How Training Your Front Staff in Phone Etiquette Helps Close More Dental Implant Cases!

Author: Forrest Hodge
Published: 8/06/2021

As the first point of contact for patients, it is extremely important for your front desk to demonstrate several key elements on each call. Some potential patients calling in can be particularly difficult with their mood or personality, or just difficult to understand in general. There are several ways that we can turn an escalated call or caller around! For the most part, it involves your communication and your delivery.
Getting difficult patients is almost a guarantee and, even if you know how to deal with it, your front desk staff might not. Irritation berates irritation, and as soon as you know it, your front desk staff has lost a potential dental implant case, and even potentially gain yourself a one-star negative review!

What Can Be Done About This?

Get your front desk trained in phone etiquette! These are a few tips that we can happily give out for you to act on:

Always Answer With A Polite, Enthusiastic, Upbeat Voice

This is extremely important when attempting to deliver information to a caller that is upset, non-engaging or just completely Irate. When answering in a polite manner, it can give a calming effect to the caller, giving you an opportunity to bring them into a more comfortable mood.
Bringing the caller’s tone down to your level shows excellent communication skills as opposed to “Elevating” your tone up to their level. This is very important when delivering information that is used to diffuse the caller's situation. Coupled with a nice tone will ensure the caller that you are willing to assist.

Converse Using Calming, Positive, And Encouraging Verbiage.

• “I can understand your frustration and I’m willing to help”
• “I apologize that you were not picked up for your trip, allow me to place you on a hold so that I can research your account to find out why”
• “I can Hear the Level of Frustration in your voice, Please allow me to help you”
• “I will be more than happy to notate the account about your issue and provide it to my Supervisor.”
• “I understand that you would like to speak to a Supervisor, however, I would appreciate it if you can provide me with a description of your matter. Maybe I can help”!

These are just a few examples that will both help diffuse a difficult call and make our call handling experiences much better.

A Few Other Tips:

• Never interrupt the caller
• Never take the call or the callers’ behavior personally.
• Never engage in a Debate or become argumentative.
• Never continuously say “Mam” or “Sir” to gain their attention.
• Showing any of the previous behaviors “Will” affect your Tone and your ability to communicate with the caller at any point in the conversation.
• Not showing any of these behaviors will give you the opportunity to Service the member or at least the opportunity to “Speak” in a Civil Tone!
• Always show a willingness to assist.
• Always present good listening skills.

It’s very important to train yourself and your front desk staff with these tips so you never miss out on a potential dental implant patient from a phone call ever again!

Looking For A Full Training Session?

Take ownership of your and your front desk's education!

Interested in learning more about closing high-dollar cases? Attend The Closing Institute and learn how to predictably scale implant production by implementing advanced marketing and sales strategies from the leading experts in the industry! With courses in Clearwater, FL and Las Vegas, NV, this isn’t just theory. This is a tried and true method to grow your full arch production and develop your team to strategically and consistently close high-revenue, dental implant procedures.

Dental specialists interested in learning more about Progressive Dental Marketing's award-winning services and continuing education seminars are invited to contact the dental marketing company in Clearwater, FL. Progressive Dental Marketing can be reached by calling (727) 286-6211 or by visiting progressivedentalmarketing.com. Or feel free to explore our website and the several case studies we have!

If you are interested in hearing more from Bart Knellinger, come to one of our upcoming dental continuing education courses. Visit boostfullarchcases.com today to reserve a spot for you and your team!

Progressive Dental is more than just a marketing company, we are a company located in Clearwater, FL dedicated to dental practice growth. Our team was founded on creativity, collaboration and hard work. We are constantly evolving and are passionate about providing the best suite of dental marketing services for our clients. They are the reason we jump out of bed!