Patient phone calls are an everyday component of any dental practice. And however mundane they may seem, handling them properly is anything but a minor matter. Believe it or not, the way you handle phone calls can make or break your business. Implementing effective dental practice management tips can significantly impact your patient interactions and overall success.
Of course, there are the obvious “to-do’s” when it comes to handling phone calls. Those handling the call should be friendly, approachable, and welcoming. They should also provide excellent customer service and be prepared to answer any questions patients might have. However, there’s more to handling calls than just the basics, especially when it comes to preventing patient cancellations in dentistry.
For this week’s blog post, I want to dive deeper and give you three tips for handling phone calls in your dental practice, including strategies to reduce dental appointment cancellations.
1. Have your hygienist call their overdue patients themselves.
Having your hygienist call overdue re-care patients goes a lot further than having the front desk call them. They’ll be able to build that relationship with more trust, genuine connection, and so on. That’s not to mention that they likely have more rapport with that patient and will thus have an easier time getting them to come back in for treatment, follow treatment recommendations, and so on. This approach can be an effective way to prevent patient cancellations in dentistry.
Some dentists may disagree. They may be of the opinion that their hygienist shouldn’t have enough time on their hands to call patients—that job should entirely belong to a team member like the patient care coordinator. In that case, I’d urge you to at least have the expectation that—if a patient cancels or if the hygienist is left with a gap in their schedule—then they’ll at least work with the patient care coordinator to start calling back and scheduling treatment for overdue re-care patients.
You can implement this expectation by communicating with the patient care coordinator. Tell them, “If you ever have too much going on, just tell the hygienist to call their overdue re-care patients.” Sometimes they might be territorial but, usually, it’s going to be a relief to them to get some help. And don’t forget to relay the same message to your hygienist to chip in wherever necessary—especially if they find themselves twiddling their thumbs with “nothing” to do on some days. This dental appointment scheduling strategy can help fill unexpected gaps and reduce the impact of cancellations.
2. Communicate the numbers with your front desk team—and show them how they add up.
Let’s face it: one of the reasons you’re here is because you don’t want your team mishandling patient phone calls. For each phone call that is mishandled, tons of potential money is flying out the door. However, your front desk team may not fully understand just how much money is in their hands with each phone call they handle or mishandle.
So, I urge you to not only communicate the numbers but to show them how the numbers add up. For example, let’s say you tell a member of your front desk that—for each patient phone call—$300 is on the line. That might light a fire under some team members, but $300 may not seem groundbreaking to others.
However, if you extrapolate that $300 sum over a five-year period, then you’d multiply $300 x 5. Then, if you add a (very conservative) $2,000 or so—for restorative value—then each patient phone call has a five year value of $3,500. Again, that’s a conservative value for restorative care; $2,000 may very well be how much they spend for treatment over the course of one or two years. That patient will likely refer someone else to the practice, too, which means you can multiply $3,500 by 2 and land at $7,000 per patient phone call. That’s also a conservative number; usually, they have spouses, parents, friends, and so on who they may send your way. Telling your front desk team that at least $7,000 is on the line with each phone may shift their perspective.
Of course, these numbers are going to be super exciting for the dentist to look at. However, your staff might not be as hyped up about your bottom line—especially if they’re only concerned about their hourly wage. So, how do you communicate this to your staff in a way that doesn’t seem like you’re just putting a dollar on patients? How do you show that handling dental practice cancellations isn’t only about how much money you’re making? Well, this might sound controversial, but the happiest offices are the most profitable offices.
Think about it… If you can make extra dough and can dish out bonuses or raises to your team, they’re going to be happier. If business is booming and you aren’t laying people off, disciplining your team members about not meeting their numbers, etc., then everyone is going to feel less stressed. If you can afford to bring on new members who can help handle the workload, your team will battle less burnout. If you’re able to give people days off because the business is running like a well-oiled machine, your staff is going to appreciate taking a breather. If you’re able to bring in more patients, you’re also going to be impacting more lives. Anyway, the point is, you can relay to your team that, if the practice makes more money, life is going to get easier for everybody—not just you.
3. Have your front desk team use proper “phone etiquette” when conversing with patients who are canceling.
Another big aspect of handling phone calls is handling dental practice cancellations. So, we need to ask the right questions when patients are canceling. When on the phone with a patient who is trying to cancel, we can use verbiage that opens the conversation up—or “phone etiquette.”
At the very least, have your front desk staff member ask a question about why that patient is trying to cancel. This will likely put them in a position where they must explain why they can’t make it. Once your team starts asking questions that reveal the reasons behind a cancellation, they may learn a patient’s cancellation is due to something like a financial issue. That gives them the opportunity to show the patient what alternatives they can explore to help pay for treatment. Maybe this comes in the form of a membership plan, a way to utilize insurance, and so on. These strategies can help reduce dental appointment cancellations.
It’s important to know that you shouldn’t be interrogating patients or putting them under pressure. The trick behind using phone etiquette is putting the ball in the patient’s court and helping them realize that treatment is always available. The aim is to explore the obstacles getting in the way of them coming in and try to find a way to hurdle them. You want the patient to feel cared for rather than shamed for not coming in, and this approach is crucial for preventing patient cancellations in dentistry.
Handling phone calls may seem simple enough, but it sure gets tricky.
It may seem like a straightforward process, but handling incoming phone calls can be complicated for a dental practice. And, in the current competitive market, it is vital for a dental practice to be able to provide the best customer service possible. Otherwise, a patient may go to the practice down the street.
I run a community full of dental professionals just like you. So, join the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook group and reach out! People from all across the globe will be happy to tell you how they go about handling dental practice cancellations and implementing effective dental practice management tips in their practices.
