IAM1688 – Texas Based Dental Practice Provides Patients The Latest Techniques and Technology

Dr. Michael Moossy Teaser 00:00

It's realizing that this profession, dentistry, it's a service industry. It's customer service, man, and we do it well. I've got it down. It's all about hiring the right people, putting them in the right place, and making sure they're all on the same team with a common goal of treating the patient, with the utmost the best excellence in customer service.

Intro 00:21

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:48

Hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. And if you've been listening this year, we're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes under certain categories or topics that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

This month is going to be about not forgetting about the human part of business. Often we forget about the human part of life. We often forget about the human part of business. So look for self-care tips, fitness, burnout, purpose, biz and personal, personal branding, motivation, drive, success, understanding your why, and of course, how important customer service is. But at the heart of it, it's all about, remembering the human part of business. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Michael Moossy of Moossy General and Cosmetic Dentistry. Dr. Michael it's awesome to have you on the show.

Dr. Michael Moossy 01:48

Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here.

Gresham Harkless 01:49

Awesome. And what I want to do is just read a little bit about Dr. Michael so you can learn a little bit more about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Dr. Moossy is a native Texan, born in Dallas and raised in Lubbock. He received his undergraduate degree at St. Edwards University in Austin and went on to attain his doctorate of dental surgery at the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston.

Dr. Moossy has been in practice since 1998. He owns two practices, one fee-for-service cosmetic practice, and one in-network insurance office. You'll find him at his flagship dental practice focusing primarily on cosmetics and reconstructive dentistry. He prides himself on exceeding the required continuing education for dentists each year and strives to keep himself and his practices up to date on the latest techniques in technology.

Dr. Moossy are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Dr. Michael Moossy 02:42

Yeah, let's do this.

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Gresham Harkless 02:43

Let's do it. So the first question I had is just peeling back the onion a little bit in here, and hear a bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Dr. Michael Moossy 02:51

All right. All right. Basically as a young dentist coming out of school, you've got two options. You can kind of start an office by yourself, put up a shingle, do your own thing, and it takes about 7, 8, 9 years to finally get a following where the business becomes lucrative.

The other way being to buy an existing practice. Somebody that's been practicing for many years who already has the system down, which is what I did. I went out. I actually went in, found a guy in a certain area of Austin that I wanted to be in. I bought him out. I actually employed him for another couple of years and that kind of endorsed me to all the patients, making sure there is good retention. So, basically I became the owner and the CEO of this company. And, that's kind of how I ended up where I'm now.

Gresham Harkless 03:35

Oh, that's awesome. And, it's kind of like buying a franchise so to speak, because you already have somebody that has the systems and everything in place, but it's even smarter because you kept that person on because I'm sure they built the patients, probably built a rapport with that dentist.

Dr. Michael Moossy 03:47

Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 03:47

Yeah. Having an opportunity to come.

Dr. Michael Moossy 03:49

They trust him. They trust him and if he endorses me, then they most likely stick around and hopefully I don't lose too many of the patients and that did work out like that. So here I'm 20 years later and things are still going strong.

Gresham Harkless 04:02

Yeah. 20 years. That sounds like you're doing pretty well, so that's awesome.

Dr. Michael Moossy 04:05

Yeah. Yeah, that's alright.

Gresham Harkless 04:07

Well, what I wanted to do is drill a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about, what you're doing at your two practices.

Dr. Michael Moossy 04:12

Sure. All right. So, basically, like you said, I've got a couple of practices. I'm gonna focus on this one. This one is my flagship office, like you said, it's the one I've worked in for 20 years. I basically do it. It's a general dentist's office, right? So I still do all the cleanings and the drilling and filling and all the stuff that people go to their normal dentistry for.

Additionally, I do a lot of constructive cosmetic cases. It might be, 10 veneers, it might be 28 crowns with some Invisalign, some bonding, or whatever it takes to do the smile makeovers. So, it's kind of doing a little bit of both. So basically, like I said, I have a practice that's a general practice where we do just, the regular dentistry, crowns fillings, cleanings, just things you would go to your regular dentist for. And then I've been focusing over the last few years on really becoming a cosmetic dentist where I'm doing a lot of the smile makeover. Where we implement things like Invisalign, do a lot of veneers and whitening and bonding, and things like that just to address the smile makeover clientele or patients.

It turns out to be pretty lucrative that way as far as the business side of it goes. So yeah, that's pretty much where I am and those are the services I'm providing at this point.

Gresham Harkless 05:20

Awesome. Yeah. Well that's good because you're covering both sides, because obviously you have the cleanings and everything.

Dr. Michael Moossy 05:26

Interestingly enough, what happens is you build these practices that become strictly cosmetic. It turns to dip in rise and fall with the market. So if you're, if people aren't doing well financially, they don't do the elective cosmetic stuff, so those practices can hurt. So I've kind of got it covered both ways.

Gresham Harkless 05:41

Yeah, that's really smart. And even think about, like the rise and fall of the economy, you have the general stuff, because everybody needs to get their teeth cleaned, taken care of, but they have the other stuff too.

Dr. Michael Moossy 05:51

Totally.

Gresham Harkless 05:51

Yeah. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, which is like your differentiator or what you feel sets you and your organization apart.

Dr. Michael Moossy 05:59

Alright. For me, it's actually simple, but man, it's realizing that this profession, dentistry is a service industry. It's customer service, man, and we do it well. I've got it down. It's all about hiring the right people, putting them in the right place, and making sure they're all on the same team with a common goal of treating the patient, with utmost the best excellence in customer service.

Aside from the energy of the doctor, the fact that the team that I've put together, they provide such exemplary service. Like I said, it's the right people in the right place, and so, basically what I was getting at was, yeah, we do great technical work. The crowns are good, the fillings are good, but the patient never feels that. They never know how good, you never know how good a job your dentist does, right? But you do know how they made you feel. And so in my office, it better be well taken care because again, that's what remember, is how good you made them feel.

So, like I said, it's a service and we just better do it right And that's what keeps them coming back because my business thrives on repeat business and referrals.

Gresham Harkless 07:01

Yeah.

Dr. Michael Moossy 07:01

That's my secret sauce man, is treating them. Just realizing that the game is a trust and customer service game.

Gresham Harkless 07:07

Yeah. That makes perfect sense. And having people that develop that connection with them probably keeps them coming back. Like you said.

Dr. Michael Moossy 07:14

Yeah. Yes. That familiarity that the patients have, it's the fear of the unknown that scares them. So when they come in and they recognize friendly faces and once they've been through here, they even have a, you read my reviews, people oddly have a good time coming to the dentist.

And that as far as getting feedback sometimes when hearing that I've got a great cosmetic case or that I blew it out of the blocks on this case, sometimes just hearing that they were so well taken care of is just as rewarding for me. So, yeah, I'm just happy to, be doing what we're doing and taking care of the patients like we do.

Gresham Harkless 07:44

Now, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be an app, a book, or even a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business.

Dr. Michael Moossy 07:55

Got it. I got this. So this is great. With modern technology. I'm, I did this just this morning, so check this out. I'm working with the patient. There's something I don't know what it is. It's a pathology on the gum, and I do this daily. I've got a group of two or three buddies and colleagues, peers, whatever, and we all have each other at the touch of a dial.

So I take a picture, I send it to three or four buddies, and say, Hey, what's this? What are your thoughts? Within a couple of minutes, I'm, working on the patient, and I hear bing bing bing. I've got an immediate response. So there's no, it's not like I'm gonna refer you to my oral surgeon. I actually, text my oral surgeon and I have the answer within two minutes and I'm putting the patient on the right meds. And so that's how I went this morning. And so it's an everyday thing where I'm, Hey, what do you guys do in this situation? Or vice versa. They have the same scenario. How do you do this? We can feed each other and it just cuts off so much time.

Basically, it's real-time consulting while the patient's in the chair, I'm asking two or three other guys, or even specialists how to handle a certain scenario that may come up. So, yeah, it's a, enviable resource.

Gresham Harkless 08:59

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Now, I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice you might have, or if you, jumped in the time machine and went back and talked to Dr. Michael Moossy earlier on, what advice would you give?

Dr. Michael Moossy 09:12

Man, CEO Nugget for me, the CEO, it's about creating the right environment. It's a healthy work environment for mental health, mental wellness. You know what I've noticed is these, when these employees are happy, they don't mind coming in early, staying late, just doing the work. We've all got to go to work, we've all got to have a job. We might as well be happy at it and not be complaining about it all the time. So I also noticed that even a happier, even almost passionate employee, definitely is a lot more productive, right?

When they're more productive, their work is better. That allows me to do my thing. My work is better. It's just good all the way around. It's a fun environment, friendly. Like I said, I find the happy employees show up and, show up physically, but mentally. So that's a biggie for me. I think the work environment is the one thing the CEO kind of sets the tone, kind of creates the energy and then the employees follow suit. So, I think that's an important, you got to lead by example and your energy is contagious and like I said, just the energy or the environment, it's only gonna lead to better production, in my case, happier patience or clientele.

Gresham Harkless 10:20

Now, I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. You might have already touched on this a little bit, but what does being a CEO mean to you?

Dr. Michael Moossy 10:28

Ooh, man ! That's a good one. To me, it's just shouldering this tremendous responsibility to accomplish the vision set forth by the CEO or the owner of the company. It's up to the CEO to set the tone. Like I was saying earlier, the energy, the employees, and the direction or focus in order to accomplish that company's goals, right? Basically then you got to transition or translate even that vision to employees and maintain the course even as employees come and go, right?

It's easy to get into this through just day after day or routine job where it's just another day at work, especially as it goes on through the years. So it's up to the CEO to kind of keep that ship pointed in the right direction. Like I said, employees, are coming and going. So it's up to that CEO to keep things on track basically. Here's where I was going. I was talking about employees, and employees come and go. And then the work over year by work year, it's easy to get off track over time and it just becomes going through the motions. The CEO keeps the business on track and he's the one who takes the blame.

If the company's doing well, he gets the kudos. If the company's doing bad, he's the one that gets the blame, and it might not even be his fault. But he's the one that's gonna take it. That's gonna take the hit like, and I just keep going back to, it's up to the CEO to have the right place and the right time, basically. That's kind of where I'm coming from. It's just like I said, it's that vision that the CEO or even the owner of the company has, and the CEO makes it happen or keeps it on track. You know what I mean?

Gresham Harkless 11:55

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. And that definitely hits home as far as like being able to execute the vision and being able to bring on the right people. And like you said, enjoying the fruits of the success, but also understanding that even if it's not, your fault and that things don't go well, you still are the leader and kind of like the captain that the ship, so the buck stops with you.

Dr. Michael Moossy 12:11

Sure, sure. Totally.

Gresham Harkless 12:12

Absolutely. Well, Dr. Moossy I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional you wanted to let our readers and our listeners know, and then also how best they can find and get ahold of you.

Dr. Michael Moossy 12:25

All right. Yeah, man, I think if I had anything else to add, I'd say CEO falls on you as to whether or not the company is successful. And even if it's not your fault, you're gonna, like I was saying earlier, you're gonna take the hit. Like I said, keeping it on track, can seem to be a common theme. A lot of times what this can include is measuring the performance to make sure you maintain this expected outcome, right?

And this can be done like in the service industry. For me, this can be done simply by asking clients for reviews or filling out some kind of, return some kind of comment cards. We're doing this in my practice right now. I actually have an employee that you know tell me everything is great Dr.Moosy. I want their true genuine feeling, do you like what's going on here? Maybe not just with this one employee but with everyone. What can we do better?

I think that's crucial for those who really want to excel and do better at what they're doing, which I do. And so, yeah, just a way of measuring your progress as a CEO, I think that's, I think that's an important step. That's pretty much what I would've to add.

Gresham Harkless 13:29

No, that's a big part of making sure that you're keeping track of like what you're doing and how effective you are, and what it is that everyone is, so that's a great point.

Dr. Michael Moossy 13:36

Cool.

Gresham Harkless 13:37

Yeah. And now if people wanna find out and visit either of your locations, what's the best way for them to find out?

Dr. Michael Moossy 13:42

Yeah, that's easy. You just, look for either Moossy General in Cosmetic Dentistry here in Austin, Texas. Use the internet and basically, you make the phone call to the girls and they take care of the rest. They make it really easy. They'll get all your insurance information and all your records sent if you need them. Or simply a smile makeover, I do them a lot, come in and have me look at them and say, what do you think Doc?

And it may be Invisalign, it may be veneer. And it just starts in the process from there. So that's pretty much it. We've got a phone number, 512 459 5437, the office, and that's it. Just to get the ball going.

Gresham Harkless 14:26

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you again Dr. Moossy what I'll do is I'll have those links in the show notes and that information so that anybody can follow up with you. But again, I appreciate all the awesome things that you're doing in 20 years, is definitely doing something awesome and I'm glad we got the opportunity to learn a little bit.

Dr. Michael Moossy 14:40

Yeah, my pleasure. My pleasure. And like I said, man, or I'm happy to say that if you have anybody, any of listeners out there that you know, they've got a general inquiry, they wanna know something about veneers, they wanna know something, they may live in another state, another city, but they got some general questions.

What is a veneer? How long does it take for Invisalign? Whatever. They're happy to email me at Joe, at my office manager, joanna@drmoossy.Com and I'll feel those questions. I'll answer them right back to you. I love doing that kind of thing and just keeps me in the mix, keeps me on my toes.

Gresham Harkless 15:12

Yeah, absolutely. Well, cool. We appreciate that. So we'll definitely add that in the show notes as well.

Dr. Michael Moossy 15:19

Thank you so much.

Outro 15:20

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO podcast, powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Subscribe and leave us a five Star rating. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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