#840: Easy Way to Get More New Patients

Kiera is joined by Dr. Brian Harris, the founder of Smile Virtual, to talk about cosmetic dentistry and virtual consulting. They touch on cosmetic needs in the current economy and how social media changed the game, as well as implementing virtual consulting and the way to get patients to want to do it. Dr. Harris also teases out how to get case acceptance virtually.

Episode resources:

Learn about Smile Virtual

Connect with Dr. Brian Harris: brian@drbrianharris.com or @drbrianharris on Instagram

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.942)

Hello, Dental A Team  listeners. This is Kiera and I am so jazzed. The guest I have today is someone that I feel like we have circled in the same circle without actually doing a podcast together ever until today. So I'm so jazzed. I have recommended this man so many times. I'm so excited to hear where he's at in his life, all the different things, cosmetic dentistry, you name it. Brian Harris, welcome to the show today. How are you?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (00:24.122)

I am doing amazing. Thank you for having me. And I feel the same way about you. I feel like I've seen you all over. I hear people talk about you and your team and the amazing things that you do within dentistry. And so I think this is cool that we're actually doing this together. And I'm excited to see where the conversation takes us.

 

Kiera Dent (00:43.406)

You and me both. So Brian, funny fact, my husband and I actually got set up on a blind date. I was disengaged is what I called it. I make the joke, my last name's Dent, it was three fiancees. So my husband, I was set up with a guy that I worked with at a law firm, Geology, he was a lawyer, and his name is actually Brian Harris as well.

 

So it makes me always like happy when I see your name, cause you've got like a good affiliation that way. Brian Harris set me and my husband up and you are not the same Brian Harris, but like it's just a good affiliation. But Brian, for those of us who don't know you, people that have never heard about you, can you kind of talk about your, um, the founder of smile virtual and kind of just your story. You are one of the like Godfathers and just genius people around cosmetic dentistry. So kind of just give people an intro of who you are, what you do.

 

And then we're going to like rift on cosmetic dentistry, case acceptance, all those pieces.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (01:39.514)

Yeah, for sure. Thank you for the nice words. That means a lot. And yeah, I think my story is a little... It doesn't start off very interesting, you know, kind of the typical, you know, my dad was a dentist. My two brothers are dentists. One of my brothers owns a dental lab. My father -in -law is a dentist. So, like, I mean, it's just it's always been part of my life. I started practice in 2005.

 

I kind of had an early look into this world of cosmetic dentistry because my dad was one of the kind of the original pioneers of cosmetic dentistry back in the early 90s. And so I feel like I always had a kind of a different view of what dentistry could be like. And so graduated, bought into the practice, you know, fast forward 2016 ish. We have five Harris Dental locations.

 

we were just rocking it. I mean, it was going great on the surface, like on the outside looking in, everything was great, but just totally burned out and not really doing the stuff that I love to do. And right about that time is when social media started becoming a thing where people started posting pictures of teeth on social media. It was very weird back in the day. It's normal now. And...

 

Kiera Dent (03:01.486)

Yep.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (03:03.322)

And yeah, my wife was like, you just need to like start posting more of what you do and doing more of the stuff you love and not feeling so burnt out. And I did that. And one thing led to another. And before I knew it, we were booked out eight months in advance and only doing small design cases. And that's kind of all I do today. For the last probably six years now, I just do porcelain veneers. That's it in my practice. And...

 

We're still booked out quite a ways and I love it. And part of that process, I would say a big part of the success though was the creation of Small Virtual, really the most well -known video console platform in dentistry as it relates to really driving leads and closing big cases. So that's my story.

 

Kiera Dent (03:55.118)

I love it. Well, and I just have a question. I mean, Brian, welcome to the podcast with me. I will always ask all the questions I want to know. Like, we'll get into the nitty gritties. You find out about I was disengaged and then engaged, you know, three times. Like, tell me how happy are you from where you were? You had you had like, I feel the quote unquote, the dream life, right? You've got all these practices. It's booming. And you told me you're just getting to burn out.

 

Can you tell me the difference of your happiness level today compared to where you were when maybe people looked at you and they thought like height of his career, where I would say today you're probably at the height of your career, but just tell me like your happiness level and your stress level, fulfillment level between the two places of your life.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (04:34.426)

Yeah, I think it's really important to understand that every stage of growth really does require a different version of you to show up and be able to manage it and be able to manage the stress because I feel stressed now. It's a different stress, though. When you're booked out three, four months in advance and it's just small design cases, like...

 

Financially, it's amazing. Ego, amazing. But the stress of having to manage those cases at a high level when most of my patients fly in and out in two visits only, I have to be on all the time and there's not a lot of room for air. There's not a lot of room for something not fitting or for me to miscommunicate something with my patients. So, absolutely loving where I'm at.

 

But still, the stress is still there. It's just a different type of stress. But I would say to the actual question of burnout, yeah, I think it's a real thing. I think what happens is you think you want your practice a certain way or you think you want things a certain way and then you get there and you're doing it and then you're like, man, I don't love it, but it's great. It's a good income. And I think the...

 

The cool thing about our profession though is like you can play, you can pivot, you can move and say, okay, I built this and I love it, but what I really love is this. So what if I just do like more of that? And I think that part of our profession is pretty fascinating.

 

Kiera Dent (06:05.422)

Right.

 

Kiera Dent (06:09.902)

Yeah, no, I completely agree. And I'm glad you brought that up because I think so many people look with eyes of envy of how do I get there? I want to know. But I really love that you said like there is a different level of stress at every layer and I don't think it goes away. I also think there's a healthy amount of stress that does drive us to be better, but just realizing, I think looking from the outside in what that looks like. So I want to get into nitty gritty. I don't ever do clinical on the podcast because I'm not a dentist. I can talk about dental assisting and like all the ways to suction spit.

 

which by the way, in tip culture that has come into play, I think about this often and I thought about it years ago before tip culture was a thing. And I thought, why don't I just have a tip jar and be like, you're welcome. I didn't suck up your uvula. I've thought about this. So if you, if any person ever wants to do that, like how come I don't get that for not sucking up your uvula and giving you this amazing smell anyway, that's a total side joke, but I'm curious, can we dive into nitty gritties because you do the clinical and I'm curious about like the trends in cosmetic dentistry and how you're able to.

 

like the pieces that you guys have in cosmetic dentistry and using Smile Virtual to be able to do more cases like this, because I think so many people want to do it, Brian, but not many people are able to do it. So like, I'm so jazzed. I miss clinical in my life. I don't get to be chair side as often anymore. And so let's just kind of dive into wherever you want to take it with how to get this cosmetic dentistry there. Are people still doing cosmetic dentistry, the economy, all these different things?

 

How do I get that going in my practice? What are some of the things I need to do clinical wise? You take it wherever you want to go. This is your time and I'm just jazzed for it.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (07:43.802)

Okay, I love it. So I'll go first. I want to go with like where things are at right now as it relates to cosmetic dentistry. And then, and then let's jump into the virtual console piece and the communication side, because I think that's just a massive thing that's changed in that people really need to understand how to communicate treatment with patients. But I'll get into that in a minute. So here's what's changed. When I came into practice,

 

The only way that somebody would know about cosmetic dentistry was like if you had a book in your waiting room with before and afters and they were usually like just actual photos to see cases. And so the patients would learn about it with their own dentist and the dentist would talk to them about it and they would do the work. And so it was very much a doctor driven process. We would tell people, hey, you don't want to go with that shape. It won't look natural. You don't want to go that bright. And so it was...

 

Kiera Dent (08:23.502)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (08:43.674)

We had full control of the process. That's why when you look at like AACD accreditation, a lot of the this idea of like natural look and translucency and shapes like it's such a it's such a big thing. Well, what's changed and what changed everything was social media. So now patients find out about cosmetic dentistry like they can look through thousands of cases in an instant online. So they come in knowing what they want.

 

from size, shape, color. And the number one piece of advice I can give to any dentist or even dental assistants listening is like, I think the best cosmetic dentistry is whatever your patient feels is cosmetically pleasing to them. So good example, if you go on like my Instagram page, I'm sure you could find 10 cases that you think look great.

 

Kiera Dent (09:13.71)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (09:41.658)

And equally 10 cases that you're like, whoa, those are too big, too bright, white. And I think, you know, and I'm proud of that because for me, it's not about what I want. It's about like giving people what it is that they want. I think that's a that's an important thing. And doctors are learning the hard way when they're telling patients, no, no, you don't want that. We're going to do this. And then people get things redone. I had two consults yesterday, people that have been in veneers six months or less.

 

Kiera Dent (09:44.27)

I did.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (10:11.898)

that want to have them redone because they're like, I don't want all this translucency. It looks like there's stuff on my teeth. I don't want my teeth to look like triangles. And that's what nature looks like, but it's not what people want. So those are my thoughts on cosmetics.

 

Kiera Dent (10:27.054)

Mm -hmm. Yeah. Which I'm glad. And so, Brian, I have a funny story of how I actually am just so grateful for this. It's not really funny. I had an ex -fiance prior to the one that Brian Harris set me up with. And he actually smashed my face into a wall.

 

And I had to get a lot of cosmetic dentistry done. And I'm glad you said that because I remember there was a dentist who tried to make my teeth like too short. And I literally felt like I was a completely different person. I didn't want to smile. And so even though they felt like that's what I should look like and in temps, I remember like I didn't want to smile. I felt like I looked like I had a like a mental, like a physical issue with me and like the way I communicated, I felt like people looked at me differently than they had ever looked at me before.

 

And so for you to say that, I agree with you. So being a patient on the other side of this and to know that like, and I had to have mine like redone it multiple times because they weren't right. And the fact that that dentist was so kind to me to get it to where it was just perfect because I didn't ever think I'd smile again with confidence. And so just to speak to this, um, I always get nervous sharing this cause I'm like, Oh great. Every dentist is going to then look at my teeth and be like, where was it? And what did they do? And, um, but the reality is like you said it's beauty to that.

 

And so being the patient on the other side, when they made my teeth too short, I literally felt like I was a completely different person and it really did rock my confidence. And so I think that was one of the most beautiful things you said is to look at the cases and you're right. That Instagram page is not for your ego of like, this is it. It's the satisfaction that you've given these people their confidence in their lives back or made them have more confidence than they've ever had before.

 

because you're able to give them what they ultimately wanted. Same with hairstyles, same with nails, same with like all those different things that are cosmetically pleasing. It's in the person who's wearing it, not in the person who's creating it that I think is a really, really incredible point to make.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (12:28.762)

Yeah, 100%. It's hard for some people to let that go. It's hard for professionals to accept that, but it's just the reality. There's just different styles, different trends, different looks. And so I think that would probably be the number one thing that I would say is, it's about the people more so than it is us. And so I think that's a good transition segue into the whole virtual console piece. So.

 

The reason I even started the small virtual software platform was I realized that the sales process in dentistry really was broken. When you look at where we are today with technology and with everything else, people would come in and see me. They just wanted to know, can I trust you? What are my options and what does this cost?

 

Kiera Dent (13:21.902)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (13:22.362)

and we would make them jump through all these hoops to get those questions answered. And, you know, as being in the coaching and consulting space, you know that oftentimes we're coaching teams on like tactics and strategies and what to say when they're not ready and like how to, but it's all focused on this, like the sales strategy. And I had this like awakening where I'm like, you know what? It needs to be about like.

 

the buyer's process, it needs to be about the buyer strategy. And so I thought, what if we could just, like instead of me doing all this with the patient when they're in my practice, vulnerable, they don't know who I am, their spouse isn't there, they have no idea what things cost, what if I could just take time and record a video for them, not a live video like this, but like a prerecorded video of just saying like, hey, it's great to meet you.

 

Kiera Dent (14:09.838)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (14:13.946)

you know, they can send them some small photos and I can just tell them like, hey, here's my recommendations. Here's what it's going to cost. Here's the next steps. You'll see the link below for financing and just made it like really, really easy. Everything changed, you know, so now I will not see a new patient in my practice unless they've gone through a virtual console. The virtual consoles take me about about seven minutes each one. And in that consult, I can sit down when I have time. I do.

 

a lot of it just before my day starts. And I just say, hey, you know, this is who I am. Here's the kind of dentistry I do. Here's what I see with your smile. Here's what I recommend. Here's what it's going to cost. And then, you know, here's a bunch of other people just like you that I treated in their stories. And when you're ready, I'd love to work with you. And so what happens is it takes all the pressure out of the sales process. And now the only time I see people is when...

 

They're in my office, but they already know my fees. They already know my recommendations. So, you know, it's like a 92 % close rate on, you know, 20, 30, $40 ,000 cases.

 

Kiera Dent (15:21.422)

That's incredible. And so I think there's probably the fear. So I'm glad you're talking about this. The fear of because there's like a sales mindset out there, right? Like, no, no, no, Brian, I need to get them in my practice. I need them to see all my technology. I need them to see the success cases. I need them to see all this. So I basically like earn their trust. And so I don't want to necessarily do that because I'm going to deter people that would possibly be a buyer.

 

So how do you overcome that? Because I know that that's what people are thinking. Like, no, no, no, I can close them better if they meet me. Like, they're going to fall in love with me. How do you overcome that? Because I mean, you clearly are only having people that come in and close you. You have a great case acceptance. It's not wasting your time. You're not wasting chair time. But I think there's sometimes a scarcity mindset of like, yeah, but what if I don't get enough people doing these virtual consoles? What if I'm not getting that flow? How do I make sure I keep my books full?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (16:10.33)

Yeah, so two parts to that. I think one is I agree with that. You want before you just quote a fee, you want to be with somebody. And so they're not just buying a veneer. They're buying like you. They're buying the experience or buying the confidence. But you can do that with video. That's the great thing. And it doesn't have to be live. You can do it pre -recorded and still build that connection. And I think a bigger part of it, though, is

 

You have to think about what do we want when we're buying. We think, oh, we need to get them in. They can see all the technology. But from the buyer's perspective, when you're the buyer and you're going in, yeah, you're excited about that stuff. But you're also like, there's always that looming question of what is this even going to cost? And like, can I afford? There's all these unknowns. And I think the difference is it's this idea of you want people to want to buy from you.

 

Kiera Dent (16:56.75)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (17:09.978)

like people want to buy, they just don't want to feel sold. And so it's really hard in the in -person process to not have it feel like they're being sold because you talk to them, but then you don't present the fees. Somebody else comes in, gives them the sheet. Just like anytime you go and buy a car, buy anything super expensive, there's always that unknown.

 

Kiera Dent (17:11.662)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (17:30.074)

And it's wild what happens when you take all the unknowns out of it and you're just like, hey, here's what it is. When you're ready, I'd love to work with you. It's like people want to then come and work with you. And if they can afford it, at least they are able to figure that out before they came in to see you. Now it's not embarrassing. And when they can, they will come and see you. And it's just one more person out there that knows who you are and what you do.

 

Kiera Dent (17:53.262)

That's a good perspective to have and to correlate my husband and I did IVF for a few years and I actually really appreciate like me going in. I knew each cycle would be about 25 K and so I've already vetted myself. I've already looked at it and I do think it actually takes away that fear and trepidation. I'm not going in and then I'm being sticker shocked. I'm like, oh, I didn't even know like and it took me a while. I knew IVF would cost me 25 around like four years before we decided to go and do it. But like you said,

 

them even knowing because people don't necessarily know what a smile makeover is going to cost. Like they have no idea. And so it is a fear. And I think one of the biggest concerns people have, and I love teaching this in case accepted, is like, you don't ever want to make them feel like they can't afford something. You want them to be the ones who are determining like, can I afford this or can I not? You can be there to provide all the solutions of how to do it, but not making them feel embarrassed or ashamed that maybe 25k is out of their realm or maybe 30 ,000 out of their realm. That's where you get that like,

 

trepidation, you get all the excuses. And so it's I really do love especially with these bigger cases and consults, just letting them know the questions are gone, they trust you, they like you. It's no nonsense. And when they're ready, they already know the pieces and I trust you more. And so when I'm ready to spend the 25k, I'm probably coming back to you than somebody else, because you're upfront with me to begin with. So it feels like it's like you're almost building a pipeline for a future, kind of like going and talking like dental students that then eventually buy and whatnot.

 

but really just building it up with people that know you like you trust you already and your fees are where they are. And you're not also trying to undercut. Cause I also think the flip side is dentists feel bad when the patient's in the practice. Oh, they can't afford it. Now we're chipping our fees down and then you're doing the case for less than you want to and you're annoyed by it. And neither party's happy in that scenario.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (19:43.386)

Oh, and you said something about like IVF costing 25K. And I think that's important because most of the time when people are going through that, the cost is kind of the cost in general. Like I bet if we gave a multiple choice test and said, you know, cost for, you know, rhinoplasty, cost for breast augmentation, cost for IVF, like there's a general sense in the public of what things cost. I don't think that exists in dentistry.

 

Kiera Dent (20:06.734)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (20:10.394)

And part of it is because there is a drastic difference. You have some people charging $18 ,000 for an all -in -four procedure and then others charging $40 ,000. And you have some people charging $1 ,200 a unit for a veneer and others charging $3 ,000 to $4 ,000. And so I think it's really easy in dentistry for people to get blindsided of like, oh, I saw the billboard that was $1 ,200 per tooth for implants, but you're telling me that this is going to be $3 ,500 per tooth. And so...

 

Kiera Dent (20:10.702)

Please.

 

Kiera Dent (20:19.47)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kiera Dent (20:38.83)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (20:39.77)

I think anywhere where there's room for confusion, I think there's room for real opportunity to build trust. And the great thing about doing it with video is you get to control the conversation because you get to share photos, you get to share people's experiences, you get to then talk about the cost, but you get a control on how it's delivered.

 

Kiera Dent (21:02.254)

Mm -hmm, which, Brian, I'm sitting over here. You're probably seeing me look down. I'm literally taking notes on everything you're saying. I'm like, oh, when there's confusion, there's an opportunity for a cost. That's a brilliant thing for you. What I'm noticing is you're finding the gap, and you're shooting the gap on so many things. Look at it from the buyer's perspective, not my perspective. Look at it from the patient's perspective, not my perspective for what they want their smile to look at. Look at where they're confused, because you're right. Like,

 

So they see on the billboard, cause you know, the ones that are like, I see them all the time and I tell people like, you don't necessarily, maybe you want to go to that office. Maybe you do. It's your choice. Um, but I think like so many other practices are putting those billboards up and they're going for the price shoppers. And I'm like, but that's not necessarily the best dentist that you want. Um, and I do think it's interesting because like you said, dentistry is so variable, which is odd. Cause my husband works in medicine and medicine is not half as variable. Like IVF clinics across the nation.

 

They're pretty much all the exact same fee. There's some that might be like, it's like a two to five grand variance, but that's it. Same thing for like breast augmentation. Like there really isn't that much variance. Some of them are like maybe you've got this world renowned person, but generally speaking, they're in a very similar range. And I think it's because medicine doesn't really matter where you go. It's pretty much the same fee because they have standardized it across the board. Whereas dentistry has not been standardized. We're kind of the wild wild west over there, just hanging out in our own playing field. But you're right. That is a

 

zone where patients really do get confused and it's like, well, if they're only 1200, why are you 3 ,500? Who do I trust? And then at that point, like you said, it's, you have two opposing sides, which person are they going to trust? Like you said, that's the opportunity. So can you kind of walk people through how you use the smile virtual and how that works and how you even get patients to want to do it? Cause you're also changing by your behavior too. But I think it's more common than what people might assume. I think there's so much more online that people are used to doing even today.

 

So I think it's also smart to be getting us up to date, but how does Smile Virtual Work? How do you use it? How do you get these consults in? How many consults are you doing like a week? What does that really look like deep down?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (23:04.762)

Yeah, you almost have to look at it. It's a different way to market. You know, the it's like everybody else is over here like SEO, AdWords, kind of marketing for the same patients trying to get visible online. And then those patients are coming in, but you don't really know like what you're getting is the thing. The mindset with Small Virtual is like, you know, thinking about like a funnel of like, hey, I just want to drop as many people in through this process as possible because once they're in,

 

then I get to control the conversation, whatever that may be. And so I have it on a link on, so if you go to at Dr. Brian Harris, like my Instagram page, you can see every one of my Instagram posts, there's a call to action of request a virtual console. It's on my Facebook page, it's on my main website. Just that alone, adding the video console feature to your website increases like people taking action from like a normal four to 5 % engagement rate.

 

to 17 % because they can get answers immediately right away. But you have to word it right. They have to understand what they're doing. It's not a Zoom call or it's not a teledentistry visit. It's a, you know, send a photo, tell me what you want to change. I'll get back to you with cost and recommendations and next steps. And so it's kind of creating all the doorways.

 

Kiera Dent (24:08.014)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (24:31.962)

so that people can kind of walk through there. And then it's just call to actions. And so the content that I post, you'll notice online is it's not about me. It's not about like pictures of me, selfies of me, me traveling, my cars, my family. You know, it's more patient driven. It's like, hey, this page is for you because this is about you. And then there's always just a call to action of, hey, if you want to know what's possible, upload a smile photo, send it in.

 

And it's designed to be really, really easy. You know, the question of how many do I get, it's not really fair for me to answer that just because I do get quite a bit, you know, and quite a bit is probably an average of three, probably three to four a day of people, you know, wanting a new smile and inquiring. But we just had...

 

Kiera Dent (25:10.126)

Sure.

 

Kiera Dent (25:20.206)

Like Brian real quick, how long have you been doing all your photos, all your marketing, all the pieces? Like, let's just give people perspective. Like you've been doing this for a long time to build this up.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (25:29.85)

Yeah, so I've been doing it for, I mean, what we're coming up on five years now.

 

Kiera Dent (25:34.19)

Okay, so just remember, Brian's getting three to four a day. He's been doing it for about five years of just that constant repetition. Now it's like, you know, when people, cause I don't think people tomorrow are like, I want a new smile. Like I go to the dentist, I'm like, do I have any cavities? And so I think it's also like, you're making them aware, you're educating them to where when they're ready to buy and they want to get their smile redone, Brian Harris is the person they think of, right? Like it's all that pipeline funneling that you're doing.

 

of awareness, recognition, referrals, people doing that. So I just hope people realize if you don't get the three to five console today, it doesn't mean it wasn't working. You built this up for so many years and now it's there and it just keeps flowing for you.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (26:17.946)

Yeah, for sure. And that's where I was going to go next because so it's interesting. We just had a run this mastermind group of about 35 dentists and our meeting in Miami last week, I pull up because everybody's everybody uses the platform. You know, it's not a small virtual thing, but everyone in there use it because they see the value. And so I see all the console requests that everybody in the group gets. And what's crazy is the first year there's three doctors in the group that get significantly more than I do.

 

Kiera Dent (26:32.64)

Yeah.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (26:47.642)

and they've been on the platform a lot less, but they're just out there, just they're putting out TikTok content, Instagram. I mean, they're just crushing it right now. And so there was one in the group that gets about 600 a month and he's like in way over his head. He's like, doesn't even know what to do, right? Because there's not even, so now the problem is, well, how do you sift through all these? Like how many of these are serious and how many of them are? But then there's others that have been on the platform since we launched.

 

that have been like four or five years, they get about four to five a month. And part of it's just because of their location. Part of it's just that the visibility is less for different people. But all of them have the same mindset of, hey, if I get five in a month, and even if I only convert two of those, it's a small design case, anywhere from six to $50 ,000. And so, you know, and the...

 

Kiera Dent (27:42.574)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (27:45.882)

monthly fees, it's a $3 .99 a month fee. So they're paying the monthly software fee. But just from that alone, in the first case, the second week in January, it's paid for the entire year. So it does vary based on, I will say though, it varies based on how much time you're willing to put into it. The doctors that are like, let's go, and they push out content and they make it just a part of their practice, they just absolutely like,

 

Kiera Dent (28:00.366)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (28:16.41)

do very well with it.

 

Kiera Dent (28:18.222)

That's really incredible. And so how do you do it? Oh, it's on your website. Do you block time in your schedule to respond to these? So it's like every day I've got this amount of time to respond. And if they don't have it, then I'll do admin work. What's your flow of how you actually incorporate this into your practice?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (28:34.33)

I tell doctors initially, don't block time because you're going to have time. You'll get the one random patient that may reschedule or just do it in between patients before the day starts. And then as you ramp up, then my next device is like 7 a .m. to 8 a .m. on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and only use that time for recording consults. And then when it gets busier, like I do all of mine on Thursday. So.

 

Kiera Dent (28:52.59)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (29:01.402)

Thursday is my day to record podcasts like this, create content. And then when we're done here, I'll go and record probably eight or 10. And then I'll be caught up. And so I try to split it out like that. Do our summer in the morning, summer in between patients, summer on Thursdays. But you work it in and there's a system and process. Initially, it's a little bit weird because you're speaking to a computer screen giving advice.

 

Kiera Dent (29:08.91)

Mm -hmm.

 

Nice.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (29:30.01)

you know, recording yourself and so you overthink everything. But it just takes a few before you're like, oh, it's almost like the more.

 

Kiera Dent (29:33.102)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (29:39.514)

The more smooth and polished you are, the worse it is. You don't want it to come across as being a smooth sales pitch. I'll sneeze in the middle of one and I'll keep going. Or a dog will bark in the background, I'll keep going. Someone will knock on the door and I'll answer the door, talk to him and be like, I apologize. Because I think people want to see that it's real, it's not necessarily white coat and doctor talking to patients.

 

Kiera Dent (29:43.022)

Agreed.

 

Kiera Dent (29:46.958)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kiera Dent (30:04.046)

Mm -hmm. Completely agree. And I think it makes you real, right? That's that trust factor that people are looking for is how much, like, I want to buy from somebody who I feel real, who I trust. And I tell everybody when you come to that case acceptance, I'm like, they're not buying the dentistry. They're buying the confidence. And like, are you the person? Are you the person I can trust? Are you the person that's going to get me the outcome I'm looking for? Because we're skeptical.

 

So many people are good at sales and we've learned how to sell. And so we've trained humans to be skeptical. And so I agree making yourself way more real. And it's funny, I hated doing video podcasts. Like I hated it, Brian, for the first time I was like, I don't even want to look at myself. Now I got to like make sure my hair is right. Make sure my, and it's not, it doesn't matter. Like just be the person you are. And that's what people love. And so I think that that's awesome. How much, how long does a cosmetic case.

 

So I'm also thinking like clinical schedule wise, you start to get these, are we blocking off like a Friday? Are we blocking off X -Men? Like how do you then build it in? Because I think that that's also where people get nervous of, great, I can do the virtual consult, but then I gotta find space in a schedule to get all this in. How much time and how do you recommend they set up their schedules for that?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (31:12.506)

Yeah, so you phase it. So initially it's just like, it just becomes like, yes, they want to come in for an in -person console and then you just book them like you would in your normal schedule. And then what'll happen is things will get busier. And so I always recommend the doctors block one entire day and that's only for cosmetic cases in virtual consults. And so I would say most of, most of the doctors on the platform fall into that category where they're general dentists,

 

They do a little bit of everything and then one day a week it's just small design cases, but every week they're doing one to two small design cases. And then after that, then it's like Tuesday, now you add a Thursday. And then where I am right now, so I've got a system and this simplifies a lot of it. So I'm with patients Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I do long days with no lunch, but whenever I prep a case on Monday, I seat the case the following Monday.

 

So I have a one week turnaround time. I average about three hours for a 10 unit case. And so there's no confusion with scheduling. There's no like, if I prep Monday, I see Monday. If I prep on Tuesday, I see the following Tuesday in the morning and then I'll prep a case in the afternoon and then I'll see that following Tuesday. So it's always one week out. And then it's just a system where every day I have.

 

Kiera Dent (32:20.398)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kiera Dent (32:26.222)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (32:37.946)

what I call my rock appointments, like three big rocks, which is either it's a prep or a seat. And I've got two consult spots for in -person consults. And then we've tried to mix in two or three, just like 15, 20 minute appointments. And those are usually final photos, bite adjustments, just like the simple stuff.

 

Kiera Dent (32:57.582)

And you're big on photography, which I agree in cosmetic. I think that that's a piece of like having really good photos too. Like a photo's worth a thousand words. And then my husband was just saying the other day, like a video is worth like a thousand photos. And so like showing those, and I think you're really big. And I know a lot of the clients that have worked with you, it was really for like getting good photography and learning how to present those cases and having the confidence with it.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (33:07.066)

Yeah.

 

Kiera Dent (33:22.318)

Um, which I think is actually really smart because it's showcasing and I told people like your Google reviews are one thing. I think our Instagram is becoming the validation of our Google reviews and like seeing the tangibles. I'm like, if I'm going to go get, I don't know anything like a nose job, I'm going to go check out their social media page. I want to make sure that what they're going to give me is what I actually want to look like at the end of it. Uh, so I really do agree with you on the photography. Any tips you have as we wrap up today on like the case acceptance portion, like how do you actually.

 

Get the confidence, because I know there's a lot of doctors who want to do this. They're not confident in their fees. They're not confident in presenting this amount. It feels very daunting to them to present a case like this. What are your tips on any case acceptance pieces? I think using Smile Virtual cuts out so much of it. How do you get that cases closed for them? Any tips you have on case acceptance closing?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (34:13.882)

Yeah, actually, that would be we should do something down the road. We should do like a joint webinar or something on the road where we talk in more detail about that, because we could talk for a full hour just on that alone. But but I think I think the most important thing is to understand that the great thing about video first is that it takes away the fear because you're not talking to a human. Sometimes it's hard when you're talking to somebody.

 

Kiera Dent (34:20.494)

down.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (34:41.434)

and you can see that they're uncomfortable. They're looking down like it's natural human nature. It makes it hard to talk about money when when you're talking to a screen and makes it easier. But the most important thing, like I would say the number one piece of advice I can give when it comes to case acceptance or talking about money or talking about all of that is like I start every single one of my consults off the same way. And it's always like I just write in front of them, you know, and sit kind of, you know.

 

and not in a weird knee to knee eye to eye. Like it's not a force type thing. It's just like, hey, listen, you came here to see me. You took time off work. You're paying to have this console. Like the most important thing to me today is just that you walk out of here getting exactly what you want. And so instead of me trying to guess what that is, like I'm just going to share everything with you. And then in the end, when it comes time to talk about cost, you just let us know like what feels comfortable to you.

 

because it does me no good to try to guess where your budget's at. But it does you no good for me to hold back and not tell you what's possible because that's the one thing I promise all my patients is I'll tell you anything that I think would benefit you. We're going to talk about it, but you are going to be the one to decide if it's a good fit. I think that to me, it sets people free. It sets them free. It sets you free because now when you're, you know,

 

Kiera Dent (36:00.622)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (36:08.762)

DO on number three, MOD on number four. They're not like thinking like, oh, here we go again, dollar signs. It's like, no, you've already set them free from that where you're just like, I'll talk about everything. I'll tell you what I think you should do. And then ultimately you just decide what makes the most sense. And I'm here to make it happen, make it look amazing. Whether we do one filling or whether we do 28 veneers, like it doesn't matter to me. And it truly doesn't. And I think that's the most important thing is Dennis has to get to that mindset to where like,

 

Kiera Dent (36:32.558)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (36:37.85)

You need to just be there to serve them at the highest level, regardless of what they decide to do. You just need to be okay with it.

 

Kiera Dent (36:46.222)

Brian, I think that's brilliant. And I'm definitely, I like made another note over here. As you said, like people look down. I'm like, don't worry, Brian. I'm just taking like a bajillion pages of notes over here. Definitely want to get you back on and dock case acceptance. But I agree with you. Like be upfront with them, be like, let them be free. And Kyle Stanley, I did a podcast with him just the other day. And he said the same thing when dentists get to the spot where they don't need the dentistry, they don't need the patients to say, yes, your practice will take off because there's no more of that desperation, even energy sitting there. Like,

 

This is what it is. If you choose to do one, you choose to do five, that's fine. But Brian, again, I hope people feel it. You have so much confidence in it. You're not there to sell them on anything. You're not there to push them in any way. It's literally like, do whatever's best for you. I'm here. I'm going to recommend it to you. They've already built trust with you. You literally laid the foundations of trust with them. And I think that that comes from all the different pieces you have. So loved our podcast today. I'm so grateful we finally connected. I want to do another one with you on case acceptance.

 

But tell people, Smile Virtual, I think is such a great thing. Can people like try it out, demo it? Like how does that work if they're interested? Cause I also think it's not just for cosmetic cases. I think like implants and like all these bigger cases that are coming through, it's a great way to maximize time, improve efficiency. So how can people use Smile Virtual? What does that look like? How can they like look into it and try it out?

 

Dr. Brian Harris (38:03.386)

Yeah, so I mean, it's great for anything where there's confusion around costs. So all on four cases, clear liners, small design, but even on Perio for some offices do kind of higher end of Perio treatments. It's great for that. So the easiest thing is just SmileVirtual .com. If you just go to SmileVirtual .com, I think we're still running a 14 day trial where people can try it out for free. People can reach out to me.

 

Kiera Dent (38:13.486)

Mm -hmm.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (38:29.946)

just through Instagram, just at Dr. Brian Harris, or they can shoot me an email, just brian at drbrianharris .com, and I can get you more info. But yeah, I mean, it's really, I mean, you asked the question of like, how do you get better at these things? I mean, the way to get better is just surround yourself with people that are already doing it and learn from them. And I think that's the great thing about this community. It's like 400 and...

 

50 now, I think, like -minded doctors that are all, they all have one thing in common. It's that they use video consoles to help their patients and because of it, they're more successful and they want to help others. So just surround yourself with the right people that aren't afraid to share their secrets. I think that's the key.

 

Kiera Dent (39:16.878)

I completely agree. Gosh, Brian, thank you so much for your time. And guys, if you don't know, it's Brian, B -R -I -A -N, Brian Harris. And so go check him out on Instagram. Love following you guys. We're huge fans of you. I think Smile Virtual, like I said, I have had so many offices use you guys and their case acceptance has gone up. They weeded through all those like wasted appointment consults because all the people who are coming for consults are really ready. And...

 

Brian, I think you just inspired us of like, figure out what your passion is, what you love to do more of in your practice and grow to that level. And it's totally doable. I mean, the economy is what it is, but patients still want it. Like, don't forget that the economy does not impact all boats. And so there are lots of people who want the work done. You just need to be out there so they know you can do it. So Brian, thank you for being on the podcast. It was truly an honor.

 

Dr. Brian Harris (40:03.514)

Of course, thank you. Love your energy, love what you're doing and it's an honor to be here. So thank you. Have an awesome rest of the week.

 

Kiera Dent (40:09.934)

Thanks. And for all of you listening, thank you for joining and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.