Reception New 6 Dec

TM


The Masters of Marketing Administration is an educational advancement for training of business owners and their administrative and support sta on the Viva System—a system that puts in place the
ideal residual business model for consumer
acquisition, loyalty and retention.
Copyright © 2016 by Gregory Hughes, Viva Concepts, LLC. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America. First Printing, 2016


Introduction
The purpose of this course is to teach the student the laws and the procedure on how to convert new callers into scheduled appointments who arrive for service
The Receptionist plays a vital role in the long term growth of any business. The functions of the Receptionist are innumerable and require a study in human relations, manners, helpfulness and etiquette. He or she is a messenger for the owner’s vision of how to treat, provide service for and communicate with new and existing consumers. The Receptionist is the rst impression made on the new patient. He or she sets the patients expectations for the practice.
For a Receptionist, critical attributes are such things as a helpful attitude, a constant smile, care, compassion, understanding, personal appearance, physical dress and listening ability, all of which fall under the umbrella of excellent communication skills and granting of importance to the consumer!
These attributes and skills are learned through education and practice. Perfecting these skills results in the highest volume of new referrals for a business. A Receptionist with a crass, sharp attitude and appearance is the deadliest formula for failure for any business.
Consumers remember how they were treated just like you remember how you were treated when obtaining any service or purchasing items from any retailer. Our primary objective with the Receptionist and any sta member is improving their skills through education and application of that education in the workplace.
With that said, the Receptionist has the unique position and responsibility to convert the caller into a scheduled appointment.


Receptionist Training
The Receptionist training consists of practice and drilling using speci c rules and laws that steadily increase ones ability to convert a new caller (a new potential patient) about a service or price.
It requires training to become skilled and pro cient. This manual covers the subject of Conversion.
De nition of conversion: “Changing something or transforming something.” In in a dental o ce your job is the conversion of the caller to a scheduled appointment.
The topics that will be covered are:
Topic 1: The Viva System
Topic 2: The Single Channel Topic 3: The Laws of Conversion
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The Viva System:
The Viva System uses 3 speci c elements to that leverages or uses your existing patients to get new patients but more importantly to retain the patients of record to grow the size of your hygiene department. This system is called, “The Care-To-Share System.”
1) The Viva Pak: this is used to generate referrals. We call it the Care to Share Pack: an attractive slider pack that contains a gift card and is handed to a patient to encourage them to pass it along to a family member or friend. “How was your visit today? Please take one of our gift packs and pass it along to someone in your family or a friend... we would love to have more patients like you!”
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The Viva System:
2) The Database Mailer: this is a mailing that is done to the existing patients in the practice. It is designed to keep in touch with your patients of record to encourage them to return for their re-care visits. It usually consists of an inspirational quote and may also have a second “gift” card inside to encourage the return of the patient.
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The Viva System:
3) The Neighborhood Mailer: this is a mailing done to the community within the neighborhood of the dental o ce. Usual mailings are done within several miles radius and they are done to brand the o ce, show the location and familiarize the neighbors that your o ce exists and is in fact right around the block!
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The Single Channel
The most important aspect of acquiring New Patients from ALL marketing e orts is understanding “The Single Channel.” The below diagram illustrates how all marketing e orts, from all types of marketing and advertising, are channeled through a SINGLE person: the Receptionist. The receptionist and her skill and competence at converting new price shoppers and people who inquire about services is vital, and is in fact one of the most vital factors in the expansion and growth of your practice. It cannot be underestimated.
Pay Per Click
Direct Mail
SEOing
Walk-Ins
Internal Referrals
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Making All Your Marketing Work
The cost of acquiring new patients is CONTROLLED by the ability of the receptionist to CONVERT new callers (enquirers) into scheduled appointments! The ONLY channel to new patients who call to inquire about your services is through a SINGLE CHANNEL. And that channel is the Receptionist!
Receptionist O ce
Every single call generated from ANY type of marketing comes through a SINGLE CHANNEL. And that channel is the Receptionist.
Therefore, having a friendly, capable and trained receptionist is absolutely vital. The Receptionist is the 1st person the caller speaks to and the 1st person they see when they come to the o ce. First impressions are lasting.
9


The Actual Cost of Low Conversion Rates
New Patient Annual Value
The nationwide average value of a dental patient in the rst year is between $900 to $1,200. For our purposes we are using $1,000 as the average.
Dental Clinic & Web Marketing, The Wealthy Dentist, The Dentists Network, Dental IQ, Dental Economics and The Levin Group, Inc. Conducted surveys and research showing that new patients in their rst year, have a national average value over $1,000 per patient.
“The Wealthy Dentist has calculated that the average value of a new patient at a typical dental practice is Cost of Patient Acquisition
De nition Acquisition: An asset or object obtained or gained. Example: implementation of the new marketing campaign made new patient acquisition a dream come true
The average cost for new patient acquisition nationwide is $200- $350 per patient. Most practices have never calculated the actual cost. To guess is to think one knows when he doesn’t. Most practitioners don’t have the personnel or the time to obtain the data and metrics. At the end of the day, the cost to obtain a new patient is expensive and something that must be calculated.
Cost of New Patient Acquisition
Value of New Patient = Within 12 Months
$250
$1,000
10
Actual Cost for New Enquirer Not Converted
$1,250


How Does a Low Conversion Rate E ect the Practice? 31 Calls Not Converted Out of Every 40
$1,250 X 31 = $38,750
Monthly Revenue Loss
$38,750 X 12 = $465,000
Months/year Annual Revenue Loss
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Conversion: Lowering the Cost of Marketing
How Conversion of New Callers Lowers the Cost of Marketing?
De nition: Conversion: The act or instance of changing someting from one state to another. Example: Converting a caller into a scheduled appointment is the key attribute of a good receptionist.
The cost of marketing begins with the salary of the Receptionist. Why is this? Because every business has what is called a “marketing cycle.” The marketing cycle, while quite simple, must be fully understood by the owner, the o ce manager and anyone receiving calls from new consumers—most importantly the Receptionist!
The “marketing cycle” is simpli ed below and illustrates advertising or promotion causes a response, or a call of action.
Website
Direct Mail
Local Neighborhood Area
Responses to Marketing Offer
Etc.
$ Dollars Marketing & Advertising
Dental Of ce
5 Responses Generated
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Doing the Math
The math in the following example illustrates how a Receptionist can lower the marketing cost of a new patient. Let us assume that an o ce purchases a direct mail marketing campaign of 10,000 neighborhood mailers.
In today’s market, the cost of 10,000 post cards or similar type of mailing is approximately $5,000 for the campaign.
The national average response rate to direct mail according to the Direct Mail Association of America (DMA) is .002% (this is two-tenths of 1%). This means that 10,000 post cards is likely generate approximately 20 phone calls!
The math is simply 10,000 post cards X .002% = 20 calls
The Below Math Shows How the Cost per Patient Changes with Conversion
5 Calls Converted to Appointments:
$1,000 per patient
5 $5,000 (cost of the campaign)
10 Calls Converted to Appointments:
$500 per patient
10 $5,000 (cost of the campaign)
15 Calls Converted to Appointments:
$333 per patient
15 $5,000 (cost of the campaign)
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How To Measure & Log Your Conversion Rate
There are many ways to measure or keep track of your o ce’s conversion rate. There are two methods which are the most simple:
1. Use the incoming “phone id #” that shows up when anyone calls the o ce.
2. If you do not have “phone id #s” then, at the very beginning of the call, simply ask, “Is it okay if I get your name and number in case we get cut o .”
Keeping Score of Your Conversion
The procedure is simple and is illustrated in the below diagram. The following steps are used to track your conversion percent of new callers:
1. The time frame to monitor new calls is done by the week, over a 7 day time period. This means that your “New Caller Log” is lled out, week by week.
All weekly sheets are retained by placing them in a folder.
2. Use the Call Conversion Log which consists of new caller phone number (diagram on opposite page).
3. Using the phone numbers from your “New Caller Log,” go to your electronic dental software and “search” for the 1st phone number on the list.
4. If the phone number appears in your electronic dental software, then put a by the phone number.
5. When you have checked all the phone numbers from your “New Caller Log” then add the total number of patients that have appointed and arrived for their service.
Note: In searching for a phone number in your electronic dental software, the conversion is only counted IF THE PERSON HAS ARRIVED FOR SERVICE. If they have not yet arrived, the “conversion” is not counted.
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New Call Conversion Log
New Caller Log
Weekending __________________ Name of Call Converter___________________
Date Phone # Name Arrived No Show
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Note: File this weekly form in a monthly folder. % Converted _______
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Procedure for Calculating & Filing Conversion %
Using your New Patient Conversion Log go to your electronic dental software and search for the phone number for each entry and put a by the ones that arrived for their appointments.
1
Jan 2
665-3255
Bob Jones
2
Jan 3
665-2522
Greg
3
Jan 3
665-1628
Bety
4
Jan 4
665-6545
Josie S.
5
Jan 4
665-4212
Ann Boyd
6
Jan 4
665-3597
Debbie B.
7
Jan 5
665-1022
Jessica K.
8
Jan 5
665-9866
Bridget S.
9
Jan 7
665-3787
Koko T.
9
Jan 7
665-1124
Armond
10
Jan 7
665-4485
Anna Z.
11
12
13
14
15
16
16
Note: 7 new arrivals match the New Caller Log phone #s and/or names
New Caller Log
Jan 2-7 Alice Fritz Weekending __________________ Name of Call Converter___________________
Date Phone # Name Arrived No Show
Note: File this weekly form in a monthly folder. % Converted _6__0__%__


Filing the Weekly New Caller Log
Each week the New Caller Log is led in its monthly folder. Most months will have 4 reports led in its monthly folder. But some months will have 5 depending on how the weeks fall on the calendar year.
Week 4 Week 3
Week 2 Week 1
Calculating the % Conversion
To calculate your % Conversion simply divide the number of new patients arrived by
the # of New Callers listed in your New Caller Log:
6 10 = 60% Conversion
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
New Caller Log
1 Jan 4 2 Jan 4 3 Jan 5 4 Jan 5 5
New CaJlolseierSL. og
665-3255 Bob Jones Weekendin6g6_5_-_4J_a2_n_1_29_-_1_4________ NamAnenofBCaolyl Cdonverter____A_l_i_c_e_F__ri_t_z______
Jan 6 Jan 7 Jan 8
7 7 7
Weekending6_6_5_-J_4a_n2_1_2_2-_7_________ NamAenonf CBaoll yCdonverter____A_l_i_c_e_F__ri_t_z______ Ja6n653-3787 665-25K2o2ko T. Greg
Not1e4: 15 16
665-1022 665-4485
Anna Z.
9 9 10 11 12 13
Jan 6 Jan 7 Jan 8
7 7 7
665-4212
Jan6635-3787 665-252K2oko T. 665-3597
Jan6635-1124 665-162A8rmond
Ann Boyd Greg
Date
Phone #
Jan 2 Jan 3 Jan 3 Jan 4
665-2522 Greg 665-3597 Debbie B.
1 Jan 4 2 Jan 4 3 Jan5 4 Jan 5 5
665-6545 New CalJolesire SL.og Ja6n652-9866 665-32B5r5idget Smith Bob Jones
9 9 10
Koko T. Armond
New Caller Log
Weekending ___J_a_n__2_3__-2__8______ Name of Call Converter____A_l_i_c_e_F__ri_t_z______
Date Phone #
Jan 2 665-3255 Weekending ___J_a_n__1_6__-2__1______
Bob Jones
Name of Call Converter____A_l_i_c_e_F__ri_t_z______
Jan 3 Jan 3 Jan 4
665-2522 665-1628 665-6545
Greg
665-1628 Besty D6a6t5e-1022 JPehssoicnaeK#.
665-3597 Debbie B. Ja6n653-1124 665-16A2r8mond Besty
1 Jan 4 2 Jan 4 3 Jan 5 4 Jan 5 5 Jan 7 6 Jan 7 7 Jan 7
Jan6625-9866 665-325B5ridgetSmith BobJones
File this weekly f8orm in aJamno5nthly folder. 11 9 Jan 7
665-9866 665-3787 665-1124
13 Not1e4: 15 16
665-4485 File this weekly form in a monthly folder.
12 9 Jan 7
10 Jan 7 11
12
13
665-1022
Jan6645-4485 665-654A5nna Z.
Debbie B. Besty
Jan 4 Jan 4 Jan 5
665-3787 665-3597
Ann Boyd
No1te4: File this weekly form in a monthly folder. 15
Besty
D6a6te5-1022 PJehsosincaeK#. Name Ja6n654-4485 665-65A4n5na Z. Josie S.
665-9866 665-4212
Jessica K.
Josie S.
665-1124
Debbie B. Jessica K. Bridget Smith Koko T. Armond Anna Z.
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Note: File this weekly form in a monthly folder.
Bridget Smith
70%
July
June
% Converted _______
August
January
March
February
April
May
September
October
November December


An E ort to Stay on the Phone: Key Factor
An E ort to “Get O the Phone” or “Stay on the Phone?”
The front o ce of any practice has many periods during the day where there is “heavy tra c” for the receptionist and other front o c personnel. For example: new patients walking in, forms to ll out, patients leaving needing new appointments, the phone ringing, a second line on the phone ringing, a patient leaving that has a question about their bill and someone in the back asking “do you know where the chart is for Anna Dobson....
Many o ces have a patients coming to see the hygienist, sometimes two or more hygienists as well as all the patents that are seen by the doctor. This causes an enormous amount of interaction and to say the least, the receptionist is bombarded at peak periods during the day.
When “heavy tra c” is hitting the front o ce and the phone rings from a new caller, the receptionist has one primary EFFORT with this call during times of heavy tra c. That e ort is to GET OFF THE PHONE. There are one or more patients in front of the receptionist and the demands of a patient, that is in front of the receptionist or front o ce sta , is to give the attention and e ort to the person standing in front of them. The e ort to calmly answer the phone and remain on the phone to ask questions and convert the caller is dramatically diminished due to the live people in front of you.
The largest factor in losing new callers is lack of time spent in asking questions so the conversion rate goes down and the patient is lost.
Why? Because the Receptionist has an E ort to Get o the Phone!
An E ort to Stay on the Phone—The Key to High Conversion Rate
The most key factor to high conversion rate is the time spent on the phone with the new caller! Conversion rate increases with TIME on the phone with the new caller. The key and most important factor to conversion over all other factors is:
An E ort to Stay on the Phone!
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Why There is an E ort to Get O the Phone!
Case Acceptance Finacial Arrangements Patient Questions
With phone calls, demands for lling out forms, exiting patients for appointments, nancial and case acceptance questions and demands for charts, where is this and that...the reception has an e ort to get o the phone!
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Time Versus Conversion Rate
The below chart is a long term industry study which illustrates the most vital factor to apply for increasing the conversion rate of new callers. As the chart below shows, the longer the time spent on the phone with a patient the higher the conversion rate.
100% 75% 50% 25%
How the Most Vital Function of the Reception is Easily Lost
When a Receptionist is hired it becomes very easy to “dilute” or “lessen” its most vital function in the o ce—which is identifying a new caller and skillfully answering questions to bring them into the business as a new consumer.
Before we identify the Receptionist’s most important function, let us rst establish a fact that is undeniable:
The business cannot function or receive a single call from a new patient or consumer unless
a Receptionist is employed and present to answer the phone during business hours. The Receptionist salary is a 100% marketing cost—as without one, new consumers cannot be brought into the business.
The Receptionist’s most vital function is receiving new patient calls responding to any marketing o er and converting the caller in to an appointed new patient.
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123456789
Minutes on the Phone
Conversion %


How the Receptionist Key Function is Lost
How does the Receptionist Position become “diluted” or “lessened?”
The way the Receptionist position becomes “diluted” or “lessened” in performing its most vital function is because most every receptionist has multiple duties and tasks—and each of the duties are “important” and need to be performed: lling out forms, pulling charts, making appointments, handling nance questions, answering questions from patients, hosting and helping with new patients, cleaning, handling machinery, computers, copiers, and so on.
In the midst of all these functions, the MOST IMPORTANT VITAL FUNCTION can become less important. The remedy is to treat new incoming calls as a priority. This is done by organizing the receptiionist so he or she can focus on the new call without interuptions. This gives adequate time to stay on the phone to control the conversation and ask su cient questions of concern to convert the new caller into a scheduled appointment.
How to Make a Front O ce Receptionist Have Su cient Tiime to Stay on the Phone
There are easy steps to organize the front o ce Receptionist (call converter specialist) to bring about an e ort to stay on the phone and dramaticallly increase the conversion rate:
1. Only ONE person is the key Call Conversion specialist in the o ce, called the New Patient Coordinator.
2. All new call inquiries (any price question or new caller) is always transferred to the New Patient Coordinator.
3. When the New Patient Coordination receives a new patient caller, he or she answers the call away from the key tra c and “noise” area of the practice.
4. The New Patient Coordinator learns all the key elements of conversion and becomes
a specialist, keeping track of her conversion rate and over time, becomes better and better.
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The Most Importance Factor of Conversion
Conversion Rate Breakthrough—Dental Industry Research
Over the last two decades there has been an ever increasing amount of dental marketing throughout the industry. With the advent (arrival or appearance) of internet, digital marketing and a demand for more patients, the subject of converting new callers became a vital factor.
The amount of marketing dollars increases dramatically if the new callers, who respond from all such marketing e orts, is not converted into a scheduled appointment.
The largest marketing budgets are spent by dental chains, such as Heartland Dental, Western Dental, Aspen, West Coast Dental, Gentle Dental and a host of other dental chaiins which have escalated over the past 20 years. These organizations own upwards of 500+ dental o ces and their marketing budget are enormous.
As such, they too ran into the problem of conversion rate being too low. Their solution, one for one, was to remove the new callers from being answered by the individual o ces. They accomplished this by opening call centers where all new callers are channeled. The entire reason was to accomplish higher conversion and to put in place the most vital rule to conversion:
An E ort to Stay on the Phone!
The conversion rates rapidly rose to 60%-85%, which dramatically lowered their cost of a new patient.
How a Higher Conversion Rate Lowers All Marketing Cost
Here is an example of how a high conversion rate lowers all marketing costs. An owner $5,000 for his marketing campaign to send 10,000 direct mailers.
10,000 direct mail pieces will generate about 20 phone calls (.002% is the national average).
5 calls converted to a scheduled patient: $5,000 ÷ 5 new patients = $1,000 per patient 10 calls converted to a scheduled patient: $5,000 ÷ 10 new patients = $500 per patient 15 calls converted to a scheduled patient: $5,000 ÷ 15 new patients = $333 per patient
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The Laws of Enquirer & Conversion
23


New Call Enquirers
Learning the Callers Scale of Importance
The di erent types of calls that occur in a practice vary greatly in terms of their importance. The scale below illustrates how important each type of call in relation to a measurement scale of 1 - 10. The calls are placed on the scale in terms of how di cult is it to handle the call.
For example, an existing patient in pain is relatively simple to handle as anyone knows that you just have the patient come down to see the doctor. A patient with a question about their bill or insurance has a high value as any patient calling usually has a question about the bill being too high or not what they expected. Incorrectly handled, the o ce can lose a patient. A new inquiry is also at the top as the cost of losing a conversion averages $1250.
There are a variety of calls a Receptionist receives during the day. Calls such as: I need to change my appointment
I have a question about my bill
I need to cancel my appointment
Can you explain my insurance billing? Are you accepting new patients?
I need to re ll my prescription
I’m in pain from my visit
What is the cost of a crown? Post op questions
Supply & vendor calls
The two circled above are very di erent because these types of calls involve and concern a law which is critical to know. Because the two circled are potential new patients.
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Callers: Scale of Importance
What Makes a Call Important on the Scale?
When determining if a call is important and placing it on the scale illustrated below, the factor that makes a call important is the following:
Will the Call Increase or Decrease the Size of the Active Database?
De nition of “Database”: the list of patient of record who have come into the dental o ce for a service. Example: Increasing the size of the database is instrumental in teh expansion of the o ce.
Here are some examples: Converting a new caller increases the size of the active database. Losing
a patient because their upset by their bill because it is $15 higher on their co-pay can lose a patient from the database, not to mention if the o ce loses the patient due to $15, or even higher, the
cost of acquiring a new patient is a minimum of $250, so why argue about the $15, $20 or more? A cancelled appointment, not handled correctly, is a patient lost out of the database. A cancelled hygiene appointment is again, another lost patient out of the database.
The “Callers Scale of Importance” is illustrated below which give a guide as to the importance of the variety of calls that were listed on the opposite page.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Are you accepting new paitnets? What is the cost of a crown?
I need to cancel my appointment
Can you explain my insurance billing? I have a question about my bill
I need to change my appointment
Post op questions
I need to re ll my prescription Supply & vendor calls
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Law of Enquirer The Law of Enquirer
When any new consumer calls your o ce, your marketing conclusively worked, the owner paid for it and the individual and you must do everything possible to schedule the appointment.
There is no call that comes into the o ce where the consumer did not respond to some form of marketing or advertising. Whether it is from the website, direct mail, a referral, the sign on the building, YELP, or any other form of marketing or advertising, the marketing worked and the most vital thing a receptionist must do, is convert the caller into a scheduled appointment.
Law of Conversion
The Law of Conversion
1. To convert new consumer enquirers, you must control the conversation.
2. To control the conversation, you must ask questions of concern for at least several minutes or more.
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Conversion Sequence Drill
The Conversion Sequence Drill
Put the Laws of Conversion into practice by using the Conversion Sequence Drill.
Every time a patient calls in as a new inquiry, you have to convert that person through four exact steps.
The sequence of actions to convert ALL new callers is the same:
Step 1: New inquiry calls the o ce (identifying the new caller)
Step 2: Ask the KEY question:
“Is it okay if I ask you a few questions before I give you
the best price?” Or similar type question.
Step 3: Ask questions of concern for at least several minutes
Step 4: Schedule their appointment without turning the control back over to the new caller
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Step 1:
New Enquirer Calls the O ce
Use the Law of Enquirer: Your Marketing Worked! And, your responsibility is to convert the caller into a scheduled appointment. Note: Every new enquirer that is LOST is an actual revenue loss in excess of $1,000.
New enquirer calls the o ce
Step 2:
Ask the KEY Question
Is it okay if I ask you a few questions before I give you the price?
Yes.
Controlling the Conversation
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Step 3:
Ask Questions of Concern
Ask Questions of Concern on the subject they are calling about.
Controlling the Conversation
Step 4:
Schedule the Appointment
Answers Questions
Always give the patient two choices when scheduling an appointment.
Con rms Appointment
Controlling the Conversation
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Conversion Sequence Drill Example
There are ways to convert new inquiry calls into scheduled appointments. There are wrong ways and right ways of handling incoming calls. A trained Receptionist immediately recognizes the new enquirers. The Receptionist takes control of
the conversation by asking questions of concern and converts the calls into appointments.
The following is an example of a wrong way and a right way to handle a new enquirer.
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Wrong Way Example
Patient Controls the Conversation
What is the cost of a crown?
Controlling the Conversation
We don’t give prices over the phone!
Okay, thank you. Goodbye!.
Controlling the Conversation
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
Is it okay if I ask you a few questions before I give you the price?
Controlling the Conversation
Yes.
Is the tooth bothering you?
Controlling the Conversation
Yes. It hurts when I have anything cold.
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
How long does it hurt when the cold hits the tooth?
Controlling the Conversation
About 10 seconds.
Okay.
Is it a front tooth or a back tooth?
It’s in the back.
Controlling the Conversation
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
Thank you. Just a few more questions. Is the tooth on the bottom or the top?
Controlling the Conversation
It’s on the bottom!
Thank you, your information is very helpful. By the way, how did you nd out about our o ce?
My friend at work told me.
Controlling the Conversation
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
Great. Let me answer your question about price so I can assist you.
Controlling the Conversation
Great.
The cost of a crown in our area averages between $800 on the low side and as high as $1200 on the high side.
...
Controlling the Conversation
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
Let me help you a bit.
If the tooth is sensitive, it is possible it may be cracked, or the problem may involve decay that goes into the nerve.
Controlling the Conversation
Oh!
If the tooth is cracked or needs a build up,
or if the nerve is damaged, the cost may change considerably to save the tooth.
Controlling the Conversation
Uh huh!
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Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
What we do to assist people like yourself, so you know the price ahead of time, we have you come to the o ce for a no charge consultation. That way, you will know exactly what to do and what it will cost.
Controlling the Conversation
That sounds great!
Tomorrow morning is perfect.
We can see you right away. We have an appointment this afternoon or tomorrow in the morning. What time is best for you?
Controlling the Conversation
37


Right Way Example
Receptionist Controls the Conversation
Appointment Book
See you tomorrow!
Call Converted to a Scheduled appointment
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Conversion Procedure
The following pages have further examples demonstrating the Laws of Conversion and the Sequence Drill as they apply to new inquiries.
The Sequence Drill is always the same in answering any inquiry that calls the o ce. The sequence is 4 steps:
1) Identify the inquirer and determine the dialogue you will use.
2) Ask the key question, “Is it okay if I ask you a few questions before I give you the price (or give you the
answer)?
3) Ask “Questions of Concern” repeatedly for at least several minutes or more.
4) Schedule the appointment.
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Overview in Handling Conversions
Learn the Laws
Learn your laws well and know them cold! Study and use them as this is how your competence will improve.
Laws of Conversion
1. To convert new consumer inquiries, you must control the conversation.
2. To control the conversation, you must ask questions of concern for at least
several minutes or more.
Law of Enquirer
When any new consumer calls your o ce, your marketing conclusively worked, the owner paid for it and the individual is already a buyer...they just haven’t given you the check.
Practice Drilling
The way to become expert is to drill di erent buyer questions until you can smoothly convert new callers into scheduled appointment!
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Grading Your Progress
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Keep track of your new patient enquirers by making a logbook so you can nd out and improve your conversion rate. Your progress can be monitored, (by yourself) and is shown on the below “Conversion Measuring Scale.”
25% 40% 40%
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UNSKILLED & UNEDUCATED
SKILLED &
CONVERSION MEASURING SCALE


EDUCATED
PROFESSIONAL
55%
55% 75+%
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Data for Dentists:
How Hard Facts Can Help You Grow Your Practice
Article by Dr. Chris Phelps, Concept to Practice
Do you want your dental practice to grow? For a dental practice, growth comes from new patients. If you want to see growth, you must understand how new patients nd your practice, what makes them schedule appointments and how you can ensure new patients show up for those appointments. You may think you understand the processes that take a new patient from spotting an ad to showing up in one of your chairs, but unless you have hard data to back up your assumptions, you may be wasting marketing dollars and losing potential patients.
Most dental practices su er from a lack of hard data. In my work, I’ve discovered several key areas where more data can spotlight problems and drive practice growth.
Where do new patients come from?
Most dental practices use a range of marketing tools. They put ads in newspapers and magazines, advertise on television or radio, run a web page and even sponsor community events to connect with new patients. Do you know which ads bring in new patients and how much those new patients are worth?
To get detailed marketing data, you can’t just track calls to the o ce. An advertisement isn’t working for you if it doesn’t bring in patients who actually make appointments and bring in revenue. To track the actual return on investment of your marketing campaigns, you need detailed information on whether the people who respond to an advertisement end up as patients in your o ce and where they actually heard about your o ce.
When I ask doctors if they are asking patients, “How How did you hear about us?,” most tell me they are. However, they are often asking the patients the question when they come in for the appointment. The challenge with asking weeks after the patients have scheduled is that they have likely forgotten the true source of the information. They will give you an answer such as “a friend” or “the Internet,” but it may not be accurate. Another mistake is asking the patients if they found the o ce as a result of a speci c campaign. The team may say, “Did you hear about us from our new TV commercial?,” and the patients will agree they did even if they didn’t.
You will get the most accurate information if you ask the question during the scheduling call. As soon as 44


you gure out there is a new patient on the line, ask them how they he or she heard about your o ce; it will be fresh in their his or her mind and likely true.
When do you miss calls?
Did you know that 87 percent of new patients won’t leave a message or call back if their calls get are sent to voicemail? That means for every 10 calls that go to voicemail, you’re only getting one potential new patient to leave a voicemail message. Those few patients who do leave you a message are likely referrals, willing to go the extra mile because their friend told them to call. The fact is this: Potential new patients do not leave messages.
Another fact is they will then be Googling the dentist down the street if you don’t return a call within seven minutes. That is a tight window of opportunity and requires someone to be paying full attention. Unanswered calls are a costly missed opportunity to for your practice. Nationwide, the data coming out of Call Tracker ROI reports that the average dental o ce is not answering 33 percent of its marketing marketing-based, potential new patient appointment opportunity phone calls. That’s one-third of the calls they spent good money on to generate new patient leads!
How often do calls go to voicemail? If you ask your sta , they’ll say rarely. That’s because calls go to voicemail when the o ce sta doesn’t notice them. If the new patient doesn’t leave a message, it’s as if the call never happened. You can’t reduce missed calls if you don’t know that they exist.
Once o ces start tracking missed calls, they will begin to see patterns. Many o ces miss calls during
or immediately after the daily lunch break, on Fridays and on weekends. Other o ces miss calls during peak hours. They don’t have the front-o ce sta and physical phones to deal with patient intake, billing, insurance and patient check-out while also paying attention to incoming calls. Data on missed calls can help practices streamline procedures or add phones to deal with peak times.
If you still don’t think you are missing calls, think about this age age-old con ict:
No one is more important than the new patient calling the o ce, BUT no one is more important than the patient standing in front of you trying to make an appointment.
We know the caller likely won’t leave a message so what does your team member do? They will honor the person standing in front of them—a hard choice and a missed opportunity.
If you have the hard data on calls missed and the data justi es the expense, you can choose to stagger lunches or rotate team members so the phones are always covered. Some smart o ces get the o ce sta a cell phone for insurance queries to keep the land line phones open. Others have di erent team members with a cell phone on Fridays ready to answer patient calls. Again, if the data justi es the expense, it is 100 percent worth it.
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Does your sta ‘close the deal’?
Does your sta know how to turn a new patient contact into a scheduled appointment? Only about
5 percent of dental o ces train their support sta in answering the phone, dealing with insurance queries and scheduling appointments. While some of your o ce sta members may have a natural talent for handling new patients, most need training. You need data that tells you what happens when someone calls your o ce, how each sta member responds to di cult questions and how often each sta member manages to convert a new patient phone call into an appointment. In addition, if they are struggling to convert calls into appointments, you need to the data on why this is occurring. Research I conducted through Call Tracker ROI shows 34 percent of potential new patient calls are not converted into appointments. So if we are missing 33 to 35 percent of calls altogether and then 34 percent of
the ones we do talk to don’t turn into appointments, we miss the opportunity to schedule 76 out of 100 people that who call our o ce. That’s a lot of lost opportunity that could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars every month.
To get in-depth data on sta /new patient interactions, you’ll need to record calls and track results. Each month, schedule a meeting to go over the previous month’s data with your o ce sta and respect the challenges they face on the telephone. Schedule training sessions to teach them how to respond to questions about insurance networks, emergency appointments and scheduled appointments. If you
do not have the time or capacity to record and go through calls by hand, services such as Call Tracker ROI will do it for you and provide detailed analytics showing exactly what is happening––invaluable information for o ces that want to see growth. It is imperative to nd out what challenges the team members experience that prevent the calls from being converted. That answer will change everything.
Small changes can make a big di erence in how many new patients make it into the o ce. For instance, a subtle change in the scheduling dialogue can virtually eliminate noshows.
Research in the restaurant industry found that changing the scheduling dialogue from “Please call if you need to cancel or reschedule” to “Will you please call us if you need to cancel or reschedule? (Pause
for answer.) Great! I’ll let everyone up here know that you’re going to call us if you need to cancel or reschedule” dropped no-show rates from 50 percent of reservations to 5 percent of reservations. Dental o ces that employ this tactic have seen a similar drop in no-shows.
Slight modi cations in o ce management and advertising practices can lead to big gains in income and new patient retention. If you don’t have data, you can’t make smart decisions about marketing, sta ng and o ce routines. With detailed data, you can spot problems and craft solutions that will help your practice grow and thrive.
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The Masters of Marketing Administration is an educational advancement for training of business owners and their administrative and support sta on the Viva System—a system that puts in place the
ideal residual business model for consumer
acquisition, loyalty and retention.
Copyright © 2016 by Gregory Hughes, Viva Concepts, LLC. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America. First Printing, 2016