177: Vendors as Collaborative Partners: Supporting a Growing Dental Company's Organizational Needs

How growing dental companies and dental groups can have their vendors become more integrated partners to really drive their growth, to support their organizational needs.

Hi, I'm Emmett Scott and just like you, I've had my ups and downs in the dental industry, but times are changing. The DEO has built a map of how to succeed in one of the most challenging industries to navigate. On this show, we talk to dental industry leaders, solve problems, and get you the answers you need to face these challenging times and thr. Welcome to DEO's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Now let's get started.

Hello everyone. Hello, DEO Growth Secrets community. I'm your guest host today. I am not Emmett Scott. No, I am Dr. Eric J. Roman. I'm a partner at the DEO and I'm filling in for Emmett. Emmett gets a little bit of a break and a little bit of a breather every once in a while. So this is my duty today and we've got an awesome podcast set up for you. Do you know, do you know what we're going to talk about today? We have an article coming up in one of our upcoming DEO magazine additions that is talking about how growing dental companies and dental groups can have their vendors become more integrated partners to really drive their growth, to support their organizational needs. And so that's really going to be our topic. And we're joined today by two people that understand this more than more than practically anybody else in the dental space. First, I have for you Scott Stapleton, VP of Business development at Bonadent. And and then I also have with me today Michael Aceo, the general manager of Dannerin Dental Laboratory. And Scott, before we get down into the meat of how we can really have great, great partnerships for our dental companies through awesome vendor relationships, can you just give us. Dannerin and Bonadent have just gone through an interesting connection. Could you give us a little bit of background on the company right now?

Yeah. So first, Eric, I just want to thank you for having us on the podcast. It's been a great. Now we're in our second year relationship with DEO and I think what we've seen is an alignment of cultures. But I'll give you kind of the very high level view of who we are as a laboratory, as two laboratories. I think as we talk throughout the podcast, we'll be able to dive in deeper on how that relationships work with being a very good growth partner to either an emerging DSO or established dso.

Yes, for sure.

Yeah. So I'm the Vice president of Business Development as you Mentioned for both Bonadent and Danner dental labs. We're a 75 year old full service, family owned dental lab. We've really built some of the most technologically advanced facilities in the country. And what that's done is allowed us to attract and retain the absolute best technicians, not only the areas that we're located, but within that wider geography and really around the world, it's allowed Bonaden in that case to become really recognized as the anterior and complex case specialist. We want to make sure that every doctor is provided with a very high quality team around them and then they get consistent, really individual attention and great communication. And Dannerin was created back in 2006 really to address the needs of dentists who really require a more, you look at like more affordable restoration without really sacrificing any of the, you know, the aesthetics or the time. Everything that we really want to stress, everything. All our restorations are 100% American made. We don't ship anything overseas. So you know, we're basically allowed to control the communication, our turnaround times, our quality, all those things. So we're both of those merge is really allowing you to kind of with every restoration, whether that's a anterior complex case or your everyday posterior crown economy denture, we've got a solution all under

one roof that is, it's an awesome combination. And thanks, thanks for sharing, Scott. You know what's interesting, I think it would be a fun podcast even for us to just talk about the evolution of the lab industry and the lab space. It's funny, you know, that was actually a lot of people don't know. My first job in the dental industry was in a lab. I was working in a traditional dental lab and my, oh my, was that an education in and of itself. And so you know, we're so focused on what's taking place in the consolidation of dental practice space. But we often overlook that in many senses the lab spaces had to go through the exact same thing. And look at, look at, it's kind of cool the way that you can, can really add to your feature set by saying, hey, we, we're, we're anterior experts. We've got a more economical volume based approach. Let's combine our things together so we can give our customers everything that they need from a single relationship which, that, that leads us right into our topic today. So listen, I'll tell you, and for anybody that doesn't know, I've, I've, I've operated two different dental groups over my career and now as now as an educator and as a thought leader, I've had the opportunity to support literally hundreds. And we all reach a point of complexity in our lab relationships, right? We reach this point of complexity where what worked really well when we were a solo practice isn't working now that we have multiple locations or even just a large number of doctors under a single roof. And so what I'd like to do is I'd like to pull out some of the challenges that I face that, you know, we're in some senses catastrophic. And, and I'd like to hear from you guys about ways that you guys are, are working through that and providing support for growing dental groups, because that didn't exist 15 years ago when I started operating, you know, and multi location set up. There weren't, there wasn't anybody saying, eric, we really want to be your partner. They were saying, we just want your business, just give us your business. And I'm sorry that we can't help you out in any of the other ways. So how about I, how about I start with one of the issues that I faced early on and, and it's this combination that you just talked about of we have multiple needs as dental practices. I had some cases where I really needed an aesthetic high touch, high communication experience. But 90% of what we did was something that was really straightforward and that we wanted the quickest turnaround times and we wanted a really great price to be able to get there. We knew that, we knew that in general our quality was going to be dialed in. And so how many of, I mean, most of our dental groups are experiencing that exact same thing? Let's talk in more detail about what you guys have done to be able to provide the best of both worlds.

Yeah, I think that's actually, you know, if you look at the evolution of just our lab, you know, from 2006 when we kind of created the, the Danner and brand to now, as you see more emerging DSOs, your group, you know, you've got anywhere from two to, you know, to 50 different practices and above each one of them dealing with things like how do I standardize? Right, because we know, right, as you bring on a new practice, each one of those dentists is using two or three separate laboratories for the exact situation that you just talked about. What if you could bring all those under one roof, you could partner with someone that actually listens to you to talk about what you need done, whether that's customization in as simple as prescription pads or continuing education programs, things that you want to do. We obviously, as Mike will attest to fit, form, function, color, all those things have to be dialed in. Right. And an on time delivery. So that's first and foremost we've got to get the products and services right. But what we really do on the back end for us is we listen to our partners and we customize a solution around what they need. You know, in some cases we've got partners that are, have in house milling. Right. So they're, what they're looking for is a partner for anterior and complex cases and then other situations where Danner gets 99% of the restoration because that's the better fit for that organization. So for us to be able to really present multiple options all under the same roof. Right. So we've got the same culture that you're looking for, but allows you to scale, allows you to, as you bring in new technology to have experts in each one of those fields and really as you grow, we can evolve with you.

So let me ask Mike. One of the things that I ran into as we were growing, now all of a sudden I have 20 plus dentists that are in my, in my group. And guess what? My lab, my lab knew that the quality of my dentist wasn't all exactly the same. But I wasn't being informed by my lab. Right. My lab wasn't letting me know. And we found that labs can be, we all as leaders of dental companies, like we care about quality. We found that our lab technicians and our lab support can be that canary in the coal mine to really support us and to communicate about when they see you. And the irony too, my lab, when I asked, they're like, yeah, everybody in our company knows the name of two of your doctors. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. Or like knows everything about them and knows to watch out for their cases. So Mike, tell, tell us a little bit about some of the customized solutions that you guys have built to really support that scenario.

Yeah, so, so that would be an example of, of something that we could flex with a group on, you know, depending upon the level of importance, you know, to the group. Such as, such as that, you know, quantitative or qualitative metrics on, you know, clinical expertise, let's say. So, you know, it really comes down to, you know, being, being asked, you know, how we can help in that situation. You know, I think, I think doctors, they're not, they don't consider, you know, how much more a lab can be. You know, they're used to traditional lab relationships which is do great work. Although I Had a great conversation with a group we're working with. He referred to it as, all I hear from the doctors is, well, I got Phil in the basement, right, because, you know, that's the. They're one guy who's, you know, been around forever doing their work, and they don't, they don't want to change. But I think people need to consider and accept that labs can do more and that elevated partnership can be helpful to what the group's trying to do. So, you know, with that, in that situation, we try to analyze, you know, doctors impressions, will grade impressions. We let the doctors know we're grading impressions. So it doesn't look like, you know, we're pulling the end around on them. Not only impressions, but especially in the digital workflow, which we'll probably get to, because that. That's where we shine, is our digital expertise, our digital workflow, the resources we have. So there's a lot to learn, and we see a lot more cases than probably the doctors do. So it's just being systematic and then presenting, you know, the information in a, in. In a way that everyone's going to get better, all of us.

Well. And you know what I love about what you're saying? First, the customized nature of it. So when I encountered this problem and I started asking labs, hey, can you do this? A lot of the labs were like, no, that's. We can't add to our existing workflow. That's not an option. Sorry. Or the labs were, yes, but we're not going to do it the way you want to do it. We already have a way of doing it. And this works for one company that we built this for. And so what I've loved and having talked to some of your customers was specifically how you guys have worked with the customer to really tailor the solution that fits them. The second thing I want to add is, let's be honest. I train clinical directors, and one thing we all suck at is overseeing our doctors. We don't do a great job, so we don't put enough time and effort in. It's uncomfortable to do quality assurance. And yet, ironically, we have this lab partner that's getting a really great look at the details. I mean, you can tell a ton from a, from a, from a crown prep, right? From a preparation, you can see a lot. You can always see into a dentist soul sometimes. Now, we all know, we all know we have those cases where we, We. We can't be judged by our crown prep. But for the most part, like, you see and you're like, yeah, I know how this, how this dentist operates, so I just really appreciate that. I want to move it towards the digital workflow for a minute because that was a challenge I ran into as well. And this was years ago when, you know, digital workflows were still getting to be a new or were arriving on the scene. But let's think about this for a moment. Our lifeblood as a multiplying, growing dental group is going to be young dentists. Like, we just have to be honest about it. We don't have a choice. Young dentists are very likely going to be a major portion of our growth plans. Right. And young dentists have an expectation. Everything in their life has been digital. Right. I think I actually, I remember when I was in dental school in 07, it was like the end of time because they were going to digital textbooks. Now I don't even know that like paper textbooks even exist for the things that we do. And so in the digital workflow, we have to have a lab partner that fully embraces it. Not just digital workflow, but also digital communication. So, Scott, you want to talk about that a little bit?

Yeah. I think that's really important too is Azure. If you think about as an emerging dso, whether you're looking to add your technology integration or you're bringing on a new practice and maybe you've been in an Itero shop and they're bringing for an intraoral scanner and they bring in something with another scanner brand. How do you partner with a lab that can integrate those seamlessly and then as you transition and as you grow and you standardize, be able to help support that transition? So we've actually hired someone that actually came from the aligned space. She spent four years as a trainer of staff in office on tips and tricks for digital scanning. And we've got experts up and down the organization that all they're focused on is digital workflow, digital capture. We've also incorporated things like if you've done a digital scan, have the patient in the chair call us if you've got a question on did I catch the margin? Right. We can now help you keep that patient in the chair. Don't have to have call them back for for an additional scan. So again, it's one of those things that we look to how do we make it easier for our dentist to do work with us and then how do we support them as they grow? Because as you mentioned, you're bringing on new people all the time and that initial trainer scanning may be already complete. Do you have someone as a partner that can help train and up, you know, and examine the scans that are coming into the lab. And to your last point is, you know, we are looking for great open communication on what we're doing. Well, what we're not doing, you know, if you need some corrections and we look, we can provide that to whether that's a clinical director or the doctor individually. It allows you to kind of be really in touch with what's going on in your organization.

Well, one thing that I love from a lot of the feedback I've heard about, about how you guys operate, back in the day, the dentist wanted a letter, then it was a fax, then it was a phone call, right? Like that was the order of operations. And in this day and age, young dentists don't want phone calls. They don't want somebody. They do not want a phone call and somebody poke. They don't have that for anything else in their life. They make all their visits and appointments for their own life digitally from their phone. They want digital communication, whether it's a TE message or an email that they can get really quick. And they're. And the irony is that they're a lot quicker to communicate using those protocols. And you guys have recognized that. And again, to the power of your company, you're tailoring your communication to the needs of the dentist that you're working with. One other, one other thing that you just reminded me about is when I here I am building a DSO via acquisition, right? And so my first one doesn't have any digital technology. I acquire one that's a Sarek heavy practice, that's in the entire Sirona architecture. Then I acquire that's running off a different scanner and isn't doing in house milling. Then I acquire another scanner. And one of the challenges that we ran into is we had to choose our lab partner based on the technology that was inside of our offices. But now in a world of so much more technology, what you're saying is that you're a partner that can say, listen, acquire whatever the crap you want to acquire. We have the ability to integrate that technology into a workflow that's going to support everybody. How cool is that? That's a really big deal. Because actually we talked about this in our acquisition strategy. In order for things to be synchronous, we either had to make a capital investment, which cheap capital investment, right? We're talking 20 to $100,000 of capital investment or more and getting the technologies aligned, or we had to have you. We had to Have a partner that could work with every side of what we're doing. That's such a big deal. And I imagine that that's a major growth factor for a lot of the companies you work with.

So it is, Eric, and I think the thing is not only to accept whatever system or whatever technology comes our way, but, but then to help out to get better and improve on it. So, you know, Scott probably will talk a little bit about our commitment with our, our groups and doctors to continuing education. A lot of it right now we're doing, although we, we talk about shade taking, photography, other things we, we spend a lot of time on digital workflow. And it's one of those things, especially, you know, with digital systems, that admittedly the companies don't do a great job training once they make that sale. And we kind of see it as our responsibility to step in and help out. So, you know, the simple things, you don't know what you don't know. It could be the angle of your turning where you're standing, little things. Just a lot of people don't even think about that.

We can help far more real world is what you're saying. Like, listen, we're actually both customers of the company, companies that are doing that stuff, you and us, so we've got to figure out how to work with the crap that they've created for us. Right. So let's talk about that CE side of this. So one of Eric's principles, like, obviously we have to give growth pathways for additional education for all the doctors inside of our companies as we're building them. And we want those growth pathways to be well synchronized with our operations. In other words, I don't want you to go learn something you're never going to use. I want you to learn something that's applicable to what we're doing and, and ideally something that doesn't create a new capital investment for us. Right. And so by the challenge is that people always ask Eric, well, where do I get that CE for my dentist? And the best answer oftentimes was, well, yeah, check your vendors, check your, your supply companies. But you guys are saying, hey, we're coming to the table with hardcore continuing education support for, for our, for our big customers. So let's talk a little bit more in detail about some of the stuff you guys do.

Yeah, and I think that continuing education has really evolved over the last two years. So what we've done is gone to our DSO partners and asked them, you know what, what specifically are you interested in learning? It started out as a digital workflow for an organization that had iTero. So we did a digital workflow specific to Iteros and used all their, all their cases, case files and photos in that presentation. Then it evolved into like digital dentures. That's the next. So we've taken our cues from our customers to say, this is what we want, this is what we're interested in. And then we design it specifically to that, that, to that group. We use as many photographs from that group as we can. Whether, here's a good scan here, you know, we're not calling anyone out, but we want to make sure they see the work that they have. And we're offering CE Credited lunch and learns. We do it, we'll do it at night at a monthly meeting. So when you're looking, you know, thinking of ways to bring the organization together as you grow, it's a great way to bring everyone kind of even in the virtual world in the same room, learning the same things and then communicating with each other about how to implement that into the practice. So our continuing education, we do offer that as a lab so we can really, we've got cookie cutter ones that we can roll out. But what we really, what we really specialize in is listening to you as an individual group and saying, we're going to put something together for you. And then we'll run it through CE and we'll get it, we'll get it on the, on the book.

Well, what I love about what you guys have done is using the actual data and preps and stuff from the company in it. There's a level of ownership that occurs in a doctor group when it's their own stuff that they're having to look at and really critique. And then the second thing, Mike, what you were talking about a moment ago, the real world application, because the implant company said, oh, use this, use this part, use this abutment. And what you guys can do is you can say, yeah, I understand that they say that, but here's three reasons why we chose to use this part and, and not that one. For this, for this, for this exact restoration. And that's huge because our doctors just don't know. This isn't our space, this isn't what we live for. I mean, we're doing it once every couple of months when we're dealing with really complex cases. So, like, having, having the data and real world connection that you guys supply is great. Third thing, though, how much would it cost us to bring in that continuing education elsewhere? Like, that was one of the big Wins for us. When we looked at it, what it was going to cost us to fly in a CE speaker, right. Put them up for the night. We're taking a day of their time that they could be producing stuff and generating revenue in their own practice. It was. It was a lot of money. It was a big investment. And my companies didn't have that extra capital just sitting around. We're using it for growth, not for. Not for flying somebody in. So you guys are really. That's a major win on our P and L statement when we have a partner like you guys that are. That are stepping into that gap. So I appreciate it. I want to. I want to talk about something, though, that. Like what? When I talked about this with my doctors, what was the big feedback point? Oh, see, Eric, we want. We want a larger lab for cost, but we want a smaller lab for quality. Right. And when they were talking about that with quality, what they really meant is that they wanted to feel like they could communicate with their lab tech. So what was the name of the guy that's in the basement, Right.

Still in the basement.

Phil in the basement or Bob in the basement, whatever it's going to be. They wanted to know that they had Phil or Bob that they could reach out to and connect with. How are you guys bridging that gap?

Yeah, so, I mean, that's a really great point. And we've actually evolved. And I'll talk a little bit about the Bonnet inside Mike can go into Danner, but you talk about what people really like about a small lab, right. Is that single point of contact. So we've created a role called a lead technical contact. That person, their sole responsibility is to act as liaison between the practice and the team. And one thing we've done at Bonita is we've separated the lab into multiple teams. So there's six separate teams. So when your case comes in, the same person that's working on the models is working on that model the first time and the last time. You've got the same CAD cam technician, you've got the same master ceramics sitting right side by side communicating on that case. Every single person on that team is the same, is that small lab field, but you've got the technology of a large lab behind it. So. And then what happens is typically what we'll do, depending on the size of the dso, every single person will get that lead technical contact in that team. So they will have a good feel of what's going on within the organization. But anytime as a dentist, you call your Lead, you're getting the same person for every case. Right. So that person talks to you about removables, about fix, about implants, may bring in some experts on full arch. But other than that, it really acts as that real small Bob in the basement. Right. That real small lab. But you get everything that you like about the production lab, which is the technology and the expertise that people can go to if they have any questions. And I'll let Mike kind of is a little different structure at Danneron, but that's what makes the lab so unique.

Yeah. So over at Danner, and you know, our business model is towards the doctors looking for more affordability, you know, without sacrificing any time or aesthetic. So. So, you know, although you don't have a separate team over here, you know, we keep things within our. Our same technicians per group we work with or per doctor we work with. So it's just a leaner approach over here. You know, our motto is making beautiful restorations affordable. And. And we kind of lead with that. So, you know, we focus on turnaround time. We're trying to get things back in four days. We focus on responsive communication and consistency.

So, yeah, and I really like. I really like that team approach. So I'll give you an example of an additional scenario we ran into. Back in the good old days. We outscaled our laboratory. In other words, our lab let us know as my company was growing, is like, Eric, you're 80% of our workload right now. And so when you add another doctor, your turnaround time goes down because of your growth right now. And I was like, wait, hold on a second. So what you're telling me, he's like, yeah, and we put stress on the laboratory, right? And so talk about how having a lab partner that's designed, like what you guys have and not Bob, and the. Bob can't scale. Bob has no options to scale when he's down there in the basement. Right. He just spends less time at home and he hates his life. Right. So tell me about how you guys can support the. The scalability of growing dental groups.

Yes, I think we've looked at that closely. We looked at what, you know, how can we grow, what percentage of growth do we have with our existing technicians? But what we've also done is create. You know, because we're, we're, you know, you were just coming out of COVID Talent acquisition and retention is important to us as well. What we've done is created something called Bonadet University, right. Where we're bringing in people from the community colleges, from the high schools, and we're doing a paid internship. So we are basically schooling them six weeks, seven weeks, putting them in a position in the laboratory and then allowing us to scale that way. So we've created our own kind of technician school to, as we evolve and grow, we know that we have people on, you know, on the bottom to help us out. So for us, it's, we can scale another 20, 30% within our footprint with no issues whatsoever. We've got multiple locations up and down the east coast, you know, so all the way from New York, two in Florida, one new in Nashville and Greenville, you know, so we've got, we kind of COVID quite a bit of geography. And if it ever comes to the point where we need to, there's overflow, which rarely happens. We have the ability kind of to make sure that your turnaround times are not affected.

Well, not only that, you guys are a functional business. Like, you're not just, you're not just a lab tech that takes some cases that you drop off at his doorstep at his house, which is the way that we did it for years. Right. And so there's something really awesome about that in that you're managing the scalability of your architecture at the same way and in the same professional manner manner that we're doing that in ours. Right. And so it's almost like, like begets, like, you know, when you're, when you're operating, when you're operating as a DSO in the DSO space, when you're a growth focused company, you should be focused on having a growth focused lab partner. Right. And you know what, the, the other thing that just occurred to me as we were talking about all this, guys, is it's like we speak the same language. We're speaking the same language about how are, why are we growing as a dso? Well, we're growing because of the resources that we want to have as a company, because of the impact that we want to have as a company and because of the way we want to, for, for our patients and our team members. Right. And while you guys are growing for the exact same reason, which makes it such a natural union and, and an obvious, obvious thing that everybody should be looking for. So, you know, back to our original problem set, and I'm going to give you guys just another minute or two here in a second to get just kind of go over some of the specific things that, that you might have left out in your earlier intro there, Scott. But the challenge that we're facing is there's nobody has enough time. We see this in every single scenario that we're dealing. Things are getting more complex. Oh, do you know what else we didn't talk about? Gotta pause it. Billing. Billing. Complexities. All of a sudden I had all these different labs sending bills to my offices, but we were paying them from a centralized space and we were paying bills redundantly and all sorts of stuff. Mike, tell me about some of the things that you got or how you guys solve that problem.

Well, you know, I think, you know, I think it's going to come down to just trust and, and again, taking those lab related issues off the, off the table so that you as your. As a entrepreneur can focus on more important things as far as the growth of your practice. What's, what's a. The lab? Your number two expense, probably, Dr. Roman. And you're up there.

It's up there. It's up there. Yeah.

So it depends all the, all the things that go along with that. You know, our priority is always going to be great work. Number one, work's got to go in, got to be there on time, you know, but all those other things, you know, we try to focus on to how we can help. You know, when we first partnered, as Scott said with deo, I think last year, a couple years ago, I mean, the, the attractive thing about it was clear there's the caliber of the doctors and individuals associated with it because of, like you said, the same sort of business practice, same sort of approach to business. And these are people who already know that they want to reach out for help like they do for you guys with deo. So, you know, we're kind of the deo. We see it in the lab business, you know.

Yeah, it's exactly kind of.

I'm kind of like the Eric Roman in the lab business.

And, and it's just a difference in the way that we do our hair. That's the only difference. That's labs and dental practices and all your lights turned out. It's kind of crazy. You're in the dark now.

I know you must have blue.

You must have blew the circuit breaker with something you said. Scott, one thing that you guys told me once was about how you have a whole finance department that can adapt to structure however your customer needs the billing to be managed. Is that right?

Absolutely. So we work with your finance department to make sure that we're providing you one with metrics that you need to. With how you want to be billed. You know, we can discuss terms. We really want to make sure Again, our job is to knock the pins out of the way so you guys can focus on what's what, how you grow and get the information that you need. Right. So you can evaluate how things are going. Right. So you talked about feedback early, like feedback on individual doctors and cases. It's the same thing in the finance department is that we're not so structured that we're going to say this is take it or leave it. This is how we're going to do it. We want to see, you know, if there is some way that you would like to have information provided to you. Talk to us. If we can do it, we'll do it.

I love that. So back to my point I was making. There's too much stuff like between the billing, between dealing with young dentists and quality control and all the different needs we have in a growing organization. The scalability, I can't manage that as a CEO. I need you guys, I need lab partners that can do that. And I want to think of you less as a lab partner. You're a growth focused lab support. Right. Is really what you are. It's almost like I get to have what I want out of internalizing things, but I get to have it in somebody that has, has the best of being in the box and outside the box. And I love solutions like that. Listen, I say this to everybody. At this point in our, in our technological and evolutionary space, we can't just keep doing the same things over and over again. We need to find partners like you guys to really enhance this side of our, of our businesses and allow us to have that, that energy back to put towards other growth initiatives. So before we close, I can't thank you guys enough. Scott, tell me, just like what do you guys do? You do everything, don't you?

Yeah. So both labs are full service. You know, any, anything from single tooth to full arch removables. There's really not much that we don't do. And I think, you know, as you bring as a DSO and you're looking to bring on new associates, you want to have people, partners that have extended experience. Right. So our average tenure in the organization is nine and a half years. I don't know the company in the, in any industry that can claim that. Right. And, and the person they would talk to which would be that lead technical contact or Mike has anywhere from 12 to 43 years experience. It's the absolute pinnacle of what we can, who you can talk, you know, who you can be in the lab. So we want the most, you know, the, the biggest expert within the organization to be the person that's communicating with the doctors on a daily basis. So from us, it's like, how do we make sure that the patient experience is great, that you're outpacing as a dso, your competition.

Right.

And then that we align culturally. So, you know, we talked a little bit about the primary difference between what Bonne Den and dinner and are, but I think in the end it's really giving the solution to each DSO and giving them, you know, something that they can look at, whether it's an economy economical solution or as you said, someone that needs some real attention on an interior, complex case. All of that can be done. And if that's done, if that's done correctly, and then we lump in the continuing education, our ability to kind of be customizable on the finance side or on, you know, just on our marketing to your, to your organization. It's really, you know, the ideal partnership. And we look to partner with groups that are right in the, you know, that are partnering with you. So it's been a great work, great partnership for us.

Wow.

I can't thank you guys enough. And you offer this unique dual lab solution where you can have whatever you need whenever you need it. That is, that is the way of the future, I think, particularly for companies that are growing via acquisition. So it's funny too, nine and a half years of average tenure, nine and a half years was actually the total age of my average front office person after the last, you know, the wave of, of termination. So you're doing, you're doing great on that. Doing, doing really good. Hey, so this has been an awesome episode of, of DEO Growth Secrets. I've been joined today by Mike and Scott and, and you know what? DEO Growth Secrets was talking about a lab growth partnership today. And, and I think it's a perfect fit for what we do. Thank you guys for being awesome partners in the space and for all of our members that you work with. We couldn't be more grateful and we'll look forward to seeing you again soon.

See you in two weeks.

I can't wait. I can't wait. Another DEO event. Can't get enough of this. Yeah. Thanks again to everybody listening today. This has been Eric Roman taking over for Emmett Scott temporarily. We'll get Emmett back in here right away. Thanks again, guys. Bye.

Bye.

Thank you for listening to deo's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Continue the conversation on our Facebook group and meet other dentists, dental leaders, get questions answered and the strategies you need to succeed. Plus, we have some free resources for you right there on the Facebook page. Remember, you're not alone. Let's do this together. Join DEO's Growth Secrets Group on Facebook. And until next time, keep smiling.