One of the biggest perceived challenges for an independent dental practice is how to be more competitive… a dental mastermind can help. Larger dental organizations utilize an approach to business that can easily overpower an independent practice with aggressive marketing and pricing advantages that come with their size. But the reality is that there are […]The post Dr. Joseph Michelli – How a Mastermind can Help a Dental Practice Compete appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Entrepreneur: noun – one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Often, the typical practice-owning dentist doesn’t see him or herself as an entrepreneur. But given the definition, it seems to be a reasonable leap to make. And once you admit to yourself that you are running a business, you […]The post Dental Business Mastermind: Personal and Professional Success appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

A “dental inner circle” is a group of individuals that come together to support you and provide objective feedback on a variety of subjects. Often, a mastermind group functions as a dental inner circle. Mastermind groups are a lesser-known tool of most successful people. The fundamental goal of a mastermind is to facilitate personal and […]The post Dental Inner Circle: The Top 5 Benefits of a Mastermind appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Napoleon Hill conceived of the idea of a “mastermind” in his book Think and Grow Rich. He defined the “Mastermind Principle” as the effect of like-minded people working together toward a definite purpose; where the value of the whole is greater than the individual parts. In function, a mastermind group is designed to help individual […]The post The Power of the Dental Mastermind appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

One of the constants for All-Star Dental Academy is the promotion of a service-based approach to the patient experience. One of the champions of service and experience in the modern business environment is Dr. Joseph Michelli. Dr. Michelli recently joined Alex Nottingham, JD MBA, CEO of All-Star, to discuss his latest work and how the […]The post Convenience, Personalization & Personal Care with Dr. Joseph Michelli appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Many dentists believe that all their revenue problems lie with case acceptance. But there is an interesting financial reality that parallels the patient journey from first contact through case presentation, case acceptance, treatment and follow-up. Essentially, there is a significant reduction in potential revenue from each new patient “opportunity” as the patient moves along the […]The post Case Acceptance Black Hole: Where Your Dental Dollars Disappear appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

I haven’t yet met a dentist that wasn’t looking for some way to improve their dental case acceptance success rate with their patients. The answer comes down to knowing and implementing a systematic approach to treatment presentation. All-Star’s system is the “5 R’s of Case Acceptance.” These five elements will help you keep your patient […]The post Dental Case Acceptance: 5 Steps to Increase Treatment Acceptance appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Very few people jump for joy when faced with the prospect of going to the dentist, and they come up with all kinds of case acceptance objections. We’ll look at why people object to treatment and explore some tactics to help overcome those objections. Context is Everything When faced with an objection, an important step […]The post Getting Past “No” – Case Acceptance Objections appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Understanding why patients say “no” to a treatment plan is the first step in getting them to say YES. Dental treatment acceptance is a critical step in the patient experience, but it’s important to know that with the proper set-up, presenting a treatment plan will be less stressful, and your acceptance rate will improve. One […]The post Dental Treatment Acceptance: Why Patients say NO appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

A critically important challenge for a dental practice is banishing broken appointments. There is nothing more insidious than a patient failing to show up. When you combine the time and energy spent preparing for the appointment with the inability to recover the lost revenue from the appointment, you begin to understand why Larry Guzzardo, All-Star’s […]The post Banish Broken Appointments! appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

I think that it is safe to say that most people – especially dental patients and team members – have a less-than-ideal relationship with dental telephone scripts. How many times have you called a company and the agent who answers sounds a bit off – maybe even robotic? Certainly not personable and friendly. Chances are […]The post Dental Telephone Scripts: Stop Using Phone Call Scripts! appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

An effective morning huddle may be one of the most powerful tools to ensure an efficient and productive day. First, it is important to understand what a morning huddle is and its purpose. An effective morning huddle is a time for your team members to share details about the schedule, specific patients or procedures, and […]The post Effective Dental Morning Huddles appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Every role in the office is important in a dental practice, but success starts and ends with the dental front office training. The front office represents the practice to potential patients who call in. It’s where your existing patients schedule appointments, and the source of those pesky cancellations, late appointments, and no-shows (who likes those, […]The post 5 Common Mistakes with Dental Front Office Training (and how to fix them fast) -Virtual Dental Front Office Training appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

I find making decisions can sometimes be very difficult, especially when it comes to spending money. I see so many dentists buy things they don’t need and overthink or overlooking things they should be investing in, such as online dental training. Why is deciding where to invest so difficult, and how can we make better […]The post Dental Online Training Decision Making: To Buy or Not To Buy appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

I finally got around to writing a blog post that reflects my experience with dental receptionist training – the good and the bad. Setting the Stage So, to provide some context, Alex Nottingham is my husband and founder and CEO of All-Star. I am the co-founder and VP of Training for All-Star and developed the […]The post Dental Receptionist Training – Trial by Fire? appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

When patients call your dental office, the first point of contact they have is with the person who answers the phone, which is why dental front office training is so important. The dental phone greeting sets the tone for the call and will help make your company look organized, upscale, and well-put-together.On the flip side, a poorly executed phone greeting can spell disaster and reflect poorly on your dental office image. 

When you focus on dental scheduling training for your team, you run into a stark reality: There are only a few ways to increase revenue: work more, charge more, or become more efficient. The problem is that working more hours typically leads to burn out for the dentist and the team, and charging higher than […]The post Dental Scheduling Training: Three Efficient Steps appeared first on All-Star Dental Academy.

Have you been confused about how to use photography to help patients understand their clinical problems? Showing patients what’s going on inside their mouth is more powerful than simply telling them. Pictures can illustrate a condition that you could never accurately describe. It’s why a picture is worth a thousand words and why we strongly recommend using digital photography. Pointing to a problem area with a digital image makes any issue become immediately clear. Remember, for most patients, if it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t a problem. Showing patients a photo of their own dental issue lets them understand the need for even the most preemptive of treatment plans.This study club session will help you…Know what pictures are necessaryWhen to use pictures during a case presentation and hygiene visitWho should take picturesLearn how diagnostic photography can help with treatment acceptance and insurance reimbursementRESOURCES

Dentists typically don’t have good protocols in place for the practice to run efficiently in order to encourage dental teamwork.The most important aspect of any dental business is the team! If your team has not been trained to optimally handle all aspects of the business and interactions with clients on any topic then you are not prepared. Good marketing, customer service, and a well-trained team are the keys to a successful practice. When a patient calls or comes in for an appointment you want to know your team will have the absolute perfect choreographed performance to work efficiently and flawlessly to get the patient handled and back out the door… PITStop Perfection, it’s all in the team training.Time managementRoadblocks to better performanceRubber to the road implementationRESOURCES

Excellent customer service (or “patient service” if you prefer) is fundamental to providing an All-Star Patient Experience. And it isn’t just the patient that benefits. Join us as we explore the role of service in working with patients and how it benefits the team.We discuss:How building rapport is directly related to serviceHow providing excellent service makes the team’s job easierHow rapport is the secret ingredient to an All-Star Patient ExperienceRESOURCES

For any dental practice to get noticed—and patronized—in today’s oversaturated marketplace, it’s just not enough to blend in. Me-too-isms won’t cut it. Fitting in is a sure way to obscurity.You’re either extraordinary or invisible. In a word: RADICAL. This podcast will explore the steps that will lead your dental practice from brand obscurity to brand notoriety.Because the biggest risk of all is playing it safe.Michael DiFrisco was the Chief Marketing Officer for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). He is also a brand strategist, and can help YOUR dental brand to find its focus, its differentiating factor, and give your patients and prospects reasons to support your practice and become evangelists for you.RESOURCES

ENERGY is the currency of life. It’s a bank. It’s cash. Experts show it’s directly related to how much you can accomplish in a day. Want to walk into your home at the end of the day with the same energy as you left in the morning? Then this session is for you. Fortify your body’s natural VITALITY, end fatigue, and boost productivity.In this podcast, we discussed:Understand that your body was designed for movementGain insights to boost your natural energy & feel youthful againGet specific exercise strategies to boost mental clarityRESOURCES

One can discover that while you think your personal finances are in fine shape, the reality is different. Join us for this study club to explore issues surrounding personal financial success.In this podcast, we cover:How to know if you are “personally” profitableWhat are Key Performance Indicators for personal wealth?What is the right savings/investment strategy for me?RESOURCES

Eric Vickery will be sharing a process that will make case presentation simple and easy for anyone on the team. Focus 95% of your energy and time on what is important… and only 5% of your time on treatment discussion. Patients are so afraid the dentist will pressure them into doing something they don’t absolutely “need.” Just ask your administrator how often they here the patients say, “Oh, I was just getting ready to call you. That tooth’s not even bothering me, so I’m going to go ahead and cancel that appointment.” Eric will show you how you will know that your patients “WANT” to schedule instead of them feeling like they are scheduling just “because you said so.”How to not make your patients feel like you are pressuring themMove the presentation from a push sell to a pull purchaseHow to be comfortable focusing 95% of your energy talking about what matters – NOT treatmentHow to avoid making the mistake that 64% of the time dental offices continue to makeHow to KNOW you truly have COMMITMENT from the patientRESOURCES

Rachel Wall is the founder of Inspired Hygiene, where she and her team provide coaching, workshops and other products to help dentists in their pursuit of hygiene department profits. Rachel also serves the dental community as a consultant and speaker. In addition to private coaching Rachel draws from her 20-plus years of experience as a hygienist and practice administrator to deliver focused clinical articles and speaking programs. Rachel has written for, and been featured in, numerous industry journals including Dentistry Today, Progressive Dentist, RDH, and Hygienetown. She recently received the 2012 Dental Excellence Award from DrBicuspid.com for “Most Effective Dental Hygienist Educator”.RESOURCES

Office philosophy is the foundation on which your practice is built, and it is an essential part of outstanding growth and success.Dr. Clyde A. Maxwell Jr. was born and raised in New Jersey. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan dental school. After dental school, Dr. Maxwell served for three years in the United States Army. For the last 25 years he has been a General Dentist spending most of that time treating children. His greatest passion in life is to add value to the lives of others particularly the lives of children who are less fortunate, and the underprivileged. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of Gentle Touch Smiles for Kids a highly successful pediatric dental office in Wilmington, Delaware.RESOURCES

One of the critical steps in the hiring process is gathering and checking references. In this Podcast, we will dive into the best practices surrounding references.In the podcast, we address:Asking for referencesWhat questions you can and can not askWhat to do with what you learn from referencesWhat to do with (negative) information from a reference that the candidate didn’t mentionWho makes an excellent reference source?What do you do if a reference will not answer your questions?RESOURCES

The 6 secret steps to financial freedom.Strategies that will double practice profitability.How to make dentistry fun and effortless.How to increase net profit 5 to 20% instantly.Two investments that will give a 2X to 10X return, guaranteed, and without risk.Understand the “retire in practice” model.How to be completely debt free in 5 to 10 years.RESOURCES

Dr. Lorne Lavine is the CEO and Founder of The Digital Dentist, a company that focuses on the technology needs of dental practices. Dr. Lavine writes for many dental publications, and lectures internationally, and has worked with over 2,000 dental offices. He helps practices make informed decisions about hardware, software, data backup, disaster recovery, HIPAA compliance, and network monitoring.In this podcast, Dr. Lavine discusses Dental Data Security:The most common mistakes dental practices makeHow practices should protect their dataHow data is at riskFirewalls and encryption standardsHIPAA guidelinesRESOURCES

In this podcast, we discussed:An overview of The All-Star GREAT Call ProcessWhy the entire team should master phone skillsWhy scripts and sales don't workThe importance of rapportHeather is a former retail sales specialist and department trainer for Bloomingdale’s, where she had a million-dollar clientele. She also took that luxury retail mentality and brought it into the dental world, where she leveraged her training and was able to make an extra million dollars for her dental office in less than 18 months. With over 16 years of retail sales & management experience, 7+ years as a phone skills coach & trainer, and thousands of hours in perfecting the art of rapport with dental patients, Heather helps improve dental practices’ profitability through phone skills success, promoting patient experience, and implementation of systems.RESOURCES

Is your hygiene team the backbone of your practice or the weakest link? Whatever your answer, there’s room for improvement and growth in every hygiene department. As one of the most overlooked and most important parts of your practice success, your hygiene team needs positive leadership, systems and accountability to reach their full potential and deliver a strong return for patients, the providers themselves and your practice.In this podcast, we begin our discussion on the following:Discover where there’s room for growth and improvement in the following areas of your hygiene team:Schedule-learn 4 critical factors in keeping your hygiene schedule full and productive while reducing stress for your hygienists and business teamPerio Awareness –determine if your current perio protocol is truly addressing the current periodontal disease in your patient baseRestorative Co-Diagnosis – discover 3 easy, actionable leadership principles you MUST implement to dramatically increase treatment enrolled in hygieneUncover specific ways to invest in your hygiene department that will create a strong return for your patients, your providers and your practiceAbout our Expert:Rachel Wall is the founder of Inspired Hygiene, where she and her team provide coaching, workshops, and other products to help dentists in their pursuit of hygiene department profits. Rachel also serves the dental community as a consultant and speaker. In addition to private coaching Rachel draws from her 20-plus years of experience as a hygienist and practice administrator to deliver focused clinical articles and speaking programs. Rachel has written for, and been featured in, numerous industry journals including Dentistry Today, Progressive Dentist, RDH, and Hygienetown. She recently received the 2012 Dental Excellence Award from DrBicuspid.com for “Most Effective Dental Hygienist Educator”.RESOURCES

In the podcast, we explore the position of “Office Manager” in a dental practice.What does an “Office Manager” do?Why a “manager” can create a false sense of securityHow a “manager” can actually bring down your leadershipWho manages the manager?Learn what responsibilities can and can’t be delegatedRESOURCES

Whether you are fee-for-service or accept insurance, I’m certain you hear daily…“Do you take my insurance?”Sometimes this can be frustrating because it seems that patients are judging your office just based on whether you take their insurance or not. And guess what, they are!Now, there are three ways you can handle this question.The first is you can just answer the question straight away. I guarantee you, nine times out of ten, this will be a very short conversation. And even if you do take their insurance, answering the question immediately is a big mistake!Another approach that many dental training companies will teach is not to answer the question at all, or deflect the answer (even if you know you don’t take their insurance) with a “We’ll figure out insurance when you get here for your appointment.” In other words, they are asking you to outright lie about taking a specific insurance, or avoid giving an answer. But when the patient comes into your office –  disaster strikes!We are going to teach you a third way.For those that haven’t joined us before, study club is our group coaching session where All-Star students, instructors, coaches, and trainers come together to explore pressing issues in dentistry and in your own individualRESOURCES

In her 20 years of experience in the dental office, Dayna Johnson has learned that collecting money is a task that all financial coordinators will master in their careers, but achieving a consistent and healthy cash flow is an even greater skill to master. We all strive to achieve a collection rate of 98% of our production so when we have that monthly team meeting to review the numbers, we can sit glowing at our accomplishment. However, as a practice owner, improving the cash flow can be a much bigger achievement. It is vitally important for every dental practice to create systems that will significantly improve cash flow, even if collections aren’t increased.In this podcast, we will look at ways your practice can get the entire team on board with the task of collecting money and increase your office cash flow.About Our Expert:Dayna Johnson, Founder and CEO of NovoneeDayna Johnson loves her work. During her career of managing an amazing dental practice, she started training and consulting with other dental practices around the region and found that was her life’s work. Now with more than 25 years of experience in the dental industry, Dayna’s passion for efficient, consistent, and secure systems is grounded in personal understanding and professional expertise. With a direct, pragmatic approach, Dayna helps clients develop standardized protocols for all practice management systems.RESOURCES

We will continue exploring the "nuts and bolts" of marketing and layout just what the typical practice can hope to accomplish on their own - and how to expand on that effort if needed.Eliminate confusion about what marketing method will work best for youSpecific marketing steps to attract high-quality comprehensive care patientsLearn how to enhance your online reputationDiscover the best use of your marketing dollarsAlex Nottingham, J.D., M.B.A. - CEO & Founder (All-Star Dental Academy). Alex is an international speaker, attorney, and best selling author. He has made it his mission to help dentists create personal wealth and make a positive impact on the people around them.Larry Guzzardo - Head Instructor - Larry is All-Star Dental Academy’s head instructor and a veteran practice management consultant and international speaker. His focus is on offering practical, common sense solutions to improve dental practice productivity. He is also a faculty member at the Dawson Academy.Eric Vickery - All-Star Mastery Coach - Eric has coached over 250 dental offices and presented to thousands on case acceptance since 2001. His focus is on efficiency and productivity. Eric uses his Coaching Results Tracker with all clients to improve the numbers and self-fund within 90 days. He is an expert on verbal skills and the DISC personality profile. He has a passion for stopping cancellations, handling patient objections, and asking patients for referrals.RESOURCES

In this podcast, Larry Guzzardo shares his production killers:Why dental scheduling is so importantWhat production killers areThe top 2 scheduling production killersThe impact production killers haveLarry Guzzardo is a dental consultant with over 24 years of experience specializing in business systems, leadership, and most importantly productive scheduling. Larry is an accomplished speaker, published author, and instructor at the prestigious Dawson Academy and All-Star Dental Academy.RESOURCES

Dentistry is changing in a big way. Patients know more and are becoming immune to the sales tactics that worked five years ago. With online review sites, increased search and social media, and competition, dentists not only have to provide amazing dentistry, but also outstanding customer service.Listen to Alex Nottingham, CEO of All-Star Dental Academy, and Larry Guzzardo, All-Star Dental Academy's Head Instructor, talk about improving your schedule and new patient flow in an ethical way, as Marilee Sears, Future of Dentistry Host, interviews them.If you need help filling your schedule, you won’t want to miss this one!We talk about the importance of training your team, serving your patients and how to make your practice stand out from the crowd.In this Future of Dentistry interview, you will learn:The steps that doubled one dentist’s production in one yearWhat patients really wantWhy hype and sales do not work anymoreHow to avoid broken and missed appointmentsRESOURCES

Learn how to determine your “Recall Return Rate” and what important statistics to track the health of your Recare System. Learn how to make best use of the patient visit while they are in your care.Debra Engelhardt-Nash has been in dentistry over 30 years. She is a trainer, author, presenter and consultant. Debra has presented workshops nationally and internationally for numerous study groups and organizations. As a result of her work, she has had the honor of meeting amazing people and speaking in beautiful countries such as Peru, Sweden, Romania, England, Croatia, France, and Turkey. She is a repeat presenter for the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting.Debra is a founding member and served two terms as President of the National Academy of Dental Management Consultants. She is currently serving her third term as President of this organization. Debra is also a member of Speakers Consulting Network and a board member of the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration. She is on the ADA Practice Management Advisory Board.RESOURCES