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Plastic Surgery Receptionist Phone Skills

Ask Catherine

This Week’s Question: Plastic Surgery Receptionist Phone Skills: Does she have the training to convert callers?

Dear Catherine,

I can hear my receptionist on the phones and I cringe at her phone skills.  No matter how many times I tell her what to say, she will often say something random and loses the caller.

Just today I heard her say, “No, we don’t do that” and she hung up on the caller.  When I asked her which procedure the caller was asking about, she told me….

…..”The caller wanted something called [brand name skin tightening device] and I told her we don’t do that.” 

So I had to explain to my receptionist we don’t offer that particular name brand because we found something that works even better and THAT’S what she should have told the caller.

That one mistake costs us $4,500. Any suggestions for fixing my phones?  Dr. T

Catherine’s Answer:

Dear Dr. T,

Your question is a good one.  Every practice has experienced “bad phones” that cost them patients and thousands of dollars in lost revenues.

The Cost of Bad Plastic Surgery Receptionist Phone Skills

Let’s do the math:  If your receptionist loses that $4,500 caller just 1x/week, that adds up to $234,000 per year! Wow!

The solution to Fix Your Phones is simple but not easy.

Here’s what it takes to get your phones in order:

1)     Get the right person in that position

2)     Give them the phone skills training and tools your receptionist needs to represent you and your practice professionally

3)     Hold them accountable so they consistently perform well for you and BOOK Appointment

That’s how you prepare your receptionist to handle patient inquiries effectively and fill up your schedule.

Otherwise, your new patients aren’t ever going to meet you if your receptionist can’t successfully convert these callers into appointments.

Frankly, your receptionist may be unknowingly sabotaging your best practice promotional efforts simply because they don’t have the receptionist phone skills training and tools they need.

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A Complete Guide to Understanding Your Aesthetic Patient and Growing Your Aesthetic Practice. Catherine Maley, MBA went straight to the aesthetic patient to get the answers you need to succeed with your patients.

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Test Your Plastic Surgery Receptionist Phone Skills

Think about how YOU feel when you call a business and your call is handled poorly. Certainly, that’s not the way the owner would want you to be treated. Well, it’s the same in your practice. Most doctors don’t believe this happens in their office – until they hear it for themselves.

I assure you, in my consulting work, I have called hundreds of practices and have been amazed at what I’ve heard on the other end of the phone. Rather than me belaboring the point – test it for yourself.

Call your office as any prospective patient would and then tell me what you think.

Every call affects your bottom line and either enhances your image or destroys it. Your staff can represent you as a true professional or not – but the choice is up to you.

During my staff training sessions, I often hear, “But, I don’t know what to say when the patient says that.” Or, “What else could I have said that would have made a difference?” My answer is – plenty!

Prepare your receptionist for success. Equip them with effective responses, phrases and questions to help them not only bond with and educate your patients but actually close.

With the right words to say, your staff will be so comfortable with the process and so prepared that they’ll look forward to phone calls and patient interactions because they’re confident, trained and ready to close!

==> Click here for Receptionist Phone Skills

Are YOUR phones set up for success or sabotage?
How have YOU tackled YOUR OWN phone frustrations?

If you know or suspect your phones are not being handled professionally, it’s an easy fix so get your receptionist the phone skills she needs to represent you professionally.

 

TESTIMONIALS

5/5
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
Robert Sigal, MD
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Robert Langdon, MD
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
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Catherine Maley

Catherine Maley

Catherine is a business/marketing consultant to plastic surgeons. She speaks at medical conferences all over the world on practice building, marketing and the business side of plastic surgery. Get a Free Copy of her popular book, Your Aesthetic Practice: What Your Patients Are Saying View Author Profile.

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