August 20, 2019 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Football Season

Hello Friends,

Football season is upon us – whether or not you’re a fan of football, celebrating football season with your office employees, patients, and the community is a great way to have more fun and exceed expectations.

If you enjoy the complimentary ideas that I share each month, I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me on Google or Facebook here are the links GOOGLE and/orFACEBOOK

Here are a few ideas for you…

Special football themed day(s) in the office:

Wear your favorite football team gear.
Encourage your patients to dress up too.
Decorate the office.
Take lots of pictures to share on your social media pages.
Set up a photo booth area with fun football-related props.
Serve football & tailgate foods & bottled water.
Hand out some patient appreciation gifts such as imprinted lip balm, football shaped/decorated treats, for more ideas check out my Pinterest board HERE.
Consider inviting local businesses & referring offices to celebrate with you.

More ideas to celebrate football season:

Special Offers on Sport Mouthguards
Post sports related dental health tips on your social media pages.
Cheer on your local football teams via your social media platforms.
Sponsor a local football team.
Have a Raffle to win football game tickets or a football-themed gift basket to encourage Facebook Likes, Check-ins, Referrals, and Reviews on Google, Facebook, & Yelp.
Deliver football-themed snacks and gifts to local businesses and specialists.

Hope you enjoyed these ideas.

Please share your football fun pictures & ideas with me.

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

December 11, 2018 by bettyhayden

Tips and Ideas for How to Answer the Dental Office Telephone

Hello Friends,

“The telephone is your dental office lifeline.”

Whether it is a patient or referring dentist of a new or current patient calling your office, it is essential that the conversation is cared for in a professional, friendly manner that expresses genuine concern. What kind of impression is your dental office team creating for you? Do you know how effective they are in answering the office telephone? Does it really matter? Absolutely!

All of your marketing efforts lead people to the phone first. Don’t waste your money by losing the potential patient/referring dentist or aggravating current patients due to poor telephone skills and habits. Your entire team (clinical & admin) should be trained in how to properly answer the phone and handle the call. Answering the phone is a privilege and a great opportunity!

Here are 10 helpful telephone tips & ideas:

Smile before you pick up the phone.
Answer the phone within the first couple of rings.
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.)
Do NOT let the caller go to voice mail (or a busy signal!) during business hours (including lunch hours). People hate leaving messages. Oftentimes, they’ll hang up and call the next office on their list.
Never, ever answer the phone with “hold please” or “can you hold?”! Take a quick second, 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.
For the few times when you do need to put a caller on hold – please, consider having a great message on hold service. Here’s why: Should I Use A Message On Hold Service?
Get the caller’s name and use it often.
Find out how they heard about your office (document the referral source!).
“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.
Offer an appointment. Sounds obvious right? You might be surprised to know how many offices I have called as a “shopper” and was never offered an appointment.

Set aside some time to meet together as a team – everyone in the office should be trained on how to not only answer the phones but they should know how to handle the calls. At the very least, professionally & courteously direct the caller to someone who can help. Role play will help all to feel more comfortable handling different types of calls.

As a team, create your Telephone Principles (Scripts) which are your goals & expectations for each call.

Know how to respond to the following callers:

Shopper Callers – Great opportunity! Typically, the shopper caller has a need and is ready to “buy”, that’s why they are “shopping”. Don’t blow it by refusing to quote fees over the phone.
Insurance Questions – Have a great response to: “Do you take —-ins?
Wrong Numbers – offer an appointment anyway. 😉
Sales Calls – Be kind, they’re just doing their job. Maybe they need an appointment. Plus, you don’t know who they know. It’s simple – always be kind.
Organizations or local businesses requesting donations – Empower your team to fulfill their request. At the very least, offer them an appointment.

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.

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

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

Be sure to take a second and subscribe to receive in your email inbox each month, my FREE dental marketing and practice management tips & ideas. Or feel free to Email me (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I’ll send you an invitation to follow my ideas.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

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

April 12, 2017 by bettyhayden

Dental Marketing Ideas for Teacher Appreciation & Nurses Week

Hello Friends,

May 1^st – 7^th is Teacher Appreciation Week. (Some sources say it’s the May 5th thru 12th, however, it’s usually the first full week of May – Suggestion, check with your local school district to see which week they are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week.)

This is a great opportunity for dental offices to reach out to the teachers in their community.

How can you do that? Here are a few ideas for you:

First, let’s start with any of your patients that are teachers.

Pull a report with any patients that are school teachers and send “We Appreciate You” cards to them. Unexpected and very much welcomed.

Put together some little thank you gifts to give your teacher patients when they come in for their dental appointment during the month of May. See my Pinterest Board for a ton of ideas: Gift Ideas for School Teachers

Second, reach out to the teachers in the community that are not “yet” patients at your office.

Host a Favorite Teacher Contest. Invite local students to nominate their favorite teacher. Winning teacher gets FREE teeth whitening and a certificate stating they won for the favorite teacher contest. The classroom with the winning teacher gets a gift card for school supplies or pizza/ice cream lunch.

You could easily ask for donations from local businesses to add to the winning teacher’s prize or for their classroom.

National Nurses Day and Week – May 6th -12th. Instead of the teachers and schools, you’ll be reaching out to the nurses at local doctors offices, clinics, and hospitals using the ideas as listed above.

~ Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement ~ (related to Teachers & Nurses)

National Teacher Day: 2 (some sources say it’s on May 9th)

No Homework Day: 6

Nurses Day or National RN Recognition Day: 6

Student Nurse Day: 8

School Nurse Day: 10

International Nurses Day: 12

National Employee Health & Fitness Day: 17

National Wine Day: 25 😉

There are so many ways to celebrate teacher appreciation and nurses week in your dental office. If you would like some help creating a Teacher or Nurses Appreciation Marketing Campaign for your office. I have lots of ideas. Campaigns that include: ideas for special offers, patient give-aways/drawings, office fun, community involvement, cross marketing with local businesses and hygiene continuing care/incomplete treatment scripting, please contact me today at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

Wishing you all a very happy and productive Spring!

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! Or, if you have a dental marketing idea that you need some help with, feel free to comment here or email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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

March 28, 2017 by bettyhayden

The Benefits Of Using A Dental On-Hold Messaging Telephone Service

Hello Friends,

Have you ever called a local business and were immediately put on hold only to hear every few seconds this crazy annoying beeping sound or there is dead silence? You can’t tell if you’ve been disconnected or are still on hold. Or what about the business that has a radio playing as their on-hold message, except it’s all static or playing some lame music?

Now, I believe the best customer service is to never put the caller on hold. However, we all know that from time to time it happens. (For how to effectively answer the dental office telephone SEE How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone)

A while back I set one of my clients up with a message on hold service, created beautiful, short custom marketing messages for them and on the first day of using it, a caller said: “Oh, I didn’t know you do teeth whitening.” See how that works?

Having a quality message on hold system set up is a good thing. Use this service as an opportunity to educate and inform your callers while they are on hold.

Every dental office has information, news, events, or dental health facts and services that should be highlighted while a caller is put on hold.

In addition to playing music, what are some things you can talk about?

Special Office Events
Dental Services & Products
Dental Health Tips
Office Hours
Social Media Site Information (Invite callers to “like” / “follow” the office.)
Financial Expectations
Website Address

A message on hold system allows you to advertise to your patients and keep them informed on the latest and greatest office happenings. It will also distract them from the fact that they’ve been put on hold.

Please make sure that you keep your content fresh! One of my doctors offices has had the same on hold message for years!! I think I have it memorized. Blah!

There are many on hold messaging services out there.

My suggestions for what to look for in a message on hold service/system are:

Quality Sound & Voice Talent.
Inexpensive – You don’t need to spend a lot of money!
Helpful – Exceptional Customer Service.
Allows you to change your message and music throughout the year.
Doesn’t lock you into a long contract.
Will help you create effective messages.
Makes the setup and process easy on you and your team!
Allows you to listen to sample messages before buying.

And if you want my specific recommendation, it is Captive Audience. After much research, this is the company that I have found to meet my requirements and exceed my expectations. (See below for more information about Captive Audience)

Have you ever called your office and were put on hold? I know your patients and potential patients have, what are they hearing or not hearing? Make the time they’re on hold count!

Those are my thoughts on using a message on hold service.

Since we’re talking about putting callers on hold, might I add, never, ever answer the phone with “hold please” or “can you hold?”! Take a quick second, find out who they are and what they need. People prefer not being put on hold. If you are habitually needing to put callers on hold, you need more people answering the phones.

Are you receiving my free dental marketing and practice management ideas every month to your email? 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

P.P.S. Captive Audience – Ask for Kathy at 951.784.2875 – email ( kathy@captive- audience.com ) tell her Betty Hayden sent you. From personal experience, I know that Kathy will take good care of you.