Is your front desk helping or hurting your practice?

Imagine that you're taking your kids or grandkids to see Santa Claus at the mall and you're stuck in a long line of wailing toddlers, exhausted adults, and bulging shopping bags. When you finally get to the front, the millennial elf-in-charge is completely disengaged, barely lifting her head up from her phone to greet you. When she does speak, it's full of attitude and negativity. She clearly knows nothing about customer service and does not want to be there.

Jay Geier is the president and founder of the Scheduling Institute.

And neither do you. But despite your dissatisfaction, you stick it out and stay in line. After all, your kids are excited to see Santa, and it could get ugly if they don't. Nevertheless, you vow you will not return to this particular operation next year.

This might sound far-fetched (or maybe spot on), but it's a perfect example of how one team member can make a horrible first impression that ruins a customer's image of the entire company.

This isn't all that different from what may be happening with the first impression of your office when a new patient calls to make an appointment. There is one key difference, though. The potential patients who call your practice and speak to your "elves" aren't sticking it out. If they aren't getting scheduled, they are hanging up and calling another practice, never making it through your front doors to see you. They are -- metaphorically -- leaving your line to find another Santa Claus.

Now, you may be thinking this doesn't apply to you or your team members. They are pleasant and friendly and have been with you for years, right? That may be the case, but if they're not converting new patient inquiries into scheduled appointments, they may as well be texting their friends or posting their weekend activities on Facebook while the phone rings away.

The problem is, despite their demeanor, your front desk team members don't know anything about streamlined scheduling, selling the value of treatment, or avoiding verbal vomit on the telephones. They miss calls and put new patients on hold. They aren't fully engaged in the process of translating each phone interaction into a new patient appointment. They are literally just friendly voices on the other end of the line -- and this is showing in your stagnant new patient numbers.

How do I know? My team and I have studied tens of thousands of dental practices around the globe, and we've found that the majority of these practices have one thing in common. Their front desks have not mastered converting new patient inquiries into appointments. Many of them ramble on or allow insurance questions to become barriers, and some have even -- yes I'm serious -- recommended your patients to another practice.

You are a lot like Santa Claus (stick with me here). The business revolves around how well you interact with your customers. But in order for you to have this interaction and make a great impression, they have to meet you first. You have zero control over your production, collections, or referrals if your front desk team can't get new patients across the threshold of your office.

And just like Santa, you don't always know what your "elves" are doing, or what they are saying to the customers. Even if they mean well, they might be doing and saying all the wrong things. The only way to ensure the best possible results for your practice is to give these team members the tools they need to succeed.

If your front desk is generating weak results and new patient numbers, I'm going to give it to you straight: It's your fault. You haven't invested the time or money into training them to become high-quality new-patient generators. Most likely, they've got the goods and the potential. They just need training.

The great majority of your patients are scheduled over the phones. What this means for you is that your phones are one of your greatest missed opportunities for growth. All you need to do is leverage your greatest asset -- your team -- to create an incredible first impression and guarantee that each phone call translates into a new patient.

Jay Geier is the founder and owner of the Scheduling Institute, a dental training and practice consulting company. On Wednesday, December 14, at 7 p.m. Eastern, he is hosting a limited-availability webcast on a new-patient mastery strategy for your front desk. To find out more or to register for this webcast, visit www.patientgrowthformula.com today.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.