Hello Friends, Now is a great time to find and create opportunities for growth in the New Year. What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year. ~ Vern McLellan So, what will you be bringing? Rather than bringing the same headaches and stresses, you may have experienced this year due to not successfully reaching your practice goals… why not, instead, bring a clear vision of what you want to see in the new year. (Makes sense seeing that it is 2020 😉) Create your action plan for any wanted and needed improvements to your office including setting your production, collection, patient retention, treatment, continuing education, and new patient goals for the new year. Do include your team in this plan, ask them what their ideas are to make 2020 a more productive and happier year for all! Remember, people are more likely to support that which they help to create. Don’t let another year slip by without you successfully reaching or exceeding your goals. It’s time to bring it! Bring your vision and action plan to 2020. To help you bring it I am sharing some dental office leadership, management, and marketing tips and ideas for January… Leadership Tips and Ideas ~ Improve Communication with Team Meetings: Schedule monthly team meetings – to be clear, I am not talking about boring and unproductive waste of time meetings just for the sake of having a meeting. Not at all, I am talking about meetings that keep the team all on the same page as to your daily goals, enabling them to live your vision for the practice day in and day out while holding each other accountable to the same high-performance standards. Boost Team Morale Fun Idea: National Cheesy Socks Day: Jan. 21st ~ Give your employees a gift of cheesy/silly socks to wear on the 21st. Be sure to take a picture to post on Facebook and Instagram Practice Management Tips and Reminders ~ Hygiene Continuing Care & Incomplete Treatment: Insurance Renewals: Many of your patients’ dental insurance maximums renew on January 1. Phone your patients with a friendly reminder of their renewed benefits and make a reservation for them to come in for their hygiene visit or incomplete treatment with the doctor. Include reminders on your social media platforms. Hygiene Patients: Are you pre-appointing hygiene visits? If not, January is a good time to make this a goal for the office. While you have the hygiene patient in the office, schedule their next 3, 4, or 6-month visit. Avoid saying “would you like to schedule your next appointment?” Some will say no. So instead, say this: “Let’s go ahead and schedule your next visit.” Assume they want to schedule their next visit. By the way, your entire team needs to be on board with pre-appointing your patients. It can be done! If you’re struggling to have a productive and effective hygiene department – I can help you with this. Office Appearance: National Clean Off Your Desk Day: Jan. 13th ~ Clutter represents indecision. Make the decision to get rid of the clutter! That includes any sticky notes attached to computer monitors, coats/sweaters hanging on the backs of chairs, and fast-food drink containers sitting out on the counters. While you’re at it, go ahead and attack the cabinets & closets. Say goodbye to the clutter! Here are a few office cleaning ideas: Are you past due for your office cleaning? Marketing Tips and Ideas ~ Exceed Patients’ Expectations - Give Away/Gift Idea: January is National Hot Tea Month. Give away packets of tea that have a label on them saying “Our Patients are TEA-riffic!” Trust me, even if this sounds silly to you – your patients love these free gifts. It’s an inexpensive and simple way to make their day! Reminder: Make sure that all your patient give-away/gifts have labels/packaging that include your office name. Educational Opportunity ~ Sugar Awareness Week: Jan. 20-24 – This week share website and social media platform posts /videos all about sugar and dental health. Excellent educational opportunity. Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of January ~ National Soup Month Drinking Straw Day: 3rd Cigarettes Are Hazardous To Your Health Day: 11th Dress Up Your Pet Day: 14th (People LOVE to share pictures of their pets!) National Cheese Lovers Day: 20th Dental Drill Appreciation Day: 26th There you have it, dental leadership, practice management, and marketing tips and ideas for January. I hope that you find them helpful! Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. What are your practice goals for 2020? I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at [email protected]. Are you receiving my free Dental Leadership, Practice Management, and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please follow today or send me ([email protected]) your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea. Yours for Greater Success, ~Betty P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest