Seek first to understand

Our brief from Dental Angels was to sum up how to compete in dentistry

and do it in less than 400 words. Impossible? Well to give you

everything that you need to know about being competitive in a short

space is going to be challenge, but if being a dental business coach

was easy then everybody would be doing it?

Our solution is to turn the

problem on its head and let you in on a secret - the simple truth is

that you already have all the answers to your concerns about how to

compete in an increasingly competitive dental market, but maybe you

have not had chance to step back and think about it.

It happens all of the time in dentistry. Practice owners are so busy

being dentists (remember why you got into this industry?) that when

you have to turn your thoughts to some of the pressing business

issues, the only option is to react quickly, to turn to top ten a list

of "guaranteed" ideas to get results or even worse adopt a head in the

sand approach. None of this is necessary. We have never once met a

dentist that performs their dentistry with a "bull at a gate approach"

so why would you choose to do this with the entirety of your business?

Now pause for a moment, take a step back and "hold a mirror" up to

your business. Even better, get somebody to do it for you. To be

competitive you first need to know what you are competing with and who

you are competing against. By seeking first to understand what you

have you can then turn your thoughts to understanding what you want to

do with it, together with recognising what and if anything needs to

change. Then it is time to understand what your customer wants and do

you know what, you only have to ask them.

So armed with the knowledge of what you are competing with, improved

where necessary by holding a mirror to your business and your

customer's wants, you can now focus your thoughts on being understood.

 Provided that you and the rest of your dental team thoroughly believe

and value what your customer wants, being understood and creating an

environment where your customer understands what you offering them, is

simply a matter of communication, and as we all know the art of a

successful communication is, "seek first to understand, then be

understood"