Three simple mistakes practices make on the phone every day.
Hi everyone, Angus Pryor here, multi-award-winning practice growth specialist. Yesterday, I did a workshop with a practice where we conducted some mystery shopper calls before the workshop with the team. Here are three mistakes that these guys made on every single call, and this was quite an experienced practice, so it’s likely many other practices are doing the same. The first mistake was not asking for the patient’s name. You’d think that would be obvious, but sometimes we deliberately set up mystery shopper calls for the transactional “How much do you charge for this?” or “Can I get an appointment today?” Yet, the practice missed the opportunity to ask for the person’s name, use it, and build rapport.
The second mistake was not exploring the condition, problem, or issue the patient was calling about, which would have allowed the practice to demonstrate the clinician’s skills. You can ask, “Tell me about the reason you’re calling,” or “What’s going on?” Show emotion, show empathy, and then say, “You’ve called the right place because Doctor Blogs is great at this.” The third mistake, which sounds obvious but didn’t happen in any of the scenarios, was failing to offer an appointment. Even if someone is mystery shopping or asking about insurance, always offer to schedule an appointment—you’ll be surprised how many people will accept it. Catch you next time, see yeah! Cool.