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Whether you're a solo health and beauty practitioner with a mobile clinic or part of a larger group, call answering presents a challenge across the health, beauty, and medical sectors.
Although online bookings and live chat have become popular in many industries, health, beauty, and medical services remain more personal. Patients often prefer making appointments by phone rather than online.
This makes call answering an essential function in any medical office or health clinic. However, it can also be a time-consuming task, especially when you're managing a solo practice and handling everything on your own.
Being available to answer every call is nearly impossible. You might be on the phone with another patient, in the middle of an appointment, or simply unavailable after hours. This creates a significant problem - missing even one call can mean missing out on potential business.
With revenues potentially reaching $3,000 a week for a solo aesthetic nurse, every call is vital. Additionally, in the long run, a reputation for poor customer service or unanswered calls can harm your business.
When a customer calls your clinic and no one answers, one of three outcomes is likely:
In the past, with fewer options, customers might have gone with the first or second option. But today, with so many choices available, if you miss their call, they are more likely to move on to another provider.
Moreover, with customer experience being a key factor in retaining clients, missing a call doesn't just mean losing an immediate sale - it can also mean losing future business. Good customer service is critical, with 96% of customers stating that it influences their loyalty to a brand or business.
In recent years, customer service has become a key factor in determining where customers choose to do business. It's no longer just about price or product - customer experience has taken center stage.
With nearly endless options available to them, customers can easily find alternatives. Businesses, in turn, are avoiding price wars and instead focusing on providing exceptional service.
This shift explains why two-thirds of companies now compete based on customer experience, up from 36% in 2010. Moreover, companies that excel in customer service tend to outperform their competitors by about 80%.
For more insights on what matters for your medical clinic's call answering, check out this blog.
Now that we understand the importance of customer service, what exactly do customers expect?
You might assume that modern customer service is complex, requiring businesses to navigate a maze of technology and customer journey mapping. However, customers often prioritize straightforward elements - chief among them being prompt, efficient, and helpful human interaction.
Simply put, they want you to be available when they need you.
A study by Accenture reveals that 83% of customers are more likely to do business with companies that offer better live or in-person customer service. Additionally, Microsoft found that 30% of people find the inability to reach a real person the most frustrating aspect of poor customer service.
These insights highlight a fundamental truth: customers prefer direct human contact and expect businesses to answer their calls. Despite all the new technologies available, providing effective call answering remains crucial in meeting customer expectations.
When considering call answering options for your health clinic, two common choices often come to mind:
While these options can work, they may not fully address the challenges you face with call answering.
Whether you’re a solo practitioner or part of a group practice, your day is packed with responsibilities. Beyond managing your appointments, which often take up at least 30 minutes each, you have to tackle various administrative tasks. From managing your schedule and marketing your services to handling finances, taxes, and finding suppliers, your workload is substantial.
Amidst all these duties, you’re also trying to answer calls from existing clients and new prospects. But with so much on your plate, being available to take every call isn't always possible, no matter how much you'd like to.
After realizing how tough it is to manage calls on your own, hiring a receptionist might seem like a practical solution. However, this approach has its own limitations.
First, hiring a receptionist often means you need a physical office space, which isn’t feasible if you run a mobile clinic. Even with an office, having a receptionist may not solve all your call-handling issues.
While a receptionist can answer calls, they can only handle one at a time. In a busy clinic, calls often come in simultaneously. The second call might end up in voicemail, which doesn’t fully address your call-answering concerns. If you pick up the overflow calls yourself, it defeats the purpose of having a receptionist in the first place.
Even if your receptionist could juggle multiple calls, there are additional costs and administrative tasks associated with hiring staff. You need to consider what happens when your receptionist takes a break, goes to lunch, or steps away from the desk. During these times, calls may go unanswered, but you're still paying their salary.
Then there’s the issue of covering for your receptionist during vacations or sick days. You may find yourself back to answering calls or having to hire temporary help, which adds to your expenses. Moreover, managing the administrative side of having an employee - such as handling taxes, holiday pay, sick leave, and pensions - can take up more time than anticipated, pulling you away from focusing on your patients.
So, what's the alternative ?
A healthcare answering service can be a game-changer for your clinic. Not only does it fill in the gaps in your call handling and boost your customer service, but it also frees up valuable time for you to focus more on your patients. By managing your calls, appointments, and scheduling, a professional service can take over many administrative tasks.
But before diving into the specific advantages a healthcare answering service can offer your clinic, let’s clarify exactly what we mean by this service.
A healthcare call answering service involves a remote team of specialized virtual receptionists who handle your calls, take messages, forward calls to the appropriate staff, and assist with managing your schedule. Unlike a traditional receptionist, they work remotely rather than from your office.
This service differs from standard call centers. Call centers typically provide generic call handling and message taking, which doesn't meet the needs of a personal, patient-focused service.
Now that we’ve clarified what a healthcare call answering service is, let’s explore how it can enhance your medical practice.
No More Missed Calls
With a healthcare call answering service staffed by a team of virtual receptionists - guided by an expert in the health sector - you'll ensure that every call is answered during your business hours. This means you won't miss calls or lose bookings, no matter how busy you are.
For urgent patient needs, emergency calls can still be routed directly to your phone.
By removing the concern of missed calls and lost bookings, you'll have more time to focus on patient care and improve service quality. This allows you to concentrate on growing and managing your clinic effectively, rather than getting bogged down by daily tasks. As a result, you'll be able to see more patients and boost your revenue.
With more time to focus on generating revenue and managing your clinic, you can plan more strategically and identify ways to optimize your operations. This will help you streamline processes and ultimately make your clinic more profitable.
As we've discussed, patients highly value direct, human communication. By partnering with a specialized healthcare call answering service, you can ensure that your patients are always treated with professionalism and a personal touch, providing the level of service they expect and deserve.
Although your clinic may operate from 9-5, your patients' schedules don't always align with those hours. Many are busy during the day and may only have time to book appointments in the evening or on weekends. If your clinic isn't available to take their calls during these times, you risk losing potential revenue.
A telephone answering service can extend your clinic’s availability beyond traditional hours, allowing patients more flexibility to reach you while ensuring your personal time remains protected.
Hiring a full-time receptionist with healthcare expertise can cost over $50,000 annually, and that expense remains constant whether they’re answering calls or not. A call answering service, however, offers a more flexible and cost-effective solution. You pay only for the time you use, and you can scale the service up or down based on your clinic’s needs. Plus, you can customize the service to either handle all incoming calls or manage the overflow during peak times, ensuring you get the most value for your investment.
Dealing with unsolicited sales calls is an unnecessary distraction in your busy day. A healthcare call answering service can help by screening these calls, serving as a buffer so you don’t have to deal with them directly. You can also instruct the service to block such calls and request your removal from unwanted contact lists, freeing up your time for more important tasks.
When you're on the go between appointments, keeping track of your schedule can be challenging, and double bookings can happen easily. A virtual receptionist can take over your booking process and manage your calendar, ensuring everything runs smoothly. By syncing your diary with your client portal, your schedule updates in real-time, and you won’t have to worry about overlapping appointments. Your calendar stays organized around your operating hours, so you can focus on your patients without the stress of managing bookings.
When effectively integrated into your operations, a healthcare call answering and virtual assistant service can seamlessly function as an extension of your clinic. From a patient's perspective, interacting with your virtual receptionist should feel just like speaking directly with your clinic staff. This approach ensures a smooth and professional experience for your patients, reinforcing the quality of your service.
It's not just about answering the phone - how a call is managed is equally crucial. To ensure your virtual receptionist handles calls the way you prefer, take the time to brief them on your specific requirements.
While a specialized healthcare call answering service will already be familiar with common inquiries, sharing any scripts or guidelines you have will help streamline the process and ensure consistency in patient interactions.
As a solo practitioner, you’ll naturally be aware of how the system operates. However, in a group practice, it’s essential to make sure everyone is informed about the call answering service and its impact on incoming calls and information.
This may involve regularly reviewing updates on your client portal or clarifying which calls should be directed to specific team members.
To effectively integrate your call answering service into your clinic, it’s crucial to view them as a partner. Regularly provide feedback on how calls are managed and communicate any desired changes in handling specific types of calls. This ongoing dialogue will help ensure that adjustments are made smoothly and minimize any potential misunderstandings.
With YourReceptionist, you receive full recordings of all calls handled by our virtual receptionists. This enables you to review how each call is managed and assess the quality of our service. Additionally, you can use your client portal to monitor service performance and call volumes, allowing you to identify trends and fluctuations throughout the year. This information helps you continually refine and optimize your call answering to ensure you get the most value from your investment.
Before diving into a call answering service for your health clinic, there’s a few things you’ll need to think about.
The healthcare sector requires a specialized approach due to the sensitive nature of many patient inquiries. It's crucial to choose a call answering service that understands the need for confidentiality and has experience managing the specific types of calls your clinic receives. Evaluate whether the service you're considering has expertise in healthcare or if they provide only general call answering services.
Many call answering services claim to manage calls with professionalism and a personal touch. But can they demonstrate this? Check if they provide full call recordings so you can see for yourself how they handle your incoming calls. At YourReceptionist, we offer access to complete call recordings for your review.
If your primary need is call answering, that’s straightforward. However, as your clinic grows and you begin to utilize your extra time and income to expand, you may require additional support, such as diary management, appointment scheduling, or live chat for your website.
If your current call answering service doesn't offer these extras, you'll face the hassle of coordinating with multiple providers or switching services. It’s wise to choose a call answering service that also provides these additional features. Even if you don't need them immediately, having them available can be beneficial as your needs evolve.
A major advantage of a call answering service is its ability to extend your availability beyond standard 9-5 hours. However, not every service provides this flexibility. Ensure you verify whether the service can accommodate extended hours before committing to one that may have limitations.
If your call answering service only forwards messages via email, there's a risk that important information could be lost among other emails or end up in your spam folder. Ideally, you should have access to a dedicated client portal where you can view all messages, updates, and notifications securely and at your convenience. This approach not only enhances communication but also ensures that access to your information is restricted to authorized personnel only.
Understanding the pricing model of your call answering service is crucial to determining its value for your business. For instance, do they offer a flat fee for their services, or do they charge based on the number of calls, regardless of duration ? Alternatively, do they use a per-second billing system, so you only pay for the time you actually use ? Before committing, ensure you fully grasp the pricing details and what is included. This will help you avoid any surprise charges and make an informed decision.
When evaluating a call answering service, consider whether they impose a fee for early termination of the contract. You don't want to commit to a service that turns out to be unsuitable and then face additional charges for trying to exit before the end of the term. Make sure you understand the terms of cancellation to avoid being locked into an extended commitment if the service doesn’t meet your needs.
When choosing a call answering service, it's important to consider how easily you can adjust the level of support based on your needs. You might find that you require more assistance at peak times or less during slower periods. Check if your provider allows you to scale the service up or down according to your demand, or if you’re locked into a fixed level of service. At YourReceptionist, we offer flexible scaling options. Just inform us a month before your invoice is issued, and we’ll adjust your service level accordingly.
YourReceptionist offers expert call answering services tailored for clinics and solo practitioners across North America. We focus on delivering a high level of personal care and support, ensuring each call is handled with sensitivity and professionalism.
Healthcare professionals choose us for our reliable, cost-effective service that streamlines their operations and enhances profitability. We cater to a diverse range of healthcare sectors, including:
At YourReceptionist, we offer professional call answering agents and virtual receptionists who specialize in the healthcare industry. Our team is well-versed in handling sensitive inquiries, managing your schedule, and even processing payments over the phone.
If your business has an online presence, we can also assist by integrating a chatbot on your website to manage bookings and customer inquiries.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how our call answering and virtual receptionist services can benefit your business.
