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Lessons From A Dentist Turned Real Estate Investor

Summary:

Here’s how one dentist found financial freedom with a mindset shift.

In today’s episode, Dr. Jeff Anzalone, a full-time practicing periodontist and the founder of Debt-Free Doctor, shares his journey from being a dentist burdened with student loan debt to a successful real estate investor. Dr. Anzalone suffered an injury to his wrist that served him as a wake-up call and prompted him to seek alternative income sources like real estate investments, as opposed to relying solely on one profession. In this conversation, he emphasizes the pivotal role of mindset in financial success and urges professionals to proactively pursue diverse income avenues, as he is committed to sharing knowledge and experience. He highlights the need to teach financial principles to children early, fostering a mindset of financial independence and security.

 

Stay tuned if you’re looking to scale your practice and create financial freedom beyond dentistry!

Secure Dental Podcast_Dr. Jeff Anzalone: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Secure Dental Podcast_Dr. Jeff Anzalone: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Welcome to the Secure Dental Podcast. Through conversations with the brightest minds in the dental and business communities, we'll share practical tips you can use to scale your practice and create financial freedom for yourself and your family. My name is Dr. Noel Liu, CEO and Dentist at Secure Dental and also co-founder of DentVia. I'm your host for the Secure Dental Podcast, and I'm so glad you're joining in.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Hey, everyone! This is Dr. Noel Liu. This is another segment of our Secure Dental podcast. And today, I have a good friend and a colleague, Dr. Jeff Anzalone. He is a full-time practicing periodontist in this great state of Louisiana, author, and founder of DebtFreeDr.com. He focuses on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so they can stop trading time for money. All right, Dr. Anzalone, what's going on? So, let's share, and let's dive straight in. What is this bio? What are we talking about here?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yeah, I had a kind of a thing happen to me that kind of brought me on this path. I got screwed out of a deal when I got out of my residency. I was supposed to join a group, but unfortunately, it fell through. Had to figure out how to open my own practice, had $300,000 student loan debt, a two-month-old, we already bought a house, so I was literally in survival mode; went down the Dave Ramsey debt snowball path, you know, which probably most of y'all know about. But once I got to the point where I went through all of the steps, it was, now what? We're just going to work and just doing stuff with kids, and I was like, I guess this is what everybody does for the next 30 years. But then I had something interesting happen to me, as you alluded to a little bit earlier: injured my wrist snow skiing, and that was my aha moment, wake up moment because as a dentist, as a periodontist for dentists, if we can't use our hands, you got to hold a handpiece in your mouth or something or with your foot. I don't know, it's hard to do, huh?

Dr. Noel Liu:
How many years out were you when you hurt your wrist?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
I would say probably 9 or 10 years out.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Wow, so what went through your mind at that time when this happened? Because I know you were, like, comfortable with a lifestyle, right?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yeah, it's almost like sometimes when you ever get that feeling if you're, if a noise or something wakes you up at night and you know how you immediately you just your heart starts beating, your mouth gets dry, you're just like, oh.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Absolutely.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Like just like that, like within a second, that fight or flight reaction. It was more of a slower progression because boom, I hurt my wrist. I was just focused on my wrist. Like, man, I hope I didn't break it or whatever and got it checked out. And luckily, it wasn't, but then it was just, man, it was all those what-ifs.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
What if it was broken? What if it went numb? What if I couldn't work for two months, three months, six months? I'm by myself. So that was, that's what really got me focused on that.

Dr. Noel Liu:
And you and I, we both know how well the disability insurance works, right?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yeah.

Dr. Noel Liu:
You got to wait 90 days, and then only if they will deem you're not able to work. So this is what this is the essence of our profession. If we do not work, we don't have hands, we cannot generate income. That's plain and simple. And for you to go through that and you had this whole mind shift. So what is it that brought about for you to think about, Hey, I need an alternative way of making income.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yeah, for me, it's a little bit different because most of the people that I talk to now and that are in your group, which is fantastic, by the way. They're focused on, Hey, I just want multiple streams of income, I'm still working. You know, maybe I want to buy some other stuff, maybe I want to slow down, maybe I want to retire early, or whatever, so that's what they're thinking. Me, on the other hand, I was thinking like, insurance policy. Like I got to do something to mitigate the risk if this happens again. And I'm actually standing on a broken foot right now because I'm an active man, and I'm always, sometimes I'm getting injured, so I'm not going to live life in fear. I knew that going forward, there's no way I could do that with teenage kids. That's what it was for me. And I spent months and months YouTube videos, podcasts, articles, Facebook group, and if I could consolidate all of that down to two main points for your audience, it's this. Number one, and it's about wealthy people, really wealthy people. They all have multiple income streams, correct?

Dr. Noel Liu:
Correct.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Dentists, most dentists have one. Number two is, they own real estate, they own businesses, they own cash. If you go to, I'll go to conferences with people that are 15, 50, $100, million net worth people. You're like, Hey, what do you do for a living? They don't do, they're not like, Oh, I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a, they don't they're like, I own these businesses, I own this type, it's like they own stuff. So, I knew only having one income stream, and I didn't have any businesses or real estate, that's what I needed to focus on.

Dr. Noel Liu:
So that's huge because most of us are worried about the income stream that's coming in later. Do we think about when I say income, I mean like the employee mindset? And when you're talking about multiple businesses, we are talking about like how Robert Kiyosaki says the B and the I, and that's where I see that you are focusing on. With that being said, are you still practicing right now?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
I'm practicing part-time right now, and I'm retiring to something. So the goal is to retire to the real estate businesses, the things that are, and you've mentioned a mindset already several times, so I think that's really important, that dentists, we get the correct mindset not just in money but in anything. If you want to get your health better wealth, if you want to get better, your marriage, with your relationship with your kids, whatever, it starts right here, but really, until you get control of your mindset first, you're going to have a hard time with those different ideas. So I'm, I've been sharing a little bit, and I'll come out of my comfort zone because I'm not a big Instagram person, but I've started sharing different things that I do on a personal basis every day on Instagram. That kind of helps me focus on what I'm reading, what I'm eating, how I'm working out, how am I doing with my kids, my wife.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Love it.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
And then once people see how other people are actually living, they're not just talking about one thing, I think that will help them, so we'll see.

Dr. Noel Liu:
No, that's so true, because a lot of times when we see people or when we follow somebody, it's very simple, right? Success ... clues, and we always want to pick up on those clues and find out like, what are the successful guys doing, and maybe we want to follow the same suit. And like the fact, what you just said, you are a part-time practicing periodontist, but you have this other side thing going on which is running parallel. Is that correct to say, like with your business at this point, and slowly you want to migrate from being a doc full-time and then being full real estate, correct? So, how long of a journey do you think if somebody is listening to this here, do you think would should someone anticipate? It's not an overnight thing, of course, right? What would you say if somebody goes, hey, I'm practicing, I got a one practice going, and it's like really killing it? I'm doing like a million and a half to $2 million a year. How do I take that so that I'm not trading time for money, and how do I take it and put it into real estate or something like what you did to transition? What would be your advice like time frame wise, money-wise? Just an overall from a 30,000-feet view?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know. Did you watch the last dance with the Chicago Bulls? Did you watch the documentary? So, I was a big Jordan fan growing up, he was my idol in high school, college. And you always just watch these people like him or Kobe or whoever your favorite sports star or whatever, and you just see them on TV once a week, and you're like, That dude's great. But then you see a documentary like that, and you see that dude ate, slept, drank, it was 100%, mindset was focused on basketball being the best. And once you see what it takes to get to that level, most of the time, people are not going to do it, because think about the really, there's only just a few great people. So I say that to say this. The majority, unfortunately, the majority of the people will, won't do this because they're comfortable, like you said, White. And that's just for me, and I've got over 22, 2100 people in my group now, my passive investing group, that are in the group. That doesn't mean they've all invested in something, but they get in there, and they're just, hey, I'm comfortable, and people don't like to change. And really, the people that come in that have the goals that have, I want to do this and this. I want to have $100,000 of passive income coming in three years or less, and this is how much I can invest. People that come in like that, typically, they've had a moment like I've had with the wrist injury or something like that to really-

Dr. Noel Liu:
Exactly.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Get them focused. Think about your practice. Most of the time, if you're busy, if you're booked out for weeks or months, you got a ton of patients in the book. Are you thinking about marketing your practice? No, right? Because you're busy. What happens as soon as the phone stops ringing and there's all these empty spots in your schedule?

Dr. Noel Liu:
Oh, you're running, yeah. You're struggling at that time. You're trying to look for answers.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
So that usually, that's the analogy that I give you. We're just cruising along, everything's good, then all of a sudden it takes something like that to go, Oh, crap, I got to do something about it. And again, it could be a heart attack, or it could be a, or it could be chest pain to get them to start eating right to healthy or whatever. So it's just, unfortunately, it takes people to get to that level. My thing is, I'm trying to teach people to work on it before it's too late.

Dr. Noel Liu:
That's huge, man, what you just said. Because a lot of times we always sit on the fence. We always wish, Hey, I wish we could have done this, wish we could have done that, and now it's too late, but when the time is there, we don't have the sense of urgency. And that's where a lot of our colleagues, too, they'll just sit down there, but not taking any action. I'm just really amazed, like how you actually thought about it, because now let me ask you this question here, right? If that injury would not have happened, do you think you would have thought about that?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
No, and that's the sad thing about it, because I didn't even know about it. And that's another thing that I was, that was my number one reason for starting my blog, starting the YouTube channel, is because I don't know if that dates back from like dental school, how as a specialist, you typically had to try to be in the top of your class. A lot of times we would get all pissed or we would have stuff and we would hoard it, right? We were just like looking out for us, unfortunately. So I don't know if people get like success and they don't tell other people about it. To me, I don't need any more money. I don't need to buy stuff, I don't need to travel. It's just to me, I get more pleasure, like just helping other people, sharing stuff, making the connections, and seeing that chain. And I think if more people do that, and that's why I'm always like, Look, I'll tell somebody, I'll tell them exactly what to do and I'll say, Look, if you do this and you're successful, do me a favor: make sure you tell other people.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Absolutely.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Because what's the point to hoard it all? And I would have never known that. So it took the wrist injury to go down the path to do it. So now hopefully I'll start getting the word out more and other people will get the word out more to help mitigate the risks that we all face. And I had an article that was published that Kevin, you ever heard of Kevin MD?

Dr. Noel Liu:
No.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
KevinMD.com. He's a really big social media guy or whatever. And it was and he wanted me to write an article about

Dr. Noel Liu:
Nice.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
We call it the Silent Threat. It's the one income that doctors and dentists are relying on. It's the silent threat, and that's really what it is.

Dr. Noel Liu:
This is so important because I think we need to drive this point home really hard, that as professionals as dentists or specialists or even an MD, we need to understand like trading time for money, just that one income source, and in your case, you had a wrist injury. So before something like catastrophic happens, the best way I would say is, start looking into it, and like you said about the mindset shift, that's so huge because without that, like there is no other way that anybody would take action. So if there was one point that you would really advise or you would like to drive home again is, what would that be for someone like sitting on the fence or somebody thinking about it? Hey, I need to have a second source. I do not want to go through that, I got family that I got to feed. What would it be like so that they can say, Hey, you know what, I'm going to start looking into it, and I want to take action like now?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
The easiest thing to do is something that both you and I have done and other hundreds, probably thousands of other successful entrepreneurs, is read The Purple Bible: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Purple Bible. I love that.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
You haven't read the Purple Bible. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It was written, I think, in 1997. It was published in '97, which is funny because I read The Millionaire Next Door, which was published in the year before, '96, when I was a senior in college, and two totally different views. But you can actually take a little bit from each and learn from it. But when you read that book, if you're a dentist and you read that book, the light.

Dr. Noel Liu:
It will change your life.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
It will change. It's not going to tell you how to do stuff, but once you read it, you're going to get in the mindset of, Holy cow, this is how I've been operating financially and with my health and with everything else. And it goes back to the phrase, You don't know what you don't know.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Absolutely.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
You don't know it. And then when you read it, you're like, Wow, I cannot believe that we weren't taught this in dental school. It's like a disservice. So there's a DO school here in my hometown in Louisiana, and I'm always, I went and spoke to them last year about it, and they're sitting in the front going, Yeah, so just get the word out. Just tell people, just get the word out to people. If you got a kid, if you got a teenager, start just start pouring into them. Just give them those options. If not, they're just going to do what everybody else does.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Precisely. I was just at this last week, this weekend, I just had the summer ..., and Kiyosaki was there.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Oh, awesome.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Yeah, great personality. I saw him live for the first time. It really hit hard. He was like, Dave Ramsey's teaching is great and he loves Dave Ramsey, by the way, his teachings are great, but here's the thing, it's meant for the 95% of the masses, and that's what he said. If you want to be the top entrepreneur, like you said, the purple book, just go and follow that with the B and the I in the quadrant that he explains really so well. And one thing that I did right away was he spoke about his Cashflow board game and that is something I just went ahead and got it for my kids. This is something I would definitely would want to invest in because.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
I got a funny story for you about that.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Yeah, tell us.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
I bought that game on, my kids are 18 and 16 now, so my youngest was probably 10, 11.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Yeah.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
So the goal is to get out of the rat race and you go around the board and you do all this stuff. So of course he gets out of, my son Benton, he gets out of the rat race first. So it was my turn to spin, so I spun and did the cards or whatever and said, "Dad, are you out of the rat race?" "No. You can see I still have my cards. I'm still in the rat race." He's, "No. Are you still in the rat race? Like every day? For real?" I was like, "You mean, for real? Yeah." And he looked at me and he was like, "Man, that's got to suck". And I'll never forget that. So my 11-year-old was just, like, pounding it home to me. Dude, you got to get out of the rat race. So if you can instill that in your kids early on, then hopefully that'll be in the back of their mind.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Exactly. Exactly.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
But again, it's about the mindset.

Dr. Noel Liu:
It's about the mindset. It's about a mindset. So right now, some of the listeners there, they want to learn more about Debt Free Dr, right? where they just go DebtFreeDr.com. Any other links?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
You can do that, DebtFreeDr.com. My YouTube channel link is on there or you can follow me @DrJeffAnzalone on Instagram.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Oh, that's great, Jeff. We'll definitely have this on our Facebook group for sure. And we definitely want to drive this home. Hey, we all as professionals, we need to think about it. What's going to happen for our future?

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Absolutely. Perfect.

Dr. Noel Liu:
So, Jeff, thanks so much again for coming in and driving that message home for us and our audience. I really look forward to connecting again, for sure. And ladies and gentlemen, this is the end. We're going to land our plane here. Again, thanks again. Thanks. Thanks a lot, Jeff, for coming in. Thanks for tuning in. Make sure to like and subscribe. And this is the end of our Secure Dental podcast. Thanks, Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone:
Yes, sir. Thank you.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Thanks for tuning in to the Secure Dental Podcast. We hope you found today's podcast inspiring and useful to your practice and financial growth. For show notes, resources, and ways to stay engaged with us, visit us at NoelLiuDDS.com. That's N O E L L I U D D S.com.

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About Jeff Anzalone:

Dr. Jeff Anzalone is a full-time practicing periodontist in the great state of Louisiana, author, and founder of DebtFreeDr.com.

He focuses on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so that they can STOP trading their time for money.

Things You’ll Learn:

  • Successful individuals often have multiple sources of income, whereas most dentists rely on their dental practice as their sole source of income.
  • Real estate can be a reliable and profitable avenue for generating passive income, helping professionals reduce their dependence on active work.
  • Developing the right mindset is crucial for financial success, whether it’s in terms of money, investing, or seeking alternative sources of income.
  • Transitioning from being a full-time dentist to focusing on real estate takes time. It’s not an overnight process, but with the right mindset and planning, it’s possible.

Resources:

Categories
Podcast

Sales, Support, and Education in the Dental Industry

Summary:

Building relationships and persistence is the key to success in dental sales.

In this episode of the Secure Dental Podcast, host Noel has an in-depth conversation with Kyle White, Territory Sales Manager at Neodent, about his career journey and experiences in the sales field. Kyle transitioned from automotive sales, where he honed his skills, to dental sales due to his passion for helping dental professionals succeed. Throughout this interview, he highlights the importance of persistence in sales and his goal of becoming a trusted business partner to his clients. Kyle also touches on the dental implant industry, offering valuable advice to dentists on selecting the most suitable implant systems and the pivotal role of education and support provided by reputable brands like Neodent.

Tune in and learn from Kyle White’s remarkable journey from being in car sales to becoming a trusted dental industry partner!

Secure Dental_Kyle White: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Secure Dental_Kyle White: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Noel Liu:
Welcome to the Secure Dental Podcast. Through conversations with the brightest minds in the dental and business communities, we'll share practical tips you can use to scale your practice and create financial freedom for yourself and your family. My name is Dr. Noel Liu, CEO and Dentist at Secure Dental and also co-founder of DenVia. I'm your host for the second podcast, and I'm so glad you're joining in.

Noel Liu:
Welcome to our Secure Dental podcast. I'm thrilled here today with somewhat remarkable, and you know I'm singing from the bottom of my heart, who has carved a distinct role and a niche for himself in the world of dental sales, and a proud member of the esteemed Straumann Group brand, join us as we dive into the dynamic journey of Neodent's territory sales manager Mr. Kyle White. With more than seven years of experience in the world of medical sales, Kyle has discovered his true passion in the dental industry. Beyond his professional role, Kyle is a dedicated and devoted family man, married with two kids, and a golf player. What really stands out about Kyle is his dedication to helping dentists make the most out of their practices, and he loves working with them to find ways to grow and improve. Join us as we chat with Kyle about his shift from medical sales to dentistry, his love for gold, and his mission to support dental professionals. Kyle, man, we are delighted to have you here. Welcome, the stage is yours.

Kyle White:
Hey, thank you so much; quite the introduction. I swear I'm not that, typically that interesting, but you definitely made it seem that way, so I appreciate it. No, thank you for having me on. Obviously, this is something that I know that you're very, very interested in, invested in, is this podcast, so I'm just very fortunate, very happy to be a part of this journey with you, and answer any questions that you might have, and the listeners might have as far as myself, Neodent, and the dental industry, especially implants as a whole.

Noel Liu:
So yeah, I mean, that's great, we know you're a Neodent rep, right? Everybody knows you by now in the dental world. So tell me a little bit about yourself. Like we want to see the guy behind the Neodent uniform. So tell me a little bit about yourself, how you got started, and what's your journey like.

Kyle White:
Yeah, so just take it back, not too far, but I was a college golfer, played Division One college golf at Chicago State University. It was an awesome, awesome opportunity, met a lot of really cool people, still friends with a lot of the guys that I played golf with, but I knew college was just the start of it, you know? It was, hey, what do I want to do after this? I knew I wanted to be in a sales role. I knew that I enjoyed talking to people. So like most college athletes, I went to Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and kind of found my niche for just talking and trying to sell stuff to people. As you know, when you go to Enterprise, it's you want to add additional insurance, you want to have roadside assistance, you upgrade your vehicle, so I spent quite a while doing that. It was really great, it truly was. They definitely prepare you for the managerial side of things. So I would tell anybody out there, you know, that is looking into a sales role, like don't look past them, they do a really good job of kind of just getting you ready for being in that sales role, you know.

Noel Liu:
Whoever had a think, like Enterprise would be like a sales role. I mean, we always see guys behind the counter, but nobody's actually selling much, so you must have stood out there quite a bit.

Kyle White:
Yeah, so I ended up in a really good location not far from me in New Lenox. I had a really good office manager. I also had a really good area manager and kind of set my goals pretty shortly. I didn't want to be in a management trainee role very long, so the criteria for moving out of that into like an MA role and then being able to interview for an assistant manager role is a minimum of six months. So you need to have six months of a proven track record in sales, and then there's like a test that you have to take at that six-month mark if you qualify for it. So, right at six months, I qualified. I had the six months directly of the sales that were needed, and then I took, they call it the Grill, so I took that and passed. So it was kind of nice, it was like just another step into the sales world. I became an MA. Shortly after that, I applied for an assistant manager position for a location near me, and I ended up getting that. So I spent the remainder of my career there as an assistant manager at the Joliet location. I enjoyed it, but I knew that ultimately, I wanted to be outside talking with people. I wanted to have the freedom to kind of run my own route and do things like that. Automotive was what I knew, just even going back further than that, I was definitely a car enthusiast myself as much as any, you know, young college kid could be, but had a bunch of buddies that were into cars and things like that. And so wanted to stay in automotive, so I actually went to a company called BG, and they sell automotive chemicals to dealerships and then private shops and things like that. So that gave me the opportunity to kind of take my sales and persuasion and everything like that, but let me be on a daily basis. You know, let me be out in dealerships talking to owners of small shops and just seeing like, how can we help you generate revenue? Because that's what all of these services were doing, their revenue-generating services. So if I could get you to install our transmission fluid exchange machine, I could show you, hey, the ROI on having this and the time used to do the service, you're going to make X amount of dollars per day if you do X amount of these services. So that was the really fun part. That got into really now not looking at things for myself, but it looked, it was how can I help this small business owner or, you know, dealership, GM, whatever it may be, How can I help them generate more money? Because I knew that if I could help somebody make money, they weren't going to leave me. And things are going to come up, and issues are going to, you know, occur, but when you're helping somebody actually put money into their pocket, it becomes a very hard conversation to say, hey, we're moving on to somebody new. You know, and then a lot of facets of business and especially sales, what ends up happening is we get that first initial sale, and then everything else goes by the wayside because it's like, okay, well, you know, I had that chase. The thrilling part of it was the chase to get their business. Then you get it, and then you're like, okay, well, where's my value after that? So I learned at a very young age, hey, I need to, the chase is definitely important. It's needed, but you need that value after the fact.

Noel Liu:
So you're more of a long-term.

Kyle White:
Yeah, yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't.

Noel Liu:
..., right?

Kyle White:
For me, it's never been like, ... the sale today or, you know, tomorrow or a week from now. It's always, where do I want to be a year from now? Where do I want to be two years from now? So I'm always looking ahead, sometimes to a fault, but for what I'm trying to do, it's, it makes sense. You constantly have to be saying, okay, well, where can I help this doctor now? We want to have a solution right now, we want to have a pain point that we can help on, but we also want to say, okay, well, where's my value going to be nine months from now, 15 months from now, two years from now? So it kind of had that. So my wife is a nurse, I have a lot of family members who are in medical, and I've always kind of heard the rumblings of, hey, get into medical sales, there's, there's a ton of money there, but it was always like, I don't know where to start. I didn't know, I'm like, you know, you would apply for jobs, and it's like, well, you didn't do an internship, or they want you to take a significant pay cut to become like a junior associate salesperson. So funny enough, was really, really good friends with my area manager from Enterprise. His name is Ryan Iliff, I'm still very good friends with him to this day, he actually went to a company called ATI Physical Therapy, and he's like, hey, you know, I know that it's not exactly medical device sales, but you're dealing with orthopedic surgeons or, you know, rheumatologists or vestibular doctors or whatever it may be. He's like, you're selling a product, you're selling our physical therapy centers, and.

Noel Liu:
This was after Enterprise.

Kyle White:
After BG.

Noel Liu:
So after BG.

Kyle White:
Enterprise, went to BG and kind of knew, I kind of ran my course with automotives, and knew that I wanted to make a change into medical sales. So I ended up going to ATI Physical Therapy and was there a number of years, I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed just being with doctors. And for me, that was the cool part, but the best part about it was being within our clinics and seeing patients who, you know, you met three months ago that had lower back pain and couldn't bend over to kind of pick up their grandkids or whatever it may be, and then you see ... on the line, and they're getting discharged, and they're like, I just played catch with my grandkids for the first time ever, you know? And it's just being able to be part of a company that was truly giving that back to people was just special. It was a really cool time in my life, it was very interesting. Much like everything, COVID hit, I was very fortunate. A lot of our staff was let go, and I was actually kept on with two other people, and we basically oversaw all the doctors in Illinois. So it was a lot of days of sitting at home, being on the phone, and whatever it may be, and it just got draining, it really did; and so many of these practices were being bought out by large orthopedic groups. So wasn't, it kind of went away from talking about revenue generation to, now like, hey, we really don't have a choice, we have to use this because this is where our contracts at. And it became tough, it really became just a challenge to find out, okay, well, where are we going to get new business from? You know, who's even seeing people during this time and different things like that. Because what a lot of people don't realize is that a lot of older orthopedic surgeons, just older doctors in general, they retired. They're like, you know, we're not dealing with this. You know, we're just going to walk away. So it was just a very tough time. So that's really when I started to look. You know, I was like, I don't know really what I want to do. I want to stay in medical. So it's funny enough, I was actually at my dentist. I've been there for a long time and he's just asking the questions. He's like, how's everything going? He'd been a patient at ATI, and so I had seen him and was like, Yeah, you know, I think I'm looking at maybe possibly having a change, you know? And he's like, you should look at dental sales. And I'm like, what the heck do dentists buy? You know, like, you know, like, I don't know. I was like, I really don't know. Obviously, I see all the supplies in an office and things, but I'm just like, I don't really even know where to look. So funny enough, one of the first brands that he said is he's like, well, he's like, There's a bunch of different companies, but you know, he's like Henry Shine, Patterson, and these Straumann. And he's like, you know, is an implant company, and I'm like, Dental, haven't really ever heard of them. And so I went home that day, and I was talking to my wife, and I'm like, you know, this might be kind of cool, so I just dove in, like full head-on in dental implant companies and had 100 different tabs open on my computer. And I'm just going through everything, well, wildly enough.

Noel Liu:
What were you thinking at that time?

Kyle White:
I was overwhelmed. You know, I was like, there are so many facets of dental that people just don't understand. And I think, we all think of the very basic things, we all think of, okay, you go in for your checkup, you're cleaning, and maybe you have a cavity, maybe you're getting a root canal, but pretty much everybody's knowledge, for the most part, stops at that, you know.

Noel Liu:
When was this, Kyle?

Kyle White:
So this was in the beginning of 2021, beginning of 2021. And so I knew that if I was going to move on from what I was doing, I really had to go to a company that I was going to. There wasn't just going to be a change to make a change. It had to make sense, it had to be the right move. So funny enough, you know, a couple months goes by, and I'm doing a ton of research, and I'm looking at a bunch of different companies and hadn't really applied for anything, and a position opened up on LinkedIn for Straumann. So I applied for it, and they called me, and they're like, you know, we actually have two opportunities. We have Straumanm Group, but they're like, we actually own a company called Neodent, and they're like, we think your personality fits better for Neodent as you're kind of in that hunter mindset finding new business. And so was like, okay, well, you know, that might sound interesting. So I went through the whole process, and then I was hired.

Noel Liu:
Awesome.

Kyle White:
I went in not knowing anything about dental outside of where my dental office was at, and quickly learned, you know, Straumann Group does a fantastic job on the training side of things. So I was hired, and then my, I spent two weeks very early on in Andover and our corporate office, and you go through everything. You go through what is a dental implant, what is a UA, what's a cover screw, what's a healing ..., what's an impression post. You're there two weeks straight.

Noel Liu:
And you're just learning the whole.

Kyle White:
Just learning. Just all day, every day, eight, nine hours a day, just learning. And then there's a group of us there, so then it's, we get back to the hotel, and we sit around and we talk dental. We're all trying to understand this. And there's a couple of people who had come from dental in our class, they obviously offered a little bit more knowledge, but for the most part, we were all pretty new. So it really worked out. You know, and this group that I'm talking about, we call ourselves the Wolfpack. We're all still with the company, even two years later, we're all together, and we all see each other's successes and struggles. And we have a group thread and we chat with each other, and it's.

Noel Liu:
That's awesome, you know?

Kyle White:
So that's kind of where we kind of lean on each other. So now we're two years removed from that, and everybody's got their different things going on, what they're doing, and I'm here just continually trying to find success in the doctors that I currently have and saying, hey, how can I assist you? How can I help you? And then obviously, still trying to find those new doctors that want to jump on the Neodent train.

Noel Liu:
No, that's great because it takes a mindset. What I'm more interested and know is, I understand you said you love sales and you wanted to go to sales, but what was the mindset behind it like initially when you said, hey, the sales is something I want to be really good at? Because most people shy away from sales and you're the kind of guy, like he just want to take it head-on. That's one thing I just want to kind of know a little bit more on what was the mindset initially.

Kyle White:
Yeah, so sales is hard. You know, sales, sales are hard. You hear a lot of no's. I've already got my guy.

Noel Liu:
Did that ever bring you down?

Kyle White:
And I would be lying to you if I told you no. There are definitely days that are harder, there's days that feel like you can't do anything wrong and everybody you talk to wants to set up a meeting. Unfortunately, those days are few and far between, but I think for me, the drive for sales was two parted. I'm competitive, I like to win, you know, so I like to get that sale, and that drives me to continue to get that sale, but I also look on it on the other side too as I truly want to be somebody's business partner. I truly want to bring my knowledge that maybe they're not as educated on, and I want to bring that knowledge to them and truly be a resource and be a business partner for them. And so I'm a people person, you know, I enjoy people. And the more relationships that I can build, the better. You know, I'm still friends with a lot of the orthopedic surgeons that I worked with three years ago, you know, and it's friendships that I've just created totally outside of Orthopedics. It was just, hey, man, you do something, you know, you have interests that are the same as me, you know? So, and that's truly what I try to do in this segment, too, is, yes, I want to get the most amount of business possible, but I also want to.

Noel Liu:
Build my relationship, right?

Kyle White:
Yeah, I want to build my network as big as possible, too, and make sure that I'm flooding that network with the right people and good people that are out there doing more than just being dentists. You know, they're giving back or, you know, they're the real estate segment like you are teaching and mentoring. And I think that when you really take down the side of sales, I think that most people are looking for that. They're just looking to build those relationships.

Noel Liu:
So, Kyle, tell me this here, sales in dentistry, like a lot of the listeners who are going to be dentists, what is one tip that sets you apart from many of the other sales reps? And what is something where a dentist can actually employ what you're doing and to make their practices successful in terms of sales, because sales is one word where everybody runs away from. That's why I'm trying to dig in a little bit deeper into your mindset that, if there is one piece of advice or one strategy that sets you apart, what would that be, so that many of the listeners listening to they can employ the very next day with their patients and making sure like they are successful? Not only just a one-time thing, but also a long-term relationship with that patient.

Kyle White:
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me, and I think that you would probably agree, is the persistence. I think there has to be a persistence of getting that business, and understanding that you might not get every piece of the business right away, but it's okay to continue to, when you get a piece, stay persistent on helping in other avenues. And there's going to be the right time to say, hey, I think you're ready for a printer or, hey, I think you're ready for an iOS, and then there's going to be the time where it's like, hey, you know, I just got implants, we just got them biomaterials, let's let them get on that, and then let's wait to see where this relationship can go. Because I do think that there then becomes the point of becoming too pushy, becoming too sales-oriented to where it's like, well, I need to tell you about this. I need to tell you about this. I need to tell you about this. I do think that there's a time to kind of sit and reflect and say, okay, well, we've got this implemented. Where can we go next? And I would say on the doctor's side of it is when you do find that person who is persistent and truly shows a care in your business, give them the opportunity to help you grow, trust them when they're bringing ideas about printing or about an iOS or about a mil, you know, if you want a mil zirconia blocks, be open to those conversations with them, because in more cases than not, we are truly trying to look out for what's best for your practice. And it may come off salesy at times, but at the same time there's we all know that there's the time to have that conversation. And sometimes doctors just need that little bit of a push, you know, and to say, hey, like, let's sit down and really talk about this and have that conversation because our outlook on things is that if we don't, there's going to be somebody that's knocking on that door to have that conversation with you. So I would say, yeah, if you have that person who's persistent and you gave them the opportunity, be happy you found that person. Because there's a lot of salespeople out there where they're told no a couple of times, and they're like, all right, see you later, somebody else's problem. So if you've got that person that's come to your office 10, 12, 14 times before you ever decide to set a meeting with them, understand that that's a person that's probably in there for the long haul with you, and just ... through that relationship.

Noel Liu:
And you know, one thing I'd really, really love what you said was, helping. If you go with that helping mindset, you go with that attitude that even with, as denists, not only with sales but also with the patients, if they go with the mindset of helping, that is definitely a huge plus. And the fact that you feel like, hey, it's a relationship game, right, even with our patients too, so the same thing goes for you. So for you, is the dentist, and for dentists are the patients. What you just reflected upon is awesome. I mean, like, you know, helping, I mean, that's huge. I think that's what sets you apart, Kyle, honestly.

Kyle White:
Thank you. Yeah, I think that, and I try to say this, you know, and obviously being as respectful as possible, but I say dentists are inherently salespeople, but you're put in a situation to sell every single day. You're selling clear aligners or an implant service.

Noel Liu:
We're always selling.

Kyle White:
So I try to tell dentists, and I've told them like, ask me questions, you know, let's role play, let's have that conversation of how do we sell this service to a patient. And I've sent with a lot of coordinators or office managers and have just kind of listened to their pitch, and I'll give tips and tricks, and it's like a lot of that is, that becomes down to building that relationship and just going in there with the mindset of, hey, I'm going to be an asset to this business, not just a salesperson. You know, I joke about it all the time. I tell offices, I'm like, hey, you know, for the first couple of times I'm here, yeah, it's okay to call me your implant rep, but eventually, I want to be Kyle, our business partner.

Noel Liu:
You know, that's great because I was going to ask you about, what's the future holding for you? But the way I see it, you've got something really bright, because now I can start seeing you as a sales trainer.

Kyle White:
Yeah, so for me, I've always enjoyed just educating. I think that's probably one of my best traits is being able to educate and talk with people and come to a way that they understand it and tailor it to a way that they understand it. One of our sales trainers is Big Tony Mac, and he's incredible. He's one of the guys out in Andover, and we have such a wide variety of things that we can do within Straumann group, which is awesome. I really love what I do right now. I truly enjoy what I do right now. I love setting up new doctors and working with doctors like yourself who, we're just continuing just to grow your practice. But yeah, we'll see kind of what the future holds. I know that one of the best parts about Straumann group is that we have so many different avenues that we can go, whether that's diving into the DSO side of things and really focusing on the DSO side of things, or whether it's going into the education and training aspect, or going into a managerial role, whatever it may be. But we've definitely got a lot of, lot of opportunities, but I'm enjoying the ride right now where I'm at.

Noel Liu:
I love it, Kyle. One last thing I just wanted to ask you was, for dentists, like looking for implant system or looking for something, how to get started, I just want to kind of dive a little bit, not too deep, just a little bit, like what is the best way to get started and how are you available to help?

Kyle White:
So, you know, dental implants, there's hundreds, and there's hundreds of brands, and there's brands that you can buy overseas that are order only online, and there's a lot of things, and a lot of them are different knockoffs, so same platforms as Zimmer, Astrometry, or whatever it may be. And I think a lot of times I think that for doctors, it's understanding that you may not need the help with a particular case, but chances are you're going to need help with a case down the road. So for me, I think the easiest way to do it is, hey, look at the big brands, the 4 or 5, 6 big brands. So you've got, Straumann Neodent, you've got Bio Horizon, you've got Implant Direct, you've got Nobel, you know, Astra, you look at those and I think the first thing that you do from there is you find out who the rep is and find out who gets to you quickest, because you're looking for that support on the back end. Now, I'm not saying, hey, the first person that shows up, you know, sign a contract with them or whatever, but look at who's going to be making that effort to come to you and really hear about your business. There are definitely pros and cons to every system. There truly are, one thing that I'll say about Straumann group, and obviously, this is a touch biased, but I don't feel like anybody does education the way that we do it. I feel like when you look across the board at the resources that we have from internal education, like a Dr. Bruno, all the way to external partners that we work with, like Cory Raymond or Adam Hogan. We have such a wealth of knowledge out there for whatever route a doctor wants to go, whether it's, hey, I really just focus on singles in the restoration and the aesthetics of or, hey, I want to become an implant arch center. How can I get there? We just have so many different opportunities to help. So for me, what I would tell a doctor who's getting into it is, hey, figure out what you want. What's your one-year plan, what's your three-year plan, what's your five-year plan? Switching systems isn't always the easiest thing in the world. We've got kits out here, we've got implant parts, we've got all of this. So take some time to make that decision, you know, and understand that there is no wrong decision. There's no wrong decision, it's just, what are you trying to do and what company is going to allow you to best meet those needs? I can almost guarantee that the Straumann group is going to check just about every box, but there are things, and it depends, and sometimes it's rep coverage. You know, sometimes it's, hey, I don't really like the rep because you're going to have a relationship with that person, you have to like that person, or at least respect their opinion and their educational opportunities and things like that. So I would say take the time, research the brands, understand that, like the big brands are going to pop up, and you're going to know who those are. I would say steer away from the online ordering platforms. At the end of the day, you know, especially if you start placing a lot of implants, you're going to want that support, whether it's the warranty side of things, whether it's missing parts or whatever it may be, you're going to want that support. So it really just depends on what stage you're at, but ultimately, finding that person that you can build a relationship that you know is truly looking out for your business and not just themselves.

Noel Liu:
You know, the last thing I just want to add was, because I've been using implants, different implant system for a long time and not willing to switch, you know about that, right? The thing is, you know, we can save money on the front end with buying cheaper implants, but some shape, form, or another, we do end up paying on the back end, and the back end can be redos, can be failed implants, can be dissatisfied patients. I mean, a whole bunch of series of implants like complications happening, and we still end up replacing it or doing it for free or the entire procedure if you did like a full arch. So my biggest thing was education, my biggest thing was the whole thing and the support system that you guys provided. So full disclaimer, I switched from X brand to Neodent and never looked back.

Kyle White:
Awesome.

Noel Liu:
So that was that's a great, great switch I think I did, the best investment I did for my doctors, for my associates, and for our team. I think, ultimately it reflects back on a patient for someone who we truly care for, and as service providers, I think that's huge. So Kyle, how does someone get in touch with you?

Kyle White:
So obviously we're going to have doctors that are listening from all over the country. So I always say the easiest way to do it, shoot me a text, shoot me a call. My number is (779) 240-1796. Obviously, if you're in my territory, let's set up a lunch, let's set up a time to meet. If you're not in my territory, I can get you to the correct person.

Noel Liu:
Neodent is global, is that right?

Kyle White:
Yeah, Neodent is global. So we've got reps and we've got opportunities to meet with people all over the world and we can definitely get you in the correct place. Obviously, if calling isn't the easiest or texting is not the easiest, you can email me. It's my first name, K Y L E . W H I T E @ Neodent.com, and obviously, you can get an email over to me and I can get you into the hands of the correct rep.

Noel Liu:
No, that's great. If anyone in the area, in the Chicago area, in Illinois, Midwest area, definitely reach out to Kyle. He can definitely direct you to the right person, but if he's your rep, you'll be in very good hands.

Kyle White:
I appreciate the kind words.

Noel Liu:
All right. So, yeah, Kyle, with that being said, we're going to land the plane here. Thanks for coming up. You were awesome. I mean, that was great insight. And if anyone has any questions, definitely reach out to him. And for the rest of us and all our listeners. Well, thank you very much for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and we will definitely get on with our next show.

Kyle White:
Thank you.

Noel Liu:
Thanks for tuning in to the Secure Dental podcast. We hope you found today's podcast inspiring and useful to your practice and financial growth. For show notes, resources, and ways to stay engaged with us, visit us at NoelLiuDDS.com. That's N O E L L I U D D S.com.

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About Kyle White:

Kyle White is a seasoned territory sales manager for Neodent, a Straumann Group Brand, with over seven years of experience in the dynamic world of medical sales. Kyle’s journey is marked by a significant career transition from the automotive industry, where he honed his sales skills at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, to the thriving dental sales sector. His passion for dentistry, commitment to building enduring client relationships, and his philosophy of becoming a trusted business partner have been instrumental in his success. Kyle’s enthusiasm for education and support in the dental implant industry reflects his drive to provide exceptional value to his clients.

He is an ex-college athlete who has a strong desire to compete every day in the workplace and be the absolute best possible. Kyle enjoys learning new things and creating long-lasting relationships. He enjoys being with a company that is growing every day and has an infinite amount of progression.

Things You’ll Learn:

  • Passion and dedication to the sales field can be significant driving factors for success.
  • Establishing and maintaining strong, trust-based client relationships is crucial for effective sales and long-term partnerships.
  • Persistence plays a vital role in achieving success in sales.
  • Dentists can gain insights into selecting the right implant system for their practice, considering factors beyond cost and focusing on support and education.
  • Becoming a trusted business partner to clients will make someone transcend traditional sales methods to provide outstanding value.

Resources:

Categories
Podcast

Introducing Secure Dental: Conversations with the Brightest Minds in the Dental and Business Communities

Summary:

Welcome to the Secure Dental Podcast!

This new show will bring you conversations with the brightest minds in the Dental and Business Communities. Hosted by Dr. Noel Liu, this show will dive deep into practical tips to grow your business. Many entrepreneurs wished they had a guidebook or someone to help them understand how to grow their businesses, well you’re in luck because this show will be exactly that!

Tune in twice a month and unleash your full potential!

Secure Dental_Introduction Episode: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Secure Dental_Introduction Episode: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Noel Liu:
Welcome to the Secure Dental Podcast. Through conversations with the Brightest Minds in the Dental and Business Communities, we'll share practical tips you can use to scale your practice and create financial freedom for yourself and your family.

Noel Liu:
Hello everyone. My name is Dr. Noel Liu, CEO and Dentist at Secure Dental and also co-founder of DenVia. I'm your host for the Secure Dental podcast and I'm so glad you're joining in. We want to welcome you to the introductory episode of the Secure Dental Podcast. This podcast is for dental professionals looking to make the most out of their dental career, their wealth and freedom. I started as a local dentist and have been able to build up to 11 practices across three state lines and continue expanding. I know it's hard to get started, I know how frustrating and overwhelming it can be to scale. And then, once you have success, what do you do to multiply it? When I was building my practices, my business and my real estate book of business, I wished there was a resource for me to tap into and learn how to fast-track my progress. Instead, I learned the hard way, and then I slowly gathered a group of peers and mentors to help me build confidence, patience, and capital. With this show, the plan is to give you a shortcut and to help you connect with other inspiring leaders, both inside and outside our dental profession. I'll be inviting guests to the show that are excelling in their areas of expertise from professionals in specific areas of specialty that will help your practices, to operation gurus that will save you time and years of frustration, to real estate pros that will help you make the right moves and where and why to invest and then where to buy your practices. And then finally, where to invest your hard earned money. This will be the podcast you can listen to for very specific tips and tricks for dental professionals. We'll be posting episodes twice a month and each episode will be 20 to 25 minutes long, so be sure to hit subscribe and check out our show notes for the links and ways to stay engaged with us in between each episode on social. The podcast is available for you to listen on any of your favorite podcast streaming platforms like iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and many more. Thanks for tuning in to the podcast. I really appreciate you coming to the podcast and trusting us to get the information that not only will secure your practice but also a financial future. And I'll catch you in the next episode.

Noel Liu:
Thanks for tuning in to the Secure Dental podcast. We hope you found today's podcast inspiring and useful to your practice and financial growth. For show notes, resources, and ways to stay engaged with us, visit us at NoelLiuDDS.com. That's N O E L L I U D D S.com.

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About Noel Liu:

Noel Liu, a graduate of NYU College of Dentistry, is a highly skilled and compassionate general dentist and co-founder of Secure Dental with multiple locations. With years of experience in the field, Dr. Liu has established a reputation as a trusted and knowledgeable dental professional.

 

In addition to his dental practices, Dr. Liu is also very passionate about mentoring and guiding his associate doctors in their transition from students to clinicians.  He has built a successful framework for model, mimic, and mastery flow to help them achieve their personal, professional, and financial goals and efficiencies.

Things You’ll Learn:

  • This podcast is for dental professionals looking to make the most out of their dental career, their wealth, and freedom.
  • Entrepreneurs usually learn how to grow their business the hard way. 
  • The Secure Dental Podcast is available everywhere you find your favorite podcast shows. 
  • Secure Dental will publish two episodes per month. 

Resources:

  • Connect with and follow Dr. Noel Liu on LinkedIn.
  • Check out Dr. Noel’s website.
  • Visit Secure Dental’s website and learn more about them!