then enjoyed an entertaining session describing how each member was likely to respond in various situations – spookily accurate in some cases.

Our intention is to become licensed as Kolbe trainers as we believe the system will help our clients to build more effective teams and focus on their own Unique Ability®.

By 5.00pm I was as exhausted as on a workshop day – a high-energy session.

Driving to Gateshead, I arrived by 9.30pm and settled into the excellent Hilton for a couple of hours rest.

A long day – but very energised by the difference we are making to our clients.

Friday is my quarterly day with The Strategic Coach, this time at The Savoy Hotel in Central London.

We are a group of 30 but I’m especially pleased to be with some of my best mates:

Simon Hocken

Tim Thackrah (who celebrates his birthday with us)

Guy Levine.

The day is a personal revelation for me:

1. Creating the organisational structure for my business in 3 years from now – an increase from a support team of 2 to a support team of 25!
2. Realising that I have to creatively destroy The Dental Business School in 2008 and re-design “everything”;
3. Understanding that the material we deliver and the internal systems that we employ have to be turned into a series of turnkey processes;
4. Admitting that I have neglected my lead conversion systems in the last 3 months and have to get back in control quickly.

The room at The Savoy was awful – a basement bunker of grandeur but with no natural light – so by 3.00pm I was brain-dead and washed out – but the morning session was a period of incredible productivity.

The hotel is, of course, one of London’s finest.

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I knew I was in the right place when, walking into reception with Simon, we asked the concierge for directions to our conference room and I noticed he was wearing a Breitling watch that I cannot afford.

What’s quite strange is how I arrived at The Savoy.

Thursday morning I woke up in Cobham, Surrey, after a workshop there the day before and a working dinner with clients in (you’ve guessed it) Pizza Express.

Looking at my travel itenary over the next few weeks, I came up with a cunning plan.

I drove from Cobham to Birmingham Airport, left my car there in the long-stay car park and walked to the railway station.

Catching a train back to London, I enjoyed the first-class comfort of Richard Branson’s Virgin Pendelino service, arriving in London for 3.30pm.

A cab ride to the excellent Hilton Tower Bridge (featured before in the blog) and then eventually caught up for dinner with Simon Hocken, Ernie (his beautiful partner) and their gorgeous new baby Harry.

All of this on a client call-in day – with calls made from my car, from Birmingham Airport, from Birmingham International Railway Station, from the back of a London cab and from the Hilton.

Here’s my executive office at Birmingham International Station:

Sounds crazy – but the payback will be next week, when I attend our Mastermind Group meeting in Birmingham on Monday and then drive North to Newcastle and South to Doncaster.

For now – I have one day of rest in a busy schedule.

Ending where I began – the realisation yesterday of how much my best mates mean to me.

Ashley Watson from Canterbury has recently invested in new signage for his building – an investment which, he tells me, has paid for itself in a matter of weeks.

Paid for by new patients who have called in – just because they noticed his practice for the first time.

I still see dental practices “advertising” themselves with faded brass plaques on the wall – or perhaps with a plain sign that reads “dental surgery” and looks completely uninviting.

Does your signage bring a steady flow of the right type of new patient?

And if you don’t have business premises that clients call in to – your signage is the home page of your web site.

By the way – take a look at Ashley’s home page – here.

Dreadful check-in experience at the Hilton Watford yesterday.

I hand over my Diamond VIP card, expecting a brass band and fireworks – what I get is a confused male receptionist punching buttons on a computer keyboard and telling me there is no reservation in my name.

Now I know the reservation was made weeks ago – when we booked the hotel for our workshop – but I also know that conference people don’t always talk to reception people – different tribe you see.

I’m a Diamond VIP member – I stay in gazillions of Hiltons – I have enough loyalty points to buy a bloody hotel.

When I stayed at the brand new Hilton London Bridge a few weeks ago – they took me up to the Executive Lounge in a private lift and sat me down to check me in – I felt like royalty.

Here in Watford, centre of the known world, I stand around in reception for half an hour (after a 3-hour drive), waiting for people behind closed doors to sort out their mess.

Eventually I get a smoking room – the only one left in the hotel and nowhere near my first choice.

I’ve been handed over to a female receptionist who “isn’t bovvered”.

I am beginning to hate this hotel – and I’ve been staying here for 10 years.

Maybe they spotted I’m a Manc and cannot forgive me for Man United turfing them out of the FA Cup on Saturday. Such that Watford will sink back into it’s ignominious “chav”-dom once more.

Last night a presentation with Dr. John Barry of Isoplan and Dr. Kenny Barr – dentist from Stranraer.

I’m so impressed with Kenny’s speaking skills – he is uber-professional and tells a great story of his own experiences on conversion.

It’s a late finish and today I have 55 people for workshop 2 – financial controls and team-building.

Then a drive to Cobham – I wonder what my check-in experience will be like there tonight?

Starting my day in Manchester but this week I’ll be in:

Watford

Cobham

Central London

So no doubt there will be some customer service experiences to share with you – as well as stories from the client base as I deliver 2 Dental Business School workshops.

We start a new quarter in Watford tomorrow – workshop 2 on financial controls and team-building. I have made quite a few changes to the presentation to reflect what’s changed since last year – so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to the material.

And after a great weekend of sunshine and football – I’m raring to go.

If you had asked me to value a UK dental practice anytime from 1997 to 2005 I would have answered:

“35% of gross revenues plus £10,000 per dental surgery.”

If you had asked me in January 2007, I would have answered:

“NHS practice – zero. Private practice 35% plus £10k per surgery.”

If you had asked me 3 weeks ago, I would have said:

“NHS practice – zero. Private practice 66% plus £10k per surgery.”

Yesterday, a former client called me to ask whether he should consider an offer to buy his private practice – at 90% of gross revenues.

Bearing in mind his age and profile I suggested that now would be a good time to take the offer.

Where’s the smart money then?

1. Buying NHS practices for nothing, buying the freehold, converting to private, selling the goodwill, keeping the freehold;
2. Building your private practice for sale – and keeping the freehold;
3. If you are an associate – buying NHS for conversion or delipidated private for improvement.

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