As technology evolves it’s getting really hard to choose the right provider for your dental supplies and inventory needs. At Zen, we really feel we have a unique perspective on the landscape and potential bumps on the road when it comes to searching, evaluating and selecting the right software. Not to mention the needs of each specialty, type of practice (Private Practice, Emerging DSO or a large scale DSO), and not to mention sorting through the unbiased, unsponsored opinion of dental influences. So what are the scenarios or the steps? Assess Your Current situation and the needs of your practice and then choose which Scenario fits your needs the best Scenario 1 - You're looking for an inventory control system Scenario 2 - You're looking for an ordering software to consolidate all distributors into a single platform Scenario 3 - You want to get full control of the budget and bring to the industry standard of 5% Scenario 4 - You're looking to support the growing needs of your DSO (dental service organization) Bonus - what nobody wants to discuss ahead of time or hidden secrets of software subscriptions Let's get started with this long article (15-20 min read) we break down the process step by step and provide a different point of view for private practices and emerging DSOs. Assess your current situation and the needs of your practice (or a group). From my early days of business (when I started selling cell phones at the age of 14) I learned any problem should be solved from understanding what the actual pain point is. At Zen we hear all the time "I need an inventory software" but what does it really mean to your practice? It's almost as saying "I want to go on vacation" without picking where to go! Most practices start their journey into finding dental supply inventory management software due to 5 main reasons: Running out of products Budget is out of control A person who was in charge of ordering left Spend hours to count boxes and place orders Your practice (or group of practices) is growing and needs better controls When any of the above happen, next you ask yourself or the team the following 3 questions: Are we looking to solve a specific problem related to dental supply inventory management, ordering, or price comparison? Perhaps all 3? How do we currently manage inventory? Does a problem lay in physical space? Do we have centralized storage or supplies are scattered everywhere… Are we a busy practice with multiple specialties, or a startup, or a growing DSO or you simply trying to make it through the month? And that get's us to the MAIN objective of this article - 4 Scenarios How to Choose the Dental Inventory Software for YOUR Practice! Don’t have an Inventory control systems - do you use rubber bands, tags, outdated software or simply yellow sticky notes Ordering is a mess - does ordering take hours and you still forget to put items on the order. Relying on your rep to do it for you? Ordering from 10 different vendors? When products arrive you have no way of verifying and/or comparing to what has been actually ordered? Spend more than 5% on supplies- paying too much for the product? You realize your friend down the road is paying less for the same product? Or simply you like the manufacture brand but not necessarily the distributor? A growing number of locations but each office still place orders individually? The process is not consolidated nor streamlined? Do people order whatever they want without the approval of the main decision maker? Budget is not controlled since the orders are submitted to vendors without approval? After you had a discussion with your team and made the necessary assessment you’ve identified where the problem is. Now we are ready to look at different solutions! Now let’s look at each Scenario individually and with pros and cons: Scenario 1 - Looking for an Inventory control system If you determined that inventory control is an issue, then a simple solution such as airtable or smartsheet will help tech-savvy practices quickly implement inventory control system and be up and running in less than a day. These 2 solutions just like regular spreadsheets but on steroids. They allow you to quickly add products in, write custom formulas to calculate QTYs and connect barcode scanner from your phone. No technical background or knowledge of writing code is required. The only downside, most of it you will have to do manually. Pros: Easy to use Mobile app Less expensive than dental specific solutions Cons: Will have to add all products manually, No dental catalogs No Dental Support Used only for inventory, orders will have to be placed manually or through another application This is a great way to start and see if your team is ready to move inventory management to the next level without paying for setup and implementation of other solutions. A more robust and dental-specific solution in inventory management is Sowingo Dental. Our friends at Sowingo are building interesting things to control inventory, but more importantly, their implant module is gaining popularity. Things to ask during the demo - how does the ordering work, who submits orders, if chat support is available, Sterilization/Compliance record keeping, and dental catalogs availability. Book the demo directly with them to learn more. Scenario 2 - Looking for Ordering Software to consolidate all vendors in one place If ordering is a huge mess, then you need a dental platform to consolidate all of your vendors to one place, more importantly, you need the platform that will allow placing all orders in one place and with one button. It sounds strange but this is a big challenge we are all working on to find a perfect solution for. However, only a few platforms were able to tackle this issue and have a considerable number of distributors to place orders with and I don’t think anybody has a blank cover of all distributor (besides Zen). In this category, we have veterans and new upcoming companies, entering the market to solve this specific issue: Clixon Dental Pros: Place orders with multiple distributors through a single platform (During the Demo ask them what vendors they can submit orders on your behalf) Control budget in a single place Multiple users can work simultaneously on the order Control shipments and orders with a single login Cons: A limited number of distributors, depending on the platform Not able to process payments Some orders will have to be printed/emailed to be placed directly with a distributor No information on the back orders This is relatively a new concept in dental and most dental distributors can’t wrap their minds around it. Therefore most platform in this segment will have a limited number of distributors they can process orders with and will have a challenge with backorder notification. We are hoping distributors will realize soon enough they need to adjust to the needs of their customers, not the other way around. Scenario 3 - you are out of the budget and 5% seems completely impossible to achieve If you discovered that the challenge in your practice is overpaying for supplies then you really need to polish your online shopping skills. Alternatively, you can use below services that offer price comparison: Google Sheets or Airtable - basically spreadsheets where you manually enter prices for 5-6 different suppliers. Easy to operate once setup is completed Manual setup of prices No way of knowing if prices are changed Have to manually submit orders with selected distributor Dental Specific solutions are: Others - way too many Pros: Most products are sold by above marketplaces and you can get the same products for 20-40% less than traditional distributors Ability to price compare exact product before placing an order A single place for keeping a credit card to pay for the orders These marketplaces, at least our friends at SupplyClinic and CrazyDentalPrices.com, are actively fighting against grey market products and working really hard to keep only authorized products on the platform. Cons: Have to know what you are looking for, doesn’t know your order history or inventory Marketplaces usually are limited to smaller and mid-size distributors that can cause shipping, stocking and other challenges. A limited number of manufactures (Brands such as 3M, Kerr, and are not authorized on some of these platforms). Longer delivery times because of a drop-ship model this might take up to 2 weeks on certain items. Most of the marketplaces are getting really innovative with things like delivery times, easy product returns and aggressive pricing. However, the bigger challenge is you are only using this as an alternative option and still need to use your main supplier for some of your Brand items (at least at the time of writing this article), therefore you still have a need to track orders in multiple places. Scenario 4 - how to support the growth of your emerging DSO (Dental Service Organization) Scaling your group from a single location to multiple practices is a daunting task and usually, it’s all about the system. No systems no scale! This is where inventory control becomes even more important. As you are scaling you need to have 2 major controls in place: Products your practices use with an ability to approve any request for a new product from the team/ new associates. A budget that is allocated per month per each location, with the ability to review and approve orders before orders are submitted to vendors and essentially will push you over the budget. There are solutions on the market for scaling: Coupa nondental but very popular among dental groups Pros and Cons: Honestly, I really don’t feel we know enough to give our pros/cons in this scenario. However standard things that will be important: Catalog of products Multilevel control - local/regional/corporate - at least for order approval It has to be user-friendly - at the end of the day, your lead assistants will be using it, so make sure you are not adding an additional step to an already busy day of your most valuable team players. This will be very important, in any scenario listed above: When you are narrowing down your options it’s important to have a solid understanding of the following elements (perhaps even read a copy of the terms and conditions ahead of signup): Length of the commitment Implementation Plan (what’s involved, who is responsible, and what is expected of you and your team); is training provided; is it on-site or web training. Breakup clause and fees involved and detailed plan of data transfer Who owns the data and how is it transferred to you in case of a breakup How is your data being used by a software provider, for what purposes, and who is it disclosed too?
How it all started: Since we stared Zen it was very clear to me that at some point I'll have to combine both passions, organizing physical space and training our officers on how to use Zen. Before hosting any seminars I wanted to learn how supplies are managed, how dental assistants restocking each room and more importantly would a lean methodology ever work in the dental practice software. Our first attempt to help practices was with the post called "Ready, set, Get your Dental Supplies Organized with Tip Out Bins" which details how to select Tip Out bins, order, Install, and fill with dental supplies. [URIS id=2425] Then in March of 2019 my friend Dr. Michael Hardcastle, Village Dental, called and asked to come by to help set up tip out bins and organize the dental inventory system. My obvious answer was "Why Not" and after that "Awbery Dental" and then little did I know it's a separate setup all together with a big and promising name - Dental Inventory Makeover [URIS id=2435] What we are offering: We always wanted to host a seminar/workshop at some of our most organized offices, where lead dental assistants who are in charge of inventory and ordering can lead the workshop with examples, hands-on material, and a walkthrough. An office that we can all learn from how they never run out of things, keep budget below 4%, do not store more than 3 weeks worth of supplies and most importantly keep the entire team happy? Well, we found an office that is just like that, Westgate Dental Care. The team who is in charge of it all, Tracy, Michelle, Kaylee, and Dr. Kics are the best and will be hosting this workshop and will cover the following: Entire Process from treatment room to Main storage/Stocking room Checklists/inventory list Process of ZenOut How often orders are placed How to select Vendors Order Approval Process and How to get the entire team involved Bring your floor plans, images and let's discuss how to customize your storages and inventory flow. Breakfast and Lunch will be served (we promise to surprise you with special Chicago treat). ZenTeam
Sharing knowledge and creating an environment to get Dental Assistants together is at the core of our passion at Zen. We were thrilled to start 2020 with exactly that. On January 17 we hosted our 2nd inventory workshop with offices attending from Colorado, Florida, Delaware, Pennsylvania and our home state Illinois. We are grateful to all who attended and Westgate Dental Care for hosting such a great event. With 20 people attending this was an incredible event of learning, sharing, laughing, and growing as professionals. During the 8-hour workshop we covered the following topics: Hands-on Dental inventory system/ Restocking Ordering and How to select vendors Team management and getting everyone on the same page Use of Checklists Advanced Features of ZenSupplies Compliance and simple checklist to make sure your dental office systems stays compliant To Register for April 17 Workshop please RSVP here [URIS id=3307] P.S. if you are just getting started with inventory then our Dental Inventory Makeover Webinar can be a great start!
Dear ZenFamily, we are opening 2 more days in 2020 for ZenSmart Inventory Workshop, RSVP Here: Chicago - January 17th 8am - 5pm Chicago - April 17th 8am - 5pm Each workshop will only have 15 seats available. Look forward to seeing you soon!
A couple of months ago I had a call with a good friend of mine, dentist, and a fellow CEO of a dental tech company Yapi, Dr. Gina Dorfman, when she casually said: "Tiger, why don't you host something like Smart Inventory workshop?". In November with the help of several Zen clients, we did just that. Special thank you to our amazing ZenFamily Westgate Dental care and Dr. Peter Kicks for hosting us. Tracey, the lead dental assistant at Westgate, was absolutely awesome at leading the workshop. Special thank you for our offices that came to Chicago and attended: Smiles of Virginia Brooklyn Boulevard Dental Schaumburg Smile Studio We look forward to hosting our next Smart Inventory Workshop on January 17, 2020. RSVP will be open soon [URIS id=3168] Resources from the workshop: Budget Allocations Guidelines All other checklists and spreadsheets mentioned during the workshop P.S. if you are just getting started with inventory then our Dental Inventory Makeover Webinar can be a great start!
Happy Tuesday, ZenFamily! Hope everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend. As we dive into another busy week, I would like to share a recap on our live events and webinars from last week as well as provide a small update on upcoming webinars. So last week here at Zen we had a webinar on Friday, 5/22 with Tiger, Dr. Gina Dorfman, a dentist and fellow CEO of Yapi Dental and Julie Varney, CDA, RDA, COA, FAADOM, CDSO, CDSH, Mentor of Dental Assistants Rock. Both Julie and Dr. Dorfman shared their experiences, tips and advice on reopening your practice. Dr. Dorfman's practice reopened on Monday, 5/18 and she shared with us how her office went through the reopening process and what their quarantine experience was like. Julie is in New York and her office has not reopened yet. They've done a lot to train their staff on new updates, performed a systems check and stocked up on PPEs. Dr. Dorfman also talked about some protocols, changes in the dental world, how to be an effective dental offices and the reasons why and how your team runs the practice. Please find the full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts2ivcQPGYE Please find the podcast here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/7430adac We are taking the week of Memorial Day to finalize the webinars for the week of June 1st and here's what we'd like to share with everyone thus far: On Thursday, 6/4 at 11 am CST, we will be hosting a webinar on Disinfecting With Cold Fogging? Does it Really Work for Dental? (CE) and we will answer all questions! How do we move forward with a "New Norm"? Well part of that is disinfecting the rooms and I am lucky to have a friend, Dr. Tom Larkin who introduced me to an expert in the field of Fogging - Mike Sands. Here is a short description from Dr. Larkin himself: "Mike Sands is authoritative. In fact, he holds several patents and his company Cloudburst developed the first sideline misters introduced in the NFL in 1994. They were the first misting/cooling system used in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Mike is a serial inventor and holds several patents in this space. I have no idea how I stumbled onto their website, but I am glad I did. I think cold fogging is an integral part of our come back protocol. Search the internet and you will see electrostatic sprayers and numerous fogging sprayers. Many, direct from China. I have been quoted as much as 30K for a system. Mike will break it down and introduce you to a fogger for less than 50 BUCKS! One per Op. Personal fogging protection. " Check out their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CloudburstMS To join this live event, please follow this link: https://livewebinar.com/432-742-712 And on Friday 6/5 at 11 am CST Tiger will host a "15 min Friday Supply Availability Update" for Zen Offices! Please join us Every Friday at 11am Central for a live update on what is going on on the market and availability of dental supplies. All you have to do is login to your Zen account, app.ZenSupplies.com We hope everyone is enjoying the live events and staying safe!
Working Through Change CHANGE! AHHH! I always think of Kevin from Home Alone with his hands on his face, screaming in the mirror. Yes, very few like to hear the word, “Change”. ESPECIALLY during these times of uncertainty. Change can be scary for most people. When you have worked for an office, or on a team for so long, you adapt to processes and personalities. The last thing we want to hear is “We are going to CHANGE the way we do things.” Lets discuss a few tips on how we can effectively and confidently implement changes within the dental dental practice management system 1st-What we know….. What we know is people are afraid of change. 2nd-What can we do? So, What can we do to get our team onboard? Successful change consists of Awareness, Buy-In, Skills, Desire, Proper Resources and an Action Plan. In order to achieve the necessary change we are looking for, we must have all of those in place. Or else….. Awareness-How do we keep our team aware? I would like to stop right here and remind ourselves of what we ARE in control of: Our Communication Skills. I do not believe there is such a thing as over communicating in a dental office. With all the daily whirlwind, we just cant seem to communicate enough! Keep your team in the know. We discussed in another blog about regular team meetings. IF you are not currently having these, I highly recommend them! They are a NECESSITY! In our team meetings it is important to be transparent. I don't mean you have to disclose your yearly income to the team:) However, you can be very open on what you are working on, and what is in the pipeline. Let them know. Your team is SUPER creative, and may just have that one tidbit of advice that may shoot your dreams into another world! J/K, but you know what I mean! Utilize the knowledge that they have, and keep them involved! Buy-In What if our team doesn’t have the buy-in. One thing I have learned over the years from my time in the office on different levels is: What was good for the team yesterday, may not be good for the team today. This was very powerful. Some of you will be growing and adding offices, so keep that in mind. I'm not saying go out and let your team go if you are expanding, but think clearly about where you are going, and who is going to be onboard for the new look. When implementing new systems, or programs within your office, there will always be that team member that will drag their feet. Why do we have to do this? What we were doing before was working just fine. I don’t want to change. Its not going to work”. We have heard all of these, right?!? Get a COMMITMENT from your team. Example: Implementing end of day checklists into your office. Ask your team to give you 4-8 weeks of a commitment to completing their end of day checklist. See how it goes. Schedule a follow up meeting and let the team be open about their thoughts. If the team member creates it, the team member will own it. Let the team make their own checklists. The dentist can edit/add/delete and follow up. This creates buy-in. Your team member is now in control of her own end of day tasks that SHE created. I'm telling you...IT WORKS! Always stay positive when discussing these changes with your team. Its easy to say, “You're right, we really don’t need them.” Instead try “You know what? Lets try these for the next month, every day and see how it goes.” YOU are listening to your team!! Skills One of the biggest challenges I have faced in my dental career was not having the skills needed for the position I was given. You guys, this happens EVERYDAY! There was no doubt I was capable of teaching myself, but how? Going from a Dental Hygienist to Office Manager was the biggest change for me. I quickly realized, I need to learn, and learn QUICK, and develop better skills in order to be an effective leader in my office. When we roll out an on-boarding process, hiring process, or simply a new third party dental software we are using, they don’t always come with the best training. It is our responsibility as a leader in the practice to learn those skills needed to implement, or find our right hand man to learn the skills needed, in order to reach successful implementation. Set your team up for success! NO ONE likes to fail! Figure out how you are going to learn and teach the skills necessary for the changes taking place. That could even be an assistant in your office teaching the maintenance program you have set up. OR creating the program, learning herself, then teaching the team what maintenance should be completed, and when. Desire Resources Action Plan ~Kellie Black, RDH Disclaimer: This article is the sole opinion and research of the writer and doesn’t reflect the opinions of ZenSupplies.
Dear ZenFamily, We are thrilled to announce that we launched “Live Events and Webinars” on the homepage of your Zen Account!!! As we wrap up our third week of live events, I wanted to share a recap with everyone on the week of April 6th. Tiger was joined by 5 fabulous speakers this week who all shared wonderful resources, knowledge and ideas with the ZenFamily. So here is a recap of what happened this past week: Monday April 6th: Dental Assistant Survival Guide During Quarantine with Julie Varney, CDA, RDA, COA, FAADOM, CDSO, CDSH, Mentor of Dental Assistants Rock and Ronda Holman, RDA, Educator, Podcast Guru of DA Rockstars Podcast to walk through a survival guide for dental assistants during the current times of uncertainty. Both Julie and Ronda are founders of "Dental Assistants Rock", a dental platform for support and guidance for every dental assistant! All dental assistants are currently wondering-how do we survive during the current times of quarantine? What can we expect as a result of the coronavirus? Tune in here to watch the full webinar: Tuesday, April 7th: Dental inventory workshop Marie Kondo Style with Tiger Safarov. Tiger reviewed what SPARKS JOY for each office in the Marie Kondo style! Tune in here to watch the full webinar: Wednesday, April 8th: Story from the Trenches: Seeing 7-12 true emergencies every day with Ivana Bueno, director of operations from Dental 360 and Associates in Chicago, IL to share with all of us the current situation in their office. Ivana's office has been seeing 7-12 true emergencies per day, with limited team (or almost no team at this point) and a full schedule, for the emergency only times. Tune in here to watch the full webinar: Thursday, April 9th: Mary Beth and Missy Fryer on Preparing Yourself for What Life Throws At You. We invited two special guests, Mary Beth, founder and CEO of Dental Support Specialists and Missy Fryer, co-owner of Buckeye Dental Solutions, to discuss what it means to prepare yourself for anything life throws at you. Both Mary Beth and Missy have unique stories to share with us! We hope Mary Beth will tell us more about starting Dental Support Specialists with her husband Joe and later co-founding Dental Survival Guides with Missy Fryer (one of our own ZenFamily) . Tune in here to watch the full webinar: During each webinar, we covered numerous topics on surviving through COVID-19 and staying strong during the times of the unknown! There were quite a few interesting resources, books and recommendations made during each webinar so I’d like to share them with everyone here: 4/6 Dental Assistant Survival Guide During Quarantine with Julie Varney & Ronda Holman: -Map of when States are opening back up: -DANB.org - excellent resource for assistants to be able to get educated on their state requirements. -ADA Dental Boards: https://www.ada.org/en/education-careers/licensure/licensure-dental-students/state-dental-boards -CDC Updates: https://bit.ly/cdcdentalassistant -Dental Instruments Book: https://www.amazon.com/Dental-Instruments-Linda-Bartolomucci-Boyd/dp/0323474055/ref=sr_1_2?crid=BZIEVQ2AP4QM&dchild=1&keywords=dental+instrument+book&qid=1586700392&sprefix=dental+instrument+%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-2 4/7 Inventory Workshop Marie Kondo Style with Tiger Safarov: -Our very first Article on Installing Tip out Bins: https://www.zensupplies.com/blog/ready-set-get-your-dental-supplies-organized-with-tip-out-bins/ -Our First Webinar on Inventory and Ordering: https://www.zensupplies.com/blog/dental-inventory-makeover-webinar/ 4/9 Mary Beth and Missy Fryer on Preparing Yourself for What Life Throws At You -Mary Beth’s & Missy’s website/bio: www.BuckeyeDentalProductions.com (where Zen Users can find out more about Missy and Mary Beth and their Dental Survival Guides and use the ZEN code at check out for 10% off!) -www.DentalSupportSpecialties.com is Mary Beth’s company website And here are the details on the upcoming live events for the week of April 13th: 4/13 Live 2:30 pm CST: Vivek Kinra on Collecting 30K in Insurance from Home (CE). Follow this link to join: https://livewebinar.com/959-682-600 4/15 Live 2pm CST: Zen Offices Share their Inventory and Ordering Process. Follow this link to join: https://livewebinar.com/331-404-582 4/17 Live 3 pm CST: An International Reflection on the Coronavirus. Follow this link to join: https://livewebinar.com/411-977-897 We hope everyone is enjoying Zen's live events!
Since we started Zen in 2016 I knew that the only way to grow and build the right solution is to say “Yes” to everything. The ability to say YES, perhaps at the expense of thinking through, is a strength and I try to lead my incredible team with this in mind. We said yes to: Can I add any distributor to Zen? Can I add a dental inventory system to Zen? Can I add an Amazon account to Zen? Can I add my budgets to Zen? Can I do a price comparison on Zen? Can I order Costco water through Zen? Can I add all of my team members to Zen? We said yes to DSOs, Private Practices, Manufactures, and anything that could help our members have a better purchasing experience. All of these questions and our default YES answer helped to shape what we built, launched, and plan for future developments. We also said YES to a lot of internal projects, especially in the last 2-3 months. From launching daily, and then weekly, live webinars, podcasts, and weekly blogs. We were quick to change the dashboard so we can stream live events to our members’ ZenDashboard. With all of these changes, we did just enough planning to get the taste and not get caught in “analysis by paralysis”. Did we lose focus at times? YES. Did we pay the price? YES. But if we are set out to build a truly unique company with a culture of doing vs planning, then why worry about small missteps. Certain projects we had to scale back and some we continue doing for a simple reason of “building a muscle”. So where does it all lead us to? Zen has grown and gained a great customer base. We’ve built so much to try different technical avenues, that the right step forward is to start pulling back from some of the “Yeses” and narrowing down our focus on what is really important. There is also something that is an absolute must for me personally: are we building something difficult and that will help to change the industry? Copying something that has been done before just simply doesn’t excite me. Perhaps Zen is in the stage of humble reassessment of “what did we learn” and “what is our focus”. Perhaps today is more important than ever to think through all that we learned and focus on one direction? So, is change the right step forward? Tiger Safarov
As a new practice from scratch, there was no question that we needed to have dental office inventory software. I had worked as an associate at multiple offices, of which none utilized a system that was proven efficient. There were unused, expired products, random lists of supplies needed, ordering from one supplier, never price comparing, and rarely was the doctor or owner involved. I had the opportunity to create my own systems and inventory supply to provide the practice with the most efficiency, as well as profit to invest back in the practice or in myself. Who doesn’t want more money in their pocket? If that’s the case- you, the doctor/owner, need to be involved in the dental inventory system. It takes less time utilizing a system and being involved in the process than it does dealing with misplaced supplies or realizing you don’t have something when you need it. I can look in my supply closet right now, without having to move a single item, and tell you what is running low or is out of stock. The organization of your dental supplies is the key to being able to utilize the software to its true potential. ZenSupplies has allowed us to implement a system with our lean, organized inventory that provides efficiency and savings. Even as the practice grows, almost every month, we are able to stay within about 5% of collections with our dental supplies. This has everything to do with the management system and keeping a lean inventory. I live by the saying that less is more. You do not need to have an overstock of supplies- it doesn’t allow you to spend the money where you might actually want or need to or you overspend without any knowledge of the budget. ZenSupplies emphasizes the responsibility of managing that budget with inventory that is necessary. The system allows for easily checking items out of inventory and keeping a running list of what absolutely needs to be ordered. Price comparison is obviously a huge benefit as well. Who wants to go back and forth between supplier websites, or even direct contact with reps, to figure out what the best price is? Zen is making it easier and easier, with the growth of the system, to price compare and manage your budget to reach your set goal. Like anything in life, there is a learning curve to utilizing something new. ZenSupplies is a great system to manage your dental inventory, but you need to learn how to make the system work for your practice. I cannot emphasize enough, that the organization of your dental supplies is very important. It is easy to stay organized when you narrow down your dental supplies and minimize to only what is absolutely necessary to function as a dental practice. When you can provide Zen with a lean inventory, the system will work for you. Ultimately, what I have learned is that when ZenSupplies is not working (i.e. we run out of a product that was not placed on an order), it is usually due to user error. Your staff needs to be trained on how to utilize the system or it will not work. Everyone needs to agree at what point an item needs to be ordered. As the doctor/owner, I take responsibility for overseeing that my team is utilizing the system correctly by auditing the inventory and approving all orders. With the ease of the ZenSupplies app, I can walk into the closet scroll through the categories, and confirm that they are checking items in and out as needed. It is worth my time and way less of a headache than scrambling to order a product we are running out of and overpaying just so that I can have it the next day. Dental inventory management is well worth the investment to reduce those headaches, improve efficiency, and stay within budget. Dr. Cerdas' bio is here
2023 is promising to be an exciting year. Technology is booming and there is so much we can bring to dentistry to help with day to day tasks and stress. From AI to basic tasks automation we are looking at the entire landscape and discussing with our offices what is the path forward. From a customer standpoint, according to Delaney, our Customer Success Manager, one of the most desired and requested features is Bar Codes. Ability to scan a barcode and remove products from inventory (or add them to shopping cart) would make the dental inventory software process a lot easier and more of “I don’t have to think about it”. Alesia, our Product Manager, is looking forward to improvements in the infrastructure, reporting, and reliability. This is a great and short episode that provides a glimpse into our inner workings and how we make decisions at Zen.
Providing a consistent and positive patient experience is essential for driving business growth, as satisfied customers are more likely to remain loyal and help your business grow. In addition, the cost of acquiring a new customer is significantly higher than retaining an existing one. That is why, whether you're a startup or a large DSO, building strong relationships with customers is crucial. Also, an exceptional service is not a one-time event: it is an ongoing effort to consistently exceed customer expectations.This means going above and beyond the standard expectations of a dental visit, and actively seeking out ways to improve the overall experience for patients. What’s preventing companies from ensuring top-notch customer service? It's common to have too much on one's plate, and customer service can often be overlooked in the midst of other pressing matters. As a business, it can be difficult to keep track of all the issues that arise, leading to a tendency to view customer requests as a single, overwhelming problem. However, by implementing some dental practice software we use at Zen, you can develop a strategy for consistently providing excellent customer service. We reached out to a few of our dedicated employees who work closely with clients to make them feel special on a daily basis. We are thrilled to share our knowledge and advice with dental practices and other businesses that aim to achieve exceptional customer satisfaction. What does customer experience mean to ZenSupplies? ZenSupplies places a high priority on the customer experience, and it has become a key factor in differentiating ourselves from the competitors. While the growth is important, we focus on treating our customers as individuals, not just numbers. To achieve this, we tend to foster a sense of warmth and familiarity with the customers at every touchpoint, especially in the digital age where the majority of client interactions occur in web based dental software. We take the time to understand each customer's specific needs and preferences, and tailor our product and services to meet those needs. When it comes to building a strong customer support team, it's important to carefully consider the internal HR processes that are put in place to identify, hire, onboard, and train the right people for the job. At Zen, for example, we recognized that having a team made up of individuals with prior experience in the dental field would be key to providing excellent customer care. JILLIAN, CUSTOMER SUCCESS SPECIALIST: "Creating a positive and long-lasting relationship with patients is crucial for any dental clinic. As competition in the industry continues to rise, it's important to understand that having the latest technology and equipment may not be enough to retain customers. It's essential to show patients that the clinic truly cares about their dental health and overall well-being. Here are a few best practices for improving customer service in a dental office: - Never take patient relationships for granted: Regular patients are the foundation of any dental clinic. It's essential to make them feel valued and appreciated at all times. - Empower your staff with positive attitudes: A dental clinic's staff is the face of the business and their attitude towards patients can make or break the customer experience. It's essential to make sure staff members are trained in excellent customer service and are invested in the clinic's philosophy of providing top-notch service. - Remember that small gestures can make a big impact: In today's fast-paced world, small gestures of kindness can go a long way in making patients feel valued. Sending thank you notes or cards can make a big difference in how patients perceive the clinic. By following these best practices and focusing on creating a positive and personalized experience for patients, dental clinics can improve customer satisfaction and build long-lasting relationships with patients." TANYA, CUSTOMER OPERATIONS MANAGER: "Effective communication is a key aspect of providing a positive customer experience in any business, including dentistry. In a dental office setting, it is important to have multiple communication channels available for patients to use, such as phone, email, and online portals or chats. This allows patients to reach out to the office in the way that is most convenient for them and ensures that their inquiries or concerns are addressed in a timely manner. A dental office that can quickly respond to patients' needs and questions will create a positive customer experience, leading to increased trust and loyalty.Whether it is through phone calls, emails, or online forms, patients want to know that their concerns are being heard and addressed. Patients will appreciate the prompt attention and feel more confident in the office's ability to provide quality care. By utilizing multiple channels and timing them appropriately, dental practices can ensure that patients feel heard and valued." LANA, CUSTOMER SUPPORT SPECIALIST: "It's important to regularly assess your customer service practices to ensure you are meeting the needs of your patients. Here are a few questions to consider when conducting a customer service "checkup": 1) Are patients receiving clear and accurate information about their treatment options and costs? 2) Do you keep things fresh and comfortable in your clinic to maintain patient engagement? 3) Are you regularly seeking feedback from your patients to understand their needs and preferences? 4) Does your staff understand and support your mission of treating patients like royalty to foster loyalty? 5) Do you follow up with patients to assess their level of satisfaction with their visit? 6) Do you have a specific protocol in place for promptly addressing any customer complaints? By conducting a checkup, it helps to establish a benchmark for your customer service, which can be used to track progress over time and measure the effectiveness of any improvements made." The Bottom Line Providing exceptional customer service may not be a new concept, but it is vital for maintaining a thriving business. When it comes to customer loyalty, it is not solely about cost and promotional strategies, but rather how a business handles and treats its clients, particularly those with concerns. By providing multiple channels for customers to reach out, having a knowledgeable and friendly customer service team, being efficient, and listening to customer feedback, a dental clinic can set itself apart from the competition and build long-term customer loyalty. Therefore, ensuring that your customer service is excellent will enable you to stay on top of your business game! Book a demo with the Zen Team here: zensuupplies.com/demo
Those that navigate through 2020 and keep their head above the water deserve huge respect. It’s been a year of really testing everyone’s patience and in order to have some sense of stability, we all had to shift and rebalance our priorities. For most, it was rediscovering family time, for some it was learning a new skill, and for some, sadly, it was learning to live through the loss of loved ones. It’s been an incredibly tough year! Please don’t mind me trying to look at all of it from a positive lens. We are all learning to live in a new environment, but we get to define what this new environment means. We get to fix something that was broken. We get to reassess our priorities and choose a new direction. For leaders and business owners, COVID is really testing our leadership skills and resilience. We are given an opportunity to reassess priorities and perhaps look at what we are building from a new light. Nothing is perfect and nothing is 100% predictable. Sometimes doing our best is all we can control, and letting yourself know that, is a great way forward. Our team is the most important asset we have, and during this time we get an opportunity to be the leaders people want to follow. COVID has given us that opportunity to be humans again, to start a meeting with “How is everyone doing”; “Is your family ok?”; that rare opportunity to look at the person as a human and not “Dental Assistant” or “Hygienist”, but a person with problems, anxiety, and stress. Not everything needs to be solved with dollars, metrics, KPIs, and promotions that are “well earned”. The most human thing is to care and have sympathy. And if one is in the position to help, then let’s genuinely help. We get a unique chance to build an “Island of Stability'', where, perhaps, your practice or business (even if it’s virtual, as ZenSupplies), can be the place where the team feels supported and has certainty. We are also given a unique opportunity to fix something that was broken, on a personal level. COVID and lockdowns have forced us to reassess people around us and ask ourselves the questions that Viktor Frankl, in his book “Man’s Search for a Meaning” calls the most existential question for a human being. And this question is “Who needs me?”. From my personal experience, reconnecting with family and fixing broken relationships has been the most difficult and yet the most fulfilling experience of my life. And it all started with “Who needs me?”. I genuinely hope we learn from 2020 instead of “going through”. I hope we take something, fix something, become something, evolve into something better, and allow people, who we love, to need us even more! Thanksgiving Holiday, in my opinion, is one of the most important family holidays. Hopefully, for many of us, this year will look much different, more enriched with family and joy. We are grateful to every single office and team member! From all of us at Zen, Happy Thanksgiving! Tiger P.S. on the picture is my dad, who I rarely talk about.
Just like many things in this world, work life balance is a complex subject, perhaps with the wrong term/title that forces people to search for answers in the wrong place. What is balance? According to the Oxford dictionary, it’s a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. Meaning Your Work and Your Life, magically, need to be equal and in correct proportions! I have so many questions! What are the proportions? Who determines them? Should work be as important as life or vice versa? Should these proportions stay the same for the rest of your life? Even if we look at the basic math, taking averages it’s already not very equal: 168 Hours in a week 40 hours - WORK 56 Hours - Sleep 72 Hours - Life Seventy two hours for life, that is double of work hours, assuming, at least for the purpose of this conversation, sleep is recharging ability to live and work. If we already have such inequality by pure numbers, why is there so much conversation today on work life balance? I would also assume that most people refer to Life part of the “work-life balance” conversation, that time is running out and at the current pace there is not enough life in the equation. Just like anybody else, I ask myself this question, especially as I’m getting older the time is running at the faster pace each year, “What is work life balance?” Let’s look at it by breaking it into 10 year span terms: “Redbull” 20s In my 20s I wanted to work all the time, weekends, evenings, all the time. I would take 40 Work hours, add 72 Life hours and even try to cut off a few hours from sleep. I was driven. I wanted to prove to myself and my family that I could make it! There was no balance. However, there was happiness. It made me happy that I was pursuing what I wanted. I was building my own company and even when I wasn’t I would drive around rich neighborhoods of Chicago, “working” on my goals, imagining living in one of those mansions! If I had a choice to do all over again, not in a chance I would do anything differently! I call it the “red bull decade”. You can survive on 4 hours of sleep, 2 cups of coffee each hour and a redbull. I’m not advising it, but it’s an option for a particular goal or personal ambition. Even if one is not pursuing ambitious goals to change the world, it’s still important to give it your best in the 20s to mess things up, make mistakes, own up to it and try to correct things. The learning experience is enormously important and the more you gain the more value one can create for future self. It’s more important to give it your best, try a career, business, side project, etsy store, etc. Push yourself to work a little harder and see what happens. Ironically it’s also the best time to go all in on Life and experience things before family. Visit new countries, travel and explore yourself through the uncomfortable setting of being in a different country with a different language. Take unpaid leave for 1 or 3 months and just go. I would call it retreat with your future self as you get a chance to face your fears and look back. Ask yourself “Is the direction I chose is truly mine?” By the way, if your employer is mad and/or not supportive, you are part of the wrong company! When you consider “leap of faith” decisions in your 20s the brain will try to tell you “that’s impossible?” or “how are you going to pay for it?”, don’t listen, get creative and just do it. This is the time in your life to train the brain - "If there is a will there's a way! Don’t miss this important opportunity!" Golden 30s This is my territory at the moment. When I turned 30 I could feel something was different. I was different. More content with what I have, less materialistic possession and on the mission for what I know I want. I wasn’t guessing, I invested in my 20s to explore, wander around, work really hard on the wrong things, businesses and a relationship. In my 30s I understood the difference between arrogance and confidence. I learned the value of being honest, telling how you feel and practicing the “if it’s important do it now” mentality. I was 33 years young when I took my first real vacation, with close friends, on a yacht hopping popular Greece islands. I enjoyed every minute of “Life” time and towards the end of the trip I couldn’t wait to get back to Work life. My energy was restored and I knew in order to see more in life I needed to continue working hard to create life opportunities again. This sounds simple and basic, and it really is. In order to create quality Life moments I need to create resources to allow life moments. Resources are created by bringing value to this world in the form of ideas, hard work, and being able to execute on the ideas. We can’t exactly predict the outcomes in dollar amounts or what our efforts are going to be worth, but at least we can give it our best try! In the 30s you start choosing friends, dropping negative friendships, discovering hobbies, establishing a personal health program that includes diet, working out, and choosing your one favorite activity. Many start running marathons, triathlons, Ironman, etc. It’s important to pick the camp and learn all you can about it. It also provides a certain “escape” from day to day activity. I recently learned, from an Interview Tim Ferriss did with Mark Zuckurberg, that running is a great physical activity but it doesn’t help to zone out from day to day activities. Ideally you need to find sports that take up ALL of your attention. I picked hockey! When I play and practice, 3-4 hours a week, I’m fully present. There is no phone, no smart watch, nothing. Even if my wife is watching the game I rarely notice her. I’m fully in the game. Otherwise I’ll get run over or hit by a bigger guy into the boards (survival element). Most importantly you start re-evaluating close family as it becomes more and more important to stay close with the loved ones and create your own island of stability -your own family! This era is full of investments into your current self but more importantly into your future self. Most people start settling into “Well that’s how it is”, “This is what life is”. I recently started hearing “Who would play hockey at my age?” or “It’s too late to start the business” or even worse “Who do you think you are?”. This is really sad and I can’t help but think that I’m so lucky that I made a lot of time investments in my 20s to remove even the possibility of these thoughts entering into my universe! So it’s hard to imagine equal distribution of work and life up until this point. It always tilts and swings in different directions with an effort to live a full life and work really hard to provide yourself an opportunity to have great life moments in the future. Maybe things start to change in the 40s? Wise 40s I’m not there yet, but I hear from those who are there that it’s awesome to be 40! You are wise, experienced and accumulated a great deal of resources. I do feel most people start tilting towards life and experiencing things that they simply didn’t have time nor the resources to explore prior. One downside of the 40s that I do hear is that your inner circle is closing down. Meaning the number of people you interact with is getting smaller and one has to make a lot of effort to meet new people and maintain existing relationships. I really don’t know anybody in their 40s who thinks about the subject of Work Life Balance, however it seems to me most double down on trying to squeeze the most out of the productive phase of life and build a great future. Most importantly I noticed people are very clear on what “great future” means to them. The saying of “climbing the wrong ladder” becomes a lot more obvious and you still have time to swap the “ladder”. Again this is not my area of expertise and all I can do is observe people and so far it looks promising! Fruitful 50s I have no place contemplating work life balance ideas in my 50s, my gut tells me you are ripping the benefits of all the hard work. One of my fears since I was a kid is what my life would look like when I’m at the retirement age. I care less about driving a nice car today vs when I’m 60. I try to imagine myself being a dad or grandad who buys a nice car for cash and can easily take the entire family on a trip to Italy for a month. Perhaps having a clear vision of what the “end” looks like brings the whole work life balance idea to an actual balance. Balance of time, goals, ambition and where you currently are is what makes sense to me. I know what my life would look like in my 50s/60s and for that I want to work my tail off today. That makes me happy and focused. It also helps me choose the right friends who are like minded and on the same mission. There was a hint of that in 2018 on a yacht in Greece with one my close friend Ivan, who I knew since we both immigrated to the US in 2005 with no money and no friends. We had a great time conversing over life since we immigrated and what the future could look like. Imagine the same place and same people when we are in our 50s and 60s, the conversations we will have? I can’t wait 🙂 So much is ahead of us and a better term for what I see as work life balance is Work Life Zen (or harmony, as Jeff Bezos famously coined the phrase). Definition of Harmony - the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole (according to Oxford Dictionary)
Welcome back to ZenOne podcast. Today I'm visiting one of my favorite offices in Waco Texas, Acre Wood Dental and the team, Dr. Ben Johnson, Allison, Meghan and Dan Johnson. We discuss projects Dr. Johnson completed during COVID, managing during tough times, culture and leadership. We cover so many great topics on desire, what makes one pursue perfection and continue to grow professionally. Dr. Johnson shares a story of a personal failure and steps he took to overcome. As Winston Churchill was working to form the United Nations after WWII, he famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. In our context never let a great challenge go wasted without a growth [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RHo-RnL650[/embedyt] At about 32 minutes into the conversation we change gears from personal growth and business to family and fundamentals of the successful marriage. Show notes and timestamps 14:00 - Changing Practice Management Software 16:40 - How Dr. Jonson evaluates new software options for the office 19:30 - Desire to Grow and add more practices. How to identify strengths and what is the max 24:00 - Daily Routine for peak performance 25:00 - Lights go off but we continue recording 26:15 - Are you born with desire and ambition 30:00 - Steps to overcome failures 32:40 - "How much do you share with your wife?" 40:30 - We mention Dr. Tom Novak (Beacon Dentistry) and his relationship advice To learn more about Dr. Johnson's incredible story, please watch this video: https://youtu.be/Hr6y0SSuv1o Website: https://www.acrewooddental.com/