The First Five Minutes On The Phone

We talked about how important the first five minutes with a patient can be.  Let's break it down a little.  Let's think about the first five minutes on the phone with any patient.  I say any patient because every contact with a patient either builds up or breaks down their opinion of our practice. 

I called a practice the other day and after receiving a cursory greeting, I was asked if I minded being put on hold.  Before I got a chance to respond, I found myself listening to the BeeGees singing "Staying Alive."  I immediately looked at my watch and 90 seconds later, the BeeGees were cut off by a very rushed sounding person asking how she could help me.  I felt like I better state my business quickly or risk a rendition of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl.  My feeling was, "This office is too busy to care about what I need." 

The first thing a patient wants to feel during that first five minutes is that they have found a practice that will have time to care about them.  When they are immediately put on hold the message is, "There is something more important going on here than your phone call.  You'll have to wait."  It's impersonal and disconnected.  It's usually a sign of what the patient can expect if they wait through the hold time and actually make an appointment.  I have a physician who is wonderful, once I get through the uncaring, detached staff that work in her office.  She's part of a group practice and probably feels like she has to put up with it.  If she herself wasn't so caring and interested in me as a patient, I'd probably find another doctor. 

I'd rather see a practice that can't keep up with their phone have a warm friendly answering machine message that let's the caller know that everyone is attending to patients and that they will return the patient's call within 5 minutes if they leave a message.  Then they should do just that and give the caller their full attention.  The practice should also consider hiring more staff at the front desk to give the proper attention to answering the phone. 

So, what makes a great first five minutes on the phone?  Answer by the second ring and smile while you are talking.  The smile comes through in your voice and the caller can hear it.  Be warm, professional and interested in why the patient is calling.  Listen for unspoken messages such as fear, embarrassment and pain and try to address those in a caring, reassuring way.  Try to find point of interest about the patient and tell them something about you that will establish a connection.  Let them know that you look forward to seeing them and that they can expect a pleasant welcome from everyone. 

The main way to make a great impression in the first five minutes is to think.  Think about how you like to be treated.  Think about what you can do to make this contact special.  Think that this patient is the most important patient in the practice, because truthfully the patient you are involved with at them moment is the most important one for you.  It's the only one you are affecting in that moment.  Make it count.

Comments

[Mohan Gupte]

I am a dentist from India.Since I practiced for 45 yrs. I could understand exactly what you meant. But it is not easy for everybody in practice to practice the same. Everyone has a different mindset.The person has to be trained for the different aspects of practice management skills which are many times ignored.As your motto says patients care more for how much the dentists care than how much they know.

[Linda Zdanowicz]

Hi Mohan, it is not expected or necessary for everyone to practice in the same manner. Every dentist should develop his or her own practice vision. Hopefully that vision will include treating patients with compassion and respect and that is what the person on the phone should be sure to personify. You are right, it doesn't always come naturally, but people can be trained to understand why this is important and should be expected to be able to express that in their interactions with patients. Thanks for your insightful comment.