Are you looking for ways to expedite the decision-making in your dental practice? Do you feel like your business model could benefit from more concise decisions than the average person?
As the great Napoleon Hill once said, “self-confidence results, first, from exact knowledge; second, the ability to impart that knowledge”. So what does that tell us? It tells us that we need more information and data to improve the decisions that you make in your dental practice each day.
Whether it’s stocking up on supplies or making a definitive marketing plan, see below for several ways that you can enhance your decision-making skills.
1. Invest in Inventory Management Software
Perhaps you’re sick and tired of guesstimating whenever you order supplies for your practice. You end up with many products that you never use again or some that you go through way faster than others. Why does that keep happening?
Inventory is a direct result of the purchasing decisions that you make. Too many dental practices focus too much on the budgeting side of things—which is certainly important—but not enough on the operations side of things.
You need a way to efficiently track both your office spending and keep your inventory up to the second. That knowledge can help you make definitive decisions when it comes to ordering supplies for your practice.
Be sure to invest in a trusted inventory management software. Speaking specifically on Sowingo, our inventory software can help you with things such as:
- Tracking all of your orders and inventory
- Shopping through our marketplace to fulfill your supply needs on a product by product basis
- Keep track of all your implant needs, such as healing abutments, cover screws, and so on
- Set alerts for when you’re running low on certain medications (so that you can restock)
As you can see, our software doesn’t just help with decision-making, it takes “deciding” out of the equation entirely!
2. Prioritize New Data
These days, the digital world is allowing a whole new level of efficiency to the businesses that are open to it. You can receive data and analytics on virtually any aspect of your practice.
It’s a similar thought process to investing in the inventory management software that was listed above. It helps you to stay up to date within a certain aspect of your business, and then make informed decisions based on what the analytics and statistics tell you.
Here’s an example: let’s say your website is experiencing a high rate of people that are jumping off of your entire site after only landing on one page. This is known in the digital industry as a ‘bounce rate‘, and it is entirely measurable through data.
Using that data, you and your business can pinpoint what’s causing people to hit the ‘back’ button before visiting another page. Once you understand the weaknesses in your site, you can hire a freelance web designer to fix them quickly.
The more data you use in your practice, the more information that you have to back up your decisions. That, in and of itself, makes decisions so much easier.
3. Establish a Groupthink
Community breeds the best decisions! If you have a few mentors or employees that you trust with your life, then why not use their unique skill set to your advantage?
There will be times where deciding on a certain task will seem nearly impossible. This might be things such as letting go of a negligent worker or pulling the cord on certain services you offer when they aren’t mustering a profit.
Those are difficult decisions to make on your own. However, if you have a group of business professionals that you trust telling you it’s the right thing to do, then the decision becomes all the easier. Who will you add to your groupthink? Be sure to ask them if they’d be interested in joining and helping you with these types of decisions.
4. Keep One Eye on the Competition
There’s an old business proverb that states to “always keep one eye on your business and one eye on the competition”. In other words, it can be healthy to frequently compare your business model to the model of your greatest competitors.
For example, you might notice that you’re losing a certain demographic of your target audience to your competitors. Why? Are they offering dental services that you don’t offer? Is it worth hiring a specialist to add that service to your practice? Data can help assess this as well.
This can be a tremendous help with marketing your business as well. You can perform a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to assess how you can leverage your brand against your competitors.
5. Appoint an Inventory Taskforce
This is similar to arranging a groupthink, however, the inventory taskforce that you assign will be more focused on your supplies.
They can use your new inventory software to keep an eye out for new products your practice could benefit from, watch for when you’re running low on certain items, and keep the inventory software up to date.
Whenever something requires your attention, your inventory taskforce can pitch the idea to you and you can all make an informed decision together!
Improve Your Practice’s Decision-Making Today
Now that you have seen several ways that you can improve your dental practice’s decision-making skills, it’s time to start by downloading a new inventory management software.
Be sure to read this article for more information on how to improve efficiency when ordering dental supplies.
For more inquiries, please begin by requesting a free demo of Sowingo and we will be happy to assist you further.
