How do you handle a dental phone caller who only wants to know the price?
Acknowledge them, redirect them to a consultation. The opening line: ‘Ms. Jones, my job is to help you get in to see the doctor right away so your best options can be discussed. I’m not the doctor, so I can’t give you a meaningful number over the phone.’ Stay friendly. Get her name. Offer to send fee-range materials in writing. If she presses for a ballpark a second time, use the eye-doctor analogy: ‘Would you let your eye doctor guess your prescription strength over the phone? Or a cardiologist diagnose a heart condition without looking at you?’ Most callers stop pressing at this point. If they press a third time, deflect into clinical questions they cannot answer: ‘What’s your bone quality? Will you need augmentation?’ The caller doesn’t know. Return to ‘the best thing I can do is have you see the doctor.’ This entire sequence is trainable in 30 minutes per team member.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.