coaching for dentists

Top Ten Tips for How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone
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Top Ten Tips for How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone

Hello Friends,

The phone is ringing, the calls are coming in, but appointments (or reappointments) aren’t being made. In fact, it is quite possible potential new patients are unintentionally being turned away.

“You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.”

What kind of impression is your dental office team creating for you? Do you really know how effective they are in answering the office telephone? Are you tracking how many calls come in and how many of those callers actually schedule an appointment? Does it really matter? Absolutely!

All your marketing efforts lead people to the phone first. Don’t waste your money by losing potential patients or aggravating current patients due to poor telephone skills and habits. Your entire team (clinical & admin) should be trained on how to properly answer the phone and effectively care for the caller.  

Answering the phone is a privilege and a great opportunity!

Here are 10 helpful telephone tips & ideas:

  1. Always Smile before you pick up the phone.
  2. Answer the phone within the first couple of rings.
  3. Answer the phone with a thank you for calling, identify the office, and give your name. (ex: Thank you for calling Dr. Smiles, this is Betty. I can help you.)
  4. Do NOT let the caller go to voice mail (or a busy signal!) during office hours (including and especially during lunch hours). People hate leaving messages. Oftentimes, they’ll hang up and call the next office on their list.
  5. Never, ever answer the phone with “Hold please” or “Can you hold?”! Take a quick second, and find out who they are and what they need. People hate to be put on hold. If you are habitually needing to put callers on hold, you need more people answering the phones.
  6. Acknowledge their question or request and reassure them that you will help them.
  7. Get the caller’s name early on and use it often. BEFORE you answer their initial question, you should know who you are talking with. (ie: “Great question, I can help you with that. Again, my name is Betty may I ask your name?”)
  8. If after asking when their last visit was you find out they’re new to the office – warmly welcome them and find out how they heard about your office (document the referral source in the software!).
  9. “What type of insurance do you have?” shouldn’t be the first thing you ask. In fact, let the caller bring that part up. Your goal is to build a relationship with the caller, to get to know them and their expectations.
  10. Offer an appointment. Sounds obvious right? You might be surprised to know how many offices miss this important step. Seriously, this one is so simple, and yet it is shocking how many offices totally miss this opportunity. Remember, the goal should be to end the call with an appointment scheduled so be sure to invite them to schedule.

Set aside some time to meet as a team – everyone in the office should be trained on how to not only answer the phones but should know how to effectively handle the calls. At the very least, professionally & courteously direct the caller to someone who can help.

Practice, Practice, Practice how to effectively handle different types of calls and questions until you feel comfortable. (Yes, I am talking about role-play – I know we hate role-play it’s uncomfortable (and embarrassing) to do but it’s necessary to be truly successful. Work through the discomfort. It’s worth it!)

As a team, create your Telephone Principles (scripting guidelines) which are based on your goals & expectations for each call.

The telephone ringing should never be viewed as an interruption to your already too-busy day. Certainly, handling the phones is a big responsibility but it’s an even bigger privilege. Don’t miss out on any opportunities to set your office apart from the others by always exceeding the caller’s expectations.

Practice Owners – If you have questions about how to successfully handle telephone calls or need help training your team, don’t wait, ask for help. I’m ready to help you. Email: bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

Please... If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice –  I would truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

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Established or New Dental Patients – Which is more important for practice growth?
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Established or New Dental Patients – Which is more important for practice growth?

Hello Friends,

So which is more important to your practice growth – obtaining new patients or retaining established patients?

The short answer, both are very important to successfully grow your dental practice.

Yes, new patients are very important, in fact, we should have a monthly new patient goal that we are working toward each month. Offices love new patients. I hear doctors and teams all the time saying “We need more new patients!” They believe that is the answer to all of their scheduling, production, and collection woes. But is that good enough to grow your practice, just ensuring that you’re getting fresh new patients each month?

Well, if you want to spend lots of money and ultimately work harder instead of smarter, then yes. But, I think it’s safe to say, that isn’t your intention or end goal.

And yet, that is exactly what I am seeing many doctors doing in their practice. They are investing time and money to bring in new patients but are not giving the same attention to retaining those new patients. Like they are just spinning their wheels and will eventually just burn out.

Oftentimes, I will see healthy new patient numbers each month, and yet, the office isn’t growing at all and their production is weak. Why is that? When I examine the data, I learn that far too many of their new patients are one-timers. They left the office without scheduling a future appointment. Why is this a bummer situation? Calling, emailing, texting, and snail-mailing our patients to get them to reappoint can be a drag. It’s tough to reach patients once they leave. It’s possible of course, but it takes money, time, and energy that could be better spent elsewhere. Unfortunately, we don’t always see those attempts being made to reach out to those unscheduled new patients. No one really knows what happens to the patient after their first visit. Or they make minimal attempts to reach out to the patients before giving up after a couple of months.

What does your new patient experience look like from the initial call, and first visit, to how you stay in touch with them after they leave?

Do you know what your new patient retention numbers look like?

So if the most expensive patients to acquire are your new patients, the easiest and best patients to fill your schedules are those who have come to you before.  But, you may be thinking… that takes time and money to reappoint established patients too. That’s true but you have a huge advantage when reaching out to established patients of record; It’s the power of pre-existing relationships.  (Oh, by the way, on average, it can cost up to six times more to gain a new patient than it does to retain an existing patient.)

What does retaining, reactivating, and reappointing established patients mean for you and the patient?

  • We are creatures of habit.  It’s easier to do something we are already doing than to do something different.
  • Established relationship. (They already know, like, and trust you. You just need to focus on strengthening that relationship)
  • No marketing costs – you’ve already paid the initial investment in getting the patient.

What are you doing to keep track of your established patients? What are you doing to ensure your established patients don’t slip through the cracks?

What are you doing to keep your new and established patients loyal to your practice?

Loyal patients, isn’t that what we want? Patients that return year after year, accept your treatment recommendations and refer their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They are loyal to your dental practice because they like and trust you. You’ve earned the privilege to serve them not just for a moment but for life.

Is it really a privilege to serve them? Absolutely! Any office that struggles with getting and keeping new patients, struggles with getting patients to accept their treatment recommendations, struggles with the hygiene department’s continuing care reports and Swiss cheese-like appointment schedules, struggles to keep up with all the record transfer requests from patients for their new dental office, will learn (hopefully quickly) that having loyal patients in your practice is an earned privilege. The best part with loyal patients is the aforementioned struggles are greatly reduced or eliminated altogether.

Of course, this takes some work – implementing and following closely, effective office systems/protocols are critical to you successfully retaining your patients and reaching/exceeding your practice goals.

Practice Owners, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

P.S. If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice –  I would truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!

January 2023 Dental Practice Management and Leadership Ideas
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January 2023 Dental Practice Management and Leadership Ideas

Hello Friends,

Are you looking to make this a great year? If you want different or better results than last year you’ll need to do something different this year. Start now – make your action plan for any wanted and needed improvements to your office including setting your production, collection, treatment, continuing education, new patient, administrative time, and happiness goals for 2023.

Here you’ll find some office management, leadership, and team-building ideas for January.

If you’re looking for dental marketing and additional practice growth ideas for January visit here: Marketing Ideas for January 2023

Leadership and Team Building

“Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” – Sam Walton

Training – Are you investing in your team by making sure they have proper training and retraining? For example, are you utilizing your practice management software to its full potential? Have you all been “properly” trained on how to use it?

January is Get Organized Month – This is a great time to get rid of any office clutter! Check the closets, cabinets, drawers, and desks for any clutter that can be organized, put away, or tossed. Clutter equals chaos. There is no room for chaos or clutter.

National Bagel Day: 15th – Bring in bagels for breakfast for the team to enjoy during your morning huddle.  

Fun at Work Day: Jan. 27th – Schedule a fun team-building activity, games, or contest for the team. Be sure to share the fun on your social media platforms.

Office Management Ideas

CDT Codes – Have you reviewed the 2023 CDT Code changes, additions, and deletions? If not, I strongly encourage you to make sure you’re up to date with coding and billing correctly.

Insurance Renewals: Many of your patients’ dental insurance maximums renewed on January 1. Phone, text, and/or email your patients with a friendly reminder of their renewed benefits and encourage them to make a reservation to come in for their hygiene wellness visit or to get started on their unscheduled treatment needs with the doctor. Include reminders on your social media pages.

Credit Report – Run your credit report. Check for any errors. Unless your patients have requested that you leave a credit on their account for future treatment – you shouldn’t have credits just sitting there.

What are your practice goals for 2023? I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a no-obligation, complimentary consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Growth Tips & Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today – simply click on the subscribe tab. Or If you prefer, send me your email address (to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Have a great month!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

Before you go – would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links:   GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK Thank you so much!

Dental Office Marketing and Practice Growth Ideas for January 2023
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Dental Office Marketing and Practice Growth Ideas for January 2023

Hello Friends,

What are you doing this month to exceed your patients’ expectations, attract more new patients, have more fun at work, and build relationships within your community?

You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind. ~ Irish Proverb

Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about, or would like to learn what opportunities for improvement exist in your practice... please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Here are some practice growth & marketing ideas that you can easily implement in your office…

January is National Hot Tea Month. Once again, I am sharing this idea because it is always appreciated by your patients and a little something extra that doesn’t cost a lot. (Remember, you want to exceed expectations, and doing these extra things on top of delivering excellent care and experiences is what gets your patients talking about you to others.)

Gift idea for your Patients: Give away packets of green tea that have a label on them saying “Our Patients are TEA-riffic!”

Service/Treatment Feature: Desensitizing Agents. Many people experience tooth sensitivity while drinking hot beverages. This is a good idea to offer treatments to help reduce or eliminate that sensitivity.

Educational Idea – I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore Day: Jan. 7th – Help your patients to see that they don’t have to take their Crowded Teeth, Yellow Teeth, Bad Breath, Sensitive Teeth, Loose Dentures, Snoring, or Headaches, anymore!  You can help them!

Referring Doctors or Local Business Appreciation Gift Idea

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day: 30th- Deliver Stress Relief Kits (i.e.: Squares of bubble wrap and chocolates) to local “high stress” businesses/offices. Such as police stations, doctors’ offices, schools, any business that caters to kids (haha), etc.  – most people enjoy some bubble wrap popping. 

Social Media Content Ideas to Boost Engagement During the month of January

International Quality of Life Month

National Soup Month

Sugar Awareness Week: 15-21

Cigarettes Are Hazardous To Your Health Day: 11th

National Bagel Day: 15th

National Cheese Lovers Day: 20th

Penguin Awareness Day: 20th

Dental Drill Appreciation Day: 26th

Do you like & appreciate the ideas, content, and photos that I share each month? If you do, would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links:   GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK Thank you so much!!!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and productive start to 2023!

Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Growth Tips & Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address (to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

Before you go – would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links:   GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK Thank you so much!