James Hamill, Principal Dentist, Blueapple Dental and Implant Team

 We became clients of Chris in late 2007, at a crucial time in our business development. We had just won a National Award, we were on paper doing well, and we hoped we were delivering a very good service to our clients. And yet we knew that there was so much more to learn about running a successful private dental practice. Chris has helped us develop our business thinking in so many ways; our intentions were good, we had strong ideas about the type of practice we wanted to be, but we had no business training and no-one to help us focus our ideas in a meaningful way. Chris has been, and continues to be, an essential part of the team. He is relentlessly honest, thought provoking, and challenging, and we find it difficult to imagine a time when we won't find his advie invaluable. 

James Goolnik, Principal, Bow Lane Dental Practice

 I first saw Chris in 2003 in a seminar. He had endless enthusiasm and a thirst for the business of dentistry. It was unique and refreshing. I instantly signed up to work with Chris and took all my team on his course. We have since become friends and share the lecture podium.

He still visits my practice every 6 months. I always have time for Chris, you get what you see on the tin and more. The more you put in to a business relationship with Chris the more you get back. I would thoroughly recommend having a chat with him if you want more. If you're happy with your lot, want to watch you practice get overtaken by the competition and your team move to somewhere they are appreciated then don't bother. 

Suzanne Coakley, Business Manager, The MALL Advanced Dental Care

 I first met Chris nine years ago when I attended his “more profit in less time” year long programme. I have since used his principles to create systems and stay in control of “the dental business”. It was Chris’s help and sound advice that enabled the transition of an NHS practice, in a rundown area of Manchester, to a fully private clinic. After my own “transition” to a large and already successful referral practice, I decided it was time to get Chris’s help again and joined “The Mastermind” course. Already able to create systems and get the practice administratively organised, I felt I needed some advice on how to take things to the next level. As I expected after a day spent with Chris I felt focused, motivated and left with clear direction on where to go next. Probably one of the most useful factors of The Mastermind course is the links with other likeminded practices. I’ve had great marketing ideas and general support (sometimes we all need a sounding board). I would truly recommend The Mastermind course to any other dental practice who want to get ahead of the game.  

Tim Thackrah, Elmsleigh House Dental

 Chris has been working with me and the team at Elmsleigh House for over 7 years now. We have used Chris in various roles over this time ranging from running team training days, heading up whole team meetings, management meetings and one to one strategic coaching for me and other team members. Chris’s input has been invaluable in helping me focus on the direction and strategies necessary to help grow the business and free up more of my time over this period. Chris has also provided an invaluable sounding board for different ideas over this time and helped us improve the capabilities of the business. He has an uncanny knack in getting right to the main issues and helping us develop clear ways of successfully moving through sometimes very difficult problems and roadblocks. I would have no hesitation to recommend Chris to any dental business owner who is serious about improving their business.  

Emma John, Absolute Dental

 We have been lucky enough to have Chris as our honorary team member for 10 years. During that time he has offered encouragement, enthusiasm and wisdom allowing us to develop a business we love and are ultimately very proud of.

Chris has an ability to make you feel everything is within your grasp and that your capabilities are endless.  

Dhru, Dentinal Tubules

 We have worked with Chris since our launch in September 2009. Our business model was an online dental community where all members of the dental profession can share knowledge, ideas and information and learn from each other. Chris has made a huge positive impact on our site. As an expert, his regular articles attract great interest from many members and he always has great advice. In addition, he has helped us through provision of advice and guidance when required. The services of Chris Barrow, backed up by his huge plethora of knowledge and experience are an asset to anyone who works with him.  

Abeer (Abi) Al-Adhami, Principal Dentist, Abi Dental Dental and Cosmetic Centre

 We have been working with Chris since July 2010 when he came in for our 'Discovery Day'....and that was exactly what it was. A real eye opener.

I had been running the surgery for the past 3 yrs based on a vision, dream, and gut instinct. Very happy with what I achieved but I felt I had reached a point where I had put in all that I knew how. I was beginning to lose momentum and drive. I needed help.

Running a successful, private, ultra modern, boutique-style dental practice is not what I imagined it to be. The rules of the game have changed and continue to do so.It not about the dentistry anymore ...it's about the business of dentistry (Something they overlooked to teach us at Dental School!) Who better to call than 'the business coach' himself.

I needed someone with a no-nonsense attitude who would give it to me straight and could help me take Abi Dental to reach its full potential. I needed someone who could point out where we had gone wrong, show us the way forward by strategic planning, and put us in contact with the right people who would help us make that difference.

Since then alot of changes have taken place at Abi dental, and the place is buzzing with energy...positive energy More than anything, I would say its the positive energy that Chris brings to the table that is so contagious . Its enough to motivate anyone to do anything. He's been there, done that...

He is living proof of what can be achieved with the right approach and planning. For that he has my utmost respect, and to me he is an inspiration.

Nigel Jones, Sales and Marketing Director, Practice Plan

 Practice Plan has worked with Chris for the past two years, originally on the Practice Plan Workshop tour of 2009 and on a short series of conversion evenings in 2010. The workshop tour is arranged annually as part of Practice Plans wide ranging support for the business of dentistry and can cover a variety of business topics to help with the effective running of a dental practice. Feedback on the 2008 workshops had indicated a desire for guidance on marketing issues and so we were very grateful for the opportunity to work with such a reputable speaker as Chris.

Throughout the preparation for the workshops, Chris proved himself very knowledgeable and flexible, able to draw upon both old and new material to shape a workshop that was tailored for our clients. The delivery was in Chris' renowned provocative and highly engaging style and led to some of the highest event satisfaction scores Practice Plan workshops have ever received. This was particularly impressive given more than half the audience had never previously heard Chris speak and were not, therefore, already converts.

The Practice Plan team maintain regular contact with all clients and in the wake of the workshops, it was clear that the Practice Plan strategy to offer added value services to dental practices had benefited significantly from the provision of access to the expertise of Chris. It was also clear that practices had benefited from the acquisition of many new ideas and often tremendous motivation for their approach to marketing their services.

Following the success of the workshops, in mid 2010 Practice Plan held a series of evening presentations with Chris which focussed on change management, specifically with reference to a full or partial move away from a dependency on the NHS to independent practice. Again, these events were very well received with dentists and practice managers deriving inspiration and confidence to pursue their vision for their practice. Practice Plan is working with a number of these practices to help them prepare and execute a change management plan and it is clear that for many, the catalyst for taking control of their future was Chris.

We look forward to continuing our association with Chris for many years to come.  

Matt Jackson, IDH

 IDH has developed a very effective business model focused upon NHS Dentistry. Chris Barrow has been instrumental in the thinking and development, which has shaped our approach to developing our next growth story... our journey into private dentistry.

Carol Reece, Primary Care Contracting Manager, NHS Coventry

 NHS Coventry commissioned the services of Chris Barrow/The Dental Business Club some 9 months ago in order to provide customer service training for NHS Dental practices. During this period he has developed and delivered a bespoke customer service training programme for the 36 NHS Dental practices within Coventry. This has resulted in improved quality of customer service delivery along with the benefits of a low cost marketing tool to encourage new patients to access NHS dental care. Feedback from practices suggests that they have a raised level of feeling valued and supported along with the added value of liaising with peers within different practices.

Simon Andrews, The Smile Spa

 Sue and I have worked with Chris for about two years now. We have used coaches before who have helped us with designing the clinical and the business sides of the business, we felt that it was time to make a change and decided that we were looking for someone who would help us identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Smile Spa and to then take the practice further forwards.

In the time that we have worked with Chris he has helped us in so many ways;

He seems to have a real feel for what is happening in dentistry today, and that knowledge has enabled us to identify where opportunities for development exist.

He asks relevant questions of ourselves and the team, that means we can focus in on what works and what doesn't.

He has helped us recruit dentists and is happy to advise and help with staff recruitment

We are aiming this year to grow the practice substantially and despite the country's financial situation, five months on, we are on target. I know we wouldn't have been so successful without Chris's help.

Ollie & Darsh

 Ollie & Darsh opened in November 2008 and a few months later we then asked Chris to complete his ‘Practice visit’. We wanted to make sure we were on the right path and that the ideas we had to move the clinic forward were appropriate and in the best long term interests of the clinic . We opened at most felt was a challenging in time for any business due to an impending recession, because of this we needed to make sure that we could not afford to make any mistakes in the way we ran the clinic. Shortly after the practice visit we subsequently became one of Chris’s mastermind clients, we wanted to tap into Chris’s knowledge of financial controls and his overall knowledge of private dental practice. His introduction of Average Daily yields have helped us to control and monitor our level of productivity. During our website redesign, Chris introduced us to Guy Levine to manage our website and complete our SEO, this introduction alone was worth the investment we chose to make with Chris. Aside of this Chris has also been able to provide support for us on levels outside of dentistry as well. For all those who are considering opening a ‘Squat’ dental clinic, Private or NHS, you should seriously consider Chris.

Pete Buchan, No9 Dental Practice

 We first did the Dental Business School with Chris back in 2006 - 2007.

Learnt loads and had lots of theory. Since then we have been steadily implementing the changes.

We signed up for the digital coaching package 18 months ago.

Having Chris on board is a great asset. Having access to his ideas and insight, being able to bounce ideas, is incredibly valuable. All this helps shorten the journey to a great practice.

I would have no hesitation in recommending him as a coach if you want to get your practice functioning at a higher level.

Jack A Cooke, Ashby Dental

 Through my career as a dentist, I have met and listened to many people talk about our profession. Many leave you with some interesting thoughts and ideas which you are able to take back to your business but only one is able to engage you and involve you in such a way that you actually MAKE those changes- Chris Barrow. An entertaining speaker- yes; Intuitive about the dental world-Yes; a personal coach.....? Above all Chris's personal approach to coaching us has made the difference. We have travelled an amazing journey over the last 5 years and are about to embark on our next chapter. Through Chris we have spoken and met many like minded Practices who have been a fabulous help in sharing their experiences and vision.

My career pathway has been influenced by Chris, for the better. I'm a Yorkshireman through and through- I don't spend if I don't see the benefit. Having Chris as our business coach (and Lifecoach at times!) is an absolute honour and a pleasure.  

David and Dawn Cunningham, Directors, Spring Grove Clinic

 We have worked with Chris for several years building a new management structure for our clinic. This has involved re drawing the 'typical' structure of a dental practice and implementing a different vision for our clinic.

He has helped us define our roles as Managing Director and Clinical Director and taught us how to grow the perfect management team and support team. Part of this was learning how to create a preferred place of employment that had career opportunities for all of the team and then training them to become empowered individuals and ambassadors of our brand.

Chris' deep understanding of brand, systems, team, leadership and generally knowing ' what makes people tick' has been an integral part of this clinics success. His unending enthusiasm and encouragement married with an ability to ' give it to you straight' makes him the ultimate being in business coaching.

A trustworthy, passionate individual who has unrivalled experience in dental business make him a wonderful asset to any business who wishes to improve the all round performance of their clinic.

There is no better testament to this than winning awards for Best Patient Care and the prestigious Practice of the Year 2010 at the Private Dentistry Awards. These wonderful achievements are thanks to Chris Barrows vision, direction and support in making Spring Grove Clinic a leader in UK Dentistry.

We have no hesitation in recommending Chris to any business owner.

This is what Samara McWilliams from Laura Jones Dental had to say about her prize:

 I've been the practice manager at Laura Jones Dental for nearly 5 years now. As manager of a busy town centre, 5 surgery practice, I’m kept on my toes, as there’s always so much going on! I signed up to Chris Barrow’s newsletter as the principal, Laura Jones, is a follower of Chris and finds his ideas and coaching really inspirational. So rather than hearing about his blogs and newsletters through Laura, I thought it would be a great idea to sign up myself and get the ezines etc firsthand! And doing so won me an iPod- yay!