We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Harris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Brian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
I have been in practice for almost 20 years as a Cosmetic Dentist and I have always been passionate about what I do but I made a pivot in 2017 that completely changed the trajectory of my career. As I got home from the office one night my wife Maury asked me how my day went and I shared with her that it was a perfect day. I typically would do one new smile a week but this particular day I had done two in one day and I told her it would be my dream to only design smiles and not have to do all of the other things in dentistry that I didn’t enjoy. She then said ” So why don’t you stop doing the other stuff and just focus on smiles?” I tried to explain to her that it doesn’t work that way because there were not enough patients at the time looking for a new smile to which she replied ” The problem is that everyone knows you are a dentist, but nobody knows what you do. You should start posting your work on social media so people can see how talented you are.” I thought a lot about her comments for the next couple of weeks and decided to take her advice and post my work on Instagram and Facebook and sure enough….people were able to see what I do and started reaching out wanting to work with me. Within a matter of months I was only doing Smile Designs and we were booked out several months in advance. All because I decided to show the world what I could do.
Brian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a practicing Cosmetic Dentist in Phoenix, AZ. My father started the practice in 1979 and myself along with my three brothers all decided to go into dentistry. Our practice Harris Dental has developed a reputation for quality care with next level customer service and we have a team of amazing people that work in the practice with us.
I have been married for 23 years to my wife Maury and we have 4 kids ages 12, 15, 18 and 20.
I am known as the virtual dentist in my industry because of a tele-dentistry software platform I developed in 2018 called Smile Virtual that connects patients looking to improve their smile with a cosmetic dentist they can trust. I teach doctors and their teams how to use video consults to serve more patients and help them understand their options when it comes to improving their smile. Over 84,000 video consults have been recorded on the Smile Virtual platform. I have taken this same technology into the med spa space and recently launched Aesthetic Virtual which will allow nurse injectors, med spa owners and plastic surgeons to do the same with their patients.
I believe that often times in business we make it really difficult for people to buy from us. My secret to success is making it really easy for people to work with me by telling them exactly what they want to know. Most people want to know three things: 1. can you help me? 2. What are my options? 3. What is it going to cost? I use video consults to connect with people from the comfort of their own home and I let them see who I am, I share with them their options and I give them a price quote so they can see if the timing is right for them to move forward with things. I do this for free. I give of my time and my expertise to serve as many people as possible and make it easy for them to work with me. I Build Confidence through transforming smiles and it changes the way people show up in their lives.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
I think the best advice I could give to someone is to get really clear on what it is that you love to do and go ALL IN on that.
There was a time 10 years ago where I was doing everything in my practice. I did some surgery, orthodontics, dental implants, fillings, crowns, treated TMD pain and was helping those with sleep apnea. Because of the fact that I was doing a little of everything, I never got the chance to be the best at any of those things.
When I made the decision to stop doing a little of everything and focused on being the best at ONE thing, everything changed. Instead of being an inch deep and a mile wide on the things you are doing in your business, try going an inch wide and a mile deep on one thing and watch it transform your life both personally and professionally.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
When building a reputation in your market I think it’s important to be as authentic and as real as possible and focus on those you serve instead of focusing on yourself. If you were to go to my @drbrianharris instagram page you would see significantly more photos of my patients than you would of me. My focus with every single post is to deliver value to them and celebrate them instead of making it about me. At the end of the day, the only reason I get to do what I love to do is because people trust me and choose me to help them with their smile. Without them, I have nothing and I try to always remember that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drbrianharris.com
- Instagram: @drbrianharris
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drbrianharris/?locale=th_TH&paipv=0&eav=AfbzEAdWtTVbZgQJRsOwz30WYQHZTDTqL3I1zUiqHj4ZPs2limwRk6nKT6_lIpZpda8&_rdr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-brian-harris-b210409/