When dentists learn about the concept of a dental answering service, it’s common that they have many questions. For example, if answering service employees aren’t required to show up to the office and learn how the practice operates, how are they supposed to help? How is there service any different than an answering machine? How are they supposed to use the practice’s existing software?
Today we’ll go over how this process works and set expectations for dentists looking to improve their office’s productivity!
If your current dental answering service only answers calls for you and leaves messages, you should definitely take a moment to learn what it should be offering you. While it’s convenient to have extra support when answering patient calls, it’s actually nothing more than a glorified call center. Most of these centers don’t cater to specific industries and will attempt to work with any company that hires them.
When you hear the phrase “dental answering service,” you may assume that it’s only job is to answer calls when your own staff is too busy speaking with patients in the practice. However, it truly is so much more than that. While having a dedicated support staff can catch more calls and take messages as needed, it can also make your patients feel like their part of something bigger when they visit the dentist.
You may have already experienced this at your practice or heard another dentist tell you about an angry patient they had because their dental bill was much higher than expected. When it comes to patients, the absolute worse thing your practice can do is mishandle their money.
When you speak with a marketing consultant for your practice, do they tell you that reaching a certain conversion rate is necessary? Do they hound you for not reaching rates as high as 80 percent? If so, you should know that reaching that percentage is actually nonsense. That’s why your local dental answering service wanted to provide practices three factors that actually help you keep patients.
Is it a common problem for your patients to not attend their follow-up appointments for treatment? Maybe you schedule an appointment for a first-time patient only to have them never show up? When people live such busy lives, it can be easy for them to forget when their dental appointments are happening. Once the date passes, they typically won’t bother to reschedule, costing you a patient and money.
How many times has this happened at your practice? A patient calls intending to schedule an appointment, but instead of being able to do so, they’re met with a voicemail and not a human being. Instead of leaving a voicemail with their contact information, they simply move on to another dental practice who does answer their call.
Do you have a specialty dental practice that focuses on periodontics, orthodontics, endodontics, or oral surgery? Have you ever tried to work with a dental support team to handle calls, scheduling, or chart audits only to find out they don’t work with specialty offices? Unfortunately, many dental support teams don’t have the knowledge or expertise to provide these services for specialty practices, or they don’t deal with support services like handling doctor referrals or complex insurance claims.