Inappropriate Staff Dressing?

I received an email from a male dentist who was unsure of how to handle the situation of a young, attractive dental assistant who was dressing inappropriately.

The first thing I asked him was to be more specific as to what he meant by inappropriate dress. He said she was well endowed and would wear revealing clothe that showed too much top and shorts that did not cover enough bottom. He said that her attire would work in a night club or on the beach but was not what he wanted for his office. He was worried that by talking to her that he might offend her or get a harassment law suit. Additionally – the rest of his staff was not happy with her appearance either!

I told him that he could choose to create a dress code that demanded that the entire staff (or just clinical staff) wear scrubs while they work. If he did this he would have to either provide the scrubs or uniforms for the staff or give them a uniform cash allowance.

Another option was to create an office dress code that allowed more freedom of choice but set limits as to sleeve length, cleavage exposed, stomach exposed, pant or skirt length, etc… This method would require more staff buy in but would also work. The dentist might have to give the staff a clothing allowance because staff would be ruining their own clothe during work. I personally opted for having scrubs and providing them for my staff. I let the staff pick out the outfits and we all loved them. They often picked really funny colors or patterns.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

When Business and Personal Goals Conflict

Did you just go through a period of personal reflection that included setting new goals for your practice? It is very common for people at this time of year to try to determine what would make them happy and also accomplish their financial goals as well.

It is very common that people find themselves at odds when their personal goals and business goals are conflicting. Most people set goals to be better husbands/wives, to be more involved parents, to become healthier, to get in shape, to be more involved in the church and community – these worthwhile goals require additional time – LOTS of additional time. To accomplish the new business goals also take the allocation of additional time – this is where the conflict arises.

It most cases it is not possible for us to simply fix all our problems with allocating more hours – because we don’t have endless hours to allocate. We have to make carful, thought out decisions of where to spend our hours.

While I love building big and productive offices, I also believe in building healthy families and healthy people. I cannot imagine too many scenarios where a more profitable practice is a better goal than being a more involved parent. Be careful what you choose as your metrics for success – don’t let money be your only or most important measuring stick.

Dr. Corey Gold
President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Thanking Patients for Referring

Dental offices often spend tens of thousands of dollars a month in marketing efforts. While I am a big fan of external marketing for new patients, I am even a bigger fan of marketing for new patients INTERNALLY.

Nothing says more about the health of your practice than your office receiving patients from happy current patients!

Happy patients referring new patients should be the life blood of your business building efforts. I would spend lots of time and money in encouraging internal referrals and thanking patients who help build your dental business.

In my office we gave out Starbucks cards to our patients as a thank you for referring new patients. My patients loved them and my staff enjoyed sending them out. Very often my patients would bring me a coffee when they came for their visit and said they used the gift card we gave them.

Be creative. Find ways to thank your referring patients. Send thank you cards, gift cards, movie tickets, just do something!

Dr. Corey Gold
President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com