Good receptionists are worth their weight in gold

Ashley Latter shares a few strategies that reception can adopt when dealing with new leads

I often say that the receptionist is probably the most important person in your practice. They can decide whether patients even come into the practice or not when they deal with new inquiries. Therefore, they play a large part in your practice’s success. Here is a true story to back this up, and although it is related to a hotel, there is plenty to learn from the experience.

AL: Hello, can I please book two family rooms for a week from Saturday? Do you have availability? (By the way, I am holding my credit card in my hand.)

SPO: Yes we have availability, but I cannot offer you those rooms unless you stay Friday night as well.

AL: I’m sorry, but my brother works on a Saturday, and we can only stay on the Saturday night. Can you please accommodate

us?

SPO: No, I am sorry; it is the policy of the hotel.

AL: We really like your hotel. Do you have any family rooms available?

SPO: Yes, they are all available.

AL: How much is it to stay then?

SPO: $264 a night, bed and breakfast.

AL: So, for 2 nights it would be $254 times two?

SPO: Yes.

AL: Okay, so it looks like you cannot help me here?

SPO: No, I am afraid not, sorry.

AL: Bye, then.

SPO: Goodnight.

First, let me please acknowledge that I respect their business model. If they fill their rooms just for one night, then it is obviously going to affect their profits, as they would be turning away weekend bookings. I understand; I am in business myself. However, the receptionist could have done several things differently:

1. Asked me my name and thanked me for inquiring about their services. Maybe even asked how we heard about the hotel. This is essential, as you need to see how they heard of you.
2.  If she had done this and checked her computer, she would have established that we had stayed there several times before. We were existing, happy customers.
3.  She could have been flexible and, on this occasion, offered us the rooms. She did say that they were all available, and it was less than 10 days before we wanted to visit the hotel.
4.  At the very least, she could have taken our details and offered to ring us back if anything changed. For example, if they had not sold any weekend packages, they could have then offered us the rooms. This would have meant a win-win situation for both parties. I would have been delighted if they had offered us the last option, as our family likes the hotel and the brand.

The result was no sale and a lost opportunity. The hotel probably lost a sale of around $960; after all, we would have had dinner there, a few bottles of wine, etc. They have probably lost future sales from us as well.

As good as gold

It really hit home to me how important the receptionist is in a dental practice─they can make or break your practice. A good receptionist is worth his/her weight in gold, while a bad one has the potential to ruin your practice, as the receptionist is probably doing for this hotel.

I know a lot of practices that spend thousands of dollars on advertising, search engine optimization (SEO) for their websites, and other marketing strategies. The inquiries that they generate are worth thousands of dollars and should be treated like gold.

It is imperative that your receptionist’s end goal is to ensure that any new inquiries make an appointment with your practice and not another.

Measuring inquiries

One thing I urge you to do is to measure how many new inquiries your practice receives and, most importantly, how the new patient has heard about you. This is vital to your operation as you might be spending money on marketing to attract new patients. This could be in the form of SEO, websites, advertising in the local newspaper or magazines, etc. You need to know what is working and if you are getting a return on your investment. You might be wasting your money, and as an owner you need to know what is working and what is not.

At a future team meeting, I urge you to ask this question and discuss it in detail: “What is the lifetime value of an average patient to your practice?”

Top tips for making your practice more productive:

• Keep score of each new inquiry
• Find out how they have heard of you and what prompted them to call you
• Have a discussion about the lifetime value of a patient with your whole team
• Treat each new lead like gold. Remember, if people are contacting you, then chances are they are genuinely interested in buying your services
• Patients might be making the call at lunchtime; ensure that you have someone answering the telephone, and you are not using an answering machine during the lunch hour.

Bio: Over the last 18 years, Ashley Latter has coached and trained more than 4,500 delegates on his 2-day dental ethical sales and communication program.