customer service

Dental Office Practice Management, Leadership, and Marketing Tips and Ideas for October 2019
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Dental Office Practice Management, Leadership, and Marketing Tips and Ideas for October 2019

Hello Friends,

Ready for a fantastic final quarter?

October is the start of your final quarter for the year. It’s your opportunity to make it your best fourth quarter ever. To help you plan for that, today I’m sharing some tips and ideas with you. Ideas that when implemented will keep things fresh and fun in your office. More importantly, they will exceed your current patients and potential patients’ expectations which will allow you to focus on doing what you do best, helping your patients achieve healthy and beautiful smiles. Why? Because exceeding your patients’ expectations will help keep them loyal to your office.

Dental Leadership, Management, and Marketing

Fall Dental Marketing and Management Tips and Ideas Betty Hayden Dental Coach

Tips and Ideas for October 2019

Leadership ~

“A boss has the title; a leader has the people.” Simon Sinek

Employee Appreciation –

National Chocolate Day – October 28th / Bring in a sweet chocolatey treat for the team.

Continuing Education – A great way to end 2019 on a high note is to attend TBSE 2019 (The Best Seminar Ever!). You will love it!! Plus, I’ll be there, and it would be awesome to meet you in person!!  (If you’re already registered to attend please send me a message that you’ll be there!) FYI, TBSE 2019 (25th Anniversary) is the last year for TBSE!

See why this is truly the best seminar here: The Best Dental Seminar Ever

Practice Management ~

Improve Your Office Day – October 4th – Take this opportunity to openly and honestly examine ways to improve your office. This might be the perfect time to schedule a complimentary consultation with me to learn how a coaching relationship will help you to improve your office.

Boss’s Day is October 16th – Plan now to make this day special for your boss(es).

Michigan Dental Coach Bosses Day

Use it or Lose it Reminders – Did you get your end of year insurance dental benefit use it or lose it reminder letters/emails out?  Would you like a sample Use it or Lose it letter? Email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will gladly send one over to you.

Betty Hayden Dental Coach End of Year Insurance Renewal Reminders

Customer Service Week: 7th -11th  –

Excellent theme for your next team meeting.  What ideas can you come up with as a team to exceed your patients’ expectations by consistently delivering excellent customer service?

  • What do you do when you run late? (If you’re habitually running behind, please change that habit! It’s disrespectful to your patients’ and your team)
  • What do you do when the lab (or you) screws up a case?
  • What about comfort? How are you making the visit as comfortable as possible for your patients?
  • What about your telephone skills? SEE How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone (Telephone Principles)
  • How about after the treatment – are you making post-op calls?
  • How are you staying in touch with your patients in between their 6-month hygiene appointments?

Marketing ~

Exceed Expectations for your current patients and the potential new patients that you engage within your community.

Theme #1: Apple Month – See more ideas here: Dental Office Tips and Ideas for October’s National Apple Month

dental office tips and ideas for apple month betty hayden

Theme #2: Candy Buy Back – Host a Candy Buy Back Event for your patients and potential patients within the community.

Theme #3: Breast Cancer Awareness Month – See more ideas here: Dental Office Ideas for Octobers Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Theme #4: National Orthodontic Health Month – See more ideas here: National Orthodontic Health Month Tips and Ideas For Your Ortho Office

Patient & Community Dental Health Education Idea ~

October is National Dental Hygiene Month –

National Dental Hygiene Month Betty Hayden Consulting

All month-long share posts on your social media platforms regarding the importance of regular preventive dental visits to the dentist.

National Field Trip Month –

Invite local schools to come to the office for a free & educational field trip to the dentist.

Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of October ~

Spinach Lovers Month

World Smile Day: 4th

Wear Something Gaudy Day: 17th

National Knock-Knock Jokes Day: 31st

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas?   I would love and truly appreciate for you to please take a second to leave a review/recommendation for me here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

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

Dental Office Practice Management Tips and Ideas for October
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Dental Office Practice Management Tips and Ideas for October

Hello Friends,

The ideas that I’m sharing for the month of October can be done any time of year but sometimes, it helps to have a little push. So here is your gentle push to make plans now to have a great start to the final quarter for the year.

 

Fall Dental Office Practice Management Ideas

Use it or Lose it Reminders – Get your letters (& phone calls) out to your patients reminding them to use any insurance benefits they have remaining for 2017 to complete any needed treatment or for their continuing care hygiene appointment before they lose them.

SEE Remaining Maximum Tips and Ideas (Sample Letter)

Improve Your Office Day – October 4th – (It is also Taco day and Vodka day, coincidence? I think not.)

Take this opportunity to examine ways to improve your office. Here are some ideas to get you started:  SEE Improve your Office

Customer Service Week – October 2nd -6th  – This is a great theme for your next team meeting.  What ideas can you come up with as a team to exceed your patients’ expectations by consistently delivering excellent customer service?

Boss’s Day is October 16th  – Plan now to make this day special for your boss(es).

Get to Know Your Customers Day is October 19th – Perhaps you could have a Business Card Drawing for a Free Lunch. Have fun with this day or turn it into a week or month-long event. This will allow you to get to know your patients better as well as learn what local businesses you want to focus some of your marketing efforts on.

October is National Dental Hygiene Month – What can be done to improve your hygiene department? Examine your current protocols and systems…both clinical and administrative.

Combine these practice management ideas with my Marketing Ideas and you will have a great October (and final quarter) as a team! Not to mention, your patients will love you for it!

As always, I would love to hear your ideas! Should you need any help implementing these ideas or have any other questions that I can help you answer… I’m ready to help!

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. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Please share my blog with your dental friends.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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

Scripting for when your dental patient calls to cancel their cleaning appointment…
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Scripting for when your dental patient calls to cancel their cleaning appointment…

Hello Friends,

I OFTEN get asked the question, what should we say when a patient calls to cancel their hygiene appointment?

Today, I’ll share with you some scripting examples for handling calls from patients that want to cancel same-day hygiene appointments.

what do I say when patient calls to cancel their dental hygiene appointment

Please note: this isn’t scripting for perio appointment cancellations. You would use different scripting for those types of appointments.

Scenario #1:

Patient: I’m calling to cancel my appointment for today at 10:00, it’s just for a cleaning.

Admin: NOOOOO!

What do you do? It’s 9:00, how are you supposed to fill that time slot?

Scenario #2:

Patient: I’m calling to cancel my appointment for today at 4:00, it’s just for a cleaning.

Admin: YESSSSS!

What do you do? Celebrate, of course! Now you can get out early.

I’m kidding! We hate cancellations (even the “just a cleaning” ones) at any time of day because they all kill profitability.

So what do you say to the patient when they try to cancel? How do you save the appointment?

You can’t save them all, there are unavoidable, legitimate reasons that some patients are canceling their appointment. For help filling the schedule with those inevitable last-minute cancellations, please see: Ideas to Fill Holes in the Dental Hygiene Schedule

For all others, try this:

Patient: I’m calling to cancel my appointment for today at 10:00, it’s just for a cleaning.

Admin: (with genuine concern) “Oh no! I hope everything is alright. Jenny was really looking forward to seeing you today for your appointment. Is there any way you can make your reservation?” or

“Oh no, Jenny will be so disappointed, she reserved this time just for you, is there any way you can keep your reservation?” or

“Oh no! Thank you for calling, I know Jenny will be concerned, is there anything we can do so that you can be here today?”

or, if you have a broken appointment policy…

Admin: “Oh no! I’d hate for you to have to pay the broken appointment fee, is there any way you can make your reservation with Jenny?”

Now, if the patient is sorry and truly can’t make the appointment and this is the first time they’ve canceled an appointment, say this:

Admin: “I know that Jenny was looking forward to seeing you, I’m sorry that you weren’t able to provide us with 48 hrs notice due to (whatever their reason was) – we’ll go ahead and waive the broken appointment fee this time. Let’s get you rescheduled…”

For patients calling to cancel due to work, try the following…

Patient: I can’t take time off of work, or I have to work…

Admin: “My job is important to me too. We really hate for you to not be able to make your appointment. Is there any way you could have someone cover for you for that time or would it help if we wrote a note to your supervisor?”

STILL NO:

Admin: “We obviously made an appointment for you that isn’t convenient. Since your appointments are important I want to make sure we never do that again. Is there a time we can schedule that you know you will be convenient?”

Document your conversation and that you waived the fee for this time and that the patient is aware next time they’ll be charged.

If the patient refuses to reschedule their appointment…

Admin: “That’s fine, but if I don’t hear back from you, I will call you on ______, how does that sound?” (Follow through on that promise.)

For patients that habitually cancel, I urge you to charge them your broken appointment fee and do not reschedule their appointment.

Admin:  “Mr/Ms (use their name), I can see that you have a really busy schedule and that makes it difficult for you to commit to an appointment time. I thought I was a busy person!
What I recommend is that we place you on our “same day” call list. If we have an unexpected change in our schedule we’ll give you a call. How does that sound?”

Document your conversation! Follow-up accordingly.

Work together as a team to come up with scripting that works for your office. Think of all the different scenarios and reasons patients call to cancel (cost, illness, no babysitter, schedule conflicts, etc.) and role-play the best responses. Your goal should be, if appropriate, respectfully help the patient find a way to keep the appointment as scheduled without threatening or embarrassing them.

If you have created this cancellation monster, it will take some time to re-train your team and your patients. How do we train our patients that it’s ok to cancel last-minute?

  • Not creating true value for the appointment through patient education.
  • Constantly rescheduling patients appointments because of some change to the provider’s schedule.
  • Not respecting the patients time by running behind and not giving the very best experience from start to finish.
  • Telling the patient, no problem or that it’s OK when they call to cancel.
  • Poor and inconsistent appointment reminder systems and protocols.
  • Not acknowledging no-shows with a telephone call 5 minutes after their scheduled appointment time and with a follow-up letter/text/email.

Sadly, I have heard many offices tell the patients, no problem when they call to cancel. They don’t even attempt to reschedule. They just say OK and hang up. I’m not joking. This really happens.

Ultimately, preventing cancellations starts with creating value for the appointment before it’s even scheduled… it’s never “just a cleaning” that they are trying to cancel.

Create a strong hygiene continuing care protocol for your team and consistently follow it.

If your office needs help in creating a protocol for how to track hygiene continuing care reports/numbers, appointment scripting, patient correspondence, etc. please contact me today for a complimentary consultation at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK

Are you receiving my free dental marketing and practice management ideas every month to your inbox? If not, PLEASE take a second and follow today or send me your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea. Feel free to share my blog with your dental friends. ~ Thank you!

Yours for Greater Success!

~Betty

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

 

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Dental Marketing Ideas for December

Hello Friends,

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was sharing ideas with you for the start of the year and here we are, at the end of the year and I’m sharing dental marketing ideas for December.

winter dental marketing ideas betty hayden consulting

How does your final quarter look? Make plans now to have the best December ever in your dental practice. These ideas should help…

Incomplete Treatment:

Do you have any patients with incomplete treatment or ones that are due/past due in hygiene with remaining insurance benefits that will expire at the end of this year? Do what you can to help them see the need and value in scheduling an appointment this month. Some offices invite their patients to take advantage of “today only” special offers that they share via their social media sites, email blasts, and telephone calls.

Be alert to any patients that are coming in with the doctor or hygienist and have incomplete treatment or are due in hygiene. If the schedule allows, encourage them to take care of both at the same time. This means carefully reviewing all charts in advance of the appointment.

December is a great time for Special offers on Teeth Whitening, Electric Toothbrushes, and Invisalign.

Consider having a drawing for a gift basket or gift card to a local business that your patients can enter to win when they come in for their dental appointment before December 23rd.

 Cosmetic Dentistry Opportunity:

Many of your patients will be attending holiday parties/events during the month of December. Typically with these special occasions come a lot of picture-taking. Now is a great time to help them see how they can easily get their smile ready for the camera with teeth whitening and other cosmetic treatment/procedures.

Remember, Gift Certificates for Teeth Whitening should always be available for your patients to purchase as gifts for their loved ones.

.Here are 3 More Ways to Help Your Patients

& Team Smile in December!

 National Cookie Day: 4th / National Cocoa Day: 12th- Package up a cookie with your office label and a packet of hot cocoa to hand out to your patients on this day or do it for the entire week or month. Your patients will love this sweet treat. A great way to exceed their expectations. See more patient gift ideas here: Patient Appreciation Gift Ideas

 It’s About Time Week – 25th – 31st – What is it time for? Employee Reviews?, A Team meeting?, To give your employees the continuing education and training that they need?, To finally, let that toxic employee go?, To Strengthen your Hygiene Continuing Care Protocol?, New Office Equipment?, New Office Uniforms?…. you get the idea 😉 If you aren’t sure, ask your team, I’m confident they’ll have a list of ideas for you.

 National 12-hour Fresh Breath Day: 12th – Great Dental Education Opportunity to discuss with your patients in the office as well as in a blog post and on your social media sites. As well as a service/treatment opportunity in the office.

 And one more bonus idea…

Travel Toothbrush Bags – Many of your patients travel during the holidays – Surprise them with a small gift for their travels. Put together toothbrush bags that include a toothbrush, floss, toothpaste and a “what to do in a dental emergency” handout. You could also include other travel sized items such as lotion, Advil, lip balm, etc.

If you find yourself with some open time in the schedule that you haven’t been able to fill, use the time to:

  • Clean the office really well
  • Have some team building mtgs and/or team mtgs to discuss marketing, production and collection goals for the new year, create and schedule posts for your social media sites.
  • Complete Employee Reviews & Goals

 I would love to hear all about your plans to make December a great month. Please comment below to share your ideas.

If you’re not following my free dental marketing ideas via your email each month, please do so today. If you send me your email address, I’m happy to send you an invitation to follow my blog. That way, you won’t miss out on any ideas.

Feel free to share this post with all of your dental friends!

 Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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