Telephone Mystery Shopping and Converting New Patients

Even with today’s market focused on online digital marketing, a practice’s biggest revenue source opportunity still seems to be the phones. The first interaction most new patients have with a practice is on the phone, which used to be about 99% of the time; now, we believe it is about 80%.

Most practices would love to say they are highly skilled at turning first-time telephone inquiries into new patient appointments. While some practices are better than others at getting prospective patients to commit to an appointment over the telephone, even top-notch practices admit to letting far too many telephone-first contacts slip away. 

Practices that convert a good percentage of first-time callers into patients likely invest a significant amount of time and resources into properly training staff to master the components required to identify and meet the needs of first-time callers. It may be essential that practices know whether their staff members are properly trained in conversion techniques and whether they are effectively executing that training live on the phone.

Since 2009, BSM Consulting and Allergan have conducted a telephone mystery shopping program for practices across the country. The program’s comprehensive database includes more than 1,500 “shopped” practices and more than 11,000 completed surveys. One of the primary goals of the mystery shopping program is to determine how effective practices are at converting first-time callers into patients. So, how are these practices doing? Unfortunately, more than 32% of callers (surveyors) indicate that they would not have made an appointment with the practice to which the call was placed. An additional 23% were undecided. In assessing the components of a winning call, the data shows that staff members may struggle to execute on several conversion basics. This article explains the importance of these components, reveals how practices are doing in each area, and provides suggestions to help staff members improve. 

Create a Good First Impression

A prompt, personal response to a telephone inquiry may help put the practice in immediate good favor with potential customers. A better first impression is possible when the phone is answered within one to two rings and answered live versus an automated system. Fortunately, the mystery-shopping database reports that 82% of practices answer the phone within the first two rings. Unfortunately, however, 25% of practices still use an automated system. To be competitive and take full advantage of the opportunity to create a positive first impression, you may consider having  staff members answer the phone live within the first two rings. 

Establish Rapport

The process of establishing rapport with inquiring callers may be essential to conversion and begins when staff members ask who they are speaking to. In addition, staff members may want to consider repeating the caller’s name whenever possible. When people hear their own name, it makes them feel special and cared for. Psychologically, people love to hear their own name and the practice of using prospective patients’ names shifts the interaction from a question-and-answer session to more of a conversation. In the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie suggests that one of the six ways to make people like you is to “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Despite this observation made nearly 80 years ago, only about 25% of staff members took the time to ask callers their name and repeat it at least once at some point during the conversation. By taking a genuine interest in the caller, the staff member can differentiate the practice and create emotional reassurance with the caller. 

Engage the Caller

Successfully engaging the caller allows staff members to gather more information about patients and better understand their needs and desired outcome. Most patients ask about price at the onset of the call because they don’t know what else to ask. Therefore, it may be important for staff to always answer a question with a question. This response may engage the potential patient and help understand his or her needs. When a caller asks, “How much do you charge for ____?” staff should ask a question before responding to the patient’s question. For example, asking “Have you been into the practice before?” or “Have you had the treatment before?” helps in gathering more information so that the employee can better serve the caller. Our database shows that a caller’s questions are mostly answered with a question only 15% of the time. When this method was used, it resulted in the potential booking of an appointment 91% of the time. This shows the impact of implementing this practice.

Offer Credentials

In today’s competitive environment, it is important that patients understand why they should make their decision based on more than just a low price. Each practice needs to carefully consider its value proposition to understand why and how it is different from competitors. One of the resounding themes from surveys is that there is a lack of credentialing of the clinicians and/or practice. Credentialing statements should be two to three talking points that staff members can routinely convey to patients to help them understand why they should choose the practice. Examples include the clinician’s years of experience, the staff member’s own personal experience with a certain treatment or procedure, and relaying a general sense of patient satisfaction. Our database shows that credentialing statements are used less than 28% of the time, but when used correctly, may result in potential bookings up to 93% of the time. Credentialing statements show themselves to be extremely impactful. Credentialing articulates why a patient should choose your practice over another. The goal is to demonstrate confidence in the clinician and assure patients that they are in good hands.  

Educate

An acceptable assumption of a prospective caller is that the practice representative on the phone is able to answer basic questions about a procedure or treatment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. While the expectation is not that non-physician staff members can diagnose or make recommendations over the telephone, you may want to consider having all staff members understand the basics of practice treatments and procedures and be able to respond to general, frequently asked questions. Our statistics suggest that staff members cannot thoroughly answer general questions. Callers often received a one-word answer to their questions rather than a thorough explanation. There is an opportunity for staff members to more proactively educate prospective patients. 

Master the Art of Closing

Surprisingly, a significant number of staff members never invited potential patients to make an appointment with the practice. Once the patient stops asking questions, the call promptly ends, and the prospective patient is lost. While it cannot be assumed that all patients are ready to make an appointment, it may be important that staff members not lose the potential opportunity to “close” the caller at some point in the future. If the caller declines an attempt to schedule the appointment, the staff member may want to  respect the potential patient’s decision and add something like, “We understand this is a big decision; I would love to add you to our email list so that you can receive future communications from our office regarding special events and promotions.” The staff member may also refer the patient to the practice website or to follow the practice on social media channels to stay top of mind when the patient is ready to make an appointment. 

Identify Areas of Opportunity

Based on areas of opportunity identified in mystery shopping data, the suggestions in this article can serve as a compass for providing staff members with the training, skills, and knowledge they need to master the art of leading telephone conversations that may result in a sustainable increase in new-patient appointments. These tips may give the telephone team the confidence to perform at the top of their game and, ultimately, may help the practice build and sustain a conversion rate worth boasting about. 

Christine Cowley

• Practice Consultant, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company