Episode 120
120: It's Not All About New Patients: How To Easily Grow Your Practice Without Spending a Ton of Money - Laura Hatch
Laura Hatch from Front Office Rocks is here today to talk about how it is not all about new patients and how to grow your practice without spending a ton of money. Laura is an experienced front office manager who has opened two successful practices. She soon discovered that there was a gap in training for front office team members and decided to fix that by opening Front Office Rocks.
Laura also has a new book out called Step Away From The Drill: Your Dental Front Office Handbook to Accelerate Training and Elevate Customer Service. Laura is a good friend of mine and an expert in customer service, phone, and front office best practices. We discuss how to use technology and a personal touch to keep your current customers happy, loyal, and well cared for while still creating a welcoming environment for new customers.
You can find Laura here:
Front Office Rocks on Facebook
Show Notes
[01:54] Laura Hatch is an office manager who got into dentistry in 2002. She is in San Diego and opened a practice in a very competitive market.
[02:35] She realized that there was no real training for office managers. She has had to hire employees and reteach them over and over.
[03:09] She saw a pain point that there needed to be a way to teach new hires instead of insisting on hiring people with experience in a certain software product.
[03:19] She started an online resource that offers training on how to do everything that is done at a front desk. She started this business about 5 years ago, and it has really took off.
[04:12] Laura does everything online and also recently just wrote a book called Step Away From The Drill.
[04:45] How dentists often throw team members into the role without any real training.
[06:14] Front office people are the first and last impression for every patient. They are front office rock stars.
[06:52] Investing in a team member is not a cost it's an investment.
[07:20] As a team member, investing in yourself is one of the best things that you can do.
[07:28] Complementing and respect also goes in both directions. Your doctor needs to complement you and you also need to complement the doctor.
[07:50] The importance of getting the communication started. Dentists aren't actually trained in communication with team members in dental school.
[08:42] Today, we're going to be talking about new patients.
[08:55] Every office needs new patients to making sure your team does an amazing job on the first phone call is important.
[09:17] How trying the new employee out on the phones is the worst thing you can do.
[09:28] So many dentist are about new patient, but it's so important to keep your current patients happy.
[09:50] If you're losing patience out the back door you're not growing.
[10:25] You don't want your current patients to feel like they are just a number or a hole in the schedule that needs to be filled.
[10:47] How important it is to retain your current patients.
[11:56] Existing patients are more valuable than new patients. They already trust you and want to go to you.
[12:40] Front office people need to let the dentist know if they need more help. They also need to be as efficient as possible.
[13:11] Patients in the office and patience on the phone are both valuable.
[13:48] The phone should be answered minimally Monday through Friday from 8-5. There are companies that can help answer phones.
[14:23] People in the front need to be good at multitasking.
[15:19] You can take care of all of the patients at the same time. Putting someone on hold feels twice as long.
[16:29] Have some type of system that lets you know how many calls you get at certain times of the day.
[18:40] People are paying more out-of-pocket now than ever before. They want to feel value for what they are paying.
[20:50] Hygiene reappointments are very important. This is another avenue of keeping patients in. These patients are so valuable.
[26:43] The importance of booking a patient for the next appointment before they leave. Spin it as a win-win and the patient will want to reschedule.
