{"id":12206,"date":"2024-05-02T14:17:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T21:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/?post_type=resources&amp;p=11033"},"modified":"2024-05-02T14:17:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T21:17:06","slug":"dr-sulman-ahmed-on-why-putting-people-first-is-the-key-to-success-in-dentistry","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/resources\/dr-sulman-ahmed-on-why-putting-people-first-is-the-key-to-success-in-dentistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Sulman Ahmed on Why Putting People First is The Key to Success in Dentistry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this episode of The Dental Economist Show, host Mike Huffaker is joined by Dr. Sulman Ahmed, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of DECA Dental.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join them as they explore:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patient-centered approaches<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The value of calculated risks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key principles behind the success of Dr. Sulman&#8217;s dental business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why making sacrifices is intrinsic to pursuing success<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The need for standardization and quality assurance in dentistry<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And more!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Sulman Ahmed is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of DECA Dental Group, a clinician-founded and clinician-led dental service organization. DECA Dental Group is one of the industry\u2019s fastest-growing and well-respected organizations, having been named in Inc. Magazine\u2019s \u2018Top 5000 fastest growing companies in the nation\u2019 several years in a row. Sulman is also on the Board of Advisors for Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and the President of ADSO, The Association of Dental Support Organisations. He has just authored his first book, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make them Smile: Why Customer Satisfaction is the Key to Rapid and Sustainable Growth<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Embracing Fear &#8211;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sulman says that things like risk and fear are part and parcel of stepping outside your comfort zone. There\u2019s no way to progress in anything without experiencing a little danger. Indeed, Sulman says that life can become stagnant and boring if you don\u2019t take chances. Citing his own experiences of opening two locations \u201cright out of the gate\u201d rather than one, he says that moment \u201cyou don&#8217;t really know if this is healthy or bad\u201d is when you\u2019re about to do something \u201creally, really great\u201d. In short, fear is a natural part of growth, and it\u2019s the only way to progress in both life and business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Work\/Life Balance &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When pursuing greatness, Sulman says that your work\/life balance may need to be disrupted in favor of attaining goals. He compares this attitude to that of being a great athlete\u2014a professional athlete\u2019s work\/life balance is most likely terrible, but this imbalance means that they can devote longer periods of time to pursuing success. Sulman stresses that nobody ever did anything great without making big sacrifices. It will all be worth it in the end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Two Sides of People-Centric Care &#8211;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The key to DECA Dental\u2019s success is putting people at the forefront of what they do. Initially, the focus was\u2014naturally\u2014on patient care. This led to DECA Dental opening on the weekend; after all, people don\u2019t exclusively get toothaches on weekdays! Focusing on patient care also meant Sulman made innovations like opening branches in retail locations. As time went on, he realized the significance of taking care of the people around him at DECA, so ensured there was a support team that took care of doctors, hygienists, and receptionists in the same way that they take care of patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Business Training and Growth &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulman says that one way DECA Dental has been able to maintain continuous growth is by investing in training for its staff. He says that they have a path to leadership in every single position, \u201cwhether you&#8217;re a dental assistant or front office office manager\u201d. He enjoys seeing people promoted from within the company because that means they already know the culture. Sulman also emphasizes the value one-on-one mentorship, saying this helps with both advancement within the company and to address any personal issues they might be facing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dr. Sulman Ahmed on Why Putting People First is The Key to Success in Dentistry\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OZnkXOZEql4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-dental-economist-show\/id1725109317\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2GG6pL2h3sSuoWYmPWDCKw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.bcast.fm\/the-dental-economist-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bCast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of The Dental Economist Show, host Mike Huffaker is joined by Dr. Sulman Ahmed, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of DECA Dental.\u00a0 Join them as they explore:\u00a0&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12246,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"resource_type":[1336],"class_list":["post-12206","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-podcast"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/12206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12206"},{"taxonomy":"resource_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_type?post=12206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}