The fastest way to kill your dental marketing 2
A dental practice has so many moving parts that it can be hard for a busy dentist to keep track of them all. However, if you’re not keeping a close eye on how your phone is being answered, you may be inadvertently killing the results of your marketing.
Marketing scent
It’s hard to remember what it’s like for a new patient who is considering becoming a client, but remember you must. There is a concept known as ‘marketing scent’ which needs to be consistent throughout the entire process for prospective patients. As they interact with each part of your business, (Eg. website, phone etc) each part needs a similar ‘scent’.
Your website should portray your practice in a positive way that connects with the prospective patient. However, if the aura from the website is professional and friendly and your phone is answered only with “Hello?” You’ve immediately lost that scent for the patient.
This scent disconnect can kill the results of your marketing and the patient is less likely to make an appointment.
Handling price shoppers
Regardless of the quality of your marketing, a certain portion of your enquiries are going to be price shoppers. That is, patients calling to compare your practice with other local practices, on the basis of price. The reason for such calls is because most callers don’t really know what else to ask. Technically-based businesses experience this kind of call regularly. Ever asked a prospective car repairer what brand of spark plugs they use? I didn’t think so.
When patients ask about price, there are two things you need to include in your discussions to increase call conversion. The first is building rapport.
People deal with businesses they know, like and trust. You want to increase the scores on all counts during this first phone call. This means using the enquirer’s name regularly (you’ll have to ask) and asking a few questions about them to better understand their needs and show you care.
The second factor is the need to demonstrate value. Price is only a factor if the patient views your services as being the same as everyone else – which, of course, they aren’t.
No one calls a Mercedes Benz dealership and then quotes the price from a dealer dealing in low-cost – these cars are perceived as a different value. You can differentiate your services by asking questions that highlight your service quality such as, “What type of implant were you looking for? We use …”
Phone technique
I was sitting in a dental practice recently when I overhead one of the staff calling patients who had appointments the following day. This was a good start. Calling patients to confirm their appointment has got to be more effective than sending a text message.
Anyway, the receptionist used basically the same script for each of the six calls I heard her make. Her script started well: “Hi, it’s Jessica from XYZ Dental, can I speak to Mr Jones please?”
She then stated, “I’m calling to confirm your appointment for tomorrow”. So far so good! But then she said something that I reeled at. “Are you going to come?” Yikes!
The problem here was the in-built assumption that the patient may not come. Worse was where one patient had indicated they weren’t going to come move-central.com. Jessica asked if the patient would like to make another appointment. The patient indicated no, and the call finished shortly thereafter.
This was a clear case of giving patients a reason not to attend and undoing the efforts of previous marketing. Marketing: 1, Call Handling: 0.
Summary
For most practices, a certain level of external marketing is required to attract new patients. However, if your call handling is not being done in a professional manner you can completely undermine everything your marketing has set out to achieve.
This article was first published in the Australasian Dentist Magazine