At Central Communications, we believe that all of our customers and their customers deserve to be treated with respect. Our operators and virtual receptionists at Central Comm. know that everyone deserves a certain amount of respect and most times, if you treat someone respectfully, they will reciprocate. This is even more so with physicians and their patients.
Imagine this scenario: You are ill, or your child is ill, in a state of great anxiety you call your doctor after hours. The phone is answered by someone who sounds cold and indifferent to your situation. If the person on the other end feels like you don’t care enough about their problem, they will go somewhere else or just hang up the phone.
“Consider that this person could be calling a different office for care, so always be grateful that the call is made to you, not another practitioner.”
At Central Comm., our experienced operators know that remaining calm, patient and respectful is an imperative. Sometimes, people who are calling because of a stressful situation can become agitated rather easily, so be very careful not to come off as impatient or stressed. Leave your drama at the door and pick it up on the way out. If your co-workers don’t want to hear it. Neither do your customers.
“The next step is to determine the nature or purpose of the call. Most calls can be categorized into three groups: sales calls; patient question/appointment calls (which are not necessarily urgent and can be called back later); and urgent patient calls (which you should always take right away).”
Be sure to take notes detailing the nature of the call and level of urgency. You don’t want to put someone having a heart attack on hold. At the same time, you wouldn’t want to spend ages talking to a poor older woman with a splinter. Try to keep your conversation short, courteous and to the point. Keep expectations realistic as to how quickly their physician will be able to return their call. We always do our best to keep in mind that we are representing someone else’s business.
Pearl Answers
Quote taken from: http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27705