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Have you stopped and asked yourself lately, "who am I becoming?" In this insightful podcast episode, our guest Rubi Rodriguez shares a profound piece of advice derived from Jim Rohn’s, "The Art of Exceptional Living"—emphasizing personal growth over fleeting material gains. Engage in a riveting discussion with Rubi as she illustrates how focusing on personal evolution has not only helped her overcome entrepreneurial impediments but also modeled her into an astute leader and manager in the cutthroat startup arena.
As she recounts her exciting journey at a nascent dental supply company, Rubi underscores the vital role of introspective growth while navigating hurdles—be it guaranteeing competitive pricing or ensuring timely deliveries. She charmingly elucidates how being mindful of her development amid high-stakes situations further refines her decision-making skills and leadership style. From discussing the operations of a budding dental supply firm to diving into the intricacies of "best price" versus "lowest price," you'll find this conversation packed with practical insights and actionable advice.
What You'll Learn in This Episode:
Stay tuned, hit play, and learn how focusing on who you are becoming can lead to transformative success in your business and beyond!
Sponsors:
For high quality AND affordable dental supply options, visit The Dentists Supply Company(TDSC) website today! Our listeners get a special deal - 25% off on orders over $500 - Just type in the special code: TDM25 at checkout for your exclusive offer. AND if you're a member of your state's Dental Association, you may be eligible for additional savings upon providing your ADA number. Click or copy and paste the link here to save today! https://www.tdsc.com/
You can reach out to Rubi Rodriguez here:
Website: https://www.tdsc.com/
Email: rubi.rodriguez@tdsc.com
Mentions and Links:
Books/Publications:
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My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/
The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041
Michael: Hey, Rubi. So talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning?
Rubi: Hi, Michael. Yeah, of course. Um, you know, thinking a piece of advice that I, I remind myself constantly when I feel overwhelmed or I feel like I'm being extremely challenged by something I'm going through.
And it's from a book I read called the art of exceptional living from Jim Rohn. And the quote goes like, this is the greatest value in life is not what you get. It's who you become. And for me that's so important. And something to keep in mind as a leader and a people manager and, and being part of a startup business.
as I am, as I, as I'm part of, sometimes we go through things that seem very challenging in the moment, and I'm sharing this advice because this quote makes me. Put things into perspective in the sense of I try to not think about what is this challenge? Giving me right in the sense of like, this is causing me a lot of trouble to do or this is like a painful learning curve.
I'm going through. I try to think who am I becoming? Am I becoming a better person? Am I becoming a better leader? And when you put things into that perspective, it makes things seem better and it makes you be able to feel a bit of more comfort in the sense of this is an obstacle or something that I have to go through to become a better person or to become a better practice owner to become a better general manager.
And that's the piece of advice that. You know, I wanted to share with everybody today and not only share it with you, but also remind myself, right, of how important that is, at least in my life and, and my philosophy in leading and managing people and myself.
Michael: When do you find yourself? Reminding yourself of this more often.
Rubi: I find myself from, you know, we, I go through challenges, right. From a work perspective, I'm part of a business, um, that is considered a startup or scale up business. I work at the dentist supply company and we have a mission of serving solo practitioners, dental practitioners. And we go through challenges that, you know, are we ensuring the right price and are we delivering on time for customers?
And in some cases we aren't, and there's things on my control and there's things that are not on my control. And some of these challenges seem pretty overwhelming. And I find myself reminding. Myself of that quote, when I go through those challenges, right, I put myself in the shoes of who am I becoming and who am I serving to be able to feel more at ease with going through that process.
That can feel very uncomfortable while you're going through it, but when you come, you know, when you surpass it or when that period is over, then just thinking of who have you become after it, it makes you kind of reflect on how it was worthwhile going through that challenging time.
Michael: Hmm. So what are some of the most common challenges you've seen when it comes to supplies and with the clients you work with?
Rubi: Yes. Um, so one of the most common challenges is always ensuring we have the right price for customers. That's something that we promise to do. That's something that we take very seriously in doing, and we are an eCommerce business and. every day prices change online, right? So how do we ensure that we have that best price?
And we've recently implemented technology to be able to understand prices across the board and the internet with, you know, other e commerce players. And, that's a challenge that. We've had to go through, like, how do we make the best of this tool? How do we deliver to our customers on this in a way that's scalable?
And we're growing through that, that program to ensure that we do provide that best price. Um, but it's, it's one of the things that, you know, that's been a work in progress, that it, it takes time and you have to remind yourself that although you want to, you know, get to the finish line tomorrow, it's not, you know, it's, it's a process and ensuring that.
You consistently review having a competitive price that you can deliver to your customers is an everyday thing.
Michael: I like that. So then to you, what's the difference between in supplies when it comes to supplies and a practice is ordering it. Looking for the best price and the lowest price. What's the difference between best price and lowest price?
Rubi: Totally. That's a great question. So the best price, I think it's a combination from my perspective on the lowest price, the best delivery. Level, right? Getting it next day or, or in two business days based on your needs and ensuring that the product is in stock.
I think those three elements in the e commerce environment and for dental practices, needing supplies is what should compose the best price because potentially it may not be the lowest, but it could be close enough. And you can ensure that you get the product next day or the day after. And. You also ensure that you know, the item is in top in stock, which helps with of course that delivery that delivery time.
Um, so I would say a combination of those three things are what defines the best price
Michael: Interesting. Okay. So then what has the dental supply company had to go through in order to become what they are? Uh, especially when it came to like struggles Coming up.
Rubi: Yeah. So I would say the dentist supply company.
We've gone through through that process of one ensuring that our inventory that is available to customers is accurately shown on the site. So we do have a vast Inventory a portfolio of products that are in stock and that ship next day. And one of the biggest obstacles is ensuring that, you know, that stock status is consistently updating and that customers can find those items that are in stock.
and we have thousands of them. Although, you know, again, just ensuring that that is kept really much up to date, which is refreshed, um, consistently, um, multiple times a day. Is, you know, that's, that's what we do. Um, additionally, service level. So, you know, we're part of a larger organization called shine.
We have access to some of the best delivery times that you have in the industry, we deliver next day in 24 hours. If your order is placed before 5 PM you know, on a business day and we deliver next day or the day after, um, you know, depending on where you are located in the country. contiguous United States.
so I would say those things are, are part of what we do to ensure that we can have items in stock and then also, ensure that, that our delivery times are, best in class.
Michael: That's awesome. So then I know a lot of people talk about price matching too. Does that play a role by any chance or no?
Rubi: Yeah, I think that that comes back to what I was speaking to. Right. Like, how do we, we have tools in place to ensure that we're looking at, you know, a competitor prices. Now, you know, you always have to take a balance of things of going back to the best price. And it relates back again to not only having the lowest price and matching a competitor, but also, you know, some different players have different right.
benefits, right, that they bring to the customer and, and the price should be a reflection of that, right? Of the value that you're getting, not necessarily just, the actual cost of what you're getting.
Michael: Okay. So then going back to the quote, Rubi, and I'm sure you work with, do you speak a daily on the phone with a lot of practice owners?
Rubi: do not, but my team does.
Michael: Okay. Okay. So your team speaks daily on the phone with a lot of practice owners from what they've noticed and what you've noticed. How can a practice owner implement this quote inside their practice? Meaning what struggles are they going through that you feel like if you just keep going a little bit longer, going to mold you compared to.
You know what I mean? Giving up. And then, uh, this is what I thought I was going to get, but it's about who you're becoming.
Rubi: so I can think about it. Um, let's say in, three ways, three aspects, right. For a practice owner. One of the things that a practice owner. You know, practice owner wears so many hats, so it can apply on many, things.
I think one on people, right. We rely on people and on our team to deliver the best service levels that patients want. so as we think about applying that. working with people comes with its challenges, right? We have emotions, we have different styles of wanting to communicate, and we have different needs, right?
We're humans, we have families. So, you know, working with people is sometimes one of the most challenging things a business owner and potentially a practice owner goes through. And keeping in mind, just addressing situations with. With your team with that mindset of who am I becoming here?
Am I becoming a better leader, a better manager for my team while going through this difficult situation with an employee? You know, maybe we had a situation amongst employees that we need to resolve or, a situation between an employee and a patient, So that's one hat or one place that I can see, you know, practice when we're applying this type of.
Quote or this type of advice. The second one is on managing technology, right? Technology is moving at such a fast pace, not only from a practice marketing side, right? With how patients want to communicated to with a text. And, you know, and I am sure you speak to this to your audience, right? With the dental marketer, like all the technology that goes today marketing and communicating with patients in a practice.
seem pretty overwhelming. So just thinking about who you're becoming and who your practice is becoming by going through the learning curve of implementing new technology, to address patients. And then there's the clinical side, right? Of all the technology that is coming out for practices to implement with the digital workflow, et cetera.
So, know, I think they are thinking. Again, on who you're becoming and who your practice is becoming is so important because, again, it can seem overwhelming, and I think, the third aspect is managing the financials, right, that overhead, we're talking about supplies, just thinking about, You know, how do you balance having the right supplier or a right mix of suppliers so that you don't, you never run out but then you balance the inventory, right, the cost that you have on your shelf so you know it's another fine balance of how do you, how do you ensure that you learn enough and that you.
price shopping off or evaluate the value that the different suppliers are bringing to your practice, you know, again, can seem like overwhelming and, I think it's thinking about who you're becoming. Are you becoming a better financial manager? Are you becoming a better business manager and leader by thinking about those things that could seem pretty challenging and overwhelming when you're going through it?
Michael: Wonderful, Rubi. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. And if anyone has further questions, where can they reach out to you directly?
Rubi: Absolutely. They can reach out to me at Rubi. R U B I dot Rodriguez R O D R I G U E Z at T D S C. I'm happy to answer any questions or even chat about about this or other things.
I also want to mention, Michael, that we have a special offer for your audience. we have a 25 percent off all orders over 500 on TDSC. Again, the dentist's office. Supply company. You can find us at tdsc. com. We sell dental supplies and small equipment to Uh small practices and we provide additional savings for members of state dental association So if you provide your ada number, you can also enjoy additional savings from our everyday prices So Thank you for the opportunity.
The code for that offer is TDM 25. and I look forward to, uh, to chatting with you in the future, Michael.
Michael: Thank you for having me. So remember that is TDM 25. If you want to receive that amazing offer and Rubi, thank you so much for being with us on this Monday morning episode. My
Rubi: pleasure.