More than before, answering services are essential for medical practitioners. Partnering with the right company is helping medics manage their phone lines 24/7. The best medical answering services are given by professionals who know how to screen calls and take messages.
The company offering medical answering services should also have adequate medical expertise to attend to every patient, answering questions accurately. They should also know your business very well so that they can give customized services.
The Impact of Missed Calls
Missed calls are a sign of poor customer service in your business, something that you need to eliminate at all costs. A missed call can come in many forms. Customers can hang up after waiting on the line for a long time without getting a response. They can also get frustrated when you ask them to queue and wait for you to call them at a later time. Calls that go to voicemail also account for missed calls.
There are various reasons why you may be having a pile of missed calls. Maybe you are overwhelmed with work, busy attending to clients in other digital platforms, or you lack the right technology to offer the best services. Whichever way, missed calls ruin your reputation and make you lose customers in their numbers.
Medical Answering Services
If you find yourself unable to attend your customers, you need to hire medical answering services. Some medical answering services, however, may be doing you more harm than good. How do you know? Here are some factors that might make you reconsider your answering service:
1. They use the answer and hold approach
An answering service should avoid putting patients on hold against their will. While answering a call is great, the fun ends when you put the customer on hold especially for a long time.
The best answering service is run by professionals who know the service inside out and can answer just about any call. Your provider must also be available during emergencies.
2. Susceptibility to environmental challenges
The last thing your customers want is substandard services because of connectivity or routing issues. If your answering service is often missing calls because of connectivity issues, that is not good for business.
3. Giving poor patient experience
Customers want to be treated with care and to feel important. That entails greeting them kindly, speaking to them respectfully, and most importantly; taking note of every issue they raise. If your answering service is not treating your customers with the utmost care, it is time to make a shift.
Additionally, you want a provider that carefully takes note of all your customers’ messages and takes the necessary actions like sending urgent messages in time.
Poor patient experience will ruin your business reputation so customer satisfaction is crucial.
Final Words
While medical answering services can relieve your business of the pressure of dealing with many patients, not all services are equal. Assess your services using the factors above and determine whether it is time for you to find a more reliable answering service.