There’s an art to conversing with patients. A certain “back and forth” that allows you to lead the conversation while involving the patient. It’s similar to a formal dance. It’s important that your team be trained in this hypothetical dance. It’s most important that front desk employees master the steps. One flub by the front desk employee could mean that you’ll never even get to meet the patient on the other end of the line.
Here’s how the conversation usually goes when the front desk employee doesn’t know the dance:
Nancy (at the front desk): Dental Office, can I help you?
Caller: Hi, do you accept new patients?
Nancy: Yes we do!
Caller: Ok… Well, what do you charge for a cleaning?
Nancy: Well it depends on the cleaning type. I can’t just tell you because you’d have to see the dentist first to make sure you don’t have gum disease.
Caller: I don’t have gum disease. How much is just a regular cleaning.
Nancy: Well, let me check.. it’s um, well it’s… uhhh… $195.
Caller: Ok, thanks. I’ll call back to make an appointment.
Nancy: Great! Thanks. Bye.
It makes me cringe when I hear these calls. It’s painful to know that it typically costs at least $600 to attract a new patient. (We have ways to make it cost less.) Do you as a dentist even know that this phone call happened? Probably not. Start RIGHT NOW by getting phone tracking. We can set you up with this. Next, start training sessions. Your team will feel more confident answering the phones, presenting treatment plans and selling dentistry.
So here’s how the “dance” work. When the patient asks a question, you answer it, but then without hesitation ask a question. We will help you properly answer these tough questions:
- What do you charge for a cleaning?
- Do you take Blue Cross Blue Shield Dental Insurance?
Or ANY question really. With tracking and just a few hypothetical dance lessons, you’ll see a noticeable difference in the results of all of your marketing efforts.
Get your first training session at our Friday July 12th, 2013 training event for dental teams in Schaumburg, IL. $150/person. 8am-12pm.
