Have you ever listened to how your Front Office people are answering your Dental Office phone?
Which Dentist has time to be listening to calls coming into the Dental Office?
In reality, don’t the patients come in to see the Dentist not the person taking the calls?
Ultimately they do need to see the Dentist but just imagine if someone is stopping them from coming in?
Have you ever thought that the person answering your phone at your Dental Office could actually be STOPPING patients from seeing the Dentist?
I don’t mean they would ever be doing it on purpose but even worse they may not even realise their words on the phone are stopping callers from making or keeping their appointments.
What we say to our patients on the phone makes the difference between them making an appointment and not making an appointment.
To that means, answering the phone must start with an outcome in mind.
Then, in the process, you find out everything you can to help meet the needs of the person calling so that you can make them an appointment.
The person calling has not really been helped if they make no appointment and never get to see your Dentist. When this happens the person answering the phone has actually stopped the caller from seeing your dentist.
Before the patient sees the Dentist they speak to the person you have entrusted to answer the phone.
Who is the person you have chosen to do this?
Do they know what to say and ask?
Has anyone trained them to know what to say?
Is anyone checking that they are saying the right things on the phone?
Next time you have a chance have a listen to what’s being said on your Dental Office phone and see what you think.
You may still not know if what they are saying on the phone is the most effective.
If you don’t like what you hear or you believe the phone answering could be better ….do something about it today!
This blog will feature simple practical ideas that are easy to implement tomorrow in your Dental Office, impacting immediately on your Patients’ Dental Phone Experiences, and ultimately, improving your practice profitability.
At present I have availability for two new private clients. For more information on how I can improve your Dental Office’s Phone Numbers contact me, Jayne Bandy at jayne@theDPE.com
Great points Jayne! I certainly believe that it’s true, that even if we have the best dentist in town whoever is answering the phone and scheduling the appointment to see the dentist is ultimately who makes or breaks the office phone call to patient in the chair ratio.