When the phone rings at your dental practice that means only one thing…. IT’S SHOWTIME!
When the phone rings, this is the time that the dental practice needs to have a designated person allocated to answering that phone, and talking to the caller as if they [the dental receptionist] has been sitting there all day waiting for THAT ONE CALL to come into the practice.
The caller to the practice must be made to feel so important, as if the receptionist is there only to serve them, the caller, and solve the caller’s problem.
And that nothing else matters.
When the phone rings, each and every time at the dental practice, it’s time to turn on the SUGAR COATING…
The reason for this is simple:
More often than not we do not know who is phoning the dental practice, and one hundred percent of the time, we have absolutely no idea whatsoever about the caller’s day, and how dramatic or traumatic that day may have been for them.
Our goal is to have each caller finish the call and feel uplifted, and have their spirits raised, and have them feel glad that they had phoned our dental practice, and how much better they felt having spoken with us.
For each and every caller.
Each and every day.
The second thing about callers to our dental practice is:
The second thing about callers to our dental practice is that more often than not, we don’t know who they are, what they need and how much they’re going to spend with us.
So we need to make sure that the feeling each caller experiences when phoning our dental practice is a very positive one.
We want every caller to our dental practice to put down the phone at the end of the call and say:
“WOW! I’m so glad I phoned that dental practice. They were so good. And I can’t wait to meet them in person…”
The third thing about callers to our dental practice is:
The third thing about callers to our dental practice is that you don’t know who they know, and you don’t know who they are going to refer, and you don’t know what each referral is going to need [treatment wise] and how much each referral is wanting to spend on their teeth.
Everybody knows someone, and if you always treat everybody well, there’s a good chance these people will refer people just like them to come and see you as a patient.
Fourthly…
Fourthly, and most importantly, whenever the phone rings at your dental practice, the person answering the phone needs to be 100% attentive with regards to what the caller is saying and asking.
The dental receptionist also needs to remember that at all times, they need to be on the caller’s agenda, not their own agenda.
There is no place on the phone for dental team members to be engaging in personal banter about themselves. All phone conversations need to be about the caller’s agenda.
Always.
Finally…
Never interrupt a caller while they are speaking and start talking about yourself and what you think…. your role on the phone is to help the caller exhaust their voice… letting them speak to completion.
This is the only way and the best way of finding out EXACTLY what the problem is that the caller is trying to solve.
And it is the best way of helping the caller take the next step towards solving their dental problem.
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Dr. David Moffet BDS FPFA CSP is a certified CX Experience coach. David works with his wife Jayne Bandy to help SME businesses improve their Customer Service Systems to create memorable World Class experiences for their valued clients and customers. Click here to find out how David and Jayne can help your business