Unmasking Illusions: The hidden lies behind industry data trends and How they Lead to the Most Destructive Human Flaw

He's the founder and CEO of new patient Group , managing partner of RightChat and a trusted motivational speaker for Invisalign OrthoPhi and others , brian Wright .

If you're listening on all the audio experience channels out there , please give us a five-star review , rate this podcast and get it out . Share it with your friends and family . We would always appreciate that so we could just continue building this awesome cult following that we have . And man , oh man , 2024 is going fast and got a good one for you .

Today we have started a brand new podcast . It's the Right by Cooper podcast and that's Dr Bryn Cooper is my co-host in that and basically look at that as the new patient group podcast with a co-host . All right , we talk about a lot of really good things and have a lot of fun in that in the booth .

She just flew into Colorado Springs and we shot a bunch of episodes , so that podcast is now live , so make sure to check that out .

And when she was here , you know we talked about this and I bring this up because she's the example I'm going to use today when talking about why industry trends , why the data that you invest so much money in , why it's lying to you , why , frankly , in many ways it's crap and how it's leading to what I believe is one of the most .

It's the biggest human flaw , one of the most destructive traits we can have , and how it can change our mind , and not for the better , and really lead us down a path to self-destruction . That really hurts our businesses , it hurts the employees and the culture in your office and it really ends up hurting the life that you want to lead as an entrepreneur .

This is going to lead me in . It's not going to be a part two and part three like ongoing , but there's going to be drips to what I'm going to be talking about today , because I think there's a bigger picture to this . There's a bigger picture .

That's a disconnect between how corporations look at numbers and trends in an industry , how they view the year over year growth versus the people they're trying to help . Reps out there have a big rep following .

This is a great lesson for you , whenever you , if you really truly want to be a help to a small business , to an entrepreneur , today will be a good lesson to you , for you . And when she was here . So when , when I was closing out so it was in February of 2024 was was when I did .

I was the speaker at OrthoFi's national event and I closed it out and that's a big honor . I was their keynote in 2019 , had three hours on stage . It was a blast wonderful feedback . And then closing out an event is a blast for a different reason . And when I was backstage , they were calling out the highest converters in the nation .

And you know , based on the orthophy trends and the data that they have , and two of the top five names that they called out were new patient group customers .

So momentarily and when I say momentarily , I'm talking maybe five , five or 10 seconds I'm kind of patting myself in the back back there , going oh that's neat , well , what you do works , blah , blah , blah . And then there's this , you know the infinite minded coach that jumps in in my head and goes wait a minute , brian . Like that's not impressive at all .

And here's why , like the reason that's not impressive . And I think their conversions were in the mid nineties , maybe a touch above , but I mean the conversion on paper was really good . But my , my infinite brain and what I teach all of you out there kind of put the brakes on the excitement right away and goes wait a minute . They're the only game in town .

They have no competition whatsoever . They could have spinach in their teeth , horrific BO . They could walk in with their pants as a shirt and their shirt as pants and they could do everything wrong . And they're still going to convert at the highest level because there is nobody else in that area . They're it and you know they could charge whatever they want .

They could be cheap , they could be expensive . They're the only game in town and you know there's a part of me , you know , a lesson off the cuff .

You know a lot of times you know you all want to open up the practice in the beautiful area where everybody wants to be , and what comes with that and I'm going to talk about this in a minute what comes with that is a lot of choices .

Well , a lot of times and I was thinking where these highest converters are is they put their place in a location where really nobody wants to be . And that's a good business move because you don't really have to do a lot , right ?

Matter of fact , I know these practices and if you took how they operated and put it into a Bryn Cooper's practice and I'm going to describe in a minute they may go out of business . Like they would convert it maybe 10 to 20% if they were lucky .

So I'm listening to this and then my coach brain kicks in and like puts on the , puts on the brakes , and then it puts on the brakes . And then I immediately start thinking of of Bryn's practices .

She has two and one of them and it's her first location she's had for a long time is in the heart of the city of Houston and when I say it's the epitome of what orthodontics has become .

And when I say it's the epitome of what orthodontics has become , I mean we're talking roll a quarter down the street , hit five GPs doing Invisalign , hit eight to 12 orthodontists you know that are just boom , boom , boom , boom , boom , right after another , just right out and doing you know Invisalign , some other clear liner , analog or digital braces .

You know all the above , whatever it may be , and Brent Cooper's practice in Houston actively gets three , four , five , six , seven , eight , nine , 10 opinions , people saying I've been looking for two years , can't find the right place . I've gone in you know eight places . Whatever it may be , and and I look at that as a good , it just is what it is .

It's what orthodontics and and either even others you know . Plastic surgery not as bad , but there's still plenty of choices . Dentistry , just as bad , there's plenty of choices , but I don't look at it as a bad thing .

I just look at this as an opportunity for all of you to understand that if you just commit to a culture of obsessing over your employees and customers , a culture that uniquely trains your people , and then digital marketing that has very great organic content done in a very specific way . You're going to be fine .

You're going to be fine , so it's nothing to worry about . It's just kind of the industry . It is what it is . So Bryn Cooper's practice in Houston is really , really hard to convert at the highest level and she has a commitment , like the majority of our customers , to being the highest priced .

So , when you look at Bryn Cooper's conversion , you see 63% to 75% right in there , and it doesn't mean that part of the goal , of course , is continually refine the team skill sets , continually refine the experiences on down the list to constantly look for ways to improve that conversion .

But when you look at and this is where my brain's going backstage at the OrthoPhi event just these signals going , I want to run on stage and say hey , like guys , you're giving out the awards to the wrong people , right ? The data is a liar . The industry trend data are liars for a lot of reasons and this is one of them Bryn Cooper's practice .

Who's the highest priced deals with a trillion opinions . You know price shoppers out there , even though on paper her conversion is less than those two that I was talking about . That are our customers . They're in the top five in the nation . Bryn Cooper's conversion is better .

It's more impressive Because , again , if you took the other ones and put them into Bryn Cooper's practice and they function the same way , their conversion would tank , because I know that they aren't half as good .

They aren't even you know a third they aren't even one-tenth as good in a lot of the things we teach that Bren Cooper's practices are in the heart of the competition in the city of Houston . So if you sit this , if you sit there and you look at that , this is how the industry trends lie to you , everybody . And this is also how , and there's others .

But this is , I believe , the number one thing that gets you into a very destructive pattern as a , as a business owner , as a leader , and I fall into this too . Right , I'll beat myself up if I don't think I'm where I should be , and part of it's healthy where I'll compare myself to myself .

Right , I don't do it as much to compare myself to other people , but every once in a while I do fall into that trap . Maybe a big name entrepreneur out there , and I see what they teach and I say to myself we teach the same thing and I think we even do it better .

And for me to think we do it better , that's saying a lot , because I'm one of the most self-critical people you'll ever meet , of the most self-critical people you'll ever meet .

Like , if I go out and or if I'm speaking on stage after the event , I'd rather go to dinner , sit at a bar by myself than go out with people because I'm going to tear myself apart in order to get better for all of you . That's healthy for me .

I truly enjoy it and that puts me in a better state of mind because I want to be , and need to be , great for all of you . Like , it's not easy doing all the things that we do , from being a CEO , a coach , a podcast host , a content producer like the list goes on and on . Father , like the list goes on and on and on .

It's not easy to be at a high level at all those all the time , but I do my best . When it gets destructive is the moment I start going we're better than that person . Why are we not making more sales , right ? Or why are we not doing this ? Why don't we have more followers and likes and things like that ? Why don't we have more respect ?

The second I get into that it's a really destructive pattern changes my state . I don't be , I'm not . It leads to me not as being great for all of you out there . It puts me in a frustrated mood at the house , so I'm not as good as husband and it's a really destructive pattern that a lot of you out there fall into .

Now there's other reasons you fall into it and and partly is and I have podcasts coming about this and it's . It's just . It's how your clinical peers are sabotaging your success , and they're not doing it on purpose , but they're doing it , make no mistake about .

It is things that they are teaching and how they were doing things on stage is absolutely leading to you , you know , comparing yourself to others and also implementing things into your business . That will not work and there's a lot of reasons for that . Like I said , that podcast is on the way .

Hey everybody , brian Wright , let's break away from today's episode and I hope you're enjoying it Obviously very passionate about teaching people not to be finite minded , not to get buried in the numbers , because the numbers are lying to you , especially as a small business , as an entrepreneur .

There is a reason why 75% of billionaires , the world's smartest business minds , 75% of them never went to college or they dropped out .

There's a reason for that because they look at everything very differently than how a professor , who's likely never owned a business in their life , will look at them , and what I'm talking about today is a very , very big part of that . I want to talk to you really quick about our onsite workshops .

This is a challenge I'm going to throw at all of you out there . These are newer . They can't be offered all the time because it's a scalability issue . Because this is my challenge to all of you is bring me to your practice .

I personally guarantee that I will deliver a six-figure growth plan when you bring me in , and I'm going to put the link to the workshop page in the podcast description below . There is a lot of really cool things that come with this . You and I will meet on two personal Zoom sessions . I'm gonna analyze your business .

We're gonna go through countless things together . I'm gonna fly to your practice monitor , take notes . I'm also gonna spend a morning role-playing with your team installing so many of the sales , hospitality , consumer psychology things that we teach , strategies that we teach very advanced , very forward-thinking teachings .

I'm going to install that as much as we can get done in a morning . Then we're going to have a review session when I get back and there's a lot of other great things that come with it . But I guarantee you I will deliver you that plan and set you up for success . Right now we have two availabilities .

As I do this podcast today , there's two availabilities on my schedule that will allow me to do it . The first two people that buy the team's going to reach out . We are going to coordinate schedules when you can do it , when I can do it . After those two , we're going to have to shut it down . Just FYI out there , because this is a scalability issue .

I can't always offer this , but right now , the first two people that want to make real change happen in your practice . Click on that link . It'll take you to the workshop page , learn more about it and you can buy it right from there . It'll send you to a Sam card page . You can buy it and we'll see it come through .

Look forward to meeting you and your team working together for this onsite workshop to create real change for your organization . Let's get back to the podcast . So this destructive pattern we all fall into . The majority of the reason why is is we are comparing ourselves to others and this stuff that you invest in . Like you got to remember that .

Like , if it was me , I wouldn't even want access to those trends Because , again , it's a liar . Like the new patient , you know the average new patients a month , you know , or a year , that that trend is crap , because that trend is completely dependent .

One practice may charge , you know , $4,000 a month and they have to get a bajillion people through the door . Well , you're lumping that into the same category as somebody that wants to be the most expensive . Convert high as they can . Right , run a low stress model , no advertising , because they're turning their patients into their fans .

That's our customer , by the way , right , their new patient numbers are always going to be lower . Now we are helping you intentionally do that , right , because if you go out and spend a bajillion dollars on pay-per-click , yeah , it's going to drive you phone calls , it's going to drive you new patients . We don't want you doing that .

We want you to invest that money in a hospitality experience , sales psychology , creating great digital marketing content , building a better culture . That's what we want you to do , because that's how you run a sustainable , economy-proof , recession-proof , crazy things like COVID-proof type of business . That'll get you through anything .

When the industry gets crushed , you're probably still up . When the industry does great , you're up two times , whatever the industry is , or more . It's how you run a great business from inside out . It's like compliance data you guys all know like whatever the compliance data is , and you look at trends .

It's crap , because if you're looking at people that do eight . And this is where you know a lot of you out there . You're comparing apples to zebras or apples to gorillas . You're not even comparing apples . It's not even apples to bananas .

It's way worse because you know you take an 80% Invisalign practice and 20% braces and then you take a 80% braces practice and 20% Invisalign . Of course those practices are going to have all kinds of different compliance numbers . The 80% braces practice is going to have more brackets popping off right .

The 80% aligner practice is going to be dealing probably with more people that aren't wearing the aligners properly and that , lumped into the same category , creates lying data . It doesn't create accurate data for any of you out there , and a lot of you out there too . You want different things , like the new patient .

If you want a low stress , low chaos , high conversion , high dollar practice that doesn't have to see a bajillion people to make money , of course your new patients are going to be lower than the practice has got to see a bajillion a month to make money . You can't compare yourself in any form or fashion and that's the problem .

And you get into this deal where you've got , like I said , brynn . For that area , brynn converts really , really well , better than the 95% , but she can't fall into the trap of man . You know what ?

If the industry average is this I'm not as good , yeah , you are , you're better or for a lot of you out there and this is where the data can be liars too , to where you know the two out of top five , that I know these people , and it can go to their head where it's like we convert everybody that walks through the door like we don't need help in this

area . We don't need it . We're great at that . Well , no , you're not . You're great because you're the only opinion in town . If people were shopping your , your , your t-shirt store , as well as 10 others that , on the surface , offered the same thing , you wouldn't sell many t-shirts . You would go for that 95 .

And this is a lot of you out there , the ortho five people that listen to this , the align people that listen to this , the , the , the , the , the DM people that listen to this , the DM people that listen to this . This is where your mind has to be too . If practice A has really good numbers on paper , that doesn't mean that you can go teach practice B .

Hey , practice A is doing this really good . You should too . No , it's bull , because practice B , where the data actually may be less in many ways may actually be better than practice A . There's so many other variables involved . You got to stop comparing yourself to other people . It's a destructive pattern .

Everybody , and I don't mind letting all of you know that this is a pattern that I fall into sometimes , because I think that's leading all of you with vulnerability . I think it's a big speaker flaw when speakers don't you know they act like everything's rosy . I see it , like my practice is perfect . Everything is rosy . Everything .

See it Like my practice is perfect . Everything is rosy , everything is going great . Just listen to what I say . Everything's good . No , it's all bull . All businesses are chaotic , right , it's a matter of minimizing it . All businesses have issues . It's a matter of minimizing it . This is why most businesses go out of business .

You all are in a world where you're lucky , where you can have the same leaky holes a restaurant that goes under has , but you can still bring home $500,000 a year and convince yourself everything's great in your business . You all have holes everywhere , but you've got to stop looking at . Okay , what's the industry trend ? What are we converting ?

How much is the industry down this year ? How much is it up this year ? What's my production ? What's my collections ? How does it relate ? It's all bull Like . I'll have plenty of this . You guys know I'm infinite minded . That's what I teach . But your biggest competition is you Like .

The only thing you should be comparing it to is the data you had last year . You know , and are you making the same ? Are you bringing home what you want to take home and working less this year ? And that's why I have a podcast coming about , just you know , redefining growth , looking at growth differently . Why is an entrepreneur ?

Growth means something and should mean something completely different to you than it's going to mean to a corporation . I don't know when that's going to . I haven't shot that one yet . I don't know when that's going to be launched , but you could relate that back to this podcast whenever you hear it .

Because growth to a corporation , growth to reps , is , you know you selling . You know more Invisalign cases as an example this year than you did last year . Right , that's going to help the reps number . The problem is you as a business owner . You may not want to start anymore because you already bring home what you want to bring home .

Your goal is is hey , look , you know how can I work less this year than I've done last year ? Right , how can I bring home 600 grand this year when I brought home 600 grand last year ? But this year work 25 or 30 days less ? Right , that's growth . That's what that podcast is going to dive into Now .

On paper , you're stagnant , right To the reps and to the corporation . Well , you know , dr Joe , he didn't grow . He had the same amount of starts this year as he did last year . Meanwhile , dr Joe's going this is the best year of my life . Like , I keep growing because I'm bringing home the same amount of money and I keep working less . That's growth .

No-transcript podcast , because I'm telling you , telling you what the podcast is . Lesson today two things . One you got to stop comparing yourself to others . You need to know what you want out of your life . You need to know how to design your business to make sure you're taken home enough to get what you want out of your life , whatever that number is .

And I talked to a new patient group customer , andy Well , he's a RightChat customer too the other day . He's like hey , look , I make 600,000 a year . That's what I want , anything above that . Make me stress less , make it more efficient , blah , blah , blah . I don't care about growth , I care about , you know , efficiency . I care about taking home 600 grand .

It's more than enough to get you know my dream life . That's what you guys have to be competing against really with with yourself is that kind of stuff , and you've got to stop . You've got to know what you want . So you stop comparing yourself to whatever you know , somebody you see who speaks on stage , or you've got you know .

You open up your dashboard to the industry trends and you say , damn , you know , why am I not there , when you're actually better like Bryn Cooper than a lot of these practices out there ? Right , if Bryn could give here's where the industry data matters . Right , if you could have like a dashboard and you could select okay one . I want to select a practice .

You know that's , and I'm making all this stuff up . This isn't like brent's numbers , but okay , I want to select a practice that's 70 aligners , 30 , everything else . I'm going to select a practice that deals with at least three to five opinions before they decide to buy . Okay , click that button . All right , I want to . I want to .

I want to look at practices that are the highest priced of all the opinions , right , so maybe you just select .

You know $6,500 or $7,000 , but even that you got to watch because just based on where you live you know , california , new York those prices are likely going to be higher than if it's in somewhere you know in a certain smaller town , like in Alabama or Arkansas , as an example . So you even have to watch that .

But just say , you know , seven , eight thousand dollars a case . Boom , if you could hit those Right . And then the practices like you came up . Ok , now at least you're looking at apples to apples , but until then this data , guys , it's going to do you more harm than it is good . It doesn't teach you anything .

Same with the compliance data , if you could go okay , I want to see other practices that are , you know , 90% aligners , 10% digital braces Right or vice versa . Now you've got something . But until then , all this data does is get in your head , tell you a false story , and it's not what all of you need . I hope everybody enjoyed today .

Stop comparing yourself to others , and I hope you understand why these industry trends . They are lying to you as a business owner , entrepreneur . They are lying to you until you can compare exact practices to yours and same way with the other one . By the way , right , if you could do those ? You know I'm the cheapest in town .

I charge , you know I'll go down to bottom barrel . Right , I'm one of the only games in town , right ? Whatever it is , you've got to compare yourself to true your other selves , otherwise you're going to drive yourself crazy . I hope that worked there . Everybody Hope that got this month off to a great start . Change your mindset . Invest inside your doors .

Dominate other people in your industry . Until next time , thanks for your partnership . Take great care of yourselves , your team and your customers and patients . We'll see everybody soon . Bye-bye .