What is the one area of the dental practice that plays a crucial role in the patient experience?
Your front desk.
Your team at the front provides the first and last impressions a patient will get from your practice, so their marketing and communication skills must be on point. Your clinical abilities of course play a role, but if a new patient has trouble making an appointment or leaves feeling unsatisfied, it’s not only a lost revenue opportunity, but also a waste of marketing dollars, and no one likes to waste money.
Here are 5 ways that you can support the front desk to be sure they are working most effectively.
- Equip the team with the verbal skills needed to give a perfect first impression. They need to be confident in answering questions from prospective callers about fees and insurance, and know how to redirect the conversation away from costs and highlight the practice’s selling points instead.
- Automate daily tasks like appointment reminders. Using text or email reminders saves the staff from spending hours on the phone every day.
- Enable patients to update their contact info via tablet devices that can be automatically uploaded to your practice management software.
- Setting up an online portal through your website is another way to collect and confirm all necessary patient information in a HIPAA-compliant way.
- Train the team to always schedule the next appointment before the patient leaves the practice to capitalize on the momentum created during their time in the chair.
While it’s important to have the right people and personalities working at the front desk, it’s up to the entire dental team to employ high-quality customer service every step of the way.
For more front desk insights, head to Dental Products Report and read my recent article.