The Best Dentists

Transcript performed by A.I. Please excuse the typos.

00:00
Welcome to dental all stars. I’m Alex Nottingham founder and CEO of also dental Academy and with me is Eric Vickery the president of coaching at also dental Academy and our topic is the best dentist Please welcome Eric Hey Alex, I’m always excited when you and I are doing a podcast together. I just I love our conversation This is gonna be good. Yeah, the ratings are through the roof when we do it together the two pot the two podcast hosts uh on a call

00:30
So as you know, my mentor was Tony Robbins and one of his big issues or his main thesis was model the best. If you want to be good at anything that you want to be, who’s doing it, who’s successful in it and just model that. we, why, you know, recreate the wheel. The wheel was just refine the reel. Uh, so that’s why I’m thinking about the best sentence and, oh

00:59
You have been a practice coach consultant speaker for 30 years, probably now. Um, also managing offices in the past and office manager, um, operations manager. And so you’ve seen the, am I missing anything? Are those all the things you’ve done a lot of stuff? Sure. Also a singer. No. Uh, so what I want to know, I just thought this would be fun because it’s kind of an obvious question, but like, what are the best.

01:29
dentists do. And then we can also start with the problem, like what do the best dentists don’t. Yeah. What are they not doing? I know oftentimes you’ll say, Oh, you know, the people, and then you can touch on this later, but you say that the dentist that need it, like the training and all that most coaching, they’re not doing it. So start me with a little bit about what you see is not happening in the problem. And then tell me about what are the best.

01:58
best dentist doing and what’s the secret sauce in both clinical and practice excellence. Yeah, yeah. I can only touch a little bit on the clinical side, but I can tell you what I see. And to pull the curtain back even further on that comment that I make, it baffles me. I love it. But these really successful offices love working with us. know, they’re $150,000 to $400,000 a month in production collections. you know,

02:24
Maybe one to two doctors are crushing it. They get case acceptance and they want more. They want to even get better. And those are the clients that love working with us. It baffles me that the ones that are in the 30 to 50 to $60,000 range per month think, oh, that’s not for me or I don’t like that or it makes me uncomfortable or what have you. And I don’t know if it’s mindset. I don’t know if it’s, you know, maybe history and

02:51
you’re just going to get out of it what you put into it. Obviously there’s a financial investment to that too. We understand that. And so really I think what we’re talking about is mindset growth. It’s people skills and all of that. But to talk about what are the ones that aren’t hitting the mark? What are they doing, not doing? For me, I think it’s first of all, it’s a mindset thing. I think they don’t have an abundance mindset to things that the…

03:18
their negativity is beginning negativity. They’re, I don’t know, they’re struggling. And so they talk about how they’re struggling and they’re always struggling. And so they stay in this arena of struggle. So I think that’s the first thing is checking the mindset and this, that abundance mentality uh office that loves it, wants more of it, and it keeps, it just keeps coming. And so that’s foundational. Number two, I would say law of attraction might be playing a role.

03:48
in that extension and in a practical way to identify that as new patient flow. How is it that people aren’t seeking you out because of who you are? You know, if I find you because you’re on my insurance list, I’m not seeking you out because of who you are. I’m not seeking out because of your reputation and what you do. Okay. So think that plays a role in it too. Lack of new patients.

04:15
And they can’t keep the numbers going in the right direction because they can’t keep patients. Patients maybe don’t even like being around them. So don’t understand their personality, emotional intelligence comes into play. Maybe they only focus on clinical training or it’s a limited focus on clinical training. And so there’s lack of confidence there or they think that just because they know how to do the dentistry, the people will be attracted to them and they’ll show up.

04:43
One of my first mentors said, a tooth isn’t walking through the door. There’s a person attached to the teeth. So how to win friends that influence people. It’s 50 % foundation clinical expertise, 85 % people skills that create our success formula. And so you need to have that foundation. You need to pour into your clinical expertise to become confident, but that’s not it. It doesn’t just stop there. I think the other thing that

05:10
causes them to fail more is because they think it’s someone else’s job to know the numbers or they don’t even know the numbers or somebody else runs those reports and I don’t really pay attention to numbers. just, if I take care of the patients well enough, the numbers will show up. Yes and no, because I don’t know if you’re doing the right thing to make the numbers show up. It’s not just about treating the patients, okay? And then ah two things, poor leadership versus extreme ownership mentality. Poor leadership versus extreme ownership.

05:39
and then lack of confidence in whether it’s leading people, clinical skills or what have you. So I think that’s the thing I see the most as I picture the clients I want to have in our umbrella of care. Those clients I’m looking at going, okay, I see you, you’re struggling, can I help you break through? And it could be any or all of those things mentioned.

06:03
I remember just how, guess, tell me some of the, the clients. You, you, you’ll just the other day you, came in and said, man, this, this dentist, I, and this is one of our, in our mastermind. He’s like, does everything well. And, and you were just like, I like clients like that. And, and I got a chance to meet with him and he worked with the mastermind. He’s one of our members and just his humility and care and empathy and.

06:33
You know, he could easily be part of a group and to show off how great he is, or sometimes she is, and we have, we have a good combination of both genders, but they seem to be attracted to us in terms of just the humanity of it. And, and so what is it about? Cause you made a comment, said, I just love, this is just, this is makes coaching so much fun. love working with this dentist. What?

07:03
What about this excited you? What was you so impressed about? There’s an acronym in, I can’t remember if it’s in traction or in rocket field, GWC. I think it’s in traction by Gina Wigman. I think that’s the book it’s in, GWC. Get it, want it, capacity for it. When you’re coaching a team and as you’re talking about the things you know that really work to move the needle to get patients healthier, and they’re going, I love that.

07:33
That is, we want more of that. That’s how we want to operate. Get it? I understand it. I want that and I have the capacity to implement now. So let’s break those down. I could have a dentist who gets it, wants it, but doesn’t have the capacity for it. They’re chasing their tails. They can’t remember the verbal skills. They don’t have the tenacity for it, the determination. They can’t figure out how to implement the systems. Okay? That’s going to be a struggle. You could have, you could get it.

08:01
but not really want to do it. I’m not really that determined to do it. Okay. Or you might just not get it. You’re like, I don’t really get this thing. We’re out. This is not for you. And that’s okay. But have a, if you’re not someone who thinks you want mentorship in your life, there’s some, for me personally, there’s something off there. I always want to be growing. I don’t know everything. I’m not perfect. So there’s gotta be someone out there who can teach me something to do. So.

08:27
So what I love about this particular office that you’re referring to, and there’s several in that group, in our titanium group, if not all of them, they love what we’re doing with them in their offices. They can’t wait for their next coaching call. They’re getting results from it because they’re implementing it right away. They get it, they want to do it, and they have the capacity to put it in play. So I think for me, the excitement kind of like, wow, they value what we’re doing and look what they’re already doing and look what it’s doing to their numbers. Look what it’s doing for their patients and they’re immediately growing from it.

08:58
Yeah, that’s, that’s definitely very impressive. And I, you know, there’s something it’s transitioning. Yes, definitely. It’s what I see is I see like patterns, right? It’s really like modeling and patterns. Like what makes them successful? So what’s cool about you is you get really, I mean, you’re not a clinical practitioner, but you know, enough clinical to be able to, build a practice, right. And, and, and, and optimize more than me for sure. And then.

09:27
I’m looking at from, we both play in this realm of the business aspect and the decision-making aspect and what’s going on through our mind. And I’m always interested because you and I and our entire team at All-Star, get just as much as a dentist get out of the mastermind. I mean, they’re just, what they share, the brilliance, it’s just, it’s amazing we get the right group of people together. What I’ve noticed, and you have these two camps of people, and this can be not just in dentistry and anything.

09:58
And when you’re looking at business, CEO mentality is, if there’s a problem, I want to fix it and I want the best solution. Now it’s got to make sense. It’s got to be feasible to our size. So if I’m a $10 million company spending a few hundred thousand dollars a year on coaching or whatever, that’s, that’s proportionate, right? It makes sense. mean, if you’re a billion dollar company, you can have millions of dollars on those things. So obviously it’s going to make sense, but, but CEOs will, will make the investments because CEOs don’t like pain.

10:27
They don’t like something that is not right. And they’re going to do whatever it takes to make it happen. And this is great athletes too. I’m not comfortable with my form and I’m going to keep investing to make it better, even if it hurts. And so you have a group of people that are like status quo. It’s I’m going to continue to do what I do. I’m going to be save every penny. So step over dollars to get pennies. I’m going to optimize and optimize and optimize until there’s no water left in anything.

10:57
And, it becomes this micromanaging of a team and so on. And just why is everything against me? And then external forces affect them, you know, and it’s always a struggle. Then you have those that are like, I’m going to get ahead of it. And they’re usually, this is where you say like the people that need it. Don’t do it because they don’t really need it because they’re already successful or they have a mindset of success. And they’re like, their decision making is.

11:26
Yes. Not only will I do your online training, I want to be coached. And it’s not this having to explain, send me the, send me the stuff. Let me look at it. Let me think of it. It’s like, yes. Oh, they’re selling us on it. don’t, don’t sell it in general, but they’re like, I want to do this. Oh, and they want more. They bring their team to events. They make the investment in time and money and many of them join mastermind.

11:53
And it’s, I even told the group because I don’t know what it is. can’t put my finger on it, uh, Eric, but it’s the same every time I noticed that this type of person’s like when, when they see, I see so many dentists, let me tell you something. Cause we, have the calls with them before they do coaching or mastermind and you have two camps or three camps, those that are not interested, they don’t get it and whatever. And there’s not really much of a discussion, but usually they’re not the ones reaching out to us. The next group.

12:22
is like, I, and this goes to your G, whatever you’re talking about, that model. They get it, and, but they don’t make a decision. They’re like, well, you know, I know I should. It makes total sense to me what you’re saying. You know, I think I’ll think about it. I’ll keep thinking about it. And I’ll think some more about it. And I have over the years, and you taught me this as well, depending on the disc profile and stuff, I go, because they’re probably a C, I go, okay, keep thinking about it.

12:49
That’s okay. don’t sell. teach us, you teach us in case acceptance. You never push a C. Go ahead. Keep thinking about it. I’ll give you more to think about. But then there are others and they transcend disc. They’re just like, let’s do it. Cause here’s the way to look at it. They go for a couple thousand dollars, whatever it is, whether it’s coaching or mastermind or go into an event. like, they know in the scheme of things, it’s a nothing because they see what the potential upside is, is so great that they’re willing to.

13:19
to look at this so simply. So that’s what I see is, is if I were to say, Eric, the fundamental core human decision-making about, about these people. And I’m not just saying for All-Star, anything they do, they know it, they’re decisive and they’re willing to take a little risk for a bigger gain. Yeah. I have down when we were talking about doing this, number one, growth mindset, abundance mindset versus scarcity mentality.

13:48
I think that’s the summary of that is in some, and I don’t think it has to do with personality. It could be any, we have all personality types in the room. So it’s not a personality thing. It’s a willingness and desire. So I have the tenacity, the determination factor, and I’m seeking the mechanism, the system to implement success. I’m always looking for the edge. I’m always looking the way to get better, to improve my swing, as you said. They want that growth. They have a growth mindset.

14:17
And they’re on it. Now it might be they’ve grown so much that their growth incline is lower than others. But man, you see a practice that’s at, you know, 50,000 or less or 60,000, whatever it is, less than a million dollar a year practice. And you’re going, there’s so much potential. It just makes, like you could grab that. It’s just like a fresh opportunity to create something amazing. And you just want them to get it, it and have the capacity for it. Now,

14:46
I think there’s other factors that then follow the mindset part of this. And the first is the foundation. I do believe, my father-in-law taught me this. I’m sure your dad taught you this too is you have to be an expert clinician. The last thing you wanna be is masterful manipulator. Somebody who sells something that you can’t deliver. You do not wanna be in that position. So your confidence is foundational. You’re only as effective as you could communicate. So if you’re a level 10,

15:14
clinician, but you’re a level five communicator, your patient sees you as a level five clinician. But if you’re a level five clinician and you’re a level 10 communicator, you’re in trouble because you’re going to put yourself in a position that you can’t get out of it. that fair? That makes sense. So foundationally, you have to have that clinical skills. Now, while your clinical skills are going and you’re working on them, simultaneously, you’re working on those communication people skills. Not, hey, let me just set that.

15:41
thing, whichever one, set that aside and just work on one thing for a while. And then I’ll come back to that because you’re going to get frustrated. You’re going to get no ROI on your clinical training. You’re going to become an MAGD, know, accredited AACD member and have no people skills. What’s that going to do for you? You have to have this, this in-sync growth pattern in both arenas. So what does that look like on the people side? Well, I’m dealing with my team and I’m dealing with my patients. I’ve got two types of people.

16:09
I I have to lead well first. This group of people has to be going with me on that. We have to be working together in a growth mindset because if I’m really, I’ve worked on my clinical and I’ve worked on my verbal skills and then I look back at my team and go, what’s matter with you? Because I haven’t invested in them. Now we’ve got a problem too. Now I don’t have anybody coming with me and I can’t do it myself. Can’t be one person doing it. And I experienced this on my own.

16:37
When I was working in my file and loss practice, there was a problem, verbal skill needed, system needed. Oh, let’s get that patient to Eric. Well, my fear was as soon as I leave, what are you guys gonna do? And what happened was when I removed myself from that situation, I’m like, please, please, please, please, please, please, the training works and boom, they filled that void and they’re like, okay, there’s no Eric to call on, watch what we do. And we see this, we see this often where people step up and into that role. If you’re doing the training as a leader.

17:04
So I need to know what the vision is. I know why we’re doing that. think as a leader, you’re doing EQ training because when I look at each employee, I’m getting them to drink the water differently for every person. And that goes into our leadership retreat. That goes into how you lead each person individually and how you understand what that person’s why is. that’s, don’t dangle a carrot. You don’t, you’re threatened with a stick. You lead with finding their why and helping them become the person they want to become. Okay.

17:34
I’m working on both these patterns and I’m training my team. Well, as I’m thinking, I’m thinking about our last podcast that did incredibly well, one of our most watched in recent times. And it was about P performance and how to reach that altitude, if you will. And part of the, we started with disc and how does one, if they have a certain disc transcend that. And I think we’re at that point again, where

18:04
We definitely classified the two. There’s three, those that are not interested in will never do it. There’s not much you can do. Then there are those that kind of get it. They’re the ones that are listening to this podcast. Those are the ones that are doing our online training or a hiring service or coming to events here and there. And then, but what separates them from the ones that are coaching, doing mastermind that are all in that are not what’s in it for me today, but looking for the big picture in the long run.

18:33
And I, I liken this to, it’s interesting. I was thinking about even myself as I acquire new skills and I become more of a skillful captain, right? Of turbulence. Cause there’s turbulence in life and certain things that I may follow at first I’m very nervous about them. And then in time I become more calm to those forces. And I, and I wonder,

19:02
How do we, how do we, we, what can we give the dentist listening? That’s like on the edge. get it. And I guess I want it, but how do they get to that next level where they start taking action? They start moving in that direction. Okay. What is that? What is that shift? Because maybe people is born that way and, that’s what it is. But, but we’ve seen, we have even people in our mastermind, I’m going to name names that like you would never think they would be there, but yet they did it and they’re there and it’s amazing.

19:32
We love the transformation. And I hate to say it, I hate to say it, but we love working with the ones we love working with. That’s awesome. That fills our cup. But what’s even more special, and they will be cool with this if I said this, when someone who’s not like them becomes like them. When they were once, ah, and now they become decisive. So Eric, what are some action steps? What are some…

20:01
What are some things that the listeners can do that they say, I’m in that camp. I see I want to do it, but I just can’t make the next step or I’m not there yet. What are some things they could take away from this podcast to start working on to move in that direction? I mean, the first thing that pops in my head is they have a fear. There’s something that’s holding them back. I don’t know if it’s a financial fear. I’m not really sure because you could, I tell clients all the time, you can always go back to do it the way you’re doing it before.

20:30
But if this things that we teach you, the options we give you to improve, create ROI for you, why would you wanna go back? We’ve never had someone call us up and say, hey, I’d like to get your help on how to become a more in-network provider. I want more cancellations on my schedule. So we know the things that we do work. And for some reason people, it’s faith, there’s faith there. It’s like, okay, I can see the potential in my practice to get there. And I think some people put that lid.

20:59
and they hold themselves down because they don’t have the faith that they themselves can get there and they don’t believe that they can make it happen. So there’s fear getting in the way. So I think you need to figure out what that is and then have a conversation with our Heather, our Heather Nottingham about what that is and what the breakthrough could possibly be. And then it’s being willing to engage. I think you have to be willing to engage in it and risk. I think there’s risk in Well, hold that thought because I think you just nailed two issues.

21:25
Cause now you’re talking about the engagement part, but the fear you, you, hit it. I took some notes. wanted just to, to add to this. Cause I thought it was brilliant. What you said. You’re right. is fear. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. It’s always fear, always fear. And we’ll start with the fear, feel a fear, fear of failure, which is a fear of making the wrong decision and faith, not having faith in yourself that you can handle it.

21:54
Because there’s, when we work with our, with our coaching group and our leadership retreat, some of these intimate locations and mastermind, it all comes down to the human component, the heart, fear, hope, and belief in yourself. And I, and I think that, and I know from what you’re saying that that’s where it all, begins and it ends. Do you have faith in yourself? Do you believe in yourself that, do you, do you get permission to yourself?

22:22
I believe we put, you’re reading my book by the way, and you can see some of these metaphors. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to talk about it or not. No, you could talk about it. It comes out next year officially, but you’re reading the author copy. But my magic uncle taught us we were put in a cage as a child. Always said, no, you can’t do this. Somebody’s always better than you. So there’s always this big world and we’re so small and we can’t handle it and we can’t make it. So we get afraid of making decisions. We get afraid of failure.

22:51
And therefore we don’t have faith in ourselves. So like you said, it’s really, it really is as simple as saying, know what, and this is what the others, the way they, their mindset is, they’re like, you know what, let’s give it a try. Let’s try it for a few months. Let’s see how it goes. And like you just said, you can always go back. You can always go back to the way it was before. So I think that’s it right there. My friend, is making that next, the connection of the two is you’re a hundred percent right because.

23:21
The people I’m talking about, think we really clarified it because you have this too. And those are who we’re speaking to now. We’re not speaking to the ones that don’t, cause they don’t even consume this stuff. They’re not even, cause when you’re listening to the podcast, you’re into personal development, but the ones, how do I get from here to here? How do I get from, see it to I’m going to do it. It’s to believe in yourself and face your fear. And when you look at it, you say, this is a nothing. This is a nothing.

23:51
My magic uncle, you know, I’d be, I would be afraid of making an investment or doing something. And he would go, Alex, it’s a nothing. He’d says, you’re never going to, you’re never going to miss the money. It’s a nothing. Put it in perspective of decades of what you’re going to do and how you work on yourself. So I think that’s very empowering when I think of it that way. friend. agree. So I got three stories and I’m going to tell them really quick. Okay. Cause these are real life scenarios of practices to.

24:19
that came up today and one that came up in our Mash My Group almost a year ago. Yeah, a year ago. I’ll start with that one. Simply frustrated admin team. They had the capacity for it, but they didn’t get what we were teaching. They didn’t want it at all. And so nothing was being implemented on the phones. Nothing was being implemented verbally on the admin team. Simply they moved, one went virtual, one left, put in a uh non-dental trained team member from an airline company.

24:49
to answer the phones and talk to patients and do the things that we’re trying to do, the capacity for it, the willingness to do, that she had all three, okay, way to train the capacity for it. That practice grew $40,000 a month one and has not turned around since, okay? $40,000 in one month just by switching, she paid for herself because she implemented what we did, okay? Quick story. So again, mindset, right? Number two, just talk to a practice owner. They just bought a practice, selling doctor,

25:18
now replaced with new doctor in who’s been working within the organization as an associate in this organization, dropped $20,000 first month and then stayed down 20,000 a second month going, what is happening right now? What’s the difference? Same systems, same team, same location, same marketing efforts. At the end of the day, there’s someone who’s not using the verbal skills to get case acceptance.

25:47
at end of the day, that’s what’s happening there. Third story, we have a, we have a clinical, we have a dentist coach on our team and they have sold their practice to a group, okay? And the associate has the opportunity to buy that practice. And this associate’s words are, well, I’m going to wait and see after you leave seeing your doctor and let’s see how this practice does before I decide to buy it. I’m not going to engage in anything. I’m not going to do anything.

26:17
I’m not gonna be the owner, the leader. I’m not gonna look at the numbers. It’s not on me. Let’s see how this group does leading it before I buy it. Well, wait a second. Of course that’s, of course it’s gonna drop. Cause you’re not doing the same things that it took to get there and more. You have to take what that leaving doctor was doing, do all of that and more to keep it going. Why would you wanna buy something that fails, that’s dropping? You wanna buy something that’s growing. That’s extreme ownership mentality. And so,

26:44
I think those stories paint a uh different scenario in all of them and perspective that we have and say, okay, what is in the way here? Sometimes we just get in the way with our mindset and we just go, yeah, I’m going to wait and see. I’m going to look and see what happens. Or I don’t want to implement this. This is not for me. Or I don’t know how to do it. Those are all three GWC examples that you could say, okay, we need all three of these combined to make this happen and overcome our own mindset of fear. And it’s nothing, like you said, it’s nothing.

27:15
It’s, it’s, it’s a nothing, but those stories are not enough. And those are beautiful stories. really appreciate, uh, they help illustrate what we’re talking about. just, just to wrap this up. So we have our nice, our listeners have a nice, um, enjoyable podcast is model the best. And we talked about the best dentists in here. They’re the ones that you mentioned have clinical excellence, which is. Which what we’ve seen is usually not the problem.

27:45
And then it’s leadership, it’s investing in your team and yourself and the core of it, which you identified, which is overcoming fear, getting in touch with your fear, investigating where it’s coming from, your, your, your wife as a therapist, uh, and therapeutic coach. And so we learned so much about that journey is a whole nother journey of knowing, know thyself. And we were able to come in terms with the fear. And I know you love the hero’s journey, which my book kind of

28:14
stimulates a lot of that is when you’re able to get in touch with your fear and make peace with it and then you become empowered. You have faith in yourself. Oh, another brilliant. Oh, you’re just a uh collector of these diamonds, Eric. And once you have faith in yourself, then you can do great things. So Eric Vigriori, president of coaching All-State Only Academy. And just while for those, just to give a

28:44
quick thing before I even forget, because you have some great seminars you’re leading. have one in, depending on this will drop before them, but we have a leadership retreat in January of 2026. We do it every year. So if you listen to this podcast later, we’re doing it every January. We’re going in deep dive into, into leadership that you can learn more on our website, also going on academy.com click events. have a case acceptance every year deep dive into case acceptance for your entire team. We have.

29:11
practice, or we call it now the All-Star Growth Summit, where we cover four pillars of growth and lots of fun for your team every year. So you’re learning and you’re having a great time. And we have a speaker training. We have other events that are there, but as long as you know, allspagentalacademy.com, you can see where we are, what we’re doing, and what resonates with you. So Eric Vickery, thank you again for being on the program. Yeah, it’s wonderful. So don’t, in event mediocrity.

29:39
I want you instead to copy success. Look for a mentor who does it, see how they’re doing it really well and go, okay, that worked for them. What could I do use of that to make it work for me? That’s what we’re here for too. All set. Remember to follow us on Apple podcast, Spotify, YouTube. Make sure you find your friend’s phone and click subscribe on all of our, of our stuff. It helps our ranking share with your friends. And until next time go out there and be an all star.