The objective of today's discussion revolves around the critical nature of the transition phase following a dental practice acquisition, which is often overlooked by both buyers and sellers.

Upon the closing of a deal, it is important to recognize that this event signifies the start of a new chapter, rather than its conclusion. We dive into the intricacies of ensuring that the operational integrity and value of the practice are preserved during this delicate handoff.

Effective communication during the initial hundred days is paramount; it is during this period that trust is established among staff and patients alike. We will explore best practices for both buyers and sellers to ensure a seamless transition that safeguards the legacy and vitality of the practice.

Picture it.

The deal closes, everybody shakes hands, the wire hits, the lawyers go home.

The buyer is thrilled, the seller is relieved, and everyone thinks the hard part is over.

Then Monday morning comes.

The new owner walks in and immediately changes the schedule, switches software, and tells the team about a lot of exciting changes.

Within three months, two of the best staff members have quit, Longtime patients are confused about who's treating them, and Production has dipped 15%.

The buyer paid top dollar for a thriving practice and is now watching value leak out the door.

Not because the deal was bad, because the transition was.

Here's the thing nobody tells you.

Signing the deal is the starting line.

It's not the finish line.

Today is the final episode of our series, and I'm going to show you how to land the transition so that the value you paid for or sold actually survives the handoff.

So, welcome back to the Dental Business Podcast.

I'm Phil Cole, and this is the fourth and final episode of our transition series.

We've covered on valuations, buying and selling, and today we're going to cover the part.

Almost everyone neglects the transition itself, the period right after the deal is done.

So this episode is for both sides, because a great handoff requires the buyer and the seller to work together, at least for a little while.

Get it right, and the practice keeps humming.

The team stays, the patients never feel the bump.

Get it wrong, and you can undo months of careful deal making in a matter of weeks.

So let's make sure you get it right.

The first hundred days are won or lost on communication, specifically how and when you tell the team and the patients.

Get the sequence wrong, and, well, you're going to create fear.

Get it right, and you create nothing but confidence.

Telling the team, you know, telling the team finds, you know, the team finds out a transition is happening.

That's not optional.

They always sense it before you announce it.

The question is whether they hear it from you calmly, respectfully, or through rumor.

Best practices for me is the selling doctor and the buyer announce it together.

They're in person with a clear, reassuring message.

The seller vouches for the buyer because he was handpicked or she was handpicked through an array of other buyers.

And the buyer reassures the team about their jobs and expresses genuine respect for what's been built.

The single biggest fear every team member has is, am I going to lose my job?

Answer it early, answer it honestly, and you'll keep the people who hold the practice together.

And a word to the buyer.

Do not walk in on day one with a list of everything you're going to change.

Even if you have brilliant plans.

Lead with listening.

The team knows things about the practice that you don't.

And the fastest way to lose them is to make them feel like everything they did before was wrong.

So now telling the patients.

Patients are loyal to relationships.

They are not to logos.

A transition handled clumsily makes them feel abandoned and sends them shopping.

Handled well, though transfer of trust is what we call it.

From the departing doctor to the new one.

Well, the gold standard is a nice, beautiful warm handoff, a letter, a message from the selling doctor, personally introducing and endorsing the new owner.

Ideally with some overlap where the seller is still around to make some introductions.

When the trusted doctor says I've chosen this person to take great care of you, that you trust transfers.

When patients just show up one day to a stranger, it doesn't.

It causes anxiety.

Patients don't leave doctors because the doctor changed.

They leave because nobody made them feel that the new doctor was chosen, that the doctor was trusted in their care and ready to care for them like the previous doctor.

Buyers, this segment is for you.

The first hundred days set the tone for everything.

So here's how to spend them.

Weeks week one through four, stabilize.

Listen.

I cannot emphasize that enough.

Listen.

Change as little as possible.

Keep the schedule, keep the systems, keep the team doing what they do.

Your only job are to deliver great dentistry.

Learn the practice and earn trust.

Meet one on one with every team member.

Ask them what's working, what's frustrating you with the practice and what they'd like to protect.

You'll learn more in those conversations than in any spreadsheet.

And your signal that you'll signal that you value them.

I mean weeks five through eight, understand before you optimize.

Now you start really learning the numbers from the inside, the scheduled patterns, the recall system, where production actually comes from, where time and money leak.

You're building a clear picture.

Before you touch anything.

Resist the urge to fix, as I always say, things that you don't understand yet.

Some of what looks inefficient is actually load bearing.

Week 9 through 13, well make your first deliberate changes.

Now with the trust that you've earned and the practice understood, you start making those thoughtful improvements and you bring the team along.

Explain why.

Start with changes that obviously help the team or the patients, not just what I see.

A lot of times your pocketbook or your wallet.

Early wins that make everyone's life better, buy you incredible credibility to make harder changes later and protect your cash flow through all of this.

Remember the financing risk from episode 2 re credentialing with insurance plans can delay payments right when you got a new loan to service.

Well, plan for that.

Keep working capital available.

A practice can be profitable on paper and still get squeezed in the first few months if cash flow timing catches you off guard.

Now sellers, you're not off the hook yet.

The moment the wire clears, how you handle the transition affects your legacy.

Sometimes your remaining payments, if any, are tied up performance and frankly, you consider your conscience about the people that you're leaving behind matters.

If your deal includes a transition period.

And most do, show up with generous generously introduce the new owner to your key patients personally and warmly and endorse them to the team.

Genuinely share the institutional knowledge that lives only in your head with patients and need a gentle touch.

Why the schedule is built the way it is.

History behind the systems and history behind the patients.

Then, and this is the hard part for a lot of dentists, step back and let them lead.

Worst thing a selling doctor can do is undermine the new owner, second guess their decisions in front of the team or cling to the control.

I mean, listen, you sold it.

Help them succeed with it.

Your legacy is no longer what you built, it's how well it lives on after you do.

And if there's no formal transition period, a simple gracious introduction, introductory level letter sorry to patience and a warm send off to the team still costs you nothing.

But it protects everything you spent decades building.

Now let me name the transition mistakes I see destroy value so that you can can avoid them every.

Well, I would say so you can avoid every one of them changing too much, too fast.

The number one buyer mistake.

Poor communication that lets fear and rumor fill the vacuum.

The seller checking out emotionally before the handoff is done.

Or the opposite.

The seller refusing to let go.

Neglecting the team's concerns until you're.

Until your best people quit springing the change on patients with not an ounce of warm introduction, ignoring cash flow, timing and getting squeezed and underestimating how long real integration takes.

A transition isn't done at closing or even at 90 days.

Full integration of a practice often takes up to a year.

And depending on how slow that is, some people are even longer.

Notice something about that list?

Almost none of these are about money or legal terms.

They're about people.

They're about communication.

The deal is financial and legal, but the transition, it's human.

It's emotional.

And the human part is where the value you all just work so hard to create is either going to be protected or quietly lost.

So let's wrap.

Let's wrap up on our four part transition series here.

We started with what your practice is worth.

Walk through buying one without getting burned covered how to sell smart and exit on your terms.

And finish today with how to land the transition so that the value actually survives.

If you take one thing from the whole series, take this.

A transition.

Transition isn't a single event at a closing table.

It's a journey that starts years before the deal and continues long after and at every step.

The people who plan and get good guidance, they always win, while the people who react, they're constantly getting hurt.

That whole journey is exactly what we built at Class Solutions to handle.

We're not a broker who shows up for the deal and then disappears.

We're with our clients from the first valuation through buying, selling, financing and the transition itself.

Five divisions under one roof, all aligned around one goal.

That's yours.

Whether you're years from a transition or starting at a signed deal wondering what's next, we'd be glad to help you land it.

Well, reach out at any [email protected] for a confidential conversation.

Thank you for spending this series with me.

It means more than you know.

I'm Phil Cole.

Now go build something worth owning.