DSO decision makers: role-first targeting that routes to the real approver

Ben Argeband, Founder & CEO of Heartbeat.ai — Strategy-first; avoid salesy tone.

When teams miss DSO decision makers, it’s rarely because they can’t find names. It’s because they start with the wrong decision, the wrong region, and the wrong role—then they burn touches on people who can’t approve anything. A DSO (Dental Service Organization) centralizes some combination of operations, recruiting, and purchasing and vendor management across multiple practices. This playbook is a routing workflow: map the decision to the stakeholder, route by region, confirm ownership fast, then pitch.

Who this is for

Dental recruiters and vendor teams trying to reach the right DSO stakeholder without wasting cycles, hurting deliverability, or annoying the wrong people.

Common use cases

• Recruiting: route to the right owner for interview approval and req workflow in a specific region.
• Coverage: route urgent staffing gaps to the ops owner for the market, then to recruiting for process.
• Vendor pilot: route a small pilot request to the workflow owner, then to the approver for that region.

Quick Answer

Core Answer

Target DSO decision makers by mapping the decision to the role (ops vs clinical vs recruiting), then route outreach by region and confirm ownership before pitching.

Key Insight

DSO structures vary; accuracy comes from matching decision type + region to the right role, not blasting one title across the whole org.

Best For

Dental recruiters and vendor teams trying to reach the right DSO stakeholder.

Compliance & Safety

This method is for legitimate recruiting outreach only. Always respect candidate privacy, opt-out requests, and local data laws. Heartbeat does not provide medical advice or legal counsel.

Framework: The “Right Person” Filter: owner vs regional clinical director vs recruiter

“DSO decision makers” is not one title. It’s a set of roles that can approve, block, or materially influence a specific decision in a specific region. Use this filter to pick the right first target.

• Practice owner: the person or entity with controlling authority over the practice’s business decisions. In DSOs, the “owner” is often corporate, not the dentist seeing patients.
• Clinical director (often regional): owns clinical standards and can influence provider selection and clinical acceptance.
• Regional director (ops): owns staffing coverage urgency, office performance, and operational approvals in a market. Titles vary (market leader, territory ops, director of operations), but the function is the same.
• Recruiter / talent acquisition: owns intake, screening workflow, and speed-to-interview; may not own final approval.

Ownership definition: “Owner” means the person or entity with controlling authority over business decisions (hiring model, vendor selection, budget approval). In DSOs, this is frequently corporate leadership rather than an individual dentist.

Decision-maker definition: the role that can approve, block, or materially influence the specific decision you’re asking for (interview approval, coverage authorization, pilot approval). Decision-maker is decision-specific, not title-specific.

TL;DR routing rules (for fast routing)

• If the decision is interview workflow: start with recruiter / talent acquisition for the region, then ask who owns final approval.
• If the decision is urgent coverage or staffing gaps: start with the regional director (ops) for that market, then route to recruiting if they confirm process ownership.
• If the decision is clinical acceptance/standards: start with the clinical director (regional if present), then confirm who signs off for the region.
• If the decision is a vendor pilot: start with the role that owns the workflow (often operations leadership or a centralized vendor/procurement owner), then confirm who can approve a pilot for that region.
• If you’re unsure whether it’s DSO-owned: start with a routing question that confirms whether a practice owner exists for that location.

The trade-off is… the more senior the role, the fewer touches you get before you’re ignored. Start where the decision is executed day-to-day, then escalate only after you confirm ownership.

Step-by-step method

Step 1) Classify the org: DSO vs practice owner vs mixed

Before you write outreach, decide which world you’re in:

• Independent practice: a practice owner is often the decision-maker for hiring and vendors.
• DSO: authority is split; the local dentist may be employed and not the approver.
• Mixed: some locations are acquired, some are affiliates; decision rights vary by region.

If you recruit independent practices and DSOs in the same pipeline, separate true owners from employed clinicians. Heartbeat.ai’s approach is explained here: how the sole proprietor filter works for owner targeting.

Step 2) Write the decision in one sentence (decision + region + next step)

Do not start with a pitch. Start with a decision statement you can route:

• Recruiting: “Confirm who approves interviews for GP dentists in [Region].”
• Coverage: “Confirm who authorizes short-term coverage for [Region/Market].”
• Vendor: “Confirm who can approve a pilot in [Region] (not a rollout).”

This sentence determines which role you should contact first.

Step 3) Decide whether the DSO is centralized or regionalized (fast test)

This is the fastest way to stop misrouting:

• Centralized pattern: recruiting and approvals run through HQ; regions execute. Your first target is often recruiting/TA or a centralized ops leader.
• Regionalized pattern: regions own staffing and many approvals. Your first target is often a regional director (ops) plus the region’s recruiting partner.

How to test without guessing: ask a routing question that includes the region. If the reply is “HQ handles that,” you’ve learned the structure in one touch.

Step 4) Build a role map (role → decision → region → channel)

DSO structures vary; don’t assume one org chart. Map roles to decisions and route by region. Use the Diagnostic Table below as your starting point, then update it based on what you learn from replies and calls.

Step 5) Run a two-step routing sequence (confirm → propose)

1. Confirm: “Are you the right person for [decision] in [region]?”
2. Propose: If yes, send a short value summary and a single next step. If no, ask who owns it.

This keeps your outreach respectful and reduces wasted touches on non-owners.

Step 6) Log routing outcomes by role (so next week is better)

If you don’t log routing outcomes, you’ll repeat the same mistakes with new titles. Use a simple routing log and review it weekly.

Diagnostic Table:

DSO Role Map (ROLE_MAP): role → owns what decision → best channel. This is your working diagnostic. Update it per DSO and per region.

Common stakeholder titles to include (by function)

• Recruiting: Talent Acquisition Partner, Recruiter, Recruiting Manager, Director of Talent Acquisition
• Operations: Regional Director, Director of Operations, Market President, Operations Manager
• Clinical: Regional Clinical Director, Clinical Director, Chief Clinical Officer (centralized)
• Corporate: VP Operations, VP People, Procurement/Vendor Management (for vendor decisions)

Use titles as a starting point, then let routing outcomes tell you what’s real for that DSO and region.

Weighted Checklist:

Score your targeting plan before you scale outreach. Total 100 points.

• Decision clarity (20): Can you state the ask in one sentence with region + next step?
• Role match (25): Does the role you’re targeting typically approve that decision (not just “in the org”)?
• Region routing (15): Are you targeting the right region/market owner (not HQ by default)?
• Owner vs employed separation (15): Have you separated practice owner targets from employed dentists?
• Channel fit (10): Does your first-touch channel match the role’s day (ops vs clinical vs recruiter)?
• Compliance hygiene (15): Clear identity, purpose, opt-out, and suppression of do-not-contact.

Interpretation:

• 80–100: ready to scale to more regions/titles.
• 60–79: run a small routing test first; expect misroutes.
• <60: fix role/region mapping before sending more volume.

Outreach Templates:

These templates are routing-first. Your goal is to confirm ownership and region, then earn the next step. Keep them short and stop immediately when someone opts out.

Template 1: Recruiter / TA (email)

Subject: Who owns interview approval for [role] in [region]?

Body: Hi [Name] — quick check: are you the right person for interview approval for [role] in [region], or is that owned by a regional director or clinical director?

If you point me to the right owner, I’ll send a 3-line summary and stop there. If you’d rather I don’t follow up, reply “no” and I’ll suppress immediately.

Optional variant: If this is centralized at HQ, who is the best owner for [region] so I can route it correctly?

What to log: Owner confirmed (Y/N) and referred-to role.

Template 2: Regional director (call + voicemail + email recap)

Voicemail (10–15 seconds): “Hi [Name], this is [You]. I’m trying to confirm who owns staffing coverage decisions for [region]. If that’s you, I’ll send a short note; if not, who should I route to?”

Email recap (3 sentences): Hi [Name] — left you a quick voicemail. I’m confirming who owns coverage/hiring decisions for [region]. If it’s not you, who’s the best person to route this to?

Optional variant: If your DSO routes this through a centralized recruiting team, who should I contact for [region]?

What to log: Centralized vs regionalized signal (based on their reply).

Template 3: Clinical director (email)

Subject: Clinical sign-off for providers in [region]?

Body: Hi [Name] — do you provide clinical sign-off for provider selection in [region], or is that centralized through a recruiting team or operations leadership?

If you’re not the owner, a name/title is perfect and I’ll route it correctly.

Optional variant: If clinical sign-off is regional, who is the clinical owner for [region]?

What to log: Clinical sign-off owner role for the region.

Template 4: Practice owner (independent) (call opener)

Opener: “Hi Dr. [Name]—quick question so I don’t waste your time: are you the practice owner making hiring/vendor decisions, or is this location part of a DSO?”

Optional variant: If it’s DSO-owned, who is the right regional owner for staffing decisions in your market?

What to log: Owner vs employed confirmation.

Required phrase: start free search & preview data

If you need to identify likely roles and route by region with fewer assumptions, you can start free search & preview data and build a targeted outreach set based on role signals rather than guessing.

Common pitfalls

• Assuming one org chart: DSOs reorganize by region, brand, and acquisition. A senior title may not own your decision in that market.
• Confusing influence with approval: a clinical director may influence selection but not approve budget; a regional director may approve urgency but not final contract.
• Skipping the routing question: if you don’t ask “who owns this decision for this region,” you’ll burn touches on polite non-owners.
• Mixing owner and employed messaging: pitching “owner” language to employed clinicians reduces replies and creates unnecessary friction.
• Over-emailing one domain: even legitimate outreach can hurt deliverability if you hammer a single DSO domain without suppression and pacing.

How to improve results

Measure this by… routing efficiency and channel health, broken down by role and region. If your metrics don’t improve week-over-week, your targeting is still guessing.

Measurement instructions

• Routing Accuracy Rate = correct owner confirmations / total first-touch conversations (e.g., per 100 first-touch conversations).
• Connect Rate = connected calls / total dials (e.g., per 100 dials).
• Answer Rate = human answers / connected calls (e.g., per 100 connected calls).
• Deliverability Rate = delivered emails / sent emails (e.g., per 100 sent emails).
• Bounce Rate = bounced emails / sent emails (e.g., per 100 sent emails).
• Reply Rate = replies / delivered emails (e.g., per 100 delivered emails).

Tip for reporting: normalize to “per 100” and keep the same denominator across roles so comparisons stay clean even when volumes differ.

Weekly optimization loop (what to change based on what you see)

1. If Routing Accuracy Rate is low: tighten your decision sentence and add region specificity. Remove titles that repeatedly route you elsewhere.
2. If Connect Rate is low: shift more first touches to email for that role, or adjust call windows for ops roles.
3. If Answer Rate is low: your connected calls are hitting gatekeepers/voicemail; refine who you dial and when.
4. If Deliverability Rate drops or Bounce Rate rises: slow volume, improve list hygiene, and suppress hard bounces immediately.
5. If Reply Rate is low but deliverability is fine: your message is too pitchy for first touch; revert to routing-first questions.

Legal and ethical use

This is a targeting strategy page: roles, org structure, and respectful outreach patterns. It is not a marketplace and it is not legal advice.

• Identify yourself and your purpose clearly.
• Honor opt-out requests quickly and permanently.
• Follow applicable privacy, anti-spam, and telemarketing rules for your jurisdiction and the recipient’s location.
• Use data minimization: only collect and store what you need for legitimate recruiting outreach.

Heartbeat.ai does not guarantee contact details. Always verify before high-stakes outreach and suppress anyone who asks not to be contacted.

Evidence and trust notes

For how we think about data quality, sourcing, and responsible use, see our Trust Methodology.

Directional industry context on dentistry and the profession: American Dental Association (ADA).

FAQs

What are DSO decision makers in practice?

They’re the roles that can approve, block, or materially influence a specific decision (hiring, coverage, vendor pilot) for a specific region. It’s not one universal title.

Should I start with recruiting, ops, or clinical leadership?

Start with the role that owns the workflow for your decision. Recruiting/TA often owns intake and scheduling. Ops often owns coverage urgency. Clinical leadership often owns clinical acceptance.

How do I avoid pitching practice owners when the location is DSO-owned?

Separate true practice owner targets from employed clinicians using ownership signals, then tailor messaging. If you’re unsure, ask the routing question first and stop after you get the owner.

How many titles should I include per DSO region?

Cover workflow owner + approver + clinical influence (often a small set), then prune based on routing outcomes. If a title repeatedly routes you elsewhere, remove it and target the referred-to role.

What’s the safest first message to send?

A short routing-first note: who owns the decision for the region, plus a clear opt-out. Save the pitch for after ownership is confirmed.

Next steps

• Pick one decision and one region. Write the one-sentence decision statement.
• Use the Diagnostic Table to choose your first role and your routing question.
• Run a small routing test, then update your ROLE_MAP based on referrals.
• When you’re ready to execute, start free search & preview data and route outreach by role and region.
• If you also recruit independent practices, review the sole proprietor filter explanation to keep owner targeting clean.
• For broader provider data context, see our dentist contact database guide.

Required phrase: DSO decision makers

Use this workflow to reach DSO decision makers with fewer wasted touches: decision first, region second, role third, pitch last.

About the Author

Ben Argeband is the Founder and CEO of Swordfish.ai and Heartbeat.ai. With deep expertise in data and SaaS, he has built two successful platforms trusted by over 50,000 sales and recruitment professionals. Ben’s mission is to help teams find direct contact information for hard-to-reach professionals and decision-makers, providing the shortest route to their next win. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn.