Its Not Just About Business Owners

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


In our dental mastermind groups (The Breathe Business Club) we took advice from our clients last year and opened the doors to their business managers this year.

That was a radical departure from the usual "Owners and working spouses only" rule that has prevailed for the last 7 years.

But the clients have evolved (all of them dentists) and their marketplace has evolved, to embrace a far more serious approach to the business end of things.

So whereas before, they were happy to do their own book-keeping and administration, they now have to cope with the demands of:

1. Sophisticated financial modelling and pricing;

2. Robust marketing systems;

3. Excellent customer service skills;

4. Non-clinical operational controls and

5. Team-building

What historically was the preserve of the typical lone ranger, has now become the responsibility of people with different skill-sets.

In January we allowed business managers to attend our quarterly two-day meetings - and the effect was immediate and very welcome.

Our new guests added to the debate from the "grass roots" perspective - and, to the relief of the clients, often took the lions share of the "fieldwork" back home with them after the event.

Looking forward, we are considering either some special workshops for business managers throughout the year, or even a business managers mastermind group in addition.

By serving the needs of our clients, we are expanding the income generating opportunities in our core business.

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Having just returned from an 8-day trip to Belgium, Holland and France, it has been interesting to observe the different cultures at work in the business of business-ownership.

In Belgium and France, the culture in dentistry is one of sole-ownership on steroids.

Most of the dentists in these two nations are true lone rangers - working with absolutely no support staff whatsoever and very little contact with each other.

They answer their own phones, manage their own appointment schedules, do their own book-keeping and administration - and throw significant hours of dentistry in there as well!

It appears to be a bizarre lifestyle - with work sessions sometimes beginning at 6.00am, concluding at lunchtime, picking up again late afternoon and continuing into the evening.

The concept of team-building or mastermind grouping of any sort appear alien - and my presentation to this audience was focused on self-marketing to try and increase the flow of new patients - ultimately another job on an already overwhelming “to do” list.

Contrast that with my audience in Holland - much more gregarious and similar to the business models I am used to in the UK.

Teams are in evidence - as is the concept of peer group meetings on both clinical and business related matters.

Here, my presentation was all about effective leadership of teams - and very well received.

Last night in our Leeds hotel - a further comparison as Simon and I enjoy the company of our Breathe Business Club clients over dinner, after a fascinating afternoon listening to their achievements over the last three months and their “shopping lists” for this quarter's meeting.

Although it is dangerous to have favourites - I am especially inspired by this one of our six regional groups - there seems to be a dynamism in this location that may be born from the fact that many of the members knew each other before they came to the group - either in dental school, in their community or through previous work with The Dental Business School - so the ice was broken very early on - and last night Simon and I had a chance to catch up personally for the first time in three weeks - as the clients were galloping away with their own conversations!

Here are the top 10 trends I noticed as we heard feedback around the room yesterday:

1. Our mastermind clients are hiring business managers to work alongside their practice managers;
2. They are redefining "recession" as a period of time in which their marketing plans have to be smarter and faster;
3. Measured expansion is attractive - with selective acquisition as the most favoured route;
4. The hygiene-based assessment business model is looking more attractive by the month;
5. Competition in the market-place is stimulating demand;
6. But it's harder and more important to stay ahead of the competition;
7. Client/patient loyalty must be rewarded;
8. Web attraction is becoming an increasingly essential way to attract new patients;
9. Branding is now more important than design - design follows branding;
10. Membership of a mastermind group is no longer a discretionary investment - it is THE way to ensure continuing confidence and success.

I'm easing myself back into my work routine this week - the change of scenery has been great - and I see nothing but opportunity ahead.

Thought Leadership in Mastermind Groups

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Since January we have noticed a key change in the way this year's dental mastermind groups are developing.

Certainly the most significant change to our tactics has been to extend the meeting from one day (9 till 5) to a day and a half - delegates arrive Monday 1.00pm and leave at 5.00pm Tuesday. We are developing the following loose agenda:

Monday afternoon:

1. Welcome and introduction of new members
2. Reminder of the group's mission, promises and expectation;
3. Issue of extra pages to the membership folder, summarising key learning from last series of meetings;
4. Review of last quarter learning;
5. Review of individual member's last 90-days - highs and lows;
6. "shopping list" - establish each member's individual needs from this meeting;
7. Thought Leadership - Chris and Simon (the coaches) share their philosophy on what's happening in the profession right NOW.

Monday evening:

Casual dinner (important to leave the delegates to get to know each other - Simon and I usually retire early)

Tuesday:

1. PowerPoint presentation on a key subject (theme for the quarter);
2. Open discussion;
3. Completion of shopping lists;
4. Goals for next 90 days;
5. Feedback and close.

What has surprised and delighted Simon and I is that the delegates want the PowerPoint to be as brief as possible - so that they can get on with discussing their own issues. This has freed the coaches (us) from the need to educate, train, entertain - and allowed us to co-discover answers with the delegates.

We are amazed at how many ideas are emerging from the group - ideas that are providing us with on-the-spot research and development for the creation of new material with which to market ourselves.

The clients are coming up with the ideas - because we have created a safe environment in which they have the time and space so to do.

That's a win-win if I ever heard one.

We have also enrolled our existing members as our unpaid sales-force - asking them to recommend new members for "their" group.

Our operations manager told us on Monday that 80% of the calls she is accepting are from potential new clients.

We are generating curiosity in the UK dental profession, we are visible, we have good reputations - and we are growing!

The Breathe Business Club is thriving.

The Importance of the Kolbe Profile

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Looking back over my blog posts I made reference about a year ago to the use of the Kolbe profiling system in our dental mastermind groups.

To recap briefly, the Kolbe profile is way of measuring skills and identifying the unique abilities of individuals and their likely performance and behaviour in given situations.

You can find out all about the product at www.kolbe.com and I want to stress that I'm not an agent for their organisation and haven't negotiated some fancy sales commission or affiliate fee for this mention!

What I can say is that for the second year we have asked our Mastermind Group members to bring their own Kolbe "A" profiles to the meetings - and that was has followed has been a fascinating and detailed conversation about their own strengths and weaknesses - and those of the support team around them.

I am not a certified Kolbe trainer (although a member of our team here at Breathe Business is one of the few in the UK) and I'm personally developing a slow understanding of how the profiles can be interpreted - but I do know that the experience has been liberating for myself and many of our members.

Why?

Because, for me, Kolbe kind of de-bunks much of the personal development industry by explaining that we are the perfect version of ourselves, that we are unlikely to change our profile and that its important to play to strengths and delegate weaknesses.

I don't know about you - but I'm sick and tired of taller, fitter, wealthier and more handsome people telling me that if I will just purchase their book/audio/video course and try harder to be all the things I'm not - that somehow my professional and personal life will miraculously transform.

It never did for me (28 years now) and it hasn't done for any of the clients I have worked with.

The beauty of Kolbe is that I have been encouraged to be "ME"- emotional, grumpy, perfectionist, pithy ME - and I can now coach my clients to become their own selves.

In our Mastermind meetings so far this year, we have seen a principal's wife burst into tears of relief when she was allowed to stop trying to be an entrepreneur and concentrate on being the great clinician that she is.

We have equally seen dentists who have stopped doing dentistry - put down their drills - so as to focus on business-building and entrepreneurship.

The results have been a revelation and we are working with clients who, in the first three months of 2008, have made radical changes to their lives and businesses so as to focus on what they love to do and end sometimes years of silent suffering in unsuitable roles.

So I guess I'm a fan of Kolbe - and it's helping our Mastermind Groups to thrive.

The agenda for a first Mastermind meeting

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Here at Breathe Business we have recently created 6 new mastermind groups of UK dental principals and their business managers- the meetings are spread regionally around the UK and readers of my previous posts will know a little about the invitations, background and format of the quarterly sessions.

Whilst we arrived at our first meetings in January 2008 with a pretty good idea of what we wanted to cover, we were also alive and aware of the clients' needs and adapted our material quickly as we co-facilitated from the front of the room.

After our first tranche of meetings we have "nailed" the agenda (isn't it sometime like that - you have to facilitate a meeting in order to figure out how to do it?) - and I thought you might benefit from seeing the finished result:

Monday:

1.00pm - arrive and enjoy a light lunch - exchange informal greetings between group members

2.00pm formal proceedings begin with "house rules" on mastermind group etiquette and expectations for the year ahead

2.30pm - group members formally introduce themselves with brief personal and practice history and expectations from the year of coaching ahead

3.30pm - "Imagineering" session - each group member is given 90 minutes in which to create a vision of how they would like their personal and professional lives to look at the "finish line" - definition of finish line is the point at which they feel that the latest "phase" of their evolution is complete (can be three years or 20 years)

5.00pm - break for personal time

7.30pm - informal dinner

9.30pm - informal after-dinner discussion on their "Imagineering" results

10.30pm close.

Tuesday:

9.00am - roadblocks - what's likely to get in the way of the "Imagineering"

10.30am - Kolbe analysis - (members are asked to create a Kolbe profile - www.kolbe.com - and bring it with them) - analysis of how they are likely to perform and behave as they create the vision and deal with the roadblocks

11.30am - solutions - detailed work begins on "what has to happen" for each member to move towards their vision - open forum discussion by facilitators and members on each "Imagineering" project

3.30pm - actions - action plan created for each member

4.30pm - reflections and feedback on the meeting

5.00pm close.

The emphasis throughout is on "conversation" and not "presentation" - although my business partner Simon ad I do lead and guide from the front of the room, although we do steer and introduce concepts that we have developed - we allow a conversation - there is no PowerPoint - just lots of flip chart sheets which we pin to the wall.

At the conclusion of the meeting we photograph the flip chart sheets and distribute to all members as digital photos.

Changing the rules on who attends meetings

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


In previous years we have restricted attendance at our dental mastermind meetings to owners and their working spouses/partners.

Our rationale was that they wanted a "safe place" and a peer group environment in which to explore their business strategy and their "fears" around ownership.

Over the last 2 years we have found that a principal focus for our members has been a conversation on delegation and the creation of a superb support team, to whom they can entrust the day to day operational controls.

Dentists, like many independent professionals, tend to be "control freaks" and have difficulty in delegation (work done by the people on your payroll) and outsourcing (work done by those you hire temporarily).

We constantly reinforce our belief that a 21st Century independent professional can make a living by doing work - but can only create wealth by developing a team of workers.

In particular, we have emphasized the need to create a world-class business manager to whom the client can delegate everything except:

1. The client's unique income generating ability (the dentistry);

2. Strategy and

3. Leadership of the team.

What this means is that the "work" of running the business:

1. financial controls

2. marketing systems

3. customer service

4. selling

5. operational matters and

6. personnel

can be delegated to a professional whose unique ability is to run the company for the client.

Results include less stress, less homework and more time away from the workplace, taking quality recovery time with self, family and friends.

Well our coaching has worked - and our clients are hiring part and full-time business managers - and raving about the difference that has made.

And now a new question has emerged - "can I bring my shiny new Business Manager to the Mastermind meetings please?"

Our initial response was to decline - protecting the integrity of the group and it's original vision.

But we have listened - and the overwhelming request has been a change in policy - so we are about to contact our clients and offer the opportunity to invite their Business Manager to all or part of the proceedings.

I expect howls of protest from the committed solopreneurs - maybe even some who will depart.

But I know that this is the correct strategy to build better businesses and lives for our clients - so I'm going to stick to my decision and see what happens.

It's about the content

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


We recently wrapped up the last meeting of our 2007 Dental Mastermind Group and, at the conclusion of the day, revealed the plans for our new business in 2008 - a merger between the individual coaching practices of Chris Barrow (The Dental Business School) and Simon Hocken (Jump Coaching).

Inviting feedback from the delegates on their "shopping list" for 2008, we were surprised not by the subject matter but by the order in which it was presented:

They want:

1. Content - ideas and market intelligence, plus the "how to" of successful business practice (toolkits, templates, systems, standards, models);
2. Community - a business club of like-minded practice owners who are committed to a bigger future, and
3. Confidence - an attitude focused on success, inspiration and authenticity in current and future market conditions

Our surprise was the emphasis on content - we thought that community would be the most important - after all they play golf the afternoon before the meeting and seem to keep the hotel bar open until the early hours!

But no - it's mainly about content - about cutting edge ideas that will keep them ahead of the competition.

So we have carefully (and quickly) revised our 2008 offer to read as follows:

For Principals - The Breathe Business Club(TM)

The Breathe Business Club(TM) will be an elite group of practice owners (just 15 at each of our core locations) who are at any stage in their career, but recognise the benefit of meeting together in a peer-group environment to focus and accelerate their progress.

As well as coaching and conference calls, email reporting, and an on-line forum, the focus of the Club will be quarterly meetings, which will take place over 2 days and will be facilitated jointly by Chris Barrow and Simon Hocken. This is a forum for sharing contemporary ideas and solutions to meet the demands of running a successful business, concentrating on 4 key areas of advanced business planning:

1. The Profit Accelerator(TM) - how to maximise the productivity and profitability of your practice using 21st Century business models

2. The Sales Accelerator(TM) - how to increase and maintain the flow of qualified new patients and high-value treatment plan sales

3. The Team Accelerator(TM) - how to build the ultimate ability team around yourself - freeing you to develop your best skills

4. The Systems Accelerator(TM) - a turn-key package of operational systems and brand standards that have been proven in the marketplace

Breathe Core Locations:

• Edinburgh
• Leeds
• Manchester
• Birmingham
• Bristol
• London

And our intention is to massively increase the scope of our offer - from just one to 6 groups around the UK.

In fact, even as I write we are hearing representations from a group in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that they would like us to create a Breathe Business Club(TM) chapter for them.

So we have been reminded of a n important lesson - that branding isn't about how we see our services - it's about how our customers see our services.

Mastermind Groups - More Profit In Less Time

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


We are evaluating and creatively destroying our business at the moment - designing a 2008 business model that will allow us to create "more profit in less time" personally - instead of just for our clients!

As part of that process we have decided to considerably expand the number and scope of our Mastermind Groups next year.

By expand - I mean from one group of 18 clients - to 7 groups of 15 clients around the UK - now that's expand!

By scope - I mean that the existing one-day format will be increased to a day and half - feedback from the 2007 members is that they want more time and are prepared to pay for it.

So here is the sales copy we have developed for our 2008 Mastermind Groups - this will be going out to our database in the next few days. It is an extract from a much larger document that outlines all of our products and services, from team training days and practice visits, through Mastermind Groups, to individual tailor-made coaching.

Constructive feedback is welcome - and please also feel free to use any of our language and ideas with your own niche market - every market except UK dentists please!

Mastermind groups

Are you:

• Good at dentistry and pretty good at running a business - BUT feel as if you are at a plateau in your development?
• Enjoying the clinical work BUT slowly becoming overwhelmed with the demands and complexity of spinning all the business plates?
• Running out of time to get everything done? Has time become just a scarce quantity in your life as opposed to a valued quality?
• Looking for a realistic plan that will move you forward so that you can believe that your life is going to be better 10 years from now?
• Feeling professionally isolated, unable to share your ideas with like-minded principals and get their feedback and suggestions?
• Tired of having to continually develop tools, systems and processes all by yourself?
• Looking for strategies and tactics that will help you to develop a superb support team?

Would you like to:

• Work with the UK's top two dental business coaches on designing tailor-made solutions that will move your practice forward to the next level?
• Develop a crystal clear vision of the next 10 years and the steps towards your success?
• Sit down on a regular basis with 14 other practice owners who think they have a bigger future
• Stay in touch with your coaches and peer group on a regular basis to share your ideas and benefit from their wisdom of experience
• Help others to grow their practices by sharing your own successes and failures?
• Enjoy access to the very best ideas, tools, systems, templates, brand standards and systems that are making the UK's top privately-owned practices the best in the business?
• In the Mastermind Groups (MMG's) you will be challenged by your mentor coaches, Simon Hocken, Chris Barrow and the rest of this energetic community to create goals, strategies and tactics, brainstorm ideas, and act as catalysts, devil's advocates and supportive friends and colleagues.

As a member of a Dental Mastermind Group, you will:

• Join a one year Mentoring Programme which is restricted to 15 Dental Principals (and their partners if they work in the business) per location
• Meet four times a year on Monday lunchtime for two days of intensive training and coaching, including a working dinner and overnight stay. The meetings will be led jointly by Simon Hocken and Chris Barrow
• Meet in one of 7 venues around the UK
• Have one on one access to Simon and Chris by email and by phone to coach you during the year.
• Have the opportunity to report in every week emailing your Mastermind Group Weekly Workout Log
• Be in easy communication with the rest of the group by on-line forum for brainstorming ideas/problems/solutions etc
• Enjoy full access to all of the content we develop throughout the new company - tools, templates, systems and innovative ideas
• Be able to send your team members to our training days and enjoy a 20% discount on the day delegate rate

Your Investment

The investment to be a member of the Mastermind Group is £8,000 plus VAT or £752.00 per month plus VAT.

The Breakthrough

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Our last Mastermind meeting was the best ever - for a reason that we hadn't anticipated.

Previously, Simon and I have arrived for the 36-hour meeting, armed with PowerPoint's and presentation material, designed to entertain, educate and inform our members.

We see ourselves as the "sages", the founders for the group who hold the knowledge.

The group is an opportunity to be up and close and personal with "us" = and to have an insider view of our experience in the market, as applied to the member's individual practices.

It's been "all about us".

Last meeting we changed that - and shifted to what I call "bar stool coaching" - and what I mean by that is that Simon and I sat on bar stools, at the front of the room and simply started the meeting off by asking a simple question:

"How can we help?"

The conversation began on the Monday evening and we ran out of time at 5.00pm on the Tuesday, still in full flow.

The members loved it - we loved it - the feedback was the best ever.

Lesson learned - it was "about them".

Measuring Key Performance Indicators for MMG members

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Our quarterly meeting is just around the corner and I have today emailed the members, asking them to update their KPI's for the financial conversation.

So what's a KPI and why is important?

With a group made up of dental practice owners, what we want to identify are the most important financials that can be used as a diagnostic:

1. How do they compare with each other?
2. How do they compare with the market as a whole?

It's also significant to note that I’m not an accountant - and I don't want to understand double-entry book-keeping - so the numbers have to be in a format that the members will find easy to collate and that the group will find easy to understand and discuss.

This is where the experienced-based knowledge of the group comes in handy.

After much deliberation we have settled on the following KPI's - all of which are expressed as a percentage of sales:

a. Owners' profit (before tax);
b. Dental material costs;
c. Dental laboratory fees;
d. Payroll for salaried team members;
e. Average daily gross sales per income producer;
f. Associate dentist fees as a percentage of total fees;
g. Hygienist fees as a percentage of overall fees;
h. Secured debt;
i. Non-secured debt.

It still amazes clients that I can look at these numbers and give a pretty good account of the "shape" a dental practice is in - within a few moments.

More importantly, the MMG members find it useful to compare, contrast and monitor their own progress over time.

Oh - and by the way - how good is that you can demonstrate that your clients' finances are in better shape than the market average?

Let me share a secret with you - the most important KPI of all is....

Average daily gross sales per income producer.

Without exception - if that figure drops the business is in all kinds of trouble.

So part of my responsibility as the MMG facilitator is to make sure that the members submit their updated numbers - and to help them understand what messages they are getting from the numbers - and what to do about it.

What do you do when it goes quiet?

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


One of greatest fears as a newly-trained business coach (that's the mid-90's by the way) was created around the concern I felt when clients either didn't contact me or make any demands on my time and ability.

"After all" I would tell myself "they are paying fees and I'm doing nothing to earn those fees."

Over time, my fear would settle into a deep paranoia - convincing me that it would only be a matter of time before the clients rose up as a body, accused me of being a charlatan and asked for a complete refund of fees.

So I found myself reaching out to them, asking "why haven't you called or emailed me. Why didn't you send a weekly email report, why didn't you join our bridge call?"

I find myself repeating this pattern in the context of our 2007 Dental Mastermind group - 18 principals paying £6,000 each for quarterly meetings, weekly email reports, a monthly call-in day (30 minutes on the phone with me), unlimited email access to me, an on-line forum and a monthly bridge call.

Surprise, surprise.

1. All 18 attend the quarterly meetings;
2. Maybe 20% bother to send any email;
3. Maybe 20% bother to complete a weekly progress report;
4. Maybe 20% attend the call-in days and bridge call;
5. Maybe 10% (!) have bothered to access the forum and post questions or answers.

So my paranoia began to settle in again a few weeks ago - OMG, they are all going to cancel!

But they don't and they won't.

Because they are getting what they want - rather than what I want to give them.

1. 80% of them are perfectly happy to invest £6,000 in quarterly meetings and a very occasional email or call;
2. 20% of them like to dip their toe into one or more of the extra services;
3. And my work schedule is delightfully clear - helping me to help those who need me NOW.

So if I were starting this year's group again - I would still offer all of those knobs and whistles - but I would manage my expectations as far as the take-up is concerned and make it very clear at the start that, like a gym, the facilities are there but if you don't use them, there are no refunds - not that anybody has ever asked for one.

When it's quiet they are happy - they will soon tell you if they are not.

And every now and then there will be evidence that they do actually see you as their coach - such a Saturday morning, when one of my Masterminders called me in dire straits because 2 important team members had resigned on the same day and he was feeling abandoned.

I had a 5-hour drive and a hands-free phone - he had a crisis - we chatted for an hour - and I probably made my year's fee in that call.

Getting Mastermind Group members to play - whose game is it?

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Today is a call-in day for my Mastermind Group members.

What I mean by that is that part of the service we offer (as well as a quarterly Mastermind meeting) is unlimited email access to myself and my business partner, Simon Hocken, as the coaches - "just ask as many questions on whatever subjects whenever you like" and also, once a month, a full day that we set aside to attend 30-minute phone calls with each MMG member.

We use an on-line appointment scheduler at http://www.appointmentquest.com/ and each month the 18 MMG members receive a personal email from my business manager (10 days notice), asking them to get on-line and book their call with me.

So this morning I rise early, check the scheduler - and there are 3 calls booked for me - just 3 - and 1 for Simon.

Suppressing a feeling of glee that there will be loads of time today to catch up with business development work, I think about what's happening here and write to them all as follows:

Morning all

I'm not at all moaning BUT...

If you look at the attached spreadsheet you will see the call-in day schedule for today - and it's not really much of challenge for Simon and I is it?

Don't get me wrong:

1. The chance to catch up on my work between the 3 calls I have today will be very welcome - there is always loads to do and
2. The three people I speak to today (and I'm sure that the people that Simon speak to) will get 100% attention and coaching;
3. And I DON'T want anybody to try and book a call today - because I will not be looking at the appointment scheduler again.

I suppose I would like some feedback.

Is it because we are allocating what, for you, is surgery time? We could discuss alternatives, such as some evening calls or...

Is it because there is not such a desperate need for calls so I can just rest assured that you are all happy with the coaching?

I know I spoke to some MMG members yesterday in the main call-in day.

A bit of constructive feedback would be welcome.

I know my darling dentists can be a bit hard to tie down sometimes - we asked over 70 people to attend the 6.00pm bridge call last night (for our core programme clients) - 2 turned up at 6 and a third at 6.30pm - we actually had a darn good conversation about web site design, calculating average daily rate and dealing with procrastination.

Don't forget we have a call tonight at 6.00pm- just for you MMG'ers - maybe we can discuss this then.

Speak later. I love you all!

Cb

What happens as a result is that 2 more clients call before 9.00am with an "OMG - I forgot to book my call - can I speak with you later?"

And, so far (it's 11.00am) I have one email that reads:

"Hi Chris, I thought I had booked a slot but had put in my diary to do it but didn't action it. Can't make tonight's group callas my wife is out and making a conference call with a 1 year old crying at my ankles isn't a good idea, will be in touch soon. We have recently employed a bookkeeper and have found a business development manager who is starting in September ( will be bringing him to the workshop 2 in Belfast in June) so I have not been idle."

So I suppose that gives me some hope that they are enjoying the coaching.

More importantly, it reminds me that the clients take what the clients want from the overall service I provide.

Most of them just want to attend the quarterly meeting and get the benefit of the community, the golf on Sunday, the bar on Sunday night and the conversation all day Monday.

Some of them (a minority) put posts on the Forum we have created.

Some of them (a minority) want to send me emails.

Some of them (a minority) want to attend the call-in days and conference calls.

All of them seem to be happy - they are paying!

So I need to let go of the need for 100% attendances.

The Second Meeting Approaches

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


We will be facilitating our second Mastermind Group meeting in just a few weeks (23rd April) and we are all amazed at just how quickly 90 days pass by.

In my last post I mentioned that our dentists were a little concerned at the lack of formal agenda in the first meeting - so we are introducing a little more control second time around.

Our day will focus on 2 key issues:

1. Financial controls in their personal and professional lives and
2. Creating a support team to whom they can delegate the management of their businesses.

We cover these topics in our core programme at The Dental Business School - but over 9 years we have witnessed a gap between workshop attendance and implementation - they don't do the homework, even though they pay the fees!

So, with a focus on implementation, I recently wrote to my Mastermind Group members as follows:

We are focusing on financial controls and team-building so:

1. attached is a copy of the KPI spreadsheet from the 2004 MMG clients which is long overdue an update - so I'd like your help. I would like each MMG member to send me their corresponding figures from their last published set of accounts - the required figures should be self-explanatory. If you send them to me I will prepare an updated survey of the latest KPI's;

2. I also want to use the meeting to make sure that you are all doing personal and professional cash flow forecasts a la Mother of all Spreadsheets (MOAS);

3. And looking at individual associate profitability where that's appropriate?

4. If anyone needs help with the MOAS and associates then let me know in advance;

5. On the "team-building" front there are two things I would like you to do:

a. Prepare an organisational chart for the meeting (preferably send it to me beforehand) along the lines of the attached;

b. Most importantly (and this will mean you need to invest sometime and money before the MMG meeting) - go to www.kolbe.com and then to https://www.kolbe.com/all_kolbe_indexes/indexquestions.cfm?indextype=kolbe_a where you can take the Kolbe A on-line. This will cost you $49.95 so have your credit card ready for when you have spent the 20 minutes or so to answer the multiple choice questions;

c. Get your Kolbe assessment numbers and either print off the report or send me the results;

d. Your results will presented to you in the form of a set of 4 numbers i.e. 3 7 3 7 - and it's these numbers I am looking for before the meeting - why?

e. Simon and I have been introduced to Kolbe assessment on our Strategic Coach programme with Dan Sullivan's team - and it's a fantastic tool for team building - we want to analyse your own results with you at the MMG and then enable you to use this as a means of building your own team in practice. No messing - we think this is GREAT - so please take the time to complete the on-line assessment ASAP.

So you will gather that I have sent them a small set of Excel spreadsheets:

1. 2004 financial KPI's from the members that year;

2. Personal and professional cash flow forecasts as templates that they can plug their figures into and

3. An analysis of the profitability of the "junior" dentists they may work alongside.

Simon (my co-facilitator) and I know that these figures matter - and we also know that introducing our clients to the Kolbe assessment will be a revelation.

Should be a good meeting!

How a new Mastermind Group is evolving

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Having created our latest Mastermind Group of 18 dental practice owners in January, we are beginning to see the group emerge and evolve.

Our first meeting in January followed the usual format of a working dinner on Sunday evening, a few social drinks in the bar and a full day meeting on the Monday.

To ensure that everyone had a voice, we split into two equal groups on Monday morning - after an inaugural session of all 20 (18 clients and 2 facilitators) we split into two board rooms and began the process of discovering more about each group member and addressing their business concerns and challenges on the day.

Since the meeting in early January, we have listened to feedback, positive and negative, from group members.

On the positive side they have overwhelmingly enjoyed the "tribal" element of the group - new relationships with clinical and entrepreneurial peers.

On the negative side, we were called to account because of the complete absence of an agenda for the first meeting.

Therein is a paradox.

We have facilitated Mastermind Groups for 4 years now.

In year 1 we had a strict agenda and clients told us that they felt too restricted.

In year 2 we had no agenda and clients told us that there was too little organisation (they came unprepared to the meetings).

In year 3 we tried a morning of structure and afternoons of free-flow - the clients told us that we had the balance about right.

In January we made the mistake (with a bigger group, 2 facilitators and a new dynamic) of leaving the day free to assess their needs.

A timely reminder that they want structure first (I suspect to give them a sense of being led) and then free-form (to stretch their wings).

Next meeting will be re-organised that way.

A pleasant surprise has been the success of our email group for MMG members only.

UK dentists are not as IT- savvy as their North American colleagues.

After a few test emails had arrived in everyone's in-box, they seem to have captured the potential.

Now - we are witnessing a healthy correspondence which focuses on practice management issues but is also drifting into questions on clinical equipment and procedures.

As facilitators, we can stand back from this conversation - largely because as a non-dentist I don't understand it (!) but also because they are quite happily chatting amongst themselves now but crediting us with forming the community.

One of our MMG members wrote to me a couple of days ago:

I am certainly grateful of how membership of your M.M.G. opens other doors and carries a currency with other coaches/groups and am becoming aware of the esteem that other people regard you with.

Now that's a very nice compliment for me - but also demonstrates another benefit of the MMG. This client had expressed an interest in building an investment property portfolio and, through the MMG, was introduced to a wealth coach, who is now working with him. I know the wealth coach, I introduced the first client to her some years ago!

The new introduction has been made without my knowledge - but I am still seen as the "source". My credibility grows - my client tells his peers how useful his relationship with me has been - and so the business snowball rolls.

Having found success with our email group - we are now looking at turning that into a properly managed forum, so that clients can follow the threads of individual conversations.

Oh - and did I mention the golfing group that spontaneously formed before our first meeting (at a leading golf hotel) and is now arranging further sporting encounters?

Tips For Your First Mastermind Group Meeting

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Many people seem to have enjoyed my first post on Evan's site, sharing the "recruitment" letter that we sent out to invite members to our 2007 Dental Mastermind Group.

Last Sunday afternoon I drove down to Birmingham to meet for the first time with our Mastermind Group for 2007 - 18 dental principals who will meet quarterly for a working dinner and then a full day of coaching.

In addition we will offer them:

Unlimited email access to myself and my co-coach Simon Hocken;

An individual 30-minute coaching call, once a month;

A group conference call once a month and

A group email facility so that they can communicate with each other.

On Sunday we met in our hotel bar for pre-dinner drinks and, to my delight, the atmosphere was vocal and friendly from the very start.

This happened because some were old friends who have met at The Dental Business School (my core coaching programme) and others who have met on our one or two-day specialist workshops.

When we entered our dining room, I asked the hotel staff to stand back whilst I formally greeted everyone and asked them to stand and share with the group:

Who they were;

Where they were from;

A mini-profile of their business and

A little known non-business fact about themselves (my ice-breaker)

Dinner was fun and, again, vocal. I retired to my room at 10.30pm and heard on Monday that the last group of 4 left the bar at 1.45am (I had warned them not to get too much alcohol in their system so, thankfully, there were few fuzzy heads the next day - but don't lose sight of the social element - many of my clients are single-handed healthcare professionals who seldom get out to play).

On Monday (9.00am start), the energy in the room was immediately electric and full of anticipation.

We spent the first hour presenting to them – rules, boundaries and objectives for the group together with an explanation of the support services I mentioned above.

Then it was straight into 2 syndicates – one of 10, the other of 8 (because we have found that more than 10 is too many and less than 6 is too few.

They have in common:

• Ownership of a dental practice
• At least one year of Dental Business School membership.

When we first created MMG's 4 years ago I mistakenly believed that I would be required to come up with sparkling new "advanced" material to engage their interest.

But we quickly discovered they had heard "the basics" but not implemented them all.

So the MMG evolved as an environment for implementation of the standard stuff they had heard me present on the core programme.

The format is to spend approximately 30 minutes helping each client to deal with specifics - facilitated by the coach but helped by all the other people in the room.

Themes yesterday were:

• I need to employ a full-time business manager
• I need to do the Patient Journey basics
• I need to do the marketing basics
• I'm still overwhelmed and my task list just gets longer

We agreed that, in fact, there was only 1 "to do" on their "to do" list.

The only "to do" is to employ people "to do" the "to do's" on your "to do" list.

Delegate to a business development manager, do dentistry, communication and leadership and let others do everything else.

My favourite comment of the day (from a client) - "have you noticed that there is a tit in the middle of practitioner?"

As always, we spent more time with the earlier volunteers for coaching and, as the day progressed, time became a pressure – but the later delegates require less time because many of their own issues have been addressed in earlier conversations.

Although we nominally allocate 30 minutes per member, it is important to reinforce that the objective of the day is to be results-based and not time-based. If the members get the answers they were looking for in 30 seconds that's OK. Move on.

If a member has been coached but complains that there are "15-minutes of my time left" they may be unsuitable.

The day flew by - and before we knew it there were farewells until next quarter.

A truly inspiring experience - I love the "buzz" of the mastermind group - which is why I am looking forward to attending my own MMG(as a delegate) on Friday this week!

Sales Letter To Attract Mastermind Members

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Dear ____,

The DBS Mastermind Group 2007

As members of the existing Advanced Planning Group (APG) we are jointly writing to offer you a personal invitation to join the DBS Mastermind Group (MMG) for 2007.

We are making some important changes based on client feedback and I want to explain how the MMG will be evolving next year - and "what's in it for you."

The idea of an APG first developed in 2000, after The Dental Business School had been offered for 3 years and a number of clients were asking "what next?"

With my background in financial services, I knew that Mastermind Groups were successful, as a means for experienced practitioners to meet with a peer group and enjoy good conversations on how best to take their businesses forward.

I myself formed such a group way back in 1989 and 6 of us helped each other enormously for the 5 years that we met on a quarterly basis.

So in 2001 we created a new Dental APG and the demand was so great that we formed 2 separate groups, meeting in Manchester and Oxford.

Once a quarter we would meet on a Sunday evening for a working dinner - and then all day Monday in conference.

What worked best about these groups was the community and bond that formed between the members - life-long friendships were born and the attendees gained external feedback, ideas and opinions on their own plans for the future.

With hindsight, what worked less well was the decision to abandon "agendas" and allow each member to arrive at the meeting and simply ask "how can the group help me?" on any current and burning issues.

It's no surprise (with hindsight) that preparation was low or non-existent and so the conversations were often just about current "stuff".

By 2003 Chris's work commitments on both sides of the Atlantic were such that facilitating the APG was becoming a challenge - and so Chris invited Simon to become group facilitator and (say's Chris and the clients) Simon has done a great job for the last 2 years.

Feedback to me has been that the APG members have gained enormously from the group dynamic and from Simon's personal style of coaching - very narrow and deep!

We now come to 2007 and the result of a series of conversations between Simon and myself since August this year.

Our principal objective is to:

• Work alongside you to ensure the future success of your practice.
• Mentor/coach/train you and a small, elite group of like-minded colleagues, who are determined to stay at the leading edge of dental practice.
• Provide leadership, management advice and contemporary ideas and solutions to meet the demands of owning a successful practice in 2007

The DBS Mastermind Group 2007 - proposals:

• That the meetings continue on a quarterly basis - Sunday night dinner and a full day on Monday;
• That Simon and I join forces - so that there are 2 facilitators for the group;
• That we create 1 group of 20 practices (no more than that allowed);
• As usual, membership is restricted to those who are Barrowed-up and we feel can make a positive contribution - that's why this is a letter and not just an ezine broadcast;
• That we keep to one location for the year, that is easily accessible;
• That the meetings are in 4/5 star hotels close to easy-access airports and road/rail connections - we have chosen the Forest of Arden hotel close to Birmingham airport, the NEC and the railway station;
• That each Sunday night dinner is for all 20 clients and contains a formal presentation before dinner on individual progress plus a social element;
• That on the Monday we split into 2 groups of 10 practices, to be facilitated one by Chris, one by Simon - so the group sizes are small enough to allow everyone to benefit;
• That there are agendas for the meetings - focusing on advanced planning in each of the DBS 8 key strategies (presented by Chris and Simon) - as well as break-out sessions where individual members can bring current issues to the table;
• That each Monday meeting contains a group round-up and summary of the key insights gained;
• That each group member continues to send in Weekly Work Out Logs to Chris and Simon;
• That we have a dedicated call-in day especially for MMG members, which allow longer duration phone calls;
• That we have a dedicated monthly bridge call for MMG members;
• That we create an on-line chat group so that MMG members can stay in touch with each other as well as their 2 coaches.

So that's our vision - and we are personally excited about getting back involved in moving clients forward.

I truly believe that this is a unique opportunity to take your business to the next level.

And remember that, as an MMG member, you can still attend any or all of the core DBS workshops for just the delegate rate - and you can send any team members to the core DBS workshops for refresher days or to get "Barrowed up" if they are new team members.

Your investment

In January, we are raising our fee for the core DBS programme to £6,000 plus VAT. As you know, you have the additional costs of staff wages and lost billable time to factor into this as well.

We intend to price MMG membership at the same level - that will be £6,000 plus VAT. Your additional investment here will be travel to the location and your accommodation for the meetings. Your investment in the MMG will include dinner on the Sunday evening.

As with the core DBS, you can either pay up front or we will arrange finance for your fees.

Early-bird discount

Payments received (or finance approved) before 1st December 2006 will enjoy 2 significant benefits:

1. An early-bird discount of 5% - your fee will be £300 less and
2. No Vat payable on fees received before that date.

So an early decision would save you £1350 on the overall costs!

Act Now!

There are only 20 places available in the DBS Mastermind Group 2007- and we already know of 10 places that have been reserved and invoiced, in addition to this letter to the 6 existing APG members - so technically we have room for you and 4 other practices and a waiting list of 15 who have requested further details - before we contact them we are giving you "first refusal" on places 11 to 17 inclusive.

For further details, or to reserve your place, please call Bonnie Mockett on 01326 377078 or email here on bonnie@thedentalbusinessschool.com

Yours sincerely

Chris Barrow