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The Six Ways Staff Incentives are Revolutionizing the Dental Industry by Jay Geier

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After working closely with dentists for more than 25 years, I've come to realize one thing … the "why" matters a whole lot more than the "how." Dentists are incredibly practical, diligent, intelligent and hardworking people. But the truth is you are just so busy all the time that you don't always have the time or capacity to focus on some of the most vital parts of your practice.

Truthfully, this isn't unique to dentistry! This is common in most human beings in our fast-paced, instant-gratification, digital world … but it is an unsustainable habit that will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, destroy your practice. So, rather than just explaining how to implement a results-boosting staff incentives system in your office, I'm going to explain why it would be the best decision you've made in years.

1 Incentives create a results- oriented practice culture.
The problem with many practices today is the flawed idea that "showing up" is good enough and by showing up you are doing your job. By paying your team members high base salaries, you are essentially saying, "Great job! Excellent! You showed up!" As a dentist, you only make money by performing clinical duties and successfully treating patients. You don't make money by simply showing up. So why should it be any different for your team?

Incentives encourage your staff to actively seek results. By paying a lower base salary, but giving them the chance to earn more money through incentives, you are creating a practice culture that is driven by results. People who hate incentives tend to be people who think they should be paid highly for "showing up" … and they will naturally weed themselves out. You can thank me later.

2 Incentives create a sense of ownership.
In order to implement an incentives system, you have to put the emphasis on tracking results and progress, and give team members more control over their areas. Fortunately, this is the fastest way to help them own their roles.

Do you know what happens when each team member starts to fully own his or her area? Everything increases. Front desk staff who own the phones schedule more new patients. Hygienists who own oral health care become better advocates for their patients and their production increases. Marketing directors who own marketing results test, track and tweak more effectively to boost ROI. I guarantee that the overall quality of your practice will rise.

3 Incentives create a win-win, where doctor success and staff success are directly correlated.
The incentive system operates on a very simple principle: when the practice does well, the staff does well. And when the practice does well, the dentist does well. This law creates a synergy between your efforts and the efforts of your staff—it gives everyone a single, unified direction, increases office morale, and strengthens the team. Wouldn't you enjoy having a team that loves coming to work every morning?

Well, try implementing staff incentives and your team will learn hard work and improved results lead to rewards!

4 This system helps you understand the value that each team member brings to your practice.
All too often, making payroll becomes a thoughtless check mark on your monthly to-do list. Instead, make the payment process intentional! Staff incentives allow you to understand the precise value that each team member brings to your office.

If you are writing checks based on individual's results, you'll be much more likely to notice which team members are consistently under-delivering and you'll be much more grateful for the team members who over-deliver! It might seem like a small change, but implementing incentives in your office will help reconnect you with exactly what is going on.

5 Implementing incentives will allow you to "weed out" the team members who are holding your office back from its full potential.
Some team members will fight the incentives system. Even after you explain to them that they can make more money than ever before just by working hard and achieving great results, they will still be upset. Why? Because they want to get paid to show up. They don't like that you're asking them to produce results for a paycheck, because they feel like it threatens their financial security.

In a way, they're right. The incentives system is bad for staff members who under-deliver—which is less than 10 percent of staff members—but very, very beneficial for staff members who work hard and do the right thing, which is 90 percent of the staff members out there! It's that simple. So, be honest, which kind of employee would you rather have? Which one would you want to pay each month?

6 Handing a physical check to each team member has a proven psychological effect on their motivation to succeed.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of this concept. Physically handing someone a reward for their work is proven to increase desire to succeed and maximize performance. When team members open up the envelope and see their checks, they'll know that it is your way of saying thank you for their hard work, and that the amount is a direct reflection of their efforts. If they aren't happy with the amount, they will work harder to increase their results the next month, and the month after.

Hopefully by now you're starting to understand why the staff incentives system has become such a hot topic in the dental industry. The biggest, most successful practices in dentistry are leveraging staff incentives to maximize team performance and results.



Jay Geier is the founder and president of the Scheduling Institute and creator of the world-renowned Five Star New Patient Generation Training Program that has revolutionized the way dentists attract new patients to their practices. He is revealing his secret for record-setting results (600+ new patients in ONE week) in FREE CD available now at www.SchedulingInstistute.com/dentaltown.


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September 2025
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