Dr Phillip Palmer, March 2014
Client: Dr Rosalind Peart
Practice: Cambridge Dental Practice, NZ
Joined Practice Management Program: July 2011
How were you introduced to Prime Practice?
Honestly a friend called and said “I am as sick to death of dentistry as you are. Let’s go to a Prime Practice lecture and see if they have anything interesting to tell us.” That was August 2011. A lot has changed for us in the last 2 and a half years.
What has changed?
Without wanting to sound melodramatic, I was finished. I was going to sell my practice in a few years, go and work for someone else, maybe leave New Zealand. I thought I might go to Australia or do dentistry overseas because all I really wanted to do was earn a living and do my job ethically. And I was really struggling to do that… and I was exhausted.
And now, that has all completely changed for me. There are still struggles. I won’t pretend that there aren’t a few, but I feel like I can practice dentistry the way I have always wanted to. Which is such a massive relief.
What is the biggest thing that changed?
There are a few things, but the two main things were around communication. More effective communication with patients and much better communication (and following from that, management) of team.
Using Primespeak techniques with my patients, if I communicate clearly and carefully the state of affairs in their mouths and what can be done to fix it, my job is done and it is their responsibility to make a decision. Knowing that the consequences of what they choose to do with that information is their responsibility was a huge weight off my shoulders. Also, trusting that quality dentistry is of value and quality service costs money was something I needed to get my head around and feel comfortable communicating. Once I felt comfortable with it, the rest flowed.
With my team, I have also learnt to delegate effectively. My team are now enthusiastic, happy and motivated. All problems are dealt with quickly and everyone is confident about the business and its direction.
How have you found the coaching experience?
I feel completely supported by my coach. So in the Practice Management Program, you go off and learn these amazing new skills at workshops, but change is always hard to implement. Knowing that there is someone there to hold me and the team accountable to the changes necessary is a vital part of the why it all works. Also, having someone that I trust and can call and ask for help makes a huge difference. Even my team will ask the coach for help if I am not around (or if the issue is with me).
Have these changes affected your life outside of work?
I am still fairly compulsive and work on the weekends, but I generally don’t work the long hours I used to. Since I started Prime Practice I have taken proper holidays and gone away away, which I never did before. I now make time for exercise, I eat better. I realised that I had gotten to a point where I was terribly unhappy, unwell and it wasn’t good for me or anyone around me. A lot of that has changed. My daughter is leaving home this year. If this was happening 3 years ago, I would have struggled, but we both know things are ok now.
Why do you think you are able to take proper holidays now?
It’s a combination of the fact that a number of team members left who were a problem, and we replaced them with people who are phenomenal and my delegation skills are much more effective. Before I would be so anxious that everything would fall apart when I was gone and that I would have to come back and recover from this huge hole.
Also, production of my team has grown. I don’t have more team members, but I have people who do their job really well. They are all well-trained and confident, which is much more effective.
