"He threw a football on my balcony 'by accident' and asked if I'd toss it down to him," Terri told Today's Dentist. The couple were married soon after and have two children. It appeared to be a match made in heaven. Then Bob's practice started to be a problem. Terri described the details: "Dr. Marx was working long, long hours. It was affecting me and the children. Production and collections were going down and the office was below its 'make/break' point financially. Patients were cancelling appointments and weren't accepting treatment plans. The staff was not pulling their load and it appeared that an employee was stealing from us. To top it off, we had just bought a new house.

"Everyone thought I should be so happy. I was miserable. And my husband was so burnt out, he was on the verge of quitting dentistry."

Then the couple attended the Sterling Management Systems beginning seminar where they were introduced to the Hubbard management technology. Through short, no-nonsense, application-oriented courses, the doctor was quickly brought to a level of competence as an executive. He learned to run an efficient office, make more money, and increase production while improving the quality of patient care. Along with that, his staff learned to "wear their hats" and keep distractions to a minimum.

In fact, Bob's office became such a good place to work that staff has increased from three employees to 14 and an associate!

Sterling coupled this intensive training with expert consulting. The doctor's personal consultant assisted Bob and Terri in implementing tried-and-tested programs that: 1. Increase new patients from 11 to 100 per month; 2. Increased staff initiative and administrative skill; and 3. Reduced stress and the "franticness" that expansion can produce. "The consulting was incredible. It was like our consultant had a crystal ball. Our life changed overnight," Terri told Today's Dentist.

"We actually found we could control the practice. Production steadily improved over the next 8 years from $17,000 per month to one of the best practices in the country. And Bob began working less hours. Prior to that, he'd been staying in the office until 10:00 p.m."

"We were happier, the kids were happier, and the staff was happier. The office staff knew what was expected of them. They had job descriptions and were now getting bonuses. They were motivated.

"If we had only climbed to $40,000 or $50,000 per month and had sanity it would have been worth it," Terri remarked.

"It was a life-changing decision for us. We had no idea just how much things would change. I feel real lucky that someone persisted with us and made us go to the first lecture."

And believe it or not, Bob still plays rock music with his band.