Chris Barrow’s Blog

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I am pleased to announce the establishment of a new company that will be formally launched at this year’s dental showcase.

A business merger has been agreed by the two most popular dental coaches in the UK today – Chris Barrow and Simon Hocken.

The Dental Business Group will instantly be the largest provider in the UK dental profession of the following services:

1.      Publishing – a range of toolkits, brand standards and “how to” products, using multi-media formats and allowing lower priced “entry level” resources to a wider audience;

2.      Training – a full syllabus of specialised workshops specifically designed to train, educate and motivate your dental team – delivered by Chris or by one of our team of specialist trainers;

3.      Coaching – varying levels of business coaching, from one-day practice audits, through group coaching, mastermind groups and one to one detailed consultancy – delivered either by Simon and Chris or by coach-trained dental principals who have “been there and done it”. An emphasis on tailor-made solutions rather than packaged products;

4.      Venturing – a source of dental-specific investment capital for refurbishment or expansion of existing practices and the development of start-ups – capital plus the experienced help of Simon and Chris as Non-Executive Directors;

5.      Joint ownership – the creation of mini-corporates in selected geographical areas or niche markets, with Simon and Chris as owners and leaders.

Chris and Simon have agreed to join forces to market their respective services from October onwards and, after over 9 months of careful (and sometimes painful) negotiation, we are delighted to confirm that The Dental Business School and Jump Coaching will swing under the same branding umbrella.

We will also be welcoming a new Financial Director to our team – an experienced chartered accountant with an enviable track record in working with healthcare professionals.

It is intended that Bonnie Mockett will become Managing Director of the new enterprise.

The two existing businesses have a combined turnover approaching £1 million – and it expected to grow this significantly by the establishment of a larger team of service providers.

For those of you who are already clients – it will be “business as usual” both before and after the re-branding – Chris will continue to deliver The Dental Business School workshops and to coach his existing clients, Simon and Chris will continue with their coaching one to one and in mastermind groups and networks – so no change in the near future.

During 2007/8 we will unveil the additional services mentioned above – our vision is to create products and services that will enable more dentists and their teams to enjoy “more profit in less time – with happier people”.

The Publishing and Venturing divisions of the new company are start-up divisions and will require careful planning, financing and recruitment – we intend to write about our experiences as we evolve, via ezine articles and blog entries – so keep watching!

Our business plan allows for a considerable growth in team members and in clients – we hope to reach out to a much greater audience than hitherto.

As always, our focus will be on adding value to our clients and creating first-class Strategic Alliance partnerships with other service providers.

I am personally looking forward to working with Simon, who has been a client, a friend and a co-coach over 10 years – we are identical twins when it comes to business vision and the merger between our two businesses has been on the cards for some time. We have cleared all of our emotional, physical, intellectual and financial roadblocks over the last 9 months – and it’s now time to go to work.

For me – this is one of those “once in a lifetime” moments – where I have the opportunity to transition from practitioner, through business-owner and on to entrepreneur. I’m excited and motivated by the future – and looking forward to a good holiday before we roll the new business out.

The weather in Cornwall has been lousy all weekend – just drizzling rain and long periods of dull, grey, overcast skies.

I pity the poor holiday-makers, dragging buggies and kids around in waterproofs – I hear that record receipts at Falmouth’s Maritime Musuem are a testament to the lack of sunshine.

Popping out for supper on Sunday evening I was (wait for it) TURNED AWAY from the new Pizza Express – it was full!

Amazing how a brand name attracts holiday traffic looking for a consistent customer service and food experience.

My neighbour Sarah, who works at the nearby “5 degrees west” (my favourite local) reports a noticeable quietness in the last week, since the pizza giant opened. We’ll see how long it lasts – but last night I ended up sat outside 5 degrees enjoying my calamari and scallops, reading, tippling a glass of rose – and not many people about.

Here at Barrow Towers, it’s been a focus on inactivity – so much so that I completed my biography of Leni Riefenstahl in 48 hours and made a good start on the travels of Ryszard Kapuscinski (see book list).

Reading, and a couple of DVD’s, were enough to occupy my mind – sleep accounted for a sizeable portion of the balance.

So I was up with the larks this morning – to find a glorious sunny morning – how perverse is that?

Today I’m off to Gaudi’s coffee bar in Truro, for a full-day meeting with Bonnie and Simon to discuss the 12-month vision for our businesses.

Simon and I are identical twins – in our element when discussing vision – I already have a Powerpoint slide of what I want the DBS to look like in a year.

Bonnie’s challenge will be to keep our feet on the ground.

Hi Chris…read your blog this evening and very much enjoyed the £33k sale story!Â

I like the question that you’ve created…it struck me that it could be opened up a little so that you don’t get “No” too easily and quickly! How about this?Â

“Since we last met, what changes have there been in your personal or professional circumstances, that would merit a conversation about your dental appearance?”Â

Best regards as everÂ

Â

Richard Collard

Medenta

Many of the new web sites I’m seeing are clearly going for the 25-35 year-old demographic.

New York Dental Office – Brentford

Ten Dental – Clapham

And I’m struggling to see practices that are aiming at the grey-pound (those born between 1947-1957) or the general family market.

I think the young wannabees are spending money on funky new practices and web sites. Not so much the older generation of dentists?

Credit, though, to our clients at L-H Dentalcare in Glasgow – who have just unveiled this offering:

L-H Dentalcare – Glasgow.

I’ll be giving them feedback over the next few days – but I think this is a great job.

If you know of any really great sites for the two markets I mentioned – let me know.

Â

In our Bristol workshop yesterday, a discussion on the “ethics” of selling prompted me to ask permission to ask a very direct question of the dentists in the room.

Permission granted:

“How much was the biggest treatment plan you ever sold to a patient?”

The answers ranged from “never have” (from a hospital-based NHS dentist), through “£350″ from a young associate working in the Health Service, to an average of about £3,000 around most of the room.

There was a sharp intake of breath when one of the dentists announced “£33,000″ and then looked at the floor like an embarrased school boy found with 12 bars of chocolate in his satchel.

The dentist concerned was a little reserved – shy even – but principal of a rural practice inherited from his father (who was present and sat next to him).

My £33k dentist happens to be an all-round nice guy and very self-effacing.

I asked for a little background on the “sale”.

This was a lady in her early 50’s whose marital circumstances had changed and she, by her own admission, had to “start dating again” – hence the need for a signature smile.

This whole episode reveals some interesting points:

1. for the rest of the day my £33k dentist feels very pleased (quietly so) with himself – moral: there is an internal self-confidence that comes with knowing that such “cheques” are out there in the market place, that they exist in your country town and that you can receive them;
2. I asked the non-dentists in the room (team members) “if you wanted a signature smile, who would you ask” – and, no surprises, they all pointed at my £33k guy – moral: there is “perceived capability” in having handled the big cases beforehand

This further reminded me of a question we designed at Monday’s Mastermind meeting – imagine a patient who is dentally fit (in your esteemed opinion), has been visiting the practice for years, never asks any questions, always says and does the right things – no trouble at all.

But this same patient has:

• just divorced and wants to start dating OR
• paid off their mortgage
• finished school fees
• retired early
• has a daughter about to marry
• is visiting a relative in Oz
• wants promotion and has an important interview
• is about to start public-speaking regularly

there is “a reason” – but how do you determine that during a routine dental examination, without being pushy?

Here’s a first draft of a question:

“Since we last met, has there been any change in your personal or professional circumstances, that would warrant a conversation about your dental appearance?”

It’s not polished yet – and I’m open to feedback – but I’d love some of you to try that – £33k may walk in your door today.

Simon Hocken (with whom I co-present the Mastermind Group) adds

I think the other principal that “biggest cheque” illustrates well is 80/20 “rule”. When I did biggest cheque with my dental business network last week, (generally higher gross’ers) the light-bulb moment for them was that between 40 and 80% of their gross was/could be created by around 20 of their patients. So, the best use of their time was to build relationships with the next of these 20 patients and sell the big tickets. The rest will come anyway and have small tickets.

I’ve been facilitating some form of Mastermind Group for over 5 years now – and yesterday was without doubt the best meeting yet.

Looking back – I ask “why?” – and offer the following reflections:

• Environment – a change of room at the Forest of Arden to a bright, well-lit, spacious room
• Community – this is the third time theis group have met and they have grown to know each other as people (not just dentists and owner-managers). They have played golf and had a few late nights at the bar. The barriers are down
• Honesty – members are sharing income and profit figures, average daily yields, challenges and opportunities – and they know that it’s a safe place
• Coachability – members know that they can learn and they are willing to be challenged on their beliefs
• Coaches in harmony – Simon and I are pretty good at co-presenting – but yesterday we were really in the zone – it just worked
• Bar-stool coaching. Although we both had presentations in the bag – we decided to just create a members “shopping list” for the day’s outcomes – and address the list live and kicking. Let’s face it, Simon and I bring the experience of coaching over 700 practices between us – the members bring decades of practical experience – if we cannot solve a problem in that room, it cannot be solved!

What a fabulous day – the atmosphere remained energised for a full 8 hours.

My “mojo” for Mastermind Groups was recharged – and we discussed and agreed a change in format for 2008.

Currently we meet Sunday evening for dinner and work all day Monday.

They want more coaching time.

So we propose to meet Monday lunchtime (I’m sick of Sunday travel) and work Monday afternoon, evening (working dinner) and all day Tuesday. The golfers will still come on Sunday.

So a great day for the memoirs – and a superb conversation with Simon during the day about how we can take our businesses forward.

I’m so full of ideas I may burst!

It’s finally opened.

The largest Pizza Express in Europe has opened in Event Square, Falmouth – right by the Maritime Museum, the marina and just a few minutes walk from where I live.

Life will never be the same.

Last night was the second night of opening – and quite chaotic – but the food was excellent and the girl who served us (seconded from Reading) did a great job.

They need some art on the walls, a reception area for arrivals and some drapes to deaden the noise – but the views across the harbour are stunning.

250 covers is a lot for this area – we shall see…

And it will be tempting to visit often for consistency – but I hope I’ll be able to carry on experimenting with the eclectic restaurants that the town is renouned for.

My local will still be “5 degrees west”, where a bucket of rose on a Friday night marks the start of a full weekend – rare though they are at the moment.

And, in just 2 hours, I’ll be driving away again – to attend dinner with our Mastermind Group in Birmingham tonight – if we can get there through the floods!

Ignoring the sound advice of Alun Rees to stay at his place – I valiantly struggled down the A1, M1, M42, M6 and on to the M5 – just in time to get caught between the two burst rivers.