Investing in training your staff can go a long way toward helping grow your practice

Not only is investing in training your front office employees on the finer points of working in a dental office a smart and proactive way to run your business, but it’s beneficial for your staff, and your patients will notice.

Dental front office training raises your team’s competencies. It tells them that you care about their professional development, that you have faith in their abilities by empowering them through helping them hone their skills.

Your front office team is also, in many ways, the face of your business in that it is they your patients will interact with before their dental appointment, as well as after the fact. If the customer service they provide is anything less than stellar, you will lose patients, and in turn, revenue.

Dental front office training can yield two immediate returns: it will help you retain your employees, and it’ll help them manage their daily workflows better. Moreover, training as a group provides your staff with insight to one another’s roles, thereby ensuring they work together and support one another.

What should you look for in a dental front office training course and provider? The training curriculum ought to include guidance on the following:

• Instructions on answering the phone and greeting customers in the office
• Daily and weekly scheduling to ensure the work week is full
• Entering and tracking dental insurance payments
• Handling patients’ personal financial arrangements for payment
• Following up with patients on canceled appointments and unscheduled treatments

In addition to the many reception, data management, and appointment scheduling responsibilities your front office team should be formally trained on to improve, there’s also the matter of learning the language of dentistry.

Don’t forget, a lot of people don’t want to visit a dentist. Your staff needs to know the dental lexicon to help put their minds at ease and assuage their concerns. New or nervous patients may not be aware of the full value good oral health and hygiene provides. They may need someone who isn’t a dental health professional to express their concerns to, and help them understand why preventative oral health measures are important.

Having a front office staff that’s comfortable and capable of delivering that top level of customer service is how you can inspire patient loyalty that may lead to them referring their friends to you, help you retain the patients you have, and grow your practice.

Need professional assistance marketing for your dental practice? We have more than 23 years’ experience specializing in representing dentists in the U.S. and Canada. Call us now at 1-888-377-2404 or request a callback.