You’re definitely hearing the phones ringing, so you know the calls are coming in, but the chairs aren’t as full as you’d expect from all that ringing. In addition, the patients you do see, don’t seem to be coming back for work or even six month checkups. What’s going on at the front desk? Possibly the problem is in what’s being said when that busy phone gets answered, or when that patient is presented with treatment options after their appointment.
We here at Mosaic resisted suggesting and writing scripts for staff for quite a few years…..until we began to realize how badly they were needed. We didn’t want……and understandably, your staff members don’t want…… to sound like the folks we get when we call for computer support. We know they’re reading from a script and we don’t feel like we’re really getting any live assistance….even though were speaking with a live person. That’s become the problem in way too many of our offices, so our answer is a flexible version of scripting that assists with the ideas but doesn’t insist on every word being exactly as written.
When a staff member gets a new patient call asking if we “take their insurance”, there is so much more we can say than just “no we don’t” followed by a hang up. Scripting is helping our front office staff understand how to put the right spin into an answer to get patients in the door. Please understand, we never ask them to lie to patients, but we do want to present options for people to use their insurance plans in our office ……….whether we’re preferred providers or not. Here at Mosaic, the creation of scripts has been a long process….. and comes with training to understand that it’s OK to speak with your “voice” as long as you get the important ideas across.
Scripts are not just for new patient calls, however. Scripts are helpful in knowing what to say to the patient who isn’t getting the appointment time and day they want, who has a balance they’re not paying or who is just plain annoyed and needs help calming down.
Another time when scripts are becoming vital is in treatment presentation. Whether for the treatment coordinator in the orthodontic office, or the front desk associate in the family practice office, presenting treatment is a learned skill and scripting helps staff get that skill going without stumbling over their words. We’re finding good staff members are not necessarily good sales people and they need help getting the right words to get treatment scheduled. Once again, there’s no suggestion of hiding anything or being dishonest, just clear wording to present your excellent treatment in a way patients will see the value and move forward.
Scripting has become a necessary part of the current dental office experience so you want to be sure you get all your staff on the right page and saying the right things to keep the office busy and the patients happy. And always remember, flexibility is the key to good scripting….provide as many scenarios as you can think of while leaving room to maneuver for the ones you never even considered!
