Take me back to the Black Hills...Dr. Dan Custis and Team!

[Christina Toconis]

It's one thing to be surrounded by beauty in the Black Hills of South Dakota as I had the opportunity to visit Dr. Dan Custis, his lead hygienist Linda (also his lovely wife), and team--its another thing to observe some amazing things they are accomplishing there in those Black Hills as well.  This highly trained team invited ToPS into their practice to be refreshed and invite new ideas into their practice.  Their care for patients in what seems like a small town has resulted in being "THE" dentist in town EVERYONE must go to.  The setting in the practice is inviting, scenic (as a patient you sit in front of huge windows that look at pine trees and mountains) and the team goes out of their way to make every patient feel special by greeting them IN the reception area, BY NAME, shaking their hand as they whisk them away to their room for some TLC.  What I learned from this team is  you can have years of attending seminars, go through many levels of training, and have lifelong relationships with consultants from all walks of the dental industry and yet if you always keep your FRAME OPEN to understanding there is ALWAYS room to grow, your team can only continue to improve.  The loyalty is apparent from employer to team member, team member to employer.  As a ToPS Practice Advisor, it was refreshing to watch a team be so willing to the thought of "change" and choose to look at the opportunity rather than allowing that word to be a trigger term.  A shift as little as a "checkout protocol" of where to take a patient when and where to physically place yourself in a conversation about financials with a patient created instant excitement for the team who wanted to 'start that now!'  All in all, this experience continued to reinforce for me how important communication with teams can be and what a little "Willing to do It" frame of mind from a team as a whole can have immediate impact on how their success can multiply!