In the 1992 Movie A FEW GOOD MEN, there’s this now infamous courtroom scene, with a heated exchange:
The Colonel, in the stand, played by Jack Nicholson says:
“You want answers?”
The corporal interrogating, him, played by Tom Cruise says:
“I want the truth!”
Jack Nicholson replies:
“You can’t handle the truth!”
I know it’s only a couple of lines from a movie, but …. It is very true.
A lot of dentists have no idea what’s going on in their dental practices…
And that’s the truth.
Think about it.
The dentist owner is usually in a treatment room, with his door closed, working on a dental patient, totally focussed on the tooth or teeth at hand.
He’s drilling away, with everything going on in the practice happening behind his back.
And because the door is closed, and because he doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head, he has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA really about anything else in the practice.
Except for those things he can perceive or those things he is told about.
But what about all those things that he is never told about?
Like staff members being constantly on their mobile devices?
Or callers to the practice who are not being given the appointment that they are in need of?
To put it frankly, if your dental practice is not recording the phone calls that are coming in to your office, and is not having an independent person review those phone recordings, you as the owner may as well be walking around with a blindfold on and your fingers stuck in your ears.
Or you may as well be putting your head in the sand.
When we listen to the recordings in dental offices we hear a lot of …..
We hear a lot of existing patients, with appointments, phoning to ask what exactly they are having done?
We hear a lot of confusion from existing patients.
And this all comes back to incomplete and inadequate handovers being done in the practice, resulting in a LACK OF CLARITY in the minds of the patients being treated as to what their next step involves.
Phone calls from confused patients then clog and jam the phone lines preventing new patient calls from being answered and answered well.
And we all know that only twenty percent of new patient phone enquiries end up being turned into a made and kept appointment.
If you want to grow good crop, you need to prepare your soil well.
You’ll never grow a good crop on dirty soil.
The second thing we hear is…..
The other thing we hear on these recordings are those calls that come in from angry and frustrated patients.
If you are not having your calls recorded FOR QUALITY AND TRAINING PURPOSES, then you will never hear the sheer anger and frustration from patients who have a perceived [or actual] concern about a possible [or actual] wrongdoing that may or may not have occurred.
These wrongdoings, and perceived wrongdoings, will occur.
No matter what you do, these calls will occur.
Even if you only do consultations, these calls will occur.
And unless you are recording your incoming calls, you’re going to be up the old creek without a paddle, on two counts.
First of all, the recording is a true and accurate record of the conversation that was had.
It is admissible in a court of law, and may be invaluable for your practice to have.
The second thing is that when you have an independent third party listening and training and coaching your team about phone skills, you can dramatically improve the chances of a favourable outcome for your practice, if and when you receive these calls.
If you don’t have good help, or THE BEST HELP in this regard, it’s kind of like doing your own brain surgery, or doing your own taxes.
It’s well known that a lawyer who acts for himself in court has a fool for a client….
The facts are these:
Put simply, the more patients you see, the more things will happen in your practice.
Proportionately, when your practice grows, there will be more phone calls, and there will also be more complaints.
These are facts of life.
Minimising risk is a vital part of any successful business.
HOPING that things will be OK is not a good business strategy.
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LIVE Workshop: Dr David Moffet and Jayne Bandy:
“How To Easily Run, Maintain And Grow The Ultimate Dental Practice In 2021”
If you’re sick and tired of drilling all day long, and not having anything close to what you deserve, to show for it… or if you’ve ever wondered, “What can successful dentists POSSIBLY know, that I don’t?”… then register for this LIVE workshop Friday July 30, 2021 in Melbourne, VIC.
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Need your phones monitored?
Are you concerned about the number of calls that are not being answered as best they can be?
You need Call Tracking Excellence.
For the cost of a less than one cleaning per week, you could have your phones being answered much much better….
Convert more calls into appointments…Click the link: http://www.calltrackingexcellence.com
Call Jayne on 1300 378 044 or email Jayne@theDPE.com for more details.
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Have you read my book , How To Build The Dental Practice of Your Dreams [Without Killing Yourself!] In Less Than Sixty Days.
You can order your copy here: Click Link To Order
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The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
Email me at david@theupe.com