Most dentists and dental professionals have a common type of employee they prefer at their front desk. When asked who their favorite front desk person is you will usually get the same answer: The “competent one.” Dentists tend to love the staff member that knows all about insurance, or who is great with Eaglesoft. I don’t deny for a second that competency is essential for all employees, but I want you to contemplate a skillset that is even more significant to your practice (and often lacking in front desk teams): rapport, communication, and good old-fashioned customer service.
Sadly, many doctors assume that these skills already exists in their “competent” team members, but let me tell you, practice-building service and rapport techniques are more than being warm, friendly, and polite, and certainly more than being “professional” or “competent”. Many dentists just aren’t aware of the power their front office has to grow (or suppress) their practice.
Most dental professionals can name a local practice that seems to thrive and grow above others in town. (You know, the one adding staff while you struggle to fill hygiene openings every week.) You may assume that they have found a miracle marketing campaign, or that their location is superior, or that they take insurance plans you don’t, or that they have figured out the newest Google algorithm, or some other magic. Effective advertising is helpful, but it is only the first step in earning new patients and growing your practice.
Brace yourself for this painful statistic from ROI Call Tracker: the average practice receives 135 new patient call opportunities every month, but only 48 are scheduled. What?! It’s true. The average practice squanders 87 new patient opportunities per month. Meaning, basically, 2/3 of the time they fail to convert a call to a patient. Even if you think these numbers seem high, I want you to consider how many calls come to YOUR practice that will never convert to a patient? The answer is: much higher than you think. I promise you that it happens at least once every day.
So how do you start to re-define the role of your front desk team? First, determine how you want people to feel when they call your office? Talk with your team about it and make sure they are answering your calls with right mindset. For example, is their insurance plan really the first thing you want to know about them? Or, more importantly, is their insurance plan the first thing they want you to know about them? Listen closely to the intention and tone of the phone calls in your practice. (Record them if you can!) Is there incongruity between your expectations and the reality of how calls are handled? Also, listen to see if the staff is asking for an appointment. Often, prospective patients will get their questions answered but are never even asked to appoint.
Finally, invest in training for your front desk team. Most dentists agree that customer service is essential, but never actually train for it. Start now! Sign up below for a great webinar about phone skills and other silent killers in the dental office or shoot me an email to schedule a free phone skills evaluation gen@allstardentalacademy.com
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