📍   everyone, Welcome back to the show. I am Sarah Beth and today's episode is for any business owner or professional, whether you're in healthcare, retail, tech, or really any industry.  We're talking about something so basic, but it's really critical and it can make or break your relationship with your clients, customers, or patients.

I want to start with this. If Have you ever lost a client, or a customer, or even a patient simply because of a bad phone experience? Maybe they were on hold too long, or they didn't feel heard  by the person answering the call.  If you think it's rare, think again.  Let me tell you some facts. 

Did you know that 60 percent of customers hang up after being on hold for just one minute? That's right, just one minute. And they're already moving on to the next company on Google.  Even worse, 70 percent of customers who hang up don't bother ever calling back. Instead, they take their business somewhere else, likely your competitor. 

It doesn't even stop there. Did you know that one third of people who leave bad reviews mention poor phone experiences? Whether it's a rude staff, long hold times, an unresolved issue,  Phone interactions are one of the top drivers for negative feedback.  That is huge damage to your reputation that will impact your bottom line for months or even years. 

So why am I dedicating an entire episode to the phone experience? Because it matters whether your phone support is in house outsourced. It's the first impression people get of your business. And let's be real for a minute. First impressions, they don't get a second chance. I want to help you understand what to look for, what questions to ask, how to make sure your phone handling, whether it's a small team, a large call center, one person, they represent your business and you want them to represent it the way that you want. 

It's not just about answering the phone. It's about how you answer, how you listen, how you care, and ultimately how you connect with the person on the other end.  Preparing for the call and making sure you have the right systems and the right people in place can make all the difference between a loyal customer and a lost one. 

So ask yourself this,   is the way that your phone is handled for your business working for you?  Or is it pushing people away?  And more importantly, what are you doing to fix it?  In this episode, we're going to talk about what you need to know, whether you outsource or keep it in house.

I'm not just here to tell you why my company has mastered this, but I want to arm you with the right tools and knowledge to succeed. No matter what direction you take with your phones,  communication always matters, your phone experience matters. And today we're going to break down exactly what you need to know to make sure your phone support, your call handling, the way the phones are answered.

is a reflection of your best self, your best company, the best experience a customer could have, a client could have, and even a patient could have.  Let me tell you about a dental practice out of the West Coast in California.  This is a three location group practice that reached out to my company after facing a major issue with their phone support.

They had initially outsourced their calls to a large call center. On paper, it looked like a great deal. Low cost, all the outbound calls handled, and the call center provided notes indicating follow ups that were happening, all the good stuff. As the weeks went by, the practice noticed something strange.

Even though all the detailed notes and reports were coming in from the call center, they weren't actually scheduling appointments. I mean, there were appointments on the schedule, but there weren't any more appointments. And in fact, it looked like there had been a decline.  This office manager grew really suspicious when the practice entire schedule started falling apart.

I mean, patients who were supposed to be followed up with weren't booking. , their previously busy calendar was suddenly wide open. She took matters into her own hand and began calling patients directly. To her surprise, she discovered that a ton of patients hadn't even been contacted at all, even though they had notes in their appointments. 

She was looking for clarity. So she asked the company for call recordings so that she can investigate why patients weren't scheduling.  Two weeks went by and without any recordings being provided, she realized the outsource call center wasn't actually making calls.  Despite what their detailed notes claimed, by the time they uncovered the issue, the practice lost what they estimated to be 30, 000 in potential revenue over a six week period.

And worse yet, patients were complaining they couldn't get through to anyone. No one was even answering the phones.  They scheduled a call with me and we went over everything. The onboarding timeline was about 10 days. We got to work as soon as possible.  The first thing we did was implement  daily recap reporting so that every call, whether inbound or outbound, was tracked in real time.

The practice could see at a glance who had been talked to, what was discussed, and whether the patient scheduled an appointment or not.  This level of visibility restored their confidence in what, . a call center look like. We didn't stop there. We introduced call recording and quality assurance checks to them.

They didn't previously have this in a way that was accessible to them, so we made sure that they could grab samplings of call recordings and making sure that we were doing things the right way. By reviewing actual conversations, we were able to make sure  Our team was trained to better communicate with their patients, explain urgency of treatment and drive scheduling with more of a purpose.

It wasn't just about us answering the phones. It was about making sure that every interaction reflected the high standards of this group practice and actually filled their schedule. Within the first month we saw a 20 percent increase in scheduled appointments. That resulted  In an additional 12, 000 to 15, 000 in monthly revenue  for each of the three practices, these weren't just numbers on paper.

 They were real results of clear, actionable  reporting and consistent follow through. As the saying goes, if you don't measure it, you can't manage it. By tracking every metric and fine tuning our approach, we were able to turn things around for this practice and get them back on track and not just back on track, growing their practice beyond that 30, 000 that they lost over six weeks. 

In the end, this three location dental group didn't just regain control of their call center, their phone handling, they regained the trust of their patients.  And we proved that when you prioritize transparency, accountability, and the right processes, success naturally follows.  I know that there are so many risks to outsourcing phone support, but there are a few big ones that can really mess things up if you're not careful. 

First is the loss of that personal connection. A lot of third party providers handle calls for multiple businesses, so the calls can feel generic and impersonal. And honestly, that's not what people are looking for. When they call your office or your place of business, they want to feel like they matter, like they're being heard. 

And then you have communication gaps.  That's a biggie. When you outsource, you're adding another layer between your team and your patients, your clients, or your customers. And that can lead to getting things lost in translation, double bookings, missed appointments, wrong information.

And that is a fast track to frustrated patients. Clients, customers, and ultimately a chaotic schedule.  Quality control is another issue that we face. When you're not the one directly overseeing how calls are handled, it's tough to make sure that everything meets your standards. Without that oversight, service quality slips, and before you know it, you're getting complaints left and right.

Did you know that 96 percent of patient complaints are related to customer service? That's why it really matters to keep a close eye on how all calls are handled in your business. I  have one more story that I want to share with you. We were introduced to a group practice out of Texas.

They had been working with a virtual call center company for about four years, and over the four years  they had issues here and there that were typically pretty common, missed calls or some connection issues, nothing that really I haven't seen before, but what really was interesting was that the group practice had a really high continuing care list, or re care list, if you've never heard of that in the dental world.

If you're not in the dental industry, basically that's a list of patients who are due or overdue for a cleaning. The owners of this group said they were looking into our services only to see what we do and how our best practices work with growing dental practices. They were really worried because year over year, they weren't growing and they had implemented a bunch of new best practices in the dental office, but they weren't actually growing their hygiene schedules.

They were on the decline and they just couldn't figure out what was going on.  They estimated with the loss in revenue as a company as a whole that they had lost 1. 2 million in just their hygiene schedules. So I asked them on our intro call  if they would be willing to screen share and pull a few reports for me.

I quickly signed a HIPAA release form so that they were protected. And by my basic calculations and averages that I calculated for their office, it was actually 2. 1 million. They lost over their seven Practices. We took over phones within two weeks.  When we took over our first priority was making sure our phone support was integrated properly with their existing systems.

We worked closely with their team and made sure communication was clear. We talked about word usage. We talked about how they wanted us to talk, how they wanted us to represent their actual brand.  It turned their operations around. And more importantly, it helped rebuild trust with their patients and build back their business. 

When I talk about how we do things different, it seems like, gosh, every company should just do things that way, but not every company does. And I really do believe that not every call center is handled or built the same. We're all built so differently here at my company. I've trained my team to know what's going on.

That managing phones isn't just answering calls. We are an extension of the businesses, the brands, the values that we work with. We're not perfect. We strive for our best always for our team and our clients, but we have a true passion for making it right. We advocate for the growth of every single business individually, and that's reflected in everything that we do.

We don't do generic. Our team is trained specifically for dentistry and for our individual companies because every call needs to feel like it's coming directly from the dental practice. We make sure our patients feel valued and cared for just like our clients would if they were answering the phones directly. 

We work closely with every dental practice. and every in house team to make sure that there are no gaps in communication. We even have a HIPAA compliant chat system so that we can connect instantly with our in house teams  if we have a question or if there's an issue or We can get the answer right away.

It's incredible. It's almost like we're just in a back room talking with your patients and then talking with you up at the front. We don't work with email or waiting on hold with customer service. We work directly with each one of our teams. And that's one thing that I want you to expect from any third party company.

We don't just train our team once. and leave it at that. We continuously monitor call quality to ensure every patient gets the best experience possible. 



Our live tickler system for phone management has several key metrics and data points that we measure to make sure that our phone operations are running smoothly and efficiently. It's designed to track actions and reminders and help our team stay on top of deadlines and tasks and also improve our training process. We measure call response times, time to answer hold times. 

Missed call rates, call outcome tracking, call duration, call frequency per customer. Call satisfaction, abandonment rate. Appointment scheduling efficiency.  Conversation rates. First call resolution, call recording, and call quality. Our agent performances, compliance  and documentation. 

The list is honestly endless. And we track this because it's important all the way down to our single owner practices, all the way up to our multi location group practices.

Our goal is to make sure that Every call is handled with the experience that you would expect in person, professionalism and a deep understanding of what the patients are needing.  We know that communication is key and that's why we have a bilingual support system. We want every patient to feel comfortable and understood no matter what language they speak, whether it's peak hours or random Tuesday afternoon, we scalable support.

So our team is tailored to fit the needs of your business as it grows. And yes, everything we do is HIPAA compliant. Patient privacy is a big deal, and we take it seriously. You can connect with your team instantly here at Dentistry Support, securely, without worrying. And even if you don't go with our company, the most important thing I can share with you is to expect these results, and this type of care,

if you decide to have someone in house handling your phones, I love that. But I want you to make sure you're thinking about how they answer the phone. Is it in full alignment with you? And do you have metrics so you can see how things are going? Your in house team members should be tracked for hold time.

We'll be right back. Wait time. How many call rings are happening before the call is actually answered? Are the phones monitored and recorded? How are you protecting your business and what things are you putting in place to make sure everything is going the way that you want it to go so that your practice, your business, your company is handled the way you would want it as an owner.

I saw something in the other day where someone said, as the owner of my business, I don't expect my team to work. 24 hours a day. I don't expect them to work nonstop, extra hours, put their whole heart and soul into it because they're not me. They aren't what I built this brand to be. They're an employee of my company, but it's my job to share with them what my vision is.

It's my job to share with them how I want people to see my company when they interact with it for the first time. And that's my encouragement to you. 



 Let's talk about the foundation of great phone support. No matter what industry you're in, whether it's dentistry, healthcare, anything else, how your phones are handled makes or breaks your business. So here are seven key points that I want you to focus on when you are creating the best practices for your phones.

Number one, speed matters. This is number one for a reason. Did you know that 75 percent of customers say they believe it takes too long to reach someone live on the phone?  Studies show that if your phone isn't answered within 20 seconds, many customers will hang up and they move on to the next option.

Train your team to answer calls quickly and maximize customer spend on hold.  Two, create personal connection. It's not just about answering the phone. It's about how you answer it. The tone and attitude of the person on the other end really matters. And people can sense when someone is rushing through the conversation versus genuinely listening and even smiling.

Encourage your team to introduce themselves by name, greet the caller warmly, show empathy. Remember that 48 percent of consumers expect special treatment for being loyal customers, so personalized communication matters. I cannot tell you how many times I have called somewhere and I can immediately tell if someone is irritated, if I'm going to have a good experience, if I'm going to have a bad experience.

It doesn't matter how long someone has been with your company. If they aren't answering the phones with a warm, calm, empathetic demeanor, they need to get off the phones and you need to be strong enough to say that because it's costing you business.  Number three, consistent followup. Every business needs followup, especially if the call didn't lead to an immediate appointment or

or some sort of sale. Make sure your team has a system in place to follow up on missed calls or people that just call about your business within 24 hours. And this isn't just a courtesy call. I want you to track these interactions and document them because if you're not tracking them, you cannot improve.

Number four, use data to drive efficiency.  Here's a number I want you to keep in mind. 40 percent of customer service tasks can be automated with the right technology. But that doesn't mean you should lose the human touch. Use data and call tracking to analyze how long calls lasts, how many successful appointments you've had, how many successful outcomes you've had, and where the bottlenecks are.

This is going to help you improve both efficiency and service.  Number five, provide clear, actionable information. One of the biggest frustrations customers experience over the phone is unclear or incomplete information. Train your team to be thorough when you're giving details. If it's about your services or different appointments, pricing, or the next steps, You've got to make sure you have the right tools in place, have scripts and checklists so that no key detail is missed.

You may get feedback from your team that you're micromanaging them, or they've been in the industry for a really long time and they don't need lists. They don't need checklists. They don't need you to micromanage them. But I'm telling you, we are humans and we make mistakes. We forget things. People on the other line, your customers, they want clarity, especially when making decisions about appointments or purchases or transactions they have with your business. 

Number six, measure, measure, measure.  You cannot manage what you do not measure. Track your team's performance through metrics like call response time, call resolution rates, customer satisfaction after the call. These numbers provide insights to whether you're excelling or there's room for improvement.

If your team isn't hitting the numbers, you'll know exactly where to focus your training efforts. It doesn't matter if your business has two people. Or 700 people, you've got to measure their efforts. And even if you are a small business, it doesn't mean that you don't have to operate how a 500 

employee ran company is done.  Take notes from what they do. They're just doing it on a larger scale. You need to improve the efficiencies of your business. And I'm telling you, there is something lacking somewhere. Number seven, show gratitude and close with care.  Ending the call is just as important in how you start it.

Make sure your staff expresses genuine gratitude for the caller's time. This simple step makes a big difference in how the patient, the customer, the client feels about how they interacted with your company. Studies have shown that 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how they feel they are being treated.

Close the conversation on a positive and caring note.  When you make a choice to implement these seven best practices, you aren't just improving the efficiency of your phone's team, your customer service, you're also creating a better, more human experience for everyone who interacts with your business.

And that's something that every business, regardless of the industry, should be striving for. 

Our TGM moment, our that's good moment of today's episode is this. Never underestimate the power of a personal connection. Whether you're managing your own practice, your own healthcare company, any type of business, phone support is more than just how you answer the call.

Anybody can be nice. Anybody can be sweet.  But what you're really looking at is an opportunity to build trust, to create a positive experience, to showcase your organization and follow through with your customers, your patients, your clients in a way that actually matters. 

When you're training your team or when you're training that third party company, you have to think about all the way through to the very end point. Yes, I'm saying hello on the phone when I answer it, but what's happening during the call? How am I being clear in what I gather from this person on the other line to what they are interpreting my company to be? 

I'll leave you with this quote,  Zig Ziglar is one of the greatest motivational speakers. He said, you don't build a business, you build people and then people build the business.  This couldn't be more true when it comes to your phones, investing in the right people or the right business and the right processes will pay off in ways that you can't even begin to measure. 

If you decide that you want something to change.  People often say, well, we have to follow a process to do that. We have to make sure that we have all of these different meetings and all of these different training protocols written out. Yes, all of that is really good and I don't disagree, but I'll tell you that it's more valuable for you just to start now.

Every time that I have thought, you know what? I need to meet with a couple of my team members first before we implement this and then have a follow up meeting to see who has followed through with that. It always takes me at least three times longer to implement change than if I just hop on a call, implement it right now.

Don't wait. If you think things need to change, they need to change. And I'm encouraging you to take that step right now. Train your team, take the time, make the effort. It matters  at every one of the companies that I lead. We are passionate about making things better for those that we interact with. We care deeply about getting it right.

But we also know  humility and humbleness is the most perfect thing you could integrate  when we don't get it right.  When mistakes happen, we have to learn from it and grow and move forward to get better and stronger. And so as we support our clients, we take a look at things that aren't working, constantly re evaluating where we need to move, change, bend.

 Even though people tell you the only thing constant is change, no one likes change. They hate to see mistakes. They hate to see problems.  The best thing you can do as a leader or as a business owner is recognize right now. That no one, no software, no singular person is ever going to be perfect  when they work with you on your business, none of that will be perfect, but every time you experience a challenge.

A break in the process, a system that doesn't work. You have an opportunity to say, Oh, awesome. This showed up. That means that there's something we can do to make our company better. Because if every day all you ever experienced was a bunch of wins, how would you ever know new ways to make things better?

How would you ever grow beyond where you are right now? Everything would just be staying the same.  So take this lesson from me. That I had to learn along the way, managing 400 plus employees.  Change is good, problems mean growth is on the horizon. You can be better.  When you're ready to take your phones to the next level,  and make sure that every interaction counts, 

take the time to do it right. Ask the good questions. What best practices exist and which ones do we need to create so this works really well?  Remember these stories I shared? These businesses that were struggling until they partnered with us,  their success can be yours too. And you don't even have to do business with me.

You can just choose that you want it to be better for your business. You can implement different metrics and different benchmarks for your team to meet.  Let's make sure the next time a customer, patient or client calls your office, they're met with a warm professional and personalized service they deserve. 

You can reach out to me at any time to chat about phones. I'd love to have a conversation and help you learn more about how we can help take your business to the next level or what tips and tricks I might have to take your business to the next level with the team you have.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope this episode gives you some insight into the importance of a great phones team, the risks of outsourcing that can happen.  And I want you to remember that every interaction counts.  Let's make sure they count for the better. I'll catch  📍 you on the next episode.

​