December 2019--JoAn Majors, founder of The Soft Skills Institute, talks about “secret shopper” research that led to developing a conversation system that is effective in converting callers to booked dental patients in all types of dental practices, whether they are single location, multi-location groups, or dental service organizations (DSOs).
Making a “telephone handshake” that is a true personal connection is more powerful than answering the caller’s questions with technical terminology the patient may not understand. A telephone handshake draws callers into a comfortable conversation that earns the trust of the caller and leads to call conversion.
Graciously ask the caller, “How may I help you?” If you must put the caller on hold, ask for permission to do this, for example, “Thank you for calling. I want to help you. May I put you on a brief hold?” Keep that hold as brief as possible. Sometimes calls on hold are dropped, so call back promptly to have a second opportunity to make a great first impression.
Your tone of voice conveys you sincerely want to assist the caller and care about the person on the other end.
As the caller reveals why they called, acknowledge the caller has called the right place. Depending on the caller’s intention, you might say:
You are selling the doctor and his or her skills. Compliment the dentist’s expertise and the other qualities patients rave about. I try to keep it short and not use a lot of words. Depending on why the prospective new patient called and any expressed concerns, you might say something like this.
When it sounds easy and simple, the patient feels more at ease. If a caller asks a question and the answer is confusing, the caller is not likely to make the appointment. Don’t use clinical terms the caller may not know, and do not correct the caller if the caller does not use the correct clinical term.
Just as in the last example above, you can simply say that an implant is a man-made tooth root on which a man-made tooth is placed. If a caller asks if you do all-ceramic crowns or Invisalign, say yes. You don’t need to explain all the different types of crowns or orthodontic procedures your dentist does.