10 Commandments Your Front Desk Breaks Daily Part 1

Do you realize how much money is made—and lost—through front desk personnel behavior? The emphasis in the previous statement is on lost, because most front desk staffers make mistakes critical to your clinic’s business every single day. I this post, we discuss the first five of the “10 Commandments” for front desk personnel (watch for the next five soon). Adhering to these commandments will increase your patient caseload and help you build your decompression business. 1) Thou shalt have no other priorities before thee other than to schedule and ensure people keep their appointments. This is your goal. All focus should be on scheduling patients and getting them in the door. When the phone rings, staff should concentrate on nothing but the call. Rushing through the initial greeting is not good policy. A courteous and professional (not overly friendly) demeanor is required at all times to establish respect for your clinic and the expectation that patients meet their scheduling commitment by showing up on time. 2) Thou shalt not sell. Be natural. Be honest. Be informative. Be professional. Patients know when they are being sold and they subconsciously reject sales pitches. Don’t drive patients away, encourage them to schedule an appointment. 3) Honor thy scripts and know them like the back of thy hand. Commit scripts to memory as quickly as possible, and then practice delivering them in order to communicate in a natural, sincere and meaningful manner with the goal of scheduling an appointment. Scheduling an appointment can make a significant difference in a patient’s health and wellbeing. Scheduling an appointment can make a significant difference in the financial health of the clinic. 4) Thou shalt have and wear a headset. Headsets promote efficiency and save time and energy; they are worth the price. This will help front desk personnel avoid missed calls when they step away from the desk, and will free up their hands for typing, writing, etc. 5) Thou shalt forward thy calls at night to a cell phone or to an answering service. Missed calls means missed opportunities and a loss of revenue. Forward phone calls at night to a professional service. Fielding calls after hours is very important. Many people will schedule appointments after hours. Ensure your front desk personnel have an updated schedule with them at all times ensure accurate scheduling during off-office hours. Pay staff member for each after-hour phone call that they receive. It is more than worth it. Ensuring your front desk personnel understand your expectations, are well trained and perform according to these commandments will make a big difference in the number of patients you see, will avoid no-shows and will help you build your practice to new and more profitable heights. Do you use telephone-answering scripts? Get a complete set of proven telephone scripts for clinics, ranging from beginning to advanced to make your practice operate more professionally, more effectively and more profitably here: http://bit.ly/1ij1Ykg.