5 Ways Your Front Desk is Costing You Money

When was the last time you assessed the telephone performance of your front desk staff? Do you know how they are handling incoming calls? Do you know that they are more than likely costing you a lot of money? Time and time again, we notice that front desk personnel make common mistakes that lead to lost opportunities for clinic revenue. In most cases, the practitioner is completely unaware because they haven’t taken time to assess performance. In this post we list 5 ways your front desk staff is costing you money. 1. They are too Chatty. It’s great to be personable and friendly, but phone calls from patients or prospective patients aren’t appropriate for small talk and socialization. Your spinal decompression practice is a business; your front desk people need to treat calls in a more business-like manner. They need to get to the point, stop wasting valuable time and start focusing objectively on the elements that contribute to growing a business. 2. They are Selling. Selling prospective patients over the phone is the kiss of death. It pushes people away. If puts them in a defensive position. Sure, prospective patients need some convincing, but we are talking about people in pain and people who are concerned about their health and their lifestyle. In most cases, they don’t know what is wrong with them and they don’t know what to do about it. To convince them, you have to empathize with them, educate them and assure them that you can help. So put the word out, stop selling and start educating. 3. They are Missing Calls. A missed call is a missed opportunity. Front desk personnel who are unorganized or distracted by other responsibilities miss phone calls. When people take a break and the phone is unmanned for just a few minutes, calls are missed. It happens all the time. Typically, the callers are experiencing pain and want to talk with someone about a solution immediately. If there call goes unanswered, they won’t call back. They will call someone else and you just lost a business opportunity. 4. They aren’t Focused on the Goal. The goal is simple—schedule appointments and get more patients in the clinic. Too often, receptionists just answer a question or two and don’t follow up with a suggestion that the caller come in for a consultation to learn more about the program and decide if it is right for them. If your people are not focused on the goal, you’re likely going to lose that caller to another clinic. They Don’t Use a Script. The primary reason front desk staff are committing the above money-costing errors is that they don’t have a script to follow and they aren’t trained to use one. When phone scripts are implemented in a clinical practice they avoid the problems listed above by focusing the conversation on business, setting a professional, business-like tone, encouraging more appointment setting and avoiding the dreaded sales pitch. Take a minute to observe your front desk phone behaviors. It may wind up saving you a ton of money. What’s your policy for answering incoming phone calls? For a comprehensive compilation of proven phone scripts, from beginning to elite, visit http://bit.ly/1ouD9rf.