Well I just found out that there is a warrant for my arrest and the authorities will be picking me up October 3rd, so I need bail money! Actually, it’s for a good cause. I’m going to be put behind bars while (hopefully) my generous friends, family, and colleagues raise enough money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to bail me out.
MDA serves people with neuromuscular disease by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, braces and communication devices, and summer camp for kids. MDA also funds research grants to help find treatments and cures for some 43 neuromuscular diseases that affect people of all ages.
To contribute toward my bail (and to view my Wanted Poster), click here:
https://https://www.mdaevent.org/ParticipantInfo.aspx?j=9138f8d2-3f65-482c-ada8-a3d3108ebeb2
The ADA meeting next week may cause a few tremors in the dental industry. For many years equipment manufacturers have pushed prices staedily higher in an effort to maximize profitability. Technology played a very small role in dental equipment since ergonomics still dictated much of what went into product design. It now seems like the equipment segment may be headed for the perfect storm. A slowing economy, slackened demand and the availability of imports from China will prompt a number of the traditional higher-end equipment manufacturers to now introduce lower-priced gear. Expect to see a number of new offerings on the the show floor next week. While this may be good for the dentist, is it good for anyone else? It takes just as much time to demonstrate, sell and install an $8,000 room as a $15,000 room, and any sales rep who is given the price as a way to get a sale will always go low. For the manufacturer lower prices can mean lower profits and that translates to lower expenditures so ad revenues usually suffer.
So what to do? Control costs, control costs and as a last resort, control costs. Look for ways to keep product costs in line through more efficient design, and control marketing costs by using electronic media to get your message out. Be sure your sales reps understand gross profit calculations, and by all means, know what your competitors are doing. If you are an equipment manufacturer whose main strategy for success was staying in a low-priced market niche, you are about to get a lot of company.
That title ought to get Joe to read my blog posting!
Seriously though, nearly everyone has worked with or (even worse) for a jerk during their career at some point. Robert Sutton, a Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and author of The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t describes asshole behavior as including: ”bullying, interpersonal aggression, emotional abuse, abusive supervision, petty tyranny, harassment, and incivility in the workplace.”
I won’t suggest that there are a greater or lesser number of jerks (i.e. assholes) in the dental industry. As consultants, we can’t afford to offend anyone (even jerks). But let’s face it, jerks can be extremely disruptive to any organization. When people spend their time jockeying for position, demeaning team members, and bullying underlings, they are not spending time furthering the company’s goals. The work environment is unpleasant and good employees may leave rather than endure it. Yet so many times such behavior is tolerated or ignored.
Company management may be afraid to confront the guilty party or may feel their value to the organization outweighs their personality faults. There is also a sort of “boys will be boys” mentality that is ingrained in our business culture that sees competition, even nasty competition, as desirable, even admirable. You need look no further than fictional and actual icons such as Gordon Gekko (from the movie “Wall Street”) and Donald Trump (from nearly everywhere, it seems). Victims of jerkish behavior are in a no-win situation–report it and risk the humiliation of being seen as weak by those who control their career future, or keep their mouths shut and suffer the kind of stress that makes it difficult to do a good job and may even lead to health problems.
Companies have a responsibility to provide employees with a reasonably comfortable working environment and owe it to their stockholders to be as productive as possible. Make sure you set a good example and do not tolerate asshole behavior among your managers.
Here is a handy test to see if you are behaving like an asshole:
http://electricpulp.com/guykawasaki/arse
I returned from vacation and learned that Mohawk Dental was sold. Another long-time player gone. As the industry shrinks, it seems that the “other dealer ” strategy is disappearing as well. Companies used the “other dealer” strategy when they could not make headway with Patterson or Sullivan-Schein. Dealers like Becker-Parkin, JB Dental and Accu Bite offerred safe distribution avenues to the end-user. Well, they’re gone. And it seems like ADC dealers will continue to get picked off, one by one. Manufacturers are slowly realizing that there may not be “other dealers” to take up the sales slack if the Big Three do not support the products for one reason or another. This does not mean that having three large dealers cointrolling a good portion of the dental industry is bad, it just means that this is the way it is. Smaller to mid-sized companies need to find ways to deal with the situation. As I have said before, creativity in sales and marketing often means the difference between success and failure. Economic news is getting a little scary, and this could have some spillover effect into our industry. So rather than using”I’ll just go to the other dealers” as your primary strategy, take the time to retool your business plan. Stay focused, be creative, and, by all means, be sure you understand who the customer has become.
–Joe
We’ve just returned from a vacation in the French Alps, where we had the experience of having to go about our lives amongst people who did not speak English. Although I confess that I did not give much thought to the dental industry during this time, when I got back I got to thinking about languages and communication.
Unless your head is buried deep in the sand, you’ve probably noticed an increasing number of Americans don’t speak English or at least don’t have English as their primary language. Add to this that American-made dental products may end up nearly anywhere in the world. This has several ramifications for dental product manufacturers.
If your products land in the hands of dental professionals who do not have complete command of the English language, your instructions for use had better be crystal clear in English (and in simple, non-technical terms wherever possible). Better yet, you should have the instructions translated into, at a minimum, Spanish, and preferably French as well, especially if you distribute into Canada.
For products used by consumers (whiteners, for example), you may want to provide your patient literature in more than one language as well. This will be particularly appreciated by dental practices in areas with large Hispanic populations and those in French-speaking Canada.
When translating technical material (such as an operating guide for a software program), use a translator with technical writing experience or one with some knowledge of dentistry. Have the draft checked by several foreign-born readers, preferably from different areas (Mexico and Spain, for example) to catch any errors. By the way, it doesn’t hurt to check into how your brand names translate before making a final decision. There are some notorious examples of companies that failed to do so (Chevrolet named a car the Nova without knowing it meant “no go” in Spanish).