Last week I met with a dentist that hired us to prepare them for the transition meeting where the staff get informed that the practice has been sold.
Wisely, they saw the value in being prepared with an articulate, honest, and concise script that would give them the right words to transform an emotional and challenging task into one that lands with grace and positivity.
For the selling dentist, carrying the weight of years of working together and months of preparing for the sale into that conversation can feel like a lot.
For the purchasing dentist, meeting the team for the first time and hoping nobody flies off the handle moments after borrowing a seven figure loan can make it hard to show up with empathy and to be your best self.
In dentistry, we are used to finding what’s wrong. Where is there decay? What is causing the pain? What needs to be fixed? What can be better?…All common questions that go through the mind of a dentist during a recall exam. And when it comes to preparing for an emotionally charged conversation, it’s pretty typical to go straight to “How bad is this going to go?” or “When Shelley hears this she’ll burst into tears and storm out…I just know it.”
But as Newton’s Third Law of Motion States, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”…or possibility. In the case of your transition, we might be better to think of this in terms of e-motion (rather than motion) – it’s navigating the overwhelming movement of thoughts and feelings that really determines how you move forward from this meeting as a buyer and a seller. It can go wrong. It can also be a beautiful and powerful moment you all share together and go incredibly right.
When we script these conversations, we focus on the good. We use words and phrases that put the team first. We create a space where job security, consistency of their environment, and a well thought out transition that starts with them is at the heart of the conversation. We give the buyer the words to express gratitude for the team having created a practice that they couldn’t wait to be a part of. We give the seller the words to remind the team that they’ve always had their back and that isn’t going to change.
The reason people react with anger is because they feel hurt or scared. So when it comes to your transition, before you share with the team about what it all means to you as the seller or the buyer, lead with what’s in it for them.
If you decide you want help scripting your transition, we can help you.
