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765: Outshine Competitors, Release Your 3 Uniques – Courtney Dalton

Many dentists provide great dentistry. So, why should a patient come to you? To help you answer this important question, Kirk Behrendt brings back Courtney Dalton, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, with strategies to find three things your practice is uniquely good at. Become better at those things, and you will outshine your competition! To learn the most effective way to set yourself apart, listen to Episode 765 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Courtney:

Learn More About ACT Dental:

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Episode Resources:

Main Takeaways:

  • Understand the elements that will set you apart from other practices.
  • You're not unique in 90 things. Choose three that will make you stand out.
  • Take time to identify your core competencies, your uniques, and your passions.
  • Get your team’s input on your uniques. Get them to weigh in so that they will buy in.
  • Your practice is not meant for everyone. It is for a few people that value what you do.
  • Get really good at what you're really good at. Don't stop at figuring out what they are.
  • What you have, like technology, is not a unique. But it can help you provide a unique.

Quotes:

“If you don't take the time to figure out what makes you so special and peel back those generic layers, you're never going to stand out. There's a reason why patients come to you, and there's a reason why patients choose you. It's not by accident — it's intentional. So, if you can be more intentional about what those changing factors are, what makes you so different, you're going to stand out among any dentist nearby without any problem.” (2:03—2:33) -Courtney

“It's not what you have — it's who you are, what you do, and how you do it. That's part of what sets you apart and makes your practice more unique than anybody else's.” (3:25—3:36) -Courtney

“When you identify what you are really great at, you're giving yourself the gift of time to be able to pour your effort and energy into those things that you're great at and really cultivate an experience for your patients that keeps them coming back, and bringing people like them, and talking about you in their community in the way that you would want. So, when you can identify, ‘What are these things that really do set us apart? We provide great dentistry.’ There are a lot of dentists that provide great dentistry. But one patient doesn't go to a lot of dentists. One patient goes to one doctor. Why? Because that doctor has taken the time to identify the things they're really great at, and they keep getting better, and better, and better at them.” (7:36—8:22) -Courtney

“If you're going to ask your patients to pay your full fee, you have to give them a reason why. You have to build the value. You have to get really great at the patient experience. You have to get really great at your communication skills. You have to get really great at your interpersonal skills with your team so that things like handoffs are flawless and smooth. Why? Because if I'm going to pay top-dollar, I'm going to need you to give me a reason to do that. If you can't remember my name, if you can't remember things that we talked about last time, that I was going on vacation, or that my children are getting ready to go to college, or that I was getting ready for retirement, and then ask appropriate follow-up questions and really build the relationship, I'm probably not going to keep coming.” (11:00—11:55) -Courtney

“If you don't find the joy in it, it's going to fizzle. It might not come naturally to you, but you might want to excel at this one thing — at airway, at myo, at something. You might want to excel so much that, eventually, [you do]. And it wasn't accidental. It was intentional, and your patients will see that intentionality, and seek you out for it. That's where the great experience can really blossom.” (12:44—13:13) -Courtney

“[Ask yourself, is our unique] easy to imitate? Can anybody else do what we do? Is it easy to imitate? Is it wanted? Do your patients want this? Is it sought after by the patients you already have, or a future patient? Would this be something that somebody would want to look for? And then, does it contribute? Does it contribute to the success of our practice? Does it contribute to our patient experience? Does it contribute to us as individuals? . . . Tap into your team. This isn't an exercise that you're meant to do by yourself because, like you said, sometimes you as the leader can't see these things because you live, eat, sleep, and breathe them. Sometimes, it's your team that can give you that different perspective.” (15:48—16:31) -Courtney

“For example, if in your office you have warm towels that you give to all your patients after hygiene and operative appointments, that is a differentiator. Perhaps comfort is your differentiator. What defines comfort? It's all the little things that you do. It's not just throwing a toothbrush in a bag and sending the patient on their way — which, by the way, is great. I love getting a toothbrush when I go to the dentist. But perhaps it's the handwritten note that's in there. Perhaps it's something different, something that's creating that experience. Can it be imitated? Does anybody else care what we're doing here? To be competitive, we would want people to imitate us. Do people come to us because they hear that we're so different, and is it contributing to our patient basis?” (16:34—17:28) -Courtney

“You're not the doctor for everybody. You weren't meant to be. Sometimes, that's a hard pill to swallow. And when you can, and you can get really good at what you're good at, that will speak volumes.” (21:04—21:14) -Courtney

“I really do love “we provide comfortable solutions”. I mentioned that word, comfort, before. Again, that can look different. But it's not what you have. It's not that you have comfortable solutions — it's the way that you can provide them. It's perhaps the CE you've invested into your team so that they get really good at knowing what those solutions are, from front administrators to all the clinicians. It's not what you have; it's how the things that you have help you to offer more to your community, to your patient base.” (21:16—21:56) -Courtney

“Don't just stop once you figure out what [your uniques] are. Put it into play. It might mean marketing. It might mean changing the way you answer the phones. It might mean changing the CEs that you send your team to. It might mean putting a bigger emphasis on the things that you love and the things that bring you joy, and a smaller emphasis on the things that don't fill your cup up as much. Get really good at what you're really good at. Write it down, figure out what it is, and then find a way to implement what those things are so that they breathe in your practice, so that it becomes really natural and really obvious to your team, to your patients, and to the new patients who are searching for the right dental home for themselves.” (23:40—24:29) -Courtney

“You're not unique at 90 things. You might think that you are, and that's okay. If you get yourself a really great coach, we're here to tell you that, no, you're not — and said with love — and let's get really good at what you are good at, and really clear. That's how you grow a great patient base. That's how you find patients and team members that are great core value fits. That's how you live out your purpose. That's how you live out your vision. It's so important to do this. Before you put any effort into any other business ownership buckets, do this. Who are you? What do you stand for? What sets you apart? Once you take the time and effort and energy it takes to do that, great things are going to happen to you — not by accident, but by intention.” (25:59—26:46) -Courtney

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:53 Why this is an important topic.

4:30 Identify your three uniques.

10:32 How to get patients to pay your full fee.

12:17 Maintain a unique that is your passion.

13:50 Core competencies, explained.

15:38 Important questions to ask yourselves.

17:31 Get your team to weigh in so they can buy in.

20:07 Examples of uniques.

23:06 Find ways to put your uniques into play.

25:56 Final takeaways.

27:30 More about ACT’s Differentiation Tool and To The Top.

Courtney Dalton, BS, RDH Bio: 

Courtney Dalton is a Lead Practice Coach who focuses on establishing a solid foundation in order for a practice to thrive. With over 15 years of experience in the dental industry, she is as passionate about patient care as she is about those who are providing it. 
ACT Dental Team

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