Michael interviews Australian dentist Michael Filosi about applying counterintuitive, hospitality-centered ideas to dentistry to break industry norms.
Filosi bought a rundown dental practice and, after realizing he couldn’t be the best clinician, pivoted—drawing on Good to Great’s hedgehog concept—toward building the best dental practice by focusing on business ownership, high standards, and patient experience.
He gradually stepped off clinical work over 2–3 years (from four days a week to zero), scaling from generating 40% of revenue to 0.6%, later selling the business unexpectedly at 41 with no earn-out.
Key initiatives included an annual free Patient Appreciation Day and a “Sparks” program (50 personalized gifts in 50 weeks at $50 each) inspired by Unreasonable Hospitality, alongside friction-reducing service, explicit cultural expectations (“the FPD way”), and hiring for customer care, helping drive retention, word-of-mouth, staff attraction, and 400+ 5.0-star reviews.
Filosi’s takeaways are uncompromising standards and putting the customer (or constituent) at the center; he recommends The Checklist Manifesto and is exploring writing, dentistry, and politics next.
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Connect with Dr Michael:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelfilosi/
