Lately there has been a lot of chat about what to do when multiple phone calls are coming into a dental office.

Ultimately the goal is to answer and offer solutions to all of our callers but in a busy practice this can be a challenge.

The best solution is:

“If you haven’t got enough people to answer the calls coming into your business then you need more people.”

I know it does seem like a sensible and straight forward solution to what is a problem for in many may.

Is this a problem in your business?

When you start tracking the calls coming into your office, you soon work out how your team are handling the volume of calls.

The Next Step

The next step is to see how many caller’s have to be placed on hold and how the calls are being answered.

Are these calls being managed well?

Are the calls being answered by the second or third ring?

Does the person answering the calls have enough time for each caller, or are they being rushed?

Does the person answering your calls know how to handle multiple calls?

I have noticed that the skill of handling multiple calls coming into a dental office is a challenge for many people.

Answering multiple calls is not the easiest thing to do, especially if no one has shown you how.

As soon as you have multiple lines, at some point in the day more than one or two lines will ring at the same time.

I know that is a good thing. You do want this to happen. It means that your dental office is in demand.

Placing someone on hold is all about the timing.

You need to ask yourself this question:

“How long will I be on the other line?” 

You must know where you are up to on each call at all times.

If a second call comes in and you have just started speaking to the first caller then you need to ask the second caller’s name, explain you are on another call and ask permission to call them back with a time frame for the call.

Keep in mind that there is a risk when you call a person back that they may have gone ahead and made another appointment at another dental office while they waited for you to call back, so never delay the return call.

When you pick up a second call always ask permission from the first caller if you can place them on hold for a moment.

Never pick up the second call and immediately tell the caller you are placing them on hold.

“Thank you for calling Green Dental. This is Jayne. Please hold.”

Think about those times when this has happened to you on the phone.

You feel unimportant and you have no idea how long you will be on hold.

You now run the risk that the person on hold will hang up.

Make It A Rule

Make it a rule never to do this!

I listen to many caller’s while they are on hold and hear them say out loud how annoyed they are having to wait so long.

Always ask the caller’s name and explain you are on another call and do they mind being on hold for a moment.

The other rule is to make sure you have something for your on-hold caller to listen to while they wait for you.

Many offices have music. The problem with music is it will not be music to the ears of everyone listening. If a caller does not like your choice of music, it can be irritating to the caller and inevitably, they hang up the phone before you get to them.

A Better Choice

A better choice than music is recorded information about your practice and how you help your patients. The message should be all about the caller and the patient experience they will expect at your practice.

A great message can even start the person on hold thinking about something they hadn’t even considered.

So have a good look at how your phones are answered and how the caller is placed on hold.

Most Dental Practices I speak with have no idea what their caller’s listen to when they are placed on hold.

I always recommend that you call your own office and be placed on hold so you can listen to what the caller is listening to. See what you think. If it’s awful then change it straight away!

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I LISTENED TO YOU and finally my Master Class is here ONLINE just for YOU!

Your team do not need a day off work to attend this Master Class. YOUR TEAM can complete the Dental Phone Excellence Master Class right there in your practice at their own pace. The BEST part of my Master Class is that you have it FOREVER once you purchase the Master Class.

It’s time to say GOODBYE to New Patients calling your office and NO APPOINTMENT ever being made, people calling your office about the price and never making an appointment and your patients continually calling to cancel their appointment!

There are 7 Learning Modules in this Master Class

•         Module 1: How to Effectively Communicate with Your Patients

•         Module 2: The 8 Steps to the New Patient Call

•         Module 3: How to Answer the Questions Callers Ask

•         Module 4: Correct and Easy Appointment Scheduling

•         Module 5: How to Prevent and Handle Cancellations

•         Module 6: How to Follow Up Your Patients

•         Module 7: Giving the Very Best Patient Experience

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There are a total of 42 Learning Videos and over 60 Worksheets, Checklists, Templates, Scripts and Flowcharts to help support your team’s learning.

This program has been designed to teach dental teams how to communicate more effectively with their patients and get better results.

This Master Class is easy to understand, easy to work through and you can go through the program at your own pace.

This is the Master Class that guarantees your success when you start using the strategies and skills we go through together.

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Call Tracking Excellence

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