How do you know a dental buyer is the right person to purchase your dental practice?
There is no exact formula, but there are certainly some things to keep in mind when deciding on who should purchase your dental practice. Our dental transition experts, Matt Scherer, Doug Sellan and Adam Goldsmith, share tips and advice for making this decision.
Transcript:
Matt Scherer:
Hello, this is Matt Scherer with PMA Practice Transitions and I have my colleagues, Doug Sellan and Adam Goldsmith on with me. Adam covers Northern Kentucky, Doug, Western Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Columbus west, I guess and south. And I cover the Cleveland area of Western PA and we help dentists transition out of ownership. And today’s topic is how will I know I have the right purchaser? Who wants to tackle that one first? Can you ever know that there’s the right purchaser? Certainly there’s opportunity. When we show a practice for the buyer and the seller obviously to meet each other. We always preach to our sellers, let us handle any questions regarding financials, the appraisal and things like that. You talk clinically with the buyer so that you get a good feel that the buyer can handle the practice clinically for you. And certainly, we give reports that to the buyers to show the buyer what the dentist is currently doing clinically. But do you really ever know that you have the right buyer? Doug, anything?
Doug Sellan:
You’re passing on a legacy and you want to think that your patients and your associates, your employees are going to be well cared for. And you just don’t know if they will deliver the same level of service and compassion that you do. You hope that they do, but at the end of the day, you’re going to transition out of your practice and they’re going to take over. And you really hope that they do the same, if not better. Historically, they do. They do just fine. And do you need to stick around for a short period of time? You can or you can’t, but each transition is different. Today’s buyers come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and they deliver a lot more to their patients. And then historically the people who were in your class. So it’s a different world. And I think we just have to adjust to this.
Matt Scherer:
Yeah. Adam, when your dad transitioned to his practice, I’m sure you guys had several buyers that came through. How did you guys land on that buyer? Was it just, Hey, they offered the price we wanted, or, I mean, obviously I think from a personality standpoint, it had to make sense somewhat.
Adam Goldsmith:
Absolutely, and that’s why those initial meetings prior to any sale is so critical, just so that each dentist can feel each other out, make sure that there’s a good rapport, make sure their clinical philosophies are aligned. And that was the case with my father’s transition at the time. the dentist, I had known through other relationships and brought him into the deal and it was, they got along fairly well. And so even though that dentist that purchased the practice, wasn’t actually the one that was practicing at the location. My father felt like he could trust that dentist and that there was a kind of that initial relationship building that went smoothly on the front end.
Matt Scherer:
Right? I always tell my sellers once you sell the practice, unfortunately, it’s not yours anymore. People could put on good fronts and then turn. But I think Doug said it well, most, I would say the majority of the transitions, the buyers, turn out to be stand-up people, it’s very rare that you get that, but then again, it does happen as well. One of the things we do at PMA is we do a pre-contract meeting where we sit down with buyer and seller. It’s just another opportunity to really get to know that person. And certainly, if there’s some uneasiness, it’s just a really good way to, and usually we invite spouses and things like that to those meetings. So that way they can really get to know each other. If you liked this, please visit our website, PMAGroup.net, hit the like button and share the video with your colleagues. Thank you.