Episode #120: It's Not All About New Patients...How To Easily Grow Your Practice Without Spending a Ton of Money with Laura Hatch - a podcast by ACT Dental

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
@dentalrockstars on Twitter
Laura Hatch on LinkedIn
Front Office Rocks on Facebook
Step Away From The Drill: Your Dental Front Office Handbook to Accelerate Training and Elevate Customer Service
 
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...

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Website of ACT Dental