Last week I had two marvellous days in Northern Ireland as a business coach for lovely people.

On Thursday I had a late flight from Belfast Intl to Manchester – and a very early start on Friday morning to attend the Practice Plan Club Weekend in Alicante.

Our Easyjet flight on Thursday leaves on time and we are climbing steadily after take-off when there is a sudden and very loud banging noise from somewhere below our seats.

“Crash, bang, wallop”

and then a screaming noise that sounds like chalk on a blackboard – and lasts for a good 60 seconds.

The passengers look at each other in silence. Those of us with window seats gaze outwards. The cabin crew are still in their seats as we are in a steep climb.

The sound eases and shoulders go down again, white knuckles relax on seat arms.

Two minutes later – the same screeching sound again and there is a definite sense that the pilot has increased the steepness of the climb.

I’ve been around on domestic flights for long enough to know that we have gone considerably higher than the 22,000 feet announced – way up in the air.

The flight levels off high above the cloud base and we continue our progress east on what should be a brief 45-minute journey.

Still no commentary from the crew and, strangely but largely un-noticed, no mid-flight chat from the pilot.

Our descent into Manchester is very slow, very long, very straight and the passengers have settled down and are calm.

Touchdown is effortless and the aircraft slows on the runway.

As we come to a standstill on the runway (unusual) those on the port side see a row of fire tenders and other vehicles, all with emergency blue lights flashing.

The pilot addresses us for the first time since we were on the stand at Aldegrove to say that the emergency vehicles are alongside because of a “technical difficulty”.

I love it when airlines say that – it embraces (in one case) a pilot stuck in a traffic jam on his way to work – to “pray – you are all going to die”.

After a very quiet wait we are told that hydraulic fluid is leaking from the aircraft and that we will have to wait for engineers to stop the leak and a tug to tow us to our station.

One and a half hours, sat in the middle of the runway, patiently waiting.

Barry and the cabin crew are calm, reassuring and firmly insist that we stay put, belts on and no mobile phones.

Two-thirds of the passengers completely ignore the advice and start posting, texting, tweeting their plight to assembled friends and followers.

Can you imagine if there had been Facebook on the Titanic?

Status update: “Ship has hit iceberg and sinking, water freezing cold, not enough lifeboats – Captain should have been to Specsavers”

Comment: “LMAO Chris – you are such a prankster – we all know the Titanic is unsinkable”

Slowly, slowly the tug takes us over to Terminal 1, where we disembark, thanking the crew for their care.

The pilot emerges to wave us goodbye (he looks 16).

Baggage arrives thankfully quickly and then there is a final sting.

The doors to the baggage hall fail and we are locked in arrivals at 23:00, waiting for a security guard to come and release the electrical lock – we are just giggling at this point.

My Caribbean shipmate Dave Rogers – a 36-year time served Air Canada pilot – has been following the story on Facebook from his home in Vancouver Island. Cap Dave gives me a good explanation of what probably went wrong – its technical but the bottom line is that we were probably never in any real danger.

But it remains a salutary lesson of the thin line that sometimes separates us from tragedy.

And of the faith that we place in technology that we will never understand and people we never meet.

Jon B and I were safe and sound and I tolerated the 2 hours sleep we managed before our alarm call and drive to John Lennon Airport the next morning.

By the way, I typed this on my iPad at 30,000 feet somewhere over Spain – on our Easyjet flight.

Lightning, of course, never strikes twice in the same place…

I have had two fairly profound experiences a few weeks ago – the first at my beloved Apple store. First thing Monday, it looked like a downer was going to be put on my week. But just when it counts they went that ‘extra inch’ and as we have all come to expect from one of the world’s truly ‘connected’ brands, they delivered on their service promises – by replacing my Mac – no questions asked.

Secondly, at the hands of the NHS – I was blown away by how every member of their team passed the preverbal ‘baton’ providing overwhelming positivity, support and help just when my wife (now a mum) needed it. And I’m delighted to tell you that our son, Joshua Henry was born on 5 May.

I can’t comment on the individual team member’s true feelings of each organisation, or how driven or well rewarded they are. However, I did find myself questioning if the NHS has similar beliefs, systems, structures, focus-on-training, service standards, and individual accountability that is well documented within Apple? Or is it that those who work within the NHS are somehow hard-wired to care, smile and let you know they are there for you! Or perhaps… should I put my NHS experiences down to just ‘luck’?

I decided some time ago that the paradox of the NHS is only to be discussed with friends accompanied with plenty of good red wine. However, in 2012 it is widely recognised that working efficiently, within comfort zones, looking at core-values, and pushing innovation will simply enable an organisation to keep pace with the opposition. Put simply, they are just the same as the rest, and will never become a truly great or successful organisation.

Today, there is a need to be truly different, to completely differentiate yourself from the pack, to move you and your people out of their comfort-zones and on a daily basis innovate and adapt freely and without recourse. This ‘developed’ state, whether it is within an organisation or an individual, is the essence of what sport psychologists call a ‘winning mentality.’ Over the last 10 years, many parallels have been drawn between sporting success and success in business, with more and more sports coaches/psychologists being employed to help businesses develop this ‘winning mentality’ within their organisations.

There is a widespread understanding of the need to develop this almost euphoric state within an organisation, but rarely do those looking to implement it, understand or care to define what this state is.

Have you ever noticed what specifically separates great performers from the rest? Sports psychologists who have worked with Olympic athletes and top performers in their fields have highlighted the following key components that differentiate the best from the rest.

Truly world-class performers:

• consistently produce high quality performances
• are confident, motivated and extremely focused
• are passionate, committed, determined and exceptionally driven
• will do anything and everything for even a small percentage performance improvement
• have an acute attention to detail
• are self-critical, welcome external feedback with the focus on constantly looking to raise standards
• are totally accountable and responsible
• are resilient and act with a certain tenacity – they never give up and have that ‘mental toughness’

Imagine if you had a team of people who possessed these qualities. If they had passion, commitment, motivation, confidence and focus each and every day, if you had leaders that motivated and inspired others, if you had staff that cared deeply about what they did every day…

Ask yourself…how would you feel? How enjoyable would that environment be to work in? what impact would it have on your organisation’s performance?

What difference would it make to the bottom line?

One big factor for a successful vintage is the weather and climate. But how can we predict the effect of the weather on our crop? More importantly can we control the weather before and during the growing season? You may ask why before the growing season. Well, if we do not get enough rain then the soils will not be as good to start out the vines and conversely too much rain can be bad. But do we have control of the weather in agriculture? We don’t! Just like with our dental practices, we cannot control everything. But what we can control are things like how your reception team answers the phone.

Other issues in viniculture are local environmental factors. For example, at the Calistoga Ranch, our vinter Kurt Venge has a very interesting factor to take into account when he produces our wines. The vineyard is located close to the front entrance of the Ranch where almost all year round a natural wood fire burns in the fireplace. The soil, leaves, grapes, water, etc are constantly bathed in a smoky mélange and this is imparted into the final product. The smoke thus imparts into the fruit a unique contributor to be found nowhere else. This is a powerful marketing tool to help sell the wine and is a unique differentiating factor in its smoky bouquet.

In dentistry we can be a victim to change or economic factors beyond our control. A complaint can be that we are experiencing our worst year ever now with the bad economy. Or we can acknowledge that we can only control that we can control and it is our response to the changes we cannot control that will make us successful. How is it that good wines are still produced in poor growing years? Because the elements have been acknowledged to be bad and then the blend is the best that can be made with that fruit. Chris Barrow has many clients in the BKH Coaching system who are having their best months, weeks and days ever. Why does this happen for them and not everyone else?

We need to identify what our unique differentiating factor is. Is it a particular service we want to offer such as veneers? Is it a unique person we have in the office – such as the mobile implantologist or fantastic TCO? What is the taste that the patient conjures up in their mind that’s says ‘hmmm that is a good team’? When we sample a wine, we first check the aroma and bouquet, then we twirl it to check the legs, we have sip and vigoursly suck in air like a puckered duck and then only do we swallow. Then instantly we know that it’s good. So what you need to do in good and bad climates is to constantly focus on your product mix. Focus on the patient journey to impart the right flavor and taste and then make adjustments to get the best journey/vintage possible.

1. the clinicians who see the most patients generate the lowest profitability

2. the clinicians who see the fewest patients generate the highest profitability

3. the Pankey “corridor of profitability” proposes that the clinicians who deliver 24-27 hours per week are the most profitable – more hours than 27 and profits decline

4. the mantra “fill the book” leads to the lowest profits

5. if there is a gap in the book – contrary to belief – we are not all going to die

6. if a clinician has their head around a day of complex treatment – one 15-minute “pain appointment” or “emergency” is guaranteed to fry the clinicians brains, make them irritable, reduce their effectiveness and have them run late most of the day

7. see fewer people, deliver your dentistry more slowly, charge higher prices

8. triage all phone calls to the appropriate clinician’s appointment book

9. make part of the patient journey an explanation of how and why you triage treatment

10. communicate – daily huddles and well rehearsed language for the Front Desk team as to how to deral with every situation – so as to maximise profits, maintain good customer service and protect your top clinicians (so that they can do their best work)

Is there ANY reason why – in every surgery – you would not have

• a high quality SLR camera with instant uplink?
• digital x-ray?
• intra-oral cameras with instant uplink?

The most important piece of equipment in a 2012 dental or hygiene/therapy surgery?

A 42-inch plasma screen.

Then a conversation with every patient:

1. what do you like most about your smile?
2. what do you like least about your smile?
3. what would you most like to change?

Then just shut up, listen and, when the patient has finished talking.

Show them

• what they will need to do to help themselves
• and how you can then help them

Show

Listen

Tell

First things first – if you are going to succeed with a private squat (and I mean really succeed) you will need:

• £250,000 to get to the ribbon cutting stage
• £150,000 working capital for the first three years
• Work 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, work harder then you have ever worked
• Become an expert on finance, marketing, customer service, treatment co-ordination, sales, clinical ops, non-clinical ops and HR
• Make sure you can expand to 4 surgeries in time
• Keep on taking clinical skills development courses
• Sell the right products
• Hire the right people
• Get the right advisors
• Visit with other dentists who have walked this path
• Expect to take a low income for the first 4 years – then it will start paying you back

That’s before we look at location and determine whether the proposed practice is in the right area.

Are you ready for that journey?

After you have selected the right location, chosen the team to get the vineyard operational, now you have to get this team to grow, harvest and make the best wine possible.

You have to start with good plants that are disease resistant and have a track record of success which indicates they will produce good fruit and good wine. Does this guarantee success? Of course not but it does help get you get ahead – good plant stock has a better chance of producing a good wine if its pedigree is good.

In our dental world we need to recognise that the team is just that: a ‘team’ and many will agree the team is only as successful as its weakest link. My philosophy is that if we hire the best then there is no ‘weakest link’ mentality to deal with. We are not building something to the lowest common denominator and that in itself sets everything up for success. Attention to the individual is important and how that person will blend with the rest of the team is even more important.

In the Spring or prior to planting we pay attention to the minutae of all things from soil samples and do as much homework on weather patterns as all this will contribute to our success. We continually monitor each day – pruning vines, sampling fruit as it develops and nuture the fruit along without chemicals (assuming we are aiming for green vineyards). We continuously assess the fruit as it develops in order to forecast the final product. We are not inflexible with what is developing but we acknowledge what there is and how to make the best wine out of what is developing despite turns in the amount of sun, rain and fog that we encounter during the season.

With the team we start with good people then focus on the individual strengths of each individual and what their goals are. As we have engaged good people we need to allow them to blossom and develop into their best functioning ability. The longer range is how do we blend all our of the individual team members into the best vintage possible. We establish a culture that supports constant performance evaluation also as a tool to make things better. Currently an employee evaluation is only done to determine a raise or fire someone. We want to use this time to check on the performance of the individual and then blend that into the best possible outcome with the team.

So despite poor weather we always aim to produce the best wine that we can that year. The dental team will need to be nurtured and grown and yes sometimes things are not optimal as there are outside influences beyond our control but we are always striving to have the best result at the end for the patient and the team.

Every time I walk into a Pret a Manger I am impressed with their dedication to detail and focus on customer service.

During the BDA Conference Jon B and I had breakfast at the Pret in Spinningfields, Manchester and, as always, the atmosphere in the room was uplifting.

You can always see the daily huddle at a Pret – just arrive 30 minutes before opening. It appears that their staff have no trouble getting in.

I reproduce here (yet again) their feedback card.

The Business of Dentistry Practice Managers’ Conference by Practice Plan will be held on 14 June. Speakers include Sheila Scott, Laura Horton, Emma John and Keith Hayes. An ideal event for any practice manager!
BoD PMConference_A4 v3

The Macbook Pro is back from Apple ER and, courtesy of Jon Barrow, fully restored.

I’ll be investing some time over the next 10 days in restoring some of the apps that didn’t make the journey, creating a new back-up on Time Capsule and having a good old tidy of the hard drive.

The customer service experience at the Apple Store in the Trafford Centre was outstanding:

• they provided a 500Gb ‘My Passport’ hard drive (normal price £89.95) free of charge
• they backed-up my existing hard drive onto the Passport
• they repaired my hard drive
• they returned the Macbook pro and the ‘My Passport’ so that JB could then restore the files

Invoice reads £0.00.

I am amazed and delighted as the Macbook Pro is 2 years out of warranty.

Apple have an ambassador and a friend for life.

How many organisations do you know that would do the same?

Dyson?

Any others?