Tiff and Trish discuss the need-to-know info for the buyer of a practice, including team member transparency, new patient inflow, software use, and more.
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Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:01)
Hello Dental A Team listeners. We are back again I have Trish with me because I freaking adore her and I the we just recorded a podcast We record a few at a time. You guys know that I batch them It's called efficiency and that will be on my tombstone per Kiera. She tells me that every day It will it will if it's any vision. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is like grating cheese by hand like come on anyways
We are here today and we just recorded a podcast. So these are kind of serendipitous that they're back to back and it ended up this way in a weird way. So I don't have to go down that rabbit hole, but we just recorded a podcast on this seller's perspective of how to ensure that you're always ready and prepped to sell no matter where you're at in your journey, making sure that 10, 20, 30, five, two years down the road, you can sell your practice and that it's not as...
as stressful an event as it would be if you were unprepared. So I can't say we can remove all the stress. I can say that we can remove some stress that is just unnecessary. So today, now, I really wanted to look at the buyer's perspective. And we kind of hit on both a little bit on the last one, but this one's gonna be a little bit different. So make sure that you listen to both. Doesn't matter which order, I don't think. We'll find out by the end and I'll tell you if you should have listened to the other one first.
I know, I know, inefficient, but it's okay. So Trish and I are here today. You guys know I adore Trish. If you just listened to the Sellers one, which you should, ? you heard me just rave about Trish. And Trish, love, I realized when I was recording with Monica a couple of weeks ago, which those were fantastic, you guys, if you need information and ? ideas on training your team and operations manual, et cetera, all those pieces, Monica has some stellar ideas over there. But I realized Trish, while I was
Recording with Monica, I love podcasting. I love this aspect. I'm just a weirdo like that. But I love podcasting with you guys. And I realized in the beginning ? with Monica, it was our first time podcasting together. And it was the first time that I got to rave about Monica and just really say all of the things that I love about her and I think is just so incredible about her with her consulting and just who she is as a human.
And I get to do that with you guys here in this platform. And Trish, you're one of my favorite people to rave about. love all of our consultants. You guys hear me rave about them, but Trish is such an incredible human being. It is impossible to describe you. You're just multifaceted. And I realized this is my brag session time. And I'm like this, I love it. It makes me so happy inside.
DAT Trish Ackerman (02:37)
Thank
I that.
The Dental A Team (02:49)
to just watch you guys thrive and to get to just tell the dental community how amazing you guys are and how special it is for them to get to hear from you and to get you guys in person with them and working with their teams and the leadership that changes the profitability that I've seen come out of everyone's work is so cool. And I realized with Monica, I'm like,
this is why I love podcasting with them because I love getting to love on you guys. It's just so cool. So thank you for, I hope so. Dana's over there. just always like ask her about workout stuff, you know, and I'm like, she's, I love on her too, but I'm always like, what's your hair product? What's your, what's your workout? It's fine. It's fine. ? so thank you for letting me have this space Trish and for, ? always being open to all of the things that I need. ? your,
DAT Trish Ackerman (03:19)
We'll take it.
Thank
The Dental A Team (03:43)
one of those people that I know I can trust to just be myself. So thank you for that. Thank you for being here today. Of course, of course. I love my job. So with that said, number one piece of suggestion that I have before we get into this buyer side, Kiera and I, have been at this for a little while with the Dental A Team and
DAT Trish Ackerman (03:46)
You're welcome to attend, thank you.
The Dental A Team (04:06)
Carers Dental Consulting and Dental Masters and whatever name we decide it's been the Dental A Team for a long time and it's going to stick the Dental A Team, it's not changing. But we have had a couple of renditions and one piece that I know we have gotten really, really good at, but that we've really had to work hard at. And from a buyer's perspective, a seller's perspective, I think this is insanely relative, the people. We have worked really, really hard at the people aspect and
pouring ourselves into the people and figuring out that that's actually what we love to do. We love to consult. We love to be with the teams and the doctors and we love to see all of those pieces. I love being on stage. I do. But pouring into our team and creating a business that's not solely dependent on Kiera and I and a company that could thrive if we're on the road, if we're on vacation, that has been a massive transition in our company.
And once we realized that and we got really good at it, we started attracting some really, really cool people. And Trish, you're one of those people and you do not shy away from letting us know that it's working ? or letting me know when I'm not on my best A game of that. And I love that about you. And I love that about our team. think I can count on any one of you ladies to be that person for me. thank you.
And doctors and business owners out there, think this is a huge piece of selling or buying a practice. And Trish, you mentioned that towards the end of our sellers one is the team and really making sure that the team is there for the longterm, but they're really supportive. know if, you know, we built this company to be a sellable company. That's a known fact. It would be wild for us not to do that. It does not mean that Kiera is selling the company tomorrow, but she could.
if she needed or wanted to. And Trish, from a team perspective, just real quick to hit on that, as a team perspective, how does that make you feel ? for the doctors and practice owners out there to kind of hear?
DAT Trish Ackerman (06:13)
You know, this is a hot topic. I won't go down bunny holes, but I have seen many, I've been with a lot of doctors that have purchased a practice and they have acquired that team. And I've seen the bright side of it and I've seen the dark side. The bright side is what I'd like to share today because we'll put the light on that. And I also do want to, I want to add something to what you just said, Tiff, about how you and Kira are also feeling like
The Dental A Team (06:26)
Yeah.
DAT Trish Ackerman (06:42)
you're in a different space now in the company because of the people. But I also want to remind you that that is something that you and Kira, you built that. You built, it didn't just happen. You guys built that. you do have to, like for Kira, there is a level of trust that has to take place. And I'm sure it's really difficult. I mean, this is a livelihood. And this is the same for these dental practices. So when a buyer is coming in,
Typically they do acquire a team and it is the responsibility of the selling doctor to be very transparent. We can't leave team members out when they get shocked and just told I sold and there's a buyer coming in there. could we I've seen I've seen entire teams walk out like, okay, we're out. We're not we're not dealing with it. But when there is a lot of transparency introduction to the incoming potential buyer, sometimes they haven't even bought yet.
The Dental A Team (07:30)
Yeah, thumbs up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
DAT Trish Ackerman (07:41)
?
and just letting the team, ensuring that the team knows that they're going to be safe. They're to be safe. There's change coming, but they are going to be okay. And if they value and adore their doctor, which many of these team members do obviously, and if they've been there for a long time, then they also want to be part of that support. So being a part of this whole process is, I always say number one, like start there.
The Dental A Team (08:07)
Yeah, I totally agree. I love that. So taking that to the next layer, right, as a buyer, I think that would be a a great inquiry when looking at practices, right of what is the team's knowledge on this situation? Do they know that you're selling? How far into those conversations argue how prepared is the team? And really like, what am I walking into? I think is massive. think if you were dating,
and you are on whatever dating platform, because that's where you're finding people these days, right? And it's like, yeah, I have three kids. It's like, cool, what am I walking into? You would not just walk blindly into a family and expect everything to be just fine. It would be, you know, there's a, yeah, yeah. Like there's a courting period for both, for the parents, right? For the...
DAT Trish Ackerman (08:53)
no family.
The Dental A Team (09:03)
boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever it is, right? And the kids, there's a courting period for all of it. And they think that we devalue that in the buying and selling situation. I think, that was great perspective. If I'm a buyer, that's definitely a great question and inquiry to ask. And I think when you're adding additional practices, we have a lot of dentists, a lot of doctors who want to, they have their flagship and they want to expand and they want to reach more communities. And so they're adding,
another family and now we're the Brady Bunch and we're meshing these two families together, but not having that knowledge of who am I meshing into the family I already have. There hasn't been a courting period. Could be really, really dangerous.
DAT Trish Ackerman (09:44)
Yeah, I can. And like, where is this new practice going to be? Like, there's so many things to look at here, but we can cover that today. And I'm so happy that we started with the team piece though, because I just want to have that all over. If you're wanting to buy a practice, where's the team, team, team? Who are you adopting?
The Dental A Team (09:45)
Yeah.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah, who are you adopting? love that. And who are you expecting your current team to befriend? They've got to, you know, even if your practices are, they're never, they're never going to quote unquote work together. Not how, if you've got multiple practices that don't communicate, that don't have anything to do with each other, that's a lot of, in my opinion, that's a lot of stress. I think that's like, if we're gonna continue the dating theory, right? That's like having your family.
And then you start a second family. And you have a wife, kids, a dog, and you have a wife, kids, and a dog, and you're trying to keep these two lives separate from knowing each other. That's a lot of stress. That's a lot of work, and it's just completely unnecessary. You can adopt this practice as team and welcome them into the family that you have, as long as you already have worked on that culture. And I think if you're expanding...
Practices you're buying additional practices that culture piece has to be intact your systems have to be intact So I think buying additional practices is a fantastic idea if that's your journey That's the the road the path that you want to take and you've been called for it do it But look at those pieces so from we talked the seller's perspective earlier And I think sellers and buyers perspective is super similar just like we we had said it's like buying a house so if you're buying a house or you're selling a house you're kind of
Selling a house, you're thinking what's the buyer looking at? And as the buyer, you're looking at these pieces and how is it valuable to you? And Trish, some things that you had mentioned before was the patient base, making sure it's a healthy patient base. I think from a buyer's perspective, it's active patient base, but also then new patients coming in. Are they still getting new patients? Because that's where a lot of your diagnosis is going to come from. And then healthy profit and collections.
are huge. We've already talked about the courting of the team. What does the team know? How are they going to support the cell? I think is a great question. How is your team prepared to support the cell and making sure they're on board? But Trish, when it comes to the, I think the profit in the AR is probably for most buyers, a massive question mark. And when it comes to that as a
a doctor coming in, even if they're going to partner maybe, but buying that additional practice to come on board with yours, what are some pieces that you really look for within the profit or the collections and maybe even down to like software if you're adding an additional practice, what are some pieces you would advise your teams and your doctors to look up?
DAT Trish Ackerman (12:36)
Before I even would go there, would first need to know what, like, what is the philosophy of this dentist? What kind of dentistry is he wanting to do? And there's, you know, we could, anybody can find a profitable practice somewhere close to them even. But if you're a, if you're a doctor that like wants to do heavy surgeries and you're all on fours and the big time stuff, but you find a practice that has a great patient base, good profit and all that stuff by a college.
then that might not be the right demographics for you. So like that is something that you even have to look at first. What type of patient base are you trying to attract? And what type of patient base, if you find the one that is Purcell, okay, good profit, team's healthy, accounts receivable is on point, but it's a patient base that is not going to be super open to your philosophy of dentistry, then that could be painful.
So that is also something, it might be a great deal, but that we'd be very careful about what's actually inside that patient base and if it's gonna align with the type of dentistry that we're looking to do.
The Dental A Team (13:36)
Agreed.
Yeah.
I think that's like buying, you've found your perfect house. You're like, my gosh, this is the elevation that I want. It is white with black trim. It's got an acre of land, which is impossible to find and all the upgrades inside, right? This literally happened yesterday. I'm like, this is the house, but exactly, right? Like it's like backing a busy street and it's.
DAT Trish Ackerman (14:06)
They a train track above it.
The Dental A Team (14:13)
almost 20 minutes away from where we need to be. Right. So it's like, it's like finding your perfect home and you're like, this is the one, but it's completely outside of our school district or our, know, it's adding 20 minutes of Camille. I've done that. I have literally done that. And you guys, it was hard and it was unnecessary stress because there are more out there. So I love that you mentioned that because it's shiny objects syndrome, right?
Like that shiny object comes and it looks perfect. It's packaged beautifully, but underneath that shiny exterior is hiding something underneath that is gonna cause a lot of pain in the end. And I think that is the perfect statement there. Like watch for what it is that you want to do. Know what your philosophy is. What is it that you want to do with your dentistry?
DAT Trish Ackerman (15:08)
Yep. And you can get there. It's not that they can't, but in order to get there, it's going to take some remolding of yourself temporarily. again, I'm going to use the high surgical doctor that wants to do lots of surgeries, lots of implants, but these patients have only seen one tooth dentistry and they've been patients for 20 years. We can introduce that after a couple of re-care cycles.
We need to kind of mesh with the selling doctor and the dentistry that he did and build the relationship first. So as long as the buyer can be patient, can accept that, then it can work. It can work. And it's not that difficult to do. I do think that that's when we come in very handy because that requires a lot of coaching. That does require accountability on their philosophy, behavior change.
And that's again, I mean, I don't want to totally toot our horn, but I will when it comes to that piece, because I think we do an excellent job coaching the doctors through situations like that.
The Dental A Team (16:14)
Yeah, I totally agree. I've worked with a practice similar to this that came on board after purchasing the practice and ? high aspirations and wants so much CE and wants to do all of these things within his dental philosophy that I am totally on board with. Although the purchase of the practice was a practice that just isn't, it wasn't ready yet. And there were a massive amount of patients, honestly, thriving.
on patient base 3000 patients within their database and very healthy active patient base. So the reactivation, the re care, like it was, it was easy to get that thing turning, but it took two to three re care cycles before he gets really start diagnosing the things that he wanted to diagnose. And just purchasing, this was a brand new practice first, you know, first time he's owned a practice. And I was like, you, you want to go in.
and you want to ramp up marketing and you want to replace the patients with the patients that you want. I hear you. I hear you. But financially and profit wise, that's not the way. And that's where, like you said, Trish, the coaching really came in handy because it was an easy space to gently add in the things that.
that he wanted and that he needed with the patient base, weeding out the patients that weren't gonna be okay with it, keeping the patients that were and now being ready to implement some marketing in a few months. know, it's still about a year and a half out from original ownership of this practice. Now we're ready to start marketing, but we had to get there because the finances had to make sense. And so I love that you say that, because I think a lot of people think it's totally fine. Like I can fix him.
Yeah, those things bother me, but we'll train it out of them. it's not really the patient base that I want, but I can replace it with new ones. Can you? Because if you're next to a college, like Trish said, you might not be able to do it as quickly as you need to. And honestly and truly, you may not be able to do it. So I love that analogy.
When it comes to profit in the AR, I think that's an easy space for doctors to look at that they kind of freak out about. But again, Trish, like you said, when you've got somebody behind you, you've got a coach. I know we've helped a lot of practices purchase their, not helped them purchase their practice, but really helped look at the pieces of it. It is an easy space for us to see healthy, not healthy when it comes to finances.
pulling the reports and kind of like going in and getting all the pieces, not our jam. That's not the type of consultants that we are, but we are the type of consultants that will walk you through step by step on what to look for. We will help look at P &Ls. We will help look at the overhead costs and the ? health of the AR and credits like Trish mentioned, and really help to advise and give opinions. ? But outside of that, for a buyer who's adding that practice,
I think you nailed it saying, what's your philosophy? Cause we're adding this practice. this going to be, is your philosophy that you want one of them to be GP and like bread and butter and you want the next one to be, you know, cosmetics. And is that the philosophy that we're going for? Like, what is that going to look like as a buyer? You've got to make that decision first, not while you're looking at practices. I think that would be really dangerous to not really know what you want and then go into it be like, well, this could be.
Well, is that what you want? So I love that. Something I think Trish that's kind of like simple that is often missed is software. What software are they using? Is this a software we know? Is it, is it one we're using? Is it one that we want to use? You know, Eagle soft compared to Dendrix or open dental compared to curve, like very, very different systems. Um, and this is wild. It's 2025, but there are still
Practices out there. I love them dearly. I love you guys. I love you so much all of you that are using paper They're not chartless and in this day and age the practices the doctors who own practices that are growing They're purchasing additional practices. You guys are like you're with it. The technology is there you've got CBT CT scans. You've got scanners. You've got Mobile everything you you're pulling up x-rays on your phone from your dental software and these
practices that you're purchasing, these practices that are out there are typically not gonna be super in alignment with that. So what is that reinvestment going to look like? And again, I think, Trish, back to the team aspect, can the team support it? Are they going to support it? Are they prepared to support it? ? What do you think, Trish? What's your opinion on that?
DAT Trish Ackerman (21:07)
Well,
I'm actually going through something similar right now. And here is my coaching around that. they're not paper, they're not paper, but they are dentrics and they have been dentrics for forever. I mean, honestly, think one of the team members has been there 20 years and this is all she knows. And that's okay. Okay, dentures is great. However, the new doctor who's been there 60 days
The Dental A Team (21:28)
That's what you think. Yeah.
DAT Trish Ackerman (21:37)
is ready to transition to either fuse or curve, one of the two. And we had a long discussion about this yesterday and I begged him, please pump the brakes on that. Because if you're buying a practice and you're acquiring the team and they're going through so much change as it is, and if you throw too much onto them and we go through a massive software shift like that, that could actually drive team members
to leave. I mean, I could. That's a huge shift or just a huge change. It's difficult. It doesn't mean that they don't get through it, but that's just another, that's just something else to really look at. Now, if it's paper, I kind of, would almost, I mean, that's a toughie, but I would almost say hold off for at least 90 days. Like just get in there, build the relationship with the team. I know that the Biden doctor would be chomping at the bit. We've got to some.
The Dental A Team (22:08)
Absolutely.
DAT Trish Ackerman (22:36)
some new technology in there when it comes to software. But when we're buying, those are still things that we do. Either we need to be super slow with and or have such a bond with the team and spoil them right out of the gate that they become our partners quickly. And that is also possible. It truly is possible. But again, building the relationship with the team. If you're going to throw a software change in there like that, then we need to be strategic on how and when.
The Dental A Team (22:39)
Yeah.
Yeah. And I think that I agree and what is massive. agree. And going from Dentrix, you guys, like people who use Dentrix, I'm a Dentrix girl. ? I used Dentrix for almost 20 years in practice and it is, yeah, Dentrix is like iPhones. I, in my opinion, Dentrix is like Apple. Once you're in it, you're just, you're sold. You're like, Dentrix is life. Apple is life. Right? Like I know my phone, the capabilities of my phone is so much more than what I have.
DAT Trish Ackerman (23:07)
and what.
Good stuff.
The Dental A Team (23:35)
but I am so infused and integrated into the Apple web. I can't imagine being out of it and not having an iPhone. Dentrix is very similar. So if you can relate, relate. ? But I think Tresh what you mentioned that I agree. I totally agree. Waiting timeline, you guys. And we're really good at timelines. We are really great.
at taking all of the ideas that you want and being like, fantastic, let's build you a timeline. Let's get this charted for you. And then you know the path that you're going down. So reach out to us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you are a client, like talk to your consultant, that's what we are really, really good at that. But what you made me think of again is that courting process. Because if you're courting the team and the selling doctor and you're building a relationship with the selling doctor and the team ahead of the purchase,
you're already ahead of the game when it comes to that because they are ready to welcome you and support you. And if you've done it right, right, like I know that my boyfriend's kids will know that a dish goes in the dishwasher, right? It drives them nuts. A dish goes in the dishwasher, right? But that's already gonna be a known fact because there's a courting process, right? So what are the quirks? What are the things that
A team really needs to get to know about you. So it's not a complete shock when you come in. So anyways, I loved this. I, I loved the seller's perspective, but I love the buyer's perspective too. And really being able to see that. Yeah. Thank you Trish for all of that. If you were to pick say three action items for ? someone who's thinking about adding a practice or buying a practice, what would the top three action items be for them?
DAT Trish Ackerman (25:04)
I did so.
Really know your demographics. How far away is it from your other practice? If you're adding an additional practice, how far away is it? And what is the team going to do when you come in? How can you establish that team prior? And how can you get the trust and the buy-in from that team first? Because what you don't want is to buy a practice and then the team leave.
The Dental A Team (25:40)
Yeah, yep, I love that. Demographics, location, team. Those are fantastic places. Yeah.
DAT Trish Ackerman (25:45)
And then we look at everything else. But those
are the time I would start there and make sure that the demographics are good, the team is good, and then everything else we can work out and coach through.
The Dental A Team (25:49)
Yeah.
okay.
Yeah, I totally agree with you. It makes me think of, of interviewing. always say, get the demographics out of the way first, because if your practice is too far for someone to drive, they're not willing to drive there. All of those other questions that you asked before you got there are null and void. They mean nothing. So save yourself some time, check the demographics, the locations you want patient base demographics, location base, and then you want team. So I love that. Thanks Trish.
DAT Trish Ackerman (26:23)
Yep.
The Dental A Team (26:24)
Okay, that's a wrap
guys. I hope you enjoyed this. You do not need to necessarily listen to the sellers first. So you're welcome. We wait until the end. I told you I would tell you. You can listen to them in whatever order you want to. But listen to them both. So that was your buyer's perspective. Trish, I love ? bantering with you. Thank you so much for your perspectives and your wit. you guys, drop us five star review. Let us know what you loved. Let us know any other ideas you have or if you have purchase practice.
practices put them in the notes you guys because people again they really do read those if you have tips and tricks we want to hear them too we Learn these things from you guys as well. It's not just knowledge. We were born with this is from experience So go do the things Hello@TheDentalATeam.com You can head over to our website TheDentalATeam.com and you can actually schedule a free consultation with our team and we will be happy to help you in whatever ways we can and As Trish loves to say go be amazing
DAT Trish Ackerman (27:21)
Thanks, Tiff.