Opticall, Inc.

Phone Answering Skills

2011-06-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Phone answering skills are critical for businesses. The telephone is still most business's primary point of contact with customers. And the way you answer your company's phone will form your customer's first impression of your business. These phone answering tips will ensure that callers know they're dealing with a winning business:

1) Answer all incoming phone calls before the third ring.

2) When you answer the phone, be warm and enthusiastic. Your voice at the end of the telephone line is sometimes the only impression of your company a caller will get.

3) When answering the phone, welcome callers courteously and identify yourself and your organization. Say, for instance, "Good morning. Cypress Technologies. Susan speaking. How may I help you?" No one should ever have to ask if they've reached such and such a business.

4) Enunciate clearly, keep your voice volume moderate, and speak slowly and clearly when answering the phone, so your caller can understand you easily.

5) Control your language when answering the phone. Don't use slang or jargon. Instead of saying, "OK", or "No problem", for instance, say "Certainly", "Very well", or "All right". If you're a person who uses fillers when you speak, such as "uh huh", "um", or phrases such as "like" or "you know", train yourself carefully not to use these when you speak on the phone.

6) Train your voice and vocabulary to be positive when phone answering, even on a "down" day. For example, rather than saying, "I don't know", say, "Let me find out about that for you."

7) Take telephone messages completely and accurately. If there's something you don't understand or can't spell, such as a person's surname, ask the caller to repeat it or spell it for you. Then make sure the message gets to the intended recipient.

8) Answer all your calls within one business day.

9) Always ask the caller if it's all right to put her on hold when answering the phone, and don't leave people on hold. Provide callers on hold with progress reports every 30 to 45 seconds. Offer them choices if possible, such as "That line is still busy. Will you continue to hold or should I have ________ call you back?"

10) If you use an answering machine to answer calls when you can't, make sure that you have a professional message recorded, that does the same thing as tip # 3, and gives callers any other pertinent information before it records their messages. Update your answering machine message as needed. For instance, if your business is going to be closed for a holiday, update your recorded answering machine message to say so and to say when your business will reopen.

Remember the phone call is the only impression the caller is left with, make it a positive one, thanks.

Do you want to be better than just good?

2011-05-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Trying something new, going out on a limb – it can be a scary and sometimes expensive proposition. But...

“Why not go out on a limb? That is where the fruit is.” - Will Rogers

Let’s face it, we are creatures of habit, we stop at the same coffee house each morning, take the same route to work, check our emails and facebook page, and work each day into the next.

For many Ophthalmic practices, sticking to their true and tried methods of memorable patient care and scrutinizing the bottom line has and will continue to serve good enough. But is good enough really good enough? In the spirit of constant pursuit of improvement and profitability, we all should look for new ways, new ideas, and new approaches that not only compliment our successful methods of yesterday, but will ensure a successful business for tomorrow.

So rather than engage in the all too common, bland, and frankly unproductive method of pointing out the obvious issues practices struggle with, today I’d like to share with you actual success that practices are experiencing right now by trying something new.BoomerangTM – A Patient Reactivation program that focuses on bringing back your “lost” managed care patients. To define “lost” we are referring to your existing patients that are due or overdue for routine vision care appointments at which your traditional patient recall methods of yesterday have failed at bringing these patients back to you.

BoomerangTM Benefit Facts;
• Practices are benefiting on average of $10,000 of incremental revenue each month (based on conservative average appointment value of $150)
• Increased surgical volume such as LASIK and Cataract procedures.
• Doctor’s schedules are being filled.
• On average expect a 500% ROI

How BoomerangTM Works;
 We partner with Brevium Inc. to install their patient reactivation technology, which syncs with your practice management system and identifies patients that are due or over due for appointments.
 Our patient counselor personally calls your patients and schedules them directly into your practice management system.
 Monthly reports are provided showing quantity of patients scheduled and revenue generated from these efforts.

How Much Does BoomerangTM Cost?
 One time set up fee $750
 $300 fee per month up to 3 doctors
 $99 fee per month each additional doctor when applicable
 $25 per appointment scheduled and KEPT

What Others Are Saying
 BoomerangTM has saved numerous 'archaic' hours of tedious chart pulling for recall. I can honestly say it is extremely exciting to utilize, reporting is amazing, and the results are instantaneous!

 In two years BoomerangTM program has added 446 cataract surgeries, 7,426 patients reactivated and over $2.78 million in receipts.

 In just 12 months BoomerangTM program has added 200 cataract surgeries, 2,104 patients reactivated and over $380,000 in receipts.

BoomerangTM Guarantee
 Guarantee positive ROI or your money back.

To learn more or start your 3 month trial, please feel free to contact us at (941) 893-2400.

Become a fan of OptiCall on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/opticall
Follow OptiCall on Twitter: http://twitter.com/opticall

Nine Ways to Avoid the Average Practice’s Pitfalls in Refractive Call Handling.

2011-02-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

Many Doctor’s and Refractive Coordinators are so swamped with the details of doing their job. The daily level of office activity leads to the false assumption that their phones must have been answered properly to have generated such a huge volume of work. Time and again, when real calls are recorded and reviewed, we see that Administrator’s and Doctor’s preconception of these calls does not necessarily match their reality.

We recently made over 1000 secret shop calls to practices nationally. During this time, we were able to reach a counselor directly only 66% of the time! The other 33% of calls were either transferred to voicemail, or asked to leave a message. Of the counselors reached directly, just under 1/3 of them, or in total about 18% of the calls, resulted in any effort to keep us as an active lead. We were amazed that in this economy so little attention to call handling is being made.

Many practices boast a 90% phone inquiry to consult conversion, but don’t actually capture every lead. In effect they only convert 50-60% of their inquiries into consultations because the only calls documented are those where the caller is willing to commit to a consultation easily and now. Everyone else became a lost lead. Talk about missed opportunity!

Here’s the “Monarch Note Version”… and the first few ways to improve your refractive calls and avoid the average practice’s pitfalls.

1. Ensure that your staff is kind and correct on every call.
2. Call your own office as a patient to experience and improve upon your own front office
3. Research your competition and improve upon their style
4. Allow your staff to answer refractive calls uninterrupted

The stakes are high when each incoming call represents upwards of $5000 a pair of eyes. If the initial caller does not enter your financial funnel, most likely they will find another. Our point, lead capture is essential when in today’s market and economy every call counts. It’s about quality over quantity. It’s the same reason that Circuit City is out while Best Buy survives. Extra credit if you can tell which one had better customer care. The ACE program’s crux is lead capture and cultivation, but that’s not all. There is much more involved in maximizing your potential along with bettering your potential client’s experience.

Treating LASIK and IOL callers as if they were regular ophthalmology patients calling for the first time is one of the biggest mistakes that practices make. Answering refractive calls like this……“Can you please hold? ,” or, “ The price? Oh it’s $2600 per eye. Is that all?, “ Ok then, bye now.” …are more common than you can imagine and have a grave effect on the bottom line. Remember, these folks do not consider themselves to be patients of yours yet, nor do they have the time or patience to deal with poor service.

In actuality, phones are often answered by unprepared, uninformed, unenthused and often uncaring staff. Most of us experience poor customer service in some form every day, but when delivered over the phone it is most frustrating. When poorly treated, the customer’s choice is to deal with it or go elsewhere. “Can you please hold?” Most people don’t want to!

Our goal as a leader in the ophthalmology industry should be to always stand out as exceptional. There are no second chances to make a first impression. A bad first impression in the competitive LASIK and IOL market, simply leads to your potential customer finding someone else. It’s hard to imagine how disposable your premium IOL and LASIK services really are. On recorded calls from practices across the country, we often hear the same potential client shopping price at competing practices. We’re here to tell you from experience, you are disposable until the caller has decided that you are the right place for them. The defining factor inevitably is call handling.

But how do you make the consumer realize that you are the best choice? The answer is to match your perception to your reality, and to become as excellent as you think you can be.

With our ACE program, we have the ability to listen to real patient calls for practices, we monitor every call. On average, before the ACE program is implemented, most practices were losing 30% of their new lasik leads by not capturing any information from the patient before ending the call. With a few changes we start with a goal to eliminate “lost leads”.

We’ve proven them a thing of the past for most practices that positively implement our ideals. Alright already…here’s the rest of our tips;

5. Capture every lead routinely
6. Ensure that calls follow a format that maximizes the potential of gaining new business
7. Assign informed and well educated counselor’s to handle your LASIK and IOL calls
8. Script your refractive calls in advance so you can dependably predict the outcome
9. Prepare to make mistakes and accept that they will be made. The key is to learn from them while maintaining morale which ultimately reflects on your call quality.

Imagine if every call were handled as if the caller had reached the most knowledgeable and kindest person in your office, every time, without interruptions or unnecessary holds. That’s our perception. It’s up to you to match our perception to what could be your own reality. We are here to empower you to do so. You may soon be busier than you ever imagined.

About the author of this article: Bill Mercier is the president and CEO of OptiCall, Inc, a provider of consumer communications solutions for the refractive industry which increases conversion rates of prospective callers into viable patient consultations.

10 Reels of Marketing Moves To Make Now

2011-01-31T11:58:00.001-08:00

Here are Mike Malley's slides from our webinar last Thursday:

Elective Surgery Marketing Tips for a Successful 2011

View more presentations from OptiCall.

2010 Elective Surgery Phone Trends and Tips for a Successful 2011

2011-01-28T10:48:00.001-08:00

Check outour slides from our recent webinar:

2010 Elective Surgery Phone Trends and Tips for a Successful 2011

View more presentations from OptiCall.

10 Core Values of Zappos

2010-10-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is from the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos):

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More with Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Have You Seen Bob Lately?

2010-08-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Initial Patient Presentation:
• 53 year old Male
• Cable repairman
• Last visited your office 2 years ago
• Bob is due for a vision check probably new glasses/contacts
• Bob is overdue for a glaucoma check

Patient Report:
• Bob has been in for a visit every year for the past 15 years until recently
• At last check, Bob had 20/200 vision
• Bob's family has a history of glaucoma
• Bob is nearsighted AND wears reading glasses
• Bob is married and has 4 grown children; all with their own families

Current Treatment:
• Wears soft daily wear contacts, glasses and readers
• Follow up plan: Annually

Bob is a prime example of your typical patient who needs to return for a check. He is also a personal reference for your practice through word of mouth to his spouse, children, and grandchildren. Practices today have thousands of patients who are overdue for their appointments, but simply have not made the effort to call and schedule.

Although most practices will send letters in an attempt to rebook overdue appointments, many patients do not make the effort to schedule on their own. While these practices may have a plan in place to reactivate patients, the results aren't meeting their full potential. Each patient represents an opportunity for thousands of dollars to your bottom line.

OptiCall's Patient Reactivation Program, aka Boomerang, powered by Brevium, identifies these "lost" patients in your system. Our professionally trained team of phone counselors will personally call your lost patients and schedule them directly into your practice management system.

FACT:
• Traditional recall efforts <50% response rate
• Cancellations and no shows add another 8% in lost monthly revenue
• A new patient costs a practice 5-6 times more than it does to retain an existing patient

OUR SUCCESS RATE:
• In 2010, our average practice has experienced in excess of 150 reactivated scheduled appointments each month.
• At a value of $150-$500 value per appointment, this program can generate up to $22,500 or higher each month!
• With similar results, you will have the ability to generate up to $270,000 or HIGHER annually.

MULTIPLE BENEFITS:
1. Offset recent Medicare reimbursement cuts.
2. Offset Refractive Surgery slump.
3. Fill gaps in schedules.
4. Increase surgery volume.
5. Improve patient outcomes.
6. Increase optical sales.
7. Review and update patient records.
8. Powered by BREVIUM Totall Recall Software, we set the parameters by the appointment type, and provider, which you would like called.
9. Measure results through detailed reporting
10. "Plant the seed" for LASIK and Premium IOL's for the cataract and eye exams we schedule for your office.
11. Low monthly fee with guaranteed positive return in your first full month, or your money back!

Testimonial from Melanie Boyd - Administrator: Eye Consultants of Texas:
"The Boomerang Program has been very successful in filling our schedule. We booked 276 new appointments in our first 4 weeks of the program!"

Testimonial from Nancy Shipley - Chief Executive Officer, Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region:
"Our practice has averaged approximately 140 new patients per month from the Boomerang Program. Our practice, to date, has had a 660% return on investment from our relationship with OptiCall. We started the program in mid December, 2009, and continue to run the program monthly. We are sending all current recalls to OptiCall monthly as they continue to call the remaining available people."

Don't Leave Your LOST Patients Hanging! Live Web Demo August 18th at 4 pm EST

Click Here to Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/529438970

OptiCall Patient Reactivation (aka Boomerang) Testimonial

2010-06-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

From time to time in every administrator’s mind, there is a nagging awareness that there are “missed opportunities” of recapturing all the patients from the routine recall system. As in most practices, the intentions are good, however the resources in personnel and time always seem to eliminate the ability to effectively follow-up with patients that receive a written reminder, however never call in to get an appointment. We ran a recall of all the patients that had not returned to the practice in 4 years and the results indicated 40,000 patients. This quantity is probably a bit unusual as the previous administration neglected to monitor that the receptionists were appropriately putting in recalls when the patients were last seen. Also, the practice did not schedule out longer than 6 months so almost every patient was to leave with a “recall” in the system. In one way, this was a great opportunity to reach out to former patients of the practice and get them to come back. I knew our existing staff and telephone capacity would not handle this additional project.

I was familiar with professional telemarketers as part of an effective LASIK marketing strategy. So, I sought out Opticall, as they had years of experience in ophthalmology and LASIK marketing. I requested Opticall to help us quickly and in a dedicated manner to perform telephone follow-up to a letter we were sending to 40,000 patients. The letters had a dedicated telephone number directly to Opticall. Our marketing manager trained the Opticall call center personnel to be able to use our patient scheduling system. Also, our staff trained the call center personnel about the practice, the 5 locations, directions, specialties of each of our 7 providers and what type of appointments we wanted scheduled with each provider and which payors each provider participated with. Opticall answered the telephones as a seamless part of our practice. Not only did they answer the telephone of patient initiated calls, the call center personnel placed daily outgoing calls to the patients from the recall mailing list proactively and personally invited the patients to schedule an appointment.

The practice has averaged approximately 140 new appointments per month from this program. The practice, to date, has had a 660% return on investment from the relationship with Opticall. We started the program in mid December 2009 and continue to run the program monthly. We are sending all current recalls to Opticall monthly as they continue to call the remaining available people from our 40,000 piece mailing.

Nancy Shipley, CEO

Albany-Troy Cataract & Laser Associates, PLLC

(dba) Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region

Bring LOST Patients Back to Your Practice

2010-05-27T09:58:00.001-07:00

Check out the Boomerang SlideShare Presentation:

Bring LOST Patients Back to Your Practice

View more presentations from OptiCall.

Bring Back Lost Patients to Your Practice

2010-05-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Bring Back Your Lost Patients Now!

Tips for More Effective Recalls

Provided by Brett Gerlach, President of Brevium:

• Keep recall notices brief. A brief card will generate twice as many appointments as a long letter, so don't mix practice news or new doctor introductions with recall notices. Just remind patients it's time for a visit to take care of their eyes and ask them to call your office.

• Send out recall notices frequently, in small batches. Sending recall notices out generates incoming calls. Big, infrequent batches generate big spikes in call volumes that will tie up telephones and turn off patients. Divide notices into small, frequent batches to smooth out the load on scheduling.

• Schedule appointments 12 months or more into the future to avoid overusing recalls. Once an appointment is made, the probability of a patient returning for a visit rises significantly, so avoid using recalls unless absolutely necessary. If you can, always schedule a return appointment before the patient leaves the office.

• Follow up with patients who don't respond to recalls by developing an outbound calling system. Also, follow up on patients who cancel appointments or fail to show up for a scheduled appointment so these patients return for needed care.

OptiCall and Brevium have partnered to help you identify and bring back your lost patients. Utilizing Brevium's specialized software, our team of highly qualified phone counselors will personally call to reactivate these missing patients in your existing patient database.

Our Success Rate:
• On average, 100 reactivated scheduled appointments each month
• At an average value of $150 per appointment this program can generate $15,000 or more each month
• An expected $180,000 or higher generated annually

You don't want to miss our next webinar on May 26th, presented by Bill Mercier of OptiCall and Steve Gottfredson of Brevium.

Increase Practice Volume By Bringing Lost Patients Back
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/711582634

Headed to ASCRS?

2010-04-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

This has been an exciting year for Opticall! We have expanded our services into several patient service venues within ophthalmology.

Since inception, our specialty has been managing patient communication calls for new refractive inquiries, either on a full or part-time basis, and converting those inquiries to consults for our clients.

Our team is now strategically aligned with many health care service organizations with an emphasis on delivering business tactical solutions to your practice.
Hoya Surgical Optics is hosting a Business Tactics Experience Room at the upcoming ASCRS. There are several "invitation only" seminars that we believe can provide great value and insight for all ophthalmology practices.

We would like to recommend that you review the following seminars and let us know which of these may interest you. Each addresses:
• Enhancing the overall quality of care for your existing patient base
• Adding health care benefits as a service to your patients
• Maximize profits from existing patient services you may now be offering
• Adding additional services that provide revenues from today's patients
• Optimize staff time and your time, resulting in greater patient care and efficiencies

Saturday, April 10, 2010:
• Business Tactics for the Eye Care Industry 8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
• Dual Sensory Loss: Vision and Hearing 12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
• Adding Hearing to Your Practice 4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 11, 2010:
• Maximizing Profits with Premier OptiCal Services 8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
• Adding Hearing to Your Practice 1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
• Benchmarking your Practice 2:45 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Business Tactics for the Eye Care Industry 4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Monday, April 12, 2010:
• Dual Sensory Loss: Vision and Hearing 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Maximizing Profits with Premier Optical Services 4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Click here to register for the sessions

Upon hearing back from you, we will place you on the seminar schedule and will also personally confirm your attendance once we are all in Boston.
We look forward to seeing you in Beantown! You can learn more at booth #2550.

Recording to "Elective Surgery Phone Trends And Tips On How To Improve Conversions"

2010-02-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all that attended Wednesday’s webinar “Elective Surgery Phone Trends and Tips on How to Improve Conversions”.

Here is a link to the recording of the event: http://www.box.net/shared/552ev4i5jn

You can also get the slides at www.slideshare.net/opticall.

Here are the stats from the live polls on the call:

How does your practice handle elective surgery calls?

74% Dedicated staff member/surgical coordinator

19% Multiple staff members/anyone available

0% Surgeon takes them

7% Answering service

How do you track phone leads at your practice?

4% Paper form

31% Excel spreadsheet

42% CRM (i.e. Goldmine or ACT)

19% No formal system

4% Not sure

Slides from Phone Trends And Tips on How to Improve Conversions 2-17 2010

2010-02-18T08:27:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Phone Trends And Conversions 2-17 2010

View more presentations from OptiCall.

Recording of RefracTRAK Innovations Webinar

2009-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

We have made some improvements to the OptiTRAK/RefracTRAK program. Please check out the recording of the presentation from last week: http://www.box.net/shared/mml4d3p8sm

RefracTRAK Innovations

2009-12-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Please join us for a brief overview on exciting improvements to the RefracTRAK Program.

Our goal is to continue to enhance our products and services to our clients. In the coming days, we will be launching REV 3 of RefracTrak. There are some important changes that you need to be aware of that will affect the functionality and reporting of the system.

Please join us as we go over:

*New innovations in the program

*New reporting features

*Training on how to use the program more efficiently

*Details on more features to come

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Tue, Dec 22, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

Aesthetics Social Media Presentation

2009-12-17T07:27:00.001-08:00

Slides from our Social Media Presentation with Conor Dixon of Trinity Level Marketing:

Aesthetics Social Media Presentation

View more presentations from OptiCall.

Competitor Practice Phone Analysis

2009-12-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

Oftentimes, we are asked what other competing practices are experiencing and how they might compare. By definition, competition is a business relation in which two or more parties compete to gain customers. Given the number of inquiries, we thought, "Why don't we find out?"

We are now offering a “Competitor Analysis” which will enable you to learn what specials your competitors are currently offering, compare prices, customer service skills, and much more ($349 per report or $35 per call).

Learn firsthand what your competitors are doing so that you can provide an advantage to gain more customers.

How your vision practice can benefit by offering hearing services

2009-12-08T11:58:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

How your vision practice can benefit by offering hearing services

View more documents from OptiCall.

How Vision Practices Can Benefit From Offering Hearing Services

2009-11-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

Hot Topic: How Vision Practices Can Benefit From Offering Hearing Services

Did you know?

• An estimated 1.7 million adults age 65 and over report both vision and hearing loss

• Eye care providers are trusted by their senior patients

• Hearing Services are expanding in Ophthalmology practices across the nation!

For Medicare aged patients, annual hearing evaluations can be offered at the same time annual eye evaluations are scheduled, offering two vital tests in one easy visit. In addition to the added service you are able to provide these patients, you may also benefit from the sale of hearing aids.

Please join us for a one hour webinar presented by Ron Greenberg, Managing Partner of EyeCanHear, to learn more about this opportunity for your practice.

How Your Practice Can Benefit From Offering Hearing Services
When: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST)

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/794044570

Using Social Media To Attract More Patients

2009-11-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple years you’ve probably heard about social websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Originally developed as methods for people to stay in touch and share information with each other, these sites have now taken on a new identity in the business world. As the prevalence of social media continues to expand at an alarmingly rapid rate, many practices have identified ways to leverage these social media channels to effectively reach their target audience.

This is what we call social media marketing, and when used correctly, it can be tremendously effective.

If your practice is not currently engaged in any viral marketing efforts, chances are you probably fall into one of three categories:

a) You don’t know much about social media in general, nor care to.

b) You are interested in it, but unsure about where to start and skeptical of its value.

c) You thought you tried to participate in social media marketing by setting up a profile on a site such as MySpace or Facebook, but did nothing to try and drive traffic to the site and therefore did not see results.

Despite all these concerns, in reality social media marketing is a very inexpensive, easy and manageable strategy to effectively increase your patient base.

The biggest opportunity that social media provides is the ability to actually build a relationship with your potential patients. This is because social media marketing is not overt advertising. If you’re too intrusive and users start to experience you as pushing a product, they are very likely to shut you out. The goal of social media is to show yourself as an authority over the service that you provide, and then establish an area (which is the social online network) to communicate back and forth with your past and potential patients in an unobtrusive fashion.

A successful social media marketing strategy will lead to more talk about your practice online, because when your message relates to the users, they will spread it between their own networks virally.

So now the big question: How does social media help your practice make money?

The bad news is - it doesn’t. However, the main source of new business for an elective surgery practice is referrals from past patients. Every practice that wants to grow needs their supporters to be willing to make purchases and recommend your service to others. Your network needs to continue to expand within itself.

The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your service. Social media allows us to stay connected to infinitely larger networks of people. By having a presence in this communication line, you have now given your supporters a more efficient and rapid method for sharing of information and referrals about your practice.

Still not convinced? Let’s look at a few more benefits of social media:

Increased Visibility – Think of the Internet as the ocean, and your prospects fish. You want to cast the largest net possible in order to harvest the most fish. By creating alternative sources of information about your practice, and leveraging social media’s ability to spread information, you will effectively increase the size of your net.

Better Targeting – The very nature of social media is based upon having something in common. These sites exist for people who share friends and interests to stay connected. Therefore, the people exposed to your network will either have an interest in your service or an interest in those people who have experienced your service.

SEO Enhancement – Social media marketing can dramatically increase the amount of general search traffic directed to your website. Why? Because links to your website = better search engine rankings. Most of the backlinks from your social media efforts will be recognized as natural and trustworthy, therefore boosting your organic SEO ranking in the eyes of the Googles and Yahoos of the world.

Great Return on Investment –The effectiveness of traditional forms of advertising and PPC (pay per click) advertising are decreasing at an alarming rate. Minus the time it takes to initiate and maintain social media efforts (which is a consideration), social media marketing is essentially free. There is also little technical skill required, only good communication skill.

It’s Complimentary - Social media marketing is contained within your network. Therefore, it doesn’t interfere with any other advertising or marketing campaigns you might run. In fact, it only enhances these alternative methods because now you have a much larger net to try and catch residual traffic from your general tier 1 advertising efforts.

Bottom line: If social media marketing is not a part of your overall marketing strategy, then you’re missing the boat.

Now I know I’ve talked a lot about the generalities of social marketing, touting its benefits. Noting specifics on how to implement it in your practice. Well, the good news is that will start our next blog post. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I will share with you some do’s and don’ts, and specific ways you can effectively introduce social media into your practice, along with case studies and results.

-Conor Dixon, Trinity Level Marketing

Check out the upcoming webinar:

How to use Social Media Marketing for your practice.

When: Dec. 15th at 4 pm EST

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/464278618

How Is Your Practice Measuring Up? Are You A Leader Or A Follower?

2009-11-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Since the Summer months, OptiCall has recorded a 40% increase in call volume nationwide! And more good news, month to date for November has already shown a 6% increase over October’s call volume. Why such a jump in volume? Simple...some practices have decided to advertise again. Patients are responding to well thought out marketing messages and appointments are being booked. There is one caveat to increased call volume this time of year. In addition to the marketing messages driving patient calls, this is the time of year when people are calling to check on pricing information for their Flex Spending accounts. Since they have to wait until 2010 to have surgery, they are putting off their consultation and surgery until their Flex Spending account kicks in. Of course, we will do our best to stress the importance of them having a consultation in this process to determine first if they are a candidate before committing the dollars.

What portion of this percentage increase in calls is yours? If patients are calling about Flex Spending accounts, do you have a way to follow up when they are ready to be treated? Do not assume these patients will call your practice back when it is time to be treated. It is your role to massage these potential patients by following up with a simple phone call, email or letter. Make your patients feel important so they choose your practice to perform their surgery.

Interesting stats on recent elective surgery call volume.

2009-11-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Here’s some interesting numbers on the calls we have taken in recent months for elective surgery practices across the country:

July- 2431 calls
Aug- 2665 calls
Sept- 3366 calls
Oct- 4057 calls. Call volume is up 40% over Summer volume.

Nov 1-9 calls 1219
Oct 1-9 calls 1149

November is 6% higher so far over the same snapshot of time for Oct.

Potential drop in conversion rates this time of year

2009-10-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is not uncommon to see a drop in conversions from call to consult this time of year due to people calling in to check on pricing information for their Flex Spending Accounts. Typically, a patient will call to find out the price only so they can put the money aside, however, they do not book an appointment because they cannot use the money until January of the next year (Jan 2010). January and February tend to be the busiest surgery months of the year because this is when the patients can use their Flex Spending dollars.

Live Replay Tuesday: "Is Your Practice Converting Consults to Surgeries?"

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Live Replay Tuesday: "Is Your Practice Converting Consults to Surgeries?" https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/720743738

Good news...Refractive calls are up substantially across the country within the past 60 days. Bad news...a recent survey shows 65% of patients did NOT book surgery with the first practice they contacted because of poor customer service (information provided by American Network).

Please join us for a one hour webinar on how to enhance Lead Conversions in your practice. Brought to you by the Refractive Marketing Group on LinkedIn & Facebook.

What we will cover:

*Making lead conversion a focal point at your practice.

*Stand out and give your callers an experience they will remember.

*Learn what successful practices are doing to stay ahead.

SPECIAL OFFER: First 5 practice to register receive a free Lead Conversion Assessment ($500 value).

Speakers: Matt Jensen, Director of Vance Thompson Vision and Ed Cushing, Vice-President of OptiCall, Inc.

This event is sponsored by :

OptiCall, Inc.

Webinar Recording "Effective Patient Retention Plans For Life"

2009-10-16T08:49:00.001-07:00

Here is the link from our webinar with Aesthetics360 on Wednesday on "Effective Patient Retention Plans For Life": http://www.box.net/shared/774cq7jbte

Here are the results from the polls on the webinar:

What is your average cost per lead?

$500 or above - 8%
$351 - $500 - 25%
$201 - $350 - 17%
Below $200 - 0%
Don't know - 50%

Do you use a program to track patients?

62% yes
31% no
8% not sure

What programs do you use to track past patients? (multiple answer question)

Excel 33%
CRM Program (i.e. Goldmine, ACT, OptiTrak) 33%
E-mail Program (i.e. Constant Contact, Outlook, What Counts) 33%
Paper 0%
Don't know 22%

What systems do you use to reach out to past patients? (multiple answer question)

Follow-up Cards, Thank you cards 92%
Phone calls 72%
Newsletters 67%
Birthday cards 50%
Loyalty Programs 58%

Effective Patient Retention Patients For Life!

2009-10-14T09:12:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Effective Patient Retention Patients For Life!

View more presentations from Aestetics 360.

Webinar Recording and Poll Results "How An Effective Phone Plan Can INCREASE REVENUE In Your Practice"

2009-10-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the webinar recording "How An Effective Phone Plan Can INCREASE REVENUE In Your Practice": http://www.box.net/shared/6ztifxjg1h

Poll Results from the webinar:

What has happened with your staff over the past 12 months:

20% reduced
40% increased
20% stayed the same
0% not sure

What has happened with your marketing over the past 12 months:

38% increased
13% decreased
50% stayed the same
0% not sure

Where are you spending your marketing? (multiple answer)

22% Radio
44% Internet
11% TV
33% Direct Mail
22% Newspaper

Who takes elective surgery calls in your practice? (multiple answer)

55% dedicated surgical coordinator/counselor
73% front desk
36% anyone that can pick up
0% doctor
9% answering service

How does your practice evaluate staff phone handling? (multiple answer)

22% mystery shops
11% review recorded quality control calls
22% do not
33% shadow the staff
44% gage by surgery volume

Are you attending ASPS in Seattle?

14% yes
86% no

Aesthetics360 Effective Phone Plan

2009-09-30T10:47:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Aesthetics360 Effective Phone Plan

View more presentations from Aestetics 360.

Practice Telephone Etiquette

2009-09-29T15:35:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Practice Telephone Etiquette

View more presentations from OptiCall.

Consult To Booked Surgery Conversions Are Dropping…Why?

2009-09-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Refractive call volume has been on the rise these past few months; in fact some practices have reported they have had some of their best months. A large majority however are reporting their consult to booked surgery conversions have dropped even though their refractive call volume has increased.

So what’s changed? Why does it seem consumers today are harder to sell than just a few years back? We are doing the same thing we have always done and yet patients are not booking surgery like they used to. This actually may be the reason, think about this; from a marketing stand point, we are/were sending messages such as:

 Our doctor was the first in our area to perform LASIK or has the most experience.

 Our practice is the only/first one in the area to offer Intralase or the latest and greatest technology.

 We offer free informative seminars.

 Payment plans/Financing options.

 Offering great discounts.

By now your competitors are also sending out these same messages. Being the first at something is great but that “WOW” factor expires. It’s no longer enough to differentiate yourself from your competition.

Ron Kaufman an expert in customer service puts it this way…Name the first bank to offer the “ATM” service? With some research you could probably answer that but honestly who cares because now all banks offer “ATM” service.

In our industry this applies to us, our competitors offer great experienced doctors (sorry doc, we know you’re great but you’re not alone), the latest and greatest technology, payment plans/financing, discounts etc. Don’t get me wrong, we still need to continue to market. We have learned when we stop marketing we stop giving the prospective patients a reason to call us.

A prospective patient having trouble differentiating your practice from your competitor will eventually call your practice and will make their decision within the first 30 seconds of that phone call. A survey completed by America Network reported 65% of patients did not book surgery with the first practice they contacted because of poor customer service.

This is our greatest opportunity to capitalize on and the best way we can stand out from our competitors. We all have great doctors and great technology providing great results for our patients. It is time we strive for great customer service, create an unforgettable experience, starting with the initial phone call experience to the moment that prospective patient walks into your practice. The practices that are already doing this have the competitive edge…have increased their consult to booked surgeries and more over gained patients for life.

Learn how to improve consults at the upcoming webinar:
Is Your Practice Converting Consults to Surgeries? 10/7/2009 4pm EST https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/714029275

Social Media – Embrace It!

2009-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Social Media – Embrace It!
“Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”
• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
• Only 14% trust advertisements
• More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…DAILY
• Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertisers

All information was taken from Social Media Revolution video on YouTube
To view video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=player_embedded

Phones and Dogs

2009-08-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

I recently had a huge addition into my family and am now the proud father of five rescued Mini Pinschers. Somehow in the process of helping a rescue organization, I discovered it’s much easier to keep them than give them away. I’m still not sure if this qualifies as a “success” or a “failure.” So, why am I writing about my very happy dogs and my insane over-collection of them in relation to work?

Of the myriad of functions I perform at OptiCall, one that I am most proud of is the development of our “phone training” both in house and as part of our “ACE” program for practices around the country. ACE is our call monitoring and coaching service that helps offices improve their own call handling abilities.

At work I was struggling to improve and elevate our own internal quality and style of phone handling. Then at home, I faced five cute but high energy dogs that I was also struggling to communicate with. Admittedly I was no expert with either situation. With the help of Barnes and Noble, I armed myself with the latest pop-culture work-philosophy self-help books and a pile of dog training books as well.

As I tackled both hurdles simultaneously it ultimately led me to an epiphany. Combining principles from the “E-Myth Revisited” by Gerber, and Cesar Milan’s “Be the Pack Leader” revealed to me an incredibly complete solution. Being organized and systemized as defined by the “E-Myth” book was only half the battle. Leading the process with “calm assertive leadership” as Cesar Milan “The Dog-Whisperer” professes, was the element that actually made the systemization and implementation equation work fully, both at work and home.

It was just a few months later that I had all five of my dogs walking beautifully by my side, returning to calm submissiveness when I reminded them. Our call center also quickly transitioned to capable people handling calls in a way that made us all, our own proud example. My dogs somehow understood my energy, but more amazingly, the people in front of me were performing beautifully and with little direction. I attributed both successes to simply having a good system to follow from the start, but mostly to delivering the training with calm assertive leadership. The attitude was simply, positive reinforcement of the inevitable change that was happening now.

Part of helping outside offices to better manage their own call handling process is always out of our control. Success is a relevant term when related to goals. You get out what you put in. Like a dietician, I can lay out an incredible path of healthful eating, but can’t dependably stop anyone else from eating the 4^th brownie, including myself sometimes. So, the goals and the results vary.

I can recount several success stories where the leadership “buy-in” began with participation by management and doctors at the initial implementation visit. Their positive approach was always followed by predictable success. Of course the opposite was also true.

When a coordinator once sent me into another room to fix their staff’s “problems” as she continued her work elsewhere in the building, I knew immediately where the problem was not. I also knew immediately the lack of leadership and commitment displayed would undoubtedly transcend the entire course of the program. Over time, fighting their existing and flawed system (which was never allowed to be altered), proved to be an unproductive battle, but their belittled staff I insisted, was superb. To this day, I wonder what their perception of why I was there might have been. I can’t make any assumptions on their logic or approach, but their last several reports showed over 50% lost leads.

It’s usually the doctor or the business manager that displays the calm assertive leadership that I can only hope for upon arrival. The lack of fear and pre-existing trust displayed by our best clients goes a long way towards success. When I show up to find the doctors, call center staff, and middle management awaiting my presentation, I know without a doubt that I have a winning group in front of me. It takes strong leadership to acknowledge a deficit. To allow a foreign entity into the practice to help clean up those newfound existing flaws, takes an amazing level of leadership. For the right energy to occur, the ACE program requires their leadership to be at its best.

ACE was created as a teaching tool that creates a win/win for all through simple changes and systemization. It can be used negatively to point a finger at ineptness or create fear most anywhere. However, it’s so much more fulfilling for us to increase a practice’s surgical volume by 15% to 25% than abuse the inherent power. An improperly applied ACE program serves only to derail the positive accomplishments that could be obtained. ACE can only add value to a program that is actively and positively moving forward towards a goal. Positive leadership driving that forward goal oriented momentum is the ultimate key to success.

We have had many successes when the right energy and commitment to the program is delivered from the start. Common denominators in our few ACE “failures” were a lack in leadership and/or commitment to the overall ideals of the program, or an immobilizing fear of change by those implementing the program. This is exactly why practices that obtained the best results are the ones who involved everyone fearlessly from the start. With all involved, the starting point is acknowledged, the plan is engaged, and the success that arrives becomes a positive group accomplishment.

As an observer, I now watch with a different eye as many dogs in my neighborhood drag their owners. I also listen with different ears to a lot of poorly handled calls. Awareness allows the knowing to look at a lack in training as the first solution to correct the problem. Lack of training is a positive recognition by management that is easily moved beyond with the delivery of a ready and clear solution. However, all the training in the world won’t lead to success if leadership is not present to encourage and nurture it. “A mind, like a parachute, only works when it is open.” It is often leadership that makes the difference in opening the minds of others to imagine the change that is always available.

As far as the success or failure in owning five dogs, I know a few things. Their loyalty is undying, and they now answer the front door efficiently, warmly, politely and effectively. With the way they greet me when I come home from work; I only wish I could be half the person they think I am.

By: Allan Zuckerman- allanzee@opticall.com

Call Answering Solutions

2009-08-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

“We are either assisting other patients, out to lunch or you are calling after hours…”

An existing patient calling your office and hearing this message is very likely to stay on hold or leave a message.

However a perspective patient calling your practice for the first time and hearing this message… There is an 85% chance they will hang up and call one of your competitors.

Our research has shown that less that 15% of perspective patients actually leave a message when getting your practices voice mail and more than 30% of perspective patients calling become a lost lead.

A challenge very common to us all is finding the balance of having the proper amount of qualified staff to manage patient calls. Many times the staff is required to multitask by answering phones, checking patients in/out, filing, making follow up calls, conducting patient consultations, etc. Another common struggle is to maintain employees, staff turn over, sick days, vacations etc. Ultimately the telephone becomes more of a distraction rather than an opportunity.

With our Call Answering Solutions, we become an extension of your staff. A seamless integration that maintains the patient’s perspective that our counselors are part of your practice.

• Call Answering programs offering support from your business hours to evening and weekend coverage.

• Programs are tailored to best represent your practice with proper and updated information.

• All calls are recorded and continually monitored for quality assurance.

• Your administrative energies and resources are confidently freed to focus on patient care.

• An economical solution to call handling needs.

“This call may be recorded for quality assurance”

2009-08-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

Have we become numb to hearing this recorded message when calling various companies? We all expect good customer service however hearing this message may make one feel here is a company that really does care, or do they? How many times have we heard this message and yet our experience on the phone was less than dazzling? We had to repeat our story multiple times, we are transferred multiple times, put on hold, put to a voice mail, and the list goes on.

Knowing how we come across to our customers/patients over the phone is vital. This is our opportunity to provide a first impression that stands out from your competition and is the stepping stone for creating customers/patients for life.

An AOL customer recorded his call when trying to cancel his AOL account. After spending 15 minutes of hold time, auto attendant prompts etc he was finally connected with a human, below is a report Matt Lauer from NBC did, below a clip of what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpDSBAh6RY

For many finding the time to manage phone staff, coach or train them and monitor recorded calls for quality assurance if very challenging and more often never happens. Instead we find ourselves consumed with extinguishing fires rather than preventing them.

With our ACE program (Actual Consumer Experience); your actual customer/patient calls are reviewed for quality assurance by our highly trained counselors.

· Benefit from our experience in handling over 1.5 million calls.

· Initial on-site coaching and program guidance is provided.

· Weekly or monthly reports are provided to highlight areas of opportunity and improvement.

· Ongoing monitoring and coaching to ensure continued improvement.

· Turn more telephone inquiries to customers/patients.

· Improvement seen typically with in the first 60 days of the program.

Edward Cushing

Vice President

OptiCall Inc.

http://twitter.com/OptiCall4U

http://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardcushing

2201 Cantu Ct. Suite 218

Sarasota, FL 34232

Office (941) 893-2400 ext 3

cell: 941-201-7322

fax: 508-256-7663

www.opticall.com