IQ-Magazine-Issue-12

IQ showcase
What sets you apart from the rest and
has helped you win those awards?
I just do my own thing and I don’t look at what my
competitors are doing. I have just tried to create a
dental practice that I would love to go to. Due to
this, I feel we tend to be a bit different, so we stand
out from the competition. We also use an amazing
marketing company, Cubiqdesign, and this has
definitely helped in winning the UK award.
What role has the team played in
the winning of awards?
The team has played a major part in winning
the awards. You can’t do everything by yourself,
so it’s important to surround yourself with a
great team. The team is very proud that we
have won awards. It’s given them a great morale
boost, and they get a buzz from working in an
award-winning business.
Would you consider your team to
be a motivated one?
As dentistry is essentially a service industry, it’s really
important that the team is happy. If people come to
see us and everyone on the team is grumpy, it reflects
really badly, and it’s unlikely anyone will come back.
Motivating a team and keeping everyone happy is
hard, and it’s a constant, ongoing process. The first
stage is getting the right people in. We recruit by a
person’s personality and attitude. If someone has the
right attitude, get them in; you can always teach them
the skills of the jobs later.
We have regular meetings with the team and are
always talking to them. From this we can see what
problems are occurring and then make changes. I find
that if the team can see that we value their opinion,
it keeps them happy and motivated. We also have
various bonus systems in place which gives everyone
something to work towards. This improves teamwork
and ultimately keeps everyone motivated.
If all else fails, then the best thing I can do to keep
everyone happy is to buy them cakes or biscuits or
chocolate every week. Don’t scrimp either, the posher
the cakes are, the happier the team are!
What kind of a leader are you?
I suppose I’m quite a laid back leader. I find if you
don’t micro-manage your team and allow them a bit
of freedom to do their job, you get amazing results.
I have a practice manger in place who does all the
human resources and takes care of the day-to-day
running of the practice.
What do the next 5 years
hold?
I have big plans for the next 5 years, and want to
grow the business considerably. I have hundreds
of ideas, and it’s just a case of finding time to
implement them.
This year we are extending the existing building
too, so it will have 4 surgeries. Once this is done,
it will be a case of increasing patient numbers so
the practice is running to 100% capacity with
all 4 rooms fully booked and running 6 days per
week.
After this, it will be a case of setting up the next
practice and repeating the process over again.
The practice is the busiest it has ever been,
and our appointment books are full for about 6
weeks. This is the result I will aspire to for all my
practices in the future.
More Information
Cathedral Dental, 15 Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1UZ.
Tel: 01284 705637. www.cathedraldental.co.uk
issue 12 | page 35