Does your practice see patients the average 26-32 hours per week? What opportunities is your practice missing out on the other 14 hours a week? Even if it’s one new patient a week, that’s a potential of 52 new patients a year that you could be missing out on!
What happens when patients, or new patients, try to contact your office on your afternoons or days off? Answering machine, voice mail? Most new patients don’t leave messages, they want a person.
Is your practice closed on Wednesdays or Fridays? Are you walking into Thursdays or Mondays with schedules that got blown to smithereens because of cancellations left on the answering machine? Make the change TODAY to maximize any and all opportunities that come your way!
Monitoring systems need to be in place for afternoon/days off within every practice. Patients want to speak to a real person, when they decide to pick up the phone and call, it’s because they need SOMETHING and they don’t want to wait. Whether it’s a long overdue appointment, registering as a new patient, or a billing question, we all know that nothing is more frustrating than reaching an automated system when we want response now!
♦♦” People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” Zig Ziglar ♦♦
This is so true! If a patient is calling your practice and get an answering machine, they feel frustrated. That is not the feeling you want to leave them with.
If a patient is calling to cancel, it is WAY too easy for them to leave a message. Having an experienced front desk person answering these calls maximizes your opportunity for A) Getting the patient to keep their original appointment B) Keeping them on the schedule SOMEWHERE.
If a new patient is calling in, having a real live person warming greeting them, welcoming them to your practice and getting them on the books TODAY compared to an answering machine that coldly tells them you’re out, or to call back and potentially losing that patient, is the only way to go. It leaves a great first impression to these new patients that you are available and care.
How is your practice handling phone coverage? It’s not something to be taken lightly. We encourage you to review your current coverage. When you make this change to maximize the existing opportunities within your practice you will see rapid results.
What would it be worth to have complete, experienced phone coverage supporting your practice in maximizing all of your opportunities?
Be sure to let your current patients know when you are extending your availability hours, increasing patient satisfaction and care! They’ll appreciate it!
Make every day a great day at your practice.