It’s not new.
And, it’s been proven time and again. (No guessing here or theorizing.)
Heck, 22 years ago, in 1996, shortly after I began mailing postcards for dentists to attract new patients, I noted the problem and even wrote extensively at that time, about it.
In fact, the problem was so pervasive (as it remains, today), that we developed systems to help our postcard clients – dentists spending $5,000 to $15,000 per month on postcards – overcome the problem.
The end result was staggering. New patient numbers skyrocketed – in some cases, blowing up 25% or more in days, over the past results.
Don’t feel bad. I had the same problem in my own office. Didn’t know it either.
But, as soon as I found out, I addressed it.
And, as a result, our new patient numbers shot up almost overnight.
Why are you not getting your fair shake on new patients? Why are the DSOs and seemingly smarter solo practice docs doing better than you – and maybe spending a fraction of the cash?
Simple.
They answer their phones.
They don’t allow their teams to shirk responsibility and they all understand that to generate the max number of new patients from every marketing dollar invested, they must be present to win.
They must ensure their phones are answered.
Live.
The formula for that? Glad you asked.
Answer your phones live: 7am to 7pm, M-F, Sat, 9am-3pm, Sun, 10am-2pm (unless you are open Sat and Sun as I know some of you are – if that’s the case, 7am to 7pm wins). And, if you miss a call, it’s a race, a sprint, to call them back. (And, you best have a great voicemail message if that’s the case – or you will lose them.)
When you’re not in the office for regular office hours – whether it be a Thursday, Tuesday, Friday, a team member MUST be tasked to answer calls.
They can be in the office, getting much-needed admin and clean-up work done, or, they can be at home with a cell phone paid for by you, answering calls, logging in via logmein software (so they can see the schedule), or, they go old school and carry around 5 sheets of paper – the next week of the schedule, and make edits to it with a pencil. I know, pretty high tech, right?
(And, yes, you MUST pay them!)
You can fight this all you want.
You can tell me “my employees won’t do it,” or, “our patients know we’re not open,” or, ask me a question like: “isn’t there another way – can’t voicemail work?” My answer will always be the same…
…No. It won’t work. Unless you’re happy where you are with your income, your practice growth, and your lifestyle.
Look…If your practice was a business that sold stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and you weren’t the owner, but an investor – a stock buyer – would YOU invest in a company that didn’t answer their phones?
Look at it another way: It’s basically telling your patients and prospective patients to “piss off” – they’re not important enough to warrant a live person, from your office, answering the call.
And yes, the best-case scenario is they are your employees, not some uninterested phone jockey rockin’ the Bluetooth headset 1,500 miles away.
Get my point?
Good.
Look, this is but one issue the vast majority of practices face, that they are loathe to address and fix.
I’m telling you…just do it. Your new patient numbers will increase darn near automagically.
And, you don’t need to go to some $2,995 seminar in Georgia or Arizona to learn about it. It’s just common sense.
So…fix your phones. It’ll show in your income statement. I guarantee it.
And, when you’re ready to go whole hog and blow the walls off your practice foundation, with more new patients, better systems, existing patients coming back for more, and more cashflow in your pocket, book your free Discovery Session with Kevin in my office.
On it, you’ll learn how to finally, FINALLY know with absolute certainty, what marketing you’re doing is working, what is not, what to do about it and…so much more.
(You’ll even know if that overpriced piece of digital real estate you’ve invested $36,000 on, called a website, is truly working!)
Kevin’ll share more with you on your free Discovery Session.
Learn what’s holding you back and get a full-blown marketing plan ready for execution in 2019, too.
Claim your free, no-obligation Discovery Session scheduled ASAP. Go here now: https://jerryjonesdirect.com/profit-insight