Business
Welcome back to another fantastic episode of the Driven Dental Implant Marketing podcast and video interview series! We’re continuing our new series with one of the top influencers in the industry, Laura Hatch. Laura is a Dental Office Manager and the Founder of Front Office Rocks, an online training resource that provides online and video training for your front office team to be as efficient and effective as possible with a focus on improving customer service and boosting patient retention. Laura is committed to empowering dental teams to provide the best customer care to their patients by offering her first-hand knowledge and expertise to help improve the day-to-day operations within your practice. She is a member of the American Association of Dental Office Managers, and in 2016, Laura was recognized as one of DPR’s Top 25 Women in Dentistry. In the podcast and video, we discussed: [01:33] Understanding that the front desk (and the phone) are the most critical aspects of your practice for getting new patients through the front door [05:11] Why the phone should be viewed as the “lifeline to the outside” and how you can use your phone skills to increase the number of new patients coming to your practice [06:53] Always “respect the phone” and remember that you only have one shot to make a good first impression – so make it count! [08:48] Mastering the art of multi-tasking at the front desk, switching from one hat to the other and why you must always have the right attitude on the phone [11:00] Common mistakes your team make when handling the phone and how to overcome them [13:25] The power of saying YES to patients and not letting insurance or money dictate the conversation [19:33] Why you should treat every phone call with the utmost respect and how to take control of the conversation [22:40] To script or not to script? - the benefits and drawbacks of using a script [24:26] How to handle high-value cases with the ultimate goal of getting them to book a face-to-face consultation at your practice [26:27] Reducing and/or eliminating cancellations and no-shows [30:25] Why you should never judge a patient by their tone of voice, physical appearance or their day job [35:08] The most phone calls come in between 11am and 2pm so make sure you have someone ready and available to take calls over lunch [36:46] How to manage phone calls when you have a patient in front of you [41:15] The best time to call a patient that has got in contact with your practice via email [43:20] Dealing with leads that come in after hours or on the weekend and how to make scheduling appointments out of hours fun for your team [50:15] How to answer the “price question” and why you should focus on financial options rather than providing an estimated quote over the phone [59:15] Understanding that you can train dental, but you can’t train personality [1:00:55] How to negotiate with patients who are adamant about INS benefits [1:03:19] Why you should spend more time getting to know the person behind the call We hope you enjoyed our discussion with Laura and found as much value from it as we did. If you would like to get in touch with Laura, you can visit Front Office Rocks, where you can learn more about her company, view free sample training videos and sign-up for dental customer service training for your entire team for as little as $5 per day! If you would like to book a FREE Strategy Session with Charles, go to drivendentalmarketing.com and hit the big green button to schedule a 15-minute strategy session covering how you can implement a program to attract and convert more high-value patients to your practice. For more information on this episode click here.