CASE STUDY #1
Henry Schein Dental Business Institute: Dentists Drill Down Into Operations
Dental supplier Henry Schein, Inc., uses business courses and simulations to grow its business by helping its dental clients grow their businesses, too. “We benefit when our customers succeed,” says Eric Nuss, director of Business Solutions at the Henry Schein Dental Business Institute.
Dentists typically aren’t trained in business and often miss opportunities to operate efficiently and grow their practices. Nuss and the Dental Business Institute fill that educational gap with a business course developed specifically for dentists. In quarterly, three day, on-site seminars, participants discuss planning, building, leading, and lean management, addressing one topic per seminar. Each seminar concludes with a business simulation that puts the concepts into practice. “The first seminar focuses on planning. It teaches vision, mission, purpose, and, broadly, business and marketing plans,” Nuss says.
The approximately 18 participants are divided into seven groups to operate a dental practice. After two days of classwork, the simulation begins. It mimics a real community in that decisions made by each group affect the others. “For example, if two teams each decide to offer periodontal services, but only one markets that service, the group that markets it will capture more clients than the one that didn’t,” he says.
Each round of the simulation involves approximately 150 decisions, and is played three to five times. “After each round, the group discusses what happened and why, and how that applies to the real world,” he says.
At the Dental Business Institute, the simulations appear in tabbed workbooks that resemble Excel. The introduction page provides an overview of the business, while page two details operations: facilities, personnel, technology, and finances. Page three discusses the staff training and development and connects them to outcomes. The last page is a business forecast. “Small business owners don’t do a great job forecasting,” Nuss says. “But without accurate forecasts, they can’t identify investable revenue.”
In the fourth module simulation, dentists are asked to collaborate to build a business plan for potential investors from small banks and equity firms, as if they were expanding their practices. “The conversation is different for small and large practices,” and for the type of financing needed, Nuss points out.
Simulations make the concepts real to learners. Nuss learned this first-hand when completing his MBA. “The simulations were so educational and so memorable,” he recalls, “and running a successful business is about creating memorable experiences.”
The 18 dentists who recently completed the first series of classes at the Dental Business Institute grew their practices by 19 new locations. “Some opened multiple new offices, while others shared their vision, revitalizing their existing staff for greater efficiency and productivity,” Nuss says.
The Dental Business Institute plans to continue to add value to its customers by create an online alumni community to share best practices. It is considering adding electives, as well as courses for office managers and large practice executive leaders.
CASE STUDY #2
Major League Soccer: Sales Lab Goes for Blowout
Major League Soccer’s (MLS) sales training uses games to invigorate new sales representatives at its national sales center. The result is a virtual blowout. Reps who pass the training have 40 percent higher sales than those who don’t take the training.
The courses teach the fundamentals of sales (including social media, online, phone, and face-to-face strategies) for new sales executives who will work at one of the 20 Major League Soccer clubs in North America. “Usually, they’re recent college graduates,” says Bryant Pfeiffer, VP of Club Services. There are three unique classes each year of 60, 90, and 120 days, with graduation based upon performance. They typically include about 25 people.
The National Sales Center is a training academy that functions like a sales laboratory. “We’re constantly experimenting with ways to train and motivate salespeople,” Pfeiffer says. “Games are a great way to do that.”
Because sales is stressful, particularly for young salespeople largely unused to frequent rejection, “games help break up the day and create some fun,” Pfeiffer says. Indoor soccer/tennis is one example. The team sport is played with a soccer ball and combines tennis and soccer rules (i.e., one bounce over the net, and you can’t pass the ball with your hands).
“We built an in-office tennis court that’s slightly smaller than standard size, with a tennis net, and hold tournaments,” Pfeiffer says. “Soccer-tennis builds teamwork and office chemistry, hones communication skills and situational awareness, and sharpens competition that carries over into sales objectives. We mix up the teams periodically, so trainees play with people they don’t always work with.”
Improvisation, while not strictly a game, is another fun way to enhance sales skills. It trains reps to develop a “yes” mentality and to think on their feet, essentially accepting an objection and finding a way to overcome it. “At the end of the exercise,” Pfeiffer says, “our instructors ask what the class learned and what parallels they see with business.” One objective is to learn to listen intently, so sales trainees focus on what the scene partner says rather than on what he or she will say next.
Another game is used to energize staff early in the morning. Called “CatchPhrase,” it’s sim ilartocharades. “This is a wonderful way to build energy in the room,” Pfeiffer says. “It makes staff laugh,” establishing a positive attitude before starting phone calls.
This laughter generates results. “Our program alumni generate 40 percent more revenue and have 20 percent lower turnover than salespeople with the same teams who didn’t attend our course,” Pfeiffer says. For the last three years, MLS’ top salespeople have been graduates of this program and are advancing into the leadership ranks of their sales organizations.
CASE STUDY #3
Brookings Institution: Righting America’s Fiscal Ship
Even if you’re not a policy wonk, you have a chance to rein in a U.S. federal budget that is spiraling out of control and save important social programs in the serious game, “The Fiscal Ship.” Developed by the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the game frames the debt issue and policy tradeoffs in ways the general populace can grasp.
“Many people care about fiscal responsibility and good government but never finish reading articles discussing the issue,” says Kerry Searle Grannis, associate director, The Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. “The federal budget is complex, especially if you don’t deal with fiscal policy daily.”
The Fiscal Ship (www.fiscalship.org) uses budget figures from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and actual policies put forth by leading politicians, government agencies, and liberal and conservative think tanks.
The game begins with the premise that the national debt is 75 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). “This is the total debt held by the public as a share of the GDP, rather than gross federal debt,” Searle Grannis explains. “This is the public as a share of the GDP rather than gross as a measure of the debt’s impact on the economy.”
To reduce that debt, players first choose three of 10 values, such as shrinking government, investing in the future, or combating climate change. Then they choose taxation and spending policies that advance those goals so the debt level for 2041 is no higher than today’s levels.
In creating the game, Brookings’ goals “are to explain that today’s unsustainable federal budget trajectory can be fixed with policy changes and tradeoffs,” Searle Grannis says. “Much of the political rhetoric, such as eliminating foreign aid, actually doesn’t do much toward cutting the budget.”
Each option includes pros and cons, developed by a steering panel of experts from across the political spectrum. Therefore, players can see both the societal and budgetary consequences of their choices.
To win, players must develop a blend of taxation and spending policies that achieve their vision for the country while containing the national debt.
Launched in April, The Fiscal Ship had 25,000 players during its first week. “We’re hoping for 500,000 players during the first two years,” Searle Grannis says.
As more people play the game, Brookings will track results, seeing which policies were played and in which order. “So far, 20 percent of the players have picked ‘Invest in the Future’ as their top priority,” she says. “There’s some benefit in knowing how the public looks at fiscal policy, but political feasibility isn’t part of the game. People are suspicious of political agendas, so our advisory committee drew from all political stripes,” Searle Grannis stresses. The conservative Heritage Foundation was consulted, along with the progressive Centerfor American Progress, and policy pointsfrom the current presidential candidates were incorporated. The objective, she says, was to ensure the game was both politically neutral and accurate.
