CAD/CAM international magazine of digital dentistry No. 4, 2016

| practice management globalization in dentistry 10 CAD/CAM 4 2016 compassion,butIgraduallyrealisedthat,ineachof these locations, there were dentists who were just gettingonwiththejobandenjoyinggreatsuccess, because they were either oblivious of or immune to those self-limiting beliefs. Now, do not get me wrong here, if your dental practice is situated in a town where a significant proportion of the pop- ulation is dependent on one major employer that then closes down, even the greatest optimist and positive thinker would have to take a reality check and respond. Thankfully, such economic disasters are relatively few in number. Most of the time, the aforementioned statements of difference are a self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of the con- ference questioner. The caring speaker will try to engage the attendee inmeaningfuldialogue,butexperienceshowsthat, sadly, the critic rarely wants to be persuaded away from his or her unfalsifiable hypothesis. Bringing this phenomenon into the second decade of the twenty-first century, the most frequent use of the phrase“ah,butit’sdifferenthere”relatestothedig- ital marketing landscape. Whenever I comment in writing or at a conference on the explosive growth of digital, there will inevitably be a listener who wants to tell me that people in his or her postcode arenotontheInternet,donotusesocialmediaand do not have e-mail addresses. Mirroring my earlier experience, I then meet dentists in the same loca- tion who are happily generating digital sales. A recent internal survey of my top clients (located across diverse geographical and economic lo- cations) revealed the startling fact that almost 66percentoftheirwebsitevisitswerefrommobile devices—smartphones and tablets—thus demon- strating that website appearance on a 27-inch iMac screen is no longer as important as how it looks on mobile. If I now refer back to the international locations in which I have had the opportunity to work, I can think of not one of the listed countries in which I would argue that the situation is different. Per- haps the most notable of these is Pune in northern India, where I was privileged in February to deliver a two-day workshop to 50 dentists from that city andnearbyMumbai.Halfwaythroughthemorning onmyseconddaythere,anattendeerosetohisfeet and requested a hand mike and I knew what was coming: “Chris, we have all enjoyed your lecture so far, but you need to understand that here in India things are different,” he said. I listened, acknowledged and then simply carried on,intheknowledgethatMumbaiisnowregarded as the health care tourism capital of the world, that technology is influencing society as rapidly as anywhere and that the traditional Indian busi- ness model of sole-trader dentists with no nurse, no hygienist and no associate is rapidly being re- placed by dental corporates and retailers, as is the case everywhere. In my original list of countries, there is not one excluded from the information and connection revolution that is reshaping all of our lives. People are people. The independent traveller of 50 years ago would have commented on diverse cultures. In 2016, the same traveller will comment onsimilarities,whethergoodorbad.Theglobalvil- lagecontainsdentalpatientsandtheyhavesimilar needsandexpectationsofvalue.Soifyouarelook- ingfortipsonhowtoimproveyourdentalbusiness, you now gain a global perspective when observing best practise. I have visited and worked with the best in all of the countries listed and found that no nation is behind the curve when it comes to innovation in the business of dentistry and we can all learn from each other. Except, of course, in your place— if it’s different?_ contact Chris Barrow is the founder of 7connections business coaching. An active consultant, trainer and coach to the UK dental profession, he regularly contributes to the dental press, social media and online. Chris Barrow can be contacted at coach.barrow@ 7connections.com. “The global village contains dental patients and they have similar needs and expectations of value.” 42016

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