Dentists are busy people. You could be working for long hours taking care of peoples' teeth and handling dental emergencies. Your dental staff may feel overwhelmed as they try to balance between answering calls and working on other administrative duties. For you to succeed in your dental practice, you have to make customer service your priority. Ensure that your patients call your dental practice every time you accord them a personalized, convenient, and pleasant experience. Some of the reasons why you need professional call answering services for your dental practice are:
Handling Dental Inquiries
You may realize that your dental office phone never stops ringing as your patients make all sorts of inquiries. It takes a lot of trust for a patient to entrust you with their dental health. Patients require the assurance that they can call your dental office and receive counsel every time they experience a dental issue. The call volume may be too high for your in-house receptionist. A professional call answering service will take off the task of handling dental inquiries off your in-house staff shoulders. Your staff will have time to focus on their in-house duties.
Professional call answering agents take time to understand your dental clinic, including the services you provide to your clients. You can provide them with a script outlining the details of your business and typical client inquiries. Your clients will not even realize that they are talking to a call answering agent. They will assume that they are dealing with your in house staff.
A high call volume in your dental office could lead to immense stress within your business. If your phone never stops ringing and your receptionist is on the phone most of the time, your dental practice will likely suffer. Your receptionist may not be able to handle the incoming patients and answer phone calls efficiently. You may notice a high rate of staff turnover if your dental staff is always feeling overwhelmed. There is no better way to restore calm in your dental office than by seeking professional call answering services. Your in-house team will be much happier, thus elevating their services to your dental patients.
Booking and Confirming Dental Appointments
If a patient calls your dental office and no one answers, they are likely to call your competitor. The same applies if patients call your clinic and receive an automated voice message. Every missed call could mean a missed dental appointment. Think of how your dental practice would thrive if you didn't have to miss any dental appointment. Before you provide dental services to a patient, you have to get them to your dental clinic. You may never have a chance to reach some patients if they call your clinic, and they can't speak to a real person other than an answering machine.
You can also depend on professional call answering services for dental appointment rescheduling and canceling dental appointments. The call answering agents will understand your dental calendar and your availability. Proper dental appointment scheduling helps prevent overcrowding at dental clinics.
A professional call answering service will ensure that you are there for your patients at all times. It is particularly important to ensure that no phone call goes unanswered during busy work hours when your dental staff is attending to other patients. The dental facility patients may not like it when you stop attending to them to answer a phone call. Outsourcing professional call answering services helps you maintain order in your dental clinic. Your office will be quieter and less disruptive for patients undergoing dental treatment.
Responding to Dental Emergencies
Some patients will call your dental clinic in the face of a dental emergency. Some of the common dental emergencies are:
- Severe toothaches and infections
- Dental abscess
- A broken or fractured tooth
- Mouth sores
- Bleeding
Any issue that requires immediate dental treatment is a dental emergency. You should ensure that your patients can call your dental clinic whenever an emergency strikes. For instance, a patient may knock their teeth out in an accident or in a sporting activity. With a professional call answering service, your patient will receive a soothing welcome upon calling your office. Professional call answering agents will inform you or your dental staff regarding the dental emergency.
When patients are in pain or distress, they expect a calm and soothing welcome upon calling your dental office. It would be cold and impersonal to encounter an automated call answering machine. You should make your patients know that you value them and that you are readily available in case of an emergency. Your patients need to know that even when your clinic is closed, they can still call you and receive the needed assistance.
How fast you respond to a dental emergency could make the difference between losing and saving a patient's tooth. For instance, if a patient has a knocked-out tooth, seeking immediate medication may help save the tooth. The dentist may manage to reinsert the tooth back into the gum. Every reliable dentist must ensure that they are available whenever their patients need them.
After Work Call Answering Services
Patients can call your dental clinic at any time, even after work hours. Dental problems don't just happen during office hours. If your patient experiences a dental issue at night or during the weekend, they may wish to call your dental clinic to make an appointment. Some patients will log onto your clinic's website and call your office in the wee hours of the night. With a professional call answering service, you will give your patients the liberty to call your clinic whenever they please. Closing your dental clinic in the evening does not mean that you should cut communication with your existing and potential clients.
You will have ample time to rest after a long day at the dental clinic. You will no longer receive dental emergency calls at 2 A.M. only to realize that the issue is not an emergency. Experienced call answering agents often screen dental calls and categorize them based on their urgency. You will save yourself many hassles by having an after-work call answering agents screen phone calls for you. The call agents will use their expertise to determine whether a call is an emergency before dispatching it to you.
Sometimes, patients will google their symptoms and think they are the face of a dental emergency. The call answering agents will handle all the patients' queries and concerns as you enjoy your much-needed rest. However, if your patient indeed faces a dental emergency, the call agent will immediately dispatch the call to you.
Dental Calls Dispatching and Forwarding
Dental offices receive two main types of calls: regular appointments and emergency calls. Especially for emergency calls, the last thing that a caller would expect is an automated answering machine. When facing a dental emergency, patients like talking to a real person. With a professional call answering service, your patients will have access to a real person 24/7. Even when your physical clinic is closed, your patients can always call your office.
With professional call dispatching and forwarding services, you can concentrate on what you do best as the call agents handle the phone calls. The agents will categorize and dispatch certain calls to you or your dental staff.
Given that dental offices receive unique phone calls, you may assume that it is impossible to outsource your incoming phone calls. However, a professional call answering service that specializes in dental offices will handle all phone calls accordingly. This will free up your time to handle patients ensuring that you accord your patients your undivided attention.
Bilingual Dental Answering Services
Language can become a barrier when offering dental services. In the United States, Spanish-speaking people are increasing. You have to overcome the language barrier to provide the best dental services. There is no better way to do this than by seeking bilingual call answering services for your dental clinic. It will allow even the non-English speaking patients to call your dental office freely. The non-English speaking patients will be happy to speak in their preferred language whenever they call your dental office.
Though some non-natives speak English, they may not be able to express themselves fully in English. Some patients may find it incredibly challenging to explain their dental illness or how they feel. With a bilingual call answering service, your non-English clients will be able to express themselves in their native language. Having a bilingual answering service can help you tap into diverse markets.
Call Answering Services Enhances Professionalism in Your Dental Office
With so many dental offices available, professionalism can make your dental clinic stand out. The first interaction with your dental clinic will determine how patients perceive your practice. Missing phone calls or sending patients to voicemail could be a recipe for disaster. If a patient does not feel at ease while interacting with your staff on the phone, they may not be willing to visit the clinic at all. With a call answering service, you are sure that the call agents will receive every call with professionalism and politeness. This will help put your new clients at ease, and they will feel free to interact with your dental clinic.
Call answering services will also enhance professionalism within your dental office. The professional call agents will be the first point of contact with the patients who call your clinic. The staff at the dental office will attend to patients without distractions. Your in-house team will have ample time to streamline your office operations and efficiently check patients in and out. Professional call services take the pressure off your dental staff, making them more responsive to your patients' needs.
Call Answering Services Keep You Ahead of Competition
There is no better way to create differentiation and stand out from other dental practices than hiring professional call answering services. Patients value personal relationships and are likely to favor a dental clinic that makes them feel appreciated. You can use professional call services for a wide range of administrative tasks. Professional virtual receptionists will complement your in-house receptionists by handling inquiries regarding your dental practice.
Other dental clinics are probably working with professional call answering services. If patients call your clinic and receive automated voicemail messages, they are likely to call your competitor.
Do you want to get ahead of the competition in the dental industry? Answer the phone. As long as you have a competitor, you can't afford to miss a phone call from a patient.
Note that dental patients will not just call your office during work hours convenient for you. Your prospective patients may call your office at any time, even during the late hours of the night. When calling a dental office, patients are often determined to get a solution to their problem. If they get an automated answer, they will probably hang the phone and call another clinic. That is how you will lose to your competitors.
The good news is that with a trusted call answering service, you can be sure that you do not risk losing a client due to an unanswered phone call. Even when you are resting at home after work, your patients can still call your clinic and receive the needed assistance.
Call Answering Services are More Affordable than Recruiting In-house Staff
Most dentists may shy away from hiring call answering services for fear of incurring hefty costs. However, you would be surprised to know that it is more affordable to pay for call answering services than to recruit an in-house receptionist. A virtual receptionist will perform all the tasks that an in-house receptionist would offer, only at a lower cost. While hiring a virtual receptionist for your clinic, you do not have to create a working space. You do not have to contribute workers' compensation for a virtual receptionist.
Conclusion
There are numerous reasons why you need to call answering services for your dental office. A professional dental answering service is familiar with the best practices in the dental industry. The call answering agents are trained on confidentiality, and you can be sure that your patient's personal information will be safe.
