Dentistry visited Campbell Dental Practice to catch up on the progress made almost one year after winning Dental Practice Accelerator.
Can you tell us a few key action points that made the biggest difference to your practice’s success?
Kin Parekh (KP): When we first met Sandeep, Sameer and Justin, we were given a few key action points to work on.
One of them was organising a team and giving everyone a definite role. When we started off, it felt like no one had a specific role in the practice. Louise, our practice manager, was wearing several hats at once.
That was the first thing we changed – we gave Louise a new role as treatment coordinator. She divided her practice manager duties amongst the other staff members, so we now have a definitive head nurse and a definitive head receptionist.
Everyone understands their individual roles, and we now also have a patient coordinator who works offsite and is amazing.
The second thing that the mentors had asked us to work on was changing our practice name. They asked us to create a plan that would make Campbell Dental Practice bigger and more appealing to the wider audience. We don’t want to be limited to one road in Stoke-on-Trent. So, Sameer suggested that we change the name to Stoke Dental.
We took all this advice on board – we bought all the domain names and email addresses, and went ahead with the name change. So, that is a big announcement that we are going to make to our patients this month.
Additionally, it was very important to all three mentors that our team was on board. We made sure that our team members were aware of what was happening at what stage, how we’re trying to balance the NHS and private, how we’re steering more towards private, what changes we’re making in the upcoming years and where we’re heading as a practice.
Before this competition, we owned a dental practice, and we knew we had to work and manage our business. However, we didn’t really have a goal or know where we were heading. I knew I wanted to grow the practice and take the business to a definitive point, but we had no action plan.
We didn’t have any guidance, and more importantly, we didn’t have the confidence to make bold decisions. Right from the start, the mentors gave us wings and said: ‘You can fly as high as you want’. They gave us the confidence to take off, and I think that’s been our biggest achievement.
We know what aspects of our business we are gambling or putting at risk when we’re making decisions. Now, however, we’re not scared of taking those risks. We’re not afraid of trial and error, failing and trying again.
Best of all, our team is so supportive, and they understand that their bosses aren’t perfect – we can fail. We’ll try, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. We are there to support them and they are there to support us.
Jay Parekh (JP): I think they now know fully that everything we’re doing is for the growth of our business and for the team. They know the end result is going to be good, but there’s going to be hard work on the way.
KP: At the start, I said that I don’t want just myself to grow, or just the business to grow. I want every person who’s invested in this business to grow, and I can see that growth happening. I can see my staff members being more receptive towards going on courses, learning and developing new skills. They are willing to take their careers forward, and not just be stuck in the same role.
JP: I think working with the mentors also really helped to put us in touch with the right contacts, opening doors for us, introducing us. Having spoken to these companies and individuals, they provided the additional encouragement for us to start moving towards going fully private. We’ve taken the first steps, and Kin has officially been fully private since 1 June!
That’s a massive step for our practice, our patients, ourselves, and our staff. We’re on this journey together, and I thank the mentors for giving us the confidence to embark on this journey.
Maybe in the back of our minds, we knew that this was something we should do, or at least trial, but we never did it. Meeting the mentors and changing our mindset really made us take that leap of faith.
KP: The energy that all three of them bring individually and as a team is amazing. Right from the first day, when they spoke to our team, introduced themselves and told us what we’re looking at in the future, our team has been so excited.
They’ve passed some infectious, positive energy onto our team members, the practice and, more importantly, to us to strive for better.
We know it’s not going to be overnight. We know it’s not going to be in a few weeks. It’s going to take time, but we can see the growth and change already.
Louise, can you tell us about the progress you’ve noticed and your personal experience with the Dental Practice Accelerator programme?
Louise Cross (LC): We started our Dental Practice Accelerator (DPA) programme last July – 25 July, to be exact! Honestly, when we came out of that initial meeting, we discussed lots of ideas and many things were quite daunting.
However, we put an action plan together along with the help of the three mentors, and we have worked our way through them and are still working our way through them and improving them as we go.
From my perspective, one of the major suggestions at the time was to get an Invisalign coordinator into the practice. I asked whether we should recruit from outside or inside, and Sameer said: ‘I think you should take the job’.
I always wanted to get involved in that side of things. I’ve always loved talking dentistry, talking treatment plans with patients, and now I’m using the Itero, which is a fantastic piece of equipment. So, I’m getting comfortable scanning patients, doing the before and afters, and really enjoying that side of things.
That’s been a major change for me, which also led to another change. At the time, I was covering reception sessions as well as trying to be practice manager. We got a new receptionist into the practice, and that enabled me to step off a lot more. I could then do my coordinating and take care of the practice managing side as well.
I think one of the major suggestions that Justin came out with, which I use now in my practice manager role, was that when he goes into a new company or interviews new staff, he always asks them what he can do for them. That was a new angle for me completely.
I’ve adopted that and streamlined our appraisal system. Now, it’s more of a two-way conversation rather than me talking at the staff. It’s a better system, and we now have much more communication.
We’ve adopted more team huddles and schedule time to talk about what’s going on, what we’re implementing and what patient treatments are happening. We also discuss ideas or events that members of staff might want to get involved with.
How has your new role of Invisalign coordinator affected the overall practice and the patient experience?
LC: Before this new role, the smile assessments were being booked in with our clinicians. For the majority, those smile assessments were going very well, but the patients don’t always want to say yes to treatment at that specific time.
They sometimes want to go away with their smile assessments, discuss with their family and friends, so I think my new role now allows the clinicians to get on with other dental issues while I take care of that initial assessment, and it’s going very well.
It’s also helpful because I’m not coming into the conversation cold when the dentists have done the smile assessment and tell me to discuss options with the patient. I’m now actively involved from the start, which means that those patients have me as a point of contact.
I feel that sometimes, it’s easier for patients to talk to a member of staff like myself instead of a clinician, and they can be completely honest. I really enjoy the one-to-ones because you can see the progress.
We start the conversation and they tend to be a little bit more guarded, but then they open up and tell you what bothers them and what they want to improve. It’s a massive step forward.
Jay and Kin, what advice would you share with those following your journey who want to achieve similar growth?
JP: Justin said something to me that really stuck out – he said: ‘Believe in yourself, have faith in your own thoughts and ideas.’
Along the way, we’ve met people who have maybe contradicted some of our plans, or told us it’s not the right way, even though Kin and I thought it was the best thing for our business.
I shared this with Justin, and he said: ‘You know your business better than anyone else, so listen to yourself. Have faith that your intuition is correct.’ I’m so glad I listened to that and didn’t doubt myself, because we’ve taken the correct steps for the business.
What are the next steps for the newly named Stoke Dental?
JP: There’s still lots more to do. We might be coming to the end of the Dental Practice Accelerator programme, but in terms of our practice, there’s still a lot more growth left.
We still have our renovations to complete, a lot more private patients to sign up, and the practice is geared up to do this now.
There’s a lot more growth still to happen and we can’t wait to share it with you all!
The second round of Dental Practice Accelerator is officially open for applications! All you need to do is fill out the form below and submit your entry. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity!
Your practice could be the next winner, and we can’t wait to follow you on that journey. We wish you the best of luck!
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