Expert advice from Henry Schein, industry leader in dental practice sales and transitions
Have you ever been in this situation? Recently, I needed help with the cable signal to my house. While calling to get the problem fixed, I was passed through an automated system to attempt to solve my issue. This process only reminded me how frustrating it is when I try to get help with a product or service and am unable to speak with a qualified representative or professional.
Often we take access to quality advice and direction for granted. Other times the quest for “value” or lower costs seem to trump getting the qualified advice we need. Unfortunately, this is something that we see too regularly which brings up the question: What should your expectation be when you engage a person or company to provide you with dental practice transitions services? The following are essential traits of quality service from a transitions specialist:
1. Qualified Expertise
Your representative must have the education, experience, and expertise to provide you with the service for which you engage them. Just because someone says they offer a service does not mean that they are qualified to provide it. In fact, they may not actually be providing it.
As it relates to dental practice transitions, ask whether the representative personally does the financial analysis and cash flow work-up to help establish or support pricing a practice known as dental practice valuation. Discuss whether the representative is familiar with the documentation for the transaction and knows where the draft documents come from. Find out with whom you will actually be working. If the representative does not personally provide transition services, their ability to understand and represent you is greatly diminished.
2. Clarity in Representation
When engaging someone in the position of selling or buying a dental practice, you should be sure that the person you engage is representing YOUR, not dual party or transactional, interests. Dual representation is not just unethical, but is illegal in Florida. Transactional representation means there is no true responsibility to your interests, just to those of the transaction. Your interests are not held as paramount and discussions with you are not necessarily confidential. Further, your representative may even refuse to work with other specialists in the industry. So the question is, how is that individual really representing you and your interests? Ask for personal, fiduciary responsibility.
3. Face-to-Face Relationships
Shouldn’t you know what your representative looks like? If your representative is not willing to meet with you personally, how can he/she represent your best interests? You should be able to meet and discuss your expectations and needs with your dental transitions specialist to know that he/she is committed to you.
4. Personal Contact
If your transition specialist is sending potential buyers to your office and is not there to assist and answer questions, what are you paying them for? Potential purchasers need to understand what they are buying and why it is a good opportunity for them. Further, it is important for your representative to assess and evaluate each potential buyer with you, in order to insure a measure of confidence in compatibility with your practice philosophy, patients, and staff. This cannot be achieved without the personal “hand holding” that you should expect when you are selling your dental practice.
5. Supporting Networks
Does your dental practice transitions specialist have a network of supporting specialists? You should be given access to the banks that dental practice acquisition lending. Your transition specialist should be aware of the current local lending activity and help to guide you to competitive lenders.
You should also expect to have assistance in finding competent accountants and attorneys familiar with dental transactions. Good legal and accounting representation should be expected to assist you in protecting your interests; however, you should not expect your advisors to make business decisions for you. Attorneys should be reasonably local to you and licensed in Florida.
Look at who your transitions specialist recommends for professional assistance. The best transition specialists usually work personally, one-on-one, with the leaders in the industry.
Our Commitment to Excellence
The Henry Schein Professional Practice Transitions team is committed to personal service and representation. We work with dental-specific accountants and CPAs as well as the finest local attorneys specializing in dental practice transitions. We work with major lending institutions on a personal level, providing your potential purchaser with the best possible opportunities for financing. Our firm has been in the business for over 40 years and is affiliated with the industry’s best, something that no other company can boast.
We pledge our personal service and attention to your transition needs with exclusive representation. We will not compromise our business ethics with “loss leaders” and “blind mailings” that suggest potential buyers for your practice when, in fact, none exist. We will meet with you face-to-face and personally address your issues and concerns, and we will not send a client to your practice without our presence. We will provide you with the service you expect!
Find out more about our dental practice transitions team and services here on our website. No extensive phone trees, buttons or clicking necessary.
Henry Schein Professional Practice Transitions, Inc. is a national leader in dental practice transitions. A subsidiary of Henry Schein, Inc. they provide expert guidance for selling and buying dental practices, assessing partnership and associateship opportunities, and performing dental practice appraisals and valuations.
