Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Critical Hits by Dr. Andrew Sarpotdar

Start Discussion More by this author (6)
Orthotown Magazine 

Three key strategies for practice improvement

by Dr. Andrew Sarpotdar


Congratulations! Whether you’re a new orthodontist who has just navigated the first few years of your startup practice or a seasoned doctor looking to make positive changes, you’re at a pivotal point in your career. You’re over the hump, money is flowing and you have a few dedicated referral sources (and some not-so-dedicated ones). The challenges you’ll face now that you’re out of survival mode will be different from those you overcame to get here. I’ll share three critical elements of success from my own experience starting up two practices in the hypercompetitive Phoenix market: mindset, leadership and referral marketing.

Mindset
When it was announced on Twitter that Elon Musk had become the richest man in the world, his response was not what many would have expected: “How strange. Well, back to work.” No celebrating, no resting on his laurels—just a somber acknowledgment and a return to the grind. Even before achieving this milestone, Musk had more money than he could spend in five lifetimes. It’s apparent that one does not become the richest man in the world just because one wants to become the richest man in the world. Something else was driving Musk beyond his financial results.

This concept is best illustrated by a sigmoid curve (Fig. 1). One starts out with a certain level of working capital that begins to deplete as expenses are incurred but revenue has yet to catch up. During this phase, the new business owner recognizes the stakes and seeks out learning to reverse the negative profit trend. As understanding improves, the business begins to see some profit and the owner can breathe a sigh of relief. Here lies the founder’s trap: one begins to think they have figured it all out and they lose the drive for further learning. Still, momentum remains and growth can continue as one reaches the founder’s trap.

One not only stops learning but begins to lose their work ethic. In such a situation, we start to assume we’ve “made it.” We’re invincible and no matter what we do, gold will always fall from the sky. We start neglecting the more challenging activities that got us here. If we don’t change this, we hit the final phase of our business cycle: decline.

The common thread here is the complacency that develops when we are motivated by results that, once achieved, no longer motivate us to act. Musk’s superpower stems from his ability to overcome this complacency and we can too.

Leadership
Leadership is about motivating people toward a shared vision. This starts with identifying your core values. Written values are the description of our office identity. Why written? To make them objective. This keeps not only your team but also you, as the leader, accountable. Writing your values down shows a commitment. Think of a few role models and list why you admire these individuals. Look for repeated traits among these role models—these are the seeds of your core values. Try including your team in this exercise to create buy-in and authenticity.

Know yourself, know your team
What kind of leader are you? Inspirational? Managerial? Democratic? Visionary? There are as many different styles of leadership as there are types of people. Knowing your style will decrease frustration and allow you to hire compatible employees. This is where I find value in the various personality indices.

DISC is the simplest one, which sorts people into four categories based on behavior. Because of its ease of use and simplicity, it tends to be the most used in business settings.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) goes a step deeper by identifying 16 archetypes based on our cognitive functions or how we process.

Finally, we have the Enneagram, which is the most complex of the three. It focuses on the motivations behind our behaviors and perceptions. Additional resources include the Kolbe Index (willpower) and the six types of working genius (natural strengths). Using these tools can provide insights on your team’s chemistry and help resolve conflicts from incompatibilities.

Referral marketing
The first month I opened my practice, I had zero new patients. The second month, we started a family friend of my lone part-time assistant. That entire first year, I had less than 25 starts, most of which were either friends of my employee or price shoppers who were sent to another office but came to mine in search of a deal.

It took me a full year to get my first referring dentist, while many of the others wouldn’t even let me past the front desk. Frustrated, I remembered the words of my friend and mentor, Dr. Sheldon Salins. “They want to meet you … just not right now.”

Dentists have their own businesses to worry about and whom they refer to affects their own reputations. When you don’t have a reputation to speak of, they have little incentive to take a risk on you.

After you’ve been practicing for a few years, this concept can work in your favor. Doctors will be more open to a meeting. I’m going to describe some methods I’ve used to harness this tailwind for continued practice growth.

First impression bias
People tend to anchor on the first impression they have of you. I’ve mulled it over extensively and believe the best first impression is one of “successful but generous.” Don’t flaunt your fortune, but don’t hide it either.

People aren’t drawn to mediocrity. They are drawn to those who make them feel better about themselves. Think of how to share your success instead of merely demonstrating it. One of the best examples of this is one of my oral surgeons. We’ll call him Evan. Evan drives not one but two Porsches. He lives in a house that could have been on MTV Cribs (am I dating myself?), eats at fancy restaurants several times a week and even has a whole closet devoted just to his high-end luggage collection. It would be easy to have feelings of resentment or jealousy except for two factors. First, he really is the best and hardest-working surgeon I’ve encountered. Second, he shares all of this with his friends. When I feel like I share in his success, I want him to have more of it. The same goes for our referring doctors. They know that if we are the best at our craft, material rewards will follow.

When a new patient needs a dentist, send them to your best referrers first. When you have a great quarter, celebrate by taking your doctors out to a nice dinner or sporting event (pay for the nice seats). Speaking of first impressions, consider that even when a dentist isn’t currently referring to you, they know about you through patients you share anyway. One of my best referral relationships was obtained when the doctor decided to stop doing ortho in-house and already knew they wanted to work with me based on the results of patients who we shared by chance. Successful but generous, but also exceptional at what you do is the winning first impression.

Seek out and foster genuine relationships
Don’t try to “game” your dentists. Instead, seek genuine connection. Friendship is when two people see each other as extensions of themselves and are therefore invested in each other’s success. To create such connection, consider the following factors.

1. Seek similarity. Seeking connection over an unshared interest makes one person feel bored and the other feel patronized. Genuine shared interests are effortless and invigorating for both parties. If none are obvious, ask open-ended questions until something emerges. The flip side of this is avoiding conflict. There is a time and place for debate, but unless the debate itself is over a shared interest, save this for later. If all else fails, learn new passions together.

2. Time. Experts believe it takes approximately 60 hours for a light friendship to develop, 100 hours for a full-fledged friend and more than 200 hours for a best friend. No matter what you’re shooting for, maintaining consistent touch points is necessary to give relationships a chance to flourish. Don’t overdo it, though. Read the person and don’t make a nuisance of yourself—they should want to see you when they do.

3. Vulnerability. Signaling high status can backfire quickly. Signaling vulnerability is known as a “costly signal” and indicates that you are invested in the relationship. Consider points of self-disclosure that can indicate and build trust.

Communication
Good communication that is succinct, accurate and engaging is foundational to any relationship. Get to know your referring doctors and communicate on their terms. Letters have been a popular source of communication in the past. However, nowadays, most doctors prefer email or text messaging. When a phone call is warranted, I always pre-arrange by having my front office staff set up a time with their office. This avoids the dreaded phone tag and ensures I am reaching them at a convenient time. Consider that social media is becoming less useful for attracting new patients while becoming a more intimate way to connect with your doctor network and their teams. Make sure your content is directed toward this audience. Keep referral pads simple or consider a digital model like Bright Referral, which can be popular with today’s tech-savvy doctors and patients. Finally, elicit feedback to make sure you are subscribing to the platinum rule: treat others as they would want to be treated.


Conclusion
As we conclude, I hope you have gained insight into practical methods to continue thriving in your practice’s adolescent phase. As you continue your journey, I encourage you to subscribe to the idea of amor fati (love of fate). We will all experience the ups and downs of the sigmoid curve multiple times in our careers. Whether we are up or down, each of us in this moment has something to be grateful for.

Without gratitude, no amount of external reward will ever be enough. If we are grateful for all we have, for our fates, then we will not be distracted by disabling thoughts and can focus instead on getting better every day. This perpetual cycle of gratitude and improvement is what we strive for. It is the true definition of success.

Author Bio
Dr. Andrew Sarpotdar Dr. Andrew Sarpotdar is a board-certified orthodontist in private practice with his wife, Dr. Jenny Sun, in the greater Phoenix area. He attended dental school at UCLA before earning a master’s degree in orthodontics from Columbia University in 2013. Sarpotdar is a co-founder of the Orthodontic Pearls Facebook group, along with its corresponding annual meeting, the Mother of Pearls Conference, and is a strong advocate for collegiality and shared learning within the profession.



Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
Orthotown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie® Poll
Do you have a dedicated insurance coordinator in your office?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Orthotown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450