Dental Office Telephone Considerations Next
Dental office telephone considerations are the next section of the Dental Administrative Operations Manual. This is week three of our journey. If you are here for the first time, maybe check the last 2 articles published. As I continue to walk you through the creation of your very own manual. Also, be sure to subscribe to this blog for future weekly posts. Now, let’s jump into the phone section. And I encourage you to work through the phone materials available on this website as well!
Begin With Three Top Telephone Challenges:
- Voicemail Management & Etiquette
- Answering Ringing Lines
- Appropriate Use of “Please Hold”
In this section of our manuals, we begin with the three top challenges teams encounter each day. And yes, there are other challenges as well. However, we begin with three top contenders. Then, we can add to this as we go along. The idea is to begin to get something down in writing that is concrete. And then to share this with the team. Begin to incorporate new policies and strategies. And to bring more uniformity and positive energy into daily routines.
Dental Office Telephone Considerations In Detail
Dental office telephone considerations with voicemail include when to use voicemail. And my recommendation is to use voicemail only when the office is closed for patient care. When the office is open for patient care, the phone is answered by a team member. The next order of business is our response to voicemail messages. And on this note, I say that it’s best to listen to voicemail messages right away. Then, respond by a return call within an hour. Even if the reply is that more time is needed to provide the caller with the information they need.
Answer ringing phones by the third ring. Create and adopt a standardized greeting for your dental practice. This is a brand for your practice. And the way you answer your office phones is a strong image of who you are. Therefore, we want to be sure we are also on target with our tone. Remember, our body language and tone are much more powerful than our words. And our words are pretty powerful! No worries, I’ve got the tools you need to really bring this to your team here.
“Please hold” is far from the greeting we need on our office phones. Our standard greeting must be standard. And we want to keep our “hold” buttons for the appropriate time. They do serve a great purpose for us. And just when would that be? If we must ask a caller to hold, we want to get their permission first. Because they might just prefer a call back instead. But another great time to use our “hold” button is when a patient calls to reschedule short notice. But that’s a whole other conversation!
Write Your 3 Phone Considerations Now