Recently, I was approached by a new software company that wanted to sell its product to my clients. They were kind enough to send me a video so I could become familiar with their product. As I watched the video, I realized they had a sharp presentation with a good-looking software product, but there was a dirty little secret: You don't need it.

You, the dental office manager. You, if you are smart with Excel and know how to run reports in your dental software. You, if you set up systems so that your practice runs smoothly.

You do not need their software. You can save your practice money every month.

Everyone knows there are dozens of companies offering services for people who simply don't want to do certain tasks. You can hire a landscaping service, house cleaner, dog walker, you name it.

The same holds true for dental practices. You can outsource business tasks as well. You can hire a cleaning service, marketing agency, etc. Depending on your situation, these may be good choices for you.

However, I have discovered there are three things a dental office manager can do in order to avoid outsourcing unnecessarily.

1. Learn how to run reports in your software

Many intelligent front-desk team members work around the reports in their dental software because they simply don't know how to run them properly. Sticky notes in planners and folders full of printed treatment plans are sure signs that you're not using reports. Even if these approaches seem to work for you, I guarantee patients are falling between the cracks.

The more you learn how to run the reports in your dental software, the easier it is to set up a system that is both comprehensive and easy to track. This also gives you a great opportunity to manage your boss. We know how busy our dentists are and how getting their attention can be a challenge.

When you run reports in Dentrix, EagleSoft or other dental software and you share results of your efforts with your dentist, this allows your boss to appreciate your work and understand more about your role and responsibilities in the office.

2. Learn spreadsheets

This goes hand-in-hand with running the reports described above. The benefit of using Excel is that you can track only the specific results you want.

In just a page or two, you can summarize the performance of the practice with a few numbers. This is an elegant way to help both your dentist and team members see the practice performance against goals, as well identify trends.

Once you start working with Excel, you will discover that it is useful for more than just end-of-month metrics. You can manage each major vendor, calculate marketing return on investment, compare purchasing decisions, even create patient payment options calculations. Excel is incredibly powerful, and most small businesses couldn't live without it.

3. Set up systems

One of the great ways to avoid spending money on extras is to think in terms of systems. Anything you repeat, such as handling a new patient call or hiring new staff, can be turned into a system.

When you complete a task, stop for a minute and think, will I ever do that again? If the answer is that you may do this task every day or every week, or even every month, then that is ripe for a system.

When you decide who will be responsible, what exactly the task entails and when it must be completed, you are thinking in terms of systems. This allows you to figure out how to get the necessary work completed in a logical, comprehensive manner. When you already have systems in place, you won't be easily seduced by a slick new software product offering to "do it for you."

You can save your practice money by taking care of certain business management tasks on your own. Through running reports in your dental software, working with spreadsheets and establishing systems in your practice, you won't need to buy extra products and services offering specific solutions.

In fact, when you run your own approach, you will be even more effective because you will know the limitations of your team.