Lack of telephone skills There are many missed opportunities due to poorly handled calls. It's important for practices to look at their telephone skills through their patients' eyes. If incoming calls are not handled correctly, patients will not schedule, or they will schedule with no intention of showing up. Patients hear a voice over the phone and start to envision the practice and quality of care the office will provide. Here are some key tips for having a good phone system in place: * Answer the phone by the third ring. * Avoid a long greeting. Keep it short. * * * * * "Dr. Goodtooth's office, this is Sandy, how may I help you?" Tone and inflection should be upbeat, natural, courteous and attentive. Speak clearly; don't have food, candy or gum in your mouth if you're answering the call. Invite the patient to schedule an appointment. Listen and acknowledge patients; don't interrupt them. Prepare a "cheat sheet" for the front office team with key information Learn the top reasons for broken appointments * * * * * 64 No concrete financial arrangements. They are given an appointment in the future without a signed treatment plan. Patients don't fully comprehend the importance of the service. They are not told what's going on in their mouth and what'll happen if they don't come in and get the situation taken care of. They are unaware of why they need to return. Appointment not properly confirmed. The appointment isn't properly confirmed with the right verbal skill or apprehension about the appointment is not detected. Perhaps it is not confirmed at all. Patient objections and considerations are not detected and handled. Patients have unanswered questions. Patient is past due on his or her account and will typically stay away from the practice. JANUARY 2018 // dentaltown.com about the doctor and practice. Include answers to the most commonly asked questions. * Repeat names and phone numbers when taking messages. * Let callers know they made a good choice by calling your office. "I'm so glad you found us." What would your practice be like right now if you had front office team members who were absolute experts at handling calls? Open time on the schedule Time left open on the schedule is a tremendous missed opportunity in practices. Most of the free time is due to broken appointments. Broken appointments are the most prominent sources of lost revenue for dental practices and they add a lot of stress. A dental office schedule translates to revenues only if patients make it to the practice. When a provider is not busy, he or she is temporarily unemployed. Other reasons for open time on the schedule: * No one appointed to actively work on the schedule and make sure it is full and productive. * No production goals named and communicated to the person responsible for filling the schedule. * Lack of proactive calls going out to patients about unscheduled treatment or overdue recall. * Low treatment acceptance. * Lack of staff training.http://www.dentaltown.com