Anne: All right, everybody. Hello. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to Dental Entrepreneur, the Future of Dentistry's podcast. I am so happy that you're with me today, and I have a very dear old friend. We've known each other for I know it's over 25 years with me today. And let me tell you a little bit about her before we get started.
Amy Morgan is the Vice President of Practice Growth Strategy at Spear Education, a leading provider. Of advanced dental education and practice management solutions. She once worked at Disney and is the author of Leadership Lessons from the Road. Why Bother? We're all Nut and Futs. please help me welcome Amy Morgan.
Hi Amy.
Amy: Hi. And it's so nice to be with you. It's, longtime friends who like represent the industry make my day. Every time we connect
Anne: I know it. And it's like, you know each other for years, it doesn't matter. I mean, we haven't really even seen each other in person for a long time.
and when I was just a new young publisher and editor and owner of Dental Entrepreneur, you were so gracious and wrote for me whenever I asked, and I worked with your husband, Jeff, and he was always so gracious, The type of people that email me back and get their articles to me on time.
I mean, I will always have near and dear place in my heart. And then your dad, Jim Pride, wrote for one of our very first editions and I remember thinking, wow, that is just so cool. 'cause you know, his legacy is, lived on in dentistry through you and through so many others in the industry. So, super cool and also fun fact, it's your anniversary today, years.
26 years. Well we are kindred spirits. 'cause Tom and I celebrated 50 on Saturday. So we got married in the heat of the summer in no air conditioning back in the day. And it was just a lovely day. And we're still, kicking it. I love it. But you, you are so, ingrained in dentistry.
You have such a legacy, such an insight into dentistry and I know that with Spear, I'm gonna read some of your questions, which are, Really pertinent to the times that we're in right now, but sphere's recent data shows that 57% of dental teams are experiencing stress and burnout. What are some of the root causes you're seeing in practice today, and how can leaders begin to address them in a substantial and sustainable way?
Amy: Great question that we wrote. the, truth is that. The post COVID PTSD lives on. And, I think that these issues were always there. They just became even more traumatic because, dentistry has survived just about every economy, just about every issue.
However, this was the first time that things shut. Down. and for the teams that was obviously incredibly traumatic. That is why today we have the perpetual, you know, where the heck did the hygienists go? Right? I think they're encased in amber somewhere like the dinosaurs, like park hygienist.
hygienists continue to have migrated out of the industry. the other team members felt less secure. Dentists who did not have a thumb on their business Not only didn't know what to do with COVID at the point, but didn't necessarily recover in the way that they should have.
After and are waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's noisier than it's ever been with social media. We've got the changing of the generational guard, so it's all kind of coming in to a fever point, right? Where it is always been important to. Feeling control of your business, As a original Cashflow Crisis intervention consultant, 'cause that's how I started so many years ago.
I know that dentists can have a bad month. Make very not wise decisions and, immediately, descend into the abyss of chaos. The good news is they can also immediately turn it around versus the medical profession. So I think it's summation of. All of that that causes everybody to practice in a scarcity.
And when you practice in a scarcity, we all know just from a Maslow's hierarchy point of view, it's really hard to ascend to higher calling, higher meaning, and actually get fulfilled in life. So how's that for a very robust answer for what's going on today?
Anne: I actually. appreciate that Amy, because a lot of people wanna scooch it under the rug and say, oh no, pandemic's over.
But there's a poll around dentistry. I think that is still there. And what are some of your suggestions then? I mean, you know, this is when you could reach out to. Community, like, don't put your head in the sand. Like, let's reach out to people that could help lift you up. Because a lot of times they just come in the back door, they stay in that one operatory, they go home, and that lingering fear stays with them.
So give us some tips on, what they can do that are very simple.
Amy: Again, I chose dentistry over medical 'cause I started in medical and dental because, and I still believe it to this day, that dentistry is relatively recession depression. Mm-hmm. Economic, any proof. Because for every four patients that say no, the fifth will always say yes we are.
A wanted and need a service and product that doesn't go away. AI isn't gonna erase it. It might enhance it. But we're not gonna erase it. Right? And so the biggest advice that I'm giving from my role at Sphere is that you have to work on the business and not just in the business. the formula for excellent dental practice is 51% great clinical.
Excellence, but 49% great business excellence. So I'm given clinical the 2% margin, but that's pretty much 50 50. And dentists tend to not recognize the 49% if they put 10% into their business. I'm surprise. So it's the same business principles that have made the top tier dentists successful Still apply.
And even more so because if we talk about the generational component The younger generations are inspired by meaning, they're stinking thinking that they're only inspired by the paycheck. And my running joke is what happens when you give an unhappy team member a wage increase?
They're just a richer. Unhappy team member.
Anne: Oh,
Amy: right.
Anne: Well said. Yeah.
Amy: But the fact of the matter is finding your vision, clarifying your values, working smarter, not harder. All the things we've always said Absolutely. Still works. You just have to do it
Anne: Yeah. And I think you have to really have people held you accountable to that.
you can't do that on an island as a leader. it's interesting. Have you noticed a shift, even in conferences? It used to be It was all clinical.
Amy: Yeah.
Anne: And there was no leadership and it didn't even count toward your ce. Yeah. And they've changed that over the years because of how that 49%, yeah, you're right.
It's almost 50 50. And in that you have to run a business. and treat your team well I feel like we might have a migration of hygienists coming back. I loved my profession. 46 years of clinical. I loved it. Now, I, worked it with balance and I had, my side gigs, it kept me more creative and that kind of thing, but.
It's such a great profession for dental hygienists, and they finally got their salaries up. And hopefully they're bringing in more of the, benefits to the patient through their lane. It'll make it worthwhile for the doctors to be able to, pay those salaries and keep them in that level of expertise and, gratitude for having a job and having a great boss and, just all the great things that we know dentistry can provide.
So
Amy: speaking to, yeah, speaking to hygienists, once again, doing a better marketing campaign around this, raising the hygienist to truly being that. co-therapist. to truly recognizing that the prophet is never gonna come from that code for a prophy.
The prophet comes from having a co-therapist, a partner who is raising the level of overall oral health. And overall health in general is where the biggest bang for the buck comes from. So that's a, branding and a marketing that needs to be screamed from the rooftop. I have, a 36 and a 38-year-old daughter.
I have tried desperately to tell them that hygiene is an amazing career. For a woman who wants balance, And I just don't hear it enough. And I certainly don't think that with the raising compensation of hygienists, once again, dentists who don't have a finger on the pulse of their profitability.
Resent that feat. Yeah. Versus celebrate it and become productive and effective as a result of it. Is where that particular tension comes from. So we could just spend hours on that.
Anne: Oh yeah. I'm like, you're so tracking with me right now. I'm like, I, wish I could go back, And it takes two, doesn't it? It takes the owner, the dentist, and the hygienist to come together as a partner. Yeah. I always think we should be like the PA in the office and have that recognition and then take ownership of that. And I know hygienist. Pretty sassy. They're entrepreneurial, as you know.
Yeah. And they wanna run their. Business within a business and do it with, eloquence and, integrity. Yeah. that's what's gonna make it better. But let me continue with this. With 63% of scheduling issues affecting both patients and staff, what operational strategies can practices implement to improve scheduling efficiency and reduce daily friction?
Amy: Well, and the truth of the matter is, let's go back to the term scarcity. my running joke for that, by the way, there's amms all over the place, but the fact of the matter is, is that when scheduling is like eating dessert, which means. No matter how full you are, there's always room to stuff one more brownie in.
Anne: Ooh. I like that.
Amy: When you brownie stuff, a schedule, when you jam it, 'cause it might never happen again. the kingpin. That causes the most stress in any dental office is poor scheduling and a know or poor morning huddle, right? Mm-hmm. So when you're jamming it, you get the peaks and valleys, you get the $10,000 day followed by the $200 day by, right, and you can't calibrate, right?
I don't consider a goal an impulse to just. Overproduce a goal is like the seatbelt, you know, when we look at perfect day scheduling, when we look at what combination of procedures, that gold medal goal has got to be the finish line. There is no extra credit for going above it, so smooth.
Even consistent productivity, if that doctor wants $7,500 a day, I am just as unhappy to see it go over as I am to see it go under because there is no reason to break a system. If the system doesn't need to be broken, and if those goals are based on profitability, efficiency, balance, customer service, there is no reason.
So again, what I was saying, Anne what, makes it so funny is that it's not just because I'm old, but the fact of the matter is pre blocking significant treatment perfect day templates, a morning huddle that gets everybody calibrated for the day. Are the solutions to that. And it gets lost in the shuffle.
this is not rocket science. It, it's,
Anne: it's too simple. It's just too simple, honestly. I mean, that, just, oh, so interesting guys. I've, been in offices where the morning huddle starts, a consultant leaves, and about a year later there's no morning huddle or it's just a mishmash and it doesn't really have any.
power or potency. another thing I'll just say, I love what you said about consistency. Mark Leblanc says consistency over. Commitment. And that's the thing is you have to be consistent with that. And that, again, it's simple, right? but you have to adhere to that and have somebody that buys into that.
Amy: Well, let's talk about what I think creates the most hostile work environment of it all is when I see, or our practice growth partners c. What I call the west side story phenomena instead of jets versus sharks When I see front versus back, it is a symptom of a nowhere poor morning huddle in a busted scheduling system.
Mm-hmm. Because the role of appointment coordinator is that of messenger and what happens to messengers in times of war. They get shot at. And so if the clinical team doesn't fully embrace their role in supporting and promoting ideal templates if that long green mile between the operatory and the front desk when patient amnesia kicks in.
Happens, then you're gonna get that tectonic plate, you're gonna get that friction, right? And so, what's the worst thing that a doctor deals with is team conflict? You know, they're not exactly brilliant at it. And so you don't want team conflict, fix your scheduling system, that's really, honestly more than half.
Of what creates that, friction on a day-to-day basis. And, it does take commitment to invest in that consistency, but it is absolutely essential. There's a great quote that I've been using recently, which is learning without implementation is arrogance.
Anne: And
Amy: implementation requires mastery Implementation isn't the one-off.
It's the consistent over Yes. And over And over again.
Anne: That's so true. And that's called just executing, somebody's gotta execute the plan. Yeah, and if you just have these great plans and then you don't have the leadership to execute, ugh, then it just kind of falls by the wayside. Oh, okay.
Again, I think it's simple, not easy, but you also need somebody to like maybe remind you about that. So one in three team members say they feel unequipped to implement the new techniques. How can practice leaders foster a culture? Learning and accountability that empowers their teams to grow with confidence.
Amy: again, your team is gonna judge you by the way you handle the work at Weakest Link, so that culture piece, the culture of accountability is. Absolutely essential. And part of that is, you know, there's a huge difference between, training, learning, doing mastery, Dentists who don't. At least, I'm not even gonna ask for the 49%, give us 20% for goodness sakes. Dentists who drive by at the lab and think that's training, learning, doing, and mastery. That's wrong, right? it's the repetition, it's the practice, it's the what not. And depending upon the size and the scope of what we're asking our team to do.
everyone's individual learning strategies are gonna be different. The other point is dentists usually drive by train something and three weeks later and several Tylenol, when they notice it's not being done, swoop back down and comment on it. I need leaders in dentistry to catch their team doing things right, almost right or not completely wrong and acknowledge it, right?
So if you are implementing. A huddle or a scheduling template very next day, it needs to be reinforced, recognized, you have to gather that momentum, The team needs to feel like a. They're being observed. B, that they're being acknowledged, C, that they're being re appreciated, D, that they're being rewarded, recognized and compensated for the merit and outcomes that they bring.
That's what creates a culture of growth and accountability.
Anne: Yeah. That's what makes you leave the day and say, well done. Well, I can't wait to get back tomorrow. versus just being, worn out. Everybody's got a sad face on something didn't go right it can just spiral through the whole, mindset of the practice.
And if you don't catch it. Uh, the next morning it'll just get bigger the day after and the day after. So tell me a little bit about Spear. do you stick with an office for a, long period of time? Amy, how does it operate? I really, I don't, know.
Amy: The reason I'm here. Is seven years ago when they purchased Pride Institute. And me along the way.
what Spear's most known for is education, not necessarily consulting. Mm-hmm. We use our coaching. To implement. yeah. So we're not the garden variety. I'm gonna hold your hand forever.
I mean, our ultimate goal is to make the dentists great clinicians. But what we realized and what Spear realized when they first approached me is that we needed to support the 49% to get 51%. And so Spear Navigator program. I am so proud of our content, right? Our content is not only best practice systems content taught in the best adult learning ways, which is not only teaching it, but actually processing it, learning it, activities about it in a layered learning approach.
But also very much tied to Spear's clinical philosophy. I always at Pride, although I was friends with Pinky and Friends with Coy and friends with Spear, when you keep those two elements separate, they very often don't support each other. So based upon Frank Spear, Greg Kinzer is all of our amazing clinicians teams teaching tour of the mouth teaching, systems that support.
Best practice dentistry was really important to me. So our programs are deeply focused on education, but our coaches called Practice growth partners are there to be the outside paradigm shifter to help in 90 day increments so that they don't get distracted.
for implementation, choose the training path.
Put them on it. Train them to be excellent facilitators and implementation guides. remove the distractions so that systems can be implemented, improved, grown, with that accountability factor. I don't wanna be your armchair therapist. I don't want my growth partners to be armchair.
I don't wanna sit there and just listen to you whine about how much you hate your team or how much the team hates you. I want you to do something differently to get a different result, and I want you to train your team to next level excellence so that they can. Desire to be self-directed, desire to be
Anne: yes.
On the next
Amy: level. that's a little bit unique in the fact that we are so heavily focused on the educational component, both for the individuals as well as the team.
Anne: that's so key. I mean, that just makes the career when you look back you look at your legacy and you've not only poured into your patients, but you poured into the people that have helped you build it.
then, everybody feels good about it. it's so. Easy when you do need people to tell you things that you wouldn't normally think. again, when you say 49%, I mean Amy, you know, what is it in dental school? They probably get 1% of that in dental school. So to think that you can do that without any help and any consistent training and executing.
you're gonna waste 15, 20, 30, 50 years by not reaching your full potential.
Amy: And I always wanted to create an MBA like, program for both, Not only the dentist, but my God, you know how many of our team members are managers in name only, without necessarily the structure and support.
one of the things I love that's part of our, navigator programs is. leader Manager Bootcamp, which I co-teach with a doctor named Dr. Rezo Moi, who has been my client since 1993. he's a brilliant speaker unto himself. I brought in a lot of dentists who have.
walked the walk, but the leader manager bootcamp is on Spear campus. It is intensive. It is the two days. Roll up your sleeves and let's get your fundamentals in place. The other point I really quickly wanted to make cause we talked about the accountability in celebrating, I started most recently to really, really collaborate with dental intelligence.
that's part of our navigator program. We've now. Put that into place. I hate to tell you this as complex as things are. You know what I love best about? Dental intelligence is the freaking confetti that comes pouring down on their huddle. when you go to their huddle tab and you've done something magnificent, that confetti forces those serious sub gingival potato head dentists to actually take a second and actually freaking celebrate.
And so, the minute I saw dental intelligence is confetti, I went, okay, I'm on board. Right, because it's, not something that dentists naturally do. They tend to go for perfection, which means they miss excellence
Anne: that's so key.
And it's key for the, team. It's key for the dentist, for, you know, just a happy life. you gotta celebrate the small wins and then the big ones, you know, come with that. Right. Yep. Oh my gosh. Well I love that. And so, Last thoughts because I was looking at your, bio and things, and I'm thinking if you could give some advice to a dental entrepreneur a future, wiz we've got so many in do.
And you're having the Women's conference, which I'm attending. Thank you Dr. Effy Hoff, for inviting me as a guest. I'm so excited to see. I'll actually get to hug you, Amy, in Scottsdale. What are the dates for that?
Amy: September, I believe, 19th, 20th, and 21st.
Anne: Yes, it is. and that's a woman's conference, which you put together I love the line item, so I want anybody to go to the website. for Sphere, the woman in dentistry, at Sphere Education in Scottsdale, Arizona. So please go. I'll be there. Amy's gonna be there. Dr. Hef Shaw and I've introduced a couple of other women that are gonna be attending because I feel like that's just a powerhouse of, female leadership, feminine leadership in the house.
And also you're gonna get some clinical, the lineup was just amazing. So I can't wait to see you there, and kudos for you for helping organize that and starting something like that to, you know, really as we say, I hear more than 60% of the graduating dentists are female.
in this, year. you know, you're a dental entrepreneur and you've been one forever, I think, since, you know, you started and as a woman, intrapreneur. Right. Yeah. It's because we take that so seriously, whatever job we take. But what, advice would you give to a new dental entrepreneur?
Amy: Don't reinvent the wheel. and what I mean by that is, so many times I'm like, oh, but that's cookie cutter. The truth of the matter is I want everybody to be unique snowflakes. I want you to have a practice that actually matches your vision, values, your goals, your strategies, however. There are basic, fundamental, foundational best practices that you can learn and then customize to your unique s flakiness.
So that's, don't reinvent the wheel. Don't function in a scarcity. Don't pay your team in a scarcity. Don't, choose your clinical. Modalities in a scarcity. Don't, pick out technologies in a scarcity. The fact of the matter is no matter what's going on in the outside world.
Dentistry will continue to provide a great career for both the dentists, the hygienist, and the team. It is up to us. To recognize that and learn from what we've known over the years, but also just continuously grow and improve. I've seen nothing but up leveling in our future. I'm not pessimistic.
I haven't been pessimistic and so far I've been right. I've been right. Yes. So.
Anne: I love that. also, you know, knowing their why, and you help them with that because you can design Yeah. Honestly, The future that you want that fits young you, and it's, you just have to reach out and get the right people, to help you do that.
So Amy, you're just A gift to me, A gift to dentistry. I'm so glad we were laughing about this in the beginning. Principle number nine, for dos. It's start. And don't stop. Dos, don't retire. So we got Amy here doing some great things for spear and, For so many different things that she does.
Everything you do, I know, and now we've got the Amms, is it Amms or Amy Morgans. any SS,
Amy: when we do courses, they actually have a note page for them to just catch the weird things that I say. It's just. talent.
Anne: it is a talent. It is a talent. It's one of your gifts because it makes it so much fun it makes it very understandable, doable, so that you get from the beginning to the mastery level.
And so, Amy Morgan, how do we find you? How do we get in touch with you spear?
Amy: It's probably written on all the bathroom walls, but it's [email protected]. Really easy. And of course Spear's website is, Spear education and Spear Digest has our articles.
Spear Online has all our videos. In fact, half the people don't ever see my. Feet. So now that we're so digitally inclined. So the truth is, is that I can't wait to see you live. I can't wait to see folks live. It's a busy September with lots going on, and I hope to help as many people as I can grab that why, and move forward and succeed.
Anne: That is super cool. You're gonna love this too, Amy, and thank you so much for being with me today. But I just realized at the ADOM meeting, we actually are having the DO meetup at the dental Intel booth. There you go. So how about that Jessica Lammers? I'm working with her on that, so, we'll, make sure that you're aware that you come over and get a hug from, the dos.
I hope that you'll be able to, attend our retreat in November, if not this November 13th through 15 in Charlotte, next year. ' We've secured those dates, so put that on your calendar. Everybody that's listening 26 and 27, we figured that was kind of a great time. It's two weeks before Thanksgiving and how did 25 go?
And, what do you see for 26 is what we're gonna be talking about And if you're a woman and you happen to be in dentistry, or were in dentistry, please join and sit at our table, so you're welcome.
Amy: I love it.
Anne: Amy Morgan, so good to see you. Let's keep doing us and I will see you on the road.
Okay. Thank you.
Amy: Thank you.
