Regional Support Manager, Suki Singh, speaks to award-winning Practice Manager Rachel Dilley, about how they work towards achieving their business’s vision…
Town Hall Dental in Brighouse has an ambitious vision – to be the premier dental practice in the North of England. It’s an aspirational aim, but the practice is proving they are up to the challenge, it has over 100 five-star reviews from patients on social media, 92% treatment uptake and last year won the UK Best Patient Care at the Dentistry Awards.
I meet with Rachel on a regular basis to discuss new ideas, track progress and brainstorm, and I know that creating positive memorable patient experiences and remaining focused on this overarching vision has been key to their success. Working with trusted providers and building strong business relationships is also important, and one of the steps Rachel took to ensure they are continually achieving their vision was to swap plan providers.
I asked Rachel to share her story so far…
Rachel: ‘When our dental plan provider of ten years decided to re-brand, we took the opportunity to find a new partner that could fully support our vision to be the premier dental practice in the North of England. We’d already begun to feel we were outgrowing them, in terms of the support they could offer us, and to reach this vision it was important that we build our own, strong brand. We have always had great aspirations for our practice, so we needed a forward-thinking partner who shared our ambitions and wanted to help us achieve our goals.
We opened Town Hall Dental in 2012, after closing our smaller private practice, and in four years revenue grew by 400%, the team has more than doubled in size and we increased the number of surgeries in the practice. While it has been an incredible journey, we always know that there is more that can be done to improve and see out our vision.
“One of the key areas we identified was moving away from our former plan provider as I felt we had outgrown them and that we needed someone who was focused on developing our practice’s brand, rather than their own. Our previous provider didn’t offer any courses of training that I felt could make a difference and help the practice thrive, whilst also enabling the team to grow professionally.”
One of the key areas we identified was moving away from our former plan provider as I felt we had outgrown them and that we needed someone who was focused on developing our practice’s brand, rather than their own. Our previous provider didn’t offer any courses of training that I felt could make a difference and help the practice thrive, whilst also enabling the team to grow professionally.
Thankfully we found exactly what we were looking for with Practice Plan. Within a few months of joining them, I was attending one of their workshops with Sheila Scott and Chris Barrow learning about different ways to approach team discussions and solve problems.
I’ve also benefitted from having you, Suki, as our Regional Support Manager. You’re always available for me to share and discuss new ideas with, I now see you as an extension of our team and it’s great to get your perspective and advice. You’re so passionate about your work and equally enthusiastic about growing the practice and making it a success. I could tell from the get-go that you wanted to help me and my team achieve our goals and that you have the same work ethic and ethos as me, and that kind of help is invaluable.
“You, and the rest of the team at Practice Plan, are incredibly motivated and just as focused as us on finding new ways to improve the business and the patient journey. Not only are we now receiving the support we’ve been so keen to have, but the transition was quick and seamless.”
You, and the rest of the team at Practice Plan, are incredibly motivated and just as focused as us on finding new ways to improve the business and the patient journey. Not only are we now receiving the support we’ve been so keen to have, but the transition was quick and seamless. We converted all the patients from our old plan onto our new plan, and added new patients within the first two months.
Practice Plan has been a great contributor to our success as a practice. In 2017, we were recognised as providing the Best Patient Care in the country at the Dentistry Awards, as well as numerous local and regional accolades. We know that moving plan providers helped us as a team, and helped our patients receive the quality care they require.’