5 mistakes your receptionist is making on the phone: Communicating effectively over the phone is just as important as in person. Here's how to make sure your team does it right

摘要

Veterinary team members have more contact with clients over the phone than they do in person. Yet practice owners and managers give them very little oversight on how to communicate with clients over the phone. While you're occupied elsewhere in the hospital, your busy or poorly trained receptionists often don't realize the mistakes they're making. How do you know if your team is handling phone calls properly and what impressions are you leaving with pet owners on the other end of the line? In my career, I've had the opportunity to make secret shopper calls, listen to audiotapes, and read transcripts and reports of calls between pet owners and staff members. Over time, a clear pattern emerged, revealing five common mistakes that even those veterinarypractices with well-intentioned, well-trained staff members make. Here's a list of the five mistakes observed through our secret shopper calls. Hopefully, these mistakes will provide ideas for additional training and coaching to improve this critical communications area.