Early in my career, I was a member of the local dental society and got significant hours of continuing education through it at a low cost. It was also nice to regularly see other local colleagues, talk and share our challenges and triumphs and, as a young dentist, find good people to help me along. I also joined the society’s golf tournaments and got to play at clubs I could not afford to play at otherwise.

At one of the golf tournaments, I was in a foursome that included Johnny, a local sales rep for one of the big three full-service dental suppliers. I was expecting sales pitches over the next five hours, but Johnny was an exception. We talked about families, life, travel, food and everything but work. He loved what he did but wasn’t there to sell me. He knew (because I told him) that I had purchased my practice from a dentist who retired, and I maintained the relationship with the supplier that they previously used, and I was happy (or so I thought).

The tournament was fun, and I enjoyed Johnny’s company. A couple of weeks later, he called me up and asked if he could take me out to dinner. I knew this was going to be the pressure sales pitch (“Give us a try. We’ll match or beat the prices of your current supplier”), but I did enjoy our golf game and did not say no to a free meal. 

The meal and conversation were great. Johnny surprised me again. He did not present the usual sales pitch. He took a different approach. He asked me about my current challenges, one year after buying my practice. He asked me what my dreams were for my practice, my life and more. None of his questions were about me buying products from him. So, I answered his questions and shared my challenges and dreams. And he concluded our dinner with the question: “If I can help your practice be more successful and help you achieve your dreams, would you work exclusively with me and my company?” It was a refreshingly different approach. I asked him, “Why would you do that for me?” He said that if I was more successful, I would do more dentistry, and if I did more dentistry, I would need more dental supplies — and he would win as well. It was a win-win scenario. He gave me food for thought, but I was happy with my current supplier and rep.

Johnny also shared that my dental supplies should cost between 4.5% and 6% of my total expenses. I went back and looked at the numbers, and my dental supply costs were over 12%. I talked to my current rep and asked him how to bring those numbers down, and he said he could lower the price on this or that product, but, month over month, my supply cost as a percentage of total costs did not change. 

So, I called Johnny. I told him about my problem. He said he would guarantee he could get my supply costs in line if I worked with him. So, I did. And he did. He showed up every week, implemented a supply system within my office (with coded tags to know when we needed to order more) and freed up my assistants to work chairside with our patients more instead of scrolling through books of supplies from other companies to find the best price for products. Within three months, our supply costs were under 6%, and they stayed there, month over month, year over year.

But my relationship with Johnny’s company did not stop there. I also signed a maintenance contract. For a fixed price, they came and maintained my equipment on a monthly basis, and, when things broke or were not working, I got priority service, loaner pieces of equipment when necessary and more. In the first year, I saved 50% on my previous year’s maintenance/equipment costs and purchases, and that stayed even and predictable year over year.

The relationship benefits also did not stop there. My rep (over the years, Johnny moved on, as well as others) became a part of my practice team. They ensured our practice ran smoothly. And if we had an issue with something (a challenging dental technique, a personnel issue, a problem with marketing, etc.), our rep was connected to 20 or 30 other practices. If they did not have the answer, one of the other dental offices they work with would, and the rep connected me to other colleagues who were happy to share solutions. A rising tide raises all ships.

But the relationship benefits did not stop there, either. Our rep was part of our practice family, and, when we had Christmas dinners or other social events for the team, we invited our sales rep to join us. They were as vital to our practice success as each of my admins, hygienists and assistants. It was a good message to my team about how I care about relationships and a good message to my supplier and rep about how I care about our business relationship. So, when I participated in community events or charitable endeavors, my full-service supply company was happy to participate and support our efforts, magnifying the positive effect we had in making our world a better place.

And, as my practice grew, I did more dentistry and needed more supplies, and the company supplying me earned more income. Just like Johnny said. 

I have heard stories from colleagues that their full-service supply rep is not interested or willing to do the work to help implement the systems needed to keep supply costs in line (as was promised to me). My message to them, and to you, is: Call the regional or territory manager of the full-service supply companies in your area, and talk to them about your goals and how they can help you achieve them. That manager will connect you with the representative of their company who would be willing to do the work to help you reach those goals. 

Success is all about relationships. They matter between us and our patients, between us and all the members of our team, and between us and all of the companies who do business with us, helping us all to be more successful.