Learn from the best

The labs that have chosen DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB) are not one homogenous group....they come in all sizes, specialties and business models. The three things they all have in common are these:

1. They create custom dental prostheses as specified by dental prescriptions.

2. They value the reliability and versatility of QuickBooks (QB) for their accounting and financial management.

3. They want to synchronize their case management with QuickBooks and have chosen Mainstreet Systems to provide the synchronized software and support to accomplish this.

While some of the other companies marketing dental lab software limit their offerings to only large labs or only web-based with monthly subscriptions, the DQB-QB synchronized software provides a wealth of choices such as:

• Two levels of scheduling, one for critical dates, the other at task-level

• Providing for both traditional and the newer computer-aided digital methods

• Desktop, web-hosted or hybrid systems to provide both

• Local and/or remote access

• Tracking cases by tablet, barcode scanning, and/or manual methods

• Providing a variety of payment methods to assure good cash flow

• Case and shipment notifications via email, fax or online portals

• Receiving digital files and images via email, online portal or in-house scanning

• Shipment tracking via multiple services

• Automatic or manual backup methods to local and/or online resources

And many more.

In this series, we will highlight successful business, customer relationship and production techniques that have been told to us in our daily communications with these labs.

Learn from small labs

#1 A one-man lab in New England chose to create his lab by constructing a separate partition with a separate entrance in his home. This not only cut back on his overhead with no rent or commuting expenses but allowed him to continue to work even during the heavy snowfalls in his part of the country.

He chose to have a single-user DQB with the images supplement to provide for storing and then easily accessing digital files right from the case record. This along with being able to easily respond to queries from the dental offices on the status of cases saved him a tremendous amount of time that could be used to produce more income.

#2 Another one-man lab cleverly setup two parallel benches, one to work on cases, the other for his computer and telephone to easily respond to calls with quick accurate information and take care of keeping his records up to date. With this setup, he could just swirl his chair to take care of production, responding to customers, and finances.

Learn from mid-size labs

#1 Dental Lab for QuickBooks was originally chosen by this successful mid-size lab because it easily synchronizes data to QuickBooks for simple and accurate statement creation and reports for thier accountant and also because it met the strong regulations in Texas.

As time went on, scanning became a big part of submitting cases. They also scanned all Rx's and custom shade diagrams for easy retrieval and recorded lot and batch numbers for certain items to meet government compliance. Their doctors started sending digital photos and the lab was able to easily associate these with the case record for easy access.. They have also taken advantage of the ability to add digital images to our invoices and statements.

They have made use of the opportunity for customization such as a Made in USA image on their invoices and of digital images for case coordination and histories.

#2 In a trend that we are seeing more and more, this lab began with a close association to a dental practice. Having earned a master’s degree in business administration, the son of a dentist opened a lab. One of the first vital things he felt he needed was lab software. There were countless number of different software options on the market but he chose Mainstreet's DentaLab for QuickBooks software because of the reliability, security and accuracy that comes with true synchronization..

His staff loves the fact that DentaLab syncs seamlessly and instantly with QuickBooks. They can print invoices directly from QuickBooks or DentaLab and really like that flexibility. They can also confidently run reports through either system and have said the customization that both have is priceless.

Another aspect that drew them to Mainstreet was their ongoing support for business development and growth. As their lab began to grow and add new staff, Mainstreet was instrumental in helping to make the transition easy. The ability to add as many users to the software as needed was a huge advantage and Mainstreet took the time to train their staff. They also did a follow-up with new staff several months later to make sure everything was working properly.

The ability to customize the software to fit their special needs was another tremendous benefit. They have added new ideas for DQB and most of these have been implemented at no additional charge through their support service agreements.

Learn from a small corporate group of mid-size labs

This group of labs was started by one man and his brother-in-law, both trained and certified technicians, and the man’s wife who was trained in accounting . The wife wanted to be able to access any of the labs from her laptop when she worked from home or one of the labs.

The trio chose barcode scanning to track the completion of case items and shipments because they believed this provided the most accurate results. They made it a standard to enter customer alerts and activity logs whenever appropriate so that all three plus their staff could be aware of any special situations.

The versatility of this arrangement provided the flexibility needed to oversee multiple labs and take care of the daily details of both business and family while being very responsive to their customers. Beginning with just one lab, this small management team was able to continue their growth into multiple successful labs.

Learn from labs that have quickly grown into a large labs

#1 This lab was family-owned with 17 employees when they decided to add new investors with not only funding but also new talents and resources. They wanted greater expertise to move beyond the fundamental production and accounting into business development, employee training and relations, new technologies, patient safety and government compliance, long-range planning.

After three years with their new structure, their plans are succeeding. They now have a booming business, a new facility, and 75 employees. Included in their new facility is a training and conference center where dentists and dental office personnel are invited for seminars, continuing education and introductions to new technologies. Knowing the costs of training employees, they have expanded their benefits in a number of ways, including offering free breakfasts and lunches and continuing education.

Their synchronized DQB-QB computer system has grown from 5 to 26 concurrent users. They have implemented the images supplement to easily store and access the digital documents associated with their cases and customers. To handle the larger volumes of information, they moved up from QuickBooks Premier to Enterprise. In another step forward, they developed a professional-level website that emphasizes the experience, expertise, registration and certification of their staff as well as their emphasis on education and community involvement.

The next challenge they have chosen to pursue is to enhance their case workflow and they are exploring whether barcode scanning or the use of tablets or a combination of both will work best for them.

#2 This lab was once part of a large corporate group of labs but the owner determined he wanted to pursue his own vision and became an independent. He firmly believed that listening and responding to the needs of his customers was the only way to build long lasting relationships. This concept included ongoing support should any adjustments be needed to assure comfort and durability for the patient.

They have gradually implemented more digital technology into their business to be more competitive in terms of their prices and their production costs and speeds. They first added the images supplement to provide for easy storage and retrieval for the increasing volumes of digital images and documents. They have developed a content-rich website that will next provide a portal via the DentalRx supplement for the dental offices to submit prescriptions, send digital files and communications, and lookup the status of their cases,

They have grown from a 3-user DQB system to 11 users, from QuickBooks Pro to Enterprise, and now have a Terminal Server to make updates to their growing number of stations easier. They would like to see more of their customers take on digital technology and are helping through education to move them in this direction.

Add your success stories

Despite many challenges, we have seen a substantial number of labs in our user group achieving success and are happy to know that our software played a vital role in achieving this. These are just a few of stories that have been told to us in the course of our support for their software systems. We hope you will add more stories of the challenges you have taken on, the successes you have achieved.

Here is how you can contact the support team at Mainstreet Systems:

Voice : 215-256-4535

Fax: 215-256-1594

Email: support@mainstreet-systems.com