“My name is Might-Have-Been Your Client.
I am also called No-More, Too-Late, Farewell”
– The Lost Client

Statistics tell us that Practices today are missing clients on a daily basis often due to urgent typing requirements. Just consider a phone call. It could be the next best client but, instead, it becomes a missed opportunity. Now it’s one thing to let opportunities slip by because we’re too busy to notice. It’s another to ignore them while they’re tapping us on our shoulder. And 34% of the time that’s exactly what we do and this is a conservative estimate as often it is more likely to be 66% of the time.

This costs your Practice not only a shed load of money; it also affects its reputation and referral opportunities.

Lost opportunities are caused by a number of incidents: hold times that are too long, poor phone etiquette, unknowledgeable staff or simply not asking the caller to schedule an appointment. But the main culprit is also the most egregious: not answering the phone.

That’s right – on average, 34% of phone calls made to a Practice go unanswered or worse as these stats show.

It sounds crazy, but think about it – a Practice phone is it’s shop front. Sure there is a website; however once a visitor has visited and decided to call only to find they are greeted by a prompt to leave a message (statistics also indicate they do not) – no, instead, they hang up and go on until they find a Practice that is answered by a real person, a representative of the Practice who will ‘sell’ its service to them. The role therefore of the telephonist/receptionist/whoever answers the phone is quite simply one of the most important jobs of the practice.

The Good News
By the time someone rings they have already decided on using your service if someone personally talks to them, gives them the time to discuss any number of issues and is enthusiastic to help. They are predisposed to go with a Practice where a warm human voice nurtures the conversation, answers all questions thoroughly AND does not sound rushed or eager to finish the phone call. The knack of converting calls to new business has never been more vital than nowadays. Potential clients research their own illnesses, are proactive in reading up on clinics and their reviews and often choose on average to decide on 3-4 that they consider appropriate to call.

The Bad News
This does not happen if the telephonist/receptionist is rushed and untrained in selling. This does not happen if Practices struggle with typing overload. A re-look at this element of the medical industry illustrates that most Practices are failing at seeing the importance of this role. There are often two or three members of staff who answer the telephone and it is assumed that one or other will ‘eventually’ answer the phone but no logic to whom, whe and how. It is a random assignment and dependent on diligence.

Scenarios
The potential client will probably hang up after 6-7 rings. They may try again or simply move on to their next chosen practice.

The Practice answerphone may kick-in. However in the main people don’t actually leave a message. Stats state – only 37% of people actually leave a message.

Impact on Practice
Based on our records the average practice receives approximately 750 phone calls a month, and that 1 in every 5 of those calls is an appointment opportunity. That’s 20% of all calls.

That means there are: 750 x 20% = 150 appointment opportunities per month.

If 34% of all calls go unanswered, the numbers change to:
750 x 66% = 495 answered calls/month
366 x 20% = 99 appointment opportunities

That’s 51 appointment opportunities lost simply by not answering the phone.

Now assume your average procedure cost is £4,000, and your conversion rate is 50%. By that calculation, you could be losing 51/2 = 25.5 new patients : 25.5 x 4,000 = £102,000

That’s £102k a month potentially down the drain. And for many of you, that number could be a lot higher.

When you factor in the 37% that actually DO leave a voicemail, the number of new patients drops to 16, but the result still isn’t pretty:

16 x £4,000 = £64,000 a month in potential lost revenue.

£64k. All because you’re simply not picking up the phone.

Practices struggle with typing overloads.

About now, I’m sure most of you are saying to yourselves – well, that’s not how we operate – but do you really know? I mean, if they’re not leaving a message…

But the real question is why. Why are the phones not being answered? We commonly see two main reasons:

1. Your staff is multi-tasking: they’re currently assisting other patients either on another line or in the office.
2. Your staff are typing an urgent letter/out at lunch (and don’t forget prospective clients often call in their lunch hour which is probably your Practice’s lunch hour too.

Outsourced Transcription boosts Client numbers
Luckily at OutSec, we have a solution to help fix this unhealthy situation.

It’s simple, practices struggle with overload typing. Dictation and therefore typing can be completed by our dedicated medical team of typists, all of whom have at least 7 years specialist knowledge of your medical discipline.

So what does this outsourced typing opportunity mean to your practice? We already went over how much you could be losing – think of how much you could gain, for less than half the average cost of just a single new patient.