To commemorate the Scheduling Institute's 20-year anniversary and 20,000th On Site Training delivered, we recap some of its most important milestones, and learned how the company has evolved to help dentists grow. SI's offerings have expanded as its clients' needs have revealed themselves. Today, SI offers 23 different team trainings, three levels of doctor coaching and hosts the largest private events in dentistry. SI is still best known for its original solution, the New Patient Results/Phone Training System.
Case Study
Dr. Richard Turner
Gray, Tennessee
SI client since 2015.
Dr. Richard Turner describes the early years in his practice as "a lot of time sitting around waiting for patients. We tried everything: direct mail, newspaper ads, TV ads, you name it."
He had opened his practice cold—bought a building that was a dental practice in the 1980s and remodeled it. His mindset was strictly on improving his clinical skills. "I thought, 'If I try to be the best possible dentist in the world, people would come to me because of that.' I?found out that's entirely not true," he said.
The early days of the practice were dreary. Turner didn't like coming to work, patients weren't happy coming in, and no-shows and cancellations were very high.
Fast-forward nine years, to when the practice joined the Scheduling Institute. "It has absolutely paid for itself in new patients—and also in the positive change in the staff's attitude and outlook on things," Turner said.
Before SI, Turner saw about 20?new patients a month; now that number is consistently more than 50. The team also lights up when they talk about how SI has helped them grow personally, and describe it as "a complete turnaround."
Dr. Turner discusses even more about his success as a Scheduling Institute client in a video at sistories.com.
Case Study
Drs. John Kwant
and Joe Maio
Salt Lake City, Utah
SI client since 2012.
Drs. John Kwant (left) and Joe Maio (right) began working with the Scheduling Institute just over five years ago, during a time when they were feeling stuck and hopeless.
"I was mad at my staff, not sleeping and finding little joy in the passion that brought me into dentistry," Maio recalls. "Everything that had been fun just became a job."
His first inclination was to work harder and do more dentistry to get off the cycle. But the doctors realized they lacked direction and vision. Their introduction to the Scheduling Institute was a CD they received in the mail that claimed to automatically increase new patients by 25?percent in their practice by using the New Patient Results/Phone Training System.
"It was fantastic," Kwant said. "As soon as we implemented it, we started to see an increase. We quadrupled their promise to 100 percent in a matter of a couple months." The team was excited because it cut their phone call time down to one-third of what it was and they were seeing more new patients come in the door.
The doctors saw a new level of engagement from their team and decided to implement the system in their three practices; it proved successful each time. Having found the success in one SI system, the team decided to try the other systems and programs SI had to offer, and joined the 5X coaching program.
In the five years since joining SI,
Apex Dental has gone from 20 new patients a month to 500. It also transformed from two practices that earned a little more than $1?million combined to eight practices earning $10?million in Utah, where the average dental practice does $500,000–$550,000.
Drs. Kwant and Maio discuss more about their success as Scheduling Institute clients in a video at sistories.com.
Case Study
Dr. Eric Hans
Trappe, Pennsylvania
SI client since 2016.
Dr. Eric Hans admits he'd never heard of the Scheduling Institute until December 2015, when he responded to a mailer on the front of a dental magazine that asked, "Do you want more patients?"
As a pediatric dentist who's been in practice for 20 years, Hans loses 50–100 patients a year who graduate to general dentists. He'd already realized at the rate he was losing patients, he'd be out of business in 10 years if he wasn't always filling the pipeline.
Shortly after responding to the ad, he received a package of free information from SI. He and his office manager decided to give the program a shot because it came with a money-back guarantee.
The same team member who hated SI had a change of heart after learning more about the system. "Once we got into it and found out what it was all about, it was totally different," Hans said. "I just regret not hearing about SI sooner."
Hans' practice went from averaging 40 new patients a month to 67 within three months. SI's system proved them wrong and they were thrilled with the results. With the new patient problem addressed, Hans could now focus on other challenges within his practice. The team was experiencing frustration and Hans' quality of life was suffering. It was common that he went to work before his children even woke up and got home after they'd already gone to bed.
Hans decided to try SI's coaching membership to focus on improving both his situation as the business owner and his team members' situation as well. Now, 22?months later, their monthly new patient average hovers around 60, his team is happier and has more responsibility, and Hans is able to spend more quality time at home with his family.
Dr. Hans discusses even more about his success as a Scheduling Institute client in a video at sistories.com.
In the past 20 years, Jay Geier and the team at the Scheduling Institute have proved that a steady, consistent flow of new patients is a very effective way to grow a dental practice. Since the company began, the Scheduling Institute has developed a long list of training and coaching services to help dentists grow their practices and run them as successful businesses.
Of all the services, the first one SI created remains the cornerstone and starting point for its clients: the New Patient Results/Phone Training System. Its effectiveness and results are guaranteed. Most clients see an average 24.5?percent increase in the first 90 days, but it's not uncommon for clients to see increases of 50?percent, or even more than 100 percent.
The system doesn't generate new patients; rather, it recovers patients a practice didn't realize it was losing. Ninety-eight percent of new patients call before coming into your office, which means your front desk is the gatekeeper to your schedule. Properly trained front desk team members become revenue producers; if not trained, they could be costing you more than just their salary.
SI's research has found that most dentists lose 10–50 percent of potential new patients every month. For a practice seeing 20 new patients a month, that's at least two patients lost per month. Using an average lifetime revenue figure of $2,000 per patient, that's $48,000 a year lost. SI helps its clients recover these losses. Just like the three dentists in these case studies, thousands of dentists have worked with SI over the past 20 years and initially interacted with the company in the same way. They all took the 5 Star Challenge!
Find out how much new patient
opportunity you have
The 5 Star Challenge is an opportunity for prospective clients to learn exactly how well their team is trained and how well they perform at turning prospective new patient phone calls into scheduled appointments. It's a discovery and education process—for many doctors, it's the first time they've examined their patient intake process and scrutinized how new patients are being handled the first time they call.
The 5 Star Challenge involves SI conducting a mystery call and providing evaluation, feedback and a rating based on its unique criteria. Practices that receive a rating of 0–3 could within 90 days see a new patient increase of 10–50 percent. Practices that score higher are already in a great position to continue marketing and growing.
To take the 5 Star Challenge, go to schedulinginstitute.com and click "Take the 5 Star Challenge" at the top. SI will send an educational video series that will walk you through the process. If you're ready to get the training program implemented in your practice, call 833-211-9381.
Hear more from successful docs
The dentists featured in this package have more to say about the
Scheduling Institute. To watch their videos and more, visit sistories.com.