Scripting the initial greeting of the all-important telephone call is a great way to ensure that each patient and future patient receives the same five-star service. What to say when answering that call, though, is up to the dental team. Perhaps everyone on the dental team could say something like, “Thank you for calling Dr. Wonderful’s amazing dental practice! How may I help you?” or maybe the dental team prefers to keep it simple with a courteous, “Good Morning/Afternoon and thank you for calling Dr. Wonderful’s office. This is Lisa, how may I help you?” Either way works and both include a pleasant greeting and a very important “Thank you.” Once the team has chosen their initial greeting, however, roleplaying for success in the delivery of this statement is a must!
Benefits of Roleplaying in Your Practice
When the team is practicing this greeting together, they are ensuring that they sound professional and welcoming. What the dental practice does not want is to have a script that is so rigidly followed that the team does not sound sincere when they are speaking with patients. Connecting with the patient or potential patient is more important now than ever. Dental practices and dental groups are understanding more and more that patients do not just want the cheapest or the best dentistry. They want the whole package! Patients want quality service delivered in a caring environment, and if they do not find it in your practice they will continue to look for it in the abundance of other offices in your area! This caring environment starts and potentially ends with the very first telephone call.
Roleplaying for success ensures that the entire team knows what to say when answering that very important first telephone call and with practice they will learn to say it with just enough care and concern. Roleplaying also keeps the team’s focus on consistently delivering the same quality care. Sure, we all know what we need to do and say, but sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind that it becomes too easy to skip a step or two in our rush to get the next task.
This is when roleplaying is most helpful. Taking the time to role-play different types of calls helps strengthen the team’s communication skills and also improves their ability to handle situations that may not happen every day in the dental practice. Think of it as if you are preparing for your big break into show business. We want to make sure that we know every line and are prepared for any distraction that may occur. When we practice, we prepare ourselves to deliver the best performance that we can. If we truly believe in our hearts that we are here to give our patients the best care possible, it’s not really a performance after all. It is a commitment to be our best and give our best at all times.
Roleplaying for success is not for you, it is for your patients. It ensures that we are consistently delivering a friendly, caring, and valuable service to our patients and future patients each and every time.