Having just returned from the holiday break, I can see how important it is for employees to have time for renewal. I’ve often seen individuals come back from breaks, vacations and personal days with renewed energy, enthusiasm and passion. This time off is essential—and not just for employees.

A dentist once told me that he couldn’t take it anymore and he was going to sell his practice. Upon further discussion, I discovered that he didn’t even take vacations. That’s a big mistake!

A two-week vacation would probably have been enough to clear his head. It could have allowed him to make decisions about eliminating chaos and frustration in his practice. What a shame! Here was a dentist willing to pack it all in when what he truly needed was a couple weeks to renew.

Dentists should think about how they’re going to help employees and themselves remain motivated, inspired and stimulated this year.

Resources:

Get a Life and Keep It by Roger P. Levin, DDS (Book or Digital Download)

I saw an article recently in The Harvard Business Review on customer service. The authors had a very different point of view toward customer service. For them, many of the extras of customer service don’t really matter. Put more bluntly, people don’t stay in a certain hotel because there are mints on the pillow.

In their research, the authors concluded that the real essence of customer service is delivering the core product or service at the highest level of excellence. Like the mint on the pillow that doesn’t bring customers to a hotel, being nice to patients isn’t enough to ensure a successful practice.

I think these authors have an excellent point—a point that dentists should probably take to heart. Delivering the “core service” means providing outstanding dentistry while treating people remarkably well. You can do this if you have comprehensive well-designed systems that support your team and drive practice success.

Resources:

Stage III Customer Service White Paper by Roger P. Levin, DDS

I admit it—I love football. In fact, I’m a fanatic. Every August, my television time quotient goes up as the NFL season kicks in. As I watch games, I’m surprised by the number of previews for new shows, which indicates how intensely these TV networks want to suck people into watching even more.

While I love football, I have to wonder if this is time well spent. The average American now watches almost five and a half hours of TV each day. If we’re spending that kind of time watching television, what are we not doing to improve our own lives, both personally and professionally?

Are you spending enough quality time with family? Are you devoting enough time to building your practice?

I saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps a few weeks ago. In the movie, the character of Gordon Gekko states that what he learned in prison was that the most important commodity is not money but time. This is very true, especially as people get older.

At one of my recent seminars, a dentist approached me upset that he expected to work eight years longer than he anticipated due to changes in the economy. I thought to myself that while the recession has certainly affected him, he had 25 years to get his savings into the right place.

The biggest loss is not what he lost in the stock market or his investments, but what he lost by failing to recognize that time is the most important factor in his practice. How many no-show and last minute cancellations do practices have? How many hours are lost due to inefficiencies in practice systems?

Once time is lost in a dental practice, it can’t be recovered. Whether that time adds up to $50 or $500, it’s gone. This doctor lost millions in his 30-year career due in part to lost time. Yet, he is only blaming the current economy of the last three years for the reasons he can’t retire. Take the time (very soon) to review your plan for achieving financial independence.