Make on-hold time productive for your practice
By Amir Watynski

Good morning, Anderson Chiropractic. This is Katie.” Most employees can rattle off your office’s greeting without a second thought. In fact, many can do it (and probably do) in their sleep. It’s automatic.

Ring after ring, a greeting takes on the familiarity of a used-car lot jingle you hear again and again. But how your employees greet patients on the phone is how they welcome them to your practice. After all, personal greetings build rapport, and rapport eventually turns into revenue.

Entrepreneurs usually look at the bottom line, rather than how they get to the bottom line. But the truth remains: It all starts with hello.

Because many consumers (your patients) get frustrated with pressing buttons to reach a live person, remember these tips:

• Opt for a live person to answer. People like to talk to real people.

• Make it easy for callers to reach a live person. If a “live answerer” is not possible, make sure callers can get to a live person by pressing no more than two numbers. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re stuck in a voice-mail maze.

• Answer the phone in four rings or less. Ignoring calls or letting the phone ring too many times without a personal greeting or voice-mail pick up may convey you are too busy or not organized.

• Serve ‘real’ people first. What should you do if a patient is waiting in person and the phone rings? It’s probably best to serve the person in your office first, then answer the phone and ask the caller if he or she can hold for a short period of time, or if a return call is acceptable.

SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN

Throughout the course of a typical day, some callers will unavoidably be placed on hold. If your callers hear nothing but silence, they may not hold for very long. Sometimes they may hear a click on the line and think they’ve been disconnected. (We’ve all been there before!)

If you have a radio playing, your callers may be on hold listening to commercials, DJ chatter, or static. Think about the impression you are making while a potential or current patient is on hold. It may not be the impression you’d like to make.

For callers on hold, why not have a customized recording playing? Patients often inquire about services after hearing a promotion while on hold. Plus, by updating the content periodically, the on-hold recording becomes even more effective as a means to promote changes in product lines, new services, or your staff. For a more creative approach, include chiropractic trivia and other entertaining and educational messages on your recordings.

In addition to enabling a chiropractic practice to promote its services, the on-hold recordings can have other positive effects, such as enhancing the practice’s image. With a customized recording, your practice will look more professional and clients will get a great first impression on the phone. Remember, an impression will always be made either way, so be in control and ensure that it’s a positive one.

EASY TO DO

The installation of an on-hold system is fairly simple. An audio source is plugged into your phone system, and anytime the “hold” button is pressed on one of your phones, the caller will hear on-hold messages and music.

(Even practices without a PBX or KSU-type phone system can still benefit through the use of a special adapter.) Recordings are played on a digital player or a portable CD player. On-hold recordings average from four to six minutes in length, with eight to 10 “messages” or paragraphs.

The cost is less than other traditional forms of advertising, with a package of three recordings generally ranging from $699 to $899. For all the benefits on-hold messaging can bring you, this may be one marketing idea you don’t want to put on hold.

Amir Watynski owns WatSounds, Inc., which provides customized telephone “on-hold” recordings and voice-mail greetings to chiropractic practices and other businesses. Amir can be reached by phone at 800-250-8233 or by e-mail at amir@watsounds.com.