How a Simple Phrase Can Turn Your Customer Service from Good to Ugly

The other day, I accompanied my parents to my mom’s medical appointment in Atlanta. She had a pressing issue that required her doctor’s attention and was thankfully able to schedule an appointment only two days out.

Unfortunately, the less-than-stellar receptionist who scheduled the visit simply told my mother that her appointment was at 10:30 AM on Thursday. There was no mention of the doctor’s already busy schedule, nor of the fact that she was going to be “worked in” to an ad hoc open timeslot.

We checked in at 10:15, fifteen minutes early. As her appointment time came and went, my mom got increasingly agitated. By 10:45, she became resentful of patients entering the office before her, many of which showed up after we had sat down.

When I explained to my mother that she was obviously being worked into the doctor’s already busy schedule, she insisted that she was given a firm appointment time and that she was not being treated fairly. As a result of the poor scripting and even worse communication by the scheduling receptionist, the front desk team had to endure an understandably upset patient.

Most dental offices handle numerous “emergency” patients every day. Consider the following scripting for EVERY patient who is being worked into your schedule:

“Mrs. Patient, Dr. BusyDentist’s schedule is completely full tomorrow, but since you’re having a problem, let me have you come in tomorrow at 1:00 PM and I’ll find a way to work you into the doctor’s busy schedule as close to 1:00 as I possibly can.”

The key words here are “work-in appointment.” This differentiates it from a firm, scheduled appointment and helps to minimize any hurt feelings or perception of unfairness before it arises. Patients understand this language, and instead of being irate about waiting twenty or thirty minutes to be seen, they will thank you for accommodating them into your admittedly busy schedule.

Had this simple scripting been used when my mother scheduled her “work-in appointment,” I know that she would not have been upset about waiting to be seen.

This goes to show that simply employing a “use your best judgment” philosophy while playing up the importance of politeness and warmth simply isn’t enough. The devil’s in the details, and the more you can set a clean standard of specific scripting practices for your office, the better off you’ll be.

Dr. Mike Goldstein