My staff and I are all about relationships, and tough times like these, is when these great relationships are stronger than every.
I buy my all of dental supplies through one guy. His name is Nate.
Many of the dentists that I know, shop around for lowest price on their products. One month they may get their gloves and masks from one distributor and then get it from someone else the following month.
They may save 10 to 20 cents per box, with this strategy. But it requires one of your staff to do this. Taking them away from other duties. This also may take a few hours to call different places for pricing. But most importantly, it does not develop relationships or create loyalty with your suppliers. Whenever I have a supply issue, Nate resolves it that same day. If one of my patient chairs are not working, Nate gets it fixed. If my compressor goes down, Nate gets a loaner delivered to our office and gets the compressor fixed. If I run out of material and need the material that day, Nate will hand deliver it to our office that very same day.
Last week, my wife called me up and asked me if I was experiencing a shortage on gloves or masks. One of her friends who was a dentist was having a tough time getting gloves. I told Sarah that we were not having any issues.
Nate said that he had placed an order of masks and gloves for me already. He said that his warehouse was running low and there is a limit to how many you can order. Since he noticed that we didn’t place the order yet, he did it for us. Making sure we would be supplied and stay within the limits that were in effect.
He then apologized for not asking me if it was ok to place the order, but he wanted to make sure we got the order in on time. I then told him that I had complete trust in him and that he always has the authority to do that.
Times like these, is when these GREAT relationships pay off.
I appreciate my suppliers and my team for continuing to do their part to make sure we have the right things to run a smooth office.
Floss Like A Madman!Emilio “Grateful” Couret