I want to write this Coach’s Corner in honor of Office Manager appreciation month. I have a lot of followers in all roles in dentistry and I want to write this specifically for managers. A lot of you share your situations and problems with me asking for advice and I love that. Please keep sending me your questions. I hear a lot about problems with patients keeping their appointments, treatment planning/acceptance, and maintaining the focus of your team. When I look at all of these issues, I keep coming back to the word resistance. In my experience, the easiest way to deal with resistance is to understand when it is likely to happen and fully prepare for it. Think about every opportunity you may face resistance in the office. Break that down into each example and prepare your response. The reason why you dislike it so much is because you are not ready with a response that seems genuine, and you have not practiced enough with your verbal delivery to sound smooth or confident. When you are prepared, it will not affect you as much as when you are surprised or tripping over your words. A great idea to involve your team is to ask when they face resistance and work on acceptable verbiage that everyone can use. If you are not confident, chances are your team is not. This is a great subject for a team meeting. Patient resistance affects every member of the team no matter their role in the office. Creating the opportunity for a collaborative approach will ensure that the entire team uses the same bullet points, and your message is consistent in the practice.
What Our Clients Are Saying
Thomas Taylor, DMD
"My experience with Lynne Leggett has been exceptional. Her knowledge and first class service has strengthened our billing, policies and procedures immensely. I would recommend her to all doctors and their practices."
Teresa Duncan, MS
"Lynne is a wonderful resource for me and my clients. She has a deep knowledge of dental office management and understands the importance of well-implemented systems. I know I can turn to her with any project and it will be completed in an efficient and detailed manner. I recommend Lynne's consulting services without hesitation."
Andrew V. Inge, DDS
"I highly recommend Lynne Leggett with Victory Dental Management for any dental practice, whether it is a small startup or an established and successful one... The coaching we have received has greatly reduced the stress in our office and has increased our bottom line. Dentistry has become much more fun. Whether it is long term planning or dealing with areas that need immediate attention, I cannot recommend Victory Dental Management more highly. "
Aimee Glaser
“Working with Lynne was one of the best decisions we have made! She is one of our team. We always feel like we can contact her with questions and her response time is fantastic!”
Shaun B. Rai, DMD, PLLC
“Lynne was excellent at educating my team members on communication and phone skills. We all found Lynne easy to talk to, and a superb communicator. I highly recommend Lynne as a consultant for any dental practice (or any business for that matter) that needs assistance and coaching with communication and phone skills.”
Brian Cutler
“With her background in Logistics, Dental Office Management, Customer Service and Sales, Lynne was quite helpful in the formative years of OneMind Health ( formerly MDE) in teaching new customers not only the mechanics of using a revolutionary new system for receiving real-time information from insurance payers, but more importantly the VALUE of the system for their office. Lynne is an outside the box thinker who will find ways to optimize a practice to increase efficiencies and the bottom line.”
Gregory K Kontopanos, DDS
“Over the years that Lynne worked for me, she demonstrated an “ownership mentality” that is rarely seen today. She was not only focused on patient care, but also the profitability of the practice. She used her business background in streamlining our business policies to enhance the practice but also the patient’s experience as well. Without reservation I recommend working with Lynne.”
Pooja Khurana, DDS
“Lynne is a knowledgeable professional who genuinely CARES about the success of her clients. By focusing on our current systems and processes and introducing ‘best practice concepts’, Lynne has markedly improved our efficiency, profitability and overall patient experience. I highly recommend Victory Dental Management.”
JoAn Majors, RDA, CSP® – Professional Speaker, Published Author & Soft Skills Specialist
"Lynne Leggett is a coach in every fiber of her being. She is encouraging, enlightening and when it comes to honest truth needed to be a successful coach...well stay in the game with her. She proves that consistency, values and principles are a dentist and leaders best friend. If you want to get in the game, get in this book and go deep on the strategies she has presented ever so simply!"
BAM AADOM Member
"Interactive and easy to understand. Great presentation"
Christine Ensor, Office Manager Revive Dental
"Excellent information"
BAM AADOM Member
"Great information in a very relatable format"