By Chris Barrow on 25 September 2009

Dentists spend too much time thinking about one type of margin.
The margins that are associated with teeth.
And not enough time thinking about an equally important subject.
The profit margin on the work they do.
Real life example:
- special offer on Invisalign – £2900 (cheapest price in town)
- plus free home whitening
- plus a further £300 discount on the Invisalign if you become a member of the practice (£18.00 per month)
Result.
Loads of patients and work – some profit but not enough profit.
Busy dentists running around with their hair on fire, patients by the dozen – profit and loss figures that don’t look healthy enough.
What’s missing?
A careful evaluation of the lab and materials costs, regular checks on internal costs – and a serious re-think of the marketing strategy.
Decisions about changing the offer – the effect of which will be to reduce the number of patients and increase the overall profit.
Its about margin – think retail.
Do you know the margin on everything you do?
If not, you need a coach.
Posted in Dentistry, Financial |
About the Author
25 September 2009 by Chris Barrow
Chris Barrow is co-founder of Barrow Kwong Hing Group of Companies, a private dental corporate active in independent and retail dentistry and post-graduate dental education, operating in the UK and Canada.
Chris has been active as a consultant, trainer and coach to the UK dental profession for over 15 years. As a speaker he is dynamic, energetic and charismatic. In 1993 Chris moved into business coaching and became one of the first UK students at Coach University, from where he graduated as a certified coach. In 1997, he created The Dental Business School (DBS) and the development of a 12-month business coaching programme for dental practice owners and their teams, delivered to over 400 UK dental practices in the following 10 years.
In the last 5 years Chris has acted as a Non-Executive Director, Director and Consultant to a number of dental corporates, whilst maintaining his freelance activity as a dental business coach for independent practice owners. BKH is the culmination of his past experience in the business of UK dentistry
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