Do You Call Your Dental Office Regularly?

Almost a year ago, we published an article titled “When Was the Last Time You Called Your Dental Office?” However, judging from our recent experiences, we suspect that many of you have no idea how your office may sound to patients and referring health care providers.

Too many endodontics, oral surgery and other dental specialty practices sound neither professional nor friendly on the telephone. We have suggested a checklist to use when you call your office, including how many rings until the telephone is answered and whether you are immediately put on hold.

The bottom line, however, is that the individuals answering your telephone need to reflect the same professionalism and warmth toward patients that you show as a dental specialist. If the person answering your office telephone sounds professional and courteous to you, then that should suffice. However, if you are uncomfortable with the manner in which the telephone is answered, you need to address the issue.

The style in which your office telephone is answered probably has evolved over the years and developed into an ingrained habit—whether it is good or bad. You cannot necessarily change it by calling your office once and giving a lecture to your staff.

Like any other habit, answering your office telephone needs to be worked on repeatedly and over a period of months. Of course, you can use an outside service such as TrendSource, which we wrote about recently. 

We suggest, however, that you develop a schedule so that different people, such as your spouse, relatives and even close friends, call your office every couple of weeks for a period of several months. Obtain their feedback, and then use their comments as part of an ongoing staff training process. Don’t stop with the frequent test calls until you get the telephone answered just the way you want it.

Even once you are satisfied, you need to call your office once a month or every six weeks to make sure the style in which your telephone is being answered does not change. Designate a day on your calendar, make certain the calls are made and review how your telephones are being answered.

You can be the best periodontist or other dental specialist in town. However, if the folks answering your telephones are rude or uncaring, they are not only going to discourage patients but they can put off referring dentists and physicians. Don’t let this happen to your practice!