Teaser: It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that there’s a “black hole” in practice marketing that can be as devastating as any in the universe. It’s the black hole of lost phone calls and it’s costing practitioners a fortune…
If you suspect that your practice is losing potential revenue to lost phone calls, you are probably right. Most practices lose $50,000 or more each year due to missed, lost or mishandled phone calls. Some lose as much as $250,000 yearly!
In order to correct this problem, you must first understand all the different ways in which calls can be lost – the red flags. They include:
- Busy office does not have enough phone lines
- Automated attendant (answering machine) picks up all calls
- Staff phone person is multi-tasking, sounds busy or puts callers on hold
- Staff phone person cannot answer basic questions about your practice (hours, fees, etc.)
- Staff phone person/receptionist is hard to understand
- Staff phone person/receptionist does not speak the language of most of your patients
- Phones go unanswered during lunch, on Fridays, etc.
- Staff person has the wrong personality for customer service
- Staff person has a poor attitude/not a “people” person
All of the above are correctable. The most effective way to close this “black hole” is to have your staff professionally trained.
For more information visit: Practice Builders