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The return on respect is extremely profitable.

So I am doing it. I am starting this thing called a blog. I have written many things. I sit and write or I sit and I type. Then I delete. Everything always goes unpublished. I find myself in this situation time and time again. I analyze anything and everything. I am always thinking business. I have from a very young age. 

When most kids were playing barbies, house, work or school, I wasn’t playing. At the young age of 11 I was working every afternoon for my father’s company. He didn’t request this, I insisted. My father owned his own HVAC company for almost 40 years. He was a well respected man, definition of integrity. There is not a single person in all surrounding counties that will tell you any different. I knew when I grew up I wanted to be just like him. 

I am a “daddy’s girl” in every meaning. I wanted to make him proud everyday. I wanted straight A’s, so that I could hear his praise. I wanted to help him work, so that I could show him I was a hard worker. 

My self-assigned job responsibilities included calling on his clients and asking them how they were doing, making them smile and providing customer service. I would call and ask them if they needed a service-run, if everything was running smoothly with their unit, if there was anything we could do to provide better service for them and I would always thank them for their business. Little did I know, I was paving myself a successful road for my future.

Fast forward a couple of years, my daily calls morphed into attempts to collect outstanding monies owed. Everyone respected me. I feel this was because my father delivered respect in his reputable work AND because I was respectful in my calls to collect. I maintained the friendliness and care in my call. I never failed to ask them how they were doing prior to talking business. 

Calling someone to remind them of their debt (when I can assure you, the majority have not forgotten about) and asking them how they intend to pay, is not something many people are comfortable with. I have never feared it. I have always viewed these calls as an opportunity to maintain a relationship and hard earned rapport with our customers. Listening to their financial burdens, projecting empathy, understanding their situation and repeating it back to them. Showing them “I CARE”. This is how I maintained my father’s A/R. This is how I grew my career. This is where I am today.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.       – Steven Covey

Do you really know WHO you are hiring?

Over the past couple of months, I have been diligently working with my marketing team to transfigure our website. The marketing team is all graphics, SEO and configuration. The content portion of the website however, that is on me. 

If a client hires Ace Dental Executives, they are not hiring “a company”, they are hiring a team of highly skilled professionals and “me”. I need the website to depict our intense devotion to our clients. The passion, the commitment to serve, the services, my insight, our reputation, all of these things mean everything.

Now, obviously I am delving around in other websites to generate ideas and spark direction. Brainstorming is therapy for the mind.

As I am taking notes of all the things I like and dislike throughout my search, I find myself shaking my head in dismay many times. 

As I reflected on the “Careers” section, on many of these large renown company’s pages, I was speechless. The qualifications to work for many of our competitors was simply appalling. 

When a client makes the decision to entrust their practice in the hands of an outsourcing company, that is a big deal !! TRUST IS EVERYTHING. They are trusting that the company they hire is completely secure in all facets, not only in their remote connections and their patient’s confidential information but in the quality of services they will receive and the return on investment. 

How these companies are hiring virtual assistants with no education, no background check, no accounting experience, no customer service experience, NO EXPERIENCE IN THE DENTAL/MEDICAL industry, etc… is beyond me. I don’t understand it. 

Some of these outsourcing companies are turning around and outsourcing their services to other countries!!! What? 

Some of these outsourcing companies have a new employee on their client’s account each day. How is this conducive to a healthy follow through in your aging? I wonder if they are ever able to get to know your team on a personal level and understand your processes and systems for your unique practice(s).

Friends, if these companies ask you to sign a long-term contract, please ask yourself why. If they are confident in the services they provide, they don’t need to bind you to anything. Their services will be valued and that should be the job security the seek, not a signed obligation.

Each team member at Ace Dental Executives is extremely knowledgeable in their profession with years of combined experience in customer service, billing/collections, dental and/or medical coding, insurance, accounting, etc… 

Please know who you are hiring. Do you know the face of the person sitting behind the scenes working for your office or do you just know the company name?

” Trust, but verify”- Ronald Reagan 

Influence Your Competitors

“As we go about our daily lives, we are generally motivated either by fear of what we don’t want, or desire of what we do want.” Alan Sullivan

What I do want is to build a company with so many outstanding values and so many positive attributes that the services we offer come secondary to our greatness. Building my life legacy and spreading my passions for all things good in this world will always be a reflection of Ace Dental Executives. 

What I do not want is to grow a company that overlooks it’s values, becoming nearsighted for profit. I hope to influence other companies to sway away from that trend/vision. It is not necessary. 

 Definition of profit

noun

1: a financial gain, difference in what is spent and what is earned

verb

1: obtain a financial advantage or benefit, especially from an investment

Do you only see “money” when you see the word “profit”? Let’s flip it for a second. 

Remove the financial portion of the definitions. What do you now see? Gains. Advantages. Benefits. Earned differences. These things are just subjective to money not objective. Can you see the difference?

noun

1: a gain, difference (long term client relationships/friendships)

verb

1: obtain an advantage or benefit (blessings), especially from an investment (quality time)

What do I need to believe or become in order to manifest the reality I am seeking? According to Jesus, whenever you ask for something, believe that you have received it, and it will be given to you. In order to manifest your desire, you must feel it to be true, that you already have it. You must hold on to that feeling. Jesus went on to say, “According to your faith, it is done unto you.”

So there you have it, I am already successful. No matter what happens, I am successful. It has already been bestowed upon me. I believe that to be true, so it is. My successes aren’t derived from my profits, quantity of clients or how fast my company can and will grow. My successes are derived from my quality of life and how I perceive it. How I believe it to be true. 

Einstein, Buddha and Gandhi have paved many roads in my journey. 

“If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough.” -Albert Einstein 

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.” Gautama Buddha

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” Mahatma Gandhi 

So what is my WHY? Well Simon Sinek, it is Me! I am my why. When you choose Ace Dental Executives, you choose my values, passions and life’s work. You choose to relieve your stresses and entrust them with the most qualified and heart-felt team you could have ever imagined. You choose integrity, loyalty, transparent communication AND measurable results, YOU CHOOSE SUCCESS. What an investment. WHY NOT?

I love my team, all of them. My team loves me, all of them. I’ve been in the medical industry for a little over 10 years now. Good employees are hard to find. When I hire an employee, I am soul searching. I don’t settle. When I find “The One”, I grab them and I don’t let them go. I build teams that are smarter than me and that crave every day success equally and if not more. My life values are instilled into each team member from my very first conversation with them. They make me proud everyday in every way. 

 Definition of vanguard

noun

1:a group of people leading the way in new developments and new ideas

2: the troops moving at the head of an army, the foremost part of an advancing group, front-line 

I will not be here forever, as death is inevitable, but through my life’s work I am certain that my legacy will. 

XO

-B