Many physiotherapy clinics don't do as well as they could when answering calls to prospective new patients. With a few simple changes, they could book up their lists more successfully.

1. How To Answer Your Phone Well

2. Book New Patients With Good Phone
Technique
My Thoughts from listening to physiotherapy booking calls
Jonathan Blood Smyth B.Sc.(Hons)Zoo, Grad.Dip.Phys., MCSP
HCPC Registered Physiotherapist

3. Getting & Keeping Customers
• Is an expensive business
• Relies on good social skills and clear protocols
• Is fundamental to business success
• It’s rare that we keep an eye on the process
• Do you review call techniques?
• Do you provide clear information?
• Do you test the procedures for continual improvement?

4. Online Booking, Yes I Know…
But many still want to talk to a real person to:
• Explain their problems
• Ask questions
• Dispel their confusion
• Be confident the clinic is where they should book in
• Build trust that their decision is the right one
• So the impression given on the phone is crucial

5. After Listening to 1000s of Calls
• Patients to physiotherapy clinics
• Some practices do a good job, and some could do better
• Callers may be left confused
• You can feel the loss of certainty and trust as the call goes on
• Some responders have very successfully self-sabotaged
• The caller will then go elsewhere

6. My Suggestions
• I’ve written them for impact
• You will need to adapt them
• I’m emphasizing points from what I’ve heard on real calls
• They are my own opinions
• I hope they generate some thoughts on how we can all do better

7. Normal Answered Calls

8. Answer the phone in a certain order
• The start of a call is often not heard or understood well
• Try a softer introduction
• “Hello, this is Loose Chippings Physiotherapy, may I help you?”
• This allows time for them to catch that you are their intended
destination
• You wait…(don’t be tempted to step in, now)
• The caller then feels more secure to start talking

9. Don’t Just Say “Hello”
• The caller has to ask, “Is that a physiotherapy clinic?”
• Then you have to say “Yeeeees” as if it was obvious
• This puts doubt into the caller’s mind at the start of the call
• You may sound less than professional
• Say what your business is, it’s that easy

10. Don’t Just Say Your Name
• Especially if it’s a foreign sounding name
• They are expecting the name of a business…
• Repeating your name again when they still don’t get it is worse
• You could say, “This is Loose Chippings Physiotherapy, Stanislaus
here…”
• Make it clear from the start

11. Don’t Take All The Patient’s Details First
• You take their name, address, postcode, email, contact details and
problem
• Then you say, “I’m sorry we can’t offer you an appointment in the
next few days”
• You’ve been wasting the person’s time
• And they do get annoyed, trust me

12. If A Caller Wants An Appointment, Book
Them
• Don’t second-guess what they might want
• Don’t persuade them out of the idea
• They get a consultation with a qualified professional practitioner
• That’s not a bad thing is it?

13. You Want To Use A Call Back System?
• “I can’t book the diary for you, the practitioners do that themselves.”
• “I can take your name and number and get the physio to call you.”
• This is a guaranteed way to lose customers
• They’re ready to book right then
• Delay and they’ll change their mind or book somewhere that can

14. Don’t Confuse Your Callers
• “Would you like to see a physio or an osteopath?”
• Or “a physio or a chiropractor?”
• The caller is very unlikely to know the answer
• Nor mostly does the receptionist
• He or she then can’t answer the caller’s questions
• Confusing the callers makes them uncertain
• Avoid this by giving the receptionist a clear procedure for what they
should do

15. Answers Your Receptionist Must Know
• How much do appointments cost?
• How long do appointments last?
• Do you do evenings and weekends?
• Where are you located?
• Do you treat children of “x” age?
• Do you deal with “x” insurance company?
• Do you treat arthritis, hip replacements, tennis elbow etc. etc.?
• Have a list with the conditions on it for the receptionist
• Do you do the Epley manoeuvre for BPPV?
• Do you do home visits and how far do you come out?

16. The Answerphone Is Different

17. You Need The Answerphone
• You may have to rely on taking messages automatically
• This is quite different from standard answering technique
• You can’t convey all the information without being too long
• What do you want your callers to do?

18. The Main Function Of Your Answerphone Is…
• For the caller to leave a message!
• Anything that gets in the way of this may reduce your business
• You want to say things about your mission as a clinic or other stuff,
etc.?
• All that may get in the way of the primary function
• Think carefully before putting obstacles in the way of callers

19. It’s About Them, Isn’t It?
• You inform them of this or that or the other
• You say how busy you are, you can’t talk to them right now
• You apologise for not taking their call
• This is all about you
• But it’s not about you, it should be about them
• They’re waiting…

20. Short Messages Win Out
• Short messages significantly increase the likelihood of a caller leaving
a message
• Keep it to 15 seconds or less
• This reduces confusion and too many options
• When you get to 30 seconds many people do not bother with a
message
• Some are 45 seconds or more…

21. Please Press 1
• Don’t give too many number options “Please press 1…” etc.
• Giving eight options (yes, someone does that) means you won’t get
many messages
• People forget after the first few options
• Some people think they have to wait until the end
• Be very sure the number options are necessary at all

22. Misplaced Branding?
• “We are dedicated to your wellbeing…”
• “…to serve you best, please…”
• Nice encouraging messages like this are annoying
• Think carefully about who really needs them, you or the caller
• In reality, no-one except you cares
• They want to leave a message

23. Apologies Are Cheap
• People don’t expect the phone to be manned at all times
• We are used to answerphones by now
• Don’t say “I’m terribly sorry but we can’t take your call”
• Or “We are busy with worthy things such as x, y or z”
• They know this already
• They want to leave a message

24. Trust People
• Don’t say “If you’d like to leave a message, please leave your name,
number and a SHORT message and we will get back to you”
• This is a bit patronising
• People know what to do
• Let them do it
• Some people will go on longer, let them

25. Options Can Be Bad
• You can email me at johnsmith@myplace.com
• Or go to johnsmithphysio.com to book online…
• You can send me a text on 07…
• All these options are confusing
• And they take too long
• They want to leave a message

26. Your Expert Knowledge
• You want to use the message to share your procedures or policies?
• No one is interested
• Or remembers
• They want to leave a message
• Keep your expert knowledge for the assessment
• It’s really relevant then

27. Messaging Types
• Be wary about a “This is the xxxxphone voicemail for…” type of
system
• No one cares about that
• They want to… well you get the idea
• Be careful about the “If you want to re-record your message, press
hash” recording types. I’ve heard callers say, “What’s a hash?”
• And it makes the call longer

28. My Suggestions For Success?
• Try this:
• “Thank you for ringing Loose Chippings Physiotherapy. Please leave a
message after the tone”
• That’s it!

29. Watch Your Tone
• Make sure your tone is a good beeeeeep so it’s clear when it starts
• Don’t have too long a gap between the end of your message and the
tone – people start talking too early
• Some older people may not hear well so the beep has to be long
enough and loud enough

30. Testing
• Testing is the key and most often missing from our systems
• Test the system several times from different phones
• Listen to your own message and leave a test message
• Get your Mum to ring your number and see what she thinks
• Then change it with the feedback

31. Marketing
• Follow up your messages
• The marketing boys say you should follow up your leads at least five
times
• That may not be practical nor necessary
• But we may need to try harder to get customers on board
• Most people who ring you are putting their hand up and saying, “I’m
interested in the services you are offering”
• These people are gold to your business
• Do all you can to get them on the phone and book them

32. The Future
• Perhaps you have some ideas to add to mine…
• Let me know
• Jonathan Blood Smyth B.Sc.(Hons) Zoo, Grad. Dip. Phys., MCSP
• HCPC Registered Physiotherapist