Why Transparency is Key When Selling Your Dental Practice
When selling your dental practice, there are many reasons you may not want to publicize that fact. You may be concerned that you will lose patients, your staff members will find somewhere else to work, or that your competitors will start to take your patients. However, remaining transparent throughout the process is very important. Below, our dental practice sales attorney addresses the concerns many practitioners have when selling their practice.
Patients May Not Necessarily Leave
Patients will not likely leave in droves, the way many dentists fear they will after hearing news of the sale. If patients are going to leave, the chances are good they were thinking of doing so anyway. Research has shown that convenience, such as hours and location, as well as insurance acceptance, are the biggest driving factors for patients switching practices.
Most dentists who sell their practices also do so because they are reaching retirement age. Patients often know that an older dentist will leave the practice at some point. It is better that they hear it from you instead of through a postcard in the mail. In fact, if you are truthful with patients about your plans, it may cause them to complete their treatment before you exit the practice because they trust you to do the work.
Current Staff Members Can Help with the Transition
Most dentists looking to purchase a practice are not bringing their own staff with them. Instead, the majority of buyers are hoping to find a practice in which the existing staff can help maintain the current momentum of the practice. This is more likely to happen if staff members have been informed, and possibly even included, in the process of selling.
There is a real risk for buyers who are entering a practice where the staff members have just been blindsided by the news that they were going to have a new boss. Practices that have enthusiastic teams who care about the success of the practice are much more attractive than one in which the staff members are filled with uncertainty.
Competing Dentists are Unlikely to Take Your Patients
Generally speaking, dentists are focused on providing the necessary care for their patients, and not targeting other practices that are up for sale. In fact, in rural locations dentists actually appreciate competing practices because it ensures that the community is receiving the proper care they need.
Additionally, informing your colleagues of the sale can actually bring in more potential buyers. As a dentist, you know how tightly knit the community of practitioners is. Other dentists are much more likely to try and spread the word rather than poach your current patients.
Our Dental Practice Sales Attorney Can Help
At AGS Law, our dental practice sales attorney can provide the legal advice you need to help you through the process and make it as easy as possible for you. Call us now at 801-477-6144 or contact us online to schedule a consultation and to learn more about how we can help.