As a practitioner, you’re always looking for any way possible to take on as many clients as possible. That’s why always being readily available is an often overlooked trait among practitioners. One of the easiest ways to be available is to answer your phone more often. Our team here at Functional Medicine SEO can’t stress the importance of answering your phone enough.
1. Stagger Lunch Times
Too often practitioners are missing phone calls from potential clients because they’re out at lunch. This problem is made even worse by the fact most practitioners go out to lunch together. Which leaves a whole hour of the day where practitioners are unable to answer phone calls.
Obviously, you need your lunch. But the best way to combat this is to stagger lunchtimes. This will ensure that someone qualified is always readily available to answer phones. You wouldn’t believe the number of potential clients that are lost on a monthly basis because practitioners are out to lunch when they call.
2. Use a Medical Answering Service
Medical answering services can help ensure that someone is always there to answer your phones. These services handle all of your incoming calls to your practice with a high level of customer service and attention to detail. Here is how they work:
- Incoming calls to your practice are rerouted to remote, live receptionists
- The virtual receptionists are trained to handle basic customer service inquiries such as location and store service information
- Receptionists are also trained to make appointments for patients, deliver new patient information, and forward emergency calls
- The receptionists can forward the call to someone in your office if a caller is looking for someone specific
- Virtual receptionists are available 24/7 for your practice – which is crucial considering medical emergencies don’t always happen during business hours
Importantly, medical answering services can ensure that you’re meeting HIPAA standards for protecting client information. This is a great option if you’re looking for a way to free up the time your in-office staff spends answering phones.
3. Train Other Staff Members to Answer
Perhaps the most cost-efficient way to ensure your phone is always answered is by training other staff members on how to answer phones. This seems redundant, as answering the phones seems easy, but it’s much more difficult than it seems. Especially to those who are untrained.
When answering phones, your staff members will need to know how to handle basic customer service inquiries that practices receive – such as office hours or location information. They will also need to be filled in on the common medical questions your patients have when they call you. You will also need to train them on how to properly transfer calls when needed. We know it seems easy, but answering the phones can be a challenging task, that’s why it’s important to properly train your staff.
Our SEO Services Allow You to Focus on Your Patients
If you barely have the time to answer your phone calls, you certainly don’t have the time to worry about your practices SEO. That’s why we want to handle your SEO so that you can focus on your patients. We work with practitioners across the country to increase their online presence. Fill out this form to set up a free strategy session with one of our team members. We’ll get back to you right away!
