How Are You Scheduling?
A dental scheduling service is an invaluable tool for any dental practice. It allows you to add staff without having to increase your overhead, and it gives your patients a professional dental specialist who can answer their questions and schedule appointments with ease. But if you aren’t using a service in your practice then you’re missing out on several key benefits.
Voicemail systems were once the de facto method of communication for businesses, but today they’re often seen as outdated or impersonal. In reality, however, voicemails have some major disadvantages when compared with using an scheduling service:
Converting New Patients
Following Up
Unfortunately, there are a number of other problems that can arise from using voicemail. For one thing, it’s far too easy to forget or accidentally skip over a voicemail when you’re trying to catch up on the day’s messages. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that every message is checked while they’re still fresh in your mind.
Voicemails are also problematic because they don’t provide any context for your patients’ questions or concerns—they simply give the patient an opportunity to state their case without any kind of information about how you’ll address their needs as a dental practice owner and/or practitioner. Asking patients who call back not only gives them another chance at having their questions answered but also gives you more time to address those concerns before they become distractions during future appointments or referrals away from your practice altogether (which could cost money).
Emergency Management
If you’re a dental office manager, it’s important to know that what emergency options are available when your practice is closed. You can list an on-call number, but that can be overused or abused by patients that may not understand the meaning of emergency. However, not listing any line can create serious issues for a patient in pain.
A dental scheduling service solves this problem by answering and scheduling emergencies in real time. A vast majority of emergencies will not need to be sent to an on-call provider, but for the ones that are true dental emergencies, an agent can forward via a warm transfer and without providing the number directly. A perfect combination of availability and security!
Staffing Needs
When it comes to staffing needs, you never know what’s going to happen in the future. You might want to add another receptionist or two, but that can be expensive and difficult when you’re not sure whether your business will grow. A dental scheduling service can help with this problem by providing trained, professional staff when you need them and eliminating the need for any office space or equipment (like computers) if you don’t. For example, if a dental assistant needs an extra day off because of a family emergency or illness and there’s no one else available, an answering service can send someone over immediately—no fuss required!
A dental answering service can help you avoid the pitfalls of voicemail and make your practice a place where patients can get the immediate, professional attention that they need.
A dental scheduling and answering service can help you avoid the pitfalls of voicemail and make your practice a place where patients can get the immediate, professional attention that they need.
There are many reasons why using voicemail is a bad idea for a dental practice. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that it’s impersonal and unprofessional. When patients call to schedule an appointment or speak with their dentist, they want to hear from somebody who knows them personally and cares about their needs. It’s difficult for a patient to feel comfortable when speaking with someone over the phone who sounds like he or she has no idea what he or she is doing—or even who he or she is talking to!
Ditch Voicemail for Good
If you are looking to grow your practice and attract more patients, voicemail is not the answer. You can avoid these pitfalls by choosing a dental scheduling service instead of using a traditional phone system. (… and if you do decide on a service, make sure you are asking these questions to get the best value for your investment.) These services have been around for years, but they have gained popularity in recent years due to increased competition among dental practices.