Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Corporate Profile: Scheduling Institute by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Dentaltown Magazine

View Comments (6) More by this author (119)
Quality new patients are the lifeblood of any dental practice. And unless you’re fortunate to own the only dental chair in a town of 10,000, you surely know how difficult it can be to get them in your door. Yes, it takes precise marketing, but how many inquisitive potential patients actually schedule (or stick to their appointment) after they’ve made the initial call? What’s your conversion rate? Do you even know? You could have the best marketing plan in the world, but if you’re losing them when they call you, you might be wasting your resources. That’s where the Scheduling Institute (SI) comes in. For years SI has helped practices reach out to potential new patients and considerably increase their monthly and annual new-patient percentages. Dentaltown Magazine spoke with SI President and Founder Jay Geier to learn more about his company’s offerings and how SI can add new patients to any dental practice. SI’s program has many components, ranging from telephone training, establishing systems, providing incentives for growth and keeping accountability strong, to coaching and consulting. If you’re not convinced about SI’s success rates, read the three adjoining case studies from practices that have benefitted from training provided by SI, then judge for yourself.
Case Study #1
Dr. Kelvin Choi
San Francisco, California
Dr. Kelvin Choi began working with the Scheduling Institute a little more than seven years ago when he purchased the Telephone Training/New Patient Focus Self-Study kit. For years he’d been getting about 15 new patients a month. He got his two front desk staff certified with the Scheduling Institute and immediately his new patient numbers skyrocketed – doubling to more than 30.

Looking back, Choi says, “With more new patients everything seemed so much easier; you feel more valid, you don’t ‘sell’ as hard, you don’t ‘stalk’ the patients who have pending treatment to come back, and you utilize your staff, space and equipment more fully.” He added, “In my case, though, the most important thing was it gave me the confidence to move to a bigger space that was long overdue.”

Three years later, Choi stepped up to a higher level of membership with the Scheduling Institute and ended that year $400,000 above the year before. He renewed his membership another year and that year went up an additional $600,000.

Since starting with the Scheduling Institute, Choi has quadrupled his monthly new patients, doubled the size of his office and his staff and doubled production. Choi says, “Jay was able to change my belief system and keep me engaged and accountable.” But most importantly he adds, “And I know I have reached this position without sacrificing any of my values.” Choi credits Jay, saying, “I want to thank Jay and the SI for helping me to achieve the most explosive growth, professionally and personally, in the last four years than I have ever experienced in the last 30-plus years in practice.”

Disclaimer: This doctor was given no financial consideration for this case study. This is just one of thousands of stories SI had to share. For more like this, visit www.moreaboutsi.com.


Jay, can you tell our readers what’s new at the Scheduling Institute since it was featured in Dentaltown Magazine in September 2009?
Geier: The Scheduling Institute continues to expand its reach with an average of 100 new dentists coming on board each month to participate in our Telephone Training/New Patient Focus program. This program is setting new patient records in practices both nationwide and abroad. On average, our clients are seeing a 40 percent increase in new patients. Fifteen percent is the minimum and we’re seeing as high as 100-150 percent.

We’ve continued to grow and expand our offerings to meet the needs of our clients. We’ve added seven new in-office trainings in addition to our original Telephone Training/New Patient Focus Program. We’ve expanded our coaching programs to include a track designed to increase a dentist’s practice five times and we’ve built a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot training facility that is the home to all of our coaching workshops and our new staff training university.

As we’ve expanded our offerings, we’ve also grown our team to ensure we are always creating value for our clients and exceeding their expectations. We have 21 trainers, a team of six coaches and nearly 100 other employees. In January we moved into a new corporate office, which tripled our space and allowed us to substantially improve our level of service. We’ve also become more intentional about giving back. Ten percent of all SI profit is given to charity.

How have your programs changed to help dentists?
Geier: For years I knew that we were creating friction by increasing new patients and concentrating on the front desk, but leaving out the other areas. So during the last few years we’ve created additional solutions for all other areas of the dental practice, which have been extremely effective and very well received.

We used to only offer the Telephone Training/New Patient Focus program. A practice would plug into it, get its front desk staff trained and certified and see a big spike in new patients, but none of the other areas in the practice could keep pace. Now we offer six additional trainings designed to improve every other area of the practice. We target a few key statistics in each area, teach the team tested and proven strategies to make the statistic go up and then we track progress. Before we were only increasing new patients in practices.

Now we’re also increasing referrals, average revenue per patient, number of new patient calls through marketing and hygiene production, just to name a few.

In addition to us going into our client’s offices, our clients can now come to us at our training center. We’ve found that our most successful clients were seeing great results when we trained them in their office and significantly better results when they coupled that with training at our training center. There’s just magic in getting out of your everyday environment and the dayto- day routine you’re used to and surrounding yourself with other people who are thinking big and setting goals with you. We currently have more than 2,000 staff enrolled in our staff university, which accommodates the entire team – front desk, assistants, hygienists and the team leaders. All courses are held at our new training facility in Atlanta, Georgia.
Case Study #2
Dr. Fadi Farhat
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Dr. Fadi Farhat first heard of the Scheduling Institute in November 2009 when he received a free mystery call of his office. He says, “I honestly didn’t think any changes needed to be made at the time, but when I heard the recording and how the receptionist handled the call, I was mad, angry and scared. I had to admit that I needed help training and building the appropriate team.”

He admits uncertainty about the program at first, saying, “As with any new program I had my doubts, but I knew I needed to try something new to get me and the practice on the right track.” He was running a start-up practice that had no real direction, no real plan and no team. There was growth, but it seemed very slow.

He says, “The results have been nothing short of phenomenal. Within 90 days of working with SI, I collected an additional $50,000 as a direct result.” When he started, the practice was averaging 33 new patients a month. That number jumped to 47 by February 2010 and now they average 59 new patients a month, with their record month being just more than 100. His staff has remained excited to see patients coming in and accepting treatment recommendations.

He says he likes to think his life is separate from the practice, but the practice is allowing him to enjoy a better life. As far as how the Scheduling Institute has impacted that he adds, “The program was and is still eye-opening for me. Every workshop or seminar I attend I learn something that I have to work on or improve which helps to give me clarity about my future.” His final thoughts on working with the Scheduling Institute were, “It is a relief to know there is actually a resource that can help improve my practice and improve my lifestyle.”

Disclaimer: This doctor was given no financial consideration for this case study. This is just one of thousands of stories SI had to share. For more like this, visit www.moreaboutsi.com.


You claim that your training facility in Atlanta is the most convenient dental training facility in the country. Why is that?
Geier: Our training facility is located just a stone’s throw from Atlanta’s international airport. When you step off the plane you simply hop on a sky train and take a 4-minute ride that drops you off less than 100 yards from our building. There’s no car rental or taxicab and there are two brand new, affordable hotel choices literally next door and across the street. Everything you need is within walking distance.

How do your services differ from those offered by other consultants?
Geier: We’re not in the business of producing incremental growth. We’re bold and aggressive and really push our clients to produce significant growth. Most of our clients are successfully setting and achieving bigger goals than they’ve ever gone after on their own or with other consultants. We don’t tell dentists what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. Sometimes it’s painful, but it’s what they need. Some people think we’re pushy and in your face, but the reality is, a lot of dentists are stuck in a rut and their practice has either plateaued or is declining. Having dealt with this for 25 years, we know that this approach is sometimes the only way to get through to them. We have to take drastic measures to get some people’s attention, but for the ones who really want things to get better it’s usually the first step to a brighter future.

I understand there is only one way to begin working with the Scheduling Institute. You make every new member begin with the New Patient Focus Program. Why is that?
Geier: At least 95 percent of new patients call your office before coming in for an appointment. So you can work really hard to improve and grow other areas of your practice first, but if the phone is not being handled properly and you’re losing potential new patients, you’ll never get the other areas to produce at maximum potential. You can spend money on marketing, but will the patients make it through the phone barrier? You can improve your service to your patients and increase patient referrals, but will those patients make it through the phone barrier? New patients are the beginning of your practice pipeline. If there is a hole in the beginning of that pipeline, nothing you try to improve after that will be as effective as it is once the phones are answered properly. To learn more about the Telephone Training/New Patient Focus Program, visit www.moreaboutsi.com.

What can we expect to see from The Scheduling Institute in the future?
Geier: The Scheduling Institute’s intention is to grow 10 times larger over the next five to seven years. We will continue to add services and products based upon what we’re learning from clients and what solutions will meet their needs.

We’ll be adding a West Coast training facility in the next 18 to 24 months in order to cut down on some of the travel for our West Coast clients.

We will continue to be very aggressive in growing practices and spreading the word about the ability for dental practices to prosper regardless of the economy.

How can a doctor learn more about SI and the programs you offer?
Geier: Every dentist should take the 5-Star Challenge to find out how focused its staff is on new patients and how well its staff is handling new patient phone calls. This will reveal how many new patients a doctor is losing as well as how many the practice stands to gain. There is no cost or obligation to take the Challenge.

Go to www.moreaboutsi.com and click on “Take the 5-Star Challenge” at the top. We’ll send you an informative CD that will walk you through our process and how it will work in your practice. To find out if you have a hole in your new patient pipeline, go to www.moreaboutsi.com and click on “Take the 5 Star Challenge.”
Case Study #3
Dr. Angel Lopez
Oviedo, Florida
It was January 2010 when Dr. Angel Lopez’s office administrator and wife, Sahira Cintron, responded to a Scheduling Institute offer to get a recorded mystery call of their office. She says of requesting the call, “I have always had a perfection complex and immediately thought that they would find absolutely nothing wrong with our office.” To her surprise, it was a reality check. Consequently they joined the Scheduling Institute and started with the Telephone Training/New Patient Focus program. They started out averaging 75 new patients each month. After just 30 days of training, their new patient numbers were up to 100 and they now average 103 a month. They increased collections by $400,000 in the first year.

After experiencing the results of the initial Telephone Training/New Patient Focus program, Cintron says it was a no brainer to move into Geier’s coaching program. Since taking that step they have experienced significant improvements both personally and professionally – greater wealth, reduced debt, reduced stress, more vacation time, more generous mindset, better relationships with family and friends, happier patients, happier, more committed team, better communication among the team and with patients, and they are excited to be building a new office.

Cintron admits that working with the Scheduling Institute has been an eye-opening and enlightening experience because it has revealed their weaknesses and given them the tools, strategies and knowledge to overcome them and produce success in spite of them. They also have a much clearer vision and purpose for their practice.

Disclaimer: This doctor was given no financial consideration for this case study. This is just one of thousands of stories SI had to share. For more like this, visit www.moreaboutsi.com.
Dentaltown Magazine
May 2024
Dentaltown Magazine May 2024 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2024 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450