3 pillars of practice profitability: People, systems, and marketing

In today’s dental industry, most practice owners chase the same goals: high performance, low turnover, and a healthy bottom line. But many overlook these three pillars to their success: people, systems, and marketing.

Pillar to success: Your people

Fundamentally, the key factor that drives all three of these pillars is team engagement. It’s not just about hiring good people. It’s about building a culture that helps them show up energized, connected, and committed. Without engagement, productivity, morale, and profitability will all suffer.

Take Dr. Reynolds, for example. Her practice had the latest technology, a steady flow of patients, and a strong clinical team. But something was off. Tension in morning huddles. Missed handoffs. Staff burnout. She was replacing team members every few months. It wasn’t until she started focusing on workplace culture that things began to turn around.

She introduced simple weekly check-ins, started investing in team development, and used assessments to better understand what motivated each person. Within months, energy and performance improved. Team members stepped up. Turnover dropped. Revenue went up—not because she worked harder, but because her people were thriving.

Unfortunately, stories like Dr. Reynolds’ are still the exception. Only 30% of US employees are actively engaged at work. The rest are disengaged or burned out.¹ And burnout is expensive: stressed employees cost practices thousands per year in lost productivity.

According to Gallup, 70% of employee engagement, performance, and retention comes down to the manager’s ability to lead, communicate, and support.^2-4

It starts with knowing your people—really knowing them. Strengths--based assessments can provide insight into how your team thinks, behaves, and feels inspired. This isn’t fluff; it’s data you can use to:

• Place the right people in the right roles.
• Understand what motivates or drains them.
• Guide development conversations that actually lead somewhere.

When you lead with agile emotions, the entire culture shifts. Communication improves. Conflict decreases. People trust one another—and they start to care more about the practice’s success because they feel seen and supported.

The best part? You don’t need a massive overhaul. Start small:

• Ask your team how they’re really doing.
• Create space for regular feedback.
• Focus on development, not just performance.

As Dr. Reynolds discovered, technical skill builds the foundation, but engaged people build your success. Prioritize your team, and profitability will follow.

Pillar to success: Your systems

Next, how are your systems supporting your employees and patient experience? Marketing brings patients through the door, and a strong team culture keeps them engaged. But it’s the systems behind the scenes that determine whether the experience is seamless and the visit truly profitable. A system is a repeatable process that creates efficiency and consistency for the team and patients.

In considering the patient journey, there are dozens of different systems that patients encounter, typically without knowing it. When a system does not exist or is poorly executed, it can not only be stressful on the team, but it can also leave patients confused and frustrated.

Systems that are especially integral in operating a dental practice successfully include new-patient intake and scheduling, using ideal scheduling parameters, confirmation processes, hygiene recall, phone handling and communication protocols, treatment presentations and financial conversations, and handoffs between the back and front office. A well-designed system considers both patient experience and team efficiency.

Optimized systems can have a significant impact on the bottom line of a dental practice. Patients who have encountered smooth systems for booking their appointments and meeting the team are more likely to consider the team competent and move forward with proposed treatment, thus increasing case acceptance. Good systems also allow the team to engage more with patients, which can build trust and connection. These positive interactions lead not only to increases in case acceptance but also decreases in patient failures and late cancellations. Satisfied patients are also more likely to refer friends and family. All these factors have financial impacts on the practice.

With burnout on the rise in dentistry, well-designed systems also provide the structure teams need to feel supported and less overwhelmed. Ideal systems are easy to replicate and provide training for when team members change. Good systems prevent the team from guessing how things should be done and ensure that desired outcomes are achieved. When the team has a framework to follow for doing things well, it is palpable to patients.

Good systems can help uphold cultural values such as a commitment to exceptional patient care and allow the practice to capitalize on their marketing spend by converting prospective patients into loyal ones. Rather than viewing systems as a rigid set of rules, view them as a framework for freedom, knowing they help guide the team in creating consistently outstanding experiences for patients. Optimized systems don’t just enhance the patient experience; they protect the team and the practice’s bottom line.

Pillar to success: Your marketing

Once your people feel that their strengths are both seen and utilized by their leaders, and critical systems are in order, then you can really begin to market the practice toward more patients who value such an environment. If you market your vision to the public before helping your team and internal systems align, you will spend a lot of time and money on great ideas that are ill-prepared to deliver on what you promised your market. It’s imperative to know the strengths and motivators of your people and align your systems to empower them to work for a common purpose.

First, start with the data you already have at the practice. Study your patient data. Where do they live, work, shop, congregate, and recreate? What do most of your patients have in common? Goatcmo.com developed a proprietary data analytics tool to help streamline this process legally and ethically for their practices and can even give you a road map of where and how to market your practice to more of those “golden patients” you are searching for.

Next, once you know who you want to attract and where to go to put your brand in front of them, it’s time to build a marketing strategy and execute a marketing plan. Don’t fall victim to the oh-so-
common mistake of researching and analyzing your data, only to ignore it and not use it to your advantage!

Building an effective ad creative: 4 key elements

There are four key elements to guide you to build an effective ad creative for your community or target audience: engage, educate, persuade, and invite to act.

For example, if you want to see more full-smile cosmetic makeovers—such as veneers, clear aligners, or professional whitening—here is a simple framework for how you will accomplish all four of these key elements in everything you do:

Engage

What’s your tagline to grab the audience’s attention? Be bold enough to stop someone from scrolling, flipping channels, skipping your ad, or sifting through their stack of mail. We want to get them to stop and read, but not be so bold that we overreach, offend, or not pique their interest.

“Mom, you look old and tired.”

When you understand clearly who you are and what your vision is, this allows you to take a little bit more of a risk with bold or even sometimes a humorous and memorable approach: “Mom/Dad, why are your teeth cracking and yellow?”

“Are your pearly whites not so pearly or white these days? We have the solution!”

Educate

Next you must build credibility fast and teach them why what they are doing or not doing with their oral health is not working and how your solution will work. What will they learn if they keep reading or watching your ad? Do you have data to back up your claim from how you grabbed their attention in the first place? Is your website, social post, or ad copy consistent in its messaging, branding, and purpose?

Here are a few samples to help you build out some educational points in your marketing and talking points with patients:

• “According to the Washington Post, 90% of Americans have a habit of oral parafunctional activities such as chewing ice, grinding teeth, thumb sucking, or lip-biting, leading to microcracks and chipping teeth!”⁵
• “According to the World Health Organization, untreated dental caries (tooth decay) in permanent teeth is the most common health condition.”⁶
• “Over 500 Google reviews from people just like you!”
• “Our newest technology reduces pain and anxiety, while providing desired outcomes in as little as one visit!”

Now that you have engaged your audience and taught or reminded them of something interesting and of value, you can give them a reason to act on what they are thinking and feeling.

Persuade

This is the “sizzle” that gets them excited to act! People need a reason to change behavior, so don’t miss your chance to create urgency and give them that reason right now.

• “15% off porcelain veneers.”
• “Need an experienced second opinion?”
• “Serving Miami residents for over 40 years!”
• “Tooth pain? Emergency dentist appointments available!”
• “New-patient specials every month!”
• “Evening and weekend appointments available.”

Invite to act

Don’t do all this work without a clear way for people to click or tap or scan to schedule an appointment. It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how often the website or phone number gets left off a marketing piece these days.

• “Call now!”
• “Tap here to schedule your appointment online!”
• “Chat with our front desk by clicking here.”
• “We get it; you’re busy! Text us!”

If your marketing campaigns do not engage your audience, educate, persuade, and invite your audience to act, rethink your plan! 

Editor's note: This article appeared in the October 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.

References

1. Harter J. U.S. employee engagement sinks to 10-year low. Gallup. January 13, 2025. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx
2. Beck R, Harter J. Managers account for 70% of variance in employee engagement. Gallup. April 21, 2015. https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspx
3. Pitonyak J, Desimone R. How to engage frontline managers. Gallup. August 9, 2022. Updated January 19, 2024. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/395210/engage-frontline-managers.aspx
4. State of the global workplace. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
5. Chewing ice may damage your teeth and indicate underlying health issues. The Washington Post. December 4, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/12/04/ice-chewing-anxiety-boredom-teeth-damage/
6. Oral health. World Health Organization. March 17, 2025. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/oral-health