Stephanie Aldrich gives a raving testimonial interview with Dr. Ginger. After years of being plateaued in her dental practice, she just had her second best month EVER after only one month in the Coaching Mastermind Program, and has already returned her full year investment.
Ginger: Hi there, I am with Dr. Stephanie Aldrich from Akron, Ohio. What is your little suburb area?
Dr. Aldrich: Fairlawn, Ohio.
Ginger: You’re new to the Mastermind Coaching program and we just spent the day working together on the VIP Elite Experience. So I just want to ask you some questions. First of all, how did the day go for you?
Dr. Aldrich: I thought the day was very insightful. We took questions that I was having, problems I was having in different areas of the practice and we took them into little bitty steps and broke them down. So that it doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a task to change them.
Ginger: So it’s not overwhelming now? It seemed like kind of a big monster, but it’s a eatable elephant now.
Dr. Aldrich: Right, and I think the worksheets helped me to focus on what I was actually asking for.
Ginger: Ok, so one of the things we talked about today was everyone is looking for answers. But really you need better questions.
Dr. Aldrich: We need better questions and I need to ask you better questions. How can you help me if I don’t know what I need help in.
Ginger: Right, that’s it! We talk about the clarity and getting really clear. She has some homework to do and I have some homework to do. And we got to that point by going through the process, that’s the worksheets she’s referring to.
We worked on the 3 M’s today. Everyone comes in talking about Marketing, wanting more new patients, but we found there are 2 other M’s that are just as valuable. And once we pealed back the layers, they were actually something we really needed to work on.
Dr. Aldrich: Yes.
Ginger: We have Mindset
Dr. Aldrich: Mindset, which is me and my mindset and what’s holding me back from doing the things that I want to accomplish. And the second one…
Ginger: Management! Good Marketing cannot fix bad systems. And it becomes very painfully aware. And we did it virtually, how we can stretch the system with really good marketing and say, ‘Hey, I can bring you a thousand new patients tomorrow, what are you going to do?” And we found out, there are some problems we need to fix, or obstacles rather, and they were easier to fix than I thought.
Dr. Aldrich: Right, exactly.
Ginger: So ‘officially’ you’ve been part of the Coaching Program for one month. One month. Officially. She’s starting her second month now and you reported when you got here today. So this is your first physical meeting but we’ve been working by phone and email in the office.
Dr. Aldrich: Right
Ginger: When you got here today, you had some good news to report. So, what was the good news?
Dr. Aldrich: The good news was we had our second highest month ever.
Ginger: Second highest month ever!
Dr. Aldrich: Right and with very little stress. I think that was more of a major turning block for me saying that I’m definitely in the right place.
Ginger: Well good. And when you came to me things were kind of plateaued for you, consistently.
Dr. Aldrich: Yes, for 3 years.
Ginger: Ok, so for 3 years of doing this to one month seeing growth. Did you make your coaching investment for the whole year back yet?
Dr. Aldrich: Yes!
Ginger: So she made it back in one month.
Dr. Aldrich: Yes, one month and it’s paid for.
Ginger: So it’s paid for, so everything else is gravy from here on out. That’s a testament to you because I give everyone the same information and advice for what is specific to their office but what you did is… you actually did it.
Dr. Aldrich: Right
Ginger: And was it painful?
Dr. Aldrich: No, because you only gave me 3 things to do. And as a female I am used to multi-tasking. So those 3 things were done in 2 weeks.
Ginger: Ok, and then you were sitting there saying ‘Give me more. Give me more’. But I told you hold on, because we’ve been building a lot of foundation work. But you got results.
Dr. Aldrich: Right, and with very little stress or financial risk or anything on my part.
Ginger: So that’s a pretty safe thing.
Dr. Aldrich: Right
Ginger: That’s good. Anything else you want to share about your experience so far?
Dr. Aldrich: I like the way that you’re coming to the meeting with how we break things down. Other Marketers that are out there, they’re just dentists, period. We separate things into categories. ‘I am a dentist.’ ‘I have to be a marketer.’ ‘I have to be CEO of my company.’ ‘I have to manage my team.’ ‘I have to be all to everyone.’
And what I like is you kind-of break things down and say, ‘you know what you don’t have to be everything to everyone.’ We can bring team members in to fill in those gaps so that it’s not so stressful for you and so that things are done properly.
[For example] I don’t know how to do landscaping but I will go to an architect and have them draw me what plans go in that area and then I hire the experts to come. And that’s where you tell me, ‘you’re not the expert, but these people can be the experts and I’m going to show you the way to bring the whole team together.’ And that’s just one month and one [in person] Coaching lesson.
Ginger: [laughs] Right, just one in person Coaching lesson.
Dr. Aldrich: Yes. You know this as a dentist, you know this but yet you think you have to do everything and you don’t. You don’t need to be afraid to let them go and let other people do it.
Ginger: I like how you said that. That’s really great. Wonder if somebody was considering Coaching and wonder if they should do this. What objection, you know they have objections, you have objections, what would you tell them?
Dr. Aldrich: What I would tell you if you were considering any type of consultant, whether they’re looking at a certain aspect of your practice. Do you want more patients? Do you want to do a certain type of procedure? What I would tell you to do is give Ginger a call.
She’s been there. She was in dentistry for 20 something years. She knows, not only, how to run a business and all the obstacles we deal with, from staff issues to learning a new procedure and how to incorporate all of that. But also how to let everyone else know that you do this. How to gain more access to your surrounding community. How to get more new patients. Everybody wants more new patients but how to attract the ones that you enjoy working on. The ones that pay their bills, that say ‘Yes’ to treatment and they’re excited about their own overall health. That’s why I hired Ginger. I’ve known her for many years but I didn’t even know she was doing this aspect of it. And I knew from other meetings that I looked at her as a mentor saying, ‘Gosh if she can do it, I should be able to do it too.’ And I’ve been what you’ve accomplished and I think you know, she’s the right person for me.
So I hope if you’re thinking about changing something, if you’re plateauing, if you’re bogged down in dentistry and just thinking I hate the environment, the economy nowadays so just say you know what let’s maybe take a step back and bring in a new observer and try something a little bit different. Things that you have probably done but maybe doing it a little bit different way.
Ginger: Right. We don’t make it hard. I break it down into bite size pieces.
Dr. Aldrich: Yeah, break it down little and you don’t have to do everything today. You do a little bit and build yourself up.
Ginger: We go and we look at what you need to do first, so you can get the most bang for your buck. That’s very important I feel
Dr. Aldrich: I think that was my stumbling block. I know all kinds of things to do but where do you start?? And with you, you started with me internally first and that’s what I needed.
Like you said, I can get you a thousand new patients but what are you going to do with them? Ahhh, I would shut the door and leave! Because I know internally I couldn’t handle that. So you have to start inside first. What you can fix, what you can tweak? Are the members the right people for you? Are you giving them enough delegated work that they can handle?
Ginger: Well I think you put that great and I appreciate you saying those wonderful things. Take care guys!
Stephanie Aldrich, DDS
Akron, OH