The front office staff at your dental practice has enormous potential to impact patient satisfaction. They are the first people your patients talk to when they walk into your practice and the last people they see when they walk out. Because of this, it is crucial that you focus on creating the best experience possible for your patients by having a friendly, well-trained front office staff who is knowledgeable in the best practices to attract and retain patients. Here’s how to do it:
Find the value
The first step to having an effective front office staff is to hire the right people! You can dream all you want about having the perfect employee walk through your door, but it is simply not practical. However, what is practical and actually ensures you hire the right person is to create company values. Company values have everything to do with finding the right employees for your practice.
If you haven’t considered this before, sit down and write out the ideal employee’s characteristics. Cross this with how you want your patients to be treated, and you will have created some excellent criteria for finding the right person for the job. An applicant could have all the qualifications in the world, but you simply cannot overlook how your values work together. You can always train someone, but you can’t change someone’s character.
Always put patients first
Truthfully, patients can be impressed by what may seem like the smallest things, however, to be successful, you need to focus on the little things! When it comes to your patients, your staff should exert kindness, empathy and politeness. Visualize a business where you walk in and immediately feel your mood lift solely based on the employees. This is how your patients should feel every time they enter or exit your practice, and it is up to your front office staff to execute this.
This is where scripts can be great resources for your practice. They give your staff members exact things they should say to your patients in certain situations. This can ensure that the patients get timely results and that the message you want to get across is received in the right way. These scripts can also be useful when it comes to phone conversations. Phone courtesy is huge for current and potential patients.
Additionally, you can choose to ask for patient reviews by either having your staff ask them about their experience in the office or carrying out a survey. The results will help you find any areas that may need improvement, giving you another tool to improve your business.
Automate the work
So far we have talked about how to make things better for your patients and your practice, but what about your front office staff? The best tool you can supply front office staff with is marketing automation. Marketing automation is how you achieve the goals you have set for your practice. Automating office operations improves work processes and produces effective results, making the work your staff does much more efficient. When you automate front office staff operations, both appointment bookings and confirmation activities will be made easier.
Automation frees up time that would otherwise be consumed by manual work. For example, your staff can create automated emails to send out to patients instead of wasting time writing a million personalized emails. Automating tasks such as this will free up time for your staff to focus on the patients that come through your door, improving patient relations and adding significant value to your practice in the long run.
The takeaway
All healthcare practices need to be streamlined from front desk management to operations. A great staff will allow your practice to cope with any challenges that arise without compromising efficiency in any way. From the minute you hire a new team member, they should reflect the values of your practice in the work they do. And remember, the patient always comes first. You can use marketing automation to keep up with patients better than ever and keep your practice in their minds every step of their customer journey. Your staff is so important when it comes to patient retention, and they have a lot of influence in the reputation of your practice. With the right training, the front office staff has great potential to improve patient relations and grow your dental practice!
