The Keys to Exceptional Dental Partnerships (E.147)

“It was never about a number, it was about lifestyle.” ~Dr. Clint Euse

When he was a new dentist and saw an ad that said he could make $1000 an hour, work 3 days a week, and take a month of vacation each year, Dr. Clint Euse thought that was crazy…impossible. Now, ten years down the road, he’s not only achieved that goal but has built a valuable practice that supports the lifestyle he wants to live.

One of the things you’ll notice about Dr. Clint is how calm he is. I don’t know about you, but calm is not usually a term used to describe most dental practice owners! But his confidence comes from reaping the benefits of the Investment Grade Practice he’s built. He knows his numbers, he’s crafted his schedule, his systems are solid and self-governing, and he knows what to next invest in that will grow his practice’s value even further.

This is why I’m so excited to have Dr. Clint join me on today’s episode to share his insights on partnerships, knowing your numbers, and finding the support you need.

As we say on this podcast, having an Investment Grade PracticeTM means you have choices. Choices about how you craft your lifestyle, choices about who you hire, and choices about when you choose to sell. So listen in as Dr. Clint and I discuss his experience building his Investment Grade PracticeTM including:

• The keys to exceptional dental partnerships
• Finding the right support, connections, relationships
• The most important thing to understand as you grow your business

Want to have a conversation about your Investment Grade PracticeTM? Contact Brent at brent@productivedentist.com.
Never miss an episode! Subscribe to Investment Grade PracticesTM Podcast on iTunes & Spotify.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Announcer: The Productive Dentist Academy Podcast Network.

[00:00:02] Dr. Clint Euse: I feel strongly about mentorship and passing along, you know, not that I know everything, but just passing along what I do know to anybody that’s out there. And I think that that’s something, you know, especially at this stage of my career that I’m probably most excited about is being able to pass along some of that knowledge, whether it’s clinical or business and things like that.

[00:00:19] Announcer: Welcome to Investment Grade Practices Podcast, where we believe private practice dentists deserve to get the lifestyle today while building an asset for tomorrow. Join your host, Victoria Peterson, to design the practice of your dreams and secure your financial independence. Let’s get started.

[00:00:40] Regan Robertson: Doctor, did you know that PDA coaching doctors grew 219, 000 on average in just the last 10 months? If your revenue goals fall short this year, and you suspect that patient communication and inefficient systems are holding you back, Productive Dentist Academy can help, but you have to take action. Register today for the PDA conference, March 13th through the 15th in Frisco, Texas. Go to productivedentist.com to snap up your seat. It is the nation’s leading course for growing your practice and your team. Plus, while you’re there, you can set up a free 60 minute session to identify your own unique opportunities for growth and if you act fast, you could score a one on one with PDA’s co founder, Dr. Bruce Baird. That’s right. We’re only offering 10 and then his calendar is full. Don’t wait, go to productivedentist.com right now and have a great 2025. We’ll see you in Texas.

[00:01:28] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Welcome to another episode of Investment Grade Practice.

I am so thrilled to be here today with Dr. Clint use from Carson city, Nevada. Welcome Clint.

[00:01:37] Dr. Clint Euse: Well, Victoria. That’s great to be with

[00:01:39] Dr. Victoria Peterson: you. for joining me today on the podcast. We talk about what it takes to grow an investment grade practice. And I think, you know, a little bit about that.

[00:01:48] Dr. Clint Euse: Well, yeah, well, thank you for having me. I’m excited to, I’m excited to be on the podcast and spend a little time with you.

[00:01:53] Dr. Victoria Peterson: You are. One of the nicest, kindest people I have ever met, and you are such a badass in the operatory and in business. Well,

[00:02:02] Dr. Clint Euse: wow. Well, thank you. I appreciate that.

[00:02:05] Dr. Victoria Peterson: We don’t have to get into the details, but you’ve been producing over 1, 000 an hour for I don’t even know how many years now. Do you?

[00:02:14] Dr. Clint Euse: Gosh, probably eight, nine years, something like that. Interesting. I was just thinking about this morning. We started our journey, you know, where I started when I started in practice and joined the practice that I currently own, you know, I was sitting there in my office and I was flipping through dental town and I saw an ad for PDA and you know, it said on there, you know, the PDA dentist produces 1, 200 an hour and takes this much vacation and everything else. And I remember at the time thinking like, that is crazy. Like there is no way that that is possible. You know, I think, I think I was producing 450 an hour at the time. Um, and so I guess it’s ironic in the fact that, you know, Kind of 1200 1300 plus in hourly production, and it’s just kind of hard to believe. I don’t want to say effortless, but it doesn’t seem overwhelming. Just kind of fun to look back at where things started.

[00:02:56] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Yeah, it’s amazing. When we jumped on the phone, I said, how is it that you have Mondays available for podcasting? And your response was.

[00:03:04] Dr. Clint Euse: Well, yeah, I don’t, I don’t work Mondays, um, you know, for me, it’s interesting because even when we started with PDA, you know, to me, it was never really about a number. It was never about like a total number. We have to have a 5 million practice. It was, it was always really more about kind of lifestyle and maximizing the time that we were in the office. And so, you know, from, from early in my career, you know, I was starting kind of typical working more of a four day, you know, four, four and a half day work week. And after going to PDA, you know what, I’m going to cut down to three and see what happens. And which was awesome. I mean, I was at the time I was probably early 30s, you know, and I didn’t know anybody else that was working three days a week but because of that, we had to get really good at focusing on our hourly production. That’s always been something that’s been important to me. My wife and I have two boys, Kelly, she’s a dentist as well and, you know, we’ve always looked at more, you know, how does dentistry kind of fit around our lifestyle and that’s been super important to us to not be kind of consumed and always at the office and so we work a pretty awesome schedule at this point.

[00:04:03] Dr. Victoria Peterson: So Kelly works in your practice, right?

[00:04:05] Dr. Clint Euse: Correct. Yes.

[00:04:06] Dr. Victoria Peterson: How do you set up your schedule?

[00:04:08] Dr. Clint Euse: We have two boys and so, you know, we feel it’s important that we spend as much time with them as possible. And so we kind of have a staggered schedule where Kelly’s in the office on Mondays and Thursdays and then I’m in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and then usually every other Thursday is when I come in and do some of the bigger cases and things like that, which is something that we’re, we’re super blessed and appreciate about dentistry is that we’ve been able to still kind of have our professional careers, but have that time where we can take the boys to school, pick them up from school, be involved in their sports and coaching and those kinds of things.

[00:04:38] Dr. Victoria Peterson: I love it. And you said early in your career, uh, you started out actually like right out of the gates. So, um,

[00:04:48] Dr. Clint Euse: yeah, I joined the practice and then worked for probably just a little less than a year and then bought into the practice. And so, yeah, most of my practicing career has been in a partnership, you know, recently I just bought out my partner. He’s still part of the practice, still practicing, but up until about a year ago. Is that? Yes, I have been in a partnership.

[00:05:06] Dr. Victoria Peterson: I love it. So let’s dive into that a little bit. What do you think are the keys to success in partnership? And is there a difference first stage being a partner and now being a solo doctors? That’s, that’s a big chunk to bite. We’ll start wherever you want to start.

[00:05:20] Dr. Clint Euse: Well, I think there’s a ton of benefits to partnerships. You know, I mean, I think that my partner, Randy and I, you know, it worked really, really well, you know, and I think that we probably beat the odds compared to a lot of partnerships that we got along really well. We had similar philosophies in practice. Um, you know, I guess there’s a lot of compromise and I think that a lot of it’s probably personalities, you know, Randy was when, when I joined the practice, he’s older than I am and so he was at a stage where I think he was willing to kind of let go of the reins a little bit and let me take over as probably the younger, more energetic dentist, you know, with big goals and dreams and visions and things like that and so we, we found in our partnership that it worked best. I basically did most of the management of running the practice. because of our personality types, he was okay with that. Um, and I think trusted me and kind of saw the growth and saw the benefits of doing that. And so we found that compromise and that arrangement early on, but it really, he was okay with me taking over that part of the practice.

[00:06:13] Dr. Victoria Peterson: I love that so much because that is one of the biggest challenges in partnerships is there’s this duality of. Senior partner, junior partner and senior partner wanting to hold on a little too long and I know it works and do what I say, but I love that you brought it up that he saw that I had the energy and the vision to grow the practice.

[00:06:35] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah and I’m very thankful and I think that’s why our partnership works so well, you know, he saw that, realized that and was at a place in his career that he was okay, kind of giving that. Giving that up and so being a partner, I mean, the great things, I mean, we, you know, there’s, as far as the technology, we were able to bring in the practice, having a muster, you’re called a big practice, but a bigger practice that having three doctors in it, it’s kind of interesting that I had that first stage in my career, which was all partnership, you know, and then now I’m at a point where, you know, being the sole owner, you know, kind of a change of mindset and growth and things like that. You know, it’s a little bit different than what it was when I was in a partnership, you know, I can’t imagine honestly practicing by myself is that, you know, it’s being able to, to take more vacation, you know, more, you know, kind of revenue in the practice to, to have better technology and, and things like that. I would have a really hard time, you know, and also just kind of the camaraderie of having other dentists in the office is it’s great having people in the office that you can. You know, run things by, you know, if you have a tough case or you have a great case or you have crazy looking x ray or anything, it’s just, it’s just nice to have other people and other dentists in the office that you can, can bounce things off of. So I’ve always appreciated that.

[00:07:41] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Well, it has been wonderful watching you. We’ve been a part, a small part of your journey for 10 years and you and Randy really do seem to complement each other clinically and, uh, you’re both very assertive. You’re both very comprehensive. You seem to have a hunger to stay on the edge. Are you still doing amalgam fillings or?

[00:08:02] Dr. Clint Euse: Gosh, I can’t imagine, you know, the last amalgam I did was in dental school. I think that’s one thing we always shared was our appreciation for technology and what that would do in our practice. You know, Randy, he had, he had the first search machine in Northern Nevada when I joined the practice. So he always saw and was excited about technology, you know, and we really run with that. And I think that’s been a part of our success that we are, you know, a very profitable practice because of a lot of it because of the other procedures that we do, but also the technology that we use. I was looking over our P and L’s recently and just looking at our lab bills and I don’t Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know exactly what the average is for, you know, I think it’s about 8%, 10%, something like that is the average lab bill for a dentist, you know, and ours is usually around 3%.

[00:08:45] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Because you have in house CEREC and other things?

[00:08:47] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah, just because we do, I mean, I do almost everything with CEREC with, you know, implant planning for implants for obviously the kind of the day to day crowns and bridges and things like that. One of my favorite procedures that I just absolutely love is the same day smiles that we do in the office. Yeah. Yeah. You know, which is a crazy profitable procedure when you’re doing anterior teeth with Sarek, you know, and not having those big, those big lab bills. And so, you know, definitely having that technology in our practice and that Randy and I having being on the same page, both being on on board with the technology that we have has been a huge benefit.

[00:09:18] Dr. Victoria Peterson: I love it. A lot of dentists as they’re, you’re, you’re not even close to being older yet. You’re only 44, you know, there’s, there’s this wave of unsolicited offers hitting doctor’s desk. saying please join our DSO because we take the headache of management off your shoulders. You don’t sound stressed out about managing the practice.

[00:09:41] Dr. Clint Euse: Well, I’ll tell you it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s certainly been a process, you know, to get to that point is, and I agree, I think it’s, it’s a really interesting time that we’re in a dentistry right now because you do, you get, you get, I mean, I get in the mail probably every week I get something from some DSO, you know, where I get probably 10 emails a week about, you know, check this out and this is much how much we’ll give you. And so it is an interesting time trying to balance that and try to figure out what’s right, you know, what to do with a, with a practice our size. Um, you know, I, at this point, because the practice is very profitable and we put a lot of effort into the team and the culture and the management and those kinds of things is that, you know, there’s certainly stresses there, but you know, a lot of things because of the systems and everything else are, are somewhat on, you Autopilot, which is, which is an awesome place to be and so, you know, because we’ve worked so hard to get to this point, like for me personally, right now, it doesn’t feel time, I guess the right time to kind of give that up, you know, just because there potentially could be a big payout. Um, you know, and I’m not sure from the, the dentist that I’ve spoken with that have, have sold the DSOs. I, you know, I’ve kind of gotten varied opinions, but the idea that they’re going to take everything off of your plate, I’m not sure that’s really the reality. I mean, you still got to be there in the office. You still have to, there’s still manage your team because they’re not there and they’re with you. So, and it kind of build the culture and those things that I think that they can’t do for you

[00:10:57] Dr. Victoria Peterson: True. And I remember you and I having this conversation. I don’t know, a few months ago, you got an offer and you go, what do you think? And I go, well, you need to have at least 20 percent EBITDA. And you’re like, well, I’m at 38%. Do you think that’s okay? And we don’t have to share numbers if you’re not comfortable, but I wanted all the listeners to understand you have built an investment grade practice and you’re reaping the benefits of that investment. So, You know, there, there is this tipping point where, as you said, the systems are running, the team culture is in place. It’s not totally self managed, but it’s self governed. You know, you have people around you that you trust, and your profit margins go up and up and up as debt goes down, down, down. And you get to this point where you’re like, point of, well, why would I sell in essence, what you’re doing is you’re hiring someone to come in and make it this efficient and fun and there, and you get to reap the benefit of this for the next 10 years, you know, you’ve got 38 percent margin for the next 10 years. That’s. It’s far better than a payout and you’re still growing. How did your mindset shift once you own the practice a hundred percent? I’m really curious about that because we talked about that a little bit and you’re like, man, I’m ready for the next phase.

[00:12:12] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think certainly just, just owning a hundred percent of the practice, it just kind of, it was a, definitely a shift for me. You know, we were on, we’ve always been, I guess, growth. I mean, we’ve always done our, our planning and really looked at our numbers and not that we haven’t been focused on growth, but like I said, some of it was more focused on, on kind of lifestyle and, and, you know, working a certain amount of days and being very productive within those, within those hours, that change of mindset of now that I own the practice completely is, it just kind of feels like now there’s that next step of where do we go from here? And it’s been, you know, a lot of back and forth because, you know, there are the offers out there and I’ve talked with DSOs and I know, you know, I have a pretty decent idea of what our practice would be. be worth, you know, and just recently have kind of made that decision that we’re not, we’re not going to go down that road right now. You know, we just had an opportunity to, to buy the building that we’re in, you know, so we’re, we’re kind of in full growth mode. We’re expanding, we’re bringing on, you know, probably why I will for sure we’re bringing on one more dentist this year and then probably another the following year. Yeah. So it has been a total mind shift and it’s hard to say why, except for just, it just feels right. It’s just kind of a time. It’s like, okay, you know what, this is the time that, you know, it just feels like this is the next. Next. Evolution in the practice. Um, and it’s exciting, you know, and I think that’s part of the reason I don’t have really interest in giving up the practice and some of those control the practice, because right now I feel like we’re at that point where it’s actually on an exciting and I want to be part of that.

[00:13:33] Dr. Victoria Peterson: So because of the productive systems you have in place, you know, the formulary for growing 10 percent 20 percent 30 percent in a year and not effortlessly, but you can start new cycles of growth. I also love that you are investing in another asset. So you have the asset of the practice. Now you’re getting the asset of the building. So you’re really moving into this third stage of ownership, where first stage is liability, like top ramen and salad is great. Yes. You’re starting the family and you’re starting the business and it’s all exciting, but it’s pretty lean and you’re just wondering, did you ever feel like, can you remember feeling like how in the world will I ever pay this debt? And now you’re like, yes,

[00:14:18] Dr. Clint Euse: a hundred percent. You know, I mean, I remember, you know, when I first, you know, when I first bought into the practice and just, I mean, it just seems so overwhelming. There was no way that. You can make it happen. And I mean, you, yeah, you wish you could have that perspective now that you, you know, that you had now to look back and realize that that’s, it’s all going to be fine, but oh my gosh, yeah, it’s, you know, and I think that that’s, as a young dentist today, you know, I’m not sure it’s hard to say whether I want to start my career in, in today’s environment, um, just because I think it’s tougher and tougher for younger dentists to find opportunities that aren’t kind of corporate based, you know, and be able to kind of follow their vision. I mean, I think most people go into, or a lot of people go into dentistry because they want. They kind of have that entrepreneurial spirit and they want to own a business. And, and I think in a way that’s becoming a little bit tougher than it has been in the past.

[00:15:04] Dr. Victoria Peterson: You’re proving that it’s a worthy endeavor.

[00:15:06] Dr. Clint Euse: Oh, a hundred percent.

[00:15:07] Dr. Victoria Peterson: What I love Clint is that you represent a model that is being just berated in the marketplace right now. If you’re young, you can’t get into practice. They’re too expensive and your debt. Don’t even try. There’s no good partnerships. They all fail and you just might as well give up and sell to a DSO. You know, that’s kind of the narrative and you stand so tall and so proud and so effortless. In the midst of all of that wind, I’ll tell you, I talked to a lot of millennial dentists and there are some hot shots out there that if you are entrepreneurial and you’ve got charisma, like you have the young doctors are saying they’re planting this, uh, stake and saying, “Hey, I’ll build my practice. I’m going to get amazing. Then I get a second location and then they bring all their buddies in who don’t want to be entrepreneurs and they grow all five to 10 to 20 practice, private groups, not private equity back,” but just, um, groups, which are really cool too. So I think the millennials are extremely entrepreneurial and looking for mentors like you who have done it, who we just give them this confidence. So it’s, it’s really valuable and important for you to be here today sharing your journey.

[00:16:19] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah. And I, and I definitely have seen that, you know, I know that, um, you know, the, the dentist that we’re just in the process of hiring right now, I mean, one of his biggest Um, I mean, he’s in the, he’s in the corporate world looking to get out of that, you know, but he is just, he’s just dying for mentorship, you know, he is dying to have somebody to kind of, you know, in a way kind of show him the path of ownership and, and, and obviously clinical dentistry as well. Um, but I think, yeah, I think that that’s something that’s. Unfortunately, lacking in the, in the corporate world, you know, is that the dentist come out and they, they need to make a paycheck and they, they join certain practices, um, you know, but they, they never in that environment kind of get that mentorship that you could get in a private practice and so I, for me personally, it’s important at this stage to be able to provide that, you know, and kind of keep the, keep the dream alive, I guess, of, of private ownership.

[00:17:06] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Do you think that’s the key to good partnerships is being willing to mentor and and share?

[00:17:11] Dr. Clint Euse: Oh, for sure.

[00:17:12] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Yeah.

[00:17:12] Dr. Clint Euse: Um, you know, yeah. And I think, I mean, there’s no perfect partnership and there’s no perfect scenario. But, you know, I think that in my mind, a good partnership scenario is, you know, it’s a little more experienced dentist and a newer dentist, um, you know, because the older dentist can mentor and provide some, some knowledge and, um, kind of streamline the process. Of, you know, hopefully minimizing some of the, the, the bumps along the way, you know, and then you have that, you have the younger dentist that kind of has the excitement and the energy and the, and the drive probably probably just because they’re new and probably because they got to pay their bills. Um, you know, but they have that drive. It excitement. And so I think, I think that’s a good situation for a lot of partnerships is that kind of that mentorship model. It does work really, really well.

[00:17:58] Dr. Victoria Peterson: How do you stay on top of, you know, some of the things that, uh, really are stressful for owners in a private situation are accounting and taxes and payroll taxes and all of that kind of stuff. How do you organize the financial aspect of the business so that it runs like clockwork?

[00:18:17] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah. I mean, I honestly is surrounding yourself with good people. You know, and that’s something that I’ve always believed in, you know, is that there’s, there’s certain things that I do well and certain things that I enjoy doing and certain things that should be done by others and a lot of things that should be done by others, you know? And so I think that we have done a good job of really surrounding ourself and, and hiring a lot of the right people. You know, I mean, obviously with our relationship with you guys has been one of our greatest decisions was to join PDA and, you know, and start there because you guys have had so many resources for us over the years, um, and connections and relationships and things and so, you know, I think with it, with the practice that is, that is our size, you know, we, we’ve certainly had to hire a lot of those things out of the practice, you know, but I think it’s just finding the right people, finding and trusting them that they know what they’re doing and having that relationship with a good, you know, a good CPA and a good financial planner and, you know, someone that is an expert in their, you know, in their field that can advise you on those things.

[00:19:11] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Yeah and we talk about that a lot. Yeah. Like what? Knowing your end goal talking to you is so much fun because you’re like, I know what my total term is. I know what my financial freedom number is, and I’m working towards that and if I make this choice to create this asset, then I know that it might take me a little bit longer, but I’ll, I’ll develop a more secure asset and a longer term asset. I mean, it really is fun to watch you play the game. You and Bruce, seem to be very similar in that way, that business is a game and you have these internal dialogues with yourself that says, how can I optimize this and what do I do there? Fun to watch.

[00:19:47] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah. Um, you know, for sure. The business side of dentistry is something that I’ve always enjoyed. If there’s one thing I kind of encourage everyone is to really understand like the numbers in your business. And your personal life, you know, is understanding, I mean, there’s so much clarity that comes from looking at your numbers, understanding your numbers, you know, and then like on the personal financial side, like you mentioned, kind of the total term and what does that number need to be to retire? And um, that it’s, it’s so much easier to make decisions when you have, when you have that information, you know, and one of the most impactful courses, you know, it’s funny. I mean, I’ve done spear, I’ve done, I mean, I’ve done a million different clinical courses. And I’m all been great for the clinical side of dentistry but you know, when, when you guys did driving the bus, you know, which is just, you know, the kind of the business management, understanding the numbers and setting up budgets and those things, you know, for our business, there’s hands down, there was not a better course than that one that we took that kind of brought that to the forefront where you look at, you’re like, man, I got to understand my numbers and what, what all this means and kind of setting budgets and really running it like a business, you know, I think dentistry has been profitable enough for most that they can just kind of show up and do it and still make a good living and do what they want to do. But that, that really took it to the next level for us was understanding those numbers and being able to make decisions based off of that understanding.

[00:21:02] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Oh, that’s awesome. I’m glad you brought that up because I was really going back in time and I remember one of the very first thank you notes I ever got from a spouse was from Kelly after you went to driving the bus and you came back and she said, thank you for giving them my husband back. He’s no longer working nights and weekends to balance the business and, and the side of life and, uh, that was really, um, so special to me.

[00:21:30] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah and that, so I think that is huge is understanding. You know, understanding those numbers and really how to run your business like a business is something that I think a lot of dentists, maybe they don’t enjoy that. Maybe they’re just too busy on the clinical side, but has made a huge difference for, you know, for our practice and, and the maybe the other encouragement, you know, something that we’ve always done in PDA, which has been kind of our highlight of the year is, is, is doing that annual planning and spending time looking at your business and, okay, setting goals and looking at the year to come and looking at how much time off you’re going to take and kind of working backwards from there.

[00:22:01] Dr. Victoria Peterson: I know that you and a lot of our clients are updating your plans quarterly now or every six months. We’re not even going out a whole year because like you said, I’m working on an associate now. How will that impact my schedule? Then maybe another one. So we’re starting to shorten the timeframes a little bit and looking at more Like do a 12 month rollout, but every six months, look at it again and roll it back out.

[00:22:24] Dr. Clint Euse: And we are actually, we are doing it quarterly now, you know, with, with our coach who I got to give a little shout out to is, is Chris, you know, who’s awesome. You know what I mean? More of a member of our family than our coach now, but, but yeah, we do that quarterly now is that we’re meeting and doing more of our kind of business planning and things that we used to do annually, just because we’ve got a lot going on, which. needs to needs to be figured out.

[00:22:45] Dr. Victoria Peterson: So, you know, it just rolls off your tongue, your confidence, your business acumen, your clinical acumen. You’re like, “Oh, of course I meet with my coach and we do this and we do that.” Um, it’s so wonderful to see an example of someone who’s integrated so many moving parts. One more topic I want to hit on, cause I know this is a passion of yours as well. Sure. Marketing. Um, I remember when Kelly joined your practice and you and you and Randy, not that you were Tarzan beating your chest, but you were a very strong masculine energy and figures in this practice and we bring in this beautiful blonde blue eyed, uh, mom and her energy in it and it changed everything and for me, I thought it made your marketing even stronger about marketing a little bit.

[00:23:32] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah, I’d love to. I love marketing. You know, I think marketing. Well, yes, I agree with all that. One, just having Kelly joined the practice, you know, having the kind of a woman’s touch and something that, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of patients out there that would prefer to see a female dentist that, you know, kind of are looking for maybe a little bit different experience, um, a little softer side and things like that and so having Kelly joined the practice was amazing. And the marketing of that was really fun because it did kind of change our marketing from, you know, technology and all the things we’ve done. that we always did to like now we have something else that we can offer and I think marketing is something that maybe most dentists just don’t understand the importance of, you know, I mean, that’s been such a huge part of our business. What is the, what is the average dentist spent on marketing? I don’t even know.

[00:24:14] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Average is such a big word, but let’s say that you are a doctor in a heavy PPO environment. You’re probably dollars out the door spending half a percent to one and a half percent, but you don’t realize you’re spending 40%. In the right, 25 to 40 percent of unseen dollars with your write offs. So I think they actually end up spending more than you, but it feels less.

[00:24:38] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah. Okay. But yeah, so I mean, our marketing budget is obviously a lot higher than that. I mean, we’re probably at the 5%, um, you know, and easily could, could go up from there and probably we’ll go up from there just as we’re growing and changing the message a little bit. I think marketing is, is something that if someone is not doing that, they’re kind of missing the boat. Right. Cool. You know, and that, and that’s like kind of the next evolution of our practice, you know, that, that one of the reasons I am excited to bring on, you know, some more doctors and things like that, is that I’ll be able to cut back some in my schedule, which will be great. Kind of the, the goal to go to two days and, and really to expand into the, the procedures that I love doing the most, you know, with implants and the same day smiles and, and those kind of things. Um, you know, and, and a lot of those things. I mean, you, you can do a lot of great internal marketing, which is awesome, but when you start getting into more of those targeted procedures, the higher procedures, you know, as you really got to let the world know that you’re out there, let them know what you’re doing and that you’re there to help them out. So huge, huge, huge, huge proponent of marketing, you know, and kind of making that shift between, yeah, you’re right. If you’re, you know, when you’re signed up with PPOs and you’re giving away 20, 30, 40 percent off the top, just to get patients in your practice, that money is much better spent spending four or five, 6 percent of your budget, getting patients in.

[00:25:48] Dr. Victoria Peterson: And I would say that, you know, in the Reno Carson city area, I don’t think that you’re any different. different demographically than most of America, where insurance is prolific. Uh, a lot of people take it. A lot of people feel like they, they have to take it, but you know, you’re a fairly fee for service or indemnity based insurance practice where, you know, patients pay their copay and you’re, you’re not locked in network. Are you?

[00:26:12] Dr. Clint Euse: We do have some, you know, is that we’re, you know, in Carson city, it’s such a, you know, that’s the, obviously the capital. And so we have a lot of state patients and that’s kind of our, that’s our big, that’s our big. kind of PPO contract that we have currently, but we, I can say we are very actively trying to distance ourselves as much as we can from that, you know, and it’s, it’s a, certainly a process and there’s a lot to that, but, um,

[00:26:35] Dr. Victoria Peterson: What I love is that you’ve made space for everyone, right? You grew the practice beyond one service mix. So I love that you’ve got a heart for people who work for the state and you can still take care of them and their families. And you have the aesthetic component, you’ve got Botox, you’ve got implants, you’ve got the same big spot. You grew your service mix beyond the insurable component and that makes it really robust. It makes it economically almost bulletproof the marketing dollars. As you said, you’ve got four to 6 percent going external. You’re also spending money on team training and internal marketing and all of those things. So thank you for being here today. I wish we had two hours being an investment grade leader. You’re modeling the way I want to have you back and just we could spend an entire episode on leadership and what that means to you and how you’re raising leaders in the practice. I know your team and you’re not dragging followers. You certainly are inspiring leaders.

[00:27:34] Dr. Clint Euse: Yeah, well, thank you. And yes, I would love to talk anytime. You know, and to, to, you know, if, if I do run into some, run into some of those dentists out there, please come and talk to me because, you know, I, I, I feel strongly about mentorship and passing along, you know, not that I know everything, but just passing along what I do know to anybody that’s out there and I think that that’s something, you know, especially at this stage of my career that I’m probably most excited about is being able to pass along some of that knowledge, whether it’s clinical or business and things like that. So I’m available anytime Victoria, you just let me know. So, but I, yeah, super appreciate you having me on. It’s great to spend time with you. I can’t, I can’t thank you guys enough. guys enough for what you’ve done for our business and just the relationships.

[00:28:09] Dr. Victoria Peterson: Thanks so much, Clint.

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