The Art of Dental Leadership: Susan Leckowicz Unveils Strategies

Susan Leckowicz  00:00 

Hanging on to people because there’s a fear of Oh, it’s so hard to hire out there. This person has been with us for 20 years or, and they they have an energy or an ability to kind of disrupt things that we’re trying to change or do. The 

 

Shawn Zajas  00:17 

future of dentistry belongs to the innovators. Welcome to innovation in dentistry. I’m your host, Shawn Zajas. And I believe that the future of dentistry is going to be unbelievably great over the next decade in two decades. But the question isn’t that the question is, are you going to be part of what makes dentistry great? 

 

Shawn Zajas  00:47 

Okay, so I could not be more excited today to have the opportunity to be with the one and only Susan liquids from dental coaches, LLC. And before I set you up, let me just say, Susan, thank you so much for letting me interview you today. 

 

Susan Leckowicz  01:02 

Oh, I’m happy to be here to talk with you. Okay, 

 

Shawn Zajas  01:06 

so innovation and demonstrate. What does that mean, right? It could be like business model innovation. It could be like technological breakthroughs that help innovation in dentistry. But what I’m focused on, and what I care about for this podcast, is why are there crazy people like you that aren’t afraid to raise their hand and say, Why can’t I lead? Why can’t I pioneer positive change? And that’s exactly what you’re doing. Susan, tell us, how did you even get into dentistry? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  01:37 

So I grew up with a dad who was a dentist who was really passionate about dentistry, he loved it. He practiced in the same town we lived in and he talked so many people into going into dentistry. He just thought it was a great profession. And I started working his practice when I was a teenager, and I was a dental assistant. And I went to dental hygiene school. Then I practiced hygiene for a couple years. And I wasn’t sure if it was going to really pigeonhole me with a two year education. So I, I went out to California, I spent some time in Los Angeles working and going to school working on my Bachelor’s at USC. And I ended up getting my bachelor’s degree taking a hiatus from dentistry going into fashion design, I wanted to be a fashion buyer and I hated it. I hated retail. And I went back into hygiene and in a perio office. And I ended up working up in dentistry for many years and getting coached by different companies. And I really liked the business aspect, and the coaching aspect. So that was kind of how I got started. 

 

Shawn Zajas  02:46 

So it started with a family business.  

 

Susan Leckowicz  02:49 

It did, it started with a family business. And what I really enjoyed about watching my dad work is the relationships he had with his patients, the ability to you know, have, have a bit make a big difference in health care, and really help people and I just loved those different aspects of it and the creative aspect of it of smile design and helping people you know, achieve really great healthy results from dentistry. 

 

Shawn Zajas  03:21 

So would you describe your dad, as primarily, like clinician, or also like entrepreneur, like business excellence? Like would you say he had both? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  03:34 

I do I would say that. He really, he enjoyed the engineering part of dentistry he had an engineering mind. So he liked taking those people who had collapsed bites or missing teeth and rebuilding their, their mouths. He had his own dental lab as a kid I grew up with like dentures boiling on the stove, and he’d be like, working with acrylic and bringing home like plaster and having us make different things out of plaster. And he liked, he liked the creative and the artistic part of it. And he also liked the business aspect of it and he grew his practice to you know, bring on associate doctors and he, he liked taking risks. And he liked he liked being an entrepreneur. So yes 

 

Shawn Zajas  04:24 

Like what an amazing model like normally. I don’t know I’m familiar with the fact that dentistry for a long time was very family oriented, where you know, you’d see the son or daughter and they would become a dentist too. And and I don’t I don’t see as much of that you know being being that I’m the only reason why I’m in the dental industry is because my dad had his own dental supply company. And I wanted to work for the family business like i i get the challenges that can go along with that. And yet the same exact time I’m, I think it can be really, really beautiful and really a gift to honor our parents in that way. So you weren’t positive that that was going to be your path going into or pursuing fashion design. What was it about that industry said you hated retail? Like, what was specifically repulsive about pursuing that, 

 

Susan Leckowicz  05:24 

you know, what was interesting about that is, I wasn’t getting passionate about making changes in people’s lives. Like I really believe dentistry changes people’s lives. And I was like, Yeah, we’re, you know, selling the latest, you know, suit in a lady’s you know, women’s department in a department store, we’re, you know, bringing in new merchandise, but I just kind of miss the people interaction and the relationships and feeling like you’re making a difference in health care, I guess it was more like, you know, you’re making money in retail, but, you know, in dentistry, you can be successful and make money and make a difference in people’s lives. So I think that’s what kind of drew me back, drew me back in to, you know, let me think about, you know, taking a another another look at dentistry. And I stepped out of working in my dad’s business, and I worked in a couple other different dental practices, just to get a different perspective. As well, I worked in a specialist and in a Perio office, and I think it was good for my dental career to step out into outside of my dad’s business to, to take a look at what’s happening in other practices. 

 

Shawn Zajas  06:34 

Now, early on, this is still clinical right? This is you still as a hygienist? Yes. So what was that path of? Like, you know, I love hygiene or hygiene is difficult. And I think there’s now more I can offer, you know, is that like, you’re 10 years in doing it, you’re 15 years in, like, what, what all of a sudden elevated it. So you’re like, you know what, I love hygiene, but I think I can serve in a greater capacity.  

 

Susan Leckowicz  07:01 

Well, you know, I was, I was like 20 years into it. And during that timeframe, I was coached by different coaching companies. And one of the coaches that we had, I really liked having that outsider perspective, I liked the challenge of goals. I liked trying new things. And I wanted to, I got approached by this, this woman, and she said, I think you’d be a really good coach. And at the time, I was happy because I was working four days a week as a hygienist and I was on a commission base program. And I was just three miles from where I lived. And I was like, You know what, I’m flattered. But I’m really happy with what I’m doing now. And then I ended up getting married, moving out of state and being like, kind of off the beaten path in a rural area after working in more like, more metropolitan areas. And I was like, Oh, where am I going to find a really good practice? And I reached out to her and she said, Well, I don’t know any dentists in the northern Pittsburgh area. But you know, we’re hiring coaches. So if you want to come work with with with my team, see what we’re all about. And I ended up going to Texas, and I met with Victoria Peterson and Bruce Baird, and I became one of their business development coaches for nine years. So I worked with him for nine years. And I really loved the the variety, I loved being able to help practices grow. I loved the team approach to coaching and I, I learned a lot in those nine years of working, working with them.  

 

Shawn Zajas  08:41 

So what was that like in the sense of like, here you are, you know, the world of hygiene, you’ve seen coaches, but now you get this opportunity to become one. Did you ever have that moment of like, I said, Yes. You know, you’re getting ready, you’re like, in front of the mirror and you’re like, like, Susan, do you? Do you know what you’re doing? Like? Was it was it ever scary? Did you ever have to battle imposter syndrome, even stepping into it? Or do you just kind of have trust?  

 

Susan Leckowicz  09:09 

Well it was a combination of things. Right? So there were oftentimes it was very scary, you know, there were certain principles and systems that we were trying to coach on. But you know, what I quickly learned was that every practice is different. The dynamics are different, the doctors are different, the teams different area, that country is different, you know, and you really had to individualize what you were doing. For that client. I believed that I believe that it couldn’t be that cookie cutter approach of Well, here are you know, here are the forms and here’s what you say, and you have to do it this way. So, you know, what I tried to tell myself is, you know, you prepare for a coaching call, you plan what you’re going to do, and then then it happens and then you have to be able to pivot or you have to be able to not feel like you have To be Johnny on the spot with the answer right there, right? It’s like, oh, that’s a really good question, I’ll have to get back to you. And I pride myself on being a good connector. Like I love to look for different and new and innovative ways of doing things. So I really work hard on my connections in the dental industry to find experts who can help solve a problem that I might not be able to solve, because I never believed that one coach could know everything that happens in a dental office. It’s just not. It’s just not reasonable, I think, to think that way.  

 

Shawn Zajas  10:39 

So I mean, but also what better people to learn from then, you know, no, Dr. Peterson, she was a hygienist. And, you know, a very entrepreneurial hygienist. And then you have Dr. Baird, who is like, the entrepreneur of dentists. Right, and to be able to learn from them. I mean, that must have been incredibly valuable. But yet at the same time, you probably always knew, because you like doing things different because you’re, you’re out of the box, because just of the entrepreneur, that that you are in nature, you probably knew you weren’t going to be able to be there forever. 

 

Susan Leckowicz  11:16 

Yeah, and, you know, it was it sort of became a time in my life where I felt like, I needed to make some changes, or this was a good time to make changes. And my father was kind of the bug in my ear, saying, you know, when are you going to go on your own? And, you know, when are you going to, you know, do something a little bit different. And in 2017, you know, I launched dental coaches, and I kind of, you know, went on my own, and it’s really grown. We have over 25 clients now, and I have a team of three people and, you know, started out just solo with a handful of clients, and, and now we’re growing and looking to even expand, expand our team, as well. 

 

Shawn Zajas  12:02 

Yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s amazing that, I feel like that is living the dream. And the reason why I do this podcast is because I 100% believe there are so many dentists and dental professionals that maybe, you know, they’re not content, just, you know, in their role as a hygienist, or in their role as a dentist, and they know there’s more for them. And between the lines of what we’re saying, they’re thinking of that thing. That is the dream of their heart. But yet, they’re confronted with some sense of either inadequacy, or is this the right time? Or I know, for me, there was this like, I’m, like, weird, ambiguous, am I ready? As if readiness was this really clear? Right? You know, and I remember, like, stepping out into fatherhood, you know, I have five kids now. I wasn’t ready. And I knew I would never be ready to be a father, I like when it came to getting all my ducks in a row. Like, I knew that I had a good head on my shoulders. I was with the right, the right woman. And we wanted to just embrace the unknown, together, and handle all the craziness of kids that don’t have manuals to go along, to go along with them. And yet, I feel like that’s what it’s like, in so many ways to pursue a dream. Is that there? There really isn’t this perfect timing. There really isn’t this, like, Oh, I’m completely ready. But you just gotta step out and trust. Now when you’re when your dad was that bug in your ear? Was it primarily? like painting a picture of what you weren’t? Sure was clear? Or was it more like, Hey, I believe in you, like now, now’s the time, like, go for it, you’re gonna be okay. Like, what do you think was the biggest wall for you? And stepping out? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  14:01 

Well, you know, he certainly encouraged me, you know, and he was always a very positive individual and always encouraging. And, you know, I thought to myself, sometimes when you’re making a move, you have to think, Okay, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You know, what’s the what’s the worst possible thing, you know, this could fail or, you know, I thought, well, I can always go back to doing dental hygiene, or I can always go back to doing something else. So I, and there were some things that I wanted to kind of dive deeper into with my own business and do things a little differently than the what was happening at productive dentist Academy. And I was just like, if I if I’m going to if I’m ever going to do this, you know, it’s got to be now you know, in my, in my in my career, and there were other people that I knew in the coaching industry had, who had done the same thing who had launched their own companies and they were very encouraging to and I always because I’m a coach, I will Leaving coaching and I’ve always had a coach. So I really believe in asking for help asking for, you know, realizing when you need to kind of make some big decisions or do something that’s, that’s scary or unknown, you know, try to surround yourself with people who can help, you know, help you through the process. 

 

Shawn Zajas  15:21 

So in your journey, what do you feel like has been like a mindset that you either had to embrace, to get to where you’re at today, or a mindset that you had to shed in order for you to get to where you’re at today? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  15:35 

Well, so, um, one thing that I had to shed was to feel like, I didn’t know what I was doing, you know, to be like thinking, okay, you’ve had experience with this, there are some commonalities with these different offices, you know, you know, what are some of the Levers you can pull are the systems that you’ve worked on that really make an impact? And you have to be confident enough to say, Okay, I know, this is different than what you’re usually doing. Dr. Shawn, you know, I want you to try this. And let’s work with your team. And let’s reevaluate this in 30 days, and just being more confident with being, you know, what, what I believed would move the business forward and being able to future pace them. So working, working on myself to say, you know, what, just kind of stick with this for a while or stick with this and see, you know, see what happens, and you can always course correct. And that’s what I would tell my clients, we can always modify and change this, but we want to try this, this new process, because if you want to change your business, you’re going to have to change, you know, a few things to see some see some results. So once we would get I think that relationship and get some results, then it makes it a little easier to Okay, here’s the next thing we want to do. Here’s the next thing we want to do. 

 

Shawn Zajas  17:05 

Now, you sound sounds like you said, you were practicing hygienists for 20 years. I’m doing the math. And that doesn’t make sense. But we’ll just let that go. And and I’m just wondering, like, for 20 years, that means you were probably getting some sense of fulfillment. And I don’t know, just an enjoyment out of that. When When did you realize that there was more that there was aspects of fulfillment? Or aspects of your skill set that you weren’t able to serve with? Was it simply because the opportunity came up with the move? Or was there a little bit of a restlessness that was growing prior?  

 

Susan Leckowicz  17:49 

Yeah, I want to say it was a combination. So you know, when you’re working in hygiene, it can become pretty routine, you know, and it can, it can get routine, and it can get very physically demanding. And I, I just felt like, there was something, I wanted more of a challenge, I wanted to do something different. Because because I was really good at setting up routines, I could get very efficient, you know, in the operatory, and the physical aspects of my job, and I would really kind of focus on how do I how do I win patients over how do I understand what makes this patient tick, and I would get really into trying to, to get to know the people in the relationship part, you know, of dentistry, and I was ready for a new challenge, I felt like I kind of hit a ceiling of, you’re really not going to earn a lot more money, you’re not going to be mentally challenged, really, you’re going to be in this routine type of career. If that, you know, is that what you really want so, so I was ready. I think the timing was good with the opportunity and then the the timing in my life to be able to say, You know what, I think there’s more that I can offer to impact more people and that’s that’s how I feel about my business and my team’s we impact health care and getting patients healthy in a much bigger way when we help our clients get patients to agree to the treatment to improve their, their oral health. 

 

Shawn Zajas  19:24 

Well, I’m just thinking even, it’s a really big shift to go from. I’m an employee and I’ve been an employee for a long time. And there’s a certain comfort and stability that comes with being an employee to all of a sudden making that leap where you’re the owner, you know, not just working for a company and learning this but now you’re the owner. And there’s really no no limits but there’s also no guarantees Right? Like, you know, I’m sure you you looking ahead as a visionary you’re probably aware of a lot of what that would be like to go from guaranteed, you know, again, paycheck to all of a sudden not having those guarantees. Were there any, I don’t know surprises when you stepped into that role as like, Hey, I’m now I’m now the owner and this is now my business, anything that surprised you in either a good way or a bad way when it came from going from kind of again more from an employee mindset to that owner mindset? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  20:24 

Well, I distinctly remember this visual when I left it was in the summer and I was sitting on a beach with some friends. And I just kind of felt like I was this little rowboat drifting away from the mothership. Here we go, go into my Oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go, um, I’m launching this, I’m doing this and, you know, I just remember that, that feeling. And I remember just thinking, Okay, I need to put myself out there in a bigger way, you know, in the marketplace, and I need to connect with different people who can, you know, help me with referrals and you know, more like, boots to the ground marketing more, you know, more relationship marketing than with huge website or, you know, how do you get yourself known, so I started doing podcasts and I started really going to every dental meeting I could go to and you know, really putting myself out there to meet people like Len Tao, who refers me a lot of clients, you know, people who, who I coached him, you know, when he was still in private practice. And so, yeah, it was hard. It was hard. And it was kind of different, like, Okay, what, what can I do now to get get clients to work with me, 

 

Shawn Zajas  21:51 

I was gonna say that, getting an early win, getting some sense of traction is such a big deal, especially early on again. So you’re by yourself, you step out. There’s no guarantee. And now, the fact that you even had the instinct, instinct to not go to big website to not go to this, like these ideas that we have about what marketing or branding are. They’re really a long game. They’re not a short game. So the short game is how just talking to people, you know, and stepping into some aspect of what could be viewed as self promotion, but you have to, like, you have to believe that what you’re doing matters and that your message matters. And that what you’re doing matters. Do you remember, I don’t know, the first time someone said yes, to getting you as a coach and what that was, like, 

 

Susan Leckowicz  22:49 

I do, I do. And I had a lot of local support, which was nice, you know, because I was a hygienist in Connecticut and was part of Seattle study clubs, I had, I had a lot of local support, which was good. And I am, I did a lot of coaching, you know, at a really reasonable rate with the the agreement that if this went well, I’d get a testimonial or, and I always and I still believe this to my day to this day, when someone signs up for coaching with, with my company, it’s a it’s a three month commitment. And then after three months, if it’s not a good fit, or it’s not valuable. We, you know, we say goodbye, I don’t believe in paying up front for a year’s worth of coaching or locking into a one year contract that, you know, really sets up you know, set you up for you know, could be you know, could be failure could be disappointment, so, so I just I guess I had I had some luck, I had some ability to get people to say yes, we got some traction and, and people were like, Okay, what else what else you’ve got, you know, what, what else can you do? So started out small, I think with, with goal setting and growth, and then expanded. 

 

Shawn Zajas  24:13 

I mean, there’s just such a, such a humility in and you’re not caring about starting out. Everyone has to start out small and yet, it’s like terrifying. I think for a lot of people, especially I feel like for doctors, like if you’re a dentist and you’ve been known in your field and you’re successful, stepping out into whatever lies beyond the OP. You have to start off as a beginner again, and you haven’t been been a beginner for a very long time. So even even that fear of like man, people are gonna see that I’m trying something I’ve never done before. And that’s, that’s scary. Or I don’t know what if I embarrass myself. Like I know. There’s lots of voices that try to get people that just kind of stay in line, right? To stay with what with what is predictable and what is certain. And yet, I don’t know if we can follow the dreams of our heart on any path that has a guarantee, or has certainty, like it doesn’t exist, right? Like if you really want to deal with never been done before, and express who we are in a unique way. That means embracing risk. And that’s why like, one of the things I see Susan is, you know, I look to the left of me, I look to the right of me, and I see these amazing people in dentistry that are pioneering positive change. But I also see all these vacancies. And I know, it’s people that are still second guessing themselves. They’re still saying, Well, yeah, but I’m not really qualified. You know, look at Susan, she’s amazing. And she’s super smart. And she’s confident and she’s got it all down, like, what could I offer? And it’s like, everyone has a light, and everyone has an ability that’s unique to them. And it doesn’t mean people are called to be a coach. It doesn’t mean people are called to start a podcast. But you know, maybe maybe you’re a gifted writer. I think people if they follow the pain, that’ll lead them to something like what is it that infuriates them, or what gets them upset with you early on, I feel like you realize I need to be around people. And I need to be connected to people. And I need to be in a role where I can actually make a difference. And the difference you can make as a hygienist amazing. You know, you really are giving people confidence, to smile, and that’s huge. But the difference you can make as a coach, as a consultant like you can change these people’s lives. And dentistry is so darn right, like, so difficult right now. Like, I feel like it’s never been harder, in some ways. And that’s why it’s like, I would want you in my corner. If I was starting a dental practice. So just tell me a little bit about I don’t know, like your perspective with coaching, or maybe what makes what makes you different, or who you’re a good fit for? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  27:10 

Well, I think there’s so many people out there to help right? So many dentists, so many dental practices are such a great mean, what, what I what I really like to focus on is what I like to call case agreement, instead of case acceptance, how do we get our patients to agree to treatment and I really believe that everyone in the practice has a role to become a patient advocate to help the patients understand why they you know why they need this treatment to help them fit it into their schedule, in their budget, help lower the barrier of care, and help improve the experience, improve the experience for the patient. I really believe everyone should love the dentist that they go to. And when I travel, if I’m sitting on a plane, and I don’t know, the person sitting next to me, sometimes I’ll just strike up a conversation and I’ll say, Well, you like your dentist. And so, you know, it’s interesting to the different answers. Some people like ah, I don’t know, you know, I just go to somebody, I don’t think I’ve been in a while or now I don’t really like the dentist I go to or they love the dentist and I really get passionate about there’s so many good dentists out there, find someone you really like find an office, you connect with find a you know, find an experience and a culture that that you you know, maybe it will never love going but you’ll enjoy the experience of going so i i believe that that’s really important. And I think that really creates a happier work environment for the doctor and the team less stress. So I’m I have clients that have been with me for for for a long time for some have been with me for 10 years, some came with me from productive dentist Academy so they’ve been with me over 10 years some have been with me six years some have been with with us two years, but they can tell you that their practices are running more smoothly. There’s they’re enjoying their businesses more they’re able to compensate their team more because they’re more profitable and successful. And I that really, really makes me happy feel happy in the biggest compliment that I get from our clients is you really care about our business. Your coaches really care about what’s happening with our teams and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a it’s a real lot of fun we get together as a group, I have created a community with my clients so we meet once a month on Zoom. Friday mornings nine o’clock first Friday of the month and then we also get together in person so we did up in person event in Florida we piggybacked on Len Tau Supercharger Dental Practice event and we were together with doctors and tea. leads. And next year, we’re going to Virginia because we have a group of clients in the Virginia area. But I like to bring people together for, you know, peer to peer support. So that’s, that’s what makes it fun to as I’ve got a group of dentists now that I’ll know each other and mentor and support each other. 

 

Shawn Zajas  30:23 

So you did amazing at that event, by the way, your talk was just wonderful. Yeah, you just you own the room. And that, that takes a special person to be able to do that. So I love that I found out that you’re one of those crazy people that talk to people on planes, you know, 

 

Susan Leckowicz  30:44 

your earbuds in right there like 

 

Shawn Zajas  30:48 

You’re like trying to reach out to them. They put on the noise cancelling headphones. They’re like, yeah, so here, dentist. So do you. Do you like any comedians? Oh, of course. Yeah. Like I heard of Jim. Gaffigan. No. Okay, so he’s just pale guys. Like, I don’t know. I don’t think he’s Canadian. I think he’s some. Anyway, he’s he always jokes about how like white he is. But he has all these dental jokes. Oh, yeah. And, yeah, there’s this one clip where he just kept railing on the dentists. And I’m like, it’s just, it’s an interesting. It’s just interesting, culturally, how different people view than the dentist. So I want to know, Susan, you’re like, hey, it’s important for you, as a dentist to have a great culture, and to align that culture so that you can give these patients really great experiences. If you show up in a practice. And I don’t know, maybe they’re, they’re newer. And you know, the dentist is kind of feeling insecure, he’s still just trying to work on, you know, his or her clinical confidence. Where, where do I start? Like, how do I get culture? How do I build a culture? And how do I start focusing on on the patient? Like, what what are some of those launching points for me? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  32:17 

Well, I always like to ask, you know, what do you want to be known for? You know, what do you want the word on the street to be about your practice, because people are going to be talking about it, you know, in, in your neighborhood, in your building in your area, you know, what do you want? What do you want to be known for. And if you can establish four to five, like core values that are important to you, then you can use that as a foundational piece for any kind of decision about your business. And for also, onboarding and attracting the type of people who are going to be behind your vision. And behind your values. You know, what’s, what’s important? And a lot of people be like, Oh, wow, that’s hard to, it’s hard to boil it down sometimes to just four or five words. So we take them through an exercise to, you know, do that, and many times they’ll want to do it with their team, sometimes don’t want to do it alone. But, you know, how do you? How do you engage people to get behind? You know, why are you here? What do you want to accomplish, and then you can filter all of your decision making through the core values when it comes to expanding or buying new equipment, or, you know, really creating a culture that you attract people who want to be a part of that team. You know, I have clients with big teams now. They’re like, we want the right people on this team, we’re really particular with who we hire, and we want these people to understand who we are and be really engaged with that. So we talk about alignment, clarity, engagement, and how do we get that for our, for our clients, for the teams? And then for the patients as well. 

 

Shawn Zajas  34:07 

I mean, that that is amazing. Like, the idea that you’re distilling some authentic values that you have the things that you believe in 100% You’re right, it goes both ways. Not only does it attract the right, team members, because it needs to then be part of the criteria of how you’re hiring, like Well, hey, do you believe in this, is this something that you you vibe with, for lack of better words, and yet, like that’s the birthplace of creating that culture and then now, it’s something that you can be in aligned with, so that as patients are coming in, that’s what they’re, they’re experiencing, you know, if part of your core values is, hey, we want to bring the joy, like every single day, we want to show up and bring the joy. Well, other people that feel that way. It’s you know, Other team members, if that’s also the way that they’re wired, and they’re saying yes to that, well, it’s easy for everyone to get behind a sentiment like that. And it doesn’t just accidentally happen. Where we’re a practice just shows up in a certain way. Randomly, it comes with with intentionality, and what leadership, so your ability to help a practice do that. Man, that’s gold. So tell me, in what ways do you feel like, I don’t know, maybe maybe it’s bad thinking? What, what do you feel like sometimes stops or limits? A dentist from from growing, or from? Yeah, just growing your practice? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  35:46 

Well, can be a lot of different things, right. So one of the things that can, can limit the growth is hanging on to the wrong team members hanging on to people, because there’s a fear of Oh, it’s so hard to hire out there, this person has been with us for 20 years or, and they, they have an energy or an ability to kind of disrupt things that we’re trying to change or do. So I think there’s a fear of, it’s hard to hire, you know, we’ll just, we’ll just not, they’ll just turn our head the other way with this kind of behavior, or will tolerate absenteeism, you know, or will tolerate things that that are dragging the rest of the team down to so one of the things that we’ve created is a team engagement survey. So every six to eight months, we take the pulse of the team, we everybody in the team gets an anonymous survey, 20 questions scale of one to five. And it’s all about the leadership, the culture, you know, how are we feeling as a team, and then we work with the doctors and team leads on a couple things to focus on for the next six months, and we take the pulse again. So I believe it helps to give the quiet team members of voice, it helps to create safety. Because if it’s truly anonymous, you know, we could say, Well, Doctor, you know, three quarters of your team is feeling of one, you know, on this particular question, we’ve got a couple people at five, but most of them are at one, we got to raise that two or three, you know, we’ve got to work on our, you know, our clarity on roles and expectations. So we’re working really well with doctors and clients on creating better job descriptions, getting clarity on expectations, having more one on one meetings, developing team leads to help them lead the group. And so many times the doctors are like, I just want to do the dentistry, you know, I’m gonna I’m gonna talk to I gotta talk to these people. I’m like, yeah, yes, you do, you know, so we kind of gently stretch them into better relationships, you know, with their team members, and they get better results, as opposed to like, well, oh, I got to talk to talk to somebody, and they’re gonna ask for more money, you know, and I’m gonna have to give them more money because they want more money. And it’s like, no, you don’t have to do a compensation review every time you do a performance review. So we’re helping a lot to with writing better ads to attract more committed team members. So yes, the pool has shrunk for people who are looking for jobs. But how do you position yourself apart from the run of the mill dental office, because there are still people out there looking to make changes are looking for something better? So we help them with the hiring and attracting better people? I 

 

Shawn Zajas  39:02 

mean, I feel like that’s got to be one of the biggest pain points just in business across the board. Having a team where someone is not aligned, or they’re difficult to deal with, and how do you how do you manage that situation? Either through letting them go, which is very difficult, especially people that feel like really loyal? It’s like, well, no, I couldn’t do that. It’s like, well, yeah, but you also have to be loyal to your best team members. And if they are showing up and they are bringing their best and they’re doing great and someone isn’t, it’s not fair to their best team members to be dragged down by someone either, like your commitment is also to them, and to surrounding them by another team member, maybe that would have that chance to be able to keep elevating the practice instead of bringing it down. And you also owe that to your patients to give them the best experience that you can. And it’s like if I think of Chick fil A. It’s an amazing company, amazing brand. And yeah, it’s not just about the chicken, like, you walk into a Chick fil A, and there’s just alignment with the team with this all star service. And the experience is almost the same at any Chick fil A, even though they’re independent franchises in it simply because of the training and the standard that they expect of their franchises. Which just goes to show that yeah, like a culture can be built by the right people. And if I’m a rockstar team member, and I’m really not enjoying the practice that I’m in, but all of a sudden I see an ad. And you can just tell the way that story is being told, wow, this is an amazing practice with an amazing leader. And I think I would be able to fit in better and just be I don’t know, be seen or be recognized or just have harmony or have fulfilment, I would even take a pay cut to be. And that’s what studies across the board show is that people would rather have an amazing team around them and amazing culture fulfillment than be part of a bad team and make more money. You know, I had an employee of mine that that left me for their dream job, which was coaching executive women, for like 30% More, only to come back two weeks later to be like, okay, like, might have been a dream job, but not dream ownership, not dream leadership. And I couldn’t I can’t do that, Shawn, like, I love working for you. And it was like, the greatest gift for me because I let them go. Like, I thought this could have been the best thing for them. And it was sad for me, but I was like, hey, if this is what’s the best thing for you, I support you and your life and your decisions. only to have them come back. And it was just like, it just made me so happy. Susan, so who who is ideal for you right now, if people are listening, they’re like, oh my gosh, like I I want to work with her. Is there a certain place in the maturity of the practice? Or is it pretty much any practice can be configured for you? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  42:13 

Well, we, we work with all different sizes and all different stages of practice, practice growth. So I, I used to really focus on mid career thinking that you know, give me somebody mid career, but we’ve really expanded our services to work with doctors starting up and growing. So we, you know, we offer, we offer the ability to really become a trusted advisor within the practice. And when you were talking about you know, team members and you know, hanging on to the wrong team members, we also have some doctors that are like, hire new team members, and they’re like, calling up our coaches going, I Okay, I’m ready to let this person go. And we’re like, talking them off the ledge, like wait a minute, you know, have you trained this person? Have you been really clear on their expectations? You know, let’s talk about they’ve only been with you two weeks, you know, well, okay, let’s give him another chance. And I, I love the fact that the coaches on my team have great experiences with coaching, large offices, multi, you know, different personalities, and are really good with developing the leaders on the team. My My background is more clinical and hygiene. And the coaches that I have now have an extensive background in administrative so we’re doing a lot of training, you know, training leaders training on best practices for you know, everything from revenue cycle, you know, insurance claims, getting off a PPO shows, I really feel like we offer a lot of different things. And the biggest thing that that I focus on in the very beginning is I want the doctors to be able to kind of get the low hanging fruit in their practice. I want them to be able to get more of their patients to agree to treatment to get it scheduled to understand their financial options, and to come in and and get it done and to SET set like growth plans based on the hours that they’re going to work the production per hour they want to you want to attain and how do we how do we reward the team? How do we celebrate success? So if you’re going to bring this coaching team in and we’re going to ask people to do some things differently, we’re gonna hold them accountable, what’s in it for them. So I like to create some type of way to celebrate the success. It’s best if you can do it daily, but We work on the profitability of the business and the incentive plan should pay for itself, the growth of the business should, you know cover and the doctor has to be happy to celebrate that success with the team. So, you know, we’re working with with practices that are buying new practices, practices that are starting up practices that feel stalled, you know, they feel like they haven’t grown and they need to do something different, or they want. They want to focus on certain procedures, they want to start doing more external marketing, but they’re afraid that it’s not going to convert well, because they their team isn’t trained on how to handle new patient calls, or how to, you know, if we’re going to invest five to 8%, in external marketing, what’s the ROI from that? So we work really closely with marketers with, what is our first impression on the phone? How are these patients traded when they come in? What sets this office apart? How do we retain them? And how do we track the metrics? So I love all the different metric companies out there, because it’s such a great way to see trends and to stimulate conversations with doctors and teams on you know, what’s really going on? It’s a great way to look under the hood. 

 

Shawn Zajas  46:16 

Okay, so maybe I have a curveball for you. A dental friend of mine was just telling me about a challenge that they had. So I just figured, why not just throw it, throw it over to Susan. So here it is. It’s basically they want more new patients, but they don’t have really any openings for new patients for like, four to six weeks, like within over the next four to six weeks out. They have like such few openings in the schedule. But they want to grow. And they don’t know how, because they don’t have any openings. 

 

Susan Leckowicz  46:58 

So that’s a problem. You know, that’s a problem. And it’s a common problem. So what you really need to think about is blocking and holding time for those new patients blacking out the schedule. And as painful as that looks like, okay, I’m not going to fill that appointment. You know, if you want to have 30 new patients a month, or 25 new patients a month or 50 new patients a month, where are they going to go? So you’re going to have to take a look at your schedule, are they coming in through hygiene? Are they coming in through the doctor and block the schedule so that those appointments are available? Because guess what, when a new patient calls, they call upwards of five different offices, and they’re going to find somebody who’s going to get them in the soonest if they’ve already made up their mind, you know, and some people are still so nervous, right about going to the dentist that if you don’t make a strong connection on the phone with that person, they’ll be like, Oh, let me try another one. You know, let me call another one. So we like to say black black, your schedule for the number of new patients you want to have have a 48 hour release rule. So if you you know, if it’s Monday and you’ve got an opening on Wednesday, then put a recare patient in there, put somebody else in there, but you’ve got to, you’ve got to be able to get somebody in like, I want to say two to seven days. If you’re saying I can’t get you in for a month, they’re probably going to call somewhere else, or they’ll book that month out appointment. And they won’t show up. You know, and you’ll have this last time in your schedule because somebody never called you back to say I’m not coming you know, I got in sooner guy down the street. So you got to black. Okay, 

 

Shawn Zajas  48:35 

so I just threw the curveball and I think you just hit that out of the park. So great. Good job season. Yeah. Okay, so I want to work with you. Hypothetically, like if I’m a dentist, what can I expect just over the next three months? Because you said it’s not a year contract it’s three months. You know, what, what kind of expectations can I have when when starting to work with you and your team? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  48:59 

So we will really dive into the metrics of your practice and set some goals we’ll look at what’s been happening in the past six months talk with you about you know, is this typical, will average out your you know, your key performance indicators will really look at your production per hour, your your case acceptance percentage, how much of the dollars are getting accepted, we’ll look at the hygiene production per hour, we’ll look at open time and we will create a tool for you. That’s a financial agreement form tool that will help your team go over with patients their options for paying for care so that we get really clear and it helps with getting patients to Yes and it helps with reducing accounts receivable and it helps with finding out really how committed people are. So we always start with that we always start with this tool and we start with like, okay, what can we do? You now what are our goals going to be? And how do we get the team focused on a daily number? How do we have a really strong morning huddle. And our, our goals for the practice is to grow your collections by 20 to 40%. So we’re gonna, we’re gonna move the dial, because I’m going to, even though culture is important, right, core values are important. But I can’t say that I really start there. Unless it’s a real major challenge. In the practice, I really want the doctor to feel like this is working, this is successful, and we’re celebrating it with the team. So we just someone in the practice has to talk about money with the patients now we want to help them make it easier. And we want to help getting a better process and system in place for that. So we just really look exactly like what’s happening now. And how do we just pull a few levers to get better? Better success to the bottom line? 

 

Shawn Zajas  51:05 

I just love what you’re doing. I can’t imagine what would like what would have happened if you just stayed hygenist. And there’s like, yes, you’d still be changing lives. It’d be amazing. But dentistry wouldn’t get the gift of just the impact that you’re making? And I’m sure every now and then you’re probably like that probably I don’t know, that probably becomes real to you. You’re like, wow, like, Thank God, you you stepped out and you just had enough trust in yourself to just follow. Follow that follow that dream? And I’m sure at times, it’s been, I don’t know, maybe there was some lows early on, it seems like you’re you’re crushing it right now. Was Was there ever, like a low season where you were, were second guessing? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  51:47 

Kind of, you know, I went through some different employees that, you know, I thought we’re going to work out and didn’t work out or like, okay, by myself again, okay, by myself again, you know, and so, uh, so yeah, it hasn’t been like a skyrocketed clear path up, you know, there’s been ups and downs. And sometimes when I go into offices, and I watched the high dentists work with their patients, I kind of miss that relationship you have with your patients, when you’ve been in a practice for a long time, and you see them every six months, and you watch their kids grow up, and I’m like, oh, that that was enjoyable. That was an enjoyable part of the job, you know, for me, at that time in my life, but you know, I really love I really love what we’re doing now and love my team want to, you know, expand my team and the clients, we have a really great people too, we’ve got a really nice, nice group of people who, you know, I love the community that we formed. 

 

Shawn Zajas  52:43 

So you want to expand your team, who are you looking for? Well, 

 

Susan Leckowicz  52:46 

you know, we’re looking for people who could be practice success coaches, and we’re looking for support for the coaches that we have. So lots of different opportunities, you know, as we, as we grow, and what I love about my team is, nobody gets assigned just one coach. So we really work collaboratively. And we discuss clients, successes, challenges with everyone on the coaching team, and my coaching team gets along really well, too. So it’s really, it’s really, it’s a really synergistic group. So I’m really, really happy about that. So I guess I’m looking for the right people to be part of our 

 

Shawn Zajas  53:27 

culture. Okay, so if someone wants to be part of either your team or they want to hire you, where do you want them to go? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  53:34 

Well, they can go to my website and book a call my websites dental coaches.com got really lucky with that URL that it was available in 2016. I don’t know how that happened. But it’s interesting because I get a lot of people just searching dental coaching and they, they, they find they find us. I can be reached Susan at dental coaches.com. You know, I’m on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. So a lot of different ways to reach out to get in touch with me. 

 

Shawn Zajas  54:09 

Okay, so last question. You’re walking down the street, and off in the distance you see 18 year old Susan, and you have a brief moment to communicate one sentiment to her. What do you what do you say? 

 

Susan Leckowicz  54:26 

Go for it. Don’t worry. Move ahead. You know, don’t don’t worry about it. Sometimes I think I worry a little too much about stuff. You know, so I have to that. I was just saying just you know, trust your gut and go for it. 

 

Shawn Zajas  54:41 

Oh, I love that. So yes, anyone listening right now to this podcast that has a dream in their heart that may be so on the sideline would just say hey, now’s your time. Go for it. Don’t second guess you have an amazing community around you. That is here to support you in your dream Susan, thank you so much. I absolutely love what you’re doing. I’m 100% in your corner. It has been so easy to honor you as an innovator. I love the positive change that you are committed to making. And that’s just that’s what you do and it’s who you are. So thank you so much for letting me interview you today. 

 

Susan Leckowicz  55:19 

Thank you, Shawn really loved the conversation. It’s been great. 

 

Shawn Zajas  55:24 

Thanks for listening, and be sure to follow so you never miss an episode. To learn more about what’s going on in dentistry. Check out innovation in dentistry.com