The dentistry world is endlessly fascinating; as well as being clinicians, dentists operate as business people in many different ways. We all know dentists who have gone on to built successful practices, invented or created oral hygiene products, developed training academies or more recently, even devised mobile phone apps.
Not all dentists are happy to operate as business people, so are likely to recruit advisors like us to help them practise profitably, whether that’s through demonstrating how to build profitability, advice on tax planning or simply developing their vision.
We see it as our job to bring on board specialist colleagues who we believe will work effectively for our clients. We only recommend professionals who will provide the best possible service to our clients. There is no back-scratching or kickbacks. We want to ensure they have the best possible support team.
Any advisors we recommend share our commitment to our clients and work openly and collaboratively. Like us, they will be dental specialists. If you read our case studies, you will see examples of dentists who have benefited from our collaborations with other dental specialists, whether it’s Independent Financial Advisors, practice valuers, sales agencies, solicitors or communications & marketing specialists.
Just recently we encountered a non-specialist accountant who was providing a valuation for his dentist client. He argued he was saving his client money. In our view, this does not serve the dentist well. If they are hoping to sell, they need as much input as possible in order to get ready for market & understand what the business is worth. Specialist sales agencies have the inside knowledge and experience to advise appropriately and will seek to build relationships with clients some years before a sale is on the cards- all the time helping them steer the practice in the right direction to achieve optimum value.
We have also witnessed the converse, where a sales agency recommends only one firm of solicitors. This cannot be in the client’s best interests and could imply a vested interest!
We always suggest that a client should speak to 2 or 3 highly regarded solicitors to see who they feel comfortable working with. Just as patients should not look for cheap dentistry, dentists should not look for cheap services. Good value service, professionally delivered by experts in their field is the optimum.
Never before has it been so important to be part of a trusted network and in dentistry each and every one in the network needs to be a specialist who is ready to work collaboratively. If your advisors are not fighting your corner, if they are not completely transparent, if they are not collaborating in your best interests, how far can you trust them?
